Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Jataka Tales

Jataka Tales
I have just discovered the ancient Buddhist stories known as Jataka Tales. I read Ellen Babbit's book created in 1912 that focused on retelling the animal stories. My favorite was the Foolish, Timid Rabbit. It was very similar to the Chicken Little story. A melon falls out of a tree and a mob of animals get caught up in the hysteria. A lion saves the day by introducing logic and reason to the scene. AND- hooray! the lion suppresses his carnivorous ways and no one gets eaten. I am much more comfortable with this than Foxy Loxy.

And I must say that it is wonderful to discover a whole new genre of folktales!

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