Reading Notes: Babbitt Jataka Tales - Part B

   The Wise and the Foolish Merchant tale seemed different from the other Jataka stories I've read--it was very thorough.  I like that the smart merchant was able to see past the trick of the demon unlike his foolish counterpart.  The clever characters in all of these stories always find a way to intellectually maneuver around their opposition.  In this case, the smart merchant was able to tell that the traveler he saw was a demon because he had no shadow.  I think this concept would be fun to carry over into one of my own stories.  The next tale that stuck out to me was The Princes and the Water Sprite.  The story sounded familiar to me at first, and I realized it reminded me of the Ramayana.  In the story, the queen wanted her youngest son to take the thrown over his older siblings.  She had been rewarded a boon and her wish was for her son, the Sun Prince, to be king.  The king didn't respond the same as the king from the Ramayana, however.  This king did however tell his two older sons to go to the forest until the time of his death and then they could come back and rule.  He did this out of fear for an attempt on their lives.  So though this king did not grant the queen her boon, he did in a way banish his sons to the forest just like Rama and Lakshmana.  Similar to Bharata, the Sun Prince wanted to accompany his older brothers on their journey to the forest.  The water sprite at the end of the story was new, though.  Similar to other Jataka characters, the eldest prince, the prince of stars, was able to get past the riddle of the water sprite.  I was surprised to find that there was a happy ending for all characters involved, including the water sprite at the end.  It would be interesting to create a story where there is a challenge or riddle for the characters, similar to the water sprite. 

Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt in 1912

The Water Sprite by Ernst Josephsson.

source: commons