Reading Notes: Free Reading Jataka Tales Part B

As I read about the Prince Wicked and the Grateful Animals, I prepared myself for the ending that I probably wouldn’t expect! The prince was rude to everyone everywhere and did not care to be nice to a single soul! Not even his guards liked him and would think of ways to let him get kidnapped. One day while they were swimming, a great storm passed through and darkened the entire river. The prince cried out that he could not make it out of the river. The guards decided that tha was their chance and left him there to drown. When the returned, the king asked where the prince was and the guards all said it was too dark to see and they assumed he went back without them noticing. What really happened was the prince grabbed onto a log that a snake, a rat, and a parrot all found refuge on. The log was pulled in by a poor man that cared for the animals first and then the prince last. The prince was angered by this and while the animals promised riches to the poor man for helping them, the prince faked his appreciation and promised that when he is king, he would take care of the old man. Once the prince became king, the old man tested the animals and they all proved true to their promises and offered gold and riches to the poor man. The poor man then went to the kingdom and when the king saw him, the king ordered him to be beaten and beheaded before he could tell of how he saved the king when he was a prince. The poor man did not protest but kept saying that it is better to save the animals than it is to save the prince! The wise men in the crowd asked what prince he saved and when they found out, they said that the king should be killed and the poor man be made king! So in the end, the prince dig his own grave by being rude to the poor man.

Karma!

 Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Back