Reading Notes: Part B Jataka Tales

For Part B of the Jataka Tales I chose another animal story. As you may know if you are reading this post or blog, I am a big fan of animal folktales and stories. I chose to read The King's White Elephant. I have always known elephants as being very prominent in Indian culture from the god Ganesha to elephants in India. Sometimes I have even seen grooms come on top of an elephant to their wedding! Thus, I wanted to see how the elephant was portrayed in the short story. The story was very simple and did not really have many lessons that I could derive. Perhaps you could see some themes such as helping others or doing ones duty, but that may be too complicated for a short and children story such as this one. To be perfectly honest, I was kind of unsure of how the story would end when the king came towards the end to purchase the elephant. I thought he would injure the elephant or treat it in some way that the carpenters disapproved. This may be from seeing how kings acted int he Indian epics such as the Mahabharata and their desire for revenge. Overall, this is a very short story and would be difficult to add much as there really was no conflict. If anything this presents an opportunity to add whatever I want to the story.

Source: Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbitt, Ellsworth Young, 1912

Why Do We Say 'White Elephant'? - HistoryExtra

A drawing of a white elephant

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Week 9 Story: Bhima and the Nagas

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Shiva and Parvati with their son, Ganesha Link to Storybook

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