For week 14, I decided to explore some more Jataka Tales. Like I have said many times before, I love reading short stories, and I especially enjoyed reading the Jataka Tales earlier this semester. For Part A, I decided to read The Otters and the Wolf. When I first read this story, I thought the ending was deceptively funny. I was not expecting such a blunt ending and resolution to the conflict. Normally when I read these quick short stories, there is always some witty end or clever move made by the main character. However, the story simply ends with the wolf splitting apart the fish and then going home. I am not sure what lesson can be derived from the story other than not to quarrel with others or you might end up missing out. This is what happened to the otters. Hopefully they learned not to be selfish next time they catch a fish. I could see myself doing a story retelling on this story because the ending is so anticlimactic. I think emphasizing the lesson of not being greedy would be a suitable way to end a short story and make it more like other Jataka Tales.
Source: More Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbit
The wolf dividing the fish for the otters
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