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MORE JATAKA TALES



MORE JATAKA TALES

RE-TOLD BY

ELLEN C. BABB ITT

W ith illustrations by

Ellsw orth You ng

YESTERDAY’S CLASSICS

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA



Cover and arrangement © 2008 Yesterday’s Classics, LLC.

Tis edition, frst pulished in 2008 y Yesterday’s Classis,

an imprint o Yesterday’s Classis, LLC, is an unaridgedrepublication o the text originally published by TeCentury Company in 1922. For the omplete listing o the books that are published by Yesterday’s Classics,please visit www.yesterdaysclassics.com. Yesterday’sClassics is the publishing arm o the Baldwin OnlineChildren’s Literature Project which presents the

omplete text o hundreds o lassi ooks or hildrenat www.mainlesson.com.

ISBN-10: 1-59915-310-6

ISBN-13: 978-1-59915-310-0

Yesterday’s Classics, LLCPO Box 3418

Chapel Hill, NC 27515



DEDICATEDto

RUDYARD KIPLING

in the name of all children

who troop to his call



FOREWORD

Te ontinued suess o the “Jataka ales,” as retold

and published ten years ago, has led to this second andcompanion volume. Who that has read or told storiesto children has not been lured on by the subtle attery o their cry or “more”?

Dr. Felix Adler, in his Foreword to “Jataka ales,”says that long ago he was “captivated by the charm o

the Jataka ales.” Little children have not only elt thischarm, but they have discovered that they can readthe stories to themselves. And so “More Jataka ales”were ound in the volume translated rom the Sanskrit

into English by a group o Cambridge scholars andpublished by the University Press.

Te Jataka tales, regarded as historic in the TirdCentury b. c., are the oldest olletion o olk-lore extant.Tey ome down to us rom that dim ar-o time whenour orebears told tales around the same hearthfre onthe roo o the world. Proessor Rhys Davids speaks

o them as “a priceless record o the childhood o ourrae. Te same stories are ound in Greek, Latin, Arai,



Persian, and in most European languages. Te Greek

versions o the Jataka tales were adapted and ascribedto the amous storyteller, Æsop, and under his namehanded down as a continual east or the children inthe West,—tales frst invented to please and instruct

our ar-o cousins in the East.” Here East, though East,meets West!

A “Guild o Jataka ranslators,” under ProessorE. B. Cowell, proessor o Sanskrit in the University o Cambridge, brought out the complete edition o the

Jataka between 1895 and 1907. It is rom this source

that “Jataka ales” and “More Jataka ales” have beenretold.

O these stories, spread over Europe throughliterary channels, Proessor Cowell says, “Tey arethe stray wais o literature, in the course o their longwanderings coming to be recognized under widely dierent aspects, as when they are used by Boccaccio,or Chaucer, or La Fontaine.”



CONTENTS

The Girl Monkey and the String ofPearls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The Three Fishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The Tricky Wolf and the Rats . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The Woodpecker, Turtle and Deer . . . . . . 11

The Golden Goose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

The Stupid Monkeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

The Cunning Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

The Penny-Wise Monkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

The Red-Bud Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The Woodpecker and the Lion . . . . . . . . . . 27

The Otters and the Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

How the Monkey Saved his Troop . . . . . . . 31

The Hawks and their Friends. . . . . . . . . . . . 36



The Brave Little Bowman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

The Foolhardy Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

The Stolen Plow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

The Lion in Bad Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

The Wise Goat and the Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Prince Wicked and the Grateful

Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Beauty and Brownie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

The Elephant and the Dog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71



1

THE GIRL MONKEY AND

THE STRING OF PEARLS

ONE day the king went or a long walk in thewoods. When he ame ak to his own garden,he sent or his amily to come down to the

lake or a swim.

When they were all ready to go into the water, the

queen and her ladies le their jewels in charge o the

servants, and then went down into the lake.

As the queen put her string o pearls away in abox, she was watched by a Girl Monkey who sat in thebranches o a tree near-by. Tis Girl Monkey wantedto get the queen’s string o pearls, so she sat still and

wathed, hoping that the servant in harge o the pearls

would go to sleep.

At frst the servant kept her eyes on the jewel-box.But by and by she began to nod, and then she ell astasleep.

As soon as the Monkey saw this, quick as the windshe jumped down, opened the ox, piked up the string

o pearls, and quick as the wind she was up in the treeagain, holding the pearls very careully. She put thestring o pearls on, and then, or ear the guards in the



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MORE JATAKA TALES

garden would see the pearls, the Monkey hid them in

a hole in the tree. Ten she sat near-by looking as i

nothing had happened.By and by the servant awoke. She looked in the

box, and fnding that the string o pearls was not there,she cried, “A man has run o with the queen’s string

o pearls.”

Up ran the guards rom every side.

Te servant said: “I sat right here beside the boxwhere the queen put her string o pearls. I did not move

rom the place. But the day is hot, and I was tired. Imust have allen asleep. Te pearls were gone when Iawoke.”

Te guards told the king that the pearls were

gone.

“Find the man who stole the pearls,” said the king.Away went the guards looking high and low or thethie.

Aer the king had gone, the chie guard said tohimsel:

“Tere is something strange here. Tese pearls,”thought he, “were lost in the garden. Tere was a strong

guard at the gates, so that no one rom the outsideould get into the garden. On the other hand, there arehundreds o Monkeys here in the garden. Perhaps oneo the Girl Monkeys took the string o pearls.”

Ten the chie guard thought o a trick that wouldtell whether a Girl Monkey had taken the pearls. So



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MORE JATAKA TALES

he bought a number o strings o bright-colored glass

beads.

Aer dark that night the guards hung the stringso glass beads here and there on the low bushes in thegarden. When the Monkeys saw the strings o bright-colored beads the next morning, each Monkey ran or

a string.

But the Girl Monkey who had taken the queen’s

string o pearls did not come down. She sat near thehole where she had hidden the pearls.

Te other Monkeys were greatly pleased with theirstrings o beads. Tey chattered to one another aboutthem. “It is too bad you did not get one,” they said to

her as she sat quietly, saying nothing. At last she could

stand it no longer. She put on the queen’s string o pearlsand ame down, saying proudly: “You have only stringso glass beads. See my string o pearls!”

Ten the chie o the guards, who had been hiding

near-by, caught the Girl Monkey. He took her at onceto the king.

“It was this Girl Monkey, your Majesty, who took the pearls.”

Te king was glad enough to get the pearls, but heasked the chie guard how he had ound out who took them.

Te chie guard told the king that he knew no one

could have come into the garden and so he thoughtthey must have been taken by one o the Monkeys in



5

THE GIRL MONKEY AND THE STRING OF PEARLS

the garden. Ten he told the king about the trick he

had played with the beads.

“You are the right man in the right place,” said theking, and he thanked the chie o the guards over andover again.



6

THE THREE FISHES

ONCE upon a time three Fishes lived in a ar-

away river. Tey were named Toughtul,Very-Toughtul, and Toughtless.

One day they le the wild country where no menlived, and came down the river to live near a town.

Very-Toughtul said to the other two: “Tere is

danger all about us here. Fishermen come to the river

here to catch fsh with all sorts o nets and lines. Letus go back again to the wild country where we used

to live.”

But the other two Fishes were so lazy and so greedy that they kept putting o their going rom day to day.

But one day Toughtul and Toughtless wentswimming on ahead o Very-Toughtul and they did

not see the fsherman’s net and rushed into it. Very-Toughtul saw them rush into the net.

“I must save them,” said Very-Toughtul.

So swimming around the net, he splashed in the

water in ront o it, like a Fish that had broken throughthe net and gone up the river. Ten he swam back o



7

THE THREE FISHES

the net and splashed about there like a Fish that had

broken through and gone down the river.

Te fsherman saw the splashing water and thoughtthe Fishes had roken through the net and that one had

gone up the river, the other down, so he pulled in thenet y one orner. Tat let the two Fishes out o the netand away they went to fnd Very-Toughtul.

“You saved our lives, Very-Toughtul,” they

said, “and now we are willing to go back to the wildcountry.”

So back they all went to their old home where they lived saely ever aer.



9

THE TRICKY WOLF

AND THE RATS

ONCE upon a time a Big Rat lived in the orest,and many hundreds o other Rats called himtheir Chie.

A ricky Wol saw this troop o Rats, and began toplan how he could catch them. He wanted to eat them,but how was he to get them? At last he thought o a

plan. He went to a corner near the home o the Ratsand waited until he saw one o them coming. Ten hestood up on his hind legs.

Te Chie o the Rats said to the Wol, “Wol, why do you stand on your hind legs?”

“Because I am lame,” said the ricky Wol. “It hurts

me to stand on my ront legs.”

“And why do you keep your mouth open?” asked

the Rat.

“I keep my mouth open so that I may drink in allthe air I can,” said the Wol. “I live on air; it is my only ood day aer day. I can not run or walk, so I stay here.I try not to complain.” When the Rats went away the

Wol lay down.



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MORE JATAKA TALES

Te Chie o the Rats was sorry or the Wol, and

he went eah night and morning with all the other Rats

to talk with the Wol, who seemed so poor, and whodid not complain.

Eah time as the Rats were leaving, the Wol aughtand ate the last one. Ten he wiped his lips, and lookedas i nothing had happened.

Each night there were ewer Rats at bedtime. Tenthey asked the Chie o the Rats what the trouble was.

He could not be sure, but he thought the Wol was toblame.

So the next day the Chie said to the other Rats,“You go frst this time and I will go last.”

Tey did so, and as the Chie o the Rats went by,the Wol made a spring at him. But the Wol was not

quick enough, and the Chie o the Rats got away.

“So this is the ood you eat. Your legs are not so lameas they were. You have played your last trik, Wol,” said

the Chie o the Rats, springing at the Wol ’s throat. He

bit the Wol, so that he died.

And ever aer the Rats lived happily in peace andquiet.



11

THE WOODPECKER,

TURTLE AND DEER

ONCE upon a time a Deer lived in a orestnear a lake. Not ar rom the same lake, aWoodpecker had a nest in the top o a tree;

and in the lake lived a urtle. Te three were riends,

and lived together happily.

A hunter, wandering about in the wood, saw the

oot-prints o the Deer near the edge o the lake. “I musttrap the Deer, going down into the water,” he said, andsetting a strong trap o leather, he went his way.

Early that night when the Deer went down todrink, he was caught in the trap, and he cried the cry

o capture.

At once the Woodpecker ew down rom her tree-top, and the urtle came out o the water to see whatcould be done.

Said the Woodpecker to the urtle: “Friend, youhave teeth; you gnaw through the leather trap. I willgo and see to it that the hunter keeps away. I we both

do our best our riend will not lose his lie.”



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MORE JATAKA TALES

So the urtle began to gnaw the leather, and the

Woodpecker ew to the hunter’s house.

At dawn the hunter ame, knie in hand, to the rontdoor o his house.

Te Woodpecker, apping her wings, ew at the

hunter and struck him in the ace.

Te hunter turned ak into the house and lay downor a little while. Ten he rose up again, and took hisknie. He said to himsel: “When I went out y the ront

door, a Bird ew in my ace; now I will go out by theback door.” So he did.

Te Woodpecker thought: “Te hunter went out

by the ront door beore, so now he will leave by theback door.” So the Woodpecker sat in a tree near the

back door.



13

THE WOODPECKER, TURTLE AND DEER

When the hunter came out the bird ew at himagain, apping her wings in the hunter’s ace.

Ten the hunter turned back and lay down again.When the sun arose, he took his knie, and started outonce more.

Tis time the Woodpecker ew back as ast asshe could y to her riends, crying, “Here comes thehunter!”

By this time the urtle had gnawed through allthe pieces o the trap but one. Te leather was so hardthat it made his teeth eel as i they would all out. Hismouth was all covered with blood. Te Deer heard theWoodpeker, and saw the hunter, knie in hand, oming

on. With a strong pull the Deer broke this last piece o

the trap, and ran into the woods.Te Woodpecker ew up to her nest in the tree-

top.

But the urtle was so weak he could not get away.He lay where he was. Te hunter picked him up andthrew him into a bag, tying it to a tree.

Te Deer saw that the urtle was taken, and madeup his mind to save his riend’s lie. So the Deer let thehunter see him.

Te hunter seized his knie and started aer the

Deer. Te Deer, keeping just out o his reach, led thehunter into the orest.

When the Deer saw that they had gone ar intothe orest he slipped away rom the hunter, and swi



THE WOODPECKER, TURTLE AND DEER

as the wind, he went by another way to where he had

le the urtle.

But the urtle was not there. Te Deer called,“urtle, urtle!”; and the urtle called out, “Here I amin a bag hanging on this tree.”

Ten the Deer lied the bag with his horns, and

throwing it upon the ground, he tore the ag open, andlet the urtle out.

Te Woodpeker ew down rom her nest, and theDeer said to them: “You two riends saved my lie, buti we stay here talking, the hunter will fnd us, and wemay not get away. So do you, Friend Woodpecker, y

away. And you, Friend urtle, dive into the water. I willhide in the orest.”

Te hunter did come back, but neither the Deer,nor the urtle, nor the Woodpeker was to e seen. Heound his torn bag, and picking that up he went back to his home.

Te three riends lived together all the rest o theirlives.

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