Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology
The Crocodile in the River. Vanarinda Jataka, in The Jataka: Volume 1 translated by Robert Chalmers. Story source
The Bodhisatta, a monkey, is a very idealized character. He has is described as being "big as a mare's foal and enormously strong." The Bodhisatta can also jump quite far considering his size. The Bodhisatta is also smart because he is able to discern that the crocodile is lurking beneath the water trying to catch him (although why he couldn't tell the difference between a crocodile and a rock I do not know). The Bodhisatta is able to trick the crocodile into thinking a rock speaks, and then gets the crocodile to close his eyes, so that he can escape. The Bodhisatta's character seems to revolve around him having these traits.
The crocodile is assumed to be quite strong based on the fact that it is a crocodile. The crocodile is juxtaposed against the monkey in intelligence. The crocodile is tricked twice by the monkey but does not suspect any trickery while it is happening. He opts for no trickery of his own, and instead he explicitly tells the monkey that he is trying to kill him.
The story is set at the banks of a river with fruit bearing trees nearby. Fruit seems to be a somewhat major plot point in this story as well as others. It seems predators are not glorified in this story as well as other; instead, the desirable traits are intelligence and strength, but only for self preservation. The story depicts the Bodhisatta eating fruit and seems to imply that that is all he eats, even though monkeys are omnivores.
The crocodile seems to not have much skin in the game and is only trying to kill the monkey at the behest of his mate.
The Bodhisatta, a monkey, is a very idealized character. He has is described as being "big as a mare's foal and enormously strong." The Bodhisatta can also jump quite far considering his size. The Bodhisatta is also smart because he is able to discern that the crocodile is lurking beneath the water trying to catch him (although why he couldn't tell the difference between a crocodile and a rock I do not know). The Bodhisatta is able to trick the crocodile into thinking a rock speaks, and then gets the crocodile to close his eyes, so that he can escape. The Bodhisatta's character seems to revolve around him having these traits.
The crocodile is assumed to be quite strong based on the fact that it is a crocodile. The crocodile is juxtaposed against the monkey in intelligence. The crocodile is tricked twice by the monkey but does not suspect any trickery while it is happening. He opts for no trickery of his own, and instead he explicitly tells the monkey that he is trying to kill him.
The story is set at the banks of a river with fruit bearing trees nearby. Fruit seems to be a somewhat major plot point in this story as well as others. It seems predators are not glorified in this story as well as other; instead, the desirable traits are intelligence and strength, but only for self preservation. The story depicts the Bodhisatta eating fruit and seems to imply that that is all he eats, even though monkeys are omnivores.
The crocodile seems to not have much skin in the game and is only trying to kill the monkey at the behest of his mate.
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| Crocodile. Source |
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