Week 11: Reading A (More Jatakas

A.     The Empty Lake

-       Once there was a lake with many fish in it, one day, they met and one fish told the story of the Great Fish King from long ago

-       The King Fish  had gold fins and a gold back, and he was a great king and loved by all the fish

-       During his reign, the lake began to dry up because of the heat.

-       The King Fish said that Queen Rain had forgotten to replenish the water

-       After the lake was nearly dry, the King Fish called to Queen Rain in a soft whisper (very respectfully)

-       She answered his prayer and sent fairies to send water and she also summoned the Thunder King to send a storm

-       The rain fell for days and the entire lake was filled

-       Because of the honorable King Fish, the lake was filled and the Queen promised to never let the lake dry up again in his honor

B.     The Swan Kingdom

-       Lake Manasa was said to be the most beautiful lake in the world; the water shone like the color of the sky

-       It was very green and covered with trees and flowers

-       This kingdom has a thousand swans on the lake

Image: Lake Manasa with the Swans

Phxere

-       The kingdom was that of King Dhritarashra and Sumukha, the chief in command for the royal army

-       The swans were beautiful and many other kings admired them, especially the king of Benares

-       The king wanted a lake just like it, so he built one with tons of flowers and trees, and it was even better than Manasa

-       Birds called the other birds from different kingdoms to come, and the swans decided to leave and go to the new lake

-       This was a trap for King Dhritarsarsha, and he was caught by the other king

-       Sumukha decided to stay with the king instead of going back to safety and the swans began to cry out in agony

-       The king of the swans has also been caught and the free swans did not want to leave his side either

-       The king that captured them was amazed by both the swan’s and Sumukha’s loyalty, and the king sent them home

-       The swans then returned to Lake Manasa and has a miraculous homecoming to the beautiful lake

C.     The Golden Feathers

-       Once there lived a very poor man with his wife and two daughters

-       One day, the man left them and told them he would return to them with riches; he loved his wife and wanted her and his daughters to have jewels and nice things

-       On his journey, he met a fairy that turned him into a goose. He flew to a lake and noticed that he had golden feathers in his reflection

-       He went back home and told his wife that he will return every week with one gold feather to give her so she may sell it for money

-       One day the wife, who was very selfish, though the goose might stop coming to the house, so she captured him and plucked all his feathers.

-       She threw the naked goose into a box and neglected him

-       The fairy said his feathers would turn white (no more gold) if the feathers were taken from him; he had to choose to give them to her

-       Then, he regained his strength to fly away and lived happily with other birds

Bibliography: Twenty Jataka Tales. Noor Inayat (Khan). Babel.