Reading Notes: More Jataka Tales Part A

For this week's reading, I'll be going through Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat Khan. Although I have done many of my reading notes on Jataka tales, each author's interpretation of them is so different that I learn new things from them each time. The first ten stories are The Monkey Bridge, The Guilty Dogs, Banyan, The Tortoise and the Geese, The Fairy and the Hare, The Golden Feathers, The Young Parrot, The Empty Lake, The Swan Kingdom, and The Master's Test.

Right off the bat, I loved Inayat's interpretation and story-telling style. Her stories have a flow to them that was missing from some of the other versions of the Jataka tales I've read, which could sometimes tend to be more brief. Hers take on much more of a poetic sound, turning the stories into tales rather than short fables to learn from. This, to me, makes them more memorable and enjoyable to read.

Another thing I enjoyed greatly was her attention to detail. They add to the reader's ability to immerse themselves in the story as well as benefit from the moral it teaches. I especially loved in the Banyan story, how she told it as though she were really narrating the story to a little child. With her writing, it's so much easier to see how these stories have been passed down for hundreds if not thousands of years.

One of the kings of the deer, Banyan, who was willing to sacrifice himself despite his protected and regal status.

Citations:

All tales were pulled from this online book: Inayat, N. (2018). Twenty Jātaka tales, retold by Noor Inayat, and pictured by H. Willebeek Le Mair. Retrieved April 9, 2019, from https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.39000000078449;view
Image citation: https://reflectionsonemptiness.com/2017/06/03/king-banyan-the-golden-deer/

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