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Week 11 Reading Notes: Jataka Tales Part B


  • "The Elephant Girly-Face"
    • another fable-like tale that teaches a lesson
    • once a king had an elephant that was so gentle and good and looked so kind that he named him girly-face
    • girly-face, the elephant, sat in his stall one night as some robbers knelt nearby discussing their plans
      • the robbers said that they would break in and kill anyone who wakes up because a robber shouldn't be afraid to kill and should never be good, not even for a moment 
      • girly-face heard the men talking and thought that this was how he was supposed to act
    • the next morning the keeper of the elephants went to feet girly-face and the elephant picked him up with his trunk and threw him to the ground killing him
      • then girly-face killed another keep who had come to see what was happening
    • girly-face was said to have acted so ugly for days and days that food was left for him but no one would come near him
    • the king sent one of his wise men to see what was wrong with girly-face
      • the wise man had known the elephant a long time
      • he examined girly-face and could not find anything wrong with him
      • he concluded that girly-face had heard the talk of bad men and was imitating them
      • he asked if any bad men had been in the area since girly-face had started acting ugly and he was told that some robbers had been caught nearby
      • the wise man sent word to the king that good men were needed to sit near girly-face's stall and speak good words
      • the king sent some of his best men who sat and talked near girly-face's stall about how everyone should be good and kind
      • girly-face determined that he should also be good and kind because these men's words were teaching him a lesson
      • from then on girly-face was "as tame and good as ever an elephant could be"
  • Storytelling notes: I picked this story because I want to change that poor elephant's name. Honestly, "girly-face," come on. Like the other tales in this version of the Jataka Tales, it was simplified for children. I am thinking about updating the story and giving it some twists and turns since the source material is so short. 
  • Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt, illustrated by Ellsworth Young (1912).
(from Jataka Tales on YouTube by channel Geethanjali - Cartoons for Kids)

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