Reading Notes Part B: Jakata Tales, The Sarabha

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There is a deer who lives way back in the forest and no one ever sees him. The men call him the Sarabha. If everything is quiet in the world then you can hear his voice. One day a king was hunting around in the forest and he saw one of these Sarabhas in the forest. He called out asking who this was and the Sarabha disappeared into the woods. He asked who this creature was but before he could say anything the creature disappeared into the forest. The King wanted to catch him so he got on his horse and shot arrows toward the deer however they kept dodging them. The horse kept running and soon the armies were out looking for the King since he had been gone for so long. They spotted him and the king demanded they run faster and catch him. Suddenly the king and his horse came across a deep chasm and the Sarabha was able to leap across it. The King did not see this chasm and the horse did not jump it. The King was flung off the horse into the Chasm. The Sarabha saw the King had fallen and was saddened for him. The deer said he should save him because he was all alone. He found the king and told him not to be frightened. The king was ashamed he viewed the deer as his enemy and apologized. His armor had kept him safe from the fall. The Sarabha trusted the king so he took him on his back and climbed out of the chasm. The King thanked him and asked if he wanted to go back to his forest. The Sarabha said that the forest was his home and the King promised he would be hunted no longer.








Author's Note:

I thought this story was interesting because it was one of the first ones I have read where all sides get along at the end. I would love to put my own twist on this.









Bibliography:

Author: Noor Inayat (Khan)

Title: The Sarabha

Link: Story

Reading Notes: Part A Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales.

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A king was going through a city pulled by six white horses and when he returned at night the horses went back to their stable. The chariot was left in the courtyard and one night when it began to rain, some of the palace dogs thought it would be fun to take the chariot play with the chariot straps. They quietly went throughout the courtyard and began to chew on the straps. They sneakily went back to their places before morning. The stableman came out the next morning to look at the chariot and noticed that the straps were completely ruined because they were eaten. They nervously told the King and blamed it on the dogs’ due to the noticeable bitten straps. The King was so mad he told them to kill all of the dogs, every single one in the city. Every single dog in the city heard about this and they all began to cry. 

The dogs set out to find their main dog and he asked why they were all gathered together and why they were also so sad. The dogs told him that they were all in danger due to the leather straps of the chariot being torn up, and the king’s order to kill them all. The chief said that outside dogs can't get into the palace so therefore it must be the palace dogs and that they should be blamed instead of the city dogs. The chief dog said he would show the guilty dogs to the king to save the rest. The dog walked through the city and although every man wanted to kill him the look of love he had in his eyes made them not. He made it to the palace and talked to the king and the king repeated his orders to the chief dog. The king said every dog was in danger except the royal dogs. The chief dog questioned his reasoning and said the royal dogs were the ones to blame. The King asked for proof so the chief dog asked for the royal dogs to be brought to them with kusa grass and buttermilk so they did. They ate so many shreds of leather fell on the ground and they were found guilty. The King believed that the dog was telling the truth and respect that. He ordered every city dog to have rich food and royal care.

Author's Note

I immediately gravitated to this story because I could imagine so many alternate endings and was excited to write my own rendition of this. I think this story could be really fun to tell with another group of animals. My project is kind of animal-themed so it would be fun to keep it up. I thought a group of ocean animals who tore up the royal boat could be a good idea.

Bibliography:

Author: Noor Inayat

Title: The Guilty Dogs

Link: Story