Reading Notes: Babbitt's Jakata Tales Part A

• The Monkey and the Crocodile
• Crocodile really coveted a monkey for dinner. So she told her son to go get one for her
• Little Croc has to do some thinking
• Lures the monkey to go to the island where the fruit was ripe, so the monkey gets on Lil Croc's back
• Lil Croc starts to dive underwater and hold the monkey down, but foolishly explains why
• The monkey makes the excuse that he left his heart back at the tree, and escapes up the tree once Lil Croc brings him back
• So, Lil Croc lies on a rock and waits to ambush the monkey
• Who has noticed that rock is taller than it should be. So he calls out to the rock, "expecting" a response
• So the stupid crocodile responds, and once again gives his plan away
• The monkey tells Lil Croc to open wide so he can jump directly into his mouth (knowing that as the mouth opens, the eyes close) so the monkey jumps off the croc's head and onto the riverbank, running up a tree again
• How the Turtle Saved His Own Life
• A King had several young sons who one day saw a turtle in the lake and got scared because they didn't know what it was. Must be a demon, then.
• The King orders it brought back to him, and the princes cry again, so he orders it killed.
• But how do you kill a turtle? They debated heavily. Maybe pound it to a powder, maybe bake it in hot coals. But one old man was afraid of the water and said to throw it in the lake, where it will surely be killed.
• The turtle heard, and said essentially "oh no, the lake would be the most dreadful consequence! The other things were bad, but the lake would be beyond cruel!"
• So naturally the King thought that sounded like a great idea and had his men yuck it into the lake.
• The turtle laughed to himself as he swam back down the river to his old home, "Good! Those people do not know how safe I am in the water!"
• The Ox Who Won the Forfeit
• A man had a very strong ox, and was very proud of him. So one day he rolls up to the village and says he'll pay one thousand pieces of silver if his strong ox can't pull a line of 100 wagons
• The men laughed at him but obliged.
• The man brought his ox and yoked him up, then whipped him and called him rude names and told him to go. But the ox wouldn't go.
• The man sadly pays the forfeit and takes his ox home, where he cries on his bed.
• As he gets about his work, he goes to feed the ox who asks why he whipped him and called him rude names...he had never done that before, he had always been a kind master
• The man apologizes and promises never to do that again, and the ox promises to gain back what he lost
• So they go into the village the next day and the man bets TWO thousand pieces of silver that his ox can pull 100 carts
• This time the man compliments his ox and strokes him and pats his neck
• So the ox pulls all the carts, and the crowd has to pay back the forfeit the man lost
• So both ox and man went home, happy

Source: Jakata Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt (link)

Oxen and Cart (Wikimedia, link)