Friday, March 27, 2020

Reading Notes: Babbitt's Jakata Tales Part B


  • The Elephant Girly-face
    • The king had an elephant named Girly-face, because the elephant was so gentle and good and looked so kind, and would never hurt anybody
      • One night some robbers entered the courtyard and sat down to talk about breaking into a house, right outside Girly-face's stall
        • They talk about how a robber must not be afraid to kill, to be cruel and have no pity
          • Girly-face interpreted this as a lesson on how to act: he decides he must be cruel, and show no pity, and not be good even for a moment
            • The next morning the keeper comes to feed him, so he picks him up and throws him to the ground and kills him
              • Another keeper ran to see, so GF killed him too
      • For days GF was so ugly that no one dared go near
        • The king heard of this and sent one of his wise men to find out what was wrong
          • The wise man knew GF and looked him over carefully, finding nothing wrong and finally decided he must have overheard some bad men talking
            • So he asks the keepers if there were any bad men recently, and the keeper says a band of robbers was caught a few weeks ago
          • The wise man reports back to the king that GF must have been listening to bad men talk, so if he could hear some good men talk he will be a good elephant again
            • The king sent a company of good men to sit near GF's stall and talk, as they told each other that it is wrong to hurt any one, wrong to kill, and everyone should be gentle and good
              • GF absorbs this new lesson, and thinks he must be gentle and good and not kill anyone
                • And from then on, he was as tame and good as an Elephant could be
  • The King's White Elephant
    • A number of carpenters lived on a river bank near a large forest, and every day travelled in boats to the forest to cut down the trees and make lumber
      • While they were at work an elephant approached them, limping on 3 feet
        • They see a huge splinter in his foot, pull it out, and washed it carefully so the elephant would be well again soon
          • The elephant was very thankful and decides to be useful to the carpenters to repay them
            • He would pull up trees for the carpenters, or sometimes roll the logs down to the river, or bring them their tools. In exchange, the carpenters fed him well three times a day
    • Now the elephant was getting old, as elephants do, so he called his son - an all-white, beautiful, strong elephant - and took him to learn to help the carpenters in his place
      • The white elephant did as his father told him, and was also cared for and fed by the carpenters
        • At night when the work was done, the white elephant would play with the carpenters' children in the river. He would pick them up and set the children in trees, then let them climb down on his back
          • One day the king came down to the river and saw the beautiful white elephant and wanted him. He paid the carpenters well, and took the elephant home with him
            • The king was very proud of his new elephant and took the best care of him
    • Seem a little anticlimactic, right? I interpret it as a metaphor, that through kindness, hard work, and doing the right thing, one can achieve great rewards and high status

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


A White Elephant (Wikimedia, link)

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