Two Turtle Jatakas Reading Notes

I chose the Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt (Two Turtle Jatakas) to take notes on because this story was my favorite. It was short and simple, but the twists and turns were impressively sharp.

Story 1: How The Turtle Saved His Own Life 

by Ellen C. Babbitt

Notable plot points:

• The story begins: A king made a lake in the courtyard for his sons, the young princes, to play in. They often swam and sailed on the lake.
• The story develops: The king asked his men to put fish inside the lake, and he then told his boys who were excited to see the new fish. However, in addition to the fish was a turtle.
• The princes had apparently never seen a turtle before, and thus they were afraid of the strange (opinion: adorable) creature. They told their father, the king, and thus the king ordered the turtle to be executed, rather than educating his sons in the existence of turtles. Could be, though, that the king himself didn't know of turtles, which honestly isn't improbable at this point.
• Many suggested various ways to kill the turtle. Finally, a man suggests the unthinkable: throw the turtle in the lake so it flows out into the rocks in the river. Little did they know that turtles thrive in aquatic environments.
• The turtle can magically speak (dark sorcery, no doubt).
• The turtle uses reverse psychology to make the king think throwing the turtle into the lake would be the worst fate, thereby saving himself by making the king do exactly what he wanted. What a clever turtle.

All in all, this was a strange but enthralling tale of a magic trickster turtle. I think it's a little strange that no one seemed to have any concept of what a turtle was, so perhaps I could play around with that line of logic in my own story. I could also explain a little more about how the turtle can speak, or even have the old man actually trying to save the turtle from such a wrongful execution by suggesting what he did.

Relief of The Foolish Tortoise at Candi Mendut. Source: Wikimedia

Story 2: The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking 

by Ellen C. Babbitt

Notable Plot Points:

• The story begins: The turtle befriended two Geese who became frequent visitors at the pond the turtle resided at
• The Geese, one day, decided to invite the turtle to their home far away, but they would have to carry the turtle by having him bite on a stick between them
• The important part of the plot is that the turtle is required not to talk. The Geese told him they would only agree to take him with them if he agreed not to say a word to anybody. However, the turtle apparently did not make the logical step in his mind that if he spoke while he was being carried he would then fall to his death. Instead, he just agreed blatantly to not say a word to anyone, which was a promise he broke.
• There were children in a village (assumingly below them) that began making fun of the turtle. The turtle retorted, but by doing so he broke his promise not to speak and thus died because of his actions.

I think between the two turtle jatakas this was my favorite. I actually immersed myself in the friendship between the two geese and the turtle. It was incredibly jarring to read the ending of the story. Not only did the turtle die after I became invested in this short story's character, but the two geese seemed to be rather apathetic about their friend's tragic death, "That fellow could not keep his mouth shut. He had to talk, and so lost his life." Honestly, I thought they were good friends, so surely the geese would feel something more than what came across to me as a level of contempt for the turtle.