Week 2 Reading Anthology

Week 2 Anthology

 The Foolish, Timid Rabbit:

Rabbit wakes up and thinks the world is "breaking up". Monkeys drop coconuts, startle the rabbit, it scurries. He runs. Another rabbit takes notice, chases him. This process continues until hundred of rabbits are running as fast as they can go. Eventually a deer joined in who got a fox to join as well. An elephant joined in as well. A lion thought there must be some mistake, so he roared, and the animals suddenly stopped. They exchange words about Earth breaking up. They narrow down which rabbit started the chaos. Rabbit explains the initial thought and woke up to the world breaking up. The lion puts the rabbit on his back, they go to discover it was actually a coconut. Lion goes back to the other animals to let them know that if it weren't for the "king of beasts" (the lion) they weight be running still

Two Turtle Jatakas:

King sent of the boys/men, the boys go and were delighted by the fishes but were surprised by the turtle. They had never seen one. They thought it was a demon. King had his men go catch the demon (the turtle). After they provided suggestions on how to kill it, the turtle thrusts his head out and posed a question. The king disregarded, and said to take the turtle to the lake where "it will surely be killed". The turtle soon became great friends with the geese. The geese flew with a stick between them and the turtle held on. The village children took notice and essentially said they've never seen something more ridiculous. The turtle then fell at the feet of the children. 

The Cunning Crane and the Crab:

Summer came, it got hot, water evaporated until there was hardly any for the fish to live. Close by was a better lake with more water, the crane lived there. Crane offered to take them, but the fish didn't trust him. They believed he would eat them. Crane tries to convince them. Crane took the one-eyed fish first but instead off taking him to the water, he took him to the nest, pecked out his good eye and ate him. He did this with another fish. He then did it until the small, hot lake was empty. He ate every single fish. The crane and crab then have an exchange of words. Crab nipped of the cranes head. Got him with his own trick!

The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart:

Crocodile wanted to eat the monkey's heart. The come up with a plan to catch him. Monkey trusted him and agreed to ride his back to cross the deep and wide granges. They put him in the water and demand to see his heart. The monkey says to take him to land so he can show them. Once he is there he climbs the tree and calls the crocodile a fool

The Crocodile in the River:

Monkey lived in the area, strong as an elephant. There was also a crocodile and his mate. She longed to eat the monkey's heart. The crocodile comes up with a plan to catch the monkey but the monkey out smarts him. He talks to the rock and the crocodile believes that the rock is supposed to talk back. The crocodile talks back. He fell into the monkey's trap. The monkey then outsmarts him again and returns to safety. The crocodile returns to his normal place

The Monkey who Gathered Lotuses:

After realizing he was gifted with marvelous strengths, he begins questioning his mother. She took him with her to the monkey. They had a seemingly emotional exchange. The son, with his strength is strong enough to kill his father. As he approached the water, he took notice of the footprints. They lead to the water but none went back. He began picking flowers. He spoke a stanza. The father knew his plot had failed. His heart burst into seven pieces, he died then and there. 

Unruly Monks:

Bodhisatta was born a deer. An exchange takes place between him, his sister and nephew.  The nephew skipped lessons to learn the ruses of deer. His sister is concerned and said a stanza to Bodhisatta. The story  then goes into a rooster that is noisy. It was so noisy that people couldn't get sleep. The young brahmins had a rooster that was noisy who woke them to do their studies, it died. They looked for another, and got one. It was raised in a cemetery and had no idea about time and seasons. It was noisy at inopportune times.

Goblin City:

City full of She-goblins. If they wanted a husband, they trapped travelers and forced them to get married to them. Once they got tired of their husbands d, they gobbled them up. A ship crashed on the cost near this city, 500 sailors were there. The She-goblins seemed sweet, like they wanted to help, but I was a sham. They would eat the flesh of the men. The captain found out about the sham and was horribly frightened. He alerted his men, some believed him, some didn't. Those who did, escaped. Those who didn't got eaten by the She-goblins.

Ramayana - Via Wikipedia