Reading Notes: Inayat. Twenty Jataka Tales Part A

For my reading I read the first part of Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat. I really enjoyed these short stories. What I liked most about them is the theme and message that they carried. One popular message was that of a leader being willing to sacrifice their selves for their people. Also that a leader should lead through love and compassion. In the first story the monkey king says to rule your people through love because they are your children. I think this message of self sacrifice and leadership would be easy to turn into my own story. This is a theme that is present in a ton of literature and media today as well. I liked the first story, The Monkey Bridge. A monkey tribe wants to keep their delicious fruit secret. It must never float down the river to be discovered by man. When this happens the king comes to take all the fruit and kill all the monkeys. The monkey leader sacrifices himself by using his body as a bridge to allow his people to escape. This kills him, but he has a minute to share why he sacrificed himself for his people to the human king. I also liked the story Banyan. In this story two kingdoms of deer are herded and captured in the human kings yard. every day one of them is killed for food. In order to prevent further harm and pain they decide to send one deer a day as a sacrifice. One day a young mother is chosen, the first deer king says she must do her duty, the second king goes in her place. The human king is so moved by this act of co0mpassion he frees all the animals. Important to note the leaders were special golden deers that were never to be killed. 

Majestic Golden Deer

Wikimedia deer link

Title: Twenty Jataka Tales
Author: Noor Inayat (Khan)

Reading Guide