Reading Notes: Jataka Tales part B

 How the Monkey Saved His Troop

By Ellen C. Babbitt

I like the different places the fruit fell, I could make a story based on where the fruit fell and how it influences the story in latter areas.

I think it was interesting how the author compared mangoes to another fruit, the peach. 

The monkeys took what the tree gave, but also climbed the tree to take what wasn't ready to fall or not.

The mango was discovered by the king on accident, and the king found out about the fruit from foresters.

The king decides to take all of the mangoes, and kill all of the monkeys, which has a greedy theme to the story.

The chief of the monkeys worked to save them all, there is a theme I relate to the modern world of humans wanting what animals have so they wipe out both. Similar to a new documentary I watched called seaspiracy. 

The chief had the monkeys cross his back, so he literally carried his loved ones on his back.

The ending of the story is the absolute best part. The king sees how the chief monkey saved his troops and made sure he was protected for the rest of his life. This message is really powerful because one organism saw how the other would do anything to protect its group and vowed to protect them.

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