Reading Notes: Jataka Tales Part A

One of the stories that interested me the most was "The Sandy Road." It not only had a moral at the end but also a happy ending. I like the context of the story of the merchants going to city to sell their goods, but could only travel at night as the sun would heat up the sand extremely hot. They all rested during the day and travels at night. They used water, fire and sun to cook food during the daylight. They way of trailing was by following stars patterns and one of the head, who takes care of ox falls asleep and looses the right path. He was so sure of reaching the city next day that he makes other merchants throw away all the water and food, but since they are lost they were in desperate need for water. They had to feed the ox to keep going. They did not loose any hope of finding water, so they go around the desert and look for plants. They find one and dig it up, right as one of the merchant was about to give up because they hit the rock, one of the other merchant saves not to give up and he goes and keep digging until they find water. It was nice to see to never give up theme and also to be cautious of where you are going.

Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Ellen Babbitt

Ox wagon in the dessert 

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