Two Turtle Jatakas
The Turtle and the King
The main characters in this story was a turtle, king, and boys. In the story, the king placed some fish within a lake along with a turtle. Since the young princes of the village had never seen a turtle before, they assumed he was a demon. When the turtle was ordered to be killed, the king felt that the best punishment would be something that the king, himself, was afraid of. He suggested to throw the turtle into a river. The turtle acted horrified at the thought. However, after the punishment was done, the turtle was safe and sound.
One of the greatest weaknesses of the king was ignorance. If he had learned and known that the water was a safe place for turtles, he would have been able to successfully kill it. The king assumed that his great fear was shared among others. Assumptions can lead to false truths.
The Turtle and the Geese
This tale was about the geese offering to take the turtle where they were going to migrate. The only stipulation was that the turtle could not tell anyone about the agreement. When the geese were ready to take the turtle flying, they brought a stick so he could bite and ride with them. As they were soaring over a village, some kids were talking about how ridiculous a flying turtle was. Instead of keeping his mouth shut, the turtle replied back and fell to his death.
There were several character flaws with the turtle. One, the turtle did not keep his promise that he would keep his mouth shut. The second, the turtle could not help but reply back to the villagers. Sometimes in life, when people talk about someone behind their back, it is best to ignore what others are saying. The only person who gets hurt when retorting back is yourself.
(Jataka Tales - Image Source)
Bibliography:"The Turtle and the King." and "The Turtle and the Geese." from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. Web Source
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