Reeding Notes Week 12 Part B

Monkey King Cont.

The king found the fruit and the monkeys. He ordered his men to surround them and let none of them escape so that they may eat them. The monkeys heard this and were afraid. They asked their king what they should do. They also heard the men mention that they were to capture the monkeys in the morning not leaving much time for them to escape. The monkey king thought a while and came up with a plan to use reeds tied to his feet to creat a bridge for his people to cross over. When he did this the reeds were to short so it did not work. He with all his might clung to the branch and called all his eighty thousand followers to run over his back onto the reed so they might not die. They all did this and lived. One of the monkeys however jumped upon his back and broke it for he was quite heavy. The King Brahmadatta saw this and shed much tears for the monkey king seeing what had happened. The monkey king mentioned to Brahmadatta that it was okay if he died because his people would live on. This caused the king to have a change of heart and to rule his people with love.

Bibliography: Twenty Jataka tales retold by Noor Inayat

Monkey Making a Face by Unkown

Reading Notes Week 12 Part A

Monkey Bridge

A Giant monkey ruled eighty thousand monkeys and they all lived together in the Himalaya Mountains. There was a stream through where they lived that fell onto this wonderful tree. The tree would produce the most wonderful fruits. The monkeys were really happy and lived most of their days eating and relaxing. They would eat the fruit which tasted like honey. The Giant monkey advised them that they should destroy all the fruit as it was produced so it would not fall in the stream and lead to the villages of man. For man would come in search of it and would take all the fruit. They obeyed this order for a very long time till one fell through the cracks. The fruit was carried away on an ant’s nose and picked up in the large city of Benares. The fruit was then found by King Brahmadatta as he was bathing. They were amazed by the dazzling fruit and wondered where it had come from. Another that was with him told him that it was a mango and that it grew it the Himalayas. The men tasted it and they all agreed the fruit was divine. And the king himself went in search of this fruit.

Bibliography: Twenty Jataka tales retold by Noor Inayat

Coaita or Spider Monkey by George Shaw