Out of all the stories that I read, there were three that were all very common in how they were told, they characters within them, and the overall theme. These were "The Cunning Crane and the Crab" by W.H.D. Rouse, "The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart" by Marie L. Shedlock, and "The Crocodile in the River" by Robert Chalmers.
The latter two included the exact same characters: a hungry female crocodile, a loyal male crocodile, and a cunning monkey. The crocodiles were not dumb however, for they had a smart plan of themselves to try and trick the monkey, but the monkey just happened to be smarter. This was also the case in the story about the crane and the crab. The crane was extremely smart himself by tricking the fish into thinking that he was kind; however, the crab was able to outsmart even the crane.
For each of these three stories, the "villain" (i.e crocodile and crane) was driven by hunger/desire. This desire ultimately led them to fail at obtaining what they wanted. I think this story is used to teach people that having a strong desire and greed for something will lead to your downfall. The crane getting beheaded was the extreme version of that, but even the crocodile was going to get a butt chewing from his wife when he goes back home.
There was also a "hero" for each story (i.e monkey and crab) that were able to come up with their own trick to save themselves. All three characters had patience and great observation skills to be able to see what the villain was trying to do. Rather than acting hastily, they were able to observe the situation and form a plan of action to escape. In the end, the smart and patient heroes were able to live on with their lives, while the villains had to face defeat.
One thing that I noticed between the two stories is the violence that occurred in the crane/crab story and lack of violence in the monkey/crocodile stories. In the beginning of the the monkey/crocodile story it mentioned that the Buddha told the story with him as the monkey. Rather than end the story with him physically defeating the crocodile, he showed that he could do it mentally. To me, another lesson the Buddha is trying to teach is that violence is not always needed against an adversary. The crab did not follow this, but instead used wit and physical violence to defeat the crane.
(Crane deceiving fish. Source: Jatakas)
For each of these three stories, the "villain" (i.e crocodile and crane) was driven by hunger/desire. This desire ultimately led them to fail at obtaining what they wanted. I think this story is used to teach people that having a strong desire and greed for something will lead to your downfall. The crane getting beheaded was the extreme version of that, but even the crocodile was going to get a butt chewing from his wife when he goes back home.
There was also a "hero" for each story (i.e monkey and crab) that were able to come up with their own trick to save themselves. All three characters had patience and great observation skills to be able to see what the villain was trying to do. Rather than acting hastily, they were able to observe the situation and form a plan of action to escape. In the end, the smart and patient heroes were able to live on with their lives, while the villains had to face defeat.
One thing that I noticed between the two stories is the violence that occurred in the crane/crab story and lack of violence in the monkey/crocodile stories. In the beginning of the the monkey/crocodile story it mentioned that the Buddha told the story with him as the monkey. Rather than end the story with him physically defeating the crocodile, he showed that he could do it mentally. To me, another lesson the Buddha is trying to teach is that violence is not always needed against an adversary. The crab did not follow this, but instead used wit and physical violence to defeat the crane.
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