Reading Notes: The Jataka Tales Francis and Thomas Part B

These notes are over The Jataka Tales by H.T. Francis and E.J. Thomas. The Stupid Monkeys was a sort of tragic but also illustrative example of a being's capacity for stupidity. Being ignorant essentially made the monkey's useless. Their genuine goal was to nourish the trees. They wanted to give them enough water to really make sure they were happy. However, they thought they had to see the roots. They were ignorant, so they tore up the trees, watered them, and ultimately killed them by tearing them from their soil. This is reflective of the way people sometimes want to do good something, but because they are not skilful and knowledgeable, they cannot be effective. It's like a president starting a war to retaliate against terrorist acts. They want to do good. Their ultimate goal is to stop terrorism, but they shoot themselves in the foot. The knowledgeable course would be to see that terrorism is an act of violence, so their goal should be to stop the violence. Similarly, the monkey's goal is to nourish the trees and the trees are nourished from water and nutrients in the soil. This means the trees need enough water but they also need to stay in the soil. They need to protect the roots by not tearing them. Look at the root of the problem, educate yourself, then act. This would be a good lesson for a story.

Roots by RoRo on Wikimedia Commons