Reading Notes: Jakata Tales (Spend a Pound to Win A Penny)
Spend A Pound to Win A Penny
This story is about a monkey who is living in a tree when one day men stop nearby and make camp. The men begin to boil peas, and the monkey gets very hungry. When the men leave to tend to their horses for a short time, the monkey quickly runs to the boiling pot of peas and takes handfuls, then swings back up to the tree branch. He is eating the peas when he suddenly drops a single pea and cries out. He swings to grab the one pea he drops, and ultimately drops all of the peas. The men come back and shoo him away from their peas. The monkey swings back up to the tree, empty handed. He lost all his peas because he was greedy about the one he lost.
I liked this story because it's a great lesson to retell about greediness. Often people don't realize how well they have it, and when one thing goes wrong they believe they have nothing. I want to retell this story where a wealthy woman owns a lot of beautiful gemstones. One day she is polishing the gemstones, when she sees a scratch on one. She scrubs and scrubs, trying to make it perfect, but ends up cracking it instead. Angry, she throws the gem which hits a man in the back of the head. He storms over and kicks over the basket, cracking and making all her gems dirty.
This story is about a monkey who is living in a tree when one day men stop nearby and make camp. The men begin to boil peas, and the monkey gets very hungry. When the men leave to tend to their horses for a short time, the monkey quickly runs to the boiling pot of peas and takes handfuls, then swings back up to the tree branch. He is eating the peas when he suddenly drops a single pea and cries out. He swings to grab the one pea he drops, and ultimately drops all of the peas. The men come back and shoo him away from their peas. The monkey swings back up to the tree, empty handed. He lost all his peas because he was greedy about the one he lost.
I liked this story because it's a great lesson to retell about greediness. Often people don't realize how well they have it, and when one thing goes wrong they believe they have nothing. I want to retell this story where a wealthy woman owns a lot of beautiful gemstones. One day she is polishing the gemstones, when she sees a scratch on one. She scrubs and scrubs, trying to make it perfect, but ends up cracking it instead. Angry, she throws the gem which hits a man in the back of the head. He storms over and kicks over the basket, cracking and making all her gems dirty.
(Gems, Pixabay)
Bibliography: Spend A Pound to Win a Penny by W.H.D Rouse from "The Giant Crab, and Other Tales From Old India"
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