Reading Notes: Jataka Stories
In reading the Jakata Stories for this week, my first impression was the similarity to Aesop's fables, morality tales imparting wisdom in an easily digestible manner. Their brevity and clarity, combined with the fact they are simple enough to be told to children with themes important for adults as well make them a great vehicle to teach valuable lessons. In writing my own storybook, my takeaway it to ensure to carefully write, in order to not over complicate the message I am trying to tell. Instead, the writing needs to be short, simple, and straightforward, avoiding complexity in favor of approach-ability.
The story in particular that caught my attention was Goblin City, due to the theme inside being something that transcends fables. The unsolvable situation requiring deus ex machina and a leap of faith to solve, this story provides multiple lessons of wariness and belief at the same time. The reason this story struck so close to home was all the characters and settings sounded like they could come from a Dungeons & Dragons setting, with the sailors as Player Characters (PCs) and the rakshasis as the dungeon monsters, providing a threat to the PCs. In this case, the PCs themselves, despite coming to a realization of what the threat they are facing is, find themselves at a loss as to how to resolve the situation. The kind fairy in this case is something common in Dungeons & Dragons stories, the benevolent Non-Player Character (NPC), something the Dungeon Master (DM) who controls the game uses to save the protagonist PCs when they face something beyond their ability to overcome.
Looking at the story in this setting provides a lot of intriguing possibilities for writing my own story, using my background as both a PC and a DM in order to create a narrative. As previously noted, this narrative not only needs to simply convey a lesson in a simple and straightforward manner, but continuing the Dungeons & Dragons example above, provides a relationship and reason for all the characters to be in the situation they find themselves in.
Stories from:
The Giant Crab, and other tales from Old India, W.H.D Rouse, Source
Jataka Tales, Ellen Babbit, Source
Eastern Stories and Legends, Marie Shedlock, Source
The story in particular that caught my attention was Goblin City, due to the theme inside being something that transcends fables. The unsolvable situation requiring deus ex machina and a leap of faith to solve, this story provides multiple lessons of wariness and belief at the same time. The reason this story struck so close to home was all the characters and settings sounded like they could come from a Dungeons & Dragons setting, with the sailors as Player Characters (PCs) and the rakshasis as the dungeon monsters, providing a threat to the PCs. In this case, the PCs themselves, despite coming to a realization of what the threat they are facing is, find themselves at a loss as to how to resolve the situation. The kind fairy in this case is something common in Dungeons & Dragons stories, the benevolent Non-Player Character (NPC), something the Dungeon Master (DM) who controls the game uses to save the protagonist PCs when they face something beyond their ability to overcome.
Rakshasas painting in Brihadeeswara Temple from user Nagarjun Kandukaru
on Flickr
Looking at the story in this setting provides a lot of intriguing possibilities for writing my own story, using my background as both a PC and a DM in order to create a narrative. As previously noted, this narrative not only needs to simply convey a lesson in a simple and straightforward manner, but continuing the Dungeons & Dragons example above, provides a relationship and reason for all the characters to be in the situation they find themselves in.
Stories from:
The Giant Crab, and other tales from Old India, W.H.D Rouse, Source
Jataka Tales, Ellen Babbit, Source
Eastern Stories and Legends, Marie Shedlock, Source
I didn't even think about the comparison to Aesop's fables. That's pretty good, and I can definitely see the similarities. And as far as the goblin city goes, a DND campaign I played involved something somewhat similar with a kingdom controlled by orcs. Never got to finish that one, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have ended as nicely as the goblin city did.
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