Reading Notes: Jataka Tales Part B
Today, my favorite story out of the second part of Babbitt's Jataka Tales was The Elephant Girly Face. I had read another student's story that was based off it, but hadn't read the original yet.
In this story, king's elephant named Girly-face is known as one of the most peaceful and good elephants. One night outside her walls, some robbers talked about killing and stealing from people, so Girly-face assumed this is how they should act as well. The next morning, she kills her handler, then kills another person. The king is curious as to why, so he sends wise men to study him. In the end, they find out that if Girly-face is surrounded by good, he acts good. If surrounded by bad, he acts good. So after sending people to talk about how to be good and kind by him, he becomes the best elephant there ever was.
This story does a great job covering how people act in the surroundings they grow up in. Someone born into a life of crime may never know what a life outside of crime is like. Someone born into an abusive family may display those same traits to those around them, and so on. For a story that may be told to children, it does a great job of putting things into a simple perspective!
Bibliography: The Elephant Girly Face by Ellen C. Babbitt
In this story, king's elephant named Girly-face is known as one of the most peaceful and good elephants. One night outside her walls, some robbers talked about killing and stealing from people, so Girly-face assumed this is how they should act as well. The next morning, she kills her handler, then kills another person. The king is curious as to why, so he sends wise men to study him. In the end, they find out that if Girly-face is surrounded by good, he acts good. If surrounded by bad, he acts good. So after sending people to talk about how to be good and kind by him, he becomes the best elephant there ever was.
This story does a great job covering how people act in the surroundings they grow up in. Someone born into a life of crime may never know what a life outside of crime is like. Someone born into an abusive family may display those same traits to those around them, and so on. For a story that may be told to children, it does a great job of putting things into a simple perspective!
Bibliography: The Elephant Girly Face by Ellen C. Babbitt
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| A common Asian Elephant |
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