Reading Notes: Tales of Bidpai Part B

All of the stories in part B focus on the relationship between humans and animals or the relationship between other animals. A lot of the time the story takes into account the relationships of natural enemies, such as a fox and a hen, and tests their friendship or patience as they go through hard times. With each story comes an important life lesson for the reader.

The Tortoise and the Geese

• a tortoise and two geese share a pond for many years
• a drought came through and dried up the pond so the geese decide to leave
• the tortoise begs the geese to take him with them and they oblige but there is a catch: the tortoise must keep his mouth clamped over a stick so they can carry him
• people saw the geese moving the tortoise through the air and began to laugh at him
• the tortoise could not stand being laughed at and opened his mouth to retort but ended up falling to his death
• the lesson here is that it is better to keep your mouth shut when facing jeers lest you open it and make yourself look or sound like a fool. It also tells us that opening our mouth to respond to hecklers may do more harm than good.
• the main character, due to a character flaw, orchestrates his own demise

The Lean Cat and the Fat Cat

• a hungry, lean cat finds a fat cat and inquires as to how he appears so well-fed
• the fat cat claims he steals his food from the table of the king
• the lean cat is used to eating broth made by his owner for dinner and wishes to have something more filling
• the cat survives well enough on the broth but his greed pushes him to search for the food of the king
• the fat cat offers to lead the lean cat to the king's dinner table where he might steal some food
• there were so many cats stealing food that the king made a decree saying any cat caught stealing food would be hung immediately
• the fat cat leads the lean cat to the king's table where the lean cat is caught and hung
• the lean cat let his greed overcome his good judgement
• it is better to have a consistent and humble meal than to take from others or steal for something more lavish
• this story also shows that eventually, people that do wrong will get caught and face dire consequences

The Partridge and the Crow

• the crow sees how the partridge walks and finds it very attractive
• the crow tries to imitate the walk and practices it so much that it forgets how it walked originally
• this story reminds the reader that while it's fine to appreciate the qualities someone else may possess, remember that sometimes they are unique to that individual and should remain so
• it is much more important to maintain who you are and to become what you should become

A Red-Legged Partrodge. Found on wikipedia.

Bibliography

The Bidpai Unit

The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Dutton