Reading Notes: Francis and Thomas Jataka Tales

For my last reading in this class I decided to do one more Jataka tale, this time from Francis and Thomas. One that I really enjoyed was titled "The Ass In The Lion's Skin." This is the story of a merchant who went town to town selling goods. He had a donkey that would carry his goods with him. When he got to a town, he would take the goods off of the donkey and send him out alone to eat. HE would cover the donkey in a lion's skin so no one would bother him. Farmers would see the ass, think it was a lion and stay away. This worked until one town saw the lion and tried to scare it away by shouting and beating on drums. This scared the donkey and he let out a "hee-haw" and the villagers realized it was not a lion. They beat the ass and stole the lions skins. I'm not sure what lesson this story teaches but I found it very amusing to read.

Bibliography: Francis and Thomas Jataka Tales (Link)

Donkey (Source)