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- The Monkey and the Crocodile jatakas are stories about a stupid crocodile that gets tricked, on multiple occasions, by a monkey that he is trying to eat. First, the monkey convinces the crocodile that he keeps his heart in a tree and gets away. The second time the crocodile pretends to be a rock, but the monkey sees through the ruse and gets away again.
- In both of the stories the monkey lives on the side of a river. In the middle of the river is an island full of lush fruit trees. The monkey wants to get to those trees and the crocodile attempts to use that desire against him. Lucky for the monkey, the crocodile is deeply stupid.
- My question, when reading these jatakas, is if the island in the middle of the river is so full of fruit to eat, why does the monkey insist on living on the riverbank? Why not move to where the food is? He is constantly risking his life to go back and forth when he could just live on the island, stay safe, and eat all that he wants all the time. The only reason he survives is because the crocodile is dumb and easily tricked. What would happen if the monkey came against a more intelligent crocodile?
- I would write a third jataka in which the stupid, young crocodile goes to his wily old uncle for help in catching the monkey. The monkey can just barely escape with his life and realize that the going back and forth from island to riverbank is no longer worth the risk.
Bibliography: The Jatakas Tales of India by Ellen Babbitt. Web Source.
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