Reading Notes: Jatakas

 Jatakas

Bibliography: Jatakas, Planchatantra, and Other Fables from India: The Hypocritical Cat

River

This story is about a troop of rats that lived near holes and burrows by the river. There at the river, there also lived a cat. The cat would see the rats and wished to eat them. However, because there were so many of them, he felt he was not strong enough and would scare most of them away. One day the cat decided to face the sun and stand on one leg. This off behavior grabbed the attention of the rats. The cat told the rats that he faces the sun because he worships the sun, opens his mouth because he eats air and does not eat anything else, and stands on one leg because the earth would not bear his weight. This scheme was a way to get the rats to lower their guard. After this, one by one,  the rats disappeared as the cat ate them. The chief of the rats began to notice his troop was getting smaller and became suspicious of the cat. The next morning he went to the cat prepared for anything. When the cat tried to eat the rat, the chief rat dodge the cat and attacked his throat. The other rats heard and came running to eat away at the cat.