Reading notes: Eastern Stories and Legends part B
Standing Buddha Statue
1: The bodisat was born as a bull, and was brought up very well by his brahmin keeper. The bodisat told the brahim to challenge a farmer to see whose bull's could carry the most weight. The brahim did so, and a bet was made. The brahmin got on the bull and set "Giddy up you brute!" To which the bodisat's feelings were hurt and he didn't move and the brahmin lost the bet. Later, the bull asked the brahmin why he called him that and told the brahmin to ask for double or nothing and as long as he was nice to the bull, he would win. The brahmin did so, and called the bull "beauty" this time and the bull dragged the carts and the brahmin won great wealth
2: Still as a bull, the bodisat was sold to a woman. The woman raised the bull as her own son, and the bull wanted to repay her. He took a job with a caravan whose bulls couldn't move their carts. The caravan owner tried to sell the bull short, but the bull realized this and wouldn't work until he was paid the amount previously agreed on. He went back to his owner and she bathed and fed him until she died.
3: Buddha was born as a horse. He was the kings horse and was treated like royalty. 7 kings challenged the king, so the king sent out a knight to fight them before he tried. The knight asked to borrow the horse, and it was granted. The knight killed 6 kings, but the horse was hurt. The knight was about to just get another horse, but the horse told the knight that no other horse could allow the knight to win against the other king. The horse helped the knight win against the last king, and the horse told his king some advice before dying.
4: Buddha was born as the king of monkeys. He lived with 80K other monkeys near a river guarded by an ogre. Buddha told the monkeys to not eat/drink anything that they had not had before or consult the king. They found a water pit, but Buddha saw that an ogre lived there and they didn't drink. The ogre basically told them "step up" and Buddha made a bunch of canes hollow so that the monkeys could drink from safety using straws
5: Buddha was born a brahmin and married and had 3 daughters. After he died, he came back as a bird with golden feathers. He tried to give his past wife and daughters his golden feathers to comfort them. He told them that he was their late father, and would give them feathers from time to time. This made the family wealthy. Mom thought "what's to say dad never comes back. Next time he visits, we should take all his feathers at once." And as she did it, dad's golden feathers faded to white and he flew away never to return.
6: Buddha was born a merchant. The desert was so hot, that merchants had to travel at night. The guide fell asleep one night and the oxen strayed backwards down the path. Buddha saw some grass, and told the team that there must be water near the grass. Buddha motivated his men to continue to work and dig, and finally they struck water. They bathed and ate at the oasis and made it to town the next morning and sold their goods for 3x the profit.
7: Buddha was born as a prime minister who served the king. There was this dope elephant that was honored for its combat abilities. The king decorated it, but when it got old the king took away its honor and decor and set into the forest. The king told a potter to use the elephant to move his clay, but the elephant was insulted and told Buddha about her tale. Buddha told off the king, and the elephants honor was replaced.
8: A dog would go to the elephants stables and eat the scraps that the elephant didn't eat. Eventually, the dog started hanging out with the elephant and would swing from its trunk. When a villager went to the stable and took back the dog to his village. The elephant became depressed and missed his friend, and the king noticed. The king sent his subjects to find the cause of the elephants depression. The subjects realized that the elephant was healthy, so it must be depression. The elephant keeper told the king about the dog, and the king decided to impose a tax on whichever house held the dog would be fined a massive amount. Shortly, the dog owner set the dog loose and the dog ran right back to the elephant.
Bibliography:
Marie Shedlock
Eastern Stories and Legends
http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/free-books-shedlock-eastern-stories-and.html
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