Reading Notes: Jataka Tales Part B

The Wise and the Foolish Merchant by Ellen C. Babbitt

  • two merchants stopping in a big city to stock up on goods and supplies so they can sell it to people throughout the countryside (desert)
  • both are leading at the same time. Wise merchant asks if the other merchant will go before or after him
  • other merchant, who is a fool, says he will go before him, in hopes of getting the best prices / food / path first
  • wise merchant lets him, because he knows the fool merchant will have to dig his own wells for water, let his oxen eat the old grass, and set his prices based on the first merchant
  • fool merchant sets out to the countryside, carrying lots of barrels of water with him and his men
  • demon in the desert spots the convoy and decides to trick him so they can eat him
  • demon and demon friends dress up as merchants and decorate themselves, wagons, and oxen in water-lilies and wet grass to act like there is a forest and ponds in the desert
  • they tell the foolish merchant that they should dump their water out because there is plenty water ahead, and no need to carry the extra weight
  • foolish merchant and his men do as they say. They dump all their water and continue on in the desert, only to never find any water. They become thirsty and tired, stopping frequently and becoming weary
  • while their guard is down, they get picked off one-by-one from the demons and perish
  • month and a half later, wise merchant comes through the desert, and the demons say the same advice to him. However, wise merchant knows it is a demon because he doesn't cast a shadow. He alerts his men and doesn't dump the water, expecting the demons to attack
  • wise merchant comes across the fool merchant's wagon, and they take supplies off of the wagon and proceeded safety to the city across the desert, making money and retuning to his own city
Image result for mirage of water
Mirage of Water

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