A colorful introduction to Buddhist fables
A monkey, caught in a monsoon, finds shelter in a cave amid the rubble of a temple. The monkey is not alone. A lion, a jackal, a turtle, and a dove bicker in the cramped space, until a statue of Buddha comes to life. "Hush, children, hush." Buddha says. "I will tell you a story to pass the time." From the tale of the clever monkey outwitting a hungry crocodile to that of a bird and turtle rescuing a friend, the six amusing parables told by the Buddha will introduce young readers to the famous cycle of fables in Buddhist literature known as the Jatakas, or birth stories, which Buddha originally told to his disciples to illustrate his teachings. Joined with stunning linocut illustrations, Jeanne M. Lee's I Once Was a Monkey form a book notable for both its beauty and its wisdom.
A colorful introduction to Buddhist fables
A monkey, caught in a monsoon, finds shelter in a cave amid the rubble of a temple. The monkey is not alone. A lion, a jackal, a turtle, and a dove bicker in the cramped space, until a statue of Buddha comes to life. "Hush, children, hush." Buddha says. "I will tell you a story to pass the time." From the tale of the clever monkey outwitting a hungry crocodile to that of a bird and turtle rescuing a friend, the six amusing parables told by the Buddha will introduce young readers to the famous cycle of fables in Buddhist literature known as the Jatakas, or birth stories, which Buddha originally told to his disciples to illustrate his teachings. Joined with stunning linocut illustrations, Jeanne M. Lee's I Once Was a Monkey form a book notable for both its beauty and its wisdom.
I Once Was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told
40
I Once Was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told
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Overview
A colorful introduction to Buddhist fables
A monkey, caught in a monsoon, finds shelter in a cave amid the rubble of a temple. The monkey is not alone. A lion, a jackal, a turtle, and a dove bicker in the cramped space, until a statue of Buddha comes to life. "Hush, children, hush." Buddha says. "I will tell you a story to pass the time." From the tale of the clever monkey outwitting a hungry crocodile to that of a bird and turtle rescuing a friend, the six amusing parables told by the Buddha will introduce young readers to the famous cycle of fables in Buddhist literature known as the Jatakas, or birth stories, which Buddha originally told to his disciples to illustrate his teachings. Joined with stunning linocut illustrations, Jeanne M. Lee's I Once Was a Monkey form a book notable for both its beauty and its wisdom.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781466896277 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Publication date: | 08/30/2016 |
| Sold by: | Macmillan |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 40 |
| File size: | 8 MB |
| Age Range: | 5 - 9 Years |
About the Author
Jeanne M. Lee is the author and illustrator of many books, including The Song of Mu Lan and Silent Lotus. She lives in Massachusetts.
Jeanne M. Lee is the author and illustrator of many books, including The Song of Mu Lan and I Once Was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told. She lives in Massachusetts.
Read an Excerpt
I Once was a Monkey
Stories Buddha Told
By Jeanne M. Lee
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Copyright © 1999 Jeanne M. LeeAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4668-9627-7
CHAPTER 1
THE FOOLISH FOREST SPRITE
Long long ago, said the statue, I was born a sprite in a young forest. My friend, another forest sprite, ruled in a large adjacent forest, home to all kinds of wild animals.
Now, at the time, a mighty lion lived in my friend's forest with his family, hunting and feeding on the smaller animals. Too often, the lions killed more than they could eat, and the abandoned carcasses of their prey rotted in the sun, creating a foul smell throughout the land. My friend was very distressed by this disorderly state of affairs.
One day, he told me he had decided to chase the lions out of his forest. I advised him that it was an unwise thing to do.
"The lions protect your beautiful forest," I said to him. "When they are gone, farmers from the nearby villages will come without fear to cut down your trees and cultivate your land. Soon your forest will be gone. The other animals, and you, too, will have to find a new home. Please think again."
Alas, my friend did not listen. He took the form of a horrifying ogre one morning and drove away the lion and his family.
As I had predicted, the villagers soon noted the absence of lion tracks. They started cutting down his trees and clearing the land. My friend went to the lions and begged them to return, but they refused.
The lions took refuge in my forest. The other wild animals soon followed. And my foolish friend? He roamed the earth looking for another home.
* * *
"I remember how sad I felt about the destruction of the forest," said the statue. "I wished I had been able to convince my friend that all creatures depend on one another for their existence. Only tolerance of others will bring harmony."
The animals in the cave were silent. Outside, the heavy monsoon rains continued.
"Who are you who are so wise?" the white dove asked.
"I am Gautama Buddha, the Enlightened One," the statue replied. "The piles of stones outside used to be my temple. But the men who built it quarreled, and during their wars my temple was destroyed, except for this small sanctuary now hidden by the roots of the trees."
"Stories are well and good, but I am hungry!" growled the lion.
"There was someone who was very hungry in one of my past lives," said the Buddha. "Listen to this story."
CHAPTER 2THE DECEITFUL HERON
I was then a willow tree on a hill. On one side of the hill was a small pond; on the other side, a large, clear lake. It was toward the end of summer, and it had not rained for many weeks. The pond was drying up. The many fish and the one red crab that lived there were crowding one another as they swam in the muddy water.
One stiflingly hot day, a black heron flew by. He noticed the many fish in the shallow pond. How he wished to eat them all! He went and stood on one leg in the middle of the water.
Curious, the fish approached. "What are you doing in our midst, Heron? Are you thinking of making a meal of us?"
"No, I just feel sorry for all of you in this warm muddy puddle when you could be living in the large cool lake over there," said the heron, gesturing with his beak in the direction of the hill.
"But how can we know if a lake truly lies beyond that hill?" asked the skeptical fish.
"I could take one of you to scout the lake first. Then he can come back and tell you all about it," the heron suggested.
A tough old fish volunteered to go with him. The heron picked up the old fish with his beak, flew over the hill, and let him drop into the cool water of the lake. The old fish swam under the lotus flowers and scouted around the edges of the lake. The bird told the truth! The old fish saw the abundance of food and he was satisfied. The heron took him back to the muddy pond to report the good news.
After hearing the old fish's description, the whole school decided to move to the lake, just as the heron had expected. The old fish was the first to go. The crafty heron picked him up with his beak and flew over the hill, but instead of putting him in the lake, he flew straight to me. He dropped the wriggling fish in a notch between two of my branches, and he tore the flesh off the poor creature until only bones were left.
One at a time, the unsuspecting fish from the small pond were carried to me and devoured by the heron. The foot of my trunk gradually disappeared under a heap of bones. Now only the crab was left.
"It's your turn to move to the lake," the heron said to the red crab. "Let me pick you up with my beak."
The red crab was suspicious. He devised a plan to protect himself.
"I am all ready to move, Heron," he replied. "But my hard shell will hurt your tongue. Let me hold on to your neck with my claws."
"All right, then. Let's go," said the heron.
Again, the greedy bird flew straight to my branches.
"Why are we here?" cried the red crab.
"I'm going to eat you up," chortled the bird. "Just like the others!"
"Not so fast," said the crab, tightening his grip on the heron's neck. "Take me to the lake right now, or I will snap your neck!"
"Loosen your claws!" shrieked the heron. "I will fly you there!"
As soon as they had landed at the lake's edge, the crab squeezed his claws hard on the heron's neck, killing the villain. Then slowly he made his way into the cool water, weeping all the while for his lost friends.
* * *
"I witnessed this awful thing with pain, but being a tree, I was held down by my roots and could move only with the wind. I swore that I would strive to be born as an animal in my next life so that I could help defend weak creatures against deceitful ones."
There was silence in the cave, except for the sniffling of the dove, who was crying softly.
"It was wrong of the heron to have tricked the fish," said the lion. "I would not have acted dishonestly, even if I was hungry. He deserved his fate."
"In life," said the Buddha, "there is no reward for untruthfulness. If you trick others and are cruel to them, they will behave the same way toward you in the end."
"The poor fish," said the turtle with a sigh. "I understand why they wanted to move. I would like to be in that cool lake right now."
"At one time, I too wanted to move to a better place," said the Buddha. "That was when I was born a monkey. Let me tell you what happened."
The small monkey strained his ears to listen.
CHAPTER 3THE MONKEY AND THE CROCODILE
I once was a monkey, strong and nimble, living in a forest near the Ganges River. Now and then, I would go to the river to drink. The Ganges was full of crocodiles and I was careful where I stepped, because the crafty creatures often lay hidden on the muddy banks.
One day, I spotted a huge crocodile near one of my drinking spots.
"Come closer, Monkey, don't be afraid," he called to me. "Have a drink of water, I want to tell you something."
When he saw that I wasn't going to move closer, he said to me, "I notice you here often. Do you ever leave this side of the river?"
"No," I said. "I am happy here."
"Do you know that there are more fruit trees on the other side? Trees whose branches are heavy with ripe mangoes, rose apples, and jackfruit?"
My mouth was watering as I listened to him name those delicious fruits. "I cannot cross this wide river," I said. "I do not swim."
"Climb on my back," said the crocodile. "I will take you across."
Without thinking, I jumped on his back. When we were in the middle of the river, the crocodile began to lower himself into the water.
"What are you doing?" I screamed. "You are drowning me!"
"That's exactly what I'm doing! I am going to eat your heart!"
"Why didn't you tell me before?" I said, trying to sound calm. "I could have saved you the trouble. We monkeys never bring our hearts with us when we go near the water."
"Where do you leave them, then?" asked the crocodile, very annoyed.
"We always leave them hanging on our fig tree," I said, pointing to a fig tree on the riverbank. "See that big red shape there, that's my heart. I will take it down for you if you bring me back."
The crocodile turned around. As soon as we reached land, I jumped off his back and scampered up the tree.
"Tricky Crocodile! You thought you could fool me!" I cried. "You can't even tell a fig from a monkey's heart!"
The foolish old creature was so embarrassed he dropped to the depths of the river without a sound.
* * *
The animals in the cave all laughed.
"Monkey almost lost his heart!" exclaimed the dove. "Little Monkey, aren't you glad to be here with us, rather than on the back of that crocodile?"
The monkey smiled.
"Are you feeling better now?" the Buddha asked him.
"Yes, thank you," said the monkey shyly.
"Wise Buddha, should we never believe what people tell us?" asked the jackal. "You were nearly eaten by the crocodile when you believed him."
"Well, my smart friend," replied the Buddha, "I was greedy for the delicious fruit; therefore, I was ready to believe the crocodile without thinking. It is best always to keep a clear mind, to think before we act. I have another story to illustrate this."
CHAPTER 4THE FLIGHT OF THE BEASTS
I was a lion living in a forest near the ocean. In this forest, at the foot of an old mango tree, a young hare lived in a hole, protected by the wide canopy of tree branches. This little hare was a worrywart.
One day, as he lay resting in the dark, the hare had a frightening thought: What will happen to me if the good earth suddenly caves in?
Just then a huge ripe mango fell to the ground with a crash, right above the little hare's hole.
The earth is indeed caving in! thought the hare. He shot out of his hole and ran off in a panic.
His cousin, who saw his frightened look, called to him, "What is the matter? Why are you running off in such a state?" The timid hare yelled back without stopping, "The earth is caving in! I am running away." His cousin immediately joined him. Another hare saw the commotion, and joined them; soon another did the same, until the whole family of hares was racing through the forest. A deer in a bamboo grove saw the flight of hares and asked a straggler the reason. "The earth is caving in! The world is coming to an end!" the creature squeaked. Without hesitating, the deer joined them in their panicky flight; and soon all his relatives had joined as well. Then came the wild boars, the oxen, the rhinoceros, the tigers, and even the elephants.
As the stampeding animals passed my lair, I heard their cries that the earth was caving in. But I did not hear the rumbling of an earthquake, and the world did not show any sign of coming to an end. I decided I had to stop them, for they were racing toward the ocean and would all drown.
I caught up with the leaders just as they reached the beach. I gave my roar three times to stop their flight.
"Who saw the earth caving in?" I asked. "Did you see it, Elephants?"
"We didn't," said the elephants, "but the tigers did."
"We didn't," said the tigers. "The rhinoceros did."
"We didn't," said the rhinoceros. "The oxen did."
"We didn't," said the oxen. "The wild boars did."
"We didn't," said the wild boars. "The deer did."
"We didn't," said the deer. "The hares did."
"None of us saw it," the hares said, "except for our little cousin."
"I didn't see it," the timid young hare said. "But I heard it as I was resting and thinking what would happen if the good earth came to an end."
"Where were you resting, little one?" I asked.
"In my hole, at the foot of an old mango tree," he said.
I knew then what probably had caused the sound. I addressed the animals: "Wait here. I will go and find out what happened. Little Hare, show me the way to your hole."
I put the frightened creature on my back and ran to his home. As he had described, his hole was at the foot of an ancient mango tree, and as I suspected, a big ripe mango was lying next to it.
"The noise you heard was from the fall of this fruit," I said to the hare. "That's all."
We went back to the beach and told the others what had occurred.
* * *
"Silly hare," said the turtle. "But he's not the only one who's afraid of big noise. I was terrified of the thunder earlier, before I found this cave."
"Now I understand why we shouldn't believe everything we hear," said the jackal. "I hope I would be as prudent as the lion in the story."
"He was also brave," roared the lion proudly. He seemed to have forgotten his hunger for the moment.
"Wise Buddha, have you ever been a dove in your past lives?" asked the white dove.
"In fact, I was one," answered the Buddha.
CHAPTER 5THE WISE DOVE
I was once a gray dove living in a wood near a palace. One day, I was pecking for loose seeds with my cousins when suddenly a net fell on us. As we struggled to free ourselves, a fat man stooped and gathered the net with us in it.
"Ha, ha, ha!" he laughed. "Here is a fine feast for the King."
He took us to the palace kitchens and put us in a bamboo cage. We were trapped.
Morning and night, the man, who was the palace cook, put grain and water in our cage. I thought and thought. If I ate and grew fatter, I would be killed and fed to the King; but if I shrank to skin and bones, I might be spared. So I decided to abstain from the food.
My famished cousins ate everything. They would not listen to my reasoning; they thought I was mad not to partake of the feast. Every time I was tempted to peck at the grain, I would take a sip of water instead.
Many days went by. Then one night the cook came to the cage and looked in. "Time for a taste!" he muttered gleefully. His plump hand reached in the cage and snatched a cousin away. My other cousins were now terrified.
Early the next day, the cook appeared again. One by one, he took all my cousins away. Then he came to me. "What happened to you?" he exclaimed. "You must be sick; it's not even worth my while to wring your neck. Go away!"
I flew out of the cage and escaped through a window.
* * *
"Thank you for the story, Wise Teacher," said the dove. "I wonder whether I would have had the gray dove's endurance if I was caught."
"Endurance can be achieved through practice," said the Buddha. "And because of it, the gray dove lived."
"Buddha," said the jackal, "there are no jackals in your stories."
"I have been a jackal at one time or another," said the Buddha. "But you know, my friend, our actions are much more important than what we are, because our actions determine what we will be in our next life. We might be something other than what we are today. You are a jackal now, but you might be a lion or something else in your next life.
"This story that I am going to tell you before the rain ends also shows how our actions can affect our friends.
"Listen."
CHAPTER 6THREE FRIENDS IN A FOREST
Long ago, I was born a golden antelope in a thick forest. Often I would go and drink at a lake near my home. There I met a green turtle and we became good friends. Not long after, a woodpecker made his nest in a tree on the bank of the lake; he, too, became our friend. So whenever I went down to the lake, the three of us would talk, enjoying one another's company.
One autumn day, there was a beautiful sunset. I thought how enjoyable it would be to share the moment with my two friends. I was happily running toward the lake when I heard a loud snap. I screeched in pain as a snare tightened around my leg. I had stepped on a trap set by a hunter who lived nearby.
Woodpecker was beside me right away, offering comfort and advice. Then Turtle appeared, and he said, "Try to keep calm, Antelope. The more you move, the tighter the hunter's snare will be. We will find a way to get you out."
It was decided that Turtle would gnaw through the thick leather strap of the snare while Woodpecker would do his best to keep the hunter away, for surely he must have heard my cry for help.
Turtle started immediately with his tedious task, while Woodpecker flew to the hunter's lodge.
The hunter had indeed heard my cry. As Woodpecker arrived, he was stepping out his front door, a sharp knife in his hand. Woodpecker didn't waste any time but flew straight into the man's face, again and again. Disoriented, the hunter staggered back into his house. Woodpecker thought: The man will try his rear door now. I will wait for him there.
The hunter was opening his back door just as Woodpecker arrived. Again the brave bird flew into the man's face, and this time he succeeded in pecking one of his eyes. The man cried out in pain and retreated into his house, slamming the door. Woodpecker kept watch, but the hunter stayed inside, probably to nurse his eye.
A few hours later, he appeared at his front door with the sharp knife in his hand. But now he was wearing a wide-brimmed hat to protect his face. Woodpecker flew quickly to his friends.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from I Once was a Monkey by Jeanne M. Lee. Copyright © 1999 Jeanne M. Lee. Excerpted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Title Page,Copyright Notice,
Epigraph,
Dedication,
Introduction,
The Foolish Forest Sprite,
The Deceitful Heron,
The Monkey and the Crocodile,
The Flight of the Beasts,
The Wise Dove,
Three Friends in a Forest,
Afterword,
About the Author,
Copyright,