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The Pious Wolf

I'm always been fond of reading Jataka tales. In fact, these collections of Jataka tales have been my favorite kind of reading for this semester because their plots are very interesting with lots of suspense and rich visual details. I've read a lot of Jataka tales about monkeys, which seem like the favorite Hindu animal, but I haven't come across a reading with a wolf. A story written about a pious wolf, I thought, would be an absolutely amazing read. So I read the amazing story of pious wolf and other great tales. But the story of pious wolf particularly stood out in my mind.


I like the beginnig of the story how the wolf is impriosoned so tightly: "Once there was a flood, and there was a large rock with a Wolf sleeping on the top. The water came pouring around the rock, and when the Wolf awoke he found himself imprisoned, with no way of getting off, and nothing to eat."


Obviously, the wolf was desperate to escape: "“H’m!” said he to himself, “here I m, caught fast sure enough, and here I shall have to stay yet awhile. Nothing to eat, either! Well,"

Wow. the cunning wolf did it so that he was as if praying and to fool the preys. A fairy approached the wolf to test how long he could remain pious. Apparently he was a hungry wolf: "Aha!” said he. “A Kid! I can keep my Friday fast to-morrow. Now for the Kid!” He smacked his lips, and jumped at the Kid."

This foolish wolf could not remain pious and disciplined and was punished by the fairy: "“you are a nice creature to pretend that you are keeping fast! You fast because you can’t help it, not because you are really good. As a punishment, you shall stay on this rock till next Friday, and fast for a week!”





Pious wolf. Source: Pious wolf







Bibliography:


 The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse with illustrations by W. Robinson



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