By: Ellen C. Babbitt
This story is such a classic one of "the sky is falling," but I thought it was really neat how it was presented in that an entire stampede of animals is running and running, yet none of them know the source of their fear. Fear spreads so easily between people, and it isn't until a wise and powerful voice calls the source into question that the stampede can be stopped. I think the reason this tale has made its way across cultures and for so long is because people grasp onto fear unlike anything else, and they are determined to spread it so that others are afraid with them and they aren't alone in their fear.
By: W.H.D. Rouse
The crane in this story gets a taste of his own medicine when the crab outsmarts him and gets free transportation to the lake. At first, I thought the crab was just simply going to manipulate the crane into letting him go into the lake, but then got a surprise when the crab still killed the crane. The crane was desperate once he realized his mistake and that he was at the mercy of the crab, but he never gave a second thought to deceiving the fish for his own good. People are often willing to take part in something wrong, but as soon as they become the victim, the tables turn.
The Monkey who Gathered Lotuses
By: Robert Chalmers
I've noticed that crocodiles are kind of like the "big bad wolf" of these stories, they keep popping up as the bad guy who wants to eat the Buddha's heart. This story again touches on karma, which seems to be a recurring theme throughout these tales. The Buddha is a monkey in this story and his rival is his monkey father who tries to trick the Buddha into his own death. Using his wits, the Buddha not only survives his task to gather the lotuses, but also gains the respect of the water ogre. When his father sees this, he dies on the spot and the Buddha is chosen to be the new monkey king.
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