Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

 The first story I liked reading was titled the Turtle and The King. It's central theme was about how humans misinterpreted nature as evil, or in this case a demon, rather than the reality of it just being a turtle. To me, it reminded me of human ignorance and the tendency of humans to distort reality into something that fits their cultural or societal norms. The various suggestions on how to kill the turtle and how it was originally found both showcase the ignorance humans have and with it made bad decisions. The boys misinterpreted a turtled to be a demon and told their dad/king of their discovery. The king orders men to capture it before debating how to kill it. The turtle speaks at the right time to deceive them by suggesting to kill him by water. Little do they know he is alive and well. 

The second story about the turtle was called The Turtle and the Geese. In this story, I particularly liked how the other animals wanted to share their home with the turtle. It kind of reminded me of how egalitarian some animal species are to one another. Yet like the last story with the turtle, the central theme of this story was teaching humans an important life lesson. In this story, it showcases how in some situations it is better to speak and in other situations, it is better to remain silent. I think the message of the story was to help people, understand the fallacies of being human, and how to successfully live in a world of chaos. So the geese offer the turtle to join them to their new home by grabbing onto a stick. The turtle decides to go and is told not to speak. On their journey, people speak and make fun of him leading him to talk back and thus falling to his death. 

In the story titled The crocodile and the monkey's heart, it seemed to me like good/genuine advice about life. Despite how strong or mighty one maybe, they can still be outwitted or tricked with a bit of strategy and intelligence. It also made me think of the statement "the grass on the other side is always greener" and how we should be content with the possessions we have in this life. All three stories gave good advice that can be extrapolated to the outside world and into one's life. I think this is why I have such an interest in Indian literature since it reminds me of my humanity while providing me solid advice about yourself, your relationship to others, and your place in the world as a human being. The crocodile's wife wanted the monkey's heart, so the husband crocodile offered to get it. The husband attempted deceiving the monkey by offering him a ride across the river to the more "prosperous" side. The monkey said yes to this nice offer only to have the crocodile go underwater to let the money begin to drown. The monkey asks why he does this, and he explains. Then the monkey deceives him by saying his heart is in the tree. He gets safely across and explains how he deceived the crocodile husband.

Here's a picture of a Turtle since I enjoyed the Turtle stories the most

Source