Author Description

A jackal poses as a holy person, to gain the trust of a group of rats. Then, he starts eating them, one by one. In gratitude for his master's care, Nandivishala the bull offers to pull a hundred loaded carts! Two hunters decide to kill some hawk chicks. But they have not counted on the hawks' friends. The jatakas were originally written in Pali, between the 3rd century BC and the 5th century AD. They describe the lives of the Bodhisattvas, the incarnations of the Buddha before he gained enlightenment. The animals in these stories have the same faults and virtues as people. Some of them are foolish and vain, but some of them are brave and loyal friends.