Further to my remarks quoted by Nina, please let me add the following:

The Kacchapa Jataka (J 273) belong to the genre of the most ribald of tales
of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Boccaccio's Decameron. It probably comes
from what is called gnomic tradition, or popular folklore, if you like. The
Buddhists
retold the story probably for its popular appeal.

I'm not sure if everyone who reads the English translation will find it in
good taste.
It is certainly not a canonical story.

For those who wish to read story in English, please see

John Garrett Jones,
"Tales and Teachings of the Buddha"
1979:194 f (Appendix)

which deals specifically with just this Jataka.

Sorry for lacking enthusiasm in presenting this information early.

Anyway, please laugh with good humour at the story, and leave it at that.

With metta,

Piya Tan




On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 10:21 PM, Nina van Gorkom <vangorko@...>
wrote:

> Dear Dave,
> I think it over, but I do not like anything coarse. It also depends
> on my time. The message in the Jataka is that the monkey and tortoise
> should forget their quarrel and make up, and this message is excellent.
> We can apply it and that is so with the Jatakas, they are Dhamma to
> be applied in daily life.
> Nina.
> Op 24-mrt-2008, om 18:46 heeft P G Dave het volgende geschreven:
>
>
> > I recall on an earlier occasion Piya Tan mentioning the practice of
> > "Victorian scholars of yesteryears" to use Latin where they thought
> > the Pali
> > passage was "unspeakable".
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>

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