Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The Patient Mom

In school we are talking about the Indus Valley. So, I have to read a couple of these Jataka Tales retold by Noor Inayat and one of them is called the Patient Buffalo. My mom noticed some similarities between the story and our family. Here is the story:

A Giant-Like buffalo with mighty horns lay under a tree asleep. Two mischievous eyes peeped through the branches, and a little monkey said:

"I know a good old buffalo, who's sleeping 'neath the tree, but I'm not afraid of him, nor's he afraid of me."

And he leaped from the branch on to the buffalo's back. The buffalo opened his eyes, and seeing the monkey dancing on his hip, he closed them again, as it only a butterfly were on his back.
Then the rascal monkey tried another trick. Jumping on the buffalo's head between his two large horns, he held the ends and swung, as on a tree. But Buffalo did not even wink.
"What can I do to make my good friend angry?" he thought. And while buffalo was eating in the field, he trampled on the grass wherever he wished to graze. And the buffalo merely walked away.
Another day the mischievous monkey took a stick and knocked the buffalo's ears with it, then while he was taking a walk he sat on his back like a hero, holding the stick in his hand.
And to all of this the buffalo made never a murmur, though his horns were strong and mighty.
But one day, while the monkey sat on his back, a fairy appeared
"A great being you are, O buffalo," she said; "but little do you know your strength. Your horns can break down trees, and your feet could crush rocks. Lions and tigers fear to approach you. Your strength and beauty are known to the whole world, and yet you walk about with a foolish monkey on your back. One blow of your horns would pierce him, and a stroke of your foot would crush him. Why do you not throw him to the ground?"
"This monkey is small," replied the buffalo, "and Nature has not given him much brain. Why then should I punish him? Moreover, why should I make him suffer in order that I may be happy?"
At this the fairy smiled, and with her magic wand she drove the monkey away. And she gave the buffalo a charm by which no one could cause him to suffer again, and he lived happy ever after.

I think the moral to this story is Patience pays off. I am not very patient. Seth is a lot like a monkey.

Faith

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Hello!

Hi! I'm going to try and write a couple of posts every week.