The Bull Who Was Called Delightful (Jataka Tales)
Long long ago, there was the country of Gandhara whose capital was Takshashila. (Named after Taksha, son of Bharata, nephew of Rama. This town is now called Taxila and is in Pakistan).
In this town was born a little calf which was all white in color. A man bought it and took it home and named him Delightful. He loved the calf so much that he gave it the best possible food and gave him a nice comfortable warm bed to sleep in. Delightful grew and grew and grew and grew... He became big and strong and was now a beautiful bull. He loved his master very much.
One day he thought of how he could help his master. He said " My master is such a good man, he took care of me even when it was difficult for him. Now that I have grown, no other bull is as strong as me. So I can pull a cart with a very heavy load". So he told the man, "Sir, please find a rich merchant who has a lot of big bulls and challenge him saying that your bull can pull a hundred loaded carts. So the man went to a rich merchant and challenged him to a competition. The rich merchant said he would give a thousand gold coins if the bull called Delightful could pull one hundred loaded carts.
Now Delightful's master became very proud. So on the day of the test, he harnessed Delightful to the hundred loaded carts and started showing off to the rich merchant that he was the powerful master of such a strong bull. He cracked his whip in the air and said to Delightful "Come on, start pulling, you big Dummy!". Delightful thought, "Why is my master being mean to me? I did nothing wrong. I will simply not move and teach my master a lesson". So however much the master yelled at him, Delightful would not move an inch. The rich merchant laughed at him and the master had to pay a thousand coins to the rich man.
When they came home, Delightful saw that his master was very sad. So he went to the master and said, "Sorry, I know you lost the money because I did not move. But I did that becasue you were mean to me and called me a big Dummy. That hurt my feelings". The master said "I am sorry too. I got carried away because I felt very proud. I should not have called you a Dummy. I am really very sorry I hurt your feelings". So Delightful said, "That is alright, let us be friends again. Let us go back and call the rich merchant for another test, this time for two thousand coins". This time the rich merchant said "Ha Ha- OK. I agree to another test. My bulls can easily beat yours. Your bull does not even move!" .
This time on the day of the test, Delightful's master fed him juicy grass and gave him water to drink. He took him to the field and harnessed him to the hundred carts. Then he touched Delightful's forehead with a lotus flower and said, "Please mister Delightful, my friend, pull the carts". Delightful smiled at his master with his eyes and pulled the carts powerfully. All the 100 carts began to move and Delightful pulled them all till the last cart stood in the place of the first! The rich merchant was so surprised watching the powerful bull and gave the two thousand coins to Delightful's master. All the people watching the competition were so happy and clapped and praised both Delightful and his master. Delightful went home happily with his master.
Why did Delightful not pull the cart the first time? How did Delightful and his master become friends again?
( Do not tell the moral of the story. Pause at the end of the story and between questions to give the children time to think)
In this town was born a little calf which was all white in color. A man bought it and took it home and named him Delightful. He loved the calf so much that he gave it the best possible food and gave him a nice comfortable warm bed to sleep in. Delightful grew and grew and grew and grew... He became big and strong and was now a beautiful bull. He loved his master very much.
One day he thought of how he could help his master. He said " My master is such a good man, he took care of me even when it was difficult for him. Now that I have grown, no other bull is as strong as me. So I can pull a cart with a very heavy load". So he told the man, "Sir, please find a rich merchant who has a lot of big bulls and challenge him saying that your bull can pull a hundred loaded carts. So the man went to a rich merchant and challenged him to a competition. The rich merchant said he would give a thousand gold coins if the bull called Delightful could pull one hundred loaded carts.
Now Delightful's master became very proud. So on the day of the test, he harnessed Delightful to the hundred loaded carts and started showing off to the rich merchant that he was the powerful master of such a strong bull. He cracked his whip in the air and said to Delightful "Come on, start pulling, you big Dummy!". Delightful thought, "Why is my master being mean to me? I did nothing wrong. I will simply not move and teach my master a lesson". So however much the master yelled at him, Delightful would not move an inch. The rich merchant laughed at him and the master had to pay a thousand coins to the rich man.
When they came home, Delightful saw that his master was very sad. So he went to the master and said, "Sorry, I know you lost the money because I did not move. But I did that becasue you were mean to me and called me a big Dummy. That hurt my feelings". The master said "I am sorry too. I got carried away because I felt very proud. I should not have called you a Dummy. I am really very sorry I hurt your feelings". So Delightful said, "That is alright, let us be friends again. Let us go back and call the rich merchant for another test, this time for two thousand coins". This time the rich merchant said "Ha Ha- OK. I agree to another test. My bulls can easily beat yours. Your bull does not even move!" .
This time on the day of the test, Delightful's master fed him juicy grass and gave him water to drink. He took him to the field and harnessed him to the hundred carts. Then he touched Delightful's forehead with a lotus flower and said, "Please mister Delightful, my friend, pull the carts". Delightful smiled at his master with his eyes and pulled the carts powerfully. All the 100 carts began to move and Delightful pulled them all till the last cart stood in the place of the first! The rich merchant was so surprised watching the powerful bull and gave the two thousand coins to Delightful's master. All the people watching the competition were so happy and clapped and praised both Delightful and his master. Delightful went home happily with his master.
Why did Delightful not pull the cart the first time? How did Delightful and his master become friends again?
( Do not tell the moral of the story. Pause at the end of the story and between questions to give the children time to think)
