I have found myself to really enjoy animal stories and knew that tigers were prominent in Indian culture, so choosing this unit was a no-brainer. The stories in this unit were great and had a good assortment of plots. Almost all of the stories had satisfying endings and noticed that karma was a common theme. I enjoyed all of the stories, but here are a few of my favorites:
Poor Ledha was a nice boy, but got tricked by the Leopard into making a promise he couldn't keep. Knowing he would tell someone the story of how he had to remove a lizard from the Leopard, the Leopard waited outside of his house, listening for him to reveal the secret. While taking the boy to his doom, he woke up and climbed up a tree. The Leopard soon realized and convinced him to come down, but Ledha's wit saved him. He was grateful for being able to live and served buffaloes for the rest of his life, even after marrying rich. I really enjoyed this happy ending.
This was my favorite story of these three. Ramai was different from his brothers. When his father gave him and his four brothers one hundred rupees to buy whatever animals they wanted, Ramai's brothers chose common animals, such as, horses, buffaloes, and cattle. Ramai, on the other hand, chose to save the lives of a cat, dog, otter, and a snake. His father was greatly disappointed and vowed to kill them, and then the snake promised to give Ramai his father's magical ring in exchange for him to be brought home. Abiding, Ramai brought him home and got the ring. The ring could grant any wish, but his father had killed the other animals by the time he got home. His father thought the animals were useless, however Ramai did not and showed his father using the ring. I thought this story did a good job of showing karma and how perspective can change the value of anything.
I thought this story was interesting and taught a few lessons. Starting out as friends who benefitted from each other during rough times, the Jackal soon became tired of his relationship with the Crow. The Crow fed him well with mice, but it was not enough and the Jackal ate the Crow. Despite being completely full, the Jackal continued on bragging about all that he had eaten that night and devouring everything in his path. Soon enough, his gluttony would prove to be his downfall. Fattened and weighed down, the fox tried to jump over a fence and fell on the tip of a stake, killing him. Although the Crow died, I felt satisfied with the fact that the Jackal got what he deserved.
I read the Santal Folklore unit as well and I really enjoyed the stories within. My favorite story was the one of the Raibar and the Leopard. I really like your picture because I too was reminded of the Jungle Book when I was reading through the unit due to the animals that the stories were about. Jungle Book was one of my favorite movies when I was little so the unit became really amusing.
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