Notes. This is only part of the complete jataka, which is very long (over 15,000 words in the Cowell and Rouse translation); I have excerpted this part as a freestanding story, and you can find it also a freestanding story in Ellen Babbitt's book of jataka tales for children: How the Turtle Saved His Own Life. This story is of special interest because of the great parallel it offers to the Brer Rabbit story in which Brer Rabbit escapes to his beloved briar patch: The Tar-Baby. The tar-baby part of the story also has an Indian parallel, as you will see there.
Summary: A quick-thinking turtle takes advantage of the foolish humans in order to get back home.
Read the story below:
HOW THE TURTLE SAVED HIS OWN LIFE
When the king came to Benares he entered the city which was all adorned, and he seated himself on the terrace, surrounded by sixteen thousand dancing girls and his ministers and other officers; and having held a great drinking feast for seven days, he caused a lake to be prepared for his sons, where they sported continually.
But one day when the water was let into the lake, a tortoise entered, and not seeing any way of exit it floated on the surface of the water; and while the lads were playing about, it rose out of the water and putting out its head looked at them and then sank down in the water.
When they saw it they were frightened and ran to their father, and said to him, "O father, a yakkha [yaksha, nature-demon] has frightened us in the lake."
The king ordered some men to go and seize it, and they threw a net and caught the tortoise and shewed it to the king.
When the princes saw it, they cried out, "O father, it is a demon."
The debate about the tortoise
The king through love of his sons was angry with the tortoise, and ordered the attendants to punish it.
Some said, "It is an enemy to the king, it should be pounded to powder with a pestle and mortar," others said, "Let us cook it three times over and eat it," others, "Bake it upon hot coals," others, "It must be baked in a jar"; but one minister who was afraid of the water, said, "It should be thrown into the whirlpool of the Yamuna, it will be utterly destroyed there, there is no punishment for it like that."
The tortoise, as he heard his words, thrust out his head and said, "Friend, what sin have I committed that you are discussing such a punishment for me? The other punishments I can bear, but this last is excessively cruel, do not even mention it."
When the king heard him, he said, "This is the one to carry into action," so he ordered him to be thrown into the whirlpool of the Yamuna.
[which, of course, is just what the tortoise wanted, and you can read about his further adventures in the rest of the jataka here: Bhūridatta-Jātaka]
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