Paduma Jataka (#261)
The Bodhisatta was once a young son of a wealthy merchant. His brothers unsuccessfully tried to sweet-talk a man into giving them lotuses by saying his missing nose would grow back if he did. The Bodhisatta just asked politely and honestly and was given some.
Mudu-Pani Jataka (#262)
The Bodhisatta was once a king. His daughter and his nephew, the crown prince, were in love, but the Bodhisatta did not want them to marry. He kept close watch over his daughter, but the loving couple tricked him and eloped. The Bodhisatta forgave them.
Culla-Palobhana Jataka (#263)
The Bodhisatta was once an ascetic. From infancy to his teenage years, he could not even look at a woman. His father, the king, wanted his son to be normal, so he had one of his dancing girls seduce him. She was successful, and he fell so crazily in love that he threatened people if they even came near this woman. He was banished to the wilderness, where he realized the error of his ways and renounced the world to live alone as an ascetic.
Maha-Panada Jataka (#264)
(Told in Jataka #489) The Bodhisatta was once Indra, king of the gods. When a king abdicated to allow his son to replace him on the throne, the Bodhisatta sent a dancer from heaven to make him smile during his long, extravagant coronation ceremony.
Khurappa Jataka (#265)
The Bodhisatta was once a forester. While guiding a merchant’s caravan through the forest, he single-handedly fought off a large band of thieves because being the hero to protect them was his duty.
Vatagga-Sindhava Jataka (#266)
The Bodhisatta was once a king’s state horse. A donkey fell in love at first sight with him. When they met for the first time, she kicked him so as to not appear cheap and easy. The Bodhisatta never returned, and she was depressed.
Kakkata Jataka (#267)
The Bodhisatta was once an elephant. One time he was in the clutches of a giant, elephant-eating crab, and his wife flattered it. This distraction allowed the Bodhisatta to stomp the crab to death.
Arama-Dusa Jataka (#268)
(Duplicate of Jataka #46) The Bodhisatta was once a wise and respected man. The king’s gardener asked the monkeys living in the royal park to water trees for him. To conserve water, they pulled up the trees to see the size of their roots so they could give them the appropriate amount. The Bodhisatta saw this and said ignorant people who desire to do good end up doing harm.
Sujata Jataka (#269)
The Bodhisatta was once a king. His mother was a cruel, harsh woman. He got her to change her manner by explaining that people hated beautiful blue jays and loved ugly cuckoos because of their voices.
Uluka Jataka (#270)
The Bodhisatta was once a goose. The birds chose an owl as their king, but a crow objected because owls have perpetually angry faces. So the birds chose the Bodhisatta instead, and crows and owls became enemies.
Udapana-Dusaka Jataka (#271)
The Bodhisatta was once an ascetic. Each night a jackal fouled the camp’s well, and when some of the other ascetics caught him, the jackal said it was their nature to do this. The Bodhisatta told him to never return.
Vyaggha Jataka (#272)
The Bodhisatta was once a tree fairy. A neighboring tree fairy ignored the Bodhisatta’s advice and chased away the lion and tiger that lived in their forest. With the danger gone, humans came and cut down all the trees.
Kacchapa Jataka (#273)
The Bodhisatta was once an ascetic. While the Bodhisatta meditated, a mischievous monkey ejaculated in his ear. One time the monkey stuck his penis in a turtle’s mouth, and it bit down hard. The suffering monkey picked up the turtle and ran to the Bodhisatta for help. He joked that the monkey looked like a greedy brahmin holding a full alms bowl, and then he told the turtle to release his bite as their marriage was now consummated.
Lola Jataka (#274)
(Duplicate of Jataka #42) The Bodhisatta was once a pigeon. A greedy crow wanted to eat fish from the kitchen where the Bodhisatta lived, so he befriended him and moved in. The Bodhisatta knew the crow’s intention and told him not to do it, but the crow didn’t listen. When he tried to steal some fish, he was caught and killed.
Rucira Jataka (#275)
(Duplicate of Jataka #42) The Bodhisatta was once a pigeon. A greedy crow wanted to eat fish from the kitchen where the Bodhisatta lived, so he befriended him and moved in. The Bodhisatta knew the crow’s intention and told him not to do it, but the crow didn’t listen. When he tried to steal some fish, he was caught and killed.
Kurudhamma Jataka (#276)
The Bodhisatta was once a king. He and everyone in the palace faithfully followed the five precepts, agonizing over tiny transgressions such as the Bodhisatta shooting an arrow over a lake where it could have killed a fish when it landed, and so his kingdom thrived. Another kingdom did not, and so it suffered drought and famine. When the other king began to live like the Bodhisatta, the rains returned.
Romaka Jataka (#277)
The Bodhisatta was once a pigeon. He paid respect to an ascetic living nearby, but after a villager served the ascetic pigeon meat, he wanted to eat more and tried unsuccessfully to kill the Bodhisatta.
Mahisa Jataka (#278)
The Bodhisatta was once a buffalo. A rude monkey used to defecate on his back, and the merciful Bodhisatta let it happen. But later, as the Bodhisatta predicted, the monkey did it to another buffalo, who then killed him.
Satapatta Jataka (#279)
The Bodhisatta was once a thief. A woman who was reborn as a jackal tried to stop her human son from getting robbed, but he could not understand her howls. And this son thought the sound of a crane was good luck, when it really told the Bodhisatta to rob and kill him.
Puta-Dusaka Jataka (#280)
The Bodhisatta was once a householder. One day he saw a monkey destroying the leaves that a gardener was collecting. Since this was the innate nature of monkeys, the Bodhisatta noted that it was acting both proper and improper at the same time.
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