Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, Part A

Notes:

• A merchant packed goods in many carts in the desert.
• The sun shone down and made the fine sand hot as a stove.
• As the moon came about, the sand was cool enough for the merchant to travel on foot.
•  The merchant made rice with a jar of water and firewood.
• The merchant had a friend which was a pilot. 
• As the sun approaches, they stopped and camped. They unyoked the oxen and fed them.
• They built fires and cook the rice too.
• The men laid down and rest until the sunset.
• In the early evening, they cooked and built a fire again. 
• After supper, they yoked the oxen and as soon the sand was cool enough, they started if their journey across the desert.
• The merchant told his friend that one day they will reach the city.
• The pilot thinks that the oxen must have turned about while he slept and that they were in the same place as of yesterday.
• They unyoked the oxen, yet there were no water for them to drink.
• they must have thrown away the water that was left the night before.
• As they were trying to find water and resource, they laid down and said that the wood and water are gone and that they are lost.
• Yet, the  merchant said there is no time to sleep and that he must find the water.
• The oxen can't go on if they don't have water to drink.
• If they give up they shall all be lost.
• All of a sudden, they found grass which means water should be near by.
• They found water under the rocks too.
• The boy raised the hammer and hit the rock as hard as he could to get the water.
• The water was available to them and they drink so much that they don't know how many ounces they consumed.
• They bathe in the well as well.
• They built their fire and cooked rice there too. 
• They set a flag on the well for travelers to see.
• They found the city, sold their goods, and returned back home.

Bibliography: The Sandy Road, by Ellen C. Babbitt.

They built fires and cooked the rice, Link Text.