Reading Notes: Jataka Reading, Part A

   

Image Information: a cute puppy, Image Credit: SanTan Sun News

  In the story “The Guilty Dogs” written by Noor Inayat, the author writes about a king unjustly punishing all of the dogs in the city for the actions of the royal dogs. The king, owning a magnificent chariot drawn by six white horse, had left the chariot out in the courtyard after riding it around the city all day. That night, as it started to rain, the royal dogs noticed that the harnesses were wet and soften by the shower. Therefore, unable to resist the urge, they snuck into the courtyard in the middle of the night, and ruined the straps by gnawing and biting at it all night. The next morning, the stablemen discovered the evidence left by the dogs and found the straps destroyed. He then immediately went to the king to tell him what had happened. The king, furious at the situation, ordered that all of the dogs in the city to be slayed on sight. Soon, the orders of the king reached the seven hundred dogs of the city, and they all cried bitterly. However, there was one dog that was their chief, and learning that his family and friends were in danger for something that they did not do, he traveled to the palace of the king in order to reason with him. Once he arrives, the chief dog suggests a method that would prove that the royal dogs were guilty of the action. 

     With that being said, I really liked how the author started and ended the story. At the beginning of the story, the author was able to deliver an introduction that enabled the audience to see the perspective through the royal dogs’ eyes as they couldn’t resist the beautiful, leather straps that was soften by the rain.
     While, at the end of the story, I believe that the author was able end it with a strong ending. The author wrote about a method proposed by the chief that would provide evidence that the royal dogs were to be blamed of the destroyed straps. With that being said, after consuming the kusa grass and buttermilk suggested by the chief dog, the royal dogs began to vomit shreds of leather, proof that the all the dogs in the city to be innocent.