Reading Notes: Eastern Stories and Legends, Part B

Image Information: Golden Feather, Image Credit: Pinterest

In the story “The Mallard That Asked for Too Much” written by Marie L. Shedlock, the author writes about the Buddha born as a Brahmin and later born again as a Golden Mallard to help his family. With that being said, when he was first born a Brahmin, the Buddha grew up to marry a bride of his own rank, and had three beautiful daughters. After his death, the Brahmin was born again as a Golden Mallard, in which he believed that he could give back to his family and provide for them by allowing them to pluck his golden feathers one at a time to enable his wife and daughters to live in a comfortable life.
Furthermore, one day, as he approaches his wife and his daughters, he explains to them that he was their father who had recently past away, and he came back to give them a feather whenever in need, in which would result them to become quite wealthy. Realizing the value of the golden feather, the mother grew greedy. Then, one day, she decides to pluck his feathers clean so that she wouldn’t have to wait for his next return. However, once she began to pluck his feathers against his own wishes, the feathers ceased to be gold and returned to regular white feathers.
I thought that this was my favorite story because of what it taught me after reading it. Moreover, the plot that really grabbed my attention is probably when it was the mother that suggested for the golden mallard to be plucked clean of his golden feathers. With that being said, I didn’t like how it was the mother that fell for the greed. In my version of the story, I would probably change it to a burglar who saw how wealthy the family was becoming and decides to steal the golden mallard.

Bibliography:

 “The Mallard That Asked for Too Much” by Marie L. Shedlock. Website: Gateway to the Classics.