Bibliography: Babbitt Jataka Tales. Story: The Wise and Foolish Merchant
Notes: While I understand what the story is trying to say with regards to being "wise" and "foolish", I honestly viewed the "wise" merchant as being the real antagonist in this story. I mean, he knew exactly what was going to happen to the "foolish" merchant when he let him go first, which means that he willfully allowed him to have a terrible time just so that he could have a smooth road. While I don't necessarily know that I can make the claim that the "wise" merchant knew that the "foolish" one was going to be carried off my demons, stealing the "foolish" merchant's wagons and goods after he had been abducted/killed/possessed was despicable enough. Instead of this story being called "The Wise and the Foolish Merchant", I think it ought to be called "The Inexperienced and the Exploiting Merchant". Because, lets be real here, that is what is happening.
If I were to re-tell this story, I would either choose to write an epilogue in which the "wise" merchants ways come back to bite him or one in which the "foolish" and the "wise" merchant work together and achieve significantly better results. As it stands, the moral of this story is that it is OK to lie, exploit, and steal (and perhaps also send people to their deaths) for your own gain. I think it would be much better either to spin the moral either as "lying, stealing, and exploiting may get you riches in the short term, but will lead to unhappiness and self-destruction in the long-term" or that "lying, stealing, and exploiting may get you riches in the short term, but working together and helping those around you will lead to even greater riches". I think I prefer the second moral, because happy endings are more fun!
(Merchants. Source: Picryl)
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