Week 5: Reading Diary: Bidpai Introduction

Week 5 reading over Unit: Bidpai

For my reading diary I decided to focus on the introduction to this unit. One because this week I will write my introduction to my story book. Two,  I found it very interesting yet helpful that this unit had an introduction. It is the first unit I have read with a while story as an introduction. 

Before the actual introduction story start it tells a mini story about how Bidpai had a massive library but because of its greatness in size it was a hassle to carry. It took 20 years just to extract all his books into encyclopedias of 12 thousand volumes. Then it took 30 camels to carry these. 

He presented these 30 camels caring book to the king but he rapidly objected in taking this life time to read all this. So they were compacted down to 15 camel loads, then 10, then 4, then 2, then eventually to just one average size mule. 

Bidpai grew very tired of this and knew he was getting to be very old. So he took a simple palm leaf and wrote in a golden style 4 simple paragraphs for the king: 

1. The greater part of the sciences comprise but one single word: "Perhaps." And the whole history of mankind contains no more than three: they are "born, suffer, die."

2. Love nothing but what is good, and do all that thou loves to do; think nothing but what is true, and speak not all that thou thinnest."

3. O kings! Tame your passions, govern yourselves, and it will be only child's play to govern the world.

4. O kings! O people! It can never be often enough repeated to you, what the half-witted venture to doubt, that there is no happiness without virtue, and no virtue without God.

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Pedigree go the Bidpai literature

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The Fables of Bidpai are of Eastern heritage from the centuries before the birth of Christ. It is how their traditions came to be. Their traditions has it inscribed as the sage of India who lived about to the year of 300 B.C. Bedpan grew up to be one of the bravest philosophers of his generation. He stood infant of the king trying to bring wisdom to the foolish ruler. Bedpan was then sent to a prison cell. Until one day the King was problem and went to the sage (Bidpai) for wisdom. After 12 months Bidpai had wrote his fables to give his moral wisdom to the king and Empire. 

I found it inspiring that he worked so hard yet was so wise that he compact all he had read from so many books into 4 simple paragraphs. I also like the perspective and mind set it gave to the beginning of this unit. 

Reading this introduction gave me a few ideas to help with my introduction to my storybook!

Story Source: The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai. By Maude Barrows Dutton, illustrationsby E. Boyd Smith, 1908.