Overview. Rouse. Giant Crab

Title: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India
Author: W. H. D. Rouse
Illustrator: W. Robinson
Year: 1897

Comments: This is a collection of jataka stories (Buddha's birth stories), with some wonderful illustrations too. Rouse was also one of the translators who participated in the monumental Cowell edition of the jataka stories, but in this book his goal is not to provide a scholarly translation but instead to tell the stories in a way that will be fun for children to read. You can find out more about the Jataka tradition here: Jataka Tales.

Free Online: See all the links at Freebookapalooza.

Length: one week. I've divided the reading into two parts: Part A - Part B. This can also work for just a half-week of reading!

Reading Part A

The Giant Crab
The Hypocritical Cat
The Crocodile and the Monkey
[skip: The Axe, the Drum, the Bowl, and the Diamond]
The Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot
The Dishonest Friend
The Mouse and the Farmer
The Talkative Tortoise
The Monkeys and the Gardener
The Goblin and the Sneeze
[skip: The Grateful Beasts and the Ungrateful Prince]
The Goblin in the Pool
The Foolish Farmer and the King
The Pious Wolf

Reading Part B

Birds of a Feather
Spend a Pound to Win a Penny
The Cunning Crane and the Crab
Union is Strength
Silence is Golden
[skip: The Great Yellow King and his Porter]
The Quail and the Falcon
[skip: Pride Must Have a Fall]
The Bold Beggar
The Jackal Would A-Wooing Go
The Lion and the Boar
The Goblin City
Lacknose
The King's Lesson