Reading Notes: Indian Fairy Tales, Part A

Notes on The Lion and the Crane

This story is part of the Indian Fairy Tales unit. Story source: Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912).

(Lion; Photo from Pixabay)

• The opening of the story jumps right into dialogue; I believe this helps get the story moving and gives a very realistic view from the beginning
• The sentences in the intro are very short and straight to the point
• The Crane asks the lion what is wrong when he sees him get the bone stuck in his mouth, but is scared to help for fear of being eaten
• The crane then freed the bone from the lion's mouth, and went back on the tree
• This part of the story lacks a lot of details; I think more details would be appropriate such as the process of the crane getting in the lion's mouth and the conversation they have during this moment
• A cool addition would be the lion's thoughts while the crane is in his mouth, such as, "don't eat him, don't eat him, don't eat him"
• The crane then had asked the lion what his repayment was; the lion simply responded by telling him how lucky he was to be alive right now, and the crane flew away, realizing there was no hope for a friendship there