The Vulture Who Would Not Listen

Also known as Gijjha Jataka

3 minute read
Ages 7-11
Jataka Tales

Vultures nested on a mountain called Vulture Peak, and the young ones flew out each day to find food.

There was an old vulture among them who could no longer fly at all, and the flock fed him, and in return he told them what he knew, which after a long life was a considerable amount.

The rule

He had one rule that he repeated to every young bird.

"You can fly high. Higher than anything else alive. But when you are up there and you look down and the fields look like squares on a board and the rivers look like thread, stop. Do not go any higher than that."

"Why?"

"Because that is as high as the air will carry you," he said. "Above that there is a wind that does not stop, and it is not the same as the wind down here, and you will not come back through it."

Most of them listened.

Supatta

One young vulture named Supatta was the strongest flier in the flock and had been told so since he was small.

He listened to the old bird politely, the way you do, and privately thought that the rule was for ordinary vultures.

So one clear morning he went up.

He passed the height where the fields became squares. He kept going, and it was easy, and he could not understand what all the caution had been about.

He passed the height where the rivers became threads.

He kept going.

The wind

He found it exactly where the old vulture had said it would be.

It was not a gust and it was not a storm. It was simply moving, hard and steadily, in a direction he could not fly against, and the moment he entered it he stopped making progress and started travelling sideways.

He turned to come down and could not turn.

The flock on Vulture Peak watched him go across the sky, getting smaller, in a straight line, and nobody went after him, because the old vulture told them not to and this time every one of them listened.

The old vulture

He said one thing afterwards, and it is the reason the story exists.

"He did not disbelieve me. That is what you must understand. He believed every word. He simply thought it did not apply to him, because he was better at flying than the rest of you, and he was. He was the best flier I ever taught."

He looked at the young birds in front of him.

"The rule is not about how well you fly."

Moral of the story

Being genuinely better at something does not move the point at which it becomes impossible. Supatta's talent is what killed him, because it made him think the limit was about skill.

Questions and answers

What did the old vulture do for the flock?
He could no longer fly, so they fed him, and in return he taught them what he had learned in a long life.
What was his rule?
Not to fly higher than the point where fields look like squares and rivers look like thread.
Why did Supatta ignore it?
He was the strongest flier in the flock and assumed the rule was meant for ordinary vultures.
What did he find above that height?
A steady wind he could not fly against, which carried him sideways and would not let him turn.
What did the old vulture say afterwards?
That Supatta had believed him completely, and had simply thought the rule did not apply to him because he flew better.

Word meanings

flock: A group of birds living or flying together.
gust: A sudden strong rush of wind.
caution: Care taken to avoid danger.
steadily: Continuing at the same rate without changing.

Questions about The Vulture Who Would Not Listen

What is the moral of The Vulture Who Would Not Listen?

That a limit set by the world does not move because you are good. Supatta's skill made him misread a rule about physics as a rule about ability.

Is the wind real?

The story is describing something like the jet stream, high fast-moving air that birds genuinely cannot fly against. It is a surprisingly accurate piece of observation for its age.

Why is the old vulture's last line important?

Because it removes the easy reading. Supatta was not arrogant about the facts; he accepted them and thought he was the exception.

What is this tale called in the original?

The Gijjha Jataka, meaning 'the vulture'.