La Sagesse de l'Oie aux Plumes d'Or: Un Conte de Jataka

Abstract

This is the French version of Wisdom of the Golden Goose: A Jataka Tale from the same year. A magnificent golden royal goose rules over 90,000 geese. Queen Khema dreams of a visit from a magnificent golden goose and cannot live without that goose. Learning that there is such a goose in his kingdom, the king orders a careful strategic approach to capturing this golden goose. Once he is captured, the goose gives a loud call that alerts the geese to flee. Only one remains, his friend Sumukha. Sumukha protects him from the hunter, who soon arrives, and is ready to give up life to save him. The hunter is deeply moved by Sumukha's self-sacrifice. The hunter frees them both, but the golden goose soon learns why he was sought and offers to go voluntarily to the queen who says that she needs him. The king and queen gladly listen all night to the wisdom the golden goose has to offer them. The style here is one of overlaying text onto a portion of the pictured page; the overlaid segment has a weaker pigment than other segments of the illustrations.