A Tibetan tale claims gratitude outweighs supposed civilization

Evidence

The lesson, Tibetan storytellers say with a knowing smile, is a sharp one: the tiger, the monkey, and the snake — the ‘wild beasts’ — all repaid kindness with perfect faithfulness. It was the MAN, the supposedly civilized human, who repaid a life-saving kindness with deadly betrayal. Sometimes, the tale warns, the animals are nobler than the people; and gratitude is to be valued above all, while ingratitude is the very worst of vices. — , A Year of World Stories, 9021

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the grateful-animal tales already read (Korean magpies, Chinese dragon, Jataka elephant) and to the pattern of ‘wild beasts nobler than humans’ found across world folklore. — connects to: The kindness-rewarded, greed-punished tale recur in nearly every human culture independently — , A Year of World Stories, 9258

Related

• The kindness-rewarded, greed-punished tale recur in nearly every human culture independently (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• The kindness-rewarded, greed-punished tale recur in nearly every human culture independently #exemplifies (0.70) — , A Year of World Stories, 9258