The grateful elephant : $b And other stories translated from the Pāli

"The Grateful Elephant" by Eugene Watson Burlingame is a collection of twenty-six translated Buddhist parables that teach moral and religious lessons. The stories, taken from Pāli texts, focus mainly on gratitude, compassion, and the results of being grateful or ungrateful. One of the main characters, an elephant, shows loyalty and kindness, even when others are not grateful. The collection begins with the story of a Grateful Elephant who helps a group of carpenters as payback. The story continues describing the elephant's actions and the elephant encounter with a king who seeks to claim the elephant. The narrative emphasizes deeper philosophical ideas about kindness and giving back, especially in interactions between people and animals. Each story reinforces the moral teachings that are linked to the Buddha, creating a narrative filled with cultural and ethical insights.