Once there was a poor woodcutter who found a wounded dragon snake in the mountains. The woodcutter kindly nursed the dragon snake back to health and later released it into a hole in the mountain. There, a precious ganoderma lucidum grew, which the dragon snake protected day and night.
One day, the emperor fell ill and needed ganoderma lucidum to cure his disease. He offered a heavy reward for anyone who could provide it. The woodcutter remembered the dragon snake and went back to the mountain to find it. The dragon snake, grateful for the woodcutter’s kindness, gave him the ganoderma lucidum. The woodcutter presented it to the emperor, who gave him a lot of gold and silver as a reward.
The woodcutter now lived a life of luxury but was not satisfied. He wanted to become an official and saw an opportunity when the queen lost her sight. The emperor announced that whoever could restore her sight with the eye of a dragon snake would become the prime minister. The woodcutter remembered the dragon snake again and begged for its help. The snake allowed the woodcutter to take one of its eyes with huge pain, which the woodcutter presented to the emperor. The queen’s sight was restored, and the woodcutter was made prime minister.
However, the woodcutter’s greed was insatiable. When the princess fell ill, and the dragon snake’s liver were needed to heal her, the woodcutter asked for the dragon snake once again. The dragon snake, wanting to repay the woodcutter’s kindness, allowed him to cut a small piece of its liver. But the woodcutter, overcome by greed, he went inside dragon snake’s stomach and took a large piece, causing the snake unbearable pain. The snake closed its mouth in agony, and the woodcutter was trapped inside.
This story shows that the woodcutter’s downfall was entirely due to his own actions, driven by his insatiable greed.
The moral is: The wages of avarice is death.
The Woodcutter and Drangon Snake
Link:https://peacelilysite.com/2023/04/28/the-woodcutter-and-dragon-snake/
#Woodcutter #DragonSnake #Buddhisttalesforyoungandold #Buddhiststories #storiesforkids #moralstories #Jatakastories #PansiyaPanasJataka
Peace LiLy 
This story really touches me. I feel that the wood cutter is not someone greedy, however.
I like to think of it as this – the wood cutter is experiencing great distress at his good fortune. This is his way of inviting misfortune into his life.
LikeLike