421 Gangamāla Jātaka (JTA 163) The Half-Penny King Ashin Sarana:
Emily’s drawing Once the Buddha saw laymen observing Uposatha and he told the story of the past. One day, the Bodhisatta was born in a poor family and when he grew up, worked for a rich merchant and sadly died halfway through Uposatha but was happily reborn as a royal. When he became king he saw a water carrier walking through blazing hot sand, so we told the water carrier that he could have half of a kingdom if he gave up on his mission, and he agreed, then the water carrier, realised that he had become greedy and decided to become an ascetic. Then the Queen told the king that his barber was a fool and the Queen told the barber what to say, so that the king could give him a reward, but she said to say something else, instead of agreeing for the reward  and then the barber knew the King’s verse.The end.Thinzar M’s drawing Once the buddha told a story about a man who only did half of Uposatha and gained much wealth. Once a man worked for a wealthy merchant and didn’t know about Uposatha day so was determined to do it but he died only doing half because he was ill. But before he died he saw a king and wished to become one so in his next life he became king. He split his kingdom with a water carrier because he did not want him to go out in the scorching sun. The water carrier realizing his greed, he became a asetic. The king then ruled his kingdom and he recited a verse that no one knew the meaning. The queen heard the king complain about the barber and told the barber to do it that way the king likes and ask him to reveal the meaning of verse as a reward. When the barber did so the king instead wanted to tell everyone so he gathered everyone and explained the meaning. The barber then decided to become an ascetic and meditated then became a silent buddha. when the barber came back to visit the king he angered the kings mother so the king tried to calm her the silent buddha flew up in the air gave advise to the king and left.Valentina’s drawing There was a rich merchant and a poor man who lived a hard life, so asked the rich man to work for him for wages, and the rich man agreed. One day, the young man observed half of Uposatha day but died because he was ill and got reborn and became king. There was a festival, and there was a poor man and his wife. The wife wanted them to enjoy themselves at the festival, so the husband set out for a half penny, singing, even though the sand was burning hot. The king saw this and sent out a servant to bring the man to the king. The king told him that he would give him half the kingdom if he gives up going so the man agreed with this. The man became king and one day he thought if he killed King Udaya, he would get the whole kingdom. Realizing his greed, he gave up being a king and gave the job back to King Udaya. One day King Udaya was complaining about the way his barber trims his beard, so the wife told the barber how the king likes it and not to accept the reward and say that he wants to learn the meaning of his verse. With that the barber became an ascetic and learned the meaning of the King’s verse.Kids’ drawing
