This is a retelling of Kurungamigajātaka (Jā 206) by Margo McLoughlin whose retelling of these stories I have been posting here recently. This one is slightly different in that it is told to a live audience at the Birken Forest Monastery in Canada.
As can be seen the attendees who had come to the monastery to give offerings that day are mainly from Buddhist majority countries, perhaps now settled in Canada, and include children and adults.
The telling is also interactive as Margo asks those present to repeat some of the names and words she is using, and to imitate the actions she is recounting. This has the effect of engaging the audience, especially the children.
The story of course has a moral to it: friends look after each other, and you are better off cultivating good friends because they will protect you when in danger. A good lesson for one and all.
At the end they gather for group photos and Ven. Soma, who is the Abbot of Birken, can also be seen.
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