Once upon a time, in a village that lied in the valley of
two mountains, in a modest cottage lived a widow and her son. The father had
died shortly after the boy’s birth, and this made the mother sad, for she did
not have a chance to provide him with any brothers or sisters to play with.
One day, while the mother was out shopping in the village,
she spotted a little boy who had no family. She brought this boy home with her
to be her son’s playmate. This was good for the little boy, for he did not have
to beg for food anymore. He simply played all day and accepted what he was
provided with.
Years later, again while she was out shopping, the widow
spotted another older boy, whom she also took home to be a playmate for her
son. This upset the little boy who had first been brought to be a playmate, for
he believed that they loved the older boy more than they loved him. This, of
course, was not true; the little boy received the very same things offered to
the older boy. Even still, the little boy became prideful and began to store vengeance
in his heart.
Many years past and the widow grew ill. As a final wish, she
asked her three boys to always stay close. With this request, she died. The
little boy, who was nearly full grown, saw this as an opportunity to take his vengeance
on the older boy. He told the widow’s son that the older boy planned to kill
him. This made the widow’s son very watchful of the older boy. The little boy
then went to the older boy and told him that the widow’s son never cared for
him. He said that the widow’s son was always watching the older boy, waiting
for an opportunity to kill him.
The widow’s son and the older boy both became very vigilant
and were always thinking of ways to defend themselves and to gain the upper
hand. One day, the older boy went to the widow’s son to ask why he had disdain
for him. The widow’s son replied that it was because of the older boy’s plot to
kill him. The two quickly realized that they had been tricked by the little
boy. They sought him out and cast him back into the streets where he belonged.
The little boy was again forced to beg for a living, but he could not do so
well enough, and soon died of starvation.
Author's Note: This story is based on How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit. I kept the plot very similar; just replace the widow
and her son with a tiger and its cub, the little boy with a fox, and the older
boy with a calf.
Bibliography
“How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit”, from Tibetan
Folk Tales by A.L Shelton (1925).
I read the same unit this week! How the Fox Fell Victim to His Own Deceit was one of the stories I found especially interesting as well. I think it’s cool that you kept the plot the same but transformed the story by changing the characters from animals to humans. The ending of your story was slightly more sad than the ending of the original story, because an actual child died, but I understand that that’s how it had to be for continuity’s sake.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I cannot help feeling a small amount of the pity for the little boy who was cast out into the streets. Jealousy seems to bring down the best of people from time to time; although, I don't know enough about him to tell whether he has redeeming qualities. His fall seemed to be caused by this naiveté. However, it goes to show how powerful deceit can be.
ReplyDeleteHey Joshua! I really enjoyed this story. The boy's punishment was severe, but bad things happen when you harbor ill will and contempt like he did. The older boy deserved the same help that he had received. I think the changes you made to the story were a definite improvement. Having the human characters made it much easier to relate to.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your re-telling of the story. I had to go back and read How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own deceit. It was interesting to read the story with humans involved instead of animals. As another reader commented, making the characters human made them either to relate to, but it also made them easier to feel pity for. When an animal dies versus a child dying, it can have more of an impact on the reader.
ReplyDeleteJoshua, you did a great job retelling this story and making it your own while keeping the same themes. One thing I would suggest is to add a short summary of the original story in your author's note so the reader doesn't need to go back and read the entire story. However, I did enjoy the way that you framed the story--I definitely felt some tension and suspense as I was reading this, wondering what would happen to the boys. You portrayed the little boy's jealousy very well; although his actions were a bit extreme, the reader could understand where his thoughts came from as he grew up with his brothers.
ReplyDeleteI love how you made the characters in to humans because it allows for the reader to feel more relatable to them. I think that you did a great job of retelling this story and really keeping the necessary elements there and present. I do like that you were able to put your own spin on it a little though! Great job!
ReplyDelete