Week 12 Storytelling: General Arthur

There once was a young man whose spirit was unmatched. His name was Arthur Pendra. Despite always being a troublesome student, some people still believed in his potential. Arthur was always a gifted athlete, so much so that a college recruiter was impressed with his athleticism.  Merlin, the recruiter, ended up offering Arthur a scholarship to play football for the nearby university: The Knights. Arthur was, above all else, flattered. He was never one to be praised, so the fact that a man from a respected school would even suggest that Arthur could be successful with anything was a welcomed surprise.

Upon accepting the scholarship, Arthur said goodbye to his adopted father and his brothers to embark on his journey as a college student. Upon arriving, Arthur's rise as a starter was meteoritic. Within his first few games with the Knights, he was able to present his talents and land himself the job as starting quarterback. As a starter, he lead his team to several championships. His ability to play the game and his natural-gift as a leader for his team eventually allowed him to gain fame throughout the country. Upon graduating, Arthur was drafted number one overall to play professionally for the Kings. As a King, Arthur continued to play successfully. Eventually, Arthur even manages to win several different awards. One award was the Award of Excalibur, given to a player whose offensive capabilities were unmatched throughout the league. Eventually, all of his hard work paid-off. Upon his final year, Arthur lead the Knights to the national championship to play for the Holy Grail, the national championship trophy that the Knights had been striving for since the team's creation. It was here where the Knights faced-off against their sworn rivals, the Dragons. After a long game that went well into the night, the Knights finally won the game, but only after Arthur bravely rushed for a touchdown that ended with him snapping his throwing arm. This marked the end of the great Arthur, the greatest quarterback the country has ever seen.

Bibliography: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table. Andrew Lang. Link.

Author's Note:

For this week's storytelling, I wanted to retell the legend of King Arthur, but to put in a special twist. Instead of the it being set in ancient times, I wanted to move the setting to the modern era, and instead of being a king, I wanted to make Arthur a quarterback instead. The main thing that I took out of reading the King Arthur unit was the ability for the story to develop King Arthur as a character by looking at his whole life, from being to a lowly citizen to one of the greatest kings Britain has ever seen. For my story, I wanted to try to replicate this development by following my Arthur from being a high school athlete to one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. In my story, you can see several nods to the original legend, like the Offensive Player of the Year award being dubbed Excalibur, and how his final game ended with a career ending injury, like in the original story where he dies in his last story.

(Hall of Famer, Arthur:

Click Hole)

Week 11 Storytelling: The Origin of the Earthquake

Long ago, before even the mountains were formed, there were willows and oaks that towered over the lands. Back then, these trees bore fruits of all kinds. No one knew this more than the Bear. The Bear was a selfish, gluttonous creature, eating anything that it could get its paws on and was not afraid to steal from others. He was so malcontent with the food that he had access to that he one day decided to climb all the nearby willows and oaks to eat their fruit. Tree after tree, the Bear propelled its growing body up every tree in the land, eating all of the fruits that it could reach. It was to the point now that almost every tree in the land was now fruitless. All for but one. There was a great, tall oak that towered above the rest. It was so tall that there are tales of other animals being able to see the monstrous tree from lands away.

The tree was considered sacred to all who lived in this land, but the Bear did not care. His hunger made him disregard this fact. Despite the outcry from other animals of the land, the bear dragged his now gargantuan body up the tree, eating what he came across. The tree was so tall and filled with fruit that it took the bear days to even begin seeing the top of the tree. Near the top, the Bear could see that he had eaten all but one piece of fruit on the tree: a lone apple perched at the very top. Determined to eat his fill, the Bear ignored the fact that it was exhausted and too fat to carry on. However, at the very moment the Bear tried to pluck the apple from its spot, it lost its grip and fell to the earth.

Upon landing on the ground, he Bear's massive body created an earthquake so large that any subsequent earthquakes that are felt today are merely aftershocks to the original. This is also the reason why Oak trees and Willow trees no longer bear fruit. As penance, all bears starve themselves during the winter to make up for the Bear's original greed and gluttony.

Author's Note: Piggy-backing off the theme that a lot of the Native American stories have, I wanted to create a story that gave us the origin to something or things. In this case, my story tells us how earthquakes came to be, why Oak and Willow trees do not have fruit, and why bears do not eat in the winter. Obviously, all of these can be explained scientifically: Earthquakes are due to tectonic shifts, not oversize bears falling from the sky. Oaks and Willows genetically cannot carry fruits that we are accustomed to, and bears don't eat during the winters for hibernation. I just thought that this would be a fun way to tell something we already know!

(The greedy bear:

Wikipedia)

Bibliography: Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest. Katherine Berry Judson. Link.

Week 10 Storytelling: Dog Almighty

Bruce was walking home from work one day. Bruce is far from a fan of his job, believing that he is overworked and underpaid. Bruce was cursing himself, his job, and overall, his life. He was miserable. That was until a small, hyperactive Corgi ran in front of him and began jumping with joy around him.

"Hey little buddy," said Bruce. Bruce knelt down to check for a collar or a tag on the Corgi. "Who's your owner?"

The dog simply wagged his tail and started running into a nearby alley. Bruce began to walk away, that is until the Corgi barked at him as if to signal Bruce to follow him. For a reason unbeknownst to him, Bruce decided to follow the Corgi into the alley.

"Okay, girl, what are we doing here?" asked Bruce, in the same tone as a parent who is playfully speaking to a baby who cannot yet talk. Almost instantaneously, the giant smile that the Corgi had on its face disappeared.

"First of all," started the Corgi in a smooth, deep voice, "I am a male." Bruce looked at the adorable Corgi in horror.

"W-w-what the hell?" stammered Bruce as he was backing away from the alley.

"Don't be afraid Bruce." said the Corgi. He began circling Bruce to keep him from leaving, corralling him back towards the alley. "I'd prefer if we spoke in private. By your own reaction, you can see that others will most likely be scared as well."

"You're a talking dog?!?" exclaimed Bruce. "How is this possible?!?"

"Why is the sky blue?" responded the Corgi. On a normal day, Bruce may have answered that question with scientific facts, but after meeting a talking Corgi with the voice of a Jazz singer, everything Bruce knew about science was thrown out the window.

"What's going on?" asked Bruce, now a little more calmly, or as calmly as a man can be for someone who just met a talking dog.

"I saw that you've been a bit down as of late. What's wrong?" asked the Corgi. Thinking that he was hallucinating, Bruce thought that it couldn't hurt to divulge his true feelings to the Corgi.

"I don't know. I hate my job and I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere in life," admitted Bruce.

"You shouldn't become so mopey than! If you don't like an aspect of your life, change it!" responded the Corgi. One could even argue that it came out like a command.

"And why should I take orders from a five pound dog?" questioned Bruce, now aggravated. The Corgi rolled his eyes and walked towards a nearby dumpster. "Because life is too beautiful to hate it." Upon saying that, the Corgi began licking an empty can next to the dumpster. Bruce just stared in horror and disgust, a shrewd look forming in his face.

"Don't look at me like that!" snapped the Corgi. After he was done licking the can all over, the can seemed to magically transform into a baby bluebird. The bluebird hopped next to Bruce, pecking at crumbs next to him before it flew away into the blue sky. He then went to a nearby, abandoned shoe and licked at it until it morphed into rabbit. The rabbit looked at both Bruce and the Corgi before scurrying out of the alley.

"You can't tell me that wasn't beautiful," said the Corgi matter-of-factly. "Life is hard, but it is also short. You can't just sit around at a job that you hate for the rest of your life. Go out! Go to art school!"

Bruce remained quiet, partly because he was a bit freaked-out that the Corgi knew he wanted to try his hand at art school. The Corgi merely stared at Bruce, waiting for his response. After a few minutes of contemplation, Bruce opened his mouth to speak to the Corgi, but before he could, he awoke to find himself lying in his bed at his apartment. Despite having been a dream, Bruce couldn't help but feel affected by it. The next morning, Bruce placed his two-weeks notice at his job and began filling out an application for a local art class in a nearby college.

Weeks later, now happily in art school and currently a prospect for a graphic design job, Bruce wanted to mark the start of his new life with the introduction of a new four-legged friend in his life. Bruce went to the local dog pound to find a dog to adopt and call a friend. To his surprise, at the very back of the building, there was a Corgi wagging its tail in anticipation for a new owner. Bruce couldn't help but smile.

"Hey little buddy," said Bruce, as if greeting an old friend.

The End

(A Corgi! Just like the one in my story:

Wikipedia)

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of Alaska. Katherine Berry Judson. Link.

Author's Note: For this week's story, I decided to take an idea from the Native Americans of Alaska and merge it with the beloved story of Bruce Almighty. In the stories that are linked above, the Inuits have a legend where the raven is the creator of most life. In many of the stories, we see what the raven creates and why they are created. The idea that I really loved from the story was that the raven acted as a God-figure, an animal that seems just so random. I wanted to keep this idea in my story, but instead of a raven, which I always associate with death (and mediocre football), I could make my animal be a Corgi. I thought it'd be funny to have the creator of all life be a Corgi, and even funnier by making his voice similar to that of Morgan Freeman's. Speaking of Morgan Freeman, I chose this voice since he is who I associated most with Bruce Almighty. I am guessing that you guys can start to see why I decided to name my main character Bruce. Overall, I wanted to write a nice little story that shows a man who is disappointed with his life eventually make changes so that he can be happier. I hope you guys like it!

Week 9 Storytelling: Frogman, The Green Knight

It is another night in The Jungle. The Jungle is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. It is infested by murderous, greedy and overall malicious criminals. At night, one can expect to run into any one of them. It isn't safe to be out here at night. For one unknowing citizen, this fact is about to become very clear.

The young man, while walking home from a late shift at work, is suddenly surrounded by a group of men wearing the colors of the Tiger Gang, one of The Jungle's most notorious gangs. They push him into a nearby alley.

"Alright kid, hand over your wallet and we won't hurt you," says the largest of the group. It is safe to assume that he is the leader of these neanderthals, since the rest merely stand their ready to pounce on his command.

"H-h-here," whimpers the young man as he hands his wallet over. After getting ahold of the man's wallet, the rest of the goons proceed to push the man around. Eventually, one of the gang members pushes him to the ground and the rest begin kicking him. In his head, the man prays for help in any form. His prayers are answered when a gruff voice comes from above on a nearby building.

"Alright cowards, leave the boy alone," echoes a deep, menacing voice. Upon hearing this voice, every one of the gang members freezees in horror. This voice was known among the criminal underworld to be that of The Frogman. The Frogman was known to be a vigilante who patrolled The Jungle every night, stopping every crime that he encountered. One would expect this Frogman to be a physically large, intimidating monster; but in reality, the man behind Frogman was a balding, middle-aged man who probably can't even lift a box of pillows to save his life. However, the criminals of The Jungle did not know this. He always hovered above on nearby building to keep the criminals from seeing the fact that the only thing that kept his potbelly from spilling over his belt was a lime-green, skintight unitard.

"A-a-alright! Please don't hurt us!" whimpers the leader as he hands the man his wallet back and helps him to his feet.

"If you don't turn yourself in right now, I can't make that promise," growls Frogman. Inside, Frogman was trying to keep himself from fainting out of fear. Realistically, the man that is The Frogman knew that he would never win a fight. He made up for this by using intimidation and other scare tactics to keep criminals afraid.The gang members then proceed to run away, screaming in horror. The young man tries to thank his savior, but looks up to see that Frogman had already disappeared into the night. Realistically, Frogman was struggling to slowly climb down the fire escape on the opposite side of the building.

Author's Note:
For my story, I decided to use the Tibetan folktale of The Tiger and the Frog. In the story, a scared frog tries to keep himself from being eaten by an obviously larger, fiercer tiger. To do this, the frog pretends to be physically superior and pretends to eat tigers for fun. The tiger is actually fooled by this, so much so, the tiger runs away. Reading this, I couldn't help but see the basis for Batman. We all know the story of Batman, the vigilante who trains to be one of the world's greatest crimefighters. I wanted to make my character, The Frogman, to be a vigilante hero as Batman is, but the difference is that the Frogman is in no shape to be a crimefighter, whether it be physically or mentally. He instead acts like the frog in the Tibetan story, using intimidation to scare off the attackers (who happen to be members of the Tiger gang).

Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales. A.L. Shelton. Link.

(The Frogman keeps a watchful eye:

Gizmodo)

Week 6 Storytelling: A Trip with Hank

It all started when I was drafted. I was originally an English teacher, but when duty called, I was drafted to lead some of the bravest men I have ever met. With these men,  we stormed Normandy in one of the most famous amphibious raids to have ever taken place. Even after this hellish session, I was sent on one of the worst fetching missions ever, traveling almost all of Europe to find a young man to bring him home to his family. I lost almost all of my men during this expedition, but I was able to survive and go home to live prosperously.

Not long after this war, I was drafted to another. This time Vietnam. Here I met my best friends Bubba and Lieutenant Dan. I remember specifically being ambushed one day, our unit being cut down in mere minutes. Summoning all of my strength and courage, I raced the injured away from the danger to an evacuation point. It was here where I lost Bubba, who died in my arms that day. Despite this, I was able to leave the military a decorated hero and make a fortune alongside Dan.

Despite my riches, I decided to buy myself a boat and be its captain. On my very first voyage, we were hijacked by a band of Somalian pirates. Using us as hostages, the pirates demanded money. Fortunately, I was able to persuade the head of the pirates to take me as the only hostage. Assured that I would die when leaving with the pirates, I was fortunately saved by the military. After this, I retired my captain's hat and continued to live off my fortune.

It wasn't long before I began to grow restless again. This time, I became a pilot. In the military, I was trained to fly helicopters and various bombers. I put this to good use by being one of the best pilots at my local airline. However, disaster struck on my 100th flight ever, when a goose flew directly into our plane's turbine. Where lesser men would have given up and began praying, I managed to guide the plane to nearby waters and land safely there, saving all those on board. Because of this, I was awarded with fame and riches that was even unheard of to me.

Despite having the most tumultuous time traveling, I decided to have one last trip, this time on a boat to relax. However, during our voyage, we were struck by storm. I awoke on a deserted island, scared and exhausted. It was there I lived for months, surviving on nothing but coconuts and the companionship of a volleyball that washed ashore. Needless to say, I had a dance with insanity during this time. Fortunately, after months of hardship, I was founded by a TV crew searching for lost treasures in abandoned islands. It was because of this TV show that my fame and fortune were reinvigorated.

Now, as an old, decrepit man, I tell you this story so that you may one day tell it as various blockbusters. My name is Tom Hanks, and this is my story.

Author's Note: I wanted to write a story in the style of Sinbad's Seven Voyages. In Sinbad's story, a seemingly ordinary man recalls all of his voyages that were all life and death situations. Whether it was facing a man-eating cyclops or a killer old man using him as a slave, Sinbad has been through such a gauntlet. Upon my first reading, the first thing that popped into my mind was the meme of Tom Hanks, that states something along the lines of "you never want to travel with guy", since many of his hit movies have him involved with various incidents that seem to play out in the end due to sheer luck.

Bibliography: The Voyages of Sinbad, The Arabian Nights: Andrew Lang. Link

(Tom's whole life in one picture:

Imgur)

Week 5 Storytelling: The Trickster's Karma

There once was a hunter, Kalinag, who lived adjacent to his fellow villagers. Kalinag, though skilled, was extremely egotistical. The reason why he did not have his hut alongside the others was because of this ego. He always thought that he was better than the rest of the men of his village due to the fact that he was able to bring back so much meat and skins from each of his hunting trips. However, his aptitude for trapping and hunting was not correlated to that of his skill with the bow, rather it had something to do with his ability to bait and trick animals into his traps.

Whereas other hunters of the village simply hunted for food and supplies, Kalinag saw hunting more as a competition to prove who is best. After bragging to the rest of the village about his haul, instead of donating his unneeded meat/skins, Kalinag simply discarded them in the nearby river. With his ability to catch so many animals, and the fact that he would dump their remains into where they drink and bathe, the animals of the jungle grew to fear Kalinag. So much so, the mighty Lion decided to meet with Kalinag to discuss a truce. The Lion understood that humans hunted for food and supplies, much like he and his kin hunt for food. However, the Lion could not stand idly by as the innocent denizens of the jungle were slaughtered for sport. Upon entering the village, the Lion was greeted by Kalinag and offered a meal at his home. The Lion agreed to the meal, and after satisfying his hunger, a sudden wave of exhaustion rushed over him. Instantly, the Lion was on the ground, asleep from whatever Kalinag had used to pacify him. Kalinag seized this opportunity and moved the Lion into a cage he kept behind his hut, and so began Kalinag's downfall.

Finding out that it was so easy to lure the jungle animals into his home with the promise of a meal, Kalinag posted a notice near the river so that all animals may see that they were invited. At first skeptical, only a few accepted his offer at first. Lured in by the smell of sweet berries and ripened fruit, animals flocked to his home, only to be put to sleep by Kalinag's drug. One by one, Kalinag dumped his catches into cage that he treated as a trophy now. For weeks, this practice continued on. Kalinag loved the fact that he was able to catch so many animals. He decided that once he was satisfied with the amount of animals caught, he would skin them all and show the villages how big of a collection he was able to bring back. However, he was never satisfied. As weeks passed, the cage became more and more cramped by the unsuspecting animals, until eventually the cage was filled end to end. Any sensible person could see that the cage was too full; that if Kalinag wanted to carry out his plan, he would have to do it then. However, due to his pride, Kalinag continued. One day, due to the constant movement of those that were trapped, the cage finally bursted apart, animals swarming out and filling Kalinag's home. This happened at night, so Kalinag was asleep on his bed, but being awake still would not have saved him from the dozens of animal that jumped onto his bed.

The next morning, many villages spoke of screaming that they thought they heard coming from Kalinag's hut. However, due to his uncouth manners, nobody bothered to check on him. It wasn't until villages started to notice dozens of tracks leading out of his hut did they investigate. Upon entering the hut, the villagers were greeted by a room covered in blood. Days later, Kalinag's body was discovered alongside the river bank. It was then that the all the villagers decided to pass a law to restrict hunting for food and supplies only.

Author's Note: I decided to create a story using the Santal readings and their heavy theme of tricksters. However, I wanted to put my own spin on it. Whereas most of the Santal readings had the tricksters use their tricks to get out of problems, I wanted my trickster to meet his downfall due to his tricks. Other things I saw was that the stories like to personify animals, so I wanted to do that as well. It's good to see that these stories are a far cry from the trickster stories that we read in the beginning of the year.

(A hunter, much how I envisioned Kalinag:

Pinterest)

Bibliography: Folklore of the Santal Parganas, Cecil Henry Bompas; link.

Week 4 Story: Adam's Bad Day

Updated Version here: link

Adam was up early today, packing. Yesterday, he received an eviction notice from his apartment complex due to something his now ex-girlfriend did. Adam was sad. The apartment was perfect! It was fully furnished with modern furniture and had everything a man could want, so much so that he nicknamed it "Eden". But now it was no longer his apartment. Adam had neatly packed all of his belongings into his small hatchback that was bound for his new domain, a small studio apartment that probably didn't have a working AC unit. This sorry excuse for an apartment was all he could find in such short notice, after his then-girlfriend got him kicked out for breaking every rule that the previous apartment complex had set.

After returning his key to the front office, Adam walked out into the blistering heat hoping to stay optimistic. Though he had lost his dream apartment, it was not the end of the world. He had faith that everything will be good again. However, the moment he stepped out, his face was greeted by a rather large deposit of bird dropping. Disgusted since he was a germaphobe, Adam told himself to be calm as he tried to clean his face with as many sanitizing wipes he could get out of his car's glove compartment. Adam felt that this incident was some type of ominous warning for the coming day, but he decided to press on with some optimism.

Driving down the freeway, Adam kept tell himself that everything will work out in the end. It was at that moment when black smoke began spewing out of his engine bay and his car made sounds similar to that of washing machine filled with bricks! He then began to feel that his car could no longer accelerate, so he pulled it over along the road to dodge the rest of the cars behind him. For the next hour, Adam tried all that he could to turn his engine over, but to no avail. Adam was sure that all of the groceries that he had packed for his new apartment was spoiled by now in the summer heat. Adam decided to give up and walk to the nearest gas station to call for a tow, since he suddenly realized that he forgot to charge his cellphone the night before. Again, Adam tried to remain optimistic.

After a half hour walk, Adam arrived at the closest gas station and called for his car to be towed. The operator, however, did not have good news to share with Adam, saying that the nearest driver would not be available until 2 hours later. Adam accepted this half-heartedly and decided to have a pseudo lunch at the gas station to wait. After about an hour, Adam began his trek back to his car, but upon his  arrival to his car, Adam discovered two citations placed on his windshield. Apparently the local police department did not appreciate that his car was left abandoned here for so long. At that point, Adam had lost all his optimism and broke down on the side of the highway, defeated. Finally, the tow truck driver arrived and picked up Adam and his car. After delivering his car to a local mechanic, the driver dropped the now-gloomy Adam to his apartment. Despite his bad day, Adam still tipped the driver healthily out of gratitude.

Walking into the apartment complex's main office, you could see the disparity on Adam's face. Even so, he remained courteous to the front secretary. Adam told her who he was and that he was moving in. Upon learning who he was, the secretary's face grew pale. Apparently, the night before, a fire next door to what was suppose to be his new apartment engulfed the whole building, destroying every apartment. Again, Adam was sad, but not surprised considering how the rest of his day had been. The secretary asked Adam to wait as they tried to find another apartment for him. After about two hours of just wallowing in his self-pity, Adam was greeted by the apartment complex's manager, apologizing for the situation. Adam remain calm and told him that he was not angry, just a bit sad. The manager responded to this with what he described was fantastic news. Since the insurance money would cover everything for the fire and make it even better, the manager was able to upgrade Adam to a nicer, larger apartment, free of charge. Adam reacted ecstatically! Though he was still feeling glum, this news did make him feel better. Upon his arrival to his new apartment that was even better than the one he was evicted from, Adam received more good news when the mechanic called him and told him he was able to fix his car and was on his way to the apartment to return it.

In the end, despite having probably one of the worst days of his life, everything worked out in the end. Adam was away from his crazy girlfriend, his car was in its best shape in a long time, and he now had an apartment that he is more proud of than his previous one. Adam went to bed that night thinking how all that suffering that day was nothing compared to how the day ended.

Author's Note: In my last post, I suggested a modern, less grim take on the banishment of Adam and Eve from Eden. In the story, you can see many references to the Biblical tale. I wanted to keep the theme of "everything works out in the end" in my story, but without the overly cruel punishments.

Bibliography: Book of Adam and Eve, link

(Adam being evicted from Eden:

Mystics)

Week 3 Story: The Lion Gums His In-Laws

Being married can be a real hassle, especially when you and your significant other don't even share the same species. That's right. I am a 500 pound lion married to a small, petite woman. I'm not going to even mention her weight or she'll try to kill me like her folks tried to when I asked her to marry me! You'll hear about that later!

I first met my future wife after accepting a challenge to wrestle this odd fellow named Hercules. He wanted to skin me and wear me like a coat! However, I am digressing. After the match, she approached me and introduced herself. She was obviously impressed at my ability to beat a demigod, so we began dating. After a few months of dating, I knew that she was the one, so I decided to propose. I asked her and her parents to meet me at a local restaurant so that I may ask for her hand. I knew that this would be extremely difficult since her parents didn't (and still don't) like me. When I got to the restaurant, I was met by her parents, both with disapproving scowls imprinted into their faces. Despite their hatred for me, I tried my best to clean up and impress them. Over the months while my wife and I were dating, her parents insisted on me filing down my teeth and claws. Since I loved her so much, I decided to do it to the point where my claws are nearly nonexistent and my mouth looks like that of a 2 month-old's.

After taking our seats at our table, I cleared my throat and mustered all of my might to ask them for their blessings. I decided to just come out and ask them before even getting our appetizers. I'm assuming I didn't get their blessings considering the fact that, after asking, her dad lunged towards me with a nearby steak knife while her mom started spraying me with mace as if it were a new cologne. Had I had my teeth, I probably would have mauled them both, but since all I had were my filed down teeth and bare paws, I mostly gummed on them until my future-wife was able to pull them both off. At the end of the dinner, I was maced and scratched up. Regardless, I still proposed and we decided to elope, sending pictures of our honeymoon to her parents as payback. A few years later, we had a couple of kids (imagine centaurs with manes) and are on visiting terms. Even so, they still try to kill me every visit. Every year, for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and her parents birthdays, we have to get dressed-up and visit. Where most Christmas dinners ends with the family arguing with each other, ours usually ends up with me maced and her parents covered in my saliva since I've lost all my teeth.

The moral of the story - at least how I, a lion stuck with in-laws who try to kill me all the time, interpret it - is to never get married.

Author's Notes: I thought I'd put a spin on Aesop's fable about the lion who tried to marry a woman. I'm not a fan of either endings (where either the lion is betrayed and laughed off or where it is killed) so I decided to make my story a bit more lighthearted. One aspect that I wanted to keep from both iterations of the story was the fact that the marriage between a lion and a young woman was totally normal.

(The Lion in Love:

Mozoho)

Bibliography: Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs; The Lion in Love.

Week 2 Story: The Trickster Jackal

The Jackal was a strange creature. In a vast jungle that consisted of countless, colorful animals, the Jackal stood out due to his intelligence and his kind nature. Some would even describe his kindness as naivety. The Jackal was not the only being in the jungle. There was the noble, fierce Lion, who oversaw his domain with intense vigilance. There was the ancient Willow-tree, who showered as much knowledge to passerbys as it did its shade. Other notable denizens were the strong Buffalo and the patient Road. Those who live in the jungle were characters of high moral; all except for the notorious Tiger. The Tiger was a fearsome creature. Unlike the others who live in the jungle, the Tiger was not to be trusted due to his unpredictable nature. Many feared the Tiger; even the mighty Lion was wary of the Tiger. It was only the Jackal that was unafraid of the Tiger, so much so, the Jackal even enjoyed bothering the Tiger for fun. Due to this annoying behavior, the Tiger always assumed the Jackal to be an unintelligent creature. The Jackal knew this, and always enjoyed playing along. The Jackal, when encountering the tiger, would always act as a fool. The Jackal never trusted the Tiger, so he believed that he could use this to his advantage one day. That day finally arrived with the arrival of the kind-hearted Brahman. 

Despite the ferocity the Tiger possessed, he was still only an animal. One day, he was foolishly caught in a trap. For days, the Tiger waited for death. It was not until the Brahman arrive did the Tiger finally concocted a plan to not only escape, but to also feed his hunger. 

"Please help me!" begged the Tiger.

Despite being a stranger to this jungle, even the Brahman knew that the Tiger was not to be trusted. Even so, the Brahman decided to put his prejudice aside and help the Tiger.

"I will help you," said the Brahman as he carefully opened the cage to free the Tiger. 

The moment the Brahman opened the door the Tiger leapt on him and pinned the Brahman to the ground.

"You fool!" laughed the Lion, "You were foolish to have trusted me!"

The Brahman begged for his life, reasoning that the Tiger's life was indebted to him for his generosity. The Brahman even begged for other inputs on the matter. The Tiger, though annoyed, agreed and allowed the Brahman to have others judge the situation. 

The Brahman rushed around the jungle to find anybody to side with him in his case against the Tiger. However, due to fear of death, no jungle dweller dared to stand up against the Tiger. Only the Lion was brave enough to try to help.

"The only way to save your life, generous Brahman, is for me to fight the Tiger to the death," said the Lion dreadfully. 

The Jackal overheard this plan. Despite his immature nature, the Jackal genuinely cared for everybody within the jungle - even the Tiger. 

"What if I told you that I could solve this problem without anybody having to die?" asked the Jackal.

The Lion was skeptical, but he also did not want any deaths within the jungle. The Lion and the Brahman decided to follow the Jackal's lead to solve the problem. Fearfully, the Brahman takes the Jackal to the Tiger. Upon sight of the Jackal, the Tiger became instantly annoyed.

"Not this idiot!" said the Tiger.

"Explain to me what the problem is, my old friend," said the Jackal sarcastically. 

The Tiger went into full detail about what happened and how hunger is a suitable reason for the Brahman's death. The Jackal, feigning as a fool, asks for a visual representation of the Tiger's story. Annoyed but thinking that the Jackal truly was this dense, the Tiger walks back into the cage to show how he was captured. Upon the Tiger entering the cage, the Jackal darted towards the door and slammed it shut. The Tiger, dumbfounded, screamed in agony and anger. 

"How was I tricked by a fool?" cursed the Tiger. 

"You underestimated me, friend. Despite your dishonesty against this kind Brahman, we have decided to spare you." said the Jackal. The Jackal then reopened the gate, this time the Lion and the other jungle dwellers stepping in between the Tiger and the Brahman. The Tiger, embarrassed by the whole ordeal, scurried away in shame. The Brahman thanked the Jackal and the rest of the denizens of the jungle for their support and continued on with his journey. 

Author's Note: This story is based on the the folktale The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal. The story revolves around how a Jackal saves a Brahman from death by tricking the Tiger. In the original story, the rest of the personified characters did not help the Brahman due to loathing and nonchalance. I wanted to add depth to the Jackal and the other characters to further explain the reasoning of their actions. 

(The Trickster Jackal, living up to its name:

Son of Erek)

Bibliography.  "The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal" from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. Web Source.