Friday, January 24, 2020

Week 2 Story

There was once a tiger hunting for his next meal. While he was prowling through the tall grass, he became stuck in a trap. He violently tried to escape from the trap by biting and clawing at the bars, but it was all in vein as even a strong beast such as him couldn't break the metal.

As the tiger grew more and more helpless and hungry, a Brahman strolled through the field by the tiger.

"Oh kind Brahman, please free me from this vile trap!" begged the tiger.

"Why would I do this for you?" the Brahman questioned. "Surely you would eat me the moment you became free."

"No no no," exclaimed the tiger, "I would be so grateful to you that I would serve as your loyal protecter."

The tigers begging and promises made the kind Brahman feel sorry for the poor tiger stuck in the trap. He decided to release the trap and free the tiger. "HA!" screamed the tiger, as he sprung free from the trap and jumped on his savior, "you are such a dumb old man! A beast like me would never serve such a weak creature like you. Instead I shall eat you to quench my hunger."

Now it was the Brahman's turn to beg for his freedom. The tiger decided to allow the Brahman to ask three things their opinion on wether or not the tiger was acting fairly.

First, the Brahman asked a near by tree how it felt about the matter. The tree dryly told the poor Brahman "I provide protection from the rays of the sun to those wandering in the heat, but in repayment they just eat my fruit and break my branches for kindling. Toughen up and fight your own battles."

Next, the Brahman cried to a hawk flying overhead but the hawk simply responded "I keep to my own business and fly in the sky. I don't want to be a part of your dispute."

Lastly the Brahman begged the road to help him. The road grumpy said "Everybody who I've ever met has simply trampled on me, often with their much heavier cattle. I have no desire to help you."

Defeated, the Brahman began walking back to where the tiger was waiting. Along his way, he met a jackal who asked "Why such a long face Brahman? The weather is nice and today is a good day to travel!"

The Brahman told the jackal what had happened but this just seemed to cause the jackal further puzzlement. "This doesn't make any sense to me!" exclaimed the jackal. "Maybe you could take me to the scene of where this all took place and then I may be able to understand your predicament.

"Finally, my meal has returned! And you brought a snack back with you." the tiger said sinisterly to the Brahman.

"Before you devour me, you must let me explain what happened to this simple minded jackal."

Once again, the Brahman explained to the jackal what had happened without skipping a single piece of information in an attempt to prolong his life that was soon to come to an end.

"All of this hurts my head!" cried the jackal while rubbing his temples. "Ok so the tiger laid the trap and you, Mr. Brahman, became stuck in-"

"No!" the tiger yelled angrily, "I was the one in the trap you moron!"

"That makes more sense," the jackal responded feigning terror. "So the hawk was stuck in the trap- no wait, I was in the trap. No that doesn't seem to make sense. Mr. Brahman was riding the tiger. Ahh no that's impossible. I'll never be able to figure this out, for my brain is just not big enough."

Enraged by the jackal's ineptitude, the tiger roared "It's not that complicated! I am the tiger-"

"Ok that makes sense."

"This is the trap-"

"Alright."

"And I was stuck in the trap."

"Got it! Wait, no, how did you get in the trap?" the jackal asked with a look of confusion.

"What? How? The way that an animal normally gets into a trap!"

"Oh well I don't know how that is for I am so confused right now."

The tigers fuse was about to blow and he quickly jumped back into the trap and yelled, "That's how I got into the trap!"

With a sly smile on his face the jackal quickly slammed the trap shut, locking the tiger back inside. "Ohhhh I get it now," the jackal said, "I think it should stay this way."


Author's note: I took this story and adapted it to my own words. I was intrigued by the trickery of both the tiger and the jackal and loved the premise of this story. The anger that the tiger had was because he thought he was so much smarter than the jackal and I love how this was shown because in the end, it was the jackal who was the smartest.

Story source: Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912)


Image Information: Illustration by John Batten



4 comments:

  1. Hi James!

    I thought this story was a fun read and quite funny. I thought the dialogue between the tiger and jackal was hilarious. I could really feel how frustrated the tiger felt about the whole ordeal. The way they would interrupt each other and call each other names was surprising, but very funny. Thank you so much for the good laugh!

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  2. Hello James! Great job on your story! I loved that the story was put into your own words. It modernized it in a way! This was also a very funny story to read! Especially how slick the jackal was with the tiger.It really shows that you shouldn't underestimate even the smallest of creatures! The tiger boasted so much about himself and the jackal pretended to be clueless. Both their trickery was pretty funny to read and you did a great job setting the tone for both parts!

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  3. Hey James! I really like the twist that was added to this! Your dialog was quite funny and made my interest level went up as I read it! The interruptions made the story so much better and kept the story rolling! Great work and I hope I get your name again!

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  4. Hey James!

    As someone who was initially unfamiliar with this original legend, I quickly went back and read the original material as I enjoyed this retelling so much! The dialogue was whimsical, yet captivating, as when I first read your retelling, I was unsure what the jackal's plan was right up until the end. Your use of this dialogue paired with the quick style of dialogue was a real captivating portion of your retelling as it made the reader really delve into the scenario that the Brahman was in. The ending of the retelling also is rather satisfying as the tiger sticks himself back into the cage after the jackal acts confused, which is another moment that really pops in the story. These moments help your retelling by acting as highlights that captivate the reader and are a vital part of telling any story. This was a great use of these captivating moments and a great overall retelling of this legends.

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