Week 2 Story: The Monkey and the Turtle
There once was a great king of monkeys who so feared that his power would be usurped by one of his sons that he killed each one of them in their infancy. He had a wife that fell pregnant. Scared of her husband's ruthlessness, she took refuge among the elephants. The elephants are known for their strength and wit. She gave birth, and as her son grew, the elephants taught him the secret to their strength and smarts. This monkey-son became the strongest among the elephants. At this time he asked his mother, "Mother-monkey, who is my father?"
His mother answered, "He is a ruthless king. Sure to kill you as soon as he realizes your strength and power."
"Never mind that," replied the monkey-son, "I will go to my father and I will know how to defeat him when I see him."
His reply broke his mother's heart, but she agreed to show him his father's home. When the monkey-son arrived to the palace of his father and announced his birthright, the king embraced his son. To himself, the monkey-king thought: I must find a way to kill this son of mine. He is too strong to be killed by my hand. I know of a water demon that can do this task for me.
The monkey-king announced his heir with faux-excitement before his court. Declaring, "This is my son, stronger than an elephant, he will be named king tonight!"
To his son he said, "Son, I want to crown you king tonight, but you must go collect 10 lotuses from the lake in the forest for the ceremony."
"Father, I will do as you say." With that, the monkey-son ran off towards the lake. Upon his arrival he saw a great water-demon in the lake and knew his father's treachery. The demon took its shape as a turtle. The monkey-son was wise and resourceful. With bounding leaps he swooped onto the shell of the turtle, using it as a raft, he swept all of the lilies onto the turtles back. The turtle demon was so weighed down by the great monkey that he pleaded with him. "I will do anything master-monkey, if only you remove yourself from my back."
"Carry these lotuses to my father and use your magic to kill him." The monkey demanded.
The turtle did just as he was told and the monkey-son was named king above all monkeys.
Author's Note: I reworked the story of The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses but made the water demon resemble a turtle, similar to the story of The Turtle and the King. In my rendition, it is the water-demon who kills the monkey-king instead of his wrath.
His mother answered, "He is a ruthless king. Sure to kill you as soon as he realizes your strength and power."
"Never mind that," replied the monkey-son, "I will go to my father and I will know how to defeat him when I see him."
His reply broke his mother's heart, but she agreed to show him his father's home. When the monkey-son arrived to the palace of his father and announced his birthright, the king embraced his son. To himself, the monkey-king thought: I must find a way to kill this son of mine. He is too strong to be killed by my hand. I know of a water demon that can do this task for me.
The monkey-king announced his heir with faux-excitement before his court. Declaring, "This is my son, stronger than an elephant, he will be named king tonight!"
To his son he said, "Son, I want to crown you king tonight, but you must go collect 10 lotuses from the lake in the forest for the ceremony."
"Father, I will do as you say." With that, the monkey-son ran off towards the lake. Upon his arrival he saw a great water-demon in the lake and knew his father's treachery. The demon took its shape as a turtle. The monkey-son was wise and resourceful. With bounding leaps he swooped onto the shell of the turtle, using it as a raft, he swept all of the lilies onto the turtles back. The turtle demon was so weighed down by the great monkey that he pleaded with him. "I will do anything master-monkey, if only you remove yourself from my back."
"Carry these lotuses to my father and use your magic to kill him." The monkey demanded.
The turtle did just as he was told and the monkey-son was named king above all monkeys.
Author's Note: I reworked the story of The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses but made the water demon resemble a turtle, similar to the story of The Turtle and the King. In my rendition, it is the water-demon who kills the monkey-king instead of his wrath.
The Monkey and the Turtle. Web Source.
Monkeys and elephants, two of my favorite animals and here they are living together in harmony. Elephants are known to be very smart and the fact that they raised the son no doubt played into the monkey's ability to outsmart his father.. if only his father hadn't been so spiteful and cruel then perhaps he could have learned a thing or two from his son!
ReplyDeleteI love how short, sweet, and succinct this story is, and how you incorporated strong elements of the original tales while writing in details of your own. I especially love how the monkey went to live with the elephants- your brief notes on how respected the elephants were really helped round out the backstory that much more, and the way the monkey turned his fate on his father is his just desserts!
ReplyDeleteHaley, I love how you brought elephants into your story, especially how you explained how living among them helped the monkey-son evolve as a character. I also love how you introduced the turtle as a hero in this story, but what if you clarified how the turtle and the monkey worked together to defeat the water-demon in this story? I got a little confused on part where you said "the turtle demon was so weighed down by the great monkey". I think that if you were to rewrite this story, the part where the monkey collected the lotuses would be a great place to add a lot of details so it could be highlighted as the climax of the story. I would love to know more about the water-demon, what he looked and acted like, and what strength the turtle and the monkey had together that helped them defeat the demon!
ReplyDeleteHey Haley, I enjoyed your story and its thrill content! I think the format of your story was great and the way you played out the monkey-son was interesting. I never read the actual story, but it seems like it would be a nice read! As I was reading your story I thought to myself, "What if the Monkey-son was oblivious to his father's wrongdoings?" What would happen? The story mentions how the monkey-son is wise and resourceful, so how would things turn out if he didn't know anything? That revision has me wondering what would happen...
ReplyDeleteHI Haley,
ReplyDeleteI love the characters and animals you picked for your story, Elephants and monkeys are so cute. Your story was short and sweet and thats the best type of stories. You seem to have changed the story up really well in your own way which makes it really unique such as how the monkeys and elephants life together. It is very natural.
Haley,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the story that you wrote. The strongest point in the story I believe is when the money is swaying the water demon shaped as a turtle to kill the king with his own weapon. I am just curios for my own enjoyment, but why is it that you chose moneys and elephants other animals found in India/ But once again I do like the choice you made of Monkeys and elephants I am just curious for your reasoning. On suggestion from me would be maybe go into more detail at the end of the story on how the turtle carried out killing the king, and then was there anymore interaction between the Turtle and the money? If you were to rewrite the story I would still stick with the same plot that you did, but just pack the story with more detail. It was a great story and I look forward to seeing its progression!