Week 7 Story: A King's Folly is his Fall
There was once a boastful, but foolish, king who ruled a small kingdom apart of a vast land. While the king was lacking wit, he was a powerful figure and everyone in the kingdom feared his reign. Every morning, the people of the kingdom would visit his castle to pay their respects to the prideful king.
One misty morning, a young boy was laying under a tree. Feeling so comfortable in his spot, he had fallen asleep and forgotten to go greet the king. The next thing he knew, he was awakened by the neighing of the king's horses and clattering armor of the king's men, along with the haughty king himself. Immediately, he knew he had made a mistake and decided to come up with a lie to save himself from the king's wrath.
"My lord," the boy bowed. "I am so glad you are here! I hid behind this tree to escape a demon, he is down by the riverbank! Only a king so mighty as you could possibly defeat him."
The king's men murmured amongst each other in fear. The thought of a terrible monster intrigued the king, however, and he felt in his arrogance that he could defeat the demon easily.
"Pft. My men are scared to face a monster, but I, of course, have no fear! Well quickly then, boy! Lead the way."
The young boy led the king through the fog down to the river, leaving his men behind. As they trod through the misty woods, his mind became overwhelmed with what to do once they reached their destination.
"Where is it, boy? Come face me, demon!" The king unsheathed his sword, ready to engage. At this point in the morning, the mist was very thick and hard to see through. However, having been familiarized with the area, the boy could hear the water rushing through the stream. This is a cliff, he thought. This is where the river ends and goes into waterfall. The roaring of the water as it runs off the edge could be heard faintly in the background.
"In front of you, my king! Do you hear the low roar through the mist? The demon is assembling for battle."
At this, the king charged towards the fog with rage, only to get swept away by the river and cast off the cliff of the waterfall.
When the boy returned out of the foggy forest and back to the king's men, they appointed the boy as the new ruler of the kingdom, as he had defeated the foolish king with his wit.
Author's Note:
I wrote this story based off of How the Rabbit Killed the Lion by Albert Shelton. In the story, a lazy rabbit outsmarts a prideful lion, king of the animals, into throwing himself into the water and drowning. As you can tell, I stayed very true to the storyline. The only different I added was I made the young boy (rabbit) the new king at the end!
Bibliography:
Tibetan Folktales by Albert Shelton.
One misty morning, a young boy was laying under a tree. Feeling so comfortable in his spot, he had fallen asleep and forgotten to go greet the king. The next thing he knew, he was awakened by the neighing of the king's horses and clattering armor of the king's men, along with the haughty king himself. Immediately, he knew he had made a mistake and decided to come up with a lie to save himself from the king's wrath.
"My lord," the boy bowed. "I am so glad you are here! I hid behind this tree to escape a demon, he is down by the riverbank! Only a king so mighty as you could possibly defeat him."
The king's men murmured amongst each other in fear. The thought of a terrible monster intrigued the king, however, and he felt in his arrogance that he could defeat the demon easily.
"Pft. My men are scared to face a monster, but I, of course, have no fear! Well quickly then, boy! Lead the way."
The young boy led the king through the fog down to the river, leaving his men behind. As they trod through the misty woods, his mind became overwhelmed with what to do once they reached their destination.
"Where is it, boy? Come face me, demon!" The king unsheathed his sword, ready to engage. At this point in the morning, the mist was very thick and hard to see through. However, having been familiarized with the area, the boy could hear the water rushing through the stream. This is a cliff, he thought. This is where the river ends and goes into waterfall. The roaring of the water as it runs off the edge could be heard faintly in the background.
"In front of you, my king! Do you hear the low roar through the mist? The demon is assembling for battle."
At this, the king charged towards the fog with rage, only to get swept away by the river and cast off the cliff of the waterfall.
When the boy returned out of the foggy forest and back to the king's men, they appointed the boy as the new ruler of the kingdom, as he had defeated the foolish king with his wit.
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| Fog in a Forest. Source: Wikimedia. |
Author's Note:
I wrote this story based off of How the Rabbit Killed the Lion by Albert Shelton. In the story, a lazy rabbit outsmarts a prideful lion, king of the animals, into throwing himself into the water and drowning. As you can tell, I stayed very true to the storyline. The only different I added was I made the young boy (rabbit) the new king at the end!
Bibliography:
Tibetan Folktales by Albert Shelton.
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteI loved the story. You wrote it well. I am not perfect at grammar, but you seem to be for I found no noticeable mistakes in what you wrote. Also, as stated, I loved the story. I love how you transition from animals to human for the story. Most people do things the opposite way from what I have been seeing most of the time. It was a great story, Keep it up.
Hi Julia, I really like this story, it's chill, compelling and it has a lesson. I love the trope that you employed: the fine line between bravery and stupidity. And I haven't read the original story but it seemed only natural that the boy be made king, it seems to fit well with both the tone of your story and the tone parable myths in general.
ReplyDeleteThere were a few grammatical things that I noticed but they didn't take anything away from the story. The phrase "...kingdom apart of a vast land" is a bit awkward. Is the kingdom a part of a vast land, or apart from a vast land? "...feeling so comfortable in his spot" is also a little grammatically awkward, I think it's phrase, not a clause, so you could put "He was feeling..." to give it a verb.
Great job!
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a great job with this story. I enjoyed how you changed the characters in the story from animals to people while also keeping the general story the same. I also liked how the boy in your story used the fog and his familiarity with the area to trick the king, unlike the rabbit who seemed to just take advantage of the lion's foolishness.
Hey Julia! That was some quick thinking by the boy, I can only imagine the fear that he must have been filled with when he realized what he had done. I wonder if any of the King's men thought about warning him of the cliff, or if they were so eager to get rid of him that they were almost giddy that he was going to ride off and into the water. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter. Great job writing the story!
ReplyDelete