Week 2 Story
The Prince and the Turtle
There once was a young prince who roamed his father's kingdom freely. This boy always had guards protecting him at all times. These men had strict orders from the king to obey whatever the boy decided. One day, the boy was wandering the a small forest and came across a charming little pond. The boy grew fond of the little pond and returned everyday for the next week.
One of the young princes favorite things to do was to throw rocks across the water and hear the rocks skip across the surface of the water. The boy eventually became very bored of skipping rocks and began aiming at innocent animals. One day, Turtle decided to sun bathe on a beautiful lily pad. As he soaked up the warmth of the sun and the perfect breeze he was knocked over the lily pad into the water. Luckily, he plopped his head inside his turtle shell. The force of the rock sent him skipping across the water onto the other side of the pond. The boy seeing the turtle flying became very excited.
" Whoa! This will make for a much better game!"
The boy then day after day would set the turtle in any spot and then aim for him with rocks sending him in these terrible whirlwinds across the pond. After enduring constant bullying from the prince the Turtle decided enough was enough and bit the young prince when he picked him up.
" Ouch! You will pay for this Turtle!"
The prince then sent his men to dispose of the turtle for his actions. The men had trouble deciding in a proper way to kill the little creature.
" Lets just cook it and eat it, " suggested one of the men.
" Gross, we will not be eating turtle. We should just crush it, we can make it fast and easy," another man said.
" No! I have the perfect punishment," the oldest of the men said strongly.
" I can think of no better punishment then to let him fall fate to the river that we pass on our way here. The rocks and the force of the will do our dirty work for us and we will not have to waste our time."
The turtle hearing this plopped his head out and exclaimed, " Friends please! I have learned my lesson and I beg for mercy! Anything but the river! This has truly been the worst of the suggestions!"
The prince hearing this order his men to throw the Turtle into the river. The men threw the turtle into the flowing river and the water carried the turtle away. The turtle swam away dreaming of a peaceful pond he could call home far away from the terrible prince.
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| Turtle |
Authors note:
This story was inspired by one of the reading assignments for this week called The Turtle And The King. In the original story there is a king who makes a pond for his princes. The king fills the pond with fishes and a single turtle but the princes become afraid of the turtles and the turtle is sent to be killed by the king. The men decide the best method to kill the turtle is by throwing him in the river which is also the turtles way home to safety. I changed the story by having only one prince who bullied the turtle until the turtle got back at him. I hope you guys enjoyed my little version of it!
Bibliography:
This story is form the version in Jataka Tales Ellen C. Babbitt.
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI love what you did with this story! I like that you gave more dimension to the prince character, making him out to be a bully. In this case, the turtle is not just minding his own business like he was in the original story, but acting in self-defense. I think it says more about the prince, who thought he has the upperhand, but the turtle ends up making him a fool. Great work with the retelling of this story!
Hey Emily! I did not read the story this was based on for week 2, but I must say, your version was a very fun read all throughout. I especially like the part where the turtle bites the king, initiating the King's wrath. I wonder though, did the turtle ever make it to the pond he was dreaming of? Is the ending set this way to keep it open ending? Perhaps the turtle tricked the men by knowing the river led to safety, or perhaps he was dreaming of a nice pond to symbolize his death? I think it would be wonderful if this was made more clear so that I could know for sure!
ReplyDeleteHello Emily, I really enjoyed reading your revision of the story. I like how you switched your plot line and changed the characters behaviors. Although you did a fantastic job retelling the story in your own version, I was left with some questions. I would have enjoyed a more happier ending. You did a wonderful job with your dialogue and really setting the scene withe King and the turtle and really portray a dramatic scene.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! I loved your adaptation of this story! I thought the character of the prince was a sweet kid at first and then i realized he is kind of a meanie! That poor turtle! It sounds like the turtle was at least able to outsmart the men. I would bite the prince as well if I was the turtle! that just about sounds like torture. This was a great story, and I was glad to find a happy ending!
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! I really enjoyed your version of the story! I did feel bad at the end that the turtle had to find a new home. I was kind of hoping he would find some way to outsmart the prince but alas he had to find a new home. I never read the original story, so that is interesting that you made the prince the bad character and not the king. I might look at the original one to get some comparison. Great story!
ReplyDeleteHi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your version of the story. It is funny to me that the turtle thought the worst idea was for them to throw him into the river when there was worse choices than that. I like the modifications you decided to change from the original story and I think it was a great story! I can't wait to read more of your stories in the next coming weeks hopefully.
Hi Emily. This was a cute rendition of the original story. I feel so bad for the poor little turtle, even though I know the ending. Thank goodness he has a happy ending! I like how you changed it to a prince character instead of the king. It makes more sense, because I think it's normal for kids to pick on animals without understanding exactly that their behavior is wrong.
ReplyDelete