Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Storytelling Week 10: Foolhardy


There was once an old man who had little to his name but he was a good man. He lived his life to serve others but most importantly, God. Unfortunately, the man’s health was quickly failing him. He went to his church and told the pastor all about his troubles. He knew he did not have much time and was very worried about his two boys. He raised them as best as he could but unfortunately despite his best efforts, they weren’t very bright. They relied upon their father and were very cautious of all other people.
The pastor met with the board members of the church after he spoke with the old man. One member who was well endowed took pity upon the man because he had done so much for the church. He took it upon himself to repay the man for all of his kindness. He contacted the man and set up a time to meet one evening. Things however, got worse for the old man. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to make it to the meeting so he instructed his sons to meet on his behalf.
The two boys went to the location of the meeting as instructed by their father. They were spooked by a figure approaching from the shadows so one of them smashed a vase over his head. He was out cold and they feared he was already dead. They went to their father with their news. In anguish the old man realized the boys had killed the board member from church. The shock overtook him and he quickly passed from a heart attack. Due to the boys rash behavior they were subject to living a life of poverty for the remainder of their days.
Author’s Note: This is a more modern version of the story How Sickness Entered the World within the Tejas Legends unit. In the original story there was no sickness in the world. A medicine man knew it was his time to die and he was supposed to meet with a Messenger from the Great Spirit. The Messenger was going to give the man a great deal of information for the rest of mankind. Unfortunately, the medicine man was too ill to make the meeting. He sent to boys in his place. The Messenger went to the meeting in the form of a snake. This frightened the boys and they killed the snake. They reported their actions to the medicine man and foolishly thought nothing would happen to them if they left the carcass somewhere else. The mate of the snake discovered what happened and laid eggs that released sickness amongst all of the people. I wanted to put the story into a more modern setting. Rather than being plagued with illness the two boys in my story will be plagued with poverty.
Bibliography: "How Disease Entered the World" by Florence Stratton, from When the Storm God   Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends (1936). Web: Untextbook

2 comments:

  1. I really like how you took the older myth version and turned it into a more modern version that today's society could relate to better. I think the kids and the church is a good twist from the medicine man and the boys. The story seemed to floe really well and I couldn't find much wrong with it. Your author's notes help to explain the differences.

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  2. Your author’s note was really helpful in letting the reader know how you changed the story and what the original was about. I really liked that you put it in a modern setting! You did a good job of sticking to the original story line, while still putting a new spin on it. I also liked that you mention right off the bat that the boys aren’t very bright—this gave me an expectation that they were going to do something stupid. Nicely done!

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