Storytelling for Week 12: The Harper

(Harp. Web Source: Wikipedia)

Alawn shouted with glee as his father handed him his first harp. It was beautifully crafted with a strong wooden backbone and perfectly strung tight strings. Alawn's father had been a harper for years in his town and had been teaching Alawn his skill ever since the boy could sit up on his own. Today was the day that Alawn finally received a harp to call his own.

He practiced and practiced for hours each day. Eventually Alawn became not just the town's, but the whole countries most talented musician. His beautiful melodies could calm the hearts of the most troubled souls or be the excitement of a festival.

One day, the wicked prince of the land heard of Alawn's talents and of course wanted to have them for himself.  That very morning, he sent out many of his guards to go to Alawn's home town and bring him to the prince.

Alawn's beautiful wooden harp was torn from his grasp as he entered the palace and was given a solid gold harp in its place. This new harp was strangely shaped and very foreign to Alawn's grasp. The guards dressed the young man in palace appropriate attire and brought him before the prince.

"Ah! So you are the harper my people talk of so highly," said the prince. "I have heard many stories of your talents and decided that I want you to be my personal musician. You shall play for me whenever I call for you and you shall be the sole entertainment at all of my parties. You should count yourself lucky to be given the opportunity to leave your filthy town and live in my palace for the rest of your life!" the prince said with a boastful tone.

"Your highness, I am grateful that you find such favor in my music, but I must decline this offer. Where my family is is my home," Alawn replied.

"Oh dear boy, your presence here is not by request! It is my demand," the prince said viciously.

***

Fifty years later, poor Alawn was no longer the youthful happy boy who loved music. He stood mournfully in the prince's party dreaded the moment that he would be once more commanded to play the cold golden harp for the prince's guests. He crept towards the corner of the room and sunk to the floor with a frown.

Just then a bird fluttered into the room and whispered, "Vengeance, vengeance," and then flew to the door.

Author's Note: My storytelling post this week is based on the tale Bala Lake from the Welsh Fairy Book. In the original story, the harper is nameless and we are not given any sort of back story on him. The tale starts with talking about how cruel and proud the prince is. God warned the prince that "vengeance shall come" if he does not change his ways. Of course the prince ignores this warning and continues on with his evil ways. One day during a party, a bird whispers into a harper's ear, "vengeance, vengeance," and then flies to the door. The bird does this multiple times as a way of beckoning the harper to follow it. The harper follows the bird out into the wilderness where he becomes lost. In the morning when he finds his way back to the castle, he finds the Bala Lake in it's place. His life had been spared and floating on top of the lake was the harper's harp. My tale is about the back story of the harper. I gave him the name Alawn, because it is the Welsh name for harmony.

Bibliography
"Bala Lake" by Jenkyn Thomas from the Un-Textbook Unit: Welsh Fairy Book. 1908

Storytelling for Week 11: Man's Best Friend

(Greyhound In An Extensive Landscape. Web Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Prince Llewelyn's horn blew signaling that it was time for Gellert to join his master for a hunt. Gellert jumped to his feet from his cozy resting area on the porch and gave a long stretch. Just as he was about to race towards the origin of the horn, Gellert saw a large shadow  in his peripheral vision. With his attention diverted, Gellert trotted over to where he had seen the swift shadow.

Gellert arrived at the corner of the house just in time to see a course brown tail disappearing into his master's home.

Just then, the prince blew the horn again and shouted Gellert's name. Gellert knew that he would be in trouble for not responding to this call, but the creature that had just entered the house was of more importance.

Gellert bravely rushed into the house in pursuit. He searched and searched, but was having no luck until a loud crash came from the second story. Gellert bounded up the stairs frantically. His master's one year old son was in his nursery on the second story and that crash could have been nothing else but the sound of his cradle falling to the floor.

Gellert burst into the infant's room to see the young boy hiding under his over turned crib screaming in fear. Across from the boy was a large snarling wolf gazing hungrily at the child.

Gellert leap on top of the beast with bared fangs and sunk his teeth into the wolf's neck. The battle lasted several minutes with injuries being inflicted upon both four legged animals. Finally, the wolf lay dead and Gellert stood over it's body with a grin. He had saved his master's son. His best friend would be so proud of him.

Moments later, Gellert heard the fast beats of a horse's hooves. The hunt was over and his master was home! Gellert could not wait to show his master what he did! He raced down the stairs, out of the house, and when right up to his master's feet.

Prince Llewelyn leap back from Gellert in fear and the dog coward at his master's feet in utter confusion.

Author's Note: My story is based off of the tale Beth Gellert from the Celtic Fairy Tales Unit. In the original story, we read from the prince's point of view. When the prince arrives home from his unsuccessful hunt, he is mad at Gellert for not joining him. When Gellert comes bounding up to the prince in greeting, he is unaware that he is dripping with the wolf's blood. Since the prince had no idea why Gellert was covered in blood, he is fearful of his favorite greyhound. The prince then follows the trail of blood all the way back to his son's room. In the room, all the prince sees is an over turned crib, a large amount of blood, and a missing child. In a moment of utter panic, the prince places the blame of what he perceives as being his son's murder on Gellert and then kills the dog. Once Gellert is already dead, the prince hears his son cry out and then sees the dead wolf. He realizes that he just killed his best friend and the animal that had actually saved his son's life. My tale gives the story from Gellert's prospective all the way up until he greets his master.

Bibliography: "Beth Gellert," by Joseph Jacobs from Celtic Fairy Tales

Storytelling for Week 10: The Little Captive

Elki peaked over the bank of the river and stared at the dozens of darting fish weaving their way through the rocks. Elki was mesmerized by their sparkly scales that reflected the sunlight in different directions each time they moved. He leaned further and further over the bank to get a better look until SPLASH - Elki tumbled into the icy cold water!

Elki waved his arms frantically as he tried to keep his head above water.

"Mo..m! He...l....p! Dad! ....Plea...se!" Elki chocked out as the river water viciously filled his lungs and impeded his speech.

It was no use. Elki had wondered too far away from his family. They could not hear his cries for help.

Suddenly something took hold of the young boy's ankle and ripped him beneath the surface. Elki's wide fearful eyes watched the outline of the sun shrink before him as his was pulled deeper and deeper into the depths of the river. Out of fear and lack of air, Elki slipped into unconsciousness.

(Sun Under Water. Web Source: pixabay)

When he awoke, Elki reached his palm towards his sleepy eyes to rub off his slumber. The young boy was startled when his arm moved much slower than he was used to and when he touched his face, it was wet! Elki sat up and looked around frantically! He was still under water!

Elki's eyes settled on an older looking woman who was calmly staring at him from a chair in the corner of the room. She was unlike anything he had ever seen before! The woman's hair looked like green moss as it floated around her face. Her skin was a very pale - almost white - shade of blue. Around her eyes and down her arms and legs were tiny opaque scales that reflected every color in the room. Finally, sitting on her lap was a tray of food.

When the woman noticed that Elki had finished studying her and his eyes had found the tray, she lifted it up and offered it to the boy.

"My dear Elki, you will feel much better once you eat. Here, take some food," the woman said gently.

It was not her voice that made Elki feel uncomfortable, but rather her large greedy eyes. Elki took the tray and slowly took a bite of food. With that bite, his fate was sealed. He could never again leave this river and return to his family without losing his life. He was forever with the wakanda's wife.

Author's Note: My story this week is based on the Native American story, The Wakanda, or Water God. In the original, there is a young boy who falls into the water while he is playing. His parent's, who of course are very distraught over this, mourn the loss of their son and hire two men to go into the water to retrieve their boy. The two men find the boy still alive, but in the care of the Wakanda's wife. She tells the two men that they boy can never again leave the river without dying because he as eaten the food of the water god. So for my retelling of this tale, I gave the boy the name Elki, which means "hanging over the top," and told a portion of the story from his prospective. I wanted to end with him still being in the water versus taken out of the river and dying as he did in the original story to leave room for the imagination to create a new ending of the boy discovering a new life beneath the surface.

Bibliography:
"The Wakanda, or Water God," by Judson from the Unit: The Great Plains

Storytelling for Week 9: The Trail Back Home

Igasho stretched and let out an excited and youthful whoop as he welcomed the morning his entire tribe had been waiting for. The Tejas Indians had been living in the wilderness for the past twenty years and today was the day the medicine man was told by the spirits that it was time to return to their once beautiful home.

You see, the Tejas Indians had to leave their island many years ago when their homes were destroyed by a vicious volcanic eruption. Since that time, they had lived as nomads - refusing to stay anywhere for too long in fear that they may make that place their false new home.

When the tribe had only been nomads for a few years, the chief came to the medicine man with a concerned face and asked, "My friend, so many of the elders of the tribe have already passed on or are close to doing so. How is my tribe supposed to make its way back to the island?"

"Chief, do not plague yourself with unnecessary doubts. The spirits know what good people we are and they had appointed your grandson, Igasho, to lead the tribe home when the time is right," the medicine man answered.

Igasho threw on his pack containing every bit of his scarce belongings and then jogged to the start of the trail. He knew that this is where they could start their journey because of the beautiful orchid that marked it.

(Orchid. Web Source: Wikipedia)

These orchids used to be the shoes of the tribe that were left on the ground has they traveled to serve as a guide to get them back home when the spirits told them that it was time. The center of the first orchid faced the south as did Igasho's eager face.

When Igasho turned back around to face the tribe, he saw every one of them - young and old alike - patiently staring back him. They were ready to start their journey home.

(Indian Tribe. Web Source: Dreaming in Daylight)

Author's Note: The original story from which my storytelling post is based on is called A Tribe That Left Its Shoes. As I mentioned above, the Indians in this story were forced to leave their home due to its destruction from a volcanic eruption. Also in the origianl story, the tribe did leave behind their shoes, which turned into orchids, as their way of marking the trail back home. The story leaves off with the medicine man showing the chief the flowers as an assurance from the spirits that they would not lose their way. For my story, I picked up the tale twenty years later and gave the chief a grandson named Igasho, which is a Native American name that means "wanders." I wanted to place my focus on the moment they had all been waiting for - the time that they were able to finally go back home!

Bibliography: "A Tribe That Left Its Shoes," from the Myth-Folklore Unit: Tejas Legends

Storytelling for Week 7: The Selfish Turtle

There once was a turtle named Larry and a man named Matthew who worked hard together to build a town for them to share. During the time that they made their home, the labor made them close friends. However, this was not to last for very long.

"Larry, did you think to plant any food?" Matthew questioned.

"Not yet, but I'm starving too," Larry answered.

This went on for a few days until the pair were quite short of temper and extremely ravenous.

"Why don't we build a few traps and see if we can catch anything to eat. I will set one on this side of the town and you set one on that side," Larry told Matthew.

The next morning, Matthew's trap was empty, but Larry's trap had caught an antelope!

"I cannot lift this antelope out of the trap all alone and if I allow Matthew to help me do it then I will have to share my catch with him" Larry thought to himself. "I know! I will throw a party and have everyone except Matthew come to dance around the antelope and let them think that they will be receiving a piece. Then I can lure one of the big dumb animals out of the group to carry the antelope to my house by telling it that is where I will cook the meat for everyone!" Larry thought with a sly smile.

An hour later, almost fifty animals were dancing around the pit with glee. They were finally to get a little food in their bellies! Larry scanned the crowd carefully for an animal to carry the antelope and finally spotted a large ox that would be perfect for the job.

(Robert, the Ox. Web Source: Wikipedia)

"Rob!" Larry called to the great ox. "Would you come over here for a second, please?"

"Sure, Larry. What do you need?" Rob answered.

"I need for you to help me carry the antelope to my house so that I may cook the meat for everyone. I will give you a larger portion for your help!" Larry asked.

"Of course," Rob answered gleefully.

Once the meat was safely tucked away in Larry's home, Larry turned to Rob and said, "Will you please go an fetch some leaves to wrap everyone's meat in?"

"Of course," Rob answered.

When Rob returned, Larry's doors were all locked and he was not responding to any of Rob's calls.

Now Rob, being an ox, is very quick to anger and was not pleased with being tricked. So he charged back down the hill to the celebrating animals and told them of Larry's treachery. Together, the enraged group stormed Larry's home, crushing it to pieces. Larry fled the scene in fear without a bite to eat and all of the animals got their fair share of food.

Author's Note: For this story, I transformed the tale of the Turtle and the Man from the Congo Unit into something with a bit less gruesome and happier of an ending. In almost all of the Congo tales that I read, any character that did something wrong was murdered in the story. So for my story, I gave the turtle, man, and ox names so that a better connection could be built with them. I also used the ox to call all of the animals to the turtles house to take back the meat instead of having the turtle trick the ox and kill him as it was in the original story. I also had the turtle flee the scene alive instead of meeting his doom by the teeth of the leopard he had also tricked. Overall, I wanted to make the story a little more digestible by letting the "good guy" win and the "bad guy" fail. I guess you can call me a sucker for happy endings!

Storytelling for Week 6: The Unbeatable Hummingbird

(The Hummingbird: Photo by Daniel Borman)

Little Hum flew off with a smug grin as he left the very bewildered caraboa behind him.

***

Word began to spread to those who frequented the watering hole of Little Hum's victory. The tortoise and the hawk gasped in disbelieve when the fox told them of this curious feat.

"I do not understand how someone so small could drink more water than the water-buffalo himself!" the hawk said while shaking his head.

"I saaaaaay weeee maaaake Littttttle Huuuum doooo it agaaaaaain, sooooo thaaaaat I caaaaan seeee thiiiis wiiiiith myyyy owwwwwn eyyyyyes," the tortoise mumbled.

"Yes! Great idea! But, who should do it?" the fox questioned?

"I will," said the hippopotamus proudly. "Who could ever drink more water than someone who lives most of his life in the water and has a belly far larger than even the water buffalo. There is no possible way Little Hum could beat me!"

When Hippo's challenge reached the ears of Little Hum, he immediately accepted. Little Hum waited until just before the tide would rise and then made his grand arrival at the watering hole.

"So, my Dear Hippo, I hear that you would like to challenge me to a water drinking contest! Even with your enormous belly, I will still be the winner here," Little Hum said boastfully. "Go on. You first!"

Hippo wattled over to the water and stuck in his snout and then started draining the water at an alarming rate! The water level was actually really going down! Little Hum started to get nervous.

"Come on high tide. Come on high tide," Little Hum thoughtfully pleaded.

"Yes!" He thought! The tide started coming in and the water started to rise!

"Dear Hippo, I thought that the challenge was to drink as much water as you could! Not drink and then spit it out!" Little Hum laughed at him!

"My turn!" Little Hum said. He once more stuck his bill into the water just in time for the low tide. The water began to recede and his audience was astounded!

Authors Note: This is a story of what happened after The Humming Bird and the Caraboa. In the original story, the hummingbird used the high and low tide of the watering hole to trick the caraboa into thinking that he can drink more water than him. I wanted to tell the story of this happening again, only this time with an audience to watch!

Storytelling for Week 5: You Do What You Can For the Ones You Love

(William Randolph Hearst Castle: photo by Matthew Hodges)

"Mark, darling!" Julie called to her husband. "I got invited to go to the country club with Marie this afternoon, so I'll be back in a few hours!"

"Alright sounds good," Mark said as he gave his wife a kiss goodbye.

Mark and Julie have been happily married and lived a somewhat comfortable life for the past twenty years. Julie was a secretary at a company down the road and Mark worked at a small industry the next town over. They made just enough money each month to keep up with their rent and buy groceries. Although Julie tried her best to be content with her lifestyle, she couldn't help but always be jealous of her best friend, Marie's, life.

Marie's husband was the CEO of his industry, so they lived the life of endless luxury with gourmet dinners each night and frequent trips to the country club.

This was Julie's first time going to a fancy country club and what she experienced finally made the envy she held concerning her friend's life surface.

When Julie got home that evening she confronted Mark and said,"darling, you know that I love you, but I cannot live this way anymore. This may seem harsh, but I cannot stay with a man who is unwilling or incapable of climbing up the work ladder and securing a more respectable position with a much larger paycheck. If you cannot obtain this than I'll have no choice but to leave you."

Mark was heartbroken. He had never missed a day of work and has always been the employee his boss could count on. He had no idea how to climb up the work ladder, but he had to try. He loved his beautiful wife and had no intentions on letting her go. Mark needed some time to think, so he walked to the local coffee shop to sip on a cortada.

As Mark was sitting at the table becoming more and more depressed as nothing was coming to mind on how to appease his wife,  Mark's best friend, Jeff walked into the coffee shop.

Upon seeing Mark unsettled, Jeff questioned him as to why he was in despair. Mark told Jeff what had occurred between Julie and himself.

"Man...I'm so sorry! That is an awful predicament to be in, but hey I tell you what. I know Marie and her husband, and maybe I can talk her into giving you some pointers," Jeff said soothingly.

The next day, Marie called with a list of instructions for Mark to do at work that would insure his promotion. Within the next two months, Mark was working as the industry's floor manager. Six months after that, Mark was the supervisor and was finally making enough money to apply for a membership for he and Julie at the country club.

(Rooftop Pool: photo by Charlie Anzman)

Author's Note: I based this story off of The Soothsayer from the Turkish Fairy Tales. In the story, a nameless married woman falls prey to envy when she visits the bath and discovers a soothsayer's wife is there being gazed upon by all of the other women. The married woman returns home and threatens to leave her husband if he too does not become a soothsayer. I decided to make this story more modern and have the bath be a country club and the desired job be a high position at an industry. I made the rich bath woman be the rich country club woman, Marie, and the poor envious woman a low paid secretary, Julie.Luckily for the poor husband (Mark in my story) ends up succeeding at obtaining the higher paid job and keeping his now happy wife.

Bibliography: "The Soothsayer" from Turkish Fairy tales by Ignacz Kunos. Web Source: Un-Textbook

Storytelling for Week 4:

Jasmine wondered through her father's marble palace disgusted with the day's events. She had been told that she would be marrying a man who had presented jewels beyond compare to her father for her hand. Of course she would want to marry someone who thought that she was worth such precious stones. What turned her day so sour, however, was when her father told her that the plan had changed and that she was to marry the vizir's son, Iago.

Iago had always gazed at Jasmine longingly every time they were together. He was the type of boy who had trouble holding a normal conversation and - needless to say - had a way of making Jasmine feel uneasy.

The next day, the wedding bells were chiming and Jasmine was dressed in a flowing white dress standing hand in hand at the alter with a crooked grinning Iago.

Later that night, as the newly wedded couple slipped into bed, a strange sensation overcame them as their surroundings suddenly changed. Jasmine now found herself sitting upright in her bed with another man!

"Who are you? Where is my husband? What do you want with me?" Jasmine yelled at the strange man.

"Calm down Jasmine whose beauty is beyond compare. I am the man your father promised you to," Aladdin said calmly as he slid under the covers. Before Jasmine could say another word, Aladdin was softly snoring.

***

Well as you can probably guess, Aladdin removed Iago from the equation and took Jasmine as his wife. Jasmine was far happier with her kindhearted and handsome new husband and she was even more elated to be residing the the most beautiful palace she - or anyone else - had ever laid eyes on. Hers and Aladdin's bedroom alone was larger than the grand hall in her father's palace. This one even went to the extremes of having precious jewels dispersed about the walls so that when they early morning son hit them, her bedroom glowed with vibrant reds and piercing blues.

(Woman that I imagine to look like Jasmine: Photo by Frank Kovalchek)

Author's Note: I based this storytelling assignment off of the story Aladdin from Arabian Nights. In the beginning of the story, Aladdin falls in love with the princess and has his genie provide him with jewels to present to the sultan for Jasmine's hand in marriage (by the way, the name Jasmine was not used in the story, so I added it into mine). The sultan's vizir had always wanted his son to marry the princess, so I gave his son the name Iago, since the Disney parrot, Iago, was not a part of the original story. I decided to retell this marriage fiasco through Jasmine's eyes instead of Aladdin's.
Bibliography: "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" from Arabian Nights by Scheherazade. Web Source: Un-Textbook

Storytelling for Week 3: The Source of Hard Labor

"Grandma! I don't wanna work on the farm today!" Declion complained loudly as he sprawled out on the floor preparing for a temper tantrum.

"Declion, your mother sent you to visit your grandpa and I this summer so that you could help us out on the farm. A little hard work and elbow grease will be good for a young man lie you," grandma replied gently as grandmothers do.

"But I don't know how to do anything on a farm. I don't know how to drive a tractor or feed a herd of cattle. I don't want to help!" Declion complained even louder.

"Declion, let me tell you a story about the man you were named after. There once was huge flood that swallowed up the entire earth because the gods Jupiter and Neptune were angry at the world. The were only two survivors from the flood and their names were Deucalion and Pyrrha. They were devastated by their desolation and begged the goddess, Themis, for her help in restoring the human race. They were told by Themis that they had to, "...throw behind [them] the bones of [their] great mother."

"They had to do WHAT?" Declion asked with wide eyes.

"Haha. Patience, grandson. You will see what they meant in a moment," grandma chuckled.

"Deuclion and Pyrrha were just as confused by Themis's statement as you are. Eventually they discovered the true meaning behind Themis's demand and cast behind them the bones of their mother in the form of stones from their mother earth. The stones they threw then turned into people. 'So the toughness of our race, our ability to endure hard labour, and the proof we give of the source from which we are sprung,' grandma said slowly as the story came to an end.

"So you see my sweet grandson, you are created from the stones of the earth and have it in your bones to do the tasks I assign you on the farm," grandma said with a smile.

(From resilient stones to a resilient race. Web source: Flickr)

Authors note: For this storytelling assignment, I decided to not change anything about the actual story of Deuclion and Pyrrha, but instead to create another story around it with a lesson. I thought that this would be best accomplished by having a sweet grandmother convince her grandson that he is capable of working hard because he came from the stones of the earth.

Bibliography: "Deuclion and Pyrrha" by Tony Kline from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Websource: Un-Textbook

Storytelling Week 2: No Girl is Good Enough for my Baby Boy!

"Mom! I'm home!" Cupid shouted at he walked in the door.

"Oh, honey! It's so good to see y- Oh my goodness! What on earth happened to your shoulder?" Cupid's mother, Venus, exclaimed.

Cupid's shoulder was wrapped tightly with thick white bandages and held in a sling.

He hung his head and sighed before replying, "well, Psyche and I got into a bit of an argument and I accidentally bumped into the cabinet. I apparently managed to hit it just hard enough to knock off a candle that had been lit all day and the hot wax spilled all over my shoulder. Since I was so angry with Psyche, I didn't let her help me and the wound got worse."

"That's awful my sweet son! I warned you not to marry a worthless and cruel woman like Psyche!" Venus said hotly.

"No, no, mother. It wasn't anyone's fault. We just had a slight misunderstanding!" Cupid claimed.

"Fine. Fine. Go get some sleep and rest that injured arm of yours," Venus demanded.

Ever Since Cupid and Psyche secretly got married against Venus's wishes, she had held a grudge against Psyche. She was determined to think that Psyche was only after Cupid's vast inheritance and had no real life skills for herself.

*Knock knock knock*

"Who on earth could that be?" Venus wondered.

As she opened the door, a scowl instantly took over her face. Standing on Venus's front porch was Psyche begging to come in a see her husband.

"How dare you show up at my home after causing my poor son so much pain!" Venus snarled at Psyche.

"I'm so sorry, Venus! I never meant for Cupid to get hurt. I just got a little heated at him because he never wants to spend any time with me during the day! I just sit at home alone with absolutely nothing to do!" Psyche pleaded. "Please. May I see him?"

"Until you can prove to me that you are a woman deserving of my son's love, you may not see Cupid! If you can successfully complete three tasks that I give you, than I will leave you and Cupid alone and you two can live a happy life together without fear of my interference," Venus told Psyche coldly.

(Cupid and Psyche from Wikimedia Commons)

Authors Note: For this week's storytelling assignment, I chose to take a spin off of four of the chapters from the Cupid and Psyche Unit. In the story, Cupid and Psyche are a married couple and Cupid only comes to see Psyche at night when she cannot see him. When Psyche decides one night to ignite a lamp and finally see her husband's face, she is drawn to his handsomeness and accidentally burns his shoulder with the lamp as she kisses him. I decided to switch this story around a bit and make it a little more modern and have the burn that causes Cupid to go to his mother, Venus's, home to come from a candle burn. Also like in the story, Venus holds much hatred for Psyche. In the original version, Venus is thrilled to see Psyche arrive at her doorstep so that she can torture her with impossible tasks. In my version, I have Venus angry at Psyche for showing up, but she still gives the opportunity of winning her favor by completing tasks that would have also been difficult to achieve.

Bibliography: "Cupid and Psyche" translation by Tony Kline. Website: Un-Textbook

Week 1 Storytelling: Think Before you Ask

Pavlin soared through the air while dipping and twisting in the refreshing summer breeze. He climbed as high as he could only to let gravity take hold of him in an adrenaline pumping dive. Pavlin loved the time he spent in the air instead of on the ground with the other birds from the farm. He didn't feel alive down there as he did when he was in the sky letting the wind drift between his feathers. The other birds treated him differently. They all had colorful draping tail feathers or a memorizing checkered coat. Palvin just had plain gray feathers. He wanted the other birds to gaze at him in wander as he did towards them. He wanted to be unique.

(Summer Sky: Wikimedia Commons)

 As the sun started to set, Palvin became aware of his exhaustion after hours of soaring through the sky dreaming about beautiful glossy feathers. He started his decent towards the farm and his warm nest in the birdhouse for a well-deserved rest. As Palvin was getting close to landing he heard a gentle voice. "Palvin," Juno cooed. "Palvin, because you are my favorite of all the birds and because you so desperately want others see your external beauty, I will grant you your wish," Juno told him. "When you wake up in the morning, you will have the most extraordinary tail feathers any one has ever seen," she said.

Palvin was overwhelmingly excited! He rushed into the barn and restlessly settled in for the night. The next morning as Palvin stood up an yawned, his back end felt excessively heavy. He jerked his head around and saw the most glorious display of feathers he had ever witnessed and they were HIS! He rushed outside and expanded his tail feathers so that everyone could see his new found beauty. The roosters and chickens gazed with astonishment at the beautiful and colorful array of long feathers before them.

(Pretty Peacock)

Palvin cried out with glee and jumping into the air with the intentions of showing off his new tail to the rest of the world. He made it about ten feet before falling back to the earth. Confused, Palvin tried again and again until it finally hit him - he couldn't soar through the skies anymore. He couldn't fly. Plavin had exchanged the thing he loved most because he wanted to be the most magnificent bird only in terms of looks. He had to live out the rest of his life dragging his mistake behind him and jealously watching the other birds in the sky.


Authors Note: I used the fable, "The Peacock," to write my storytelling post this week. To make the story a little more fun to get into, I gave the peacock in the fable the name Palvin, which translated to peacock. In this fable, the peacock originally did not have the beautiful feathers that we see today. Juno had granted him the feathers after having been begged to do so by the peacock. At first the peacock seemed happy with his new found beauty, but when he realized he had lost his ability to soar through the skies, he was distraught. I kept with that same general theme, but changed the begging to Juno into Juno watching Palvin in the skies dreaming about beautiful feathers and then granting that wish.

Bibliography:
"The Peacock" by Aesop, from Aesop's Fables (2006). Web Source: Aesop's Fables