The father replied, “Yes, of course.” The boy anxiously popped open his soda can and drank it until it was all gone. Another five minutes passed and the boy grew impatient again.
This time he asked his father, “Dad, will you tell me a story until the fish wake up to bite?”
~~~~~~
The father nodded and said, “I will tell you the story of the wolf and the crane. One day the wolf who was king of the woods was struggling. The wolf, needing help, saw a crane crossing the river.
He quickly cried out, “Please help me! I’m choking on a bone!”
The crane responded, “I cannot help you because all wolves are ungrateful.”
The wolf, feeling confused, replied, “How can you not trust me if we have never met before?”
The crane responded, “I will tell you the story of the wolf and the lamb and this will explain why you cannot be trusted.
~~~~~~
There once was a lamb drinking water from the same stream as one of your brother wolves. As the lamb took water from the stream the wolf howled out, “How dare you muddy the water I drink from!”
The lamb replied, “I meant no harm and I will be on my way.”
The wolf, stepping in front of the lamb’s path, said, “Not so fast. You have talked badly of me before.” Before the lamb could reply the wolf ate the poor lamb up.”
The crane then said, “See, this is why a wolf cannot be trusted. How will I know you will not do the same after I help you?”
The wolf, desperately needing help, replied, “I will give you a gift if you help me in my time of need.” The crane decided to help the wolf and freed him from the bone he was choking on. Once relieved the wolf replied, “My gift for you helping me is that I will not eat you today.” The crane feeling angr… The boy interrupted, “Why would the wolf do that when he said he was going to give him a gift? And why did he still do it after the crane told the choking wolf the story of the wolf and the lamb?” The father replied, “Well you see, not all wolves can be trusted even if they say they can. In this case the wolf was a liar but maybe the next one will be true to his word. The moral of the story is th..”
The boy scrambled for his fishing pole as it slid across the dock. He grasped the end before letting it slip into the water and shouted, “Dad! Come help me reel this big fish in!” After the father and son had reeled the giant fish in the boy said, “Dad, tell me the story of how fish get so big.”
Author’s note: This story is inspired by a couple stories. The style of the story comes from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. The way the story develops with another level of storytelling is the idea I was chasing. The character who tells the story each time also changes, therefore giving that perception of a new dimension of storytelling. In the story of Scheherazade from The Arabian Nights’ I liked the style in which it was told, but I was not a fan of the grimness of it. Therefore, I changed it to more of a children’s style and included some elements from Aesop’s Fables. In addition, this story differs from my previous in the fact that this entire story is almost all dialogue. I felt like I was able to capture better traits of each character’s personality through the levels of storytelling by the use of dialogue. Lastly, since the story is fairly off topic from the source I included the boy asking his father to tell him another story at the end. I felt this element is similar to how in the story of Scheherazade she is able to transition from levels of storytelling and back while keeping Sultan intrigued. Thanks for reading!
The wolf, desperately needing help, replied, “I will give you a gift if you help me in my time of need.” The crane decided to help the wolf and freed him from the bone he was choking on. Once relieved the wolf replied, “My gift for you helping me is that I will not eat you today.” The crane feeling angr… The boy interrupted, “Why would the wolf do that when he said he was going to give him a gift? And why did he still do it after the crane told the choking wolf the story of the wolf and the lamb?” The father replied, “Well you see, not all wolves can be trusted even if they say they can. In this case the wolf was a liar but maybe the next one will be true to his word. The moral of the story is th..”
The boy scrambled for his fishing pole as it slid across the dock. He grasped the end before letting it slip into the water and shouted, “Dad! Come help me reel this big fish in!” After the father and son had reeled the giant fish in the boy said, “Dad, tell me the story of how fish get so big.”
.jpg/320px-Father_and_son_fishing,_Ibiza_(1673064882).jpg) |
| Wikimedia: Father son Fishing |
Author’s note: This story is inspired by a couple stories. The style of the story comes from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. The way the story develops with another level of storytelling is the idea I was chasing. The character who tells the story each time also changes, therefore giving that perception of a new dimension of storytelling. In the story of Scheherazade from The Arabian Nights’ I liked the style in which it was told, but I was not a fan of the grimness of it. Therefore, I changed it to more of a children’s style and included some elements from Aesop’s Fables. In addition, this story differs from my previous in the fact that this entire story is almost all dialogue. I felt like I was able to capture better traits of each character’s personality through the levels of storytelling by the use of dialogue. Lastly, since the story is fairly off topic from the source I included the boy asking his father to tell him another story at the end. I felt this element is similar to how in the story of Scheherazade she is able to transition from levels of storytelling and back while keeping Sultan intrigued. Thanks for reading!
Bibliography: The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs (1894).
The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).
I like the fact that you incorporated different storytelling styles and different stories, I don't think I've seen someone use two different stories yet. Also, changing the tone to be for children really helped it be more enjoyable I think. Sometimes stories can be hard to understand when they are older or for more advanced readers. Overall, great read and good job!
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me say that I relate so much to the little boy! I enjoy going fishing with my dad, but I get bored waiting for them to bite! I liked the dimensions of your story, you were able to create a story within a story, while still keeping the focus on the original story (wow that was a mouthful). With children's stories there is always some obvious moral to the story, however with yours, I enjoyed that we didn't get to know what that was. It was a nice change of pace. You did a great job and I look forward to reading more of your work!
ReplyDeleteI think this was probably one of the first stories that I have read that included a story in a story. I really liked how you added new dimensions of storytelling. Although one story was never finished, the next story seemed interesting, both to the reader and the son. In my experience, kids are always curious and they ask a lot of questions so I wonder how it would have been if you added more to this story. Overall, I enjoyed reading your story!
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