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| (Man Alone In Desert, by Choaib Chikhaoui Source: Wikipedia Commons) |
The strange man approached him and asked, "Why are you all alone my King?"
The King told the man his troubles and lamented that he had no heirs.
"How many wives do you have?"
"Four," the King answered.
The man then pulled four apples from his bag and said, "Give these to your wives to eat. They will surely become pregnant."
The King told the man his troubles and lamented that he had no heirs.
"How many wives do you have?"
"Four," the King answered.
The man then pulled four apples from his bag and said, "Give these to your wives to eat. They will surely become pregnant."
The King was encouraged by the man's words and his strength returned to him. He went back to his castle and gave his wives the fruit. Three of them ate the entire fruit, but the fourth ate only half of hers and sat the rest on her window ledge to eat later, but by the time she returned it was night. The moonlight shown upon the apple and it had become rotten, but she ate it anyway.
As the strange man had said, all of the wives became pregnant. One had a beautiful daughter and the other two had handsome sons. However, the fourth wife was cursed with a half-child. She named him Nash which means wolf, for he was part man, part wolf. The King was disgusted with the half-child and drove him and his mother from his presence.
Years passed and one day a demon set his sights on the King's daughter. She was out in the garden alone when the demon suddenly appeared and carried her off to his cave in the mountains. The King was furious when he heard the news. He gathered his fiercest army and put it under his eldest son's control, who marched them straight for the demon's lair.
The demon saw the army coming and asked the King's daughter, "What do you see?"
She answered:
"I see many men.
All with sword in hand."
"Ah, victory is ours," said the demon, "man's sword has no effect on me."
Then the demon emerged from his cave and attacked the eldest son. The prince was easily overtaken. The demon grabbed him and locked him away in his cave. The army fled with their leader gone and reported the news to the King.
The King gathered a second army and put his second son in charge. He marched towards the demon's lair, just as his brother had done. When the army approached the cave the demon asked the Princess, "What do you see?"
She answered:
"I see many men.
All with sword in hand."
"Ah, victory is ours," said the demon, "man's sword has no effect on me."
He struck the young prince just like his brother and locked him up in the cave. The army fled once again and brought the news to the King.
Now Nash knew his father would never give him an army, so he set out to face the mighty demon alone. As he came near the cave the demon again asked the Princess, "What do you see?"
She answered:
"I see one half-man.
And his swords are his hand."
"Ah, defeat is surely ours," the demon cried, "his claws will tear me to pieces."
Nash came to the mouth of the cave, claws on full display. The demon was forced to defend himself, but Nash did not hesitate and he tore into him like a beast. He cut him with his claws and ripped his throat out with his sharp teeth.
Then he set his siblings free and took them home to the King. Then his father loved him for all he had done, and made Nash heir to the throne.
Author's Note:
I chose Persian Tales for my reading this week. I was particularly interested in the story of Nim Tanak, or Half-Boy, which is what I based my story on. The tale was about a boy who was born with only half of a body. His father loved his other siblings, but was disgusted by him.
If you haven't noticed already, I'm quite interested in werewolves. I thought it would be an interesting dynamic if the "half-boy" was actually half human and half wolf, rather than just half of a boy. I also liked the character of the Div (demon) in the original story.
I chose the desert picture because I thought it would give readers a good mental image while reading the story. It also demonstrates the isolation the King was feeling when he wandered off alone.
I tried to follow the original story telling techniques, which I really liked. I especially like the rule of three, which is when the story is told three times with minor variations. In this case it would be the three different brothers, with the last one succeeding. I also modernized the language and changed some of the terms to make it easier to read.
Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919)
And his swords are his hand."
"Ah, defeat is surely ours," the demon cried, "his claws will tear me to pieces."
Nash came to the mouth of the cave, claws on full display. The demon was forced to defend himself, but Nash did not hesitate and he tore into him like a beast. He cut him with his claws and ripped his throat out with his sharp teeth.
Then he set his siblings free and took them home to the King. Then his father loved him for all he had done, and made Nash heir to the throne.
Author's Note:
I chose Persian Tales for my reading this week. I was particularly interested in the story of Nim Tanak, or Half-Boy, which is what I based my story on. The tale was about a boy who was born with only half of a body. His father loved his other siblings, but was disgusted by him.
If you haven't noticed already, I'm quite interested in werewolves. I thought it would be an interesting dynamic if the "half-boy" was actually half human and half wolf, rather than just half of a boy. I also liked the character of the Div (demon) in the original story.
I chose the desert picture because I thought it would give readers a good mental image while reading the story. It also demonstrates the isolation the King was feeling when he wandered off alone.
I tried to follow the original story telling techniques, which I really liked. I especially like the rule of three, which is when the story is told three times with minor variations. In this case it would be the three different brothers, with the last one succeeding. I also modernized the language and changed some of the terms to make it easier to read.
Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919)
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3 comments:
Your story really kept my attention! I liked that you added some of your own characteristics to the story, such as the werewolf boy. I thought you did a good job of building the suspense in the story of what was going to happen to the siblings. I also thought you did a good job of converting the language of the story into one that people can understand.
This was a really interesting story! I loved all the dialect and talking back and forth from character to character. You did a great job at converting a story that was hard to understand at first into a story that the reader could follow along very easily. I loved the ending of the story when Nash saved the family. This kept my attention the whole time and I love that the paragraphs are broken up to make following along easier.
I really enjoyed this story! You have a way with words that really shows that you've been writing for a while. I liked how you took the original and made it your own with a wonderful werewolf twist. Of course, happy endings are always nice and I'm glad that the boy was able to get himself back into his father's good graces.
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