Portfolio

Rama and Lakshmana

(source: writingcave)

The Ring of Fire - What happens when Sita's test of purity doesn't go as expected?

Blinded by Lust - What are Ganga's true intentions behind her wish to not be questioned?

Liquid Trust - Will young lovers survive an innocent afternoon in the forest?

Greed in Gold - What happens when a woman takes advantage of one man's generosity?

The Loyal Giant - What happens when a king discovers there is a giant in his kingdom?

The Boy and the Shopkeeper - How will a boy deal with his bully problem?

Story: The Boy and the Shopkeeper

The book shop

(source: mynewmaster)

There one was a boy who lived in a little town on the outskirts of Seattle. The boy was merely eleven but he yearned for a place to work. He had always been an active child, and this need to work was something he had wanted for a while. He wanted to feel accomplished like he was truly doing something with his time.

One day, the boy went into town and stopped at the various shops. He went into the bakery, the post office, the bank, and the coffee shop. All of the shop owners said the same thing. He was much too young to work in their shop. The boy was about to give up and begin his walk home when he passed by an old book shop. The boy eagerly opened the door and made his way up to the front counter. There was an old man sitting there reading a copy of War and Peace.

"Excuse me, sir," peeped the boy.

"Oh, yes? What is it?" the man said as he peered up from his book.

"I was wondering if you might have any work for me to do."

"Well, I only have one other employee besides myself. He sweeps the floors and reorganizes the shelves at night. I supposed I could see what you could do. Come in early tomorrow morning and we can get started."

"Thank you, sir!"

The boy squealed as he ran home. He ate his dinner as fast as possible and got ready for bed as he knew that the next day would be very important.

The boy arrived an hour before the shop opened so he could show the shopkeeper he was punctual. The shopkeeper recognized this as he showed up in the morning to let the boy inside. Once inside, the two instantly got to work. The shopkeeper showed the boy the way the books were organized, how to sell the customers on a book, and how to work the cash register.

The boy picked up on these traits quickly and his first day at work was a complete success. The boy sold almost fifty books to people of the town that day. The shopkeeper was very impressed with his work. He told the boy that he could not afford to pay him much, but he did appreciate the strong work ethic of the boy. He handed the boy his pay and let him off for the evening. The boy was walking down an alley on the way home when a older boy approached him.

"That's a nice hunk of cash you got there," said the bully.

"Oh, yes! I just earned it from my first day of work!"

"Well then, you won't mind if I take it!"

The bully was much larger and stronger than the boy so he sadly handed the bully his money. This happened every day after work. The boy would walk home and the bully would take this money. It didn't matter if the boy took a different route home as the bully always found him.

One day in the shop, the shopkeeper asked the boy what he had purchased with his first few payments. The boy told him that he had not bought anything as there was a bully that would take his money after work every day. The shopkeeper was appalled by this and demanded that the boy take him on his walk home tonight. The boy did just this as the two walked to the boy's home. Just like always, the bully found the two. Only this time, the bully's eyes grew wide with fear. The shopkeeper's jaw almost hit the ground.

"Is this the bully that is taking your money?" the shopkeeper said.

"Yes!" the boy replied.

"This so called "bully" is my sweeper at the store. I told you about him the first day you came in and asked for a job."

The shopkeeper was disappointed in his sweeper's behavior. He fired him immediately as he would not tolerate such evil behavior.

It seems to be clear that the bully truly learned his lesson that day as he was never seen again on the boy's walk home from work.

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Author's note: This story was inspired by a Jataka tale called the mouse and the farmer. In this story, the farmer paid the mouse for his services in the payment of meat. The farmer's cat would steal the meat from the mouse each time. The farmer learned of this and gave the mouse something that would ultimately kill the cat. In my story, I made all the characters into humans as I feel like I write my best stories when it involves humans. Their behaviors are much more predictable and understandable than animals, so I find comfort in using humans as my characters over animals. One of the main things that I wanted to twist with this story was that no death came to the bully. A lot of my previous stories have involved death or some sort of destruction. The bully was simply fired and I like to think that this will teach him a lesson as he moves on in life. I liked the small twist that I added. In the beginning of my story, the shopkeeper mentions that he has a sweeper, but that is all we here of it until the shopkeeper reveals him to be the bully. I thought it was subtle enough to be on the readers' mind without being overly obvious with my intentions.

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Bibliography: Rouse's Giant Crab
Link to this story

Reading Notes: Part B of Inayat's Twenty Jataka Tales

Book cover

(source: petama)

As I continue to read these stories, I feel like the stories that are written in a more simplistic sense have a much better chance to get the message across that it's trying to convey. I feel like the stories that have a good amount of length sometimes have the tendency to lose the message.

The patient buffalo was an amazing story. I feel like the message in that all came down to loving everyone. The buffalo did not want to hurt the monkey even though he was causing him pain. He understood that there were reasons in which the monkey acted in this foolish manner.

The goblin town was definitely an interesting one. I'm not sure if it had an exact message to take from it. If I had to guess, I would say that the message is to take truth in the words of your companions when it comes to sketchy situations as they are more than likely looking out for your safety.

The quarrelsome quails was a story with a clear message. The king gave the instructions for the quails to never be caught again. A few of them decided that they would not follow this advice and they were killed while the ones who followed the king's words were never caught and lived happily.

The forest fire story had be going for a second. I was almost determined that the little quail was going to be killed! Luckily, the story conveys the message that even the littlest voice can make the biggest difference and affect the people around him in the largest ways.

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Bibliography: Inayat's Twenty Jataka Tales
Link to these stories

Reading Notes: Part A of Inayat's Twenty Jataka Tales

Book cover

(source: good reads)

I really enjoy the complete setup that has come with this portion of Jataka Tales. I almost prefer to read them out of the digital book because it provides somewhat of a connection between the stories and I. I think I've gotten more out of the stories when they are presented in this fashion.

The guilty dogs has an extremely scary message. I do not know if this was the intention, but I felt something very uncomfortable while reading it. When the king did not know which dogs to blame, he decided that they should all be killed. This seems somewhat familiar in our international world.

The tortoise and the geese is a story that I've read before, but I think it's somewhat important to write about it again. It seems like this is a representation that our words can be extremely deadly. Literally. The words in this story caused the tortoise to meet his death. We should be careful when we speak.

The golden feathers is another story that I have read with another name. I have also designed a story after this. Like the previous, I think it is important to write about more. It seems that this is basically a warning that there is no need to take advantage of a situation when one is being comfortably fed.

The empty lake was a wonderful story. I saw this as a story of leadership and outspoken fights. The king would not allow his home to be taken from his people, so he called for the forces of nature so bless upon him water. The queen promised that the lake would never parish again.

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Bibliography: Inayat's Twenty Jataka Tales
Link to these stories

Reading Notes: Part B of Rouse's Giant Crab

Book cover

(source: tumblr)

Spend a pound to win a penny was a great story with a personal message. The monkey was so upset that he lost one pea that he ended up losing all of his peas. This story displays a message that if you get to greedy over one thing, you may end up losing everything. Be grateful.

Union is strength is another story with a great message. This tale allows for a message that is somewhat double sided. It's clear that it is trying to convey that there is strength in numbers. However, it also shows that the strength can either help or hurt a group.

Silence is golden was such a sad story. I understand that the cub was intending to scare the other lions, but he still did not deserve to be treated like that. He was just playing around. It was not the cub's fault that he was from a lion but also a jackal. They shouldn't treat him like that.

The quail and the falcon was a pretty solid story. The clear message was that one should not take advantage of the situation they are in if they have a good thing going for them. I was sort of surprised that the falcon was killed by diving into the ground, but I was happy the quail survived.

The bold beggar was easily my favorite story. I love how the king was so self-absorbed he thought his people would like to see him eat. I also loved how clever the beggar was in his pursuit of getting something to eat and drink of substance. I am shocked that the king only laughed.

The two last stories were entertaining to a certain degree simply based on some of the names that were used. I love how the quail was called quailie. It made him sound so cute. I also like how the king decided to call himself king dainty because of his love for food and drink.

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Bibliography: Rouse's Giant Crab
Link to these stories

Reading Notes: Part A of Rouse's Giant Crab

Book cover

(source: amazon)

To start off this reading assignment, I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the variety this book had to offer from the other stories. Because it was from an actual copy of a book, there were illustrations in all of the stories which provided an aid for visualization in all of these stories.

I liked the story of the giant crab. The crab was a murderer as he would take these innocent animals that were drinking from the lake and drown them. He would also eat them after he drowned them. I was hoping he would die because I felt it was sad that the animals didn't have anywhere to drink.

The hypocritical cat was an interesting read to me because I have read another tale that uses different animals. Instead of a cat, there was a wolf. I forgot what the substitution of the rats were. It's interesting because the plot elements and dialogue are practically the same.

The mouse and the farmer was a pretty good story. I loved the relationship between the two as it showed loyalty and friendship. I thought it was pretty weird that the farmer killed his own cat though because he was bothering the mouse. He could have talked to the cat instead of death.

The talkative tortoise was such a sad story. I was so sad to see that the tortoise died simply because he was talkative. I think any message would definitely believe to follow directions of others and make sure to not talk if the moment one is in presents an improper sense.

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Bibliography: Rouse's Giant Crab
Link to these stories

Reading Notes: Part D of Shedlock's Eastern Stories and Legends

Book cover

(source: snapdeal)

The Crow that Thought it Knew was so sad. After reading this story, I was surprised that this was the ending that it decided to take. I appreciated the kindness in the warning of the crow to not dive into the water. I'm shocked that the crow decided against this advice!

The Judas Tree was sort of a weird story. I am not very aware of the lesson it was trying to convey. I understand the children were foolish in assuming they were all right about the status of the tree without thinking the incorporate that that all viewed the trees at different stages in its life. I'm just not sure of the message of the story.

The River Fish and Money was also somewhat confusing. The brother was a thief and not a very good person. There was a generous donation to the fish and this had its reward. I was just confused why the spirit warned him to keep it and he gave it to his brother anyway.

The Dreamer in the Wood had no message I'm almost sure. I don't think there was anything. It seemed that Buddha cared more about the animals being safe than there being no bad characteristics of man. I'm not sure, but maybe that was the closest thing to a message.

The Wise Physican had a fantastic message. It was easily my favorite of the reading. Basically, this woman wanted a cure from her dead child. Buddha told her to find an herb from a household with no death. She couldn't find one to show her that natural is natural and abundant.

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Bibliography: Shedlock's Eastern Stories and Legends
Link to these stories

Story: The Loyal Giant

Giant of the Village

(source: legendary moonlight)

There once was a giant who guarded the entrance to a village. Everyone in this village worked together for a betterment of the community. They all supported each other's needs; they played to each other's strengths and aided in eachother's weaknesses. One day, one of the villagers was gathering water from a nearby river when he discovered a cradle floating gently down the stream. The man immediately dove into the water and retrieved the cradle. He brought it back to shore and was shocked at what was inside. It was a baby, but it was not the size of a normal infant. The baby was nearly the size of a teenage child! Without hesitation, the man brought the baby back to the village, and every single member of the community was in agreement that they should help the child. The villagers fed the child a healthy amount, they built him his own shelter, and they aided in his development until he became independent. Once the giant was a fully grown man, most of the village expected him to leave. The giant had no plans for this. Instead, he decided he would stay with the people that had saved and cared for him. He would protect them from any danger that they might come across. After all, the villagers were his family.

One day, a royal guard stumbled upon the village and immediately returned to his king to report his sighting of the giant. The king was completely outraged that there was a giant living in his kingdom. He would not have it. He immediately ordered a unit of his soldiers to take a visit to the village and dispose of the giant. The king wanted to see the giant for himself so he decided he would accompany the men on the trip to the village. It was not that the king was an evil man, but he simply believed that having a giant in his kingdom was an endangerment to his people.

The king and his men approached the village, and they gazed upon the twenty-foot giant that stood guard at the entrance of the community. All of the men got off of their horses and advanced toward the giant. The king led the large charge against the giant. They all removed their swords from their sheaths and made it quite clear to the giant what they were about to do to him.

"Wait!" the giant cried.

"What is it?" the king replied.

"If you strike me down here, I am afraid I will fall onto the village and squash many of the innocent people that reside here."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"Please, remove small pieces from my body. This way, I will not harm any of the people from my village. It will be much more painful, but I am willing to take the pain. These people have done so much for me."

The king let out a long sigh. There was absolutely no way he could kill the giant now. There was nothing but kindness in his heart. It was clear that the giant cared so much for these people to the degree that he was willing to experience an extremely painful death.

"Giant, we cannot kill you. You are much too virtuous. Please, continue to take care of the villagers in these small town. They seem very important to you," the king said.

With that, the king and his men left. The giant and the villagers were relieved that the giant's life was spared on this day. The giant took the word of the king and never let any harm come to the people of the village. He guarded the village with all of his heart until the end of his days.

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Author's note: This story was completely based off of the Jataka tale called: The Spirit that Lived in the Tree. In this story, a king is clearing out a forest. He comes across a tree that is about the be cleared. The tree begs to not be cut down because he fears he will fall onto the grass and kill his kin. The tree requests to have all its branches cut off one by one so the grass below will experience to pain or death. The king is touched by this request and refuses to cut down the tree. In my story, it is clear that this is highly inspired by this story. I just changed the tree into a giant and the grass into people. I was also thrilled to end this story with a happy ending. All of my stories have had some sort of twist or filled with sinister plot points. This story was meant to be one of happiness where everyone wins. My favorite part of this story and the Jataka tale is the kind nature of the king. He spares the tree of giant in my story. I feel like a lot of these stories contain a king that is somewhat rude or evil. This king shows he his kind of heart and that is important for a happy ending.

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Bibliography: Shedlock's Eastern Stories and Legends
Link to this story

Reading Notes: Part C of Shedlock's Eastern Stories and Legends

Eastern Stories and Legends cover

(source: internetarchive)

The Hawk and the Osprey story was also a variation of another Jataka tale that I've read. I think the most important thing to take from this tale is to take value from friendships. It's important to have these as the strength of friendship definitely has its benefits in everyday life.

The Elephant that Spared Life was also a good tale. I laughed a little at the line that said "And the King, without inquiring what they had done, gave orders to have them all trampled to death by elephants!" just because it seems somewhat extreme. I was happy to see that the elephant decided to not trample the villagers just because it showed he was good as character.

How the Antelope was Caught was somewhat sad. The antelope was just trying to enjoy a new taste for food and suddenly gets trapped in a palace that is much different from that of the forest. It is filled with men that has a scary sense for the antelope. I'm thankful it was let back into the wild.

The Man who Told a Lie was also an interesting story. I understand why the man decided to feel inclined to tell tales of false identity, but it was definitely a foolish choice. I also think that he deserved to be humiliated in front of his peers simply to have some sort of consequence.

The Pupil who Taught his Teacher was a great tale. I think the title is somewhat misleading simply because it was ultimately a test by the teacher to see if his pupil could teach him. I think that is the case, there is always the possibility that I read this story was some confusion.

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Bibliography: Shedlock's Eastern Stories and Legends
Link to these stories