Before the festival the brothers pondered what they could offer to the king.
The first brother was a cattle farmer. He looked over his animals and decided he would offer the king the best of his herd. However, he reconsidered and decided he wanted those to himself. He was going to offer his next best instead.
The second brother had a flock of sheep. He made the decision to present the king with wool, but he did not know how much. After he thought about it he decided he had to save some of the wool to sell at the market, but he still set aside a great offering off his finest wool for the king.
The third brother worked in the fields. He had much respect for the king so he decided he would present him with the best harvest of his crops. He gathered what he needed and was ready to go before the king the next day.
The final brother helped his brothers with their animals and crops, but he himself did not specialize in anything. He could not figure out what gift he could bring that would be fit for a king. After much reflection the brother decided that he would offer his own life to the king, the ultimate sacrifice.
The day of the festival arrived, and all the brothers lined up to present their gifts to the king. The first brother approached the king, but the king declined the gift because he knew the man had not given his best.
The second brother presented the king with the fine wool, but once again the king declined the gift. He said he had no use for the wool, and that his stores were already full.
The third brother approached the king and offered up his finest crops. The king turned down the gift because he had no need for them. He told the farmer to go and feed his family with it.
Finally, the last brother went up to the king empty-handed. The king asked where his gift was, and the brother told the king all he had to offer was his life. This made the king curious. He asked the brother if he was serious, and the brother assured the king he was. The king called for his executioner to come take the man up on his offer.
The brother closed his eyes and was waiting for the sword to come down, but the executioner just stood there. After time had passed the brother asked the king what was wrong. The king replied that he did not want to take his life, he just wanted to test him.
The king recognized his conviction and made him an advisor and gave him a position in his palace. The brother lived there the rest of his life and maintained a close relationship to the king.
The brother waiting to be executed. Source
This story was a retelling of The Hare that Was not Afraid to Die. I changed the animals to brothers and Sakka to a King.
Bibliography
Marie L. Shedlock, The Hare that Was not Afraid to Die from Eastern Stories and Legends (1920) https://sites.google.com/view/mythfolkloreanthology/origins?authuser=0
Marie L. Shedlock, The Hare that Was not Afraid to Die from Eastern Stories and Legends (1920) https://sites.google.com/view/mythfolkloreanthology/origins?authuser=0
Hi Conner! I thought the story was interesting and I liked that brother that had nothing to offer also had the greatest offering of all. Make sure to proofread your story before posting, because there were some errors that made the flow of the story a little hard to understand. I think adding some fillers or details might make the flow of the story grab more attention as well. For example, adjectives describing how great the cows, sheep, and crops were might make the story come alive more. It also might be interesting if you created an ending for the other three brothers. Did they get punished at all for not giving their best or do they just go home and carry on with their lives?
ReplyDeleteHi Conner, I love this re-telling! It puts it into a much better perspective since it uses humans instead of animals. It can be hard to find interest in meaningful stories that use animals as characters. I like how kept the anticipation and waited until the very end to reveal that the brother would not die. Anything after that ending would have felt like excess. Great story!
ReplyDeleteHey Connor,
ReplyDeleteI think your rendition of the story is incredible. The fact that you changed the characters to people made it just so much more deep and meaningful. The only downfall here is that you had many typos, so definitely remember to use the spellcheck feature. Overall though, great job! Im excited to see what else you can come up with.
Hi Connor,
ReplyDeleteThis story is an enticing one! I love all the different offerings and how the king turned each brother down except for the final brother. When you retold the story with brothers instead of animals it became more relatable and more intriguing. This story is a wonderful way to inspire people to give their all because it will often be rewarded. It is hard to think of giving up so much though.
Hey Conner,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story. It is one that I had actually not heard before and I thought it was great changing the animals to human. To me it gave it more weight and I felt more emotion while reading it. I have always wondered why old stories have animals as the characters instead of humans. Is it to make them seem more humane? Maybe kids relate better to animals than to stories with humans as the leads. Who really knows, but overall, I found the story compelling and intriguing and now want to read the original. Keep up the good work.