Week 6 Story: An Elephant Never Forgets

Current Version: Story Portfolio      

    "The greatest story ever told is the one told today," the master storyteller explained. "The greatest story ever told is also the most original. The greatest story ever told is the first story. Does anyone know what this story is?"

    "It's the story of everything, teacher," answered a member of the audience to the master storyteller.

    "And who are the characters in this story?" asked the master storyteller.

    "We are, teacher," said multiple in the audience. 

    "Yes, and because you are all characters in the story, so are all in the past and future. Every character has a role to play. Does anyone remember when mankind hunted beasts out of necessity?" questioned the master storyteller out of curiosity. "No? Yes, well, man wasn't always as self-reliant on the creatures of their own creation as they are today. They were once dependent on the creatures outside of their control."

    "There once was a man named Ucas. Ucas was in charge of more than just himself. He was responsible for his family and an entire village. Quite often Ucas would lead an expedition out into the wilderness to secure food for the village The journey would be long and difficult to the destination. Then came the real fight of hunting and killing the creature. On one journey back from a hunt, Ucas noticed in the distance how a pack of predators cornered their prey against a steep hill. Ucas suddenly had an idea. What if instead of hunting the creatures they needed for food they kept them within walls and killed them when necessary? Thus containment was born," the master storyteller postulated.

    "Teacher, were all creatures kept in walls once Ucas put them there?" wondered a child in the audience. 

    "No, not all. Some creatures were too mighty for the walls of the men, then. Not for long, though," the master storyteller responded. "There once was a man named Alker. He grew rich from all the creatures he held in captivity. He would sell them to others. Overtime he developed methods of making the creatures tame when the time came for their killing. His methods worked so efficiently that he wondered why he hadn't sold them to others. So he did."

    "Who did Alker sell his methods to, teacher?" 

    "Alker sold his methods to a man named Ohn. Ohn's interest was in the spectacle of certain beasts. He used the methods of Alker to drowse animals and transport them mass distances. Ohn's trouble came with training the beasts. The time spent training was greater than the time spent showing the creatures to those interested. However, Ohn's descendants persevered in their desire. As did Alker's descendants."  

    "Teacher, what did it mean for then men to persevere?"

    "Child, it meant their methods were carried as far as they could go. There once was a man named Teven. His methods were so advanced he created his own beasts and creatures. He kept them in walls of his own making and showed them to those he wanted to. The old beasts and creatures were no longer kept captive, nor were they used for food any longer. Teven's creations satisfied the needs of man, so the old creatures were no longer of any use. That is why us elephants now live in peace," finished the master storyteller.

    "Teacher! I am sick of your idealism! All along the way man has used us for their own purposes and discarded us when they are done. From captivity to emancipation, we are only doing what they let us. Those who built bonds of affection with man were thrown away just as easily once beasts were created. What is this 'peace?' We are hunted by the characters of the story you tell our children!" cried out a disgruntled member of the audience.

"My story," clarified the master storyteller, "is for the children. Not for you. In the end, an elephant never forgets what it wants to remember."

    Master Storyteller (Source)

Author's Note: You would probably never be able to guess what story this is based off of without me telling you. The major takeaway I took from Arabian Nights is the power of storytelling. Wow, actually there are far more similarities than I originally gave myself credit for. In Arabian Nights, a sultan betrayed by his former wife is marrying a different woman everyday and then cutting off her head. A brave woman named Scheherazade marries the sultan. She wants to put a stop to the sultan's cruel behavior (what a euphemism)  by telling the sultan such an interesting and long story he'll never be able to cut off her head. At least that's how I think it will go. The version of the story I read doesn't have an ending. The interesting part about Scheherazade's story is that it has multiple layers. There are characters in stories telling other characters stories and so on. I didn't quite accomplish this. Another interpretation of  mine for Arabian Nights is that Scheherazade is simply extending her life as long as possible and delaying any other woman's beheading. The nobility of that futility is also present in my story.

For anyone wondering, all the names I used were just regular names with the first letters missing. I thought it would be fun to do that. If I were to go back to this story, I would use progressively complex language to tell the story. The language would go along with the innovation man makes. Simple to more complex. Thank you for reading. 

Bibliography:

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898)

Week 3 Story: Adam and Eve in Simulated Paradise

Current Version: https://sites.google.com/d/1klTTqG2amPMlWZpoFPp2iDWV5Mpfkup3/p/14ti8lukvFzNt1pThLxPpbjo3HgH7yvtW/edit     

Suddenly Adam was awake. Before him was great a light that would blind the average man. Adam was no average man, however. He was the first man, and the light before him was his creator, God. God took delight in Adam, and Adam took delight in God. There was order to their relationship, and they spent much time together naming all the beasts and other creatures of the earth. There was no pain or toil at this time. The naming of the animals was purely creative for Adam. This creativity came from God Himself since it was used to create Adam.

    Although Adam knew nothing but joy from the moment he was created from the dust of the earth, he wondered why all the creatures he had named had partners and he did not. He asked God this question. God, knowing the course of all time and what it meant for Adam to ask this question, put Adam into a deep sleep. When Adam awoke there was a creature of unrivaled beauty lying beside him. It was Adam's kind, a partner to help him. Adam named her Eve, and God said it was good. 

    "You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, and I have seen all of God's wonderful creations," Adam said to Eve. Eve blushed her first blush, and from that moment had great joy when Adam complimented her. "I will show you all there is to see in God's garden. All of it is for us to enjoy except one tree and its fruit. That tree we must stay away from," Adam continued. Eve took to heart every word Adam said because she was devoted to him. The couple spent all their time with one another, and God took great delight in seeing the two together; for God knew the relationship they had was emblematic of the relationship between Him and Adam.

    There came a time when Adam and Eve were separated. Up until this time the two had never been disjointed. Adam was spending time in God's presence while Eve looked for the best fruits for them to enjoy. Before Eve was a tree with a creature unknown to her standing beside it. The creature, a serpent, had speech unlike the rest of the creatures in the garden. 

    "Why has Adam left you alone, Eve? You're too beautiful to be by yourself. Would he rather spend time without you?" the serpent questioned.

    "Adam is spending time with our Lord," Eve replied. "He spends time with God, and it is good."

    "Adam and God spend time without you because they think you are lesser than them. If you eat this fruit you will know just as much as God, and Adam can no longer think of himself as better than you," the serpent retorted. Eve had never thought of herself as lesser before. Her desire was to be with Adam, and so she accepted the fruit as a means to please Adam. In her mind, the fruit would make her, and even Adam, like God. They could draw closer to Him. 

    Adam found Eve returning with a fruit in her hand. He could see how excited she was about it and knew it would please her to take a bite. The two of them took a bite together. For the first time they felt the breeze against their naked bodies. They felt cold and ashamed. The omnipresent light in the garden had at once become too bright and too dim for them to look at. Adam and Eve hid and tried to fashion clothes out of the flora nearby but were too dismayed to be able to think of how to do so. The act of breathing was much more difficult than it was before. Their breaths were labored until they heard the voice of God calling out to them. At this their breaths stopped.

    "Where are you, Adam and Eve?" God asked.

    "We are hiding, Lord... This woman you gave me has given me the treacherous fruit! My life is a burden now, and I want you to take it away!" Adam exclaimed.

    "Lord, it was not I who wanted the fruit! The serpent convinced me of it. He is to blame!" Eve yelled.

    "The time has finally come. Adam, Eve, and the serpent, you all are banished from the garden. Our story is not yet complete, however. Adam and Eve, although your life will be toil and you will constantly yearn for the days we were completely together, I have a design for how things will go. Our creation will stomp out the serpent and his deception. Your disobedient sin will be redeemed, and you will once again join me in paradise. Until then, leave my presence for your sinful nature will not be able to handle my holiness. 

    Adam and Eve once again awoke, but this time they were John and Alex. They both became acutely aware of what was going on once their eyes opened to the blinding light of the digital screens surrounding them.

    "You two failed," a bodiless voice said in the room. "You were the most promising subjects yet, and even for you the temptation--or whatever it is--was too great. Of course you both are too disoriented to know what I'm talking about, so I'll just play the clip."

    The video clip then took over the screens and began describing what had just taken place: "Welcome to the Eden Project. It is our design to find a couple who can do what Adam and Eve couldn't. Using our recreation technology, we have modeled a genuine Eden. For the couple who can overcome the temptation, we will send them back in time to do what Adam and Eve..." the voice trailed off in the minds of John and Alex. Whatever the Eden Project was trying to do, they knew it couldn't be done with man alone. 

A Moment in Paradise (Source)

Author's Note: I came up with this story idea after reading the first story in the Adam and Eve unit. The first story is the King James version of Genesis. I found all the stories deepened and expanded the story of Adam and Eve. I thought it would be best if I did a condensed version with a twist ending to keep things interesting. I didn't try to change any major elements of what the story in the Garden of Eden is about, but I did try to describe why Adam and Eve would break away from God. I wanted to focus on how everything was in order before Adam and Eve separated from each other and then from God. I wanted the serpent to prey on what Eve first knew by calling her beautiful. She listened to every word he said just like she did with Adam. Once Eve and then Adam tried to please each other before God, things fell apart. I also made it a little more obvious about what God's plan for the future was.

I think there could definitely be more development once John and Alex wake up, but I ran out of space. What I'm trying to get across is that this organization is trying to make it so Adam and Eve never leave the garden. I don't really know what that looks like in practice, but the meaning is this: they are trying to fix things without thinking about how God has it all under control. 

Bibliography:

Adam and Eve

King James Bible: Genesis

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/adam-and-eve-fall.html

Week 2 Story: The Heart of a Lion

     There once was a man and woman who were madly in love with each other. The couple was on the verge of marriage, but before that could happen the man had to attend to his duties as a guard of the village. The man's position was as a watcher. One day while watching, he spotted a pride of lions rushing towards the outpost at which he was stationed. Instead of alerting the men at the outpost of the incoming attack, he ran away. On his run away from the outpost, he hit his head and died, suffering the same fate as the rest of the men at outpost.

    The man was reborn as a lion the moment his spirit left his body. Since at this time lions and other animals could talk, they also aged much faster than lions we know today. The man-lion was walking through the jungle one day when he spotted a woman picking berries from a tree. This was the same woman the man-lion was in love with during his past life. The man-lion was enamored by the woman's beauty. He hid in a bush and watched the woman as she picked the berries. The woman noticed the man-lion in the bushes. 

    "My long lost love told me all about lions and their hunting techniques; when lions are on the prowl, they hunt in packs. Therefore I have no reason to fear you," said the woman. 

    "No, no, fair lady. You have no reason to fear me. Even if I was on the hunt I would spare you because of your great beauty," replied the man-lion.

    From there the two were nearly inseparable. The woman would leave her parents home to visit the man-lion in the same spot where they met every chance she got. There came a point when the two declared their love for each other and their desire to wed. The only thing standing in the way of their betrothal was the woman's parents. 

    The man-lion mustered courage and asked the woman to lead him to her home. The woman's parents were not very pleased with the man-lion's request but feared angering him due to his status as a lion. They told him they would agree to his marriage to their daughter if he declawed and defanged himself. They told him it was out of concern for their daughter, but it was really a trick.

    On his way to get declawed and defanged he noticed a pride of lions rushing towards the village where his love lived. He met their ambush before the village, and the pride stopped to hear what he had to say.

    "This village is mine and mine alone. I wish to eat its inhabitants by myself," the man-lion told the pride. 

    "We won't believe your lies. We know you are in love with a human woman in that village," the leader of the pride retorted.

    Seeing that forceful action would be the only way to stop them, the man-lion began attacking the pride. He killed many lions in the pride, but eventually he succumbed to his injuries and died. What was left of the pride retreated knowing they would not be able to pillage the village with such diminished numbers. That night out of the carcass of the man-lion crawled out the man who was once a lion. The man skinned the lion using its claws and wore his former skin as outerwear. Knowing that the lions would eventually return, he went to warn the outpost protecting the village where his love lived. They believed him, and with a war party of 100 men, the man that was once a lion marched off in the direction of the lion pride's retreat. There the man and the outpost guards slayed all the lions. This is why lions are associated with courage.

                                                        The Courage of a Lion (Source)

    The man returned with the war party to the village. He immediately went to the house of his love. With tears and confusion the woman cried in his arms.

    "My love, I was a coward and lost my life. I was reborn as the lion you fell in love with, but I did not remember my past life. On my way to get my claws and fangs removed I saw a pride of lions with a thirst for blood. I did what was courageous and stopped them to protect your life and the life of the villagers. In the process I lost my own life, but it seems the right thing does bring its own rewards," the man who was a lion explained. 

    The couple embraced and lived a happy life together. 

Author's Note: This story was inspired by "The Lion in Love." I felt bad about the lion being tricked even though I don't support bestiality. I always wondered why the woman would be okay with marrying a lion (maybe she wasn't). I turned a tale of deception into a tale of love and learning. 

Bibliography: "The Lion in Love" from Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs