Week 6 Story: An Elephant Never Forgets

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    "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)

Reading Notes: Arabian Notes, Part B

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

Now the Asian setting for Arabian nights makes more sense. Did China have sultans as well, or was this a combination of cultures in the telling of this story?

Did Aladdin actually have any character growth? I suppose he made a life for himself and his mother, but he did it through magical wishes. He did save the princess multiple times. His life's work was centered around her it would seem. Perhaps it could be said Aladdin's idleness was broken by the beauty of the princess. 

I like seeing all the inspirations for the Disney film. He wasn't as sympathetic a character in this version, but the tricks he used to win over the princess were clearly taken from this story. Jafar's character was an amalgamation of the uncle and the vizir in this story. It's really cool to see how the writers for the Disney movie simplified the story and made the characters more likable. I always thought the animated sequels to the movie were also taken from Arabian Nights, but it doesn't seem like that's the case. I also wish there was a conclusion to Scheherazade's story. Maybe that's in another section of the book.

There's a guy at the beginning of the Disney version who begins telling the story of Aladdin (it was secretly Genie), so I think what my story needs to be is someone telling a story. I'm not sure if there will be a story within that story yet. In Part A of this reading, I nearly got confused. Maybe I could intentionally make the story confusing by having two parties arguing, and their argument is made up of contradicting stories. That would be cool. I'm thinking about a husband and a wife telling a bedtime story to their child, and they keep disagreeing about what happened next. It could be funny. It could also be sad if the parents are actually caught up in a heated argument about a bedtime story. 

Palaces come and go (Source)

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights, Part A

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

I've never heard of Scheherazade. I thought she was the sultan's wife who deceived him and then told him stories in order to stay alive. I'm pleased to know Scheherazade is a woman of virtue and is using her gift for the benefit of others as well as her father who has to carry out such horrible deeds. 

There seems to be some murkiness about the origins of this story. I could be reading something already disproven. I've always associated Aladdin-- I got it. Someone was saying the story of Aladdin was more Asian than Middle Eastern at one time, but later retellings of the story played up the Middle Eastern part. That still doesn't make any sense considering these stories definitely originated in the Middle East. I read something about the original author possibly being a traveling merchant. So if Aladdin was Asian (maybe Indian) or something it could be because the merchant traveled to foreign lands and received inspiration. 

Ha. The title "The Story of the First Old Man" had me thinking it was going to be a story about the first old man. I was waiting up until the end. 

My wife was a fairy. That came out of left field. Maybe what I need to take away from this story is the story within a story plot device.

Everyone wants revenge. 

What a switch for the genie with the fisherman. He called him king and then told the fisherman he would kill him. I see. The genie was talking to the last person he saw before he was imprisoned. I don't know if I've read this story before, or if it's just so similar to the fable with the lion and jackal that I think it's the same thing. 

Dang. That poor parrot. It is a little confusing about whether the parrot owner's wife did anything wrong originally, though.

Genies, even in their gifts, are deceptive. The four fish are different races. Apparently the blocks in Mario are Toads who were turned into blocks by Bowser. Very similar, huh?

That's a pretty good ending. I'm glad the fisherman was rewarded since it was his discovery of the genie that lead to the King of the Black Isles delivery from his untrue form. Maybe genies work in mysterious ways. 

Let me tell you a story... (Source)