Portfolio Introduction

Storytelling Week 11: The Fox
The story of the fox out smarted Johnny Cake

Storytelling Week 6: The King and The Pirate
The story of how the Pirate got what he deserved.

Storytelling Week 3: Honorable Death
The Story of a King and his Death

Storytelling Week 2: Nobody
The Story of how Nobody escaped Death

Week 11 Storytelling: The Fox

The Fox

            In many stories I have been portrayed as the weaker but smarter character. This doesn’t bother me because usually I get my way regardless of the obstacles. I have one very interesting story in particular that will catch your attention and make you agree with my point of view. 

It was just a normal day and I was out and about doing my daily tasks that a normal fox would do. I go out and look for food and avoid all predators or animals that may do me harm. For the most part my days are easy and relaxed. This is because I like to think that I don’t work hard but I work smart. What I mean by this is exactly what you think of it! I don’t use my brute strength or my speed to catch my prey but instead I think of ways to trick. Of course I am also not only seen as a smart animal but also a trickster with my bright and persuasive ways. 

Well, going back to the particular day I was telling you about, I had been working very hard to find food. Unfortunately that day I had bad luck finding anything and didn’t get to eat. So as the day went by, I got very tired and had to settle in a spot and just lay there. I just lay there for about two hours just chilling because the hunger had dominated me. 

With my luck I saw a little cake running down the road and I have to say it was a beautiful sight! As it ran it kept repeating this annoying phrase. “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you, too-o-o!” so the little cake came up to me and repeated the same phrase and when he did I was smart and acted like I couldn’t hear him. Of course I just lay there so he would have the guts to come closer. He got closer to me and repeated, “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you, too-o-o!” So I once again acted like I couldn’t hear him and the little cake got even closer to me and repeated the same thing. At that moment he was so close I could just gobble him up and... I did exactly that. I have to say that was one good-tasting little cake.

Author's Note: This story was written based off of Johnny-Cake found in English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890). This is another version of the Gingerbread man, which, is a story I used to hear when i was younger in school. The story is about a little cake that outruns a bunch of people including a bear and a wolf. However, when the cake gets to the fox, the fox outsmart him by acting like he is deaf and makes him get close enough to wear the fox just gobbled him up. So the retelling of my story is in first person through the eyes of the fox to see what he was thinking when he did what ate Johnny-Cake. I chose the fox as the main character once again because as you can see from the story the fox is always smart. The first person view allows the reader to see what the fox really thinks about things. So that way we can all see what thoughts go through the tricksters mind and how the fox is always able to outsmart other characters in most situations.

   

 

(A Fox)

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Storytelling for Week 6: The King and the Pirate

The King and the Pirate

There once was a poor man who went along day after day saying, “If anyone gives me a ship, I will sail the seven seas and give to them half of my riches that I scavenge.” So this poor man would go along day after day saying, “If anyone gives me a ship, I will sail the seven seas and give to them half of my riches.”
One one day the poor man was passing by the palace and the king happened to be there. The poor man repeated, “If anyone gives me a ship, I will sail the seven seas and give them half of my riches found in my voyages.” The king with a sense of honesty told the poor man, “That usually does not happen with the forgetfulness and greed in the hearts of men nowadays.”
The poor man answered, “I shall not be one of those men and I will not forget the actions of kindness done to me.” So the man went on still in high spirits repeating the same thing he had said many times before. On another day the poor man came across one of the king's naval admiral and told him, “If anyone gives me a ship, I will sail the seven seas and give them half of my riches.”  
The admiral answered, “I have seen many of my crewmen be granted the gift of a ship and all of them were filled with greed and instead they sought to kill and steal from those who only granted them good." 
The poor man answered, “I will not be like those men. Instead I will remember the good acts of those who have done them.”  So the poor man continued believing and repeating that he would sail the seven seas and give the half the riches found to the person who would give him a ship. There the poor man came across a merchant on the docks of the harbor and said, “If anyone gives me a ship, I will sail the seven seas and give them half of my riches found in my voyages.” The merchant then responded, “That is not true. I gave one of my good sailors a ship once. In return he became a pirate and stole from me.”

So the poor man discouraged sought the king once again. “Unfortunate man, will you ever forget the favors?” asked the king. “Never will I forget a benefit,” answered the poor man.
"Then here is a ship with a crew that will serve at your every command,” said the king.  So the poor man was intrigued by a pirates life rather then that of a merchants life. So the poor man ventured off on voyages becoming a pirate and with that he became richer than ever before.  When time came he did not give half of his earnings to the king and the king let it pass. The king did this because he knew eventually the poor man would have to pay up.

One day the now ungrateful man saw one of the king’s merchant ships that was carrying treasures of the king. So he seized the king's vessel and took everything it had with him. As he looted the ship other royal ships had surrounded the ungrateful man's ship. The royal ships seized the ungrateful man's ship and left him and his men for dead. Together with his crew the ungrateful man was left floating in the sea shipless and treasureless.

Author’s Note: This Story was inspired by the story The Wizard and the Beggar found in Laos-Folklore by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899). The story of the wizard and the beggar tells of a man who claimed that he would remember the benefit of the man who would give him all the food he could desire to eat. So the story goes and tell that man eventually forgets all the benefits given to him. The wizard then gives the beggar a jewel that grants him anything he wants and the wizard keeps a jewel that allows him to fly. The beggar then gets greedy and tries to kill the wizard and steal the other jewel form him and in the end is left with nothing. My story is pretty similar because I didn't change the fact that the beggar is a poor man. The big thing I changed was the fact that he wants a ship to sail the seven seas and become rich. I keep the fact that he does not pay up to his benefactor and in the end is left with nothing.

(Pirate Ship)

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Storytelling for Week 3: Honorable Death

Honorable Death

           There was once a man who lived as king but before being a king he was a soldier. This soldier had fought in many wars before his time as king. He had made many enemies in his past wars. He was one who would slaughter his enemies quite brutally, but he would make it quick and painless. It was said he once slaughtered a lion with his just a little dagger and managed to survive without any bites or scratches. This king was thought of as an equal to Hercules. Word got out of his actions around the world and many countries feared him. This caused a movement of strong disliking for this man and all wished him the worst. The man continued his acts regardless of his infamy. Eventually this man came to be one of the deadliest assassins known to man.

            As years passed by, the man had conquered large parts of the world with his followers and with time became king of a great kingdom. This kingdom was by far the strongest the world had ever seen. It was a kingdom that had no fear of its enemies. Its enemies shivered at the thought of this strong kingdom for it had the ability and resources to destroy their women and children in a matter of hours. It was a kingdom that with its great majesty and power was ruler of all kingdoms and led by the man who had created it. 
          The man was a true and honest king to his kingdom. He did everything for the kingdom and its people. He was a king who proved to the people that he had risked his life fighting and killing all enemies of the people. Even in his acts of defense for his people he committed atrocities for he was a beast and that was his nature. However, he would never hurt a person and leave them in agony. It was a code of honor he lived by and evoked this practice amongst his man so that they too could be like him. The king had lived his long life fighting and ruling until one day when he got sick of old age and no longer could rule. As it is known there is always evil lurking around the corners and so there it was in the kingdom. There were spies of the enemies in the kingdom where the king resided sick in his castle. The spies were able to infiltrate the castle and smuggle the sick dying king out of the kingdom. The enemies then got a hold of the dying king and they took turns beating the king and then healing him to health for the next day. The beating of the dying king went on for about four days. On the fourth day the enemy king took it to upon himself to beat the dying king personally with a whip. As the enemy king whipped the bloody back of the dying king, the dying king who was once the mightiest fighter of all yelled out, “This is a double death." The king eventually died with the opposite of an honorable death. He who would kill but never torture his enemies died in pain and agony.

Authors Note: This story was based off the story of The Sick Lion found in The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs (1894). The story of "the sick lion" is about a lion that is sick and old. So the animals that were once its prey take advantage and beat him since he is defenseless. I kept a couple details the same including the last words of the king. For the most part I changed the characters and the settings of the story. I made the title of the story contradict what happens in the story because it is what the king should have had instead of being beaten and given the death he was given. The reason I chose this story was because honor is something that I feel a lot of people lack now in days. It is very evident that people lack honor and mercy on other human beings around the world. I believe that someone in agony or pain whether it is a friend or enemy should be honored. Not just because it is the honorable thing to do but also because it is the ethical and right thing to do. Nowadays people make other people suffer because of their own interest and are not very thoughtful of those suffering. Someone who does not follow this rule is someone who lacks respect and has no honor. This makes me think back to the medieval times when knights although soldiers had a code of honor. That is what I believe all people should have good or bad.

(Picture of a warrior King)

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