Week 9 Storytelling : Forever Reaching

Pixabay - Day and Night

Forever Reaching

There was once a girl who lived in a small house with her four brothers.  The girl had golden hair and seemed to radiate light and happiness with each step she took.  Every day her brothers would go out and hunt while the girl would go out and gather fruits, nuts and berries.  In the evening they would all gather around their small table and eat a meal together as a family.  They lived happily this way for many years.

One day when the girl was out in the woods she saw a ladder leading straight up into the sky.  She stared up in wonder.  Curiosity overcame apprehension and she decided to climb up the ladder to see what wonders lay in the sky.  The girl climbed and climbed until she got to the top of the ladder. She looked around at the vast open sky before her.  Then she looked down and it was a beautiful sight.  Lost in the moment, the girl forgot to hold onto the ladder!

When the girl let go of the ladder, she drifted through the sky.  Although she could go anywhere she wanted to go in the sky, she was unable to get down or get back to the ladder.  A few years passed and the girl started to grow very lonely all alone in the sky.

One day, a pale young boy looked up and saw the radiant girl in the sky.  He fell in love with her instantly and vowed to find a way to reach her.  When he found a ladder leading up into the sky he did not hesitate.  At once he began to climb  When he reached the top of the ladder he leaped up into the sky.  He looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl he loved.  He saw her on the opposite end of the sky, just as she was disappearing over the edge of the horizon. The boy decided that no distance was too far, and he immediately began to follow the girl.

At the same time, the girl spotted the boy at the edge of the sky.  From the direction she was facing, the boy seemed to be moving away from her.  The girl was delighted to see another person in the sky.  She longed for company and immediately started moving towards the boy.

The boy and the girl both perused each other, but what they failed to realize is that they were traveling in a circle.  No matter how far they travel, the boy and the girl will always be on opposite sides of the earth, forever pursuing but never reaching each other.

The radiant girl turned into the sun, and the pale boy turned into the moon.  To this very day you can look up in the sky and see them.  They are destined to chase each other across the sky until the end of time, forever lonely, forever reaching.

Author's Note
The original story tells a tale of a boy and a girl.  A boy falls in love with a girl. One day, the girl decides to climb a ladder leading into the sky.  The boy follows the girl but the girl is already floating away in the sky.  The girl becomes the sun and the boy becomes the moon.  The boy is always chasing the girl, but never catches her.
I really liked the imagery of this story.  The main difference between mine and the original, is that in my story the boy and the girl both chase each other.

Bibliography 
The Boy in the Moon is part of the Alaskan Legends unit. Story source: Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

Week 7 Storytelling : The Tanuki and the Fox

Tanuki - Wikimedia

The Tanuki and the Fox

Once upon a time there lived a Tanuki with his wife the fox.  They were called Tanuki and Fox, named after their primary forms.  Every morning they would go out into the wilderness and gather berries, nuts, and insects.  Sometimes they would get lucky a bring home a rodent they had killed.  Each evening they would return to their happy home and share the food with their son. 

Tanuki and Fox lived like this for many years, working hard all day to gather food, and returning to their son in the evening.  One year, there was a terrible drought.  Berries and nuts were very scarce that year. Any rodents they did catch were all scrawny, hardly any real meat on them to eat.  The rodents were suffering from the same food shortage that Tanuki and Fox were suffering from.

One day Tanuki had an idea.  There was a human village not to far from the couple's home.  The village was full of hunters who prized Tanuki and Fox furs above all others.  Tanuki told him wife that she should shape-shift into a human, and sell him in the market.  He would play dead and be sure not to move.  Tanuki would escape sometime after he was sold while Fox used the money to buy some food. 

The next day, Tanuki practiced his control, he let himself be moved around while staying perfectly limp. He slowed his breathing and relaxed all of his muscles.  He then let himself be slung over the shoulder of Fox, in her human form. 

When fox walked into the village, all kinds of eyes turned toward her, or rather towards her shoulder.  Tanukis were fairly rare and all the more prized because of it.  She went into the middle of town square and asked people what they were willing to pay.  Many people wanted a tanuki fur, so there were many offers and many bids.  The prices grew higher and higher until finally Fox sold Tanuki to a rich merchant.  She then proceeded to buy some food with the coin. 

Meanwhile, the rich merchant carried Tanuki to his home.  The merchant was quite excited with his buy, and he wanted to skin the animal right away.  He set Tanuki down on his workbench and went to fetch his tools.  Tanuki had expected to have some time alone where he could try to find an escape route.  He was dreadfully scarred. The merchant was gone less than a minute before he returned with his tools.  He reached out, planning to grab Tanuki by the tale but Tanuki leaped away. The merchant grew angry and chased after Tanuki, but the animal was too fast for him. Tanuki ran along the workbench jumped towards the window.  His clawn caught the window sill and the scurried free.

Tanuki met up with his wife that evening and told her what had happened.  Fox was horrified to hear what almost became of her husband.  They both agreed never to do such a thing again. Their lives were worth too much.  The food and money lasted the family until the next rain.  Once the rain started to fall again, food became more plentiful. Gathering food in the wilderness is much more work than buying food from a village, but the couple was happy to work rather than face the alternative.

Authors Note
This story is based off of a story called 'How the Wicked Tanuki was Punished.' In the original story the fox first sells the tanuki and the tanuki then sells the fox.  When it is the tanuki's turn to sell the fox, he tells the merchant that the fox is alive and so the merchant kills the fox right away.  His son then managed to get revenge on the tanuki by leading him to his death.  I did not like the ending to that story, so I wrote my own.  The beginning of the story is very similar, but in my version everybody survives. 

Bibliography 
How the Wicked Tanuki was Punished, from the The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1903)

Week 6 Storytelling : An Unlikely Friendship

Monkey painted by Ohara Kason

An Unlikely Friendship

Every Spring Monkey chooses a new tree.  As soon as the fruit started to ripen and the flowers start blossoming, he would choose his favorite tree.  He chose a different tree every year, and would eat his fill of the wonderful fruit until the tree was barren, and their was no more fruit left.

This year he chose a peach tree, with branches hanging over the ocean.  He especially liked that the fruits were shaped like hearts. He took on the peaches in his hands and started to each.  The fruit was especially sweet and juicy this year.  Satisfied with his choice, Monkey alternated between building up a place for him to sleep, and eating the delicious fruit.

As monkey was busy working, a shark started circling below.  The shark looked up at the monkey, busy eating the fruit and started thinking of an idea.  The shark did not want to eat the monkey, you see, he needed the monkey's heart to cure the king from across the sea. The king would dye within 6 month time if he did not get the heart.  The other animals could not make the journey across he water, but shark could not go onto the land and actually catch a monkey. As he circled, he started thinking of an idea.

Shark called a greeting up to the monkey. "I am tired of eating all of this salty fish," said Shark, "won't you share some of your food with me, and we can talk over a meal."
Monkey saw no danger in giving food to the shark.  He diligently picked fruits, and tossed them down to the shark.  The shark ate them all up and kept asking for more. Every time monkey would throw down another fruit, the shark would ask for more.

Although Shark was initially just trying to start up a conversation with the monkey and stall while trying to think of an idea, he found that he really liked the juicy fruit.  The decided that since he had half a years time, there was no harm in staying there with the monkey for a few week, sharing food and stories.

Every morning shark would surface between the tree, and Monkey would throw down fruit. Several month passed this way, and the two animals started to become friends.  Spring passed into summer, and summer passed into fall.  Five month elapsed this way, full of fruit and stories. Shark began to realize that he could stall no longer.

The following morning, shark told monkey a tale of the land across the sea.  The described the fruits on the tree, and told monkey of their wonder.  The animals there were greedy and would not share with Shark, but legend told that the fruits were the best in the land.

Monkey immediately took an interest in this tale.  The tree was was almost barren with fruit, and new exotic fruits sounded extremely appealing. When the shark was to far from shore for the monkey to swim back, he confessed his true intentions, apologizing to Monkey.  Shark's eyes were full of teas, for he had truly come to like the monkey and would miss his friend.

Monkey also looked sad, as well as apologetic.  He told shark that monkey do not keep their hearts in their chest.  Instead, the great spirits hold onto monkey hearts for safekeeping.  When a monkey dies, the spirit returns the heart to the physical world in the form of fruit.  Thus the lives of brave Monkeys help keep the next generation alive.  People are sad, and often bury the hearts of their loved ones, creating new trees,  and new places for the spirits to deliver hearts.

The shark was shocked and delighted at this revelation.  Shark could spare his friend and save his king at the same time!  Overjoyed, shark quickly turned around and started swimming back to the tree.  When the pair reached the shore, monkey climbed back up the tree, and threw down fruit to the shark for the last time.  Shark gathered up the fruit, promising to return and swam quickly away.

It wasn't until shark brought back the fruit and tried to heal the king the he realized he had been tricked.  Shark swam back to the tree with the fruit shaped like hearts.  There was no sign of monkey.  Monkey had already found a new tree, never to return to the peach tree.  Shark swam away slowly and sadly, for he had lost both his King, and his friend.

Authors Note
This story was inspired by The Heart of the Monkey from Lang's African Stories.  I used the same characters, the Monkey and shark, and I used the premise of the story: The shark wants the Monkey's heart.  Other than that I took a lot of liberties and changed the story.  I would definitely encourage everybody to go read the original.  It is an interesting read, and it will help you better see how it differs from my story.

Bibliography
This week's reading is from African Stories from Lang's Fairy Books.
From The Grey Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1900) 

Week 5 Storytelling : Thieves in the Night

Arabian Nights - By Milo Winter

Thieves in the Night

Once upon a time, there lived a handsome prince and a beautiful princess in a palace far far away.  The palace was made up of the most beautiful gems and jewels any person could imagine.  The window panes were made of diamond, and the gilded walls and the marble floors danced with light when the sunlight peeked through the windows.

The palace spent a week in Africa were me and my fellows first laid eyes on the riches and wonder.  All those riches and jewels are exactly the kind of thing we had been eyeing. The second we laid eyes on it, we started making plans.  We could probably have filled a whole bag full of jewels and nobody would even have noticed that they were gone.  Before we were able to complete our plan, the palace vanished.  The legend told of a genie, a magician and a princess.

A prince fell madly in love with a beautiful princess.  The prince came from a very wealthy family, and he was convinced that the princess was so beautiful, that he would only be worthy of her if he used every last ounce of his gold for her.   He spend the next fifteen years building a palace, working and laboring with his own hands, as well as making his slaved labor day and night on the palace.  One the 365th day of the 15th year, he was final done.  We went up to the Sultan and asked for the princess's hand in marriage.  Impressed by the dedication and splendor that the prince showed, he agreed and the two were happily married for the rest of their days, living in splendor.

My personal opinion is that the story has been elaborated during the telling.  There is no way a man could build a palace of such splendor in 15 years, much less a lifetime.  I had also never believed in magic until I saw the palace appear, and then disappear a week later.  We kept our ears open for rumors of the palace, until finally one day we heard that it moved to China.  We did not hesitate for an instance, we packed up our bags and moved to China.

My band of thieves gathered around the palace.  We knew we needed to scout out the place, figure out the guard patterns etc.  before we could actually steel anything.  We believed this process would take weeks of time.  On our first day of scouting out the palace, we did not see a single guard.  We could not believe our eyes, no palace was ever left completely unguarded. Three more days we surveyed the palace to be sure, and three more days we saw nobody protected the palace.  On the fourth day, we entered the palace, found the treasure room, and left with all we could carry. We found many things in the treasure room, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pears, gold, and so much more.  We also found a very old looking dingy lamp, which we disregarded in an instance, skipping over it to look at the rest of the treasure.

We praised our luck as we left the palace, feeling fortunate to have come out with such a successful score.  It was morning by the time we went to a quiet  place and started counting our money.  As we were doing this, the room around us suddenly blurred, as as if by magic.  We found ourselves back in the palace we had just left, kneeling in front of the prince of the castle, Aladdin, and his princess.  Aladdin held the lamp, and beside him floated what could only be a genie.

Finally we understood why the palace had no guards.  The palace didn't need any guards, because Aladdin had the power to summon up anything he needed from his genie.  I knelt to the floor and begged forgiveness, promising to mend the error of my ways.  I knew what happened to thieves, and it was not a fate I wanted to share with my friends.  Aladdin would not yield, wanting to set an example for people who would steal from him in the future.  He spoke a command to the genie, speaking a sentence which I knew was the last one I would ever hear.  Know this, keep your greed in check because no amount of jewels and money is worth the price of your own life.


Authors Note:
Everyone is familiar with the Disney Movie Aladdin.  The story is The Arabian Nights, however, is quite different than the childhood tale most of us grew up with.  I wanted to tell yet another, third retelling of the story, taking five different Motifs from the original story and wrote my own plot.  I chose The Jeweled palace as the setting, Aladdin, Genie, and the princess as the characters, and the lamp as my artifact.  Together, these are five different things from the original story.

The Arabian Nights includes many stories inside stories, and sometime even stories inside stories inside stories.  Because of this, I decided to include a brief summary of the original as a story within my story.  The tale is based on the rumors that the people have been hearing, so it's a fabrication, a slightly different version of what actually happened.

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

Week 4 Storytelling : A Journey through Riddles

Author's Note:
I wanted to try a storytelling style to before I finalize my decision on my storybook.  This story is based off of Twenty-Two goblins, and it combines two storytelling styles, story from the villain's point of view, and a backstory. Arguably there are two villains in the story, one is a monk, and the other is a goblin who tells 22 different riddles to a King.  The king must give the answer if he knows it, otherwise his head will explode.

A Goblin from Warhammer

A Journey through Riddles

All goblins are born with power, and they must work to master it.  The mechanics of the power is easy, every time a goblin tells a riddle, the person hearing the riddle has three option:  Give an incorrect answer that they believe is correct, give a correct answer that they know is correct, or give a an incorrect answer even though they know the correct one.  Each action has a different consequence.  If the listener does not know the correct answer, nothing will happen, if the listener gives the correct answer, the goblin will be able to escape.  And lastly, if the listener gives the wrong answer when they know the right one, their head will explode into one million pieces. 

Our story begins with a young goblin Gob, who was just been sent out into the world.  He left the small hold in the ground, and started to journey the world, hunting different riddles that he could use.  Gob planned to seek out all different kinds of riddle, easy ones, hard ones, riddles from Japan, South African, Norway, India, and many many more.  Many goblins only looked for the easy riddles, because the faster somebody was able to guess the answer to one of the riddles, the faster the goblin would need to go free.  Gob was different, and wanted to be prepared for all circumstances.

Gob traveled the world for many years, and found all sorts of riddles on his travels.  Once, he even though riddles inside of a church.  He went into the cathedral and witnessed a wedding taking place.  The seats were all full, and a man and women clasped hands by the alter.  He explored the area, and finally came upon two men gossiping outside the church.  "A man married twenty women in his village but isn't charged with polygamy, how is this possible" Asked one.  The second puzzled and though over this riddle but would not find the answer.  Gob though to himself, why this is easy, I just saw a priest marry one women, how hard could it be to marry twenty happy couples?

Gob stopped in an urban area.  The familiar there raised livestock and farmed the land.  Gob walked into one of the farm houses and saw a farmer milking a cow.  Gob requested a riddle, so the farmer though for a long time.  Finally the farmer said, "A box without hinges, key, or lid, Yet golden treasure inside is hid.  What am I?" This riddle stumped Gob at first, but then a chicken within the barn squawked and Gob had an idea. It was an egg!  A chicken egg!

Finally Gob traveled to India, full of rich culture and beautiful colors.  He went to talk to some of the wealthier people of the land.  They valued delicacy and virtue.  When he asked for a riddle, they told him a story.  A king had three very delicate wifes.  He took the first to a beautiful pond.  While they were there, a lotus-petal fell in the queens lap, and the wait of it injured her.  While she was healing, the king was in bed with his second wife.  The moon shone through the window, and burned her.  While the second wife was healing, the king went for a quite peaceful walk with his third wife.  In the distance, the queen could here the sound of pestles grinding grain and it bruised her ears.  These are the three delicate wives of the king. Which is the most delicate? Gob knew the answer right away, the queen who is damaged by only sound is the more delicate than a queen damaged by physical touch.

Gob had found a country whose riddles he enjoyed more than any other.  Not only did the people tell riddles, the people also told stories to go with the riddles.  Gob went around, gathering 22 more riddles from India.  Each of them had simple stories, so Gob elaborated on the stories, deciding that a riddle is not nearly as good as a riddle and a tale.
 

Bibliography: 
Twenty-Two Goblins, Arthur Ryder's translation of the Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati.
Second riddle taken from The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien, 1937

Week 3 Storytelling : The Shape of the Beast

The Shape of the Beast
Circe grew up in the forest surrounded by animals and all the wildlife she could dream of.  None of the animals were afraid of her, and she was afraid of none of them.  She treated the lion, the mouse, the bat, and the fish all as equals.  She would sing to them, care for them, and they in turn would care for her, bring her nuts and plants to nourish her.  Many years passed, and Circe earned favor with the gods for retrieving a lost child of Zeus using her hounds and their noses.  

To thank Circe for her kind deed, Zeus gave her a grand house made of marble stone, and a beautiful island that was to be her own, and handmaidens to take care of her every need. Circe lived on the island for many years, lonely, missing her friends the animals.  Occasionally a ship would take refuge on her island, and her home.  She would turn the men into many different kinds of animals, depending on their personalities, and she would care for them in her grand house.  Slowly over the years, Circe became less lonely, for she was making new friends, and she took care of her dear animals. 

Circe, by Wright Barker

Circe always knew when a new ship entered her island.  It was not something that occurred often, maybe once every few years.  Circe was always happy to make new friends, and was curious what kind of people the seas washed onto her shore today. Circe stood at the gate of her beautiful home, stroked the silky mane of one of her lions as she waited.

The men appeared at Circe's doorsteps, as she graciously invited them inside.  They followed her to the dinning room.  Circe walked to the end of the table, and delicately took a seat.  She was about to offer the men a seat and a meal, but in the time it had taken her to talk to the far end on the room and sit down, them men had already begone to feast without an invitation.

They helped themselves to her fine meat and finer wine.  They ate her bread, which was always warm and freshly baked, even though Circe herself never did any cooking.  The fruit bowls kept refilling themselves as the men gorged on all of the rich food.  They were probably famished after a long journey of stale hard bread, but this was too much.  The men reminded her of pigs! No manners, no courtesy, and they ate her food without even asking. Circe smiled, never had a decision painted in front of her so clearly, so she turned every single one of the men into the animal that she felt suited them best, pigs.

Author's Note:
This story is inspired by my weekly reading choice: The Odyssey.  This is an old epic story written by Homer, telling of Odysseus's adventures.  During this story Odysseus and his men come upon the isle of Circe.  When exploring the island, the men find a beautiful marble house filled with animals.  Circe, a beautiful women, invites the men inside and offers them food.  As soon as they have eaten the food, Circe turn the men into pigs.  Odysseus only managed to free his men by taking advise from Hermes, and managed to get immunity from Circe's magic, saving his friends.

My retelling of the story is a little different and focuses on Circe.  After some research, I found that all of Circe's stories have a strong animal theme to them.  Circe turns Odysseus' men into pigs, and .  in the tale of Glaucus the fisherman he turns the women Glaucus' love into a sea monster.  I made up my own backstory for Circe, and explained why she has such an affinity for animals, followed by an excerpt from Odysseus, with a new ending.  In my story, unlike the original, the men stay pigs instead of getting rescued by the hero Odysseus.

Bibliography
Story inspired by Homer's Odyssey, translated by Tony Kline. 

Week 2 Storytelling: The Crystal Lake

Wikimedia Commons: by Diego Delso

Author's Note: This story is based off of the table of Cupid and Psyche. The story is too long for me to summarize the whole tale, so instead I will summarize what is important to know for the story I have written. Psyche angers Venus, and Venus gives the girl impossible tasks to punish her. The tasks range from sorting a mountain of beans into piles (Venus and Psyche), to fetching a jar from the underworld (The Jar of Beauty). Psyche only manages to complete these trials by accepting help from animals. Below, I have written my own trial for Psyche to accomplish.

The Crystal Lake

Psyche was exhausted from her trails. She had collapsed onto her course straw bed and immediately fell into a dreamless slumber. Psyche slept soundly, until she woke the next morning, as the tip of the sun broke through the horizon, seeping light across the land. She quickly drank some water and ate a crust of bread to restore her strength, she knew Venus would summon her again soon.

Soon after the girl woke, a raven was sent to fetch Psyche. Psyche followed the raven into the magnificent chamber where Venus resided. The walls were covered in fine oil painting, the ceiling was gilded with gold, and the floors were crafted from the smoothest and purest marble. Venus herself sat at the far end of the room on a plush purple chair gilded with gold, radiating light and beauty. “You have bested the challenges so far, but I have another task for you today” said Venus. “Over the eastern hill you will find a pool of crystal clear water with magical properties. Use this bucket to fill my bath for me. Beware, I will know if you use any other kind of water. Now go!”

Although ferrying the water back and found from beyond the hill would take a lot of work, this task seemed feasible unlike all of the others. Psyche was wary of the task. She knew there was some impossible element of the challenge that she was missing, but as of yet, she was unsure what it was.

When Psyche walked to the other side of the hill, she did not find a pool, only a cliff. She looked down and saw nothing but clouds below. A drop of water hit Psyche where she stood. Psyche looked up, and law a beautiful lake of the clearest more pristine and crystal water she had ever seen. The lake was in the clouds, and water flowed from some of the higher clouds to lower clouds, sprays of mist emerged where the water danced downwards and shattered upon impacting the mirror smooth water located on the lower clouds. Light reflected against the crystal water, rainbow colors spilled out.

Psyche became downcast after seeing the sight. Although it was breathtaking, it was also out of her reach. Without wings she would never reach the clouds, and she would never be able to fetch the water. She looked over the cliff, at least it would be a quick end if she jumped. Before Psyche could do anything, a group of silkworms offered their help. The silkworms worked dutifully for many hours, spinning a rope of silk, so that Psyche could climb up and reach the lake. When the rope was done, a sparrow grabbed one end in his break, flew up, and fastened one end onto the cloud.

Psyche climbed up the rope and filled her bucket with the magical water. She then lowered herself and her bucket back onto the ground, carried the bucket over the hill, and carefully poured the water into a tub, careful not the spill a single drop. Fifteen times she returned to to the lake, and fifteen times she climbed the rope to fill her bucket. The sun was starting to set, and poor Psyche was warry. She poured her last bucket into the tub, filling it to the brink as the last of the daylight departed.
Venus swept into the chamber to inspect the work. “I see the animals helped you to reach the lake,” aid Venus. “Never mind, I will have another task for you tomorrow.” Tired, psyche returned to her bed, collapsed onto the hay and instantly fell into a dreamless sleep.

Bibliography: My story was inspired by Cupid and Psyche, Written by Apuleius and translated by Tony Kline.

Week 1 Storytelling: The Old Lion and the Fox

The Old Lion and the Fox, a retelling
An wise old Lion sat alone in his cave. He sat alone because he had left his Pride many years ago. Lion had always been the best hunter in his Pride, yet others always ate his food. One day Lion left, he decided it was better to fare for himself than to live and travel with those freeloader. “Bah, I have to do all the work” thought Lion.

Many things change over the years, and age has a way of catching up to you. “I am too old to hunt,” thought Lion, “but I no longer have a Pride to hunt for me.” Lion was hungry, but he was also clever and would not give up so easily.

“My claws are not sharp, I am no longer fast, and I do not have the energy to chase prey,” reflected Lion. He thought hard for a long while. After several days his stomach grew emptier and rumbly. Finally, Lion thought of an Idea.

Lion told the other animals that he was sick. He then returned to his cave, laid down and waited. Most of the animals in the Forest were kind, and and they felt sorry for Lion.

First came Rabbit. Rabbit was a healer who had studied plants and herbs. She brought with her a tea from her own recipe. She hopped up to the cave and offered Lion the tea. Instead, Lion ate Rabbit. “A fine meal,” he said, “but I am still hungry.”

Second came Deer. Deer was a weaver. She took the silk from the silkworms and spun it into blankets. She brought with her a blanket that she herself had woven. Deer pranced up to the cave and draped the blanket over Lion. Lion did not even thank her before he ate her. “A fine meal,” he said, “but I am still a little hungry.”

(illustration by Milo Winter)

Third came Fox. Fox was a bard who decided he would sing sweet melodies so that Lion would be able to sleep and heal. Fox was clever, and did not get close the the cave and started to play his songs at a distance. “Come closer,” said Lion, “so that I may better hear your sweet voice.”

Fox looked at the footsteps near the cave, and saw that they only went in one direction. The footsteps entered the cave, and never left. Fox had an idea. He started to sing songs of Lion's trickery. Every animal who came to Lion’s cave heard songs of Lions deceit, and lion did not get to eat any more innocent trusting animals.


Author's Note
The following story is based on a fable about a lion and the fox.  A lion is too old to hunt anymore, so he tells all of the other animals he is sick.  As the animals came to sympathize with the lion, he eats them.  The fox decided to stay a safe distance away from the lion, refusing the lion's requests to come closer.  The fox outsmarts the lion at the end of the tale by noticing that footsteps only lead into the cave, but not out.  The fox then leaves the cave, managing to avoid being the lion's meal.  This is where the original fable ends. 

I decided to stick to the original plot, with a few additions. I gave it some backstory and added details about the charters.  The original story did not give any details about the animals who visited the lion, and I decided it would be slightly sadder if the reader knew a little bit about the characters.  Since a fable is a kids story, I decided to write my story in a similar style.

The image itself was selected directly from the original story.  I could not find another image which I liked more, so I just decided to reuse this image. 

Bibliography
This story is based off of a Fable in Aesop for Children, by anonymous, illustrated by Milo Winter.