Week 11 Story

Fowler and His Quail

Once in a kingdom far away there was a very greedy and spiteful king. The King did everything he could to make as much money as possible at the expense of his people. He had many different jobs in his kingdom that would draw in much wealth but the one that brought in the most was that of the Fowler. The Fowlers in the country hunted down Golden Quails. They did this because the quails would lay golden eggs that were of much worth. The Fowler was always treated by the King quite well and he would always catch a plentiful bounty for his King. One day however the King decided he did not have enough wealth. When the Fowler came to his throne room to have his bounty appraised by the Valuer he was told that they were worth much less than the going price. The wicked Valuer agreed to lower the price so that he could bring in more money for his family.

The Fowler went home with his bounty refusing to let them go for that price. He then went to the kingdom next to his and sold them for the original going price. He decided to never go to the King with his bounties again. The king caught onto this and decided to hire his own personal Fowler. When the Fowler arrived he went to work catching the Golden Quail for the king. He did this until there was barely enough quails to go around. The Fowler would soon be out of work. He decided to make a deal with the quails. He went to the leader of the quails and told them of a way that they could be free if they worked together. He told them they were to poke their heads out of the net and fly away to the nearest tree. They would make sure the net was caught and they would fly away. For this information the quail allowed the Fowler a few eggs from them as payment. For the rest of the Fowler's days he was well taken care of by an honest king and his quail.

Author's Notes: I decided to put together A Measure of Rice and The Quarrel of Quails. In A Measure of Rice the Valuer was an honest man that was pushed out of his job by a greedy king who wanted him to lie to take more money for himself. In The Quarrel of Quails a Fowler would catch the quails until the wise old quail instructed the other quails to work together to escape by flying into a thorn thicket and fly out of the net. They did this until one time the quails got into an argument because one of the quails stepped on another's head. So they were captured and all sold off. I decided to make it to where the Valuer in my story was evil as well as the King. Also I decided to make the Fowler out to be a good honest man trying to make a living. He is the one who advised the quail what to do. 

Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Northern Bob White Quail by Brian Stansberry

Reading Notes: Jataka Part B

Greed above All

There once was a greedy king that wanted as much money as he could squeeze out of his subjects. There was a person that worked for him that would tell what the measure of something was and how much it costed. He was known as the Valuer and was a very honest and hardworking man. The king thought to himself how he might get more money out of his subjects and his eyes set on the Valuer. He thought to himself if he had any other Valuer he would be make loads more money. He needed to get rid of this man and put another in his place that will charge more for things so that he might make more money. There was a peasant that came to the palace that the king thought would be perfect for the job. So the king offered him the job and the man took it. A horse-dealer brought five hundred horses to the court to sale and the Valuer said they were worth a measure of rice. The horse-dealer went to the honest man who had once been the Valuer and asked what he should do. The Valuer advised him to give the new Valuer a fine present and tell him that since he put a price on the horses he should then put a price on the measure of rice. So the horse-dealer did this and the peasant then went to the king and asked the king that he got these horses for a measure of rice, and if he should put a price on the rice. The king anxious to make more money agreed to this, for he thought he could make even more money off this man. The peasant Valuer then said to the king the value of the rice is that of the kingdom. To this he was laughed out and the king was ashamed.  

Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Greedy Old King Walking by Unknown

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales Part A

Teamwork of Quails

There once was a flock of quails that listened to their very wise leader. There was a Fowler that made his money off catching the quails. He would go out every day and throw his net over them and catch them. He would do this by imitating the voice of the leader quail. The other quail would think it was the leader calling and would fly to the Fowler only to be captured. The very wise quail saw what was happening and devised a plan on how to beat the Fowler. He decided to call all the quail to him and instruct them when the Fowler calls to fly to him. When they were all in the net they would poke their heads out of the holes and fly away to the nearest thorn bush where the net would get tangled and they could fly themselves to safety. So they did this multiple times. This lead the Fowler's wife to be most angry with him for not bringing home any money. He said that he just couldn’t catch them for they were all working together. So for a time the quails were safe. Then one day when the net came over the top of all the quails like it did everyday one of the quails accidentally stepped on the head of another quail. The one who got stepped on made a big fuss over it. All the quails took sides over this matter to when the Fowler went to get the net the quails did not work together. One group would say to the other you fly away not I. So the Fowler succeeded and took all the quails home. This brought him much money. The moral of the story is working together is better than working separately. Also to be able to forgive another.

Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Northern Bob White Quail by Brian Stansberry 

Week 10 Story

Corpious

There once was a great kingdom in the east that was ruled by a very wicked king named Demetrius. Demetrius was concerned with absolute power and wealth and wanted as much land as he could get under his control. The people hated what he had done to their once great nation. They were all struggling to make ends meet just wanting to survive. One day when the great king was on the road headed home from his latest hunt a great rumbling shook the earth and said to him.

“You shall be slain by the child of your beloved brother.”

Demetrius didn’t know what to do for he loved him almost as much as the money and power he had accumulated. When Demetrius got home he finally got the courage to do what must be done and ordered him and his wife to be thrown in prison for the remainder of their lives. He pleaded with him to let her go for they had done nothing wrong. Eventually his brother started having children with his wife. Each time he would go to see the new child and would cut each of their heads off. When it got to the 7^th child Demetrius decided it was enough. The killing had to stop here and he must kill the couple so he could end this nightmare. On the 8^th child the gods intervened and spirited the male child away to the womb of another woman. Demetrius came down to the dungeon none the wiser and killed both of them. The child however grew in the womb of his new mother giving her life many blessings. His new mother knew in her heart that he was destined for greatness and that he was truly an Avatar. She loved him so much and named him Corpious. She found out he was an Avatar when he scared away a giant snake with his flute playing saving his friends from the grip of death. Corpious would go on to change the world.

Author’s Notes: I decided to stick closely to the videos on Krishna by Epified. I only changed a few things such as the king killed the children by banging them against the bars of the cell. Also he did not kill the 7^th child for that child was spirited away to a different mother’s womb. The eighth child, or Krishna, was walked out of the jail by his father while the entire town was sleeping. I made it to where Corpious was transferred to a different mother’s womb and both his parents died.

Bibliography: Krishna Series by Epified Tv (India)

Cowherd Prince-Gopal Krishna by Infinite Eyes

Reading Notes: Krishna Part B

Krishna the Avatar

Yashada ran running to get to her son because she saw a cart going to her. When she arrived she saw the cart crushed. The local children said that Krishna was the one who broke it. Krishna was known in the town that he was a trouble maker. He would burst the pots that were on the women’s heads that they were carrying. He also became known as the one that stole butter. His mother however didn’t believe that he did any of the things the women would accuse him of. One day someone told her Krishna was eating mud. She ran to Krishna and found him with his mouth full. She demanded he open it, and when he did she saw everything within it. The entire universe was within Krishna’s mouth. She began to lose herself in this universe. She swam deeper and deeper into it and eventually was awoken to her son crying and scared before her. She then took Krishna into her arms and came to terms with the fact she was the mother of someone more than just a child. There was a certain cloud that settled over the mind of those in town and it pushed them away from Gokul. They settled in a different town and it was greener than Gokul. Krishna and his brother went out and explored every day. One day while Krishna was playing his flute he heard his friends silent. He went to see what was wrong with them and saw them dead due to the poison from a snake. Krishna challenged the snaking and ordered the snake to revive his friends. Krishna played the music and it became a terrifying sound. The snake when he was danced on while the music was playing could take no more and left. He took the poison that went with him and Krishna’s friends were revived. It was at this time everyone realized he was more than a boy, he was an avatar.

Bibliography: Krishna by Epidified Tv (India)

Cowherd Prince-Gopal Krishna by Infinite Eyes

Reading Notes: Krishna Part A

Krishna

There was a boy who had enemies that tried to keep him from being born and tried to kill him when he was born. He grew up and become so much more than a king. This man’s name was Krishna. He was however not a part of their world, they were a part of his. Kansa ruled Mathura and the people hated it. One day a voice from the sky told him of his death. It would be at the hands of a child born from his cousin Devaki and Vasudev. He decided to kill his cousin. His cousin pleaded for him to spare them. He decided to kill all their children. Every time they gave birth to another child he smashed the baby on the bars. On the 7^th child Mahamaya transported the child to the womb of another woman named Rohini Vasudev’s first wife. Everyone thought Devaki suffered a miscarriage. When they had their 8^th child the gods and animals rejoiced because the 8^th avatar of Vishnu was coming to earth. All the guards and king were sleeping, so Vasudev took his son and left. Everyone slept through the city allowing him to reach the region Yamuna. There was a voice telling him to bow to the river. A serpent appeared and protected him and his son. He reached the other side and met some gypsies. He put his son next to Maya and picked up Maya and left with her. He was glad that no harm would come to his son for he switched the two. The king dreamed that tragedy would befall him. When the king reached the cell he saw a girl and laughed. Kamsa was happy until he tried to kill her. The child fell from his hand and turned into Durga. Durga’s light filled up the cell and told him he was a fool. She told him that he should not look for him for the avatar would come for him.

Bibliography: Krishna Series by Epidified

Krishna by Virumandi

Week 9 Story

Drama in Hastinapur

“I must tell you scribe that I am most looking forward to imparting a bit of my life onto that paper of yours”, said Bhishm.

“What would you like me to write o great undying Bhishm?” asked the scribe.

“I think it best to start with how I came to be here as well as what has happened so far. I believe it very important to keep records of things such as this, don’t you?” asked Bhishm.

“O-Of course your majesty”, exclaimed the scribe loudly not wanting to seem at all unsure.

“That is good to hear, for I fear there will be a lot to write and I believe it best to get started”, said Bhishm.

“It all started at my birth. I was born to the King Shantanu as you well know and my mother was a river goddess. Thankfully for me I was not killed like my other siblings, as my mother had wished it. You see she had made a promise to free the eight celestial spirits. I guess in her mind this was achieved by murdering all eight of her children. I for one don’t quite understand it but that is the case. Anyway, I eventually grew up and was by the banking of a river shooting arrows into the river to tame it, as I did quite often. It just so happened that this time that a man came strolling by and was astounded. To my surprise this man just happened to be my father! We only found this out after much talking he and I. he took me back to the palace where we were a happy family. One day my father met a lovely fisherman’s daughter and wanted to marry her. Her father said no so I set out to see that she did marry my father. It was at this time that I vowed that I shall never take a wife, this seemed to please her and make her come along with me to the palace. Upon arrival my father was saddened by what I had done, but was appreciative and blessed me saying my death came at my choosing. This leads to me not being able to bear children but also not being able to be killed. This came in handy when I fought off god like being for twenty one days. We both grew tired of fighting since neither of us could kill the other. O, did I mention this being was sent on the behalf of one of the princesses I brought to the palace to marry my brother? I probably forgot to mention that. Now I just look after their children in the palace. It seems that there is always some sort of drama happening around. I’ll have to have you by weekly so that we might go over the newest dramas to hit our fair city. Thank you so much for your time. “

“It was my pleasure sire”, said the scribe as he quickly left the room.

Authors Note: I decided to do another story about a man spinning his tale. This time it was about Bhishm. This is simply a retelling and I did not change anything from the actual story. I also thought it would be cool to make it to where he was the voice of reason in the palace with all the crazy stuff going on. He would kind of talk about what was happening with the scribe so that it could be recorded for history.

Bibliography: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by EpifiedTv (India)

Ashtapad Hastinapur by Pratyk321

Week 9 Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part B

The sons of Vyasa grew up and each of them played a role in the kingdom. The oldest ruled the kingdom however it was well known that the younger was actually in charge. When it came time for marriage the older who was blind went and found a princess to marry. Her father and brother were very worried for her because her future husband was blind. She did not waver in her duty and blindfolded herself for life. Her brother was outraged and planned a way to get revenge for this injustice. Pandu the younger brother married as well and it just so happened that his older wife Kunti had a secret. She was actually given a mantra by Durwasa to summon any god she wanted. She summoned a god and happened to have a child from this god. She could not keep him for she was unmarried. She ended up placing him in the basket and let her sun go down the river. Pandu along with his wives spent time in the forest. While hunting Pandu shot an arrow at the hermit. The hermit cursed him saying when he was in the throes of passion he would die. He decided to stay in the forest and not return. Kunti then told him about her gift of being able to have children with gods. So Pandu told her to give birth to children and heirs to the throne. He took these children as his own and started raising them. She ended up having children from many of the gods. After the third child Kunti refused to have any more children. She then summoned two brother gods to have sex with the other wife of Pandu and she gave birth to two sons.

Bibliography: The Mahabharata: Karma Revolution by EpifiedTv (India)

Kunti Meets Karna by Unkown

Week 9 Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part A

The Mahabharata is a story about kings, queens, heroes, and an all-consuming war. It was told by many different people, in different ways. The Mahabharata is all based off karma everything that happens is due to something that happened previously. King Shantanu fell in love with the river goddess. He asked her to marry him and she said yes only if he would never question her. When they had their first child she drowned it. She then killed the next six children. On the eighth child he asked why she was doing this and her reply was that it was to free the eight celestial spirits. She left him taking the son. King Shantanu saw that an archer had tamed the river with arrows. This man was his son. His son had been taught the way of war and he brought his son home. The city rejoiced with his father. Shantanu later fell in love with fisherman’s daughter and asked her to marry her. She said no unless he would make her heir king. He couldn’t and left home sad. His son saw his father’s sadness and set out to make the fisherman’s daughter say yes. The prince begged the fisherman and eventually brought him along. Shantanu’s son promised never to be married. Shantanu promised him for this that death would not be able to touch him unless he willed it. When his father passed he taught his father’s children how to be men. He eventually found a wife for his brother by kidnapping princesses from another kingdom. After Bheeshm brought back the three princess’s one of them asked him if she could marry the man she loved. The other princesses stayed behind in the palace. When the one princess went to the man she loved he turned her down because she had been kidnapped by another man. Bheeshm the son of Shantanu said no when she came crawling back to him and begging him to marry her. She declared that she would not rest until she repayed him for his crime. She found someone to fight the king and they fought for 21 days neither fell. Queen Satyawati after the last son’s death ordered Bheeshm to marry both the other princesses and give birth to another heir. He refused and she told him he had a brother from another land. Vyas was the child and Vyas promised her to come when she called for him. She asked him to father the children for the kingdom. The two women thought him ugly and did not want to lay with him.

Bibliography: The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by Epified Tv (India)

Shantanu by Unkown

Week 8 Progress

Looking Back

I would say I am moderately okay with the progress I have made so far. I feel as though I can make vast improvements on what I do to be more efficient and to come up with better story ideas. I do have a weekly routine now, but it took me a while to come up with it. I will start the routine next week doing all the notes one day and the story the next. I will then work on the project on Friday and Saturday submitting it on Sunday. I think I enjoy the readings the most but for assignments I would say the story. I like writing stories and would like to get better at it. I love reading and want to improve at putting my ideas on to paper. I have not used any of the extra credit options yet but will do so this week and the next. I will try to do one a weak to get my points up and finish the class faster. I think for the blog and website things are coming along smoothly. I am not really a tech genius, so it takes me a while to figure it all out. I am trying my best to make it look as cool as possible. I am currently trying to find a way to attach a link box on the introduction page that takes people to a playlist to listen to while they read my stories.

Looking Forward

I want to be more efficient and get things turned in well before they are due. I want to spend more time brainstorming ideas for stories to come up with good ones. I want to avoid doing things last minute. I live a very busy life, but I would like to be able to schedule time to do things for this class. I want to try to come at stories from a different angle each time other than simply retelling the story. I want to be able to find a way to have a moving background on my website and blog. I want to make it look interesting and eye catching. I don’t know if the websites I am using allow for that though. 

 

Motivation by Freepick

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I think a lot people have been very kind through out my posts commenting on the good things about my stories and about me. They also have been very constructive. On a couple of posts that I did I had pretty poor grammar and someone else was kind enough to let me know what I should change to fix that. They also gave me interesting ideas for the stories I wrote after by asking me what if this happened questions. The most useful comments are the ones that fix my poor grammar and sentence structure. I also have been noticing that writing stories is different than essays and there is a different way to do it. I think commenting on my posts with how I should change the structure to be helpful. It has always been something I have struggled with and help pointing out my mistakes is always nice. I think the comments I give back are more about praise and what if questions than anything else. I think I have found feedback that would allow the next story by the person to be a little bit better. I think I learn the most about story writing by reading other student’s stories. The students in this class are so talented and write such interesting stories. It has made me change the way I write stories and become more creative. I am not so sure that I am becoming familiar with the person behind the story. I need to change my blog to make it more friendly for those commenting. I believe I should go through and comment on the comments I receive. This way they will feel valued on my blog and I will continue to get constructive feedback. I would like to change the structure of the week to where I do all the readings on one day and then write the story the next day to have all the information fresh. I think I would like to leave the introduction the same but change the comment wall to look more interesting.

 

A Making Reflection

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Looking Back

I have to say that the reading and writing assignments are working out great for me. I had a bit of a learning curve at the beginning but got over it quickly. It does seem now to take me longer to think about which story I want to take notes on focusing on how I will incorporate it into my final story. As the class has gone on I would say it takes me longer to choose and the stories take longer to write. I think this is because I am focusing really hard at writing a better story than the last one. I am happy with how my blog and website project are looking. I have never been big into blogging before but after doing it for a bit I have to say it is really nice. The project is coming along smoothly at the moment. I am just finishing writing my first story because I want it to look really good and read smoothly. So far my story is progressing along I have just been picky of everything that touches the page. I think working on the story posts has helped me in preparing me through story writing. Each week I think my story posts get better or more creative. I have tried to get away from retelling and look at a different angle from which to write. This also comes from reading so many other peoples stories who seem to be leagues ahead of my own in creativity and imagination. I would say that my favorite reading so far was probably of the Mahabharata because of the heroes in it. Ramayana was also nice but with Ramayana I felt kind of tied down to just Rama, who event though was awesome seemed a little too godly to be able to connect with. In the Mahabharata the characters are a bit more relatable and I like their stories a bit more. I wouldn’t say the reading notes are incredibly helpful only because I feel as though they bind me to a certain way of writing. I want to be more creative and when I get bombarded with notes I took I feel as though I have to incorporate them into the story which kind of takes away from a different spin I can give the story. I think they are helpful if you can’t remember a story a specific story or want to do a retelling but anything more original it seems to hurt you a bit. I have discovered that I should read a story completely formulate what seems to be most central to the stories theme and characters then  write notes on that. This way I can think of an idea about the story I will write without being held back by what is in the original story.

 

God of Fire, Agni, of the Medicine Buddha Mandala by Unknown

I chose this image of the fire god Agni because it looks really cool and I thought he was really interesting.

Looking Forward

I want to actually complete both the reading sections and note sections together so that I can get a clear picture of the story or stories and be able to make a really good story out of both sections. Lately I have been writing a story with sprinkled in bits from both sections. I want to link both reading sections through a strong story that includes a lot from both the sections.