There once was a Fox who was manipulative and cunning. He lied and cheated on people to accommodate his own needs. Everyone in the village despise the Fox and he is known for a bad reputation for being a villain. He was clever and unpredictable and always tricked people. He would take the children's food and steal their belongings. He would make fun of the villagers and laugh until he cried. He would eat all the shepherd's sheep and leave the remains on the field. He was a horrible creature. One day, a Lion from far away land stumbled upon the village. He was famished and constantly looking for food. The Lion approached the Fox and saw how delicious he looked and was going to feast on him. The fox begged and pleaded for his life and promised the Lion a village of people for his dinner. The Lion was surprised for he had not seen anyone in the village. The Fox said, " Please your majesty, don't eat me! I promise you a village of people would taste so much better than me! I will lead you to them!" and so the Lion followed the Fox to the villagers where the Lion ate everyone including the last children of the house. The Lion was satisfied and said " I will be back Fox for more!" and so the Lion left and a few weeks later a new stranger appeared. A wandering Stag came into the empty village and met the Fox. "Excuse me, but do you mind if I stay here for the night?" said the Stag. The Fox stared deeply into the Stag and thought of the Lion's return. "Why yes, you may stay as long as you want", he said in a sly voice. The next day the Lion returned and demanded for food. Quickly, the Fox led him to the Stag but realized the Stag wasn't there. The Stag ended up not staying for the whole night and left on his journey. The fox panicked for he did not prepare anything else for the Lion. The Lion was furious and really really hungry. The Fox begged for his life and promised to be the Lion's servant if he doesn't eat him. The Lion was angry because he was tricked by the Fox and ate him before he could cry.
Author's Note:
The fox saw the stag and said he was a rich meat. The fox then promised the lion, he will offer the stag for the lion to eat and leave him as the remainder. However, the stag was smart enough and predicted what the fox was up to and ran to a place of safety. The lion could not find the stag and quickly ate the fox because he was hungry. The moral of the story: "The wicked are often caught in their toils."
I left the theme of the story the same but added more twists into it and focused on the fox's behavior. I added the villagers because I want people to see how evil and a coward the fox is. I didn't focus on the stag as much until towards the end of the story but he was only in a little part of it. Overall, the story was pretty much the same but more of the expanded version. I added more details than the original short story because the original was rather short. I emphasized the wicked and cruelty in the fox to show how sly he is. The villagers were his victims but even as sly and tricky he is, the fox is still a coward and afraid of the lion. In the end the fox got what he deserved.
Book: Indian Fables- The Lion, The Stag, and The Fox (based off the story)
Author: Ramaswami Raju
Year Published: First text in 1901, New text in 2009
This story does present a very important lesson, and I could certainly see children enjoying this piece at story-time. I like the idea of Stag being intuitive enough to escape before Fox's ploy could be carried out. Deer are flighty and instinctive, so it stands to reason that they might get away. Foxes on the other hand, tend to freeze up in place and fool approachers into thinking the fox is not there, lol. And if that doesn't work they usually just start barking and trying to make themselves look as big as possible. I feel like this story kinda fits with the natural reactions these animals might have in combination with their anthropomorphic qualities, and I appreciate that.
ReplyDeleteChristina,
ReplyDeleteYou story was so much fun! I could see myself reading this to a child! I have to say, that lion sounds like a really mean cat. But I guess that is what life would be like in the jungle in reality. Great job!
Christina, I thought you did a great job in taking that fable and developing it into the story. The lion and the fox are developed into full characters, making them compelling and continuing the interest for the reader. Although the lion is such a mean cat, he was the most intriguing to me because of how you wrote about him and described his actions. I also thought you did a great job at making the story appealing, which had a lasting effect. I can see this story being read to a child, as it has the same moral of the original fable but the characters are more vivid. One suggestion I would have is to break up the text into smaller paragraphs rather than one large block of text. This makes it easier to read and keeps the attention on the story rather than on how much text there is in front of you. Another suggestion I have is to vary your sentence structure. A lot of the sentences in the beginning were short, simple sentences that began with "He." In order to change up the sentence structure and make the story more powerful, you can use a variety of sentences and structures. But overall, I thought you did a great job!
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