Story Week 7: The Cow and the Fence
Once upon a time in the old countryside lived a wise old ruler. In this country, was also two very poor men, taking care of their old mothers. One day, one of the men was walking along the road to the village with his jug of oil, selling it along the way, for money to buy food for his mother & himself. He found himself very tired because the road was long & the jug was heavy, so he decided to set on a fence along the road to rest and sat his jug on the fence as well. Shortly after, along came the other man with bundles of straw strapped to his cow, taking them into the village to sell. The second man didn't see that his cow with her straw had drifted too close to the fence trying to snatch a mouthful of grass and so the first man's jug of oil was knocked off, smashing onto the road & draining all the oil out.
The first man cried out, "How could you be so stupid as to let you knock over my jug?! That was my only way to make money to feed my mother and myself! I demand justice & that you pay me for my losses!"
The second man argued that it wasn't his fault, it was the first man's fault for putting the jug on the fence & not watching it and he wasn't responsible for anything.
The two men argued until other villagers decided to break it up & take them both before the wise old ruler. The ruler heard their arguments and came to a strange conclusion. He decided that it was neither man's fault, it was the fault of the fence and the cow and that they would both be brought into the village, held captive, and put on public trial the next day. So the villagers brought in the cow and the section of fence and decided that they wanted to see this very strange trial.
After the cow, the fence, the two men, and all of the villagers were settled into the town square, the ruler had his guards lock the gates so that no one could leave. He began his ruling: "You people were so silly that you honestly thought I would pass judgement on a cow or a fence that you actually came to watch this trial? No, I believe you came because of your own shameless curiosity and to see a show! As you have now seen this so-called show, you will be each charged one dollar before you can leave the town square so that you can return to your homes and lives!"
The people agreed that it was rather silly of them so they each paid a dollar so that they could return home. The wise ruler gave all the money collected to the first man so that he was paid for his loss and could buy food for his mother & himself, without the second poor man having to give up his money. Justice was served and they could all go on with life as usual.
Author's note: I used the "Tibetan Folk Tales" from AL Shelton, the "Donkey and the Rock" for this story. I changed the characters from a donkey and a rock to a cow and a fence. I also changed the 1/2 cent in the original story, to one dollar as that seemed a more accurate money amount for today. Otherwise, the story is mostly intact other than I'm sure I changed a few details as I was doing the story from memory after reading it on Monday. I almost combined two stories for this, but decided to keep it simple.
Bibliography: "Tibetan Folk Tales" from A.L. Shelton. Weblink.
The first man cried out, "How could you be so stupid as to let you knock over my jug?! That was my only way to make money to feed my mother and myself! I demand justice & that you pay me for my losses!"
The second man argued that it wasn't his fault, it was the first man's fault for putting the jug on the fence & not watching it and he wasn't responsible for anything.
The two men argued until other villagers decided to break it up & take them both before the wise old ruler. The ruler heard their arguments and came to a strange conclusion. He decided that it was neither man's fault, it was the fault of the fence and the cow and that they would both be brought into the village, held captive, and put on public trial the next day. So the villagers brought in the cow and the section of fence and decided that they wanted to see this very strange trial.
After the cow, the fence, the two men, and all of the villagers were settled into the town square, the ruler had his guards lock the gates so that no one could leave. He began his ruling: "You people were so silly that you honestly thought I would pass judgement on a cow or a fence that you actually came to watch this trial? No, I believe you came because of your own shameless curiosity and to see a show! As you have now seen this so-called show, you will be each charged one dollar before you can leave the town square so that you can return to your homes and lives!"
The people agreed that it was rather silly of them so they each paid a dollar so that they could return home. The wise ruler gave all the money collected to the first man so that he was paid for his loss and could buy food for his mother & himself, without the second poor man having to give up his money. Justice was served and they could all go on with life as usual.
Author's note: I used the "Tibetan Folk Tales" from AL Shelton, the "Donkey and the Rock" for this story. I changed the characters from a donkey and a rock to a cow and a fence. I also changed the 1/2 cent in the original story, to one dollar as that seemed a more accurate money amount for today. Otherwise, the story is mostly intact other than I'm sure I changed a few details as I was doing the story from memory after reading it on Monday. I almost combined two stories for this, but decided to keep it simple.
Bibliography: "Tibetan Folk Tales" from A.L. Shelton. Weblink.
Hi Kat,
ReplyDeleteI like how you decided to change up your story. They were some simple changes, but it still made it different and interesting. I also liked and appreciated how you spaced out your story. When it is spaced out in this format, that makes it a lot easier for the reader to read and comprehend. You did a great job!
Hello Kat, I thought that your version of original story "The Donkey and the Rock" was really great. I thought that the changes you add with the changing the cow and rock to a donkey and fence was actually a really great idea. Also changing the 1/2 cent to a dollar was great because it made the story more relatable. Overall i thought the story was great, keep up the good work!
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