Week 9 Story: Paid Back in Kind
One beautiful summer day, a rich merchant decided to take a trip across a nearby lake, hoping to enjoy the gorgeous beach on the other side. Upon reaching the edge of the lake, he spotted three men in tattered clothing hanging out by the only boat in sight. He approached them and inquired whether he would be able to pay them to take him across the lake and then back again in a few hours, to which all three of the men readily agreed, none of them being in a position to pass up a chance to earn a few coins. So the four men set off, the rich merchant trying desperately to protect his fine clothing from the dirty bottom of the boat and wishing that he had gone ahead and bought the fine vessel his wife had pointed out to him the week before.
Halfway across the lake, the men heard a giant tearing sound and bubbling as water began to fill the small boat--they had hit a mostly sunken rock and were sinking quickly. All four men panicked as none knew how to swim, and the rich merchant's robes quickly became so heavy with water that he would not have been able to swim if he knew how. All of a sudden, a tiny fishing boat appeared next to the sinking vessel and the fisherman on board worked quickly to pull all four men aboard. Just as the last of the men was aboard, the three men's boat disappeared from sight, sinking into the depths of the lake.
The four men thanked the fisherman profusely and marveled at the speed with which he had reached them--none of them had even seen his boat nearby. The fisherman assured them that it was really no problem while, in his head, he was thinking that he could expect a rather handsome reward from the merchant who was standing there in his dripping expensive robes. From the other three, the fisherman did not expect much of anything at all. When the five men parted ways, the fisherman looked on expectantly, hoping that the merchant would invite him to his house. But alas, the merchant merely smiled and continued on his way, not wishing to pay the fisherman back for his good deed. After all, the merchant thought to himself, it was surely a pleasure for such a poor fisherman to even be in the presence of someone so important and wealthy.
A week had passed since the incident when one of the three poor men, a skilled thief, spied a beautiful necklace lying on a rock near a hot spring. Not aware that the necklace belonged to the queen, he stole it and, after finding the home of the fisherman, presented it to him. The fisherman was beyond pleased and decided to sell it in order to pay for a year's worth of food for his family. The fisherman decided to sell it to the rich merchant whose life he had saved, believing that the wealthy man would give him even more than the necklace was worth out of sheer gratitude. However, upon seeing the necklace and recognizing who its true owner was, the rich merchant snuck out the back of his shop and informed a royal official of the theft, pointing out the poor fisherman to the guards.
Imagine the fisherman's surprise when the merchant paid him back for his kindness with a prison sentence! The king, angered by the theft, ordered the fisherman to be thrown in prison to starve to death. The wealthy merchant was paid well for his efforts and went home rather satisfied with himself. Fortunately for the imprisoned fisherman, however, one of the three poor men was the brother of one of the guards and quickly heard about his kind friend's plight. Hurrying down to the prison, the poor man brought a few loaves of bread to the starving prisoner and promised to give him more as long as he could. For this, the fisherman was incredibly grateful but still longed for his freedom and feared his ultimate death should the king find out about the smuggled food.
After the fisherman had been in prison for three weeks, the last of the three poor men became aware of his suffering and determined to do something about it. This last man was able to perform powerful spells and so he conjured up a spirit and had it go into the king's chambers while he was sleeping. There the spirit whispered in the king's ear that the fisherman was innocent and had actually saved the queen's life by stealing the necklace which had been inhabited by an evil spirit. When the king awoke, he remembered what the spirit had told him and declared the fisherman a hero. The shocked fisherman was freed and given wealth and honor beyond his wildest imagination. He lived the rest of his life a friend and hero to the king.
Upon hearing of the fisherman's sudden good fortune, the rich merchant grew sullen and decided that he really needed a beach side vacation, after all. Upon traveling halfway across the lake in his new fancy vessel, however, lightning struck the mast, setting the sails on fire. And so the ungrateful merchant died in terror as his expensive boat sunk into the lake. No one was around to hear his screams for help as all of the fishermen were busy celebrating the good luck of their comrade.
Author's Note: So, in the original story a man, a crow, a snake, and a rat all fall into a pit and are rescued by a passerby. The passerby expects the man to repay him but has no such thoughts regarding the animals. Yet the crow steals the queen's necklace and gives it to the kind man, paying him back well. The man sees this and reports the kind stranger to the authorities. The kind man in thrown in prison where the rat repays him by bringing him food and the snake repays him by turning invisible and choking the king, refusing to stop until the man is released. In order to protect himself from what the king thinks is the guardian spirit of the man, the king releases him and loads him up with wealth. I took this story and simply changed the animals into three poor men and the man into a rich merchant. I changed the passerby into a fisherman and had the four men be sinking on a boat instead of having them fall into a pit. I also had the last poor man conjure a spirit and have the spirit tell a story to the king that makes the fisherman look like a hero. Other than that, the basic story is the same.
Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales by A. L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).
Halfway across the lake, the men heard a giant tearing sound and bubbling as water began to fill the small boat--they had hit a mostly sunken rock and were sinking quickly. All four men panicked as none knew how to swim, and the rich merchant's robes quickly became so heavy with water that he would not have been able to swim if he knew how. All of a sudden, a tiny fishing boat appeared next to the sinking vessel and the fisherman on board worked quickly to pull all four men aboard. Just as the last of the men was aboard, the three men's boat disappeared from sight, sinking into the depths of the lake.
The four men thanked the fisherman profusely and marveled at the speed with which he had reached them--none of them had even seen his boat nearby. The fisherman assured them that it was really no problem while, in his head, he was thinking that he could expect a rather handsome reward from the merchant who was standing there in his dripping expensive robes. From the other three, the fisherman did not expect much of anything at all. When the five men parted ways, the fisherman looked on expectantly, hoping that the merchant would invite him to his house. But alas, the merchant merely smiled and continued on his way, not wishing to pay the fisherman back for his good deed. After all, the merchant thought to himself, it was surely a pleasure for such a poor fisherman to even be in the presence of someone so important and wealthy.
A week had passed since the incident when one of the three poor men, a skilled thief, spied a beautiful necklace lying on a rock near a hot spring. Not aware that the necklace belonged to the queen, he stole it and, after finding the home of the fisherman, presented it to him. The fisherman was beyond pleased and decided to sell it in order to pay for a year's worth of food for his family. The fisherman decided to sell it to the rich merchant whose life he had saved, believing that the wealthy man would give him even more than the necklace was worth out of sheer gratitude. However, upon seeing the necklace and recognizing who its true owner was, the rich merchant snuck out the back of his shop and informed a royal official of the theft, pointing out the poor fisherman to the guards.
Imagine the fisherman's surprise when the merchant paid him back for his kindness with a prison sentence! The king, angered by the theft, ordered the fisherman to be thrown in prison to starve to death. The wealthy merchant was paid well for his efforts and went home rather satisfied with himself. Fortunately for the imprisoned fisherman, however, one of the three poor men was the brother of one of the guards and quickly heard about his kind friend's plight. Hurrying down to the prison, the poor man brought a few loaves of bread to the starving prisoner and promised to give him more as long as he could. For this, the fisherman was incredibly grateful but still longed for his freedom and feared his ultimate death should the king find out about the smuggled food.
After the fisherman had been in prison for three weeks, the last of the three poor men became aware of his suffering and determined to do something about it. This last man was able to perform powerful spells and so he conjured up a spirit and had it go into the king's chambers while he was sleeping. There the spirit whispered in the king's ear that the fisherman was innocent and had actually saved the queen's life by stealing the necklace which had been inhabited by an evil spirit. When the king awoke, he remembered what the spirit had told him and declared the fisherman a hero. The shocked fisherman was freed and given wealth and honor beyond his wildest imagination. He lived the rest of his life a friend and hero to the king.
Upon hearing of the fisherman's sudden good fortune, the rich merchant grew sullen and decided that he really needed a beach side vacation, after all. Upon traveling halfway across the lake in his new fancy vessel, however, lightning struck the mast, setting the sails on fire. And so the ungrateful merchant died in terror as his expensive boat sunk into the lake. No one was around to hear his screams for help as all of the fishermen were busy celebrating the good luck of their comrade.
Photo of Dagze Lake in Tibet, taken by Zhangmoon618. Source: Wiki Commons
Author's Note: So, in the original story a man, a crow, a snake, and a rat all fall into a pit and are rescued by a passerby. The passerby expects the man to repay him but has no such thoughts regarding the animals. Yet the crow steals the queen's necklace and gives it to the kind man, paying him back well. The man sees this and reports the kind stranger to the authorities. The kind man in thrown in prison where the rat repays him by bringing him food and the snake repays him by turning invisible and choking the king, refusing to stop until the man is released. In order to protect himself from what the king thinks is the guardian spirit of the man, the king releases him and loads him up with wealth. I took this story and simply changed the animals into three poor men and the man into a rich merchant. I changed the passerby into a fisherman and had the four men be sinking on a boat instead of having them fall into a pit. I also had the last poor man conjure a spirit and have the spirit tell a story to the king that makes the fisherman look like a hero. Other than that, the basic story is the same.
Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales by A. L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).
Hi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the way you took the original tale and made it your own. Making the animals from the original story into poor men worked effectively. I also like how you changed from them falling into a hole to them sinking on a ship. This story shows that sometimes those that have more to give are more selfish. This story did make me wonder why the merchant who did not know how to swim, went back out onto the water yet again still without having learned this skill. Great retelling!
Hi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI love the way you took the original tale and changed it. You really caused me to be engrossed in the story. I felt so much hate against the rich merchant. How could he could be so awful and not grateful at all. I am glad he died. If the merchant is rich, why didn't he know how to swim? Anyways, I thought the idea of the evil spirit to be very clever. Good job! Can't wait to read more.
Hi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI think it's cool that you changed the characters from animals to men. I feel like it makes the reader more anxious to find out what will happen to them.
You really made the wealthy man out to be a total scumbag. I was ready to read about his demise!
I was very relieved when the innocent man was saved. I think the best part about this story is how invested it had me. A great writer can make their readers feel lots of different emotions and you certainly did that. Good job, and good luck with the rest of the semester!
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteYour retelling of this story was so good, I think I prefer your version to the original! I felt really engaged the whole time. Your pacing was perfect and you characterized everyone very well. I especially liked how in the beginning, the reader thinks that the story will be about the three poor men, and you introduce the main character, the fisherman, later. One thing I wonder is why the three men were waiting on the shore with a boat in the beginning, since they all seem to have other occupations. Great story!!
Hey there Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you took the original tale from Myth and Folklore and adapted it to be more modern and more you. I was not a big fan of the rich merchant by the end of the story and kinda glad he died. It was very clever how you included the evil spirit! Very good job on this story!
Hi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the story. It was very well written, and I liked the style. It was an excellent adaptation of the original story. One question I had is what happened to the merchant? I think the story would wrap up very nicely if you included some closure as to what happened to the merchant. I really want him to lose all his fortune though.