There was once this little boy and his older brother. They
loved wonder out of town to go hunt. They found this field where they could
hunt small game all they wanted. After they got their fair share they would
play games like “who could shoot that bird flying.” They did this day after day
for many weeks. After a while the small game started to disappear so the boys
started looking farther into the field. They found a flock of chickens and
decided to take one a day so that the flock would not disappear. The owner of
the chickens realized his chickens were disappearing. He decided to watch over
his chickens the next day. He found the two brothers coming after his chickens
and told them that they owed him for the chickens they had already taken. The
two brothers had nothing to give but the farmer really liked the boy’s leather
vest. The vests were not big enough for the farmer. So he told them that if
they made him a vest he would let them go. The oldest brother told the farmer
he would need some leather to make the vest. The younger brother said he was
hungry and that they would not make them until they got some food. The farmer
took the two boys home and killed a cow. The farmer made some steaks for the
boys and gave them the cow hide to use for the vest. The boys ate until they
felt full. Then the oldest brother started making the vest. When he was done
the farmer was very pleased and wanted to try it on right away. The oldest
brother helped him put it on but told him to stay in the sun for the rest of
the day to let the cowhide cure. The boys headed home as fast as they could and
the farmer stayed outside in the sun the rest of the day. By the end of the day
the cowhide had shrunk and turned to leather. The vest shrunk so much that the
farmer was uncomfortable and could not get it off. He knew the boys had tricked
him into giving them food for a vest that would cause him pain. He went home
and his wife cut the vest off of him. He knew that he had to find a way to get back at the boys and he started plotting.
Flock of Chickens
Web Source: Wikimedia
Author’s Note: This story is based off of the story Adventuresof a Jackal from African Stories from Lang's Fairy Books. The original story is
about a jackal and a hedgehog that trick a panther into killing a cow in
exchange for a pair of shoes. They all eat the cow then the jackal makes the
shoes and tells the panther to leave them in the sun all day. The shoes get
hard and hurt the panther’s feet. The jackal and hedgehog run away while the
panther is unable to follow them. I thought I would make the story about humans
instead of animals and what you have read is what I came up with. I hope you
liked it.
Bibliography: African Stories from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books. Web Source: UN-Textbook
I enjoyed this week’s retelling! I always enjoy the shift of perspective when students decide to retell animal stories (which there are a lot of in most units) with people standing in for the characters. Your storytelling style is good, but I think your writing style could be improved by breaking things up a little bit more and not telling the entire story in one paragraph, but overall, I thought you did a good job!
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely a different and fun spin on the original. Have you noticed as we progress through the semester and the reading units that so many of the animals in these stories are quite tricky, clever, gifted, and skilled? I mean, how many jackals have you heard of that can make shoes? hmmm lol I enjoyed your retelling the tale with a human element. These types of stories always end up ticking me of though. Why do people always feel they can take without asking and then not paying someone back, but instead adding insult to injury. Great storytelling Colton.
ReplyDeleteI greatly enjoyed reading your storytelling for this story. I think you did a great job on altering the story. Talking about humans is much more relatable and easier to understand! I felt like your story could definitely happen in reality which enabled me to picture it in my head much better. I thought it was overall a great piece! Nice job Colton!
ReplyDeleteHey Colton,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your spin on this story. You have a great story here. I really like the perspective you put on the story! I think this story was interesting because it seemed like the brothers just didn’t care at all that they were taking away from the farmer! It seems to me that they were lacking a conscious. Anyways I really like the story! Keep up the good work.