Week 13 Story: The Princes' Tree
Once upon a time, there was a legend of a great tree in the middle of the forest. Only those with a true heart could find it. The tree was the biggest and oldest tree in all the land. The tree was said to have magical powers, which controlled the weather. In this land, there was also a palace where 4 young princes lived. They had heard of the tree and wanted to find out for themselves what magic the tree held. When the oldest prince was 12, he was allowed to go on his journey to search for the tree. He left for a week and when he returned he told stories of the great tree but was afraid that it was dead because it had no leaves. The second to oldest prince knew this could not be true because the great tree had been alive forever so when he turned 12 the next year, he too was permitted to go find the tree. It took him almost a week to find it as well, but he returned with stories of its greatness and beauty. The tree he saw had blooming flowers all over it. Now the younger two princes were confused because of the conflicting story. The third prince set off a year later when he turned 12 to find the truth, but when he returned he explained that the tree was actually green and flourishing. The youngest prince was completely confused now and having waited 4 years hearing his brothers' tales, he was ecstatic to go on his adventure when he turned 12. He took off into the forest for a week and when he returned, he told everyone of the beautiful falling leaves that were colored red, yellow, orange, and brown. The brothers now having 4 different images of the tree started to argue who was right, until they finally went and asked their father, the King. The King laughed knowingly at his sons when they explained the problem.
"You are all right," The King explained, "And now you have witnessed the four season of our land."
Author's Note: This story follows the basic structure of the original Jataka Tale. I wanted to retell the story in my own words so that it was more easily understood. I really enjoyed this story because it reminded me of Native American tales, which often are used to explain things that happen. The image I found was a perfect representation of the cycle a tree goes through throughout the seasons.
Image Info: Tree Painting, Wikimedia Commons, Source
Bibliography: More Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbitt, 1992 Source
I have to admit that it took me too long to catch onto what was happening! Great work on keeping it vague so that we could stay in the dark as long as possible. And wow, that image does match with your story perfectly! I don't always have such luck with finding images I feel confidently work with my story. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHey, Kennedie, great job with this story. It was intriguing and kept me interested the entire read. The image you used is great as well. I also agree with you that it sounds a bit like some Native American stories I have heard, especially some of the ones I read last semester in the Myth & Folklore class. I honestly actually wished your story was longer because it was so interesting, well done!
ReplyDeleteHey Kennedie! I have always been a big fan of stories that explain how things came to be or why they are the way they are. The image you’ve used is very colorful and gives your readers a hint at what’s going on in the story. I was a little sad that the first child had such a bad experience compared to the others. They all found something beautiful in the tree, but he saw death and sadness. I think it would have been nice if he had seen sparkling icicles hanging from the branches or a bright red cardinal perched in it.
ReplyDeleteHi Kennedie! That's a really nice story. I have enjoyed reading the Jataka Tales a lot this semester, but I had not read that one yet. You tell the story well, but I feel like breaking the writing up into more paragraphs would make it easier to read. I liked the way you described the tree in its many forms. It was very descriptive and painted the picture well in my mind.
ReplyDeleteHi Kennedie! Thank you for sharing your story with us. I can see you also enjoyed the Jataka Tales, I also have not read that one yet and I've done quite a few of them this semester. I thought the most interesting part of this story is the theme of the number "4" and "12". The repetition really adds an element of mystery and excitement to the story. I enjoyed how you described the tree and the journey through the story.
ReplyDeleteHey there Kennedie, I really liked your story for week 13 the Princes' Tree. It was a really good story that featured several interesting elements, such as the repetition of certain numbers like 4 and 12, as mentioned by Marla above. Great job with this story, I really enjoyed reading it. I hope you enjoyed writing it! Also, I really liked the picture you chose, it reflects the story very well.
ReplyDeleteThe princess tree was a nice story that you wrote. When I first read the title I thought it was gunna be like a childhood fairy tale I watched. Overall, the storyline in the story was good and adding a little dialogue in the story makes it interesting too. I really enjoyed reading your story and I really liked the way your portfolio is setup.
ReplyDelete