Week 2 Story

 The Prince and the Turtle 

There once was a young prince who roamed his father's kingdom freely. This boy always had guards protecting him at all times. These men had strict orders from the king to obey whatever the boy decided. One day, the boy was wandering the a small forest and came across a charming little pond. The boy grew fond of the little pond and returned everyday for the next week. 

One of the young princes favorite things to do was to throw rocks across the water and hear the rocks skip across the surface of the water. The boy eventually became very bored of skipping rocks and began aiming at innocent animals. One day, Turtle decided to sun bathe on a beautiful lily pad. As he soaked up the warmth of the sun and the perfect breeze he was knocked over the lily pad into the water. Luckily, he plopped his head inside his turtle shell. The force of the rock sent him skipping across the water onto the other side of the pond. The boy seeing the turtle flying became very excited. 

" Whoa! This will make for a much better game!" 

The boy then day after day would set the turtle in any spot and then aim for him with rocks sending him in these terrible whirlwinds across the pond. After enduring constant bullying from the prince the Turtle decided enough was enough and bit the young prince when he picked him up. 

" Ouch! You will pay for this Turtle!" 

The prince then sent his men to dispose of the turtle for his actions. The men had trouble deciding in a proper way to kill the little creature. 

 " Lets just cook it and eat it, " suggested one of the men.

" Gross, we will not be eating turtle. We should just crush it, we can make it fast and easy," another man said. 

" No! I have the perfect punishment," the oldest of the men said strongly. 

" I can think of no better punishment then to let him fall fate to the river that we pass on our way here.  The rocks and the force of the will do our dirty work for us and we will not have to waste our time."

The turtle hearing this plopped his head out and exclaimed, " Friends please! I have learned my lesson and I beg for mercy! Anything but the river! This has truly been the worst of the suggestions!" 

The prince hearing this order his men to throw the Turtle into the river. The men threw the turtle into the flowing river and the water carried the turtle away. The turtle swam away dreaming of a peaceful pond he could call home far away from the terrible prince.

Turtle

Authors note:

This story was inspired by one of the reading assignments for this week called The Turtle And The King. In the original story there is a king who makes a pond for his princes. The king fills the pond with fishes and a single turtle but the princes become afraid of the turtles and the turtle is sent to be killed by the king. The men decide the best method to kill the turtle is by throwing him in the river which is also the turtles way home to safety. I changed the story by having only one prince who bullied the turtle until the turtle got back at him. I hope you guys enjoyed my little version of it!

 

Bibliography: 

This story is form the version in Jataka Tales Ellen C. Babbitt.