Thomas always wanted to be in the kingdoms royal army (KRA). However, Thomas was much smaller and weaker compared to all the other squirrels, especially in the kingdom's royal army. Therefore, he had an idea. He would find the strongest and biggest squirrel to help sneak him into the KRA.
Thomas walked around Acornlantus for hours, looking for a great big squirrel that could help him. Then, when Thomas was about to give up looking, he saw a great big farmer squirrel digging holes. He went up to the squirrel and said, " Hello brethren! My name is Thomas, what is yours? The farming squirrel startled, replied " My goodness! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Thomas apologetically replied, "I am so sorry sir, what is your name?" "My name is Steve. What do you want?" "I see you are digging holes, why?" "Well, I am digging holes for my work. I need to work this tedious job to make money for food." Thomas replied, "How about I make you a deal. You are a big and mighty squirrel and I am small. However, I am a great Bowman and I want to be in the KRA. If you go to King Acorn and tell him you want to help the kingdom's royal army he will surely take you in. Therefore, you can tell him that I am your page and you need my assistance. This will get me in as well. I will perform any duty that the King gives you and we can split the profits. You will never have to dig a hole again."
Steve was intrigued by the idea. He was tired of digging holes and making minimal money. Therefore, he agreed to Thomas's plan and they both went to King Acorn. As they approached the King, they were frightened that they might be caught in their trickery. "Why are you two here today?" Steve replied, "I am here to join the KRA. I am mighty and strong. I will be of great use to you King." The King examined Steve and was impressed by his physicality. "Okay, Steve you can be in the KRA. However, who is this small squirrel with you?" "He is my page named Thomas, I need him to carry around my supplies. May he also join the KRA?" The King was silent for a moment. "Okay, he may join as well. However, I have never let such a small squirrel into my army." Thomas and Steve left the presence of the King and were ecstatic.
The King gave Steve his first assignment. He was to kill a cat that was wreaking havoc on his kingdom. "Please, Steve kill this cat. The cat has murdered many squirrels in my kingdom. I will reward you greatly." Steve agreed and went to Thomas and told him the assignment that King had given him. "Alright, Steve! This task should be a breeze. I will kill the cat with my bow. Once I do, you need to take the corpse to the King and claim our reward."
Thomas found the cat. He drew back his bow, took a deep breath and released the arrow. The arrow whizzed through the air and pierced the heart of the cat. The beast died instantly. Steve then took the corpse to the King and was rewarded greatly. However, he did not split the rewards with Thomas. He kept it all for himself. Thomas was distraught. Steve also had Thomas removed from the KRA. Thomas was depressed. He went back home and did not know what to do.
Several weeks later, a cat army was knocking at the gates of Acornlantus due to the death of one of their own. King Acorn prepared his army and had Steve placed at the front line. He was to lead the army. Steve was very scared and nervous. Though Steve was big, he was a coward. He typically had Thomas perform his duties. Therefore, when it came to battling the cats, Steve ran home and left the battle.
Thomas saw that the squirrels were needing help. Therefore, he packed up his bow and helped the King's army fight off all the cats! The King recognized his great bowmanship and valor and rewarded him greatly.
The Brave Squirrel: Wikipedia
Author's note:
I did a spin-off from the Jataka tale called The Brave Little Bowman. In this story, a man with a crooked back wants to join the army and is a great Bowman. Therefore, he recruits the help of a big strong man to get him in. However, the strong man becomes complacent and believe he no longer requires the bowman's assistance. Then when their kingdom goes to war, the strong man runs away from battle because he is afraid. However, the bowman leads the king's army to victory and is rewarded greatly. In my story, I changed the characters to squirrels and gave each vital character a name.
Hey Corbin,
ReplyDeleteI read this story as well! Very fun story to read. I like how you switched up the characters! That gives a fun twist to it all, haha. I'm glad the ending was still rewarding and a great, positive end!
This was a great story! It was an interesting idea to adapt all the characters into squirrels. It gave the story a more Fairy Tale vibe which I liked. Your grammar was solid. I didn't catch any errors. I would say your story is perfect in length as well, so I couldn't imagine anything being added. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Corbin! I read through the original jataka before in one of the readings for this class, and really enjoyed it! You did a great job of sticking with the original theme and message, and I enjoyed reading your story! I especially liked how you turned all of the characters into squirrels – it was a fun twist and I enjoyed the mental image of seeing squirrels shoot bows.
ReplyDeleteHey Corbin,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed getting to read this story. It was very interesting and showed your skills as a writer. I loved how you changed all the characters and made them into squirrels. It made the story seem so much more like a fairytale.
Hey Corbin! I must admit, I giggled when I read the name of the squirrel city! That was super creative and witty! I felt really bad for Thomas but also for the cats (I'm a cat person), but I am glad that it worked out for the squirrels in the end.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story, it was witty, sad, and happy all in the same. Great job!
Hi Corbin! This was a very fun story to read. I read your author's note first because I started reading your story and couldn't connect your characters to any characters I knew. But after reading that it was from a Jataka tale I hadn't read, it all made sense. I think you did a great job of rewriting the original tale! And to make the characters all squirrels was a cool twist as well! You did a great job at having different emotions in this story. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHey Corbin! I really loved reading this story. I didn't read the original story you based this off of, but after reading your author's note, I see how you connected things. I love that you changed it to a little squirrel. The picture you chose is great, too. They are such cute and daring little creatures, so I feel like you made a good decision choosing this animal.
ReplyDeleteHey Corbin, I thought this story was very creative! I liked how you made all the characters squirrels, who were fighting cats! I also thought the name of their city was great! The lesson learned was great too. You probably could have even mentioned that there was a lesson to be learned at the end if you wanted. It was a fun story to read!
ReplyDeleteHey Corbin,
ReplyDeleteI really loved reading your story! I thought it was cute that you changed the characters to squirrels and cats. Your story was well written and thought you included enough details. It was a fun read and you had my attention throughout. Overall, I thought you did a great job on your story! Also, I hope your semester ends well!