Reading Notes: The Merchant of Seri, Extra Credit

For my extra credit reading, I read the Jataka tale The Merchant of Seri, by Ellen C. Babbitt. In this story, there are two merchants. One merchant is good and is not greedy. While the other merchant is greedy and only wants money. They sell different plates and bowls. Therefore, one weekend they went into town and tried selling their material. The merchants decided that they would not work on the same street. However, they could work on a street that the other merchant had previously worked on.

In this town, there lived a grandmother and her granddaughter. They were very poor. They only thing that they could use to trade was an old bowl that was left behind by the grandfather. He died.

The greedy merchant made his way to the street where the poor family lived on. The granddaughter saw that the merchant was selling items and wanted to buy one. She asked her grandmother for some money. But she didn’t have any money. Therefore, she told the granddaughter to take the old bowl and trade it. She took the bowl to the merchant and asked to trade. The merchant saw that the bowl was actually gold and tried to trick the poor family. He threw the bowl on the ground and said: “This bowl is Worth nothing!” The merchant left, waiting to come back for the bowl. The nice merchant saw that the other merchant had left the street and decided to try and sell his materials here. The granddaughter took the bowl to the nice merchant and asked if she could trade her bowl for anything. The good merchant saw that the bowl was made of gold. He decided to give the girl everything he had for the bowl. He only asked for 8 coins so he could travel back home. The girl took all the merchandise and gave the merchant 8 coins. The greedy merchant came back for the gold bowl but saw that it was no longer there. He was angry and saw that the other merchant had gotten the bowl. The good merchant lived a nice conformable after selling the gold bowl.

The Merchant: flickr

Reading Note: The Quarrel of The Quails, Part B

For today's reading, I read the Jataka Tale The Quarrel of The Quails, by Ellen C. Babbitt. In this story, a wise quail is the leader of a whole pack of quails. Also in this community, lives a fowler who catches quails for a living. The fowler would increase the number of quails he caught by listening to the leader quail. When the leader quail would call out to the others, they would all come. The fowler would mimic this call and all the quails would come to him. He would then cast his net, catch all the quail, and sell them in the market. The leader quail eventually caught onto the fowler's schemes. He called all the quails together and told them the fowlers is taking many of our people. Therefore, when the fowler catches you guys, put your heads through the net and together, fly into a thorn bush. This will remove the net from you guys. Therefore, this is what the quails did. The fowler was unable to catch the quails for some time. The fowler's wife was getting angry because he was not bringing home any money. He told his wife, "The quails are working together. Once they get into an argument, they will no longer work together. Then, I will be able to catch them and bring home money." Therefore, the fowler waited. Eventually, the quails got into an argument. The community of quails then split into two sides. When the fowler cast his net over the quails, none of them would work with each other to remove the net. Therefore, they were caught and sold at the market. The fowler made his money.

This would be another fun story to cover! I would be changing the characters to a different animal and I may potentially add a twist ending.

The Quails: Pixabay

Reading Notes: The Elephant Girly Face, Part A

For today's reading, I looked over the story The Elephant Girly Face, by Ellen C. Babbitt. In this story, there is an elephant named Girly Face. The king named the elephant Girly Face because he was so nice, kind, and gentle. Everybody loved Girly Face. However, one night, a group of bandits planned on robbing the king's palace. The bandits sat outside of Girly Face's pin and said, "We will kill anybody that awakens, this is what bandits do." Girly Face overheard the bandits conversation. She believed that these bandits were teaching her how to act. Therefore, the next day when the king's men came to feed him, he killed both men. This went on for a little while. The king was worried about Girly Face. Never had he acted like this. All the king's men were afraid to go feed Girly Face. The king brought in a wise man that knew Girly Face for a long time. The wise man came to the conclusion that Girly Face had overheard bad talk. The king's guard then told the king, that there were a group of bandits that plotted their raid outside of Girly Face's pin. The king then had good men go outside of Girly Faces pin and say only nice and kind things such as, "We will never kill. Killing is bad. We will only be good." Girly Face then thought he was being taught again. He was a nice, kind, and gentle elephant after this.

I really enjoyed this story! I would like to remake this tale, potentially adding different characters and changing the premise of the reading. I may make the process of changing Girly Face back to a nice elephant more difficult. Or, Girly Face may not ever go back to a nice elephant. He could join the bandits becoming a historical outlaw.

Girly Face: Pixabay 

Reading Notes: The Banyan Deer, Part B

For today's reading, Part B, I read the story The Banyan Deer by Ellen C. Babbitt. The story beings by describing two great king deer that rule over their two kingdoms. One king rules over the Banyan deer, while the other rules over the Monkey deer. However, there also lived a human king that loved to hunt. He ruled over a large group of people. Every time he went hunting, he would want the people to come with him. However, people would get frustrated because they could never get their work done. Therefore, the people made a large park and surrounded all the deer by a fence. They told the king that he could go to the park and hunt whenever he liked. So, the king would visit the park and other times, he would send his cook. However, seeing how beautiful the two king deer were, he spared their life.

Many deer were dying. Therefore, the Banyan deer king sent for the Monkey deer king. He said "Too many deer are dying. Let our people take turns, sacrificing themselves for the greater good." The Monkey king agreed. However, one day, a mother deer was chosen to be sacrificed. She went to her king, the Monkey deer king and said, "Oh king please, let me skip my turn until I can raise my boy. I want him to know who I am. After this, I will give my life." However, the Monkey deer king refused and told her she must give her life. Therefore, she went to the Banyan deer king and told him her situation. The Banyan deer king decided to go in her place. As the human king arrived and saw that the deer king was going to sacrifice himself, he said to the Banyan deer king, "I thought I spared your life?" "You did, but there was a mother that wanted to raise her young. Therefore, I will be taking her place." The human king was touched by the love shown by the deer. He decided to spare the Banyan deer king and the mother deer.

The Deer King: libreshot 

Reading Notes: The Ox Who Envied The Pig, Part A

For my reading this week, I will be focusing on the Jataka Tales. These are short and very fun to read! The story that I will be focusing on today is called The Ox Who Envied The Pig by Ellen C. Babbitt. The story begins by describing a farm on which two oxen, a pig, a farmer, his wife, and daughter live.

The two oxen are brothers named Big Red and Little Red. They work very hard on the farm and are only fed grass and straws. During this time, the farmer's daughter was about to be married. Therefore, the farmer's wife wanted to fatten up the pig to be eaten at the party. Little Red, being somewhat naive, told his brother “Why does that pig get such great food, when we are working hard on the farm and only get to eat grass?”

His older brother told him, “Do not envy the food of the pig because he is eating the food of death. The farmer is fattening up the pig to be slaughtered at his daughter's party.” Little Red was understanding but was still somewhat upset. However, soon enough, the pig was slaughtered and eaten at the farmer's daughter’s wedding. Little Red then understood not to envy the pig. “The pig was eating the food of death. I will be happy with my food.” I believe this was a great story. The story demonstrates a life lesson, that we should not envy or be jealous of others. 

I will like to write a story with the same premise as this one. However, I will be changing the characters to different animals. I will also be chasing the names of the characters. I may change the outcome for the little brother. He may steal the food of the pig and end up being eaten at the wedding as well. However, these ideas are still being worked on and thought through.

Big and Little Red: Pixabay

Reading Notes: The Brave Little Bowman, Part B

For my reading Part B, I chose the Jataka tale called the Brave Little Bowman by Ellen. C. Babbitt. In this story, there is a small man that has a crooked back. He is a great bowman and wants to be in the king's army. However, he knows that the king would never accept a small crooked man into the army. Therefore, the bowman wanders around the city looking for a big man that would be able to help him is his predicament. The Bowman finally spots a very big strong man that is digging a hole. He goes up to the big strong man and asks "Why are you digging a hole?" The strong man answers by saying "I need to dig all day so I can make money to eat." The bowman then gives the strong man an option. He says "You are a big strong man, and I am a great Bowman. Take me to the king as your page and tell him you want to aid him in his army. Whatever task he gives you, tell me and I will execute them and we can split the rewards." Therefore, the strong man took the bowman to the king and got them both into the army. Their first task was to kill a tiger that was killing civilians. The Bowman killed the tiger and the strong man was rewarded by the king. They split the profits. Their next task was to kill a buffalo, and again, the Bowman killed the buffalo and the strong man was rewarded and they split the profits. However, the strong man started to become selfish and told the bowman that anybody can use a bow! I want the rewards for myself! Soon, an army began to advance on the kingdom and the king put the strong man on the war front riding an elephant. The strong man was terrified. However, the Bowman climbed up onto the elephant and said: "Don't worry, I will help you." The strong man was too terrified and jumped off the elephant and ran home. The bowman then led the army and defeated the intruders. He was rewarded. This would also be a fun story to cover! I would need to change the characters to animals because I may keep that theme in my portfolio. 

The Bowman: Public Domain Files 

Reading Notes: The Foolhardy Wolf

It is week eleven! For today, I read the Jataka tale called The Foolhardy Wolf by Ellen C. Babbitt. This story begins with a great lion that is immensely hungry. Therefore, he goes up on top of a mountain and scouts out his food source. He sees a great big buffalo and kills him. The lion eats all the buffalo meat. Full and satisfied, the buffalo goes back to his den. However, watching the lion was a very hungry wolf. The wolf was small and weak from not eating. Therefore, the wolf fell at the paws of the lion and begged him for food. The lion agreed and said, "If you serve me, I will feed you." The wolf agreed. The lion wanted to wolf to go upon the mountaintop and search for the lion's next kill. The wolf would then have to head back to the den and say "Mighty lion, come forth in thy might. Food is in sight." This was done until the wolf grew bigger and stronger from the help of the lion. The wolf eventually became complacent and wanted to kill the food source himself and take all the food. He told the lion, I want you to search for the food and say to me "Mighty wolf, come forth in thy might. Food is in sight." The wolf wanted to kill an elephant. The lion let the wolf dig his own grave. Therefore, the next day, the lion spotted an elephant and came to the wolf and said "Great wolf, come forth in thy might. Food is in sight." The wolf then charged the elephant missed and was trampled to death by the elephant. This would be a fun story to cover! I would like to add different characters and give them names!

The Mighty Lion: Max Pixel 

Reading Notes: Part B, The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking

For today's reading note, I focused on the Jataka Tales. In particular, I read the story The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking by Ellen C. Babbitt. The story begins with two wild geese who are looking for food. As they are flying around talking with each other, they spot a turtle that was sitting next to a pond. They stop and talk to the turtle and become acquainted. They do this for a few days and eventually become good friends with the turtle. They become such good friends with the turtle, they want to take him to their home that is very beautiful, but far away (this seemed suspicious to me). The turtle responds by saying I would love to go, but I cannot fly. Therefore, the geese come up with a solution to the problem. They say, turtle if you can keep your mouth shut, we will be able to fly you to this new home. The turtle agrees, and the geese grab a stick and both hold an end with their mouth and instruct the turtle to hold onto the middle portion of the stick with his mouth. All is going well at this point, the two geese and turtle are flying to their new home. However, as they are flying, a group of children sees the geese and turtle flying together. They all converse, saying wow have you ever seen such a thing? This is crazy. The turtle somewhat offended, says, so what if my friends want to carry me? At this very moment, the turtle falls to his death. The turtle was not able to keep his mouth shut. I believe this story demonstrates to us, that there is a moment to speak, and a moment to keep silent. For potential future stories, I will be changing around the characters! I would like to keep an animal theme. Therefore, I will need to think about what animals I would like to use for this story. 

The Turtle: GoodFreePhotos 

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, The Foolish Timid Rabbit

For this week, I will be reading the Jataka children tales! They are so fun to read. For today, in particular, I focused on the story The Foolish Timid Rabbit by Ellen C. Babbitt. The story begins with a rabbit sleeping underneath a palm tree. As he awakens, an idea comes into his head. He thinks, what would happen to me if the world began to break up? Already on edge about this idea, a monkey drops a coconut right next to the rabbit. This sends the rabbit into a fit of panic and he begins to run. As he is running, a nearby rabbit wonders what on earth is going on? Therefore, the second rabbit chases the first and asks why he is running. The timid rabbit begins to tell him that the earth is breaking up. So, the second rabbit continues to run. Many more rabbits begin to join and are told that the earth is breaking up. A deer, fox, and elephant are soon also recruited and are told that the earth is breaking up. Finally, the king of beast, the lion sees all the animals running and makes his way in front of them. He roars three times and commands them to a halt. He then begins to ask each of them why they are running. The animals eventually say the timid rabbit told them the earth was breaking up. The lion then asks the rabbit to take him to where the earth was breaking and carries the timid rabbit back to where he was originally sleeping. As they arrive, they see that the earth was not breaking up and that a coconut had just fallen. Good thing the lion resolved the situation, or else all the animals would have just kept running. This is the end of the story.

The Timid Rabbit: Public Domain Pictures 

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata, Part B video

For today's reading note, I watched the overview video Part B The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by EpifiedTV (India). I am really enjoying the videos that give an overview of The Mahabharata. The videos are very engaging. I would like to focus on episode 9 within the Part B series called Son of the Son. 

The story begins with a young women names Kunti. She is wise and full of life. Kunti lived in a kingdom where the people feared a sage. The sage would curse people for the slightest hiccups. However, Kunti was not afraid of the sage. She gave him attention and was nice to him. Therefore, before the sage left the kingdom, he gave Kunti a gift. A mantra. Kunti wondered why the sage gave her a mantra, and what it was for. The sage told her that the mantra was a way for her to summon any god she wanted. Soon after the sage left, Kunti tested the gift of the sage. She looked at the sun and repeated the mantra. Immediately after she finished, a blinding presence was before her. It was the sun god. She was shocked that the gift was real. Kunti could not even answer the god when he asked why she was summoned. However, before she knew it, the god took her up in his embrace and then left. Kunti looked down and in her arms was the most beautiful child she had ever seen. She could sense that the boy was destined for greatness. He was clothed in armor and had gold earrings. However, Kunti was heartbroken. For she was not even married. Thus, having a child without being wedded would produce a bad image. The took the boy down to the river, put him in a basket, and sent him down the river. She cried and asked the sun god to watch over the boy. Kunti had to do what no mother should ever have to do. 

A River: Wikimedia 

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata video, Part A

It is week 9 and we are already halfway through the semester! I have started off strong in the course, now I'm going to finish strong.  Therefore, for this week reading of the Mahabharata, I watched the overview video The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by EpifiedTV (India). I believe this was a great video that summarizes the Mahabharata. I also liked all the little doodles that were drawn as the story was told. To summarize what I have read so far, a king falls in love with a river goddess who agrees to marry him as long as he never questions her actions. Therefore, each time she gets pregnant she ends up drowning the child. After the 8th child, the king finally had enough and questions her. His wife ends up leaving him with the child. About 16 years later, the king sees a man with great bowmanship and figures out it were his lost son. He brings him back to the kingdom. The king then falls in love with a fisherman's daughter who won't let him marry his daughter. His son then goes to the fisherman and vows to be celibate if he would let his father marry his daughter. The fisherman agrees. Fast forwarding, this oath causes many problems for the kingdom because it is without a king. Having a long lost brother, he gets three ladies pregnant allowing for the kingdom to have a king. This is where part A finishes.
I believe I will be watching the rest of the videos for my reading assignments! I enjoy having a visual representation to what I have been reading in the past, and again, the doodles are awesome. I am looking forward to watching part B and Part C.

The Mahabharata: Wikimedia 

  

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part D

For today's reading,  I will be finishing up the Mahabharata reading part D. Out of the readings from part D I enjoyed the very last story The Afterlife by Donald A. Mackenzie. I was interested to read what Heaven and Hell were depicted as in the Indian Epics.

In the story The Afterlife, Yudhisthira finally made it into Heaven. He was welcomed by Indra and was informed that only he had made it. His brethren did not make it into Heaven because they had fallen short during their time on earth. Yudhisthira was sad and disappointed at this news. Therefore, he asked to be taken where his brethren were. He believed he should not spend eternity away from them. Therefore, a celestial being took Yudhisthira to Hell where his brethren were. Yudhisthira was shocked by the very sight. He saw true darkness, mutilated corpses, and streets that were made of blades. He wanted to leave immediately. However, he heard the voices of this friends and family. He came to the decision that he wanted to be left here with them. However, at this moment, the gods appeared and all the horror left and dissipated before his very eyes. The gods informed him that they were putting him through a test to see if he was truly good. He had passed.

Yudhisthira was then taken to Heaven and his earthly body was washed away. He became a celestial being. He was then taken to Swarga where all his friends and family were, along with all things he loved on the earth.   

The story finished with Indra welcoming everyone to Heaven. He stated " All mortals rise to eternal bliss, casting off their mortal deeds, by uttering gentle words, and by enduring all suffering with patience. This holy life is prepared for you."

Heaven: Max Pixel 

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

This week, I will be finishing the online public reading of the Mahabharata. For today's reading notes, I will be focusing on part C of the reading. In particular, I enjoyed the story Riddles by The Lake by Donald A. Mackenzie. This reading reminded me of a story where a troll that lived under a bridge would not let anyone pass until they answered all his riddles correctly. If they happened to fail to answer the troll's riddle, they would then be eaten.

In the story Riddles by The Lake, a Yaksha, which is a celestial being, lives in a river. After a long hunt, the Pandava brethren are tired and thirsty. Therefore, they stop at this river which begins to talk to them saying "answer the question that I present to you before you take a drink from this river." However, Nakula, Sahadeva, and Arjuna overtook by thirst do not head the voice in the river. They take a drink from the water before answering any riddles and they die.

Yudhishthira, the wiser of the brethren, was able to control his temptations and listened to the voice in the river. He asked, "Who are you?" The voice in the river begins to tell him that he is a yaksha and his people died from not heading his counsel. Yudhishthira then listens to the yaksha and answers all the riddles that the yaksha had for him. At the end of all the riddles, the yaksha reveals himself in the form of Dharma, the god of wisdom and justice.

I am going to do a remake of this story relating to the troll under the bridge. The ultimate premise of the story will be that self-control is needed even at your weakest moments. I will probably incorporate other childhood fables into my story as well.   

The Riddler: Deviant Art 

Reading Notes, Part B, The Burning of the Forest

For today's reading of the Mahabharata, I would like to focus on the story, The Burning of the Forest by John Mandeville Macfie.

In this story, Arjuna and Krishna go on an adventure together. The story starts off by describing a party that Krishna and Arjuna are at. There are a lot of people there with women and they are drinking a lot. They drink to the point that they have an unsteady gait. Next, as Arjuna and Krishna are sitting together, drinking at talking about their adventure, the god of fire Agni comes up to them. Agni goes on to tell them that he is hungry and that he wants food. However, the food he wants is not a normal food. He wants to consume the Khandava forest with fire. However, the god Indra prevents Agni from consuming the forest by drenching it with rain. Therefore, he needs the help of Arjuna and Krishna. Arjuna and Krishna want weapons in return for their help. So, Agni gets them a chariot of weapons and a bow that has an unending quiver of bows. Now that they have their weapons, Arjuna and Krishna fight a big battle with Indra and end up defeating him, thus allowing Agni to consume the Khandava forest.

I would like to change the characters in this story. At this moment, I am not too sure who I will be changing the characters too. I may potentially change the characters to animals. I would also like to change the food source that Agni has to eat. Or, I may write a story from the perspective of Indra. I could go into the reasons why he is protecting the forest in the first place. However, again, at this moment I am not too sure which direction I would like to take my story. Overall, I believe this was a great story!

Forest Fire: Pixabay

Reading Notes: Mahabharata:, Part A

This week I am going to be reading the online public domain for the Mahabharata. However, for today, I read part A and was introduced to the various characters that will be making up this story. From my reading, I found two stories that I particularly enjoyed. The two stories are The Contest and The Arrival of Karna by Donald A. Mackenzie. I liked these two stories for a couple of reasons. For one, I enjoy the action and flaunts that are demonstrated by the warriors. I also enjoy the surprise and suspense that is demonstrated when two brothers (who do not know each other) have to compete. 

In the story The Contest, Bhima and Duryodhana engage in a competition by battling with one another, demonstrating their abilities with the bow and so forth. However, a new contender soon enters the contest by the name of Arjuna. Now Arjuna is a prince and a great warrior. As Arjuna takes the contest, he walks onto the battlefield with golden armor and demonstrates perfect aim with his bow. He hits every single target, big or small. The crowd cheers for him. Everybody thinks he is going to win the contest. 

In the story The Arrival of Karna, just as everybody thinks Arjuna is going to win the contest, a new contender arrives by the name of Karna. He is godlike, wearing golden armor and carrying a colorful bow. He portrays himself as somewhat cocky. Saying that whatever Arjuna has demonstrated today will be no match for what he can show everyone if they will allow him. At this time, Arjuna and Karna do not know that they are brothers that were born from Kunti. Karna does everything that Arjuna does on the battlefield and is praised. Arjuna is very mad at this point and challenges Karna. They almost begin to fight, while the fathers of the two warriors prepare to help their son, their same mother was torn between her sons fighting. However, the situation is de-escalated and they do not fight.      

I will be changing the characters of this story. I may potentially write a story from the mother's perspective of how she feels about her two sons being angry and wanting to fight one another. 

Arjuna vs. Karna: flickr

Reading Notes: Overview: Paley. Sita Sings the Blues

I have already been through the online public domain of the Ramayana (parts A, B, C, and D). Therefore, for this weeks reading I watched the video Sita Sings The Blues by Nina Paley. I have to say this was a great little film! I really enjoyed how the creator of the film was able to summarize the Ramayana in a fun and enjoyable manner.

To summarize, the Ramayana begins by contextualizing who the main characters are. We have Rama, Sita, and Rama's enemy Ravana. Rama is exiled from the kingdom by the King Dasharatha. Sita eventually follows Rama into exile where he fights these demons. We then figure out that Ravana is taken with Sita and he kidnaps her. Rama then goes through a journey to find the love of his life and has an epic battle with Ravana, eventually killing him and he wins back Sita. However, Rama is not happy with Sita because she housed with another man. Therefore he is kinda cold to her. To me this is shocking! It wasn't her fault! she was taken by Ravana! Therefore, there is a little tension within their relationship. Sita finds out that she is pregnant and is left in the forest by herself. Sita thinks that all of these hardships are occurring because she was potentially bad in the past life. She eventually has two kids named Lava and Kusha and they learn to sing praises to Rama. And this just about sums up the film. However, Sita sings one more song pertaining to her love for Rama one last time.

Overall again, I believe Nina Paley did a great job portraying the characters of the Ramayana in this film. The film really brought the Ramayana into perspective for me because I was able to put a face to all the characters. This allowed me to relate more to them and understand the struggles of each character. 

Rama and Sita: The Blue Diamond Gallery 

Reading Notes: Battle Between Rama and Ravana, Part D

The Three stories that I read today are Rama Attacks by Sister Nivedita, Battle of Rama and Ravana by Sister Nivedita, and Ravana's Death by Donald A. Mackenzie. I picked these three stories because I believe they tie into together very nicely. In the first story, Rama Attacks, Rama has set off on a journey to fight Ravana and win back Sita. There is a great big war with animals and Rama is beating Ravana's armies pretty badly. Therefore, Ravana knowing he is losing the war tries to deceive Sita by saying Rama has lost the war and is dead. Therefore, Sita is heartbroken and wants to die. However, Ravana's general walks in and tells Ravana that he is needed for war. Sita now knows that it was a trick. In the next story, Battle of Rama and Ravana, there is an epic battle between Rama and Ravana. Rama uses his bow and shoots off a whole bunch of Ravana's head, but they keep growing back... Ravana uses one of his weapons that had a face with fangs and shot fire out of his mouth. In the last story, Rama finally defeats Ravana by using a fiery weapon that Brahma created to protect gods. Rama shoots it Ravana's heart and kills him. Therefore, Rama wins the wars is welcomed into the city. He wins back Sita. 

I believe I can tie this into my previous story with Thor, Loki, and Hela. I will definitely be focusing on the deception that Ravana uses on Sita. However, it will be with Loki. I may also use the weapons that were utilized in the war. I can go off on a side story of how Thor came into contact with Brahma and obtained this great weapon that kills Ravana (Brahmashtra).  I may also add a twist to the end. 

Rama vs. Ravana: Wikimedia 

Reading Notes: The Rainy Seasons, Part C

For this weeks reading in Part C of the Ramayana, I will be focusing more on the story The Rainy Seasons by Romesh Dutt and Arthur William Ryder. Rama has already figured out that Sita is missing (because Ravana has kidnapped her). A new king is also set into term (Sugriva) who is willing to help Rama. However, Rama cannot go and talk to him because it is the "rainy season." Therefore, Rama must follow the terms of his exile and wait for the rainy season to end in order to enter a city.

In this story, Rama essentially opens a door to his fears and anguish of losing the love of his life. He goes on and spills his feelings for a couple of verses. I will be focusing on this the most. I may talk from the perspective of Sita and have her do the same as Rama. I will also be relating the story back to the one I wrote last week.

Rainy Seasons: Public Domain Pictures 

Reading Notes: The Chase & Ravana and Sita, Part B

Form the "Part B" reading, I really enjoyed the stories The Chase as well as Ravana and Sita by Donald A. Mackenzie. I liked these stories because I believe I can make a great adventure story with the bases of these readings. I can also bring in the portion from "Part A" to tie along for the story writing that will be coming up this week.

The general plot of this story begins with the main antagonist of the epic (a man-eater) wanting to take Rama's wife Sita. Therefore, he plots with his friend a way to take her. He tells his friend to turn into a gold deer which Sita will want. Thus, she will have Rama leave to find the deer dead or alive. So, Rama leaves and has his brother stay with her.

Rama eventually kills the fake golden deer. As he is dying, he cries out to Sita in Rama's voice making her believe that her husband is in trouble. Therefore, she asks Rama's brother to go save him. As he leaves, the main antagonist to Rama is able to abduct his wife.

I will still be changing the characters in my story. I may potentially stem the plot of these two readings to a movie such as the Avengers (Thor, Loki, and Hela). I will also be changing the animal to which the antagonist's friend turns into. He may not even change into an animal. I am not sure yet. I believe Ramas greatest fear is losing his bride. Therefore, she is his greatest weakness.

Sita is tricked by the golden deer: Wikimedia 

Reading Notes: Rama Wins Sita, Part A.

I found the story Rama Wins Sita which can be found in the Ramayana public domain a very interesting. In this story, Shiva has a very beautiful daughter that he is wanting to wed. Therefore, he sets a challenge that the majority of people cannot successfully face. He has a bow that he wants a worthy individual to bend and break. This will thus show that this individual is worthy enough and strong enough to wed the beautiful Sita. After many failed attempts at breaking the bow, a prince named Rama finally attempts to break the bow of Shiva. Rama is Dasharatha's son. As Rama takes the bow he plucks it, and with all his might bends the bow and it finally breaks! As the bow breaks a loud thunder was released and the crowd was stunned. Therefore, since Rama broke the bow, he was able to wed the beautiful Sita.

For my story, I will be changing the characters. However, at this moment, I am not sure who I will be changing them too. I also may include a character that is just as worthy as Rama to break the bow. Therefore, they may potentially have to face each other in an epic battle to win the heart of Sita. There is a lot of potential surprises and twists that I may be able to add in this type of story. I may even have the Rama character lose to his adversary and therefore have to go on a journey to get Sita back. Ultimately the Rama character will be winning Sita. I will also be changing the challenge that the people with have to complete in order to win Sita.

The Bow of Shiva: Pixabay