Week 6 Story: The Magic Fiddle
The Magic Fiddle
Long long ago, there lived a family of seven brothers and one sister.
Each of the brothers had a wife, but the sister was not married and, instead, did all of the cooking for her brothers and their wives.
This made the wives extremely jealous and bitter, so they devised a plan to rid of the sister once and for all...
While the sister was on her way to fetch the daily water with the pitcher, the wives of the seven brothers called out to Mother Earth, asking that the river be dry when the sister arrived and slowly fill back up. In return, they promised that the sister would belong to Mother Earth after completing her duty.
When the sister arrived at the dry river, she was distraught and cried out to Mother Earth, "Oh help me Mother Earth, for the water is gone! I cannot fill the pitcher!"
The river slowly continued to rise.
She remained at the river and stood in it as it began to reach her ankles.
She bent over and tried to fill the pitcher, however was unsuccessful. This made her distraught, and cried out to Mother Earth, "Oh help me Mother Earth, for the water is so low! I cannot fill the pitcher!"
The river slowly continued to rise.
She remained standing in the river as it reached her knees, hips, and shoulders.
She tried to fill the pitcher, however was unsuccessful. This made her distraught, and cried out to Mother Earth, "Oh help me Mother Earth, for the water is so low! I cannot fill the pitcher!
The river eventually rose above her head, causing her to lose control and wash down the river to her death.
After drowning, Mother Earth transformed the sister into bamboo, situated along the side of the river.
One day, a musician came down the river, looking for something to make a fiddle out of.
Upon seeing the bamboo, he obtained his axe, cut the bamboo down at it's root, and used it to create the most beautiful-sounding fiddle.
The musician sounded the fiddle all over town, pleasing everyone who heard it.
Upon playing it for the village chief, he asked to buy the fiddle from him, but the musician refused.
That night, the chief offered the musician a lovely meal and some wine, making the musician very drunk. The chief then stole the fiddle and offered it to his son.
The son played the fiddle daily, pleasing everyone who heard it.
When the son was away, leaving the fiddle behind, the sister would crawl out of the fiddle and cook extravagant meals, like she had done before, leaving them under the son's bed.
The son was pleased by this, and insisted that he knew who cooked these fabulous meals.
Rather than leaving one day, the son hid in the corner of his home beneath a pile of wood.
He watched as the sister crawled out of the fiddle, made a lovely meal, and set it under his bed.
Before she crawled back into the fiddle, however, the son came out of the wood pile and kissed the sister.
They quickly fell in love and married.
A few years later, the chief's son and the sister hosted a dinner at their home. The sister's family came, however did not recognize her.
Upon serving them an extravagant meal as she did before, the brothers commented, "This food is amazing. Our sister used to cook like this."
The wives flinched upon hearing this.
The sister just smirked.
Author's Note: I wrote my story based off of the original story "The Magic Fiddle". In the original version of the story, the wives called out to the Bonga to dry the river and slowly fill it back up, however, I wanted to change this character to Mother Earth. In addition, I changed the the character of the Yogi to a musician. At the end of the original story, the sister yelled at the family for treating her so poorly, however, I wanted to change the message a little bit and leave a somewhat cliff-hanger about what the sister would do. I also kept the repetition about the filling of the river and the sister crying out multiple times with the same response.
Bibliography: The story of "The Magic Fiddle" from the Indian Fairy Tales unit. Story source: Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912).
Long long ago, there lived a family of seven brothers and one sister.
Each of the brothers had a wife, but the sister was not married and, instead, did all of the cooking for her brothers and their wives.
This made the wives extremely jealous and bitter, so they devised a plan to rid of the sister once and for all...
While the sister was on her way to fetch the daily water with the pitcher, the wives of the seven brothers called out to Mother Earth, asking that the river be dry when the sister arrived and slowly fill back up. In return, they promised that the sister would belong to Mother Earth after completing her duty.
When the sister arrived at the dry river, she was distraught and cried out to Mother Earth, "Oh help me Mother Earth, for the water is gone! I cannot fill the pitcher!"
The river slowly continued to rise.
She remained at the river and stood in it as it began to reach her ankles.
She bent over and tried to fill the pitcher, however was unsuccessful. This made her distraught, and cried out to Mother Earth, "Oh help me Mother Earth, for the water is so low! I cannot fill the pitcher!"
The river slowly continued to rise.
She remained standing in the river as it reached her knees, hips, and shoulders.
She tried to fill the pitcher, however was unsuccessful. This made her distraught, and cried out to Mother Earth, "Oh help me Mother Earth, for the water is so low! I cannot fill the pitcher!
The river eventually rose above her head, causing her to lose control and wash down the river to her death.
After drowning, Mother Earth transformed the sister into bamboo, situated along the side of the river.
One day, a musician came down the river, looking for something to make a fiddle out of.
Upon seeing the bamboo, he obtained his axe, cut the bamboo down at it's root, and used it to create the most beautiful-sounding fiddle.
(Slovenian fiddle. Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Upon playing it for the village chief, he asked to buy the fiddle from him, but the musician refused.
That night, the chief offered the musician a lovely meal and some wine, making the musician very drunk. The chief then stole the fiddle and offered it to his son.
The son played the fiddle daily, pleasing everyone who heard it.
When the son was away, leaving the fiddle behind, the sister would crawl out of the fiddle and cook extravagant meals, like she had done before, leaving them under the son's bed.
The son was pleased by this, and insisted that he knew who cooked these fabulous meals.
Rather than leaving one day, the son hid in the corner of his home beneath a pile of wood.
He watched as the sister crawled out of the fiddle, made a lovely meal, and set it under his bed.
Before she crawled back into the fiddle, however, the son came out of the wood pile and kissed the sister.
They quickly fell in love and married.
A few years later, the chief's son and the sister hosted a dinner at their home. The sister's family came, however did not recognize her.
Upon serving them an extravagant meal as she did before, the brothers commented, "This food is amazing. Our sister used to cook like this."
The wives flinched upon hearing this.
The sister just smirked.
Author's Note: I wrote my story based off of the original story "The Magic Fiddle". In the original version of the story, the wives called out to the Bonga to dry the river and slowly fill it back up, however, I wanted to change this character to Mother Earth. In addition, I changed the the character of the Yogi to a musician. At the end of the original story, the sister yelled at the family for treating her so poorly, however, I wanted to change the message a little bit and leave a somewhat cliff-hanger about what the sister would do. I also kept the repetition about the filling of the river and the sister crying out multiple times with the same response.
Bibliography: The story of "The Magic Fiddle" from the Indian Fairy Tales unit. Story source: Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912).
Hey Lindsay, there were some things that confused me. I was a little confused as to why the water was still considered too low if it was up to her shoulders. It's also a little odd that she was able to crawl out of the fiddle, since it is a small instrument. I didn't read the original story, but I imagine that's how that played out in it, so I understand! However, I think the changes you made to the story worked out very well, and it was a charming little story to read. I think Mother Earth sounds way better than "Bonga," so I'm happy you changed up the character. I am not a fan of cliff-hangers, but the way you ended your story did still give me a little bit of closure because the sister was happy now, and in love. Great job, girl!
ReplyDeleteGreat retelling, Lindsay! As was mentioned about, I was a bit confused about the water not being high enough to fill a pitcher even though it rose to her shoulders. Perhaps describing the water level as only to her ankles or knees would make more sense in this case. Another suggestion would be to describe why the sister wanted to cook meals for the son even though it did not benefit her to do so. I liked how you switched up the end and left it up the reader to interpret what the sister would do to her family after being left behind to die! This was definitely an interesting story and I enjoyed reading your take on it!
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