Week 7 Story: The Origin of Lightning
There once lived a young chief who wanted, above everything else, to live a happy life after death.
Because of this strong desire, the chief did everything in his power to serve others before himself.
He had ten wives, nine of which would join him in his good deeds, but the tenth wife refused to join in these "reckless" acts. Instead, she would clothe herself in the most beautiful garments and jewels and walk through the crowds of peasants and the poor to receive praise for her striking beauty.
Several years later, the chief and nine of his wives had passed away and resided in the sky. However, the tenth wife was not yet "fit" for the sky, and was instead reborn into a crane along the side of a flowing river.
In the sky, the chief lived the happy life that he so desired, but missed this beloved wife.
One day, he wanted to test if the wife had turned from her selfish ways, and came back to Earth as a fish in the river. He swam beside the crane, who pecked at the fish, but stopped once she realized that the fish was alive.
This pleased the chief, as he recognized that the wife had changed and didn't take the life of another being only for her selfish needs.
He decided that she was worthy of becoming a woman again, so she was soon reborn into the child of a gardener's family.
This child grew up to be of great beauty.
When she was of age to marry, her mother and father made her a beautiful head wreath and invited the men of the town to join them for a party.
At this party, the girl was informed by her parents to throw the wreath in the air. Whoever's head it landed on would be her husband.
Upon hearing about this gathering, the chief came back to Earth in the form of an old man and stood in the crowd of men.
When the girl threw the wreath, it landed on his head. The chief was very pleased, however the other men and the girl's parents snickered and wondered why the old man was suited to wed the beautiful girl.
Excited that his wife could finally ascend with him to the sky, the chief took the girl's hand and they began ascending
Distraught by this, the father and mother of the girl tried to keep the two from actually marry.
The father of the girl grabbed his shotgun and shot at the chief as he ascended, but he was too late...
To this day, when people see the chain lightning in the sky, they claim that it is the head wreath that the girl wore. When they hear the lightning strike, they claim it is the shots from the gun of the distraught father.
Author's note: I got my ideas from the story "The Origin of Lightening". I kept the plot of the story very similar to the original, however tried to add a little more detail to the story. The original version was slightly confusing to me, so I tried to clear up some of the confusion I had while maintaining the overall mood of the story.
Bibliography: The story of "The Origin of Lightning" from the Laos unit. Story source: Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson, with photographs by W.A. Briggs (1899).
Because of this strong desire, the chief did everything in his power to serve others before himself.
He had ten wives, nine of which would join him in his good deeds, but the tenth wife refused to join in these "reckless" acts. Instead, she would clothe herself in the most beautiful garments and jewels and walk through the crowds of peasants and the poor to receive praise for her striking beauty.
Several years later, the chief and nine of his wives had passed away and resided in the sky. However, the tenth wife was not yet "fit" for the sky, and was instead reborn into a crane along the side of a flowing river.
In the sky, the chief lived the happy life that he so desired, but missed this beloved wife.
One day, he wanted to test if the wife had turned from her selfish ways, and came back to Earth as a fish in the river. He swam beside the crane, who pecked at the fish, but stopped once she realized that the fish was alive.
This pleased the chief, as he recognized that the wife had changed and didn't take the life of another being only for her selfish needs.
He decided that she was worthy of becoming a woman again, so she was soon reborn into the child of a gardener's family.
This child grew up to be of great beauty.
When she was of age to marry, her mother and father made her a beautiful head wreath and invited the men of the town to join them for a party.
At this party, the girl was informed by her parents to throw the wreath in the air. Whoever's head it landed on would be her husband.
Upon hearing about this gathering, the chief came back to Earth in the form of an old man and stood in the crowd of men.
When the girl threw the wreath, it landed on his head. The chief was very pleased, however the other men and the girl's parents snickered and wondered why the old man was suited to wed the beautiful girl.
Excited that his wife could finally ascend with him to the sky, the chief took the girl's hand and they began ascending
Distraught by this, the father and mother of the girl tried to keep the two from actually marry.
The father of the girl grabbed his shotgun and shot at the chief as he ascended, but he was too late...
To this day, when people see the chain lightning in the sky, they claim that it is the head wreath that the girl wore. When they hear the lightning strike, they claim it is the shots from the gun of the distraught father.
(A lightening strike - the head wreath of the girl. Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Author's note: I got my ideas from the story "The Origin of Lightening". I kept the plot of the story very similar to the original, however tried to add a little more detail to the story. The original version was slightly confusing to me, so I tried to clear up some of the confusion I had while maintaining the overall mood of the story.
Bibliography: The story of "The Origin of Lightning" from the Laos unit. Story source: Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson, with photographs by W.A. Briggs (1899).
Hi Lindsay! I think it awesome that you used this story to retell. I read a Nigerian folk story about lightning. It was interesting reading the differences and the similarities between the two. I also appreciate how you cleared up any confusion. I also like how you broke up the story into short paragraphs. Your story was easy to read and well done!
ReplyDeleteHi Lindsay! I really enjoyed your addition of detail to this story! I feel that it really allowed me to get to know the characters, as well as the plot, and made for a super interesting read! In general, I have found that I really enjoy reading stories that talk about how natural phenomena have come to be. Most of the time, these stories chalk it up to divine intervention, and this is exactly what your story talks about! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Lindsey! I loved your story and how much attention to detail you had throughout the story. The story had an interesting plot that was kind of weird to think about but it was really cool to read and go through multiple times catching another new detail everytime I read through it. The most surprising part was when the shotgun came into the story as the father was distraught and wanted to stop his girl from leaving.
ReplyDeleteHi Lindsey! I enjoyed reading your story! I haven't read the original story so this was a new story to me basically. I had to read it a few times to really understand because the plot is a little weird but I'm sure it's not your fault because you mentioned in your author's note that you were also slightly confused when reading the original. But still, I think you did a great job on this story! Also, I love all of the characteristics you gave your characters. Like for the tenth wife, you said "she would clothe herself in the most beautiful garments and jewels" and how she would walk through the crowds of peasants to receive praise for her beauty.
ReplyDelete