Reading Notes: Elephant and Tortoise, Reading B

For Reading B, I chose the South African tale "Elephant and Tortoise."

In this story, there are a few main characters: all powerful beings. The story starts with the Elephant seeking rain. After Rain said it was departing, Elephant spoke to a Vulture who could not provide water. Then Elephant spoke to a Crow who cast lots to produce rain. The rain fell into lagoons, but it dried up quickly. Then the Elephant came across a Tortoise, and told the Tortoise to remain by the water while it's still there. Elephant wanted Tortoise to protect what was left of the water while he was in search of getting more.

South African Elephant. Photo from Wikipedia.

While the Tortoise was protecting the water, a Giraffe, Zebra, Gemsbok, Wildebeest, Roodebok, Springbok, Jackal and Lion came begging for the water. The Tortoise responded, "The water belongs to Elephant" to each of them. However, the Lion did not even let the Tortoise speak before he beat him. The Lion drank the water, leaving none behind.

When the Elephant came back, he asked the Tortoise for the water. After he heard what happened, the Elephant asked the Tortoise if he wanted to be chewed or swallowed. The Tortoise said swallowed, so Elephant swallowed him whole! The Tortoise was still alive inside the Elephant and tore at his insides, killing the Elephant. The Tortoise then climbed out of his body and continued on with his life as he pleased.


This story was an odd one! I didn't expect the ending. If I use this for my story, I want to rewrite it to where the Elephant is more forgiving of the Tortoise and the two work together to find more water, rather than eating him. That would be a happier ending!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to a Future Olivia Pope*

Image
Hi everyone, my name is Demery Pennington (pronounced like Emery, but with a D)! I am a junior public relations student at the University of Oklahoma. For those that don't know, PR helps companies keep a positive reputation, helps companies rely on ethics in decision-making and helps companies listen and and adapt to the needs of the public(s) that the company affects. I love PR because, as a very social person, it is very relationship and communication driven. Although I was born in the random place that is Helena, Montana, I have grown up most of my life in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here, I attended Union High School and met some of my very best friends. Growing up, gymnastics and cheerleading had a huge impact on my life. After doing gymnastics from age 3-14, I switched over to cheerleading in high school. My senior year I cheered competitively with both Union Varsity Cheer and Twist & Shout Diamonds , which took up a ton of my time (click on that link to see my competitive chee...
Read more

Week 2 Story: Basilisk's Revenge

Image
Basilisk's Revenge Once upon a time, there was a mother and her three daughters. The mother loved her daughters dearly, and wanted to provide for them as much as she could. One day, the mother was heading out to the market. She generously asked her three daughters what gifts they wanted. The first two daughters gave a simple list of things that they wanted. However, the youngest daughter, Mary, asked for a list so extravagant that her mother knew she could not give her all that she'd wished for. Mary was not only demanding, but she was not easily pleased. The mother stumbled a bit past the market, and found herself in the midst of a terrifying creature. This creature was a basilisk: an animal resembling a dragon-bird hybrid. Image of a Basilisk by Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch. The daughter's mother stumbled upon the basilisk and his kingdom in an effort to retrieve the gifts her daughters wanted, but she quickly found that she had made a mistake. "...
Read more