Week 7 Story: The Powerful Duo
One day, in the heart of South Africa, there was an Elephant. Elephant was extremely dehydrated, and he had been searching for water for days. Elephant begged the Earth to rain, but had no luck. He eventually set out to find someone or something that could get him water.
South African Elephant. Photo from Wikipedia.
Elephant talked to many animals that could not help him. Once he spoke to a Crow who cast lots to produce rain, rain fell into lagoons. Elephant was overjoyed, but quickly saw that the water supply was not nearly enough. He needed to keep this water while also continuing to search for more.
The Elephant came across a Tortoise near the water. He asked the Tortoise to watch over his water supply and to not let any other being have it. The Tortoise agreed, scared of the Elephant's size.
As the Elephant searched for more water, he didn't find any luck. He went back to the lagoon to drink what he had left, but when he arrived there was no water. Tortoise explained that a Lion threatened him for the water, and that it was all gone. The Elephant was very upset, but knew he couldn't blame the Tortoise for the Lion's actions.
"How would you like to come with me?" asked the Elephant to the Tortoise. "We could go in search of water together."
"I accept your offer," said the Tortoise. "I'm sorry I could not protect your supply, but the Lion would've eaten me whole!"
And so the two set out to search South Africa for some supply of water. All of the animals they surpassed wanted water, too, but the Elephant and Tortoise already had a pact to help one another. They became the best of friends on their journey, and eventually came to the coast of Africa and saw the abundant supply of ocean water. All their hard work had been worth it!
South African Elephant. Photo from Wikipedia.
Elephant talked to many animals that could not help him. Once he spoke to a Crow who cast lots to produce rain, rain fell into lagoons. Elephant was overjoyed, but quickly saw that the water supply was not nearly enough. He needed to keep this water while also continuing to search for more.
The Elephant came across a Tortoise near the water. He asked the Tortoise to watch over his water supply and to not let any other being have it. The Tortoise agreed, scared of the Elephant's size.
As the Elephant searched for more water, he didn't find any luck. He went back to the lagoon to drink what he had left, but when he arrived there was no water. Tortoise explained that a Lion threatened him for the water, and that it was all gone. The Elephant was very upset, but knew he couldn't blame the Tortoise for the Lion's actions.
"How would you like to come with me?" asked the Elephant to the Tortoise. "We could go in search of water together."
"I accept your offer," said the Tortoise. "I'm sorry I could not protect your supply, but the Lion would've eaten me whole!"
And so the two set out to search South Africa for some supply of water. All of the animals they surpassed wanted water, too, but the Elephant and Tortoise already had a pact to help one another. They became the best of friends on their journey, and eventually came to the coast of Africa and saw the abundant supply of ocean water. All their hard work had been worth it!
Author's Note:
In this story, the Elephant is seeking rain to drink. Rain was not available in the desert, so he approached different animals for them to produce water. A Crow was able to produce rain, but not much of it. The rain fell into lagoons, but it dried up quickly. Then the Elephant came across a Tortoise, and told the Tortoise to stand 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. While Elephant searched, a Lion threatened the Tortoise and drank all of the water. When Elephant came back, he heard what happened and 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. I rewrote it to where the Elephant is more forgiving of the Tortoise and the two work together to find more water, rather than eating him. Trying to produce a happier ending!
Bibliography:
"Elephant and Tortoise." South African Folk-Tales. James Honey, 1910.
Hey Demery! I really enjoyed reading your story about the elephant and his journey in finding water. It was very cute and easy to want to continue reading. I was very surprised in your author's note when I read the original ending to the story. I'm glad you rewrote the story to have a more happy ending. That's such a strange way to end a story with an elephant swallowing a turtle whole, and then the turtle lives.
ReplyDeleteHi Demery! The original story is very dark and had a sad ending. I can’t believe the elephant just ate the tortoise after he helped him guard the water until the lion came. I like how you changed the story to have the tortoise and the elephant search for water together rather than eating him. It makes for such a happier ending.
ReplyDeleteHey Demery! I really enjoyed your reading. Story about the elephant finding water was very interesting. Original ending was very different than the one your wrote so i was surprised. Happy ending was more fitting in my opinion. Keep up the good work and i will be looking forward to read your future stories.
ReplyDeleteHi Demery, you did a good job of turning a dark fable into a cute kids story. I like the idea of the two being friends a lot. I find the ending kind of ironic because the abundance of water they find is essentially undrinkable. It's also kind of interesting that the elephant asks the tortoise to guard the water rather than drinking it or storing it in its trunk.
ReplyDelete