Once there was a little girl of about three years age. She had an intense love for the forest and all of the animals that resided there. There were plenty of other children in her village, but she never wanted to play with them. She always wanted to wander in the forest. One day she had not been paying attention to where she was going because she had followed a pretty blue butterfly deep into the forest. When she went go find her way home, she could not. She wandered for hours until the sun was starting to leave the sky. She knew her poor parents would be so worried for their only daughter, and began to worry herself.
A young monkey in the trees saw the girl looking very, very lost. He decided to help her. The girl rejoiced and followed the monkey. They made great friends on her way back to the edge of the forest, and she did not want to leave him. She decided that she would come back every day to hangout with her new friend, but upon her return the following day she could not find her friend no matter where she looked. The girl was heartbroken! Every day she returned, but her friend was nowhere to be found. Eventually she decided it was time she started playing with the children in her village instead.
One day the children got bored of playing in the village, and decided to go to the forest to find new adventures. While they were playing the girl saw a monkey in the trees. She and this new monkey became fast friends, and by the end of the day she had agreed to marry him. She was ecstatic to find such a love! She had dreamed of monkeys since her last encounter, and now she got to spend the rest of her life with one.
Soon the town began to talk because the other children had told their parents of the encounter. The girl had not yet told hers though. When her parents heard that their daughter was to marry a monkey they were shamed and outraged! How could she subject them to this ridicule? They forbade the girl from ever seeing this monkey again, and told her she was not allowed out of the house for quite some time. The girl was furious, and told them she would not obey their rules, and that she was going to marry this monkey. Worried this may actually happen, her parents sent a party out to find and kill the monkey. He was dead within two hours.
When the girl heard of the tragedy that her parents had caused, she wept for hours. Later there was news that the monkey was to be burned at the stake in the town square, and she begged her parents to let her go.
She told them they would never hear of this again from her if they allowed her to go, so they did.
When she got to town she saw the monkey all tied up, and it broke her heart even more. The town’s people lit the fire, and the girl set her plan into action. She cried out that a miracle was taking place in the stars! When everyone looked up she threw sand so that it would land in their eyes, so as to blind them all. When this was done she leapt into the fire to die with her love. If she could not have him in life, then she would have him in death.
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| Death by Burning |
Author’s Note: This story was based on the Story of The Monkey and the Girl. In the story it is from a third person point of view, and is a very short story. The girl goes into a jungle, sees a monkey, and gives him her word that she will marry him. When her parents find out they decide to kill it, and when he is burned the girl throws sand and jumps to be burned with the monkey. I thought it would be a good idea to add some backstory as to why this girl decided to fall in love with a monkey. It shows that she originally is more fixated with animals and nature, than she is with that of her own kind. She only plays with the other children because she had no other options. The original story says that she was extremely fascinated with the monkey when the children saw it, so her monkey friend when she was little explains her current fascination with the monkey. Her parents weren’t really a big part of the original story, so I wanted to show why they were so angry that their daughter was marrying a monkey, and why they decided to have the monkey killed.
Bibliography: “The Monkey and The Girl” from Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909)
Wow Ali you did a great job retelling this story. It was really interesting to see how this girl could fall in love with a monkey. The story tugged on my heart string a little bit because her parents were so caught up in their reputation that they were willing to kill their daughters love. Then for her to be so devoted that she couldn't live without him was so sad but so noble. I appreciated you adding all the background details!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story Ali! I like how you took the original short story and expanded on it, giving it more detail. Although I haven't read this story, your author's note gives a good background on the original. I think everyone can relate to this story in a way. Not necessarily with an animal, but having someone in your life you really care for and that your parents want you to have nothing to do with. It's sad thinking about how many people are never happy because they are forced to let go of people that they truly love!
ReplyDeleteAli,
ReplyDeleteAnother great adaptation of yours! I love your creativity and the ending of this story was very unexpected. I liked how there was mention of the stars. I had just read your latest week 10 story and it too was about stars, how cool. I like how there was not only trickery in this story, but also true love. It reminds of the classic "don't judge a book by its cover" saying and how people can be truly beautiful on the inside regardless of their outer appearance.