Week 11 Story: The King that Tried to Buy Love

There once was a rare white Elephant who worked and live with carpenters. He enjoyed living with the families and getting to play with the children at the end of the work day.

One day a King was walking by and noticed the white Elephant. He wanted the Elephant, thus he asked the carpenters, “How much money will you take for your white Elephant?”

At first the carpenters refused to sale the Elephant telling the King, “We could never sell him, he is a part of our families. Our children would miss him dearly.”

Sadly, money spoke louder than words, and with a high enough price the King was able to convince the carpenters to sell the white Elephant to him.

The King took the white Elephant back to his palace where he made sure the Elephant received the best room, the best care, and the best food. Anything the white Elephant asked for he was given. Yet, none of the possessions the white Elephant received could make him as happy as the King had first saw him with his carpenter family.

The King questioned the white Elephant, “Why do you seem so unhappy here, is there something you are missing? I can buy whatever you need, just tell me what you would like.”

The white Elephant would deny being unhappy and would tell the King, “You give me everything I need and more. None of this could make me unhappy.”

Later that night the King asked his wife, “Why do you think the white Elephant is so unhappy here? He will not give me a reason. Whatever the problem is I am sure I can buy him something to fix it.”

The Queen smiled at her husband and told him, “Remember dear, money cannot fix every problem but, I will talk with him tomorrow to see if he will tell me what is wrong.”

When the Queen went to see the white Elephant, she noticed that he did seem sad so she asked him, “Why don’t we go for a walk around the palace so that we can get some fresh air and talk.”

As they were walking around the palace and making small talk about the weather, the Queen noticed that the Elephant was hypnotized by the servant children playing about. The Queen then understood what was wrong and after the walk when to talk to the King.

That evening the King called to the white Elephant to come out of his room because he had a surprise for him. The white Elephant attempted to be happy as he came out, until he heard the voices of his carpenter family. The white Elephant cheerfully exclaimed, “How did you know that I missed my family so much? I am so happy to see them. Thank you very much.”

The King then explained, “Do not thank me but the Queen. She helped me learn that possession cannot replace the love of the family. I want both your family and you to know that you may visit each other as often at you would like.”

The King was happy to have a white Elephant who was also happy to live the rest of his life with the King and visiting his family whenever he wanted.

A watercolor of "Lord White Elephant". Source: Wikimedia Commons by  Colesworthey Grant

Author’s Notes: This story comes from the tale of The King’sWhite Elephant from the Jataka Talesby Ellen Babbit. In the original story the white Elephant is purchased by the King and the is said to live with him in the best of care for a long life. I felt like the story was missing some information about how and if the white Elephant actually wanted or enjoyed living with the King. Being purchased by a King might have seemed like a “dream come true” because he could buy anything the white Elephant needed but what about what money can’t buy. Even though the King does not state that the white Elephant is not allowed to see his family, neither takes the time to communicate with the other. I deiced to add in the Queen character that could be more sentimental towards the loss that the Elephant was feeling. She is able to help the King and the white Elephant in the tale, a trait I feel most women have; always able to help clean up the messes of those they love. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback and ideas!

Extra Reading Notes: Reading A: Jataka Tales

I was hoping to find more tales about animals that could possibly be rewritten to go into my portfolio. I came across the Jataka Tales by Ellen Babbit, which closely resemble the Aesop Fables by Milo Winter, one of my favorite reading units. I really like the short tales about animals that give lessons, so I was curious to see how the Indian culture might differ on the tales. I was pleased to find that they were very similar to the Aesop Fables but had happier endings. I have found that for my particular writing style I like to change the sad or bad ending to stories and give them a happy ending. There were a couple of stories that could be changed to reflect an even happier ending. In the first tale, The Monkey and the Crocodile, I became very sad that the crocodile was never able to catch the monkey to give to his mother. Even though a crocodile can be seen as a villain, a writer can create a tale where the reader is more affectionate towards the villain. It would be fun to recreate the tale where the readers want the crocodile to catch the monkey, which at the end of the tale he is able to do. In the tale of The Ox Who Envied the Pig, we learn about an Ox that is jealous of how a big gets fed all the "good" food, while he is only fed straw. Later, the ox learns that the family only feeds the pig good food because he is going to be their dinner soon, so they want to fatten him up. The ox learns to appreciate what he is given but the story does not end very happy for the pig. I think a story could be written from the perspective of the pig, wishing that he was only given straw to eat like the Ox so he could live. A tale that could have more information to it is the tale of The King’s White Elephant. In the tale, a King buys a white elephant from some carpenters who have had the elephant help them work in the day and then plays with the children at night. At the end of the tale the elephant seems sad to leave his only family he knows to go live with the King, but the tale does say that he is given the best care. I think the story leaves a gap about what the King does for the elephant and even though he is given everything he needs, is he truly happy in the palace?

A brave monkey examining the teeth of a crocodile. Source: Flickr by firman wibowo

Reading Notes: Reading B: Native American Hero

For the second part of the Native American Hero Tales, from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson, there were four tales in the reading. The first tale, Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away, was about twin boys who would be told by their fathers not to go somewhere because of a danger but the boys would not listen, go and defeat whatever it was. I could possibly add another place where the twin boys are “not supposed to go”, but then go off too and defeat a villain.  The second tale, The Son-In-Law Tests, was a funny story about a trickster, Wemicus, trying to kill off his son-in-law. I really enjoyed this tale and it reminded me of the movie, Meet the Parents, where Greg tries to impress his father-in-law who is trying to get rid of him the entire movie. I could possible change the tale into a modern theme, since there is still a joke about son-in-law needing to impress their father-in-law. The third tale, The Jealous Father, had a twisted beginning where a father had two wives and the son from his first wife was hooking up with his second wife so the father becomes jealous of the son and tries to get rid of him. The father tries to attempt to kill the son through different paths on the way home, but the son makes it with the help on an old woman his mother sends to help him. The part of the story I did not like is that the son makes it home and then kills his father, while I think the father was wrong to try and kill his own son, he at least had a good reason. I think the boy and other co-wife should have some repercussion for their actions at the start of the tale. The final tale, Dirty-Boy, is about two daughter of a chief that need to be married off. The chief holds a contest, where the men of the village, a coyote and a sickly boy (the sun, disguised) compete. The sickly boy wins and the two daughters must go to him, but the eldest marries a raven that she meets on the way instead. I really enjoyed this story because the younger daughter obeys her father and stays true to the sickly man and attends to him for three days. After that she is rewards by him revealing that he is the sun and she ends up with a better life. I would not wan to make any changes to the story but could try a gender swap between the characters.

The cover art for the movie Meet the Parents. Source: IMDb