Week 13 Story: Separation is Weakness
Hi, my name is Rob, and I hunt quails. I come from a small village where I was very poor. Day in, day out, I survive the day and make the living by trapping and these quails so I can either eat them or sell them for a little bit of money. I have a special talent of catching these quails, as you can see. I've spent a long part of my life training and perfecting the quail calls that would attract these birds. So, as the quails come, I would hide in the bush; and when there were enough of them close together in one place, I would throw my net out and catch them all.
One day, however, the strangest thing happened. As I threw the net out and waited for the other birds to fly away, the whole net rose up and flew off to the distance! It was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen! Unfortunately, I came home that night without the quails to eat, and also having lost my net. I went the next day to try again, and again, the net alongside the birds flew off!
I figured that it wasn't by magic that they were flying away. It must be the birds having learned to work together and fly away with the nets! Their determination and smarts were admirable. However, I knew that they will end up having a conflict with one another and the whole union would fail.
So I waited again.
And again.
And again.
Finally on the following day, the birds began arguing with one another. I didn't know what were the reasons for their arguments, but I knew that this time, they will not fly away. From what I can see, it seems that one of the birds accidentally hit the other while they were trying to fly away! Fools! I got them right where I wanted them. I proceeded to jump out of my bush, and when I did, I saw the netting rise up. I was quicker than that and I caught them. That day was one of the best feasts of quail I've ever had.
The End.
Author's Note: The story above was derived from a Jataka tale called Union is Strength from The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse. In the story, it was told from an omniscient point of view about how there was one smart bird that taught the other birds a lesson in union that would allow for them to escape the trap of the Fowler. However, it was their own undoing that some of the birds starting having petty conflict with one another, leading to the trapper to get ahold of them. In my recreation of the story, I told it in the point of view of the trapper with some inclusion of his background and story of how and why he was a Fowler by trade.
One day, however, the strangest thing happened. As I threw the net out and waited for the other birds to fly away, the whole net rose up and flew off to the distance! It was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen! Unfortunately, I came home that night without the quails to eat, and also having lost my net. I went the next day to try again, and again, the net alongside the birds flew off!
I figured that it wasn't by magic that they were flying away. It must be the birds having learned to work together and fly away with the nets! Their determination and smarts were admirable. However, I knew that they will end up having a conflict with one another and the whole union would fail.
So I waited again.
And again.
And again.
Finally on the following day, the birds began arguing with one another. I didn't know what were the reasons for their arguments, but I knew that this time, they will not fly away. From what I can see, it seems that one of the birds accidentally hit the other while they were trying to fly away! Fools! I got them right where I wanted them. I proceeded to jump out of my bush, and when I did, I saw the netting rise up. I was quicker than that and I caught them. That day was one of the best feasts of quail I've ever had.
The End.
Author's Note: The story above was derived from a Jataka tale called Union is Strength from The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse. In the story, it was told from an omniscient point of view about how there was one smart bird that taught the other birds a lesson in union that would allow for them to escape the trap of the Fowler. However, it was their own undoing that some of the birds starting having petty conflict with one another, leading to the trapper to get ahold of them. In my recreation of the story, I told it in the point of view of the trapper with some inclusion of his background and story of how and why he was a Fowler by trade.
(Fowler Cooking Quails. Source: W. Robinson)
Hey Long,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the format in which you wrote your story. The spacing towards the end of lines really emphasizes the tension and mood of what exactly is going on with quail hunter waiting. The only small nitpick that I have is in the first paragraph there seems to be a typo. " survive the day and make the living by trapping and these quails" Just letting you know about the second "and". Overall great job I really enjoyed this story.