Times were tough. It seems as if desperation was the only readily available snack, and hunger had become a faithful friend of all.
King Greed knew that the kingdom would not survive if the appropriate measures were not taken, so he summoned his servant named Mouse.
“We must go out and search for food so that our kingdom can survive.”
So King Greed and Mouse set out on a long journey in search of food. After many days and nights they arrived in a land they have never seen before. Upon arriving, they found fields with organized rows of green plants. They decided to open the plants up, and discovered golden pods of nectar.
“Alas, Mouse, we have found that for which we have searched far and wide! All of this food can be ours” exclaimed Greed.
Mouse reared back his head to chomp down on the newly discovered food. Right before making contact, a rush of wind met them. It came from a magnificent chariot driven by a weasel. He wore a robe of purple velvet that cascaded down over the edge of the rail inches above the ground.
“I am King Wisdom, and this is my land. I see you have found the corn plant for which my kingdom is famous. I overheard your saying this food can be yours” he said, directing his gaze to King Greed. “Friends, I am sorry to say that I cannot let you take this for yourself. You can have whatever you can carry in your bags, but that is all I will allow.
“Thank you for coming to visit my land, and you are welcome back to visit any time. I must go back to my duties, now.”
With a sudden rush, King Wisdom’s chariot lurched forward and he disappeared in an instant.
Mouse began to fill his pockets with corn, and turned away once this had been accomplished. King Greed, however, looked at Mouse and told him that he was a fool for believing King Wisdom.
“He will have no idea if we take more than our share! Look at those horses in the distance; we can tie hundreds of sacks to them and take them back to our land” said King Greed.
Mouse felt uneasy because of the warning King Wisdom had given him. But the corn was incredibly refreshing after not having eaten for so long. He just couldn’t pass up this opportunity, and King Greed was convincing. Mouse went and untied the horses that were at a house nearby and began filling up all of the sacks he could, with his master’s approving gaze.
Once all of the horses were loaded up, King Greed and Mouse decided to go back to their own land with all of the corn they had stolen.
Right before reaching the edge of King Wisdom’s land, a guard noticed them as foreigners. The guard quickly sent for King Wisdom and stopped King Greed and Mouse from leaving.
Not long after, King Wisdom arrived on his chariot. Once King Greed and Mouse had come into his sight, he immediately knew what had transpired. Disappointed, he addressed the two:
“I know what you have done. I told you that you were allowed some, and you took a hundred times that. I am disappointed in you both. You are no friends of my land, and for punishment I will keep you both imprisoned here until you are even hungrier than when you arrived. Only then will I let you return to your land.”
Defeated, King Greed and Mouse were tied up and taken to the prison nearby.
Just when they thought no more misfortune could come, they discovered that their jail cell had a window that overlooked fields and fields of corn.
The view from the jail cell window.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
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Author's Note:
This fable is called The Mouse and the Weasel from Aesop for Children, by anonymous, illustrated by Milo Winter (1919). In the original text, a hungry mouse encounters a bag of corn. He finds a small hole and wiggles his way inside. After eating more than his share, he discovers he can't get back out because his belly won't let him leave. A weasel comes by and figures out what happened to the mouse, giving him little sympathy for his greed.
I loved this fable in particular, because I feel like greed is something that the world pushes on us from an early age. Something can be innately good, but if you have too much, even good can be bad. It mimics one of my favorite Proverbs:
If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.
Proverbs 25:16
In America especially, where materialism is rampant, greed can lead us after the pursuit of money and pleasure. But a pursuit that is left unchecked can quickly turn into our ruin. This fable has been rewritten with a bit of a creative flare, turning greed and wisdom into people. I feel like this allows me to look at it as if my decisions are capable of being heavily influenced by these two things, and I must ensure I am always aware of to which I am listening!
I went back to read the original Aesop's fable after reading your storytelling version. You were very creative in your original writing, which is awesome! You made it very interesting while creating something new as your own. I also really enjoyed your author’s note! I agree that greed is something that we are taught, especially in our current society when individual achievement is so heavily based, there isn’t a whole lot of emphasis on communalism. I really enjoyed this post!
ReplyDeleteHello, Avery!! I found it very interesting that in your version of the tale, the Mouse's greed was personified. In your story, Greed very obviously swayed Mouse, clarifying the moral. Also, changing the mouse's jail from a sack it cannot escape to a literal prison strengthened the notion of how truly terrible the consequences of greed may be. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat interpretation of the fable, Avery! I especially enjoyed the point you made in the author's note on materialism and greed. After reading your author's note, I read your fable again and appreciated what you had to say even more. Your use of imagery definitely added to the fable and made it more vibrant. I also like that you used horses in your story and changed it up to have a guard catch the culprits.
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