Max and Molly were royal pups and were envied by all the dogs in the kingdom. Life in the palace was luxurious, and they were given everything they could ever dream of. They had so many amazing toys and were constantly being fed treats and having their bellies scratched.
Though the pair had everything they could dream of, they often got got bored and wandered through the palace grounds during the nighttime, which they knew they were not supposed to do. One night, while they were wandering, they noticed that the king had forgotten to put away the harnesses with the horses when he parked his chariot. The pups saw the harnesses and agreed that they would make excellent toys. The dogs grabbed the fancy leather harnesses and play tug-of-war with them all night. They chewed them up and chased each other around the yard having the time of their lives.
They soon noticed that the sun was starting to come up and quickly ran back to the kings chambers and pretended to be sleeping the whole night.
When the king awoke and found that some dogs had destroyed his expensive leather harness, he demanded that all dogs in the city be removed immediately. There were many dogs who lived in the kingdom and they were all very upset by this news. If they were to leave the city, where would they go? How could they leave behind their families and move away? The dogs of the city rallied and voted on a leader.
Daisy was the perfect pup for the job, she was a very outspoken dog who was not afraid to stand up for herself. Daisy, with the help of the other dogs in town, decided that she would go to the castle and confront the king, asking him about his decision to ban dogs from the kingdom.
She approached the castle gates, where there were guards keeping a very close watch on the outside. They demanded to know why Daisy was at the castle and she worked very hard to convince them to let her in.
She approached the king's throne, and asked him why dogs were banned from the kingdom. He explained what had happened with his harnesses and told Daisy that dogs were a nuisance to his kingdom.
"Will all dogs be banned from the kingdom?" Daisy asked.
"All except my beloved Dobermans," the king replied.
This is so unfair! Daisy thought, there was no way for any of the dogs from the city to enter onto palace grounds! It must have been Max and Molly who destroyed the king's possessions, but how can I prove it? She thought. Then she realized, if it were them who ate the harnesses, they would still be in their systems, so she asked the king to have his dogs eat some grass, knowing that it would make them sick.
The king brought forth his dogs and fed them grass. Soon, they were feeling ill and each vomited pieces of leather. The king could not believe it, his own dogs had destroyed his property.
Feeling guilty about his actions against the city dogs, he immediately recounted his order to ban all dogs from the kingdom. He also set forth a yearly celebration, to reward the cities dogs for being so good, which they still celebrate to this day!
Authors note:
Oklahoma's decision to close schools for the remainder of the year means that I am spending a lot of time with my nieces and nephews while the rest of my family is working. I have really enjoyed helping them with their distance learning assignments, and thought it would be a good idea to have them help me with mine. Because of this, I've decided to change my portfolio assignment to have a storytelling theme. This will allow me to read through the Jataka tales with my nieces and nephews and have them help me rewrite the stories the way they think they should be told.
This is our retelling of the "The Guilty Dogs," found in the book Twenty Jataka Tales. My niece, Maddy, particularly liked this story because she thinks it teaches a nice lesson. We agreed that the characters needed to be given names, to make it more personal. I decided to rewrite the story- letting her name the characters. I tried to write it in such a way that it could easily be converted to a children's book with illustrations on each page.
Though the pair had everything they could dream of, they often got got bored and wandered through the palace grounds during the nighttime, which they knew they were not supposed to do. One night, while they were wandering, they noticed that the king had forgotten to put away the harnesses with the horses when he parked his chariot. The pups saw the harnesses and agreed that they would make excellent toys. The dogs grabbed the fancy leather harnesses and play tug-of-war with them all night. They chewed them up and chased each other around the yard having the time of their lives.
They soon noticed that the sun was starting to come up and quickly ran back to the kings chambers and pretended to be sleeping the whole night.
When the king awoke and found that some dogs had destroyed his expensive leather harness, he demanded that all dogs in the city be removed immediately. There were many dogs who lived in the kingdom and they were all very upset by this news. If they were to leave the city, where would they go? How could they leave behind their families and move away? The dogs of the city rallied and voted on a leader.
Daisy was the perfect pup for the job, she was a very outspoken dog who was not afraid to stand up for herself. Daisy, with the help of the other dogs in town, decided that she would go to the castle and confront the king, asking him about his decision to ban dogs from the kingdom.
She approached the castle gates, where there were guards keeping a very close watch on the outside. They demanded to know why Daisy was at the castle and she worked very hard to convince them to let her in.
She approached the king's throne, and asked him why dogs were banned from the kingdom. He explained what had happened with his harnesses and told Daisy that dogs were a nuisance to his kingdom.
"Will all dogs be banned from the kingdom?" Daisy asked.
"All except my beloved Dobermans," the king replied.
This is so unfair! Daisy thought, there was no way for any of the dogs from the city to enter onto palace grounds! It must have been Max and Molly who destroyed the king's possessions, but how can I prove it? She thought. Then she realized, if it were them who ate the harnesses, they would still be in their systems, so she asked the king to have his dogs eat some grass, knowing that it would make them sick.
The king brought forth his dogs and fed them grass. Soon, they were feeling ill and each vomited pieces of leather. The king could not believe it, his own dogs had destroyed his property.
Feeling guilty about his actions against the city dogs, he immediately recounted his order to ban all dogs from the kingdom. He also set forth a yearly celebration, to reward the cities dogs for being so good, which they still celebrate to this day!
This image comes from George Sada on Flickr. This picture represents what we thought Max, the king's dog would look like.
Authors note:
Oklahoma's decision to close schools for the remainder of the year means that I am spending a lot of time with my nieces and nephews while the rest of my family is working. I have really enjoyed helping them with their distance learning assignments, and thought it would be a good idea to have them help me with mine. Because of this, I've decided to change my portfolio assignment to have a storytelling theme. This will allow me to read through the Jataka tales with my nieces and nephews and have them help me rewrite the stories the way they think they should be told.
This is our retelling of the "The Guilty Dogs," found in the book Twenty Jataka Tales. My niece, Maddy, particularly liked this story because she thinks it teaches a nice lesson. We agreed that the characters needed to be given names, to make it more personal. I decided to rewrite the story- letting her name the characters. I tried to write it in such a way that it could easily be converted to a children's book with illustrations on each page.
Hi Linsey!
ReplyDeleteI love in your author's note how you are using this pandemic situation as a way to get input from those we may not usually be around. It sounds like your nieces and nephews have a lot of interesting and creative input for your storybook process, and the Jataka Tales are perfect stories with profound morals for little ones. I can't wait to see your project with this story and the pups!
Hey Linsey. First off, the Jakata Tales were some of my favorite readings this semester so I loved this story from the beginning. I liked your take on this and I really like how you were able to take the negatives of the current pandemic and use it to find a way to change your stories. It is great to get different perspectives so I loved this idea. Great story keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHi Linsey,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story because I read the original last week so it was still fresh in my mind. I think you did a great job of making it your own by giving the dogs names and turning them into specific characters. I especially love that you chose the name Max because that is my dogs name!
Hey Linsey,
ReplyDeleteI love the Jataka tales too. Glad you were able to take your nieces and nephews ideas and turn it into an different and still engaging form of a retold story. I really enjoyed your word choice and just how descriptive your writing was from start to finish. I could definitely picture all the characters in my mind. Great job!