Storytelling Week 7: The Thoughts of A Monkey

The following script includes the recorded thoughts of a monkey living in Nigeria. This monkey was last seen going to the head chief after a fight broke out between a bush cow and an elephant in the middle of the street, which blocked much traffic in and out of the town.

-(In song) I'm swinging through the forest, I'm swinging, oh I'm swinging.
-Wait, look there, it's a fight. Fights are so entertaining. I must stay and watch. Oh yes, I remember now, that bush cow and that elephant were supposed to fight, but gosh, they're scaring everyone away! *Gasp* The elephant just knocked over a few houses too! Oh, this is not good. Not good at all. I must go tell the head chief.
- (In song) I'm swinging through the forest, ohhh, how I love to swing!
- Wait.. Where am I going? Oh, yes, to the chief.
- (In song) Just keep swinging, oh keep swinging, and I'll be there soooon.
- Wait... I'll be where soon? Oh yeah, to tell the chief about those two animals who are fighting and causing destruction. I'll keep swinging now.
- Ah yes, here I am, on the roof of the head chief's house. Hey, it's a spider. I must eat it. *Crunches on spider* Boy, that was a good spider.
- I'm going to jump on ground now. This is a funny stick, just laying here on the ground. I shall play with it. *Begins playing with stick* I love drawing things on the ground with sticks. I very much enjoy that. I like to make pictures of trees, and vines, and more trees. Ouch! I just poked myself in the eye with the stick! Stupid stick... *Throws stick away on the ground*
- Oh, hello stone. What a soft stone you are. *Rubs stone on the ground, and begins to look around* Yes, very soft. It is a nice day out here, isn't it... What a smooth black stone this is.
- *Looks down at fur, gasps, and drops the rock* Look at my fur! It's quite dirty. I must pick the dirt out. All the dirt, yes. Oh look, there's a bug. And another! *Eats bugs from fur* 
- Mmm I love those kinds of bugs. *Continues examining fur and skin, for quite some time*
- Woah, look at that massive praying mantis over there! What a cool little creature... *Stalks near the praying mantis* I'm gonna get you Mr. Mantis, I'm gonna get ya... *Pounces like a cat on to the mantis* Got ya!
- You're legs are long, they will hurt if I eat them. *Pulls off legs of mantis, and eats it* Yes, what a good tasting mantis you are!
- Now I will sit here. *Mind goes blank for some time* 


(The head chief steps outside.)


"Monkey! What are you here for?" shouted the chief, who had just walked outside and noticed the monkey sitting in his front yard.

- *Monkey jumps a couple feel high*  Oh my gosh, he just terrified me. Oh, yes, it's the head chief! I have something to tell him. Wait, what did I need to tell him? Shoot...

"Yes, head chief, I am here to see you, but I cannot remember why..." stated the monkey.

"Okay, well take a plantain and see if you remember," said the chief.

- I do love plantains.

"Oh, yes, Thank you!" said the Monkey.

-Oh what a wonderful plantain this is!

"Well, that bush cow and elephant were supposed to fight here today, I wonder where they are," said the chief.

-Oh my gosh, that's why I came here! I must tell him what I saw. 

"So I was up in the trees swinging away as usual and I was swinging and swinging and saw the bush cow and the elephant, and I thought I had to tell you what was happening, so I started swinging more towards you, but then I saw a spider and I ate it; it was a good spider, and then when I got on the ground I saw a stick, and a praying mantis, and some other bugs on me. Oh, and there was also a stone, it was a very pretty stone too. Then I stopped playing with things and sat here and forgot why I came and then you opened the door and scared me! Then after you said something about the elephant and bush cow I remembered that I came here to tell you that I saw the bush cow and the elephant; they are fighting as we speak. They are tearing many things down and stopping traffic in and out of the town."

Thus is the train of thoughts that went through the monkey's head as he went to tell the head chief about the events concerning the bush cow and the elephant.

The elephant and bush cow. Photo take by UNESCO
Source: UN News Centre

Author's Note: This story was originated from The Bush Cow and the Elephant, by Elphinstone Dayrell in Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (1910). I chose to write the story from the mind of the monkey. The original story starts off talking about how the dispute between the bush cow and the elephant was ongoing, and so they set a date with the head chief to fight it out in a designated spot. Instead, they ended up fighting where all the traffic was at, and a monkey saw this and went to tell the chief, but got very distracted along the way. The rest of the story matches what went on the original story. At the end of the story, the chief killed both the elephant and the bush cow with his bow and arrow. The bush cow and elephant still fight to this day, but only in a big bush, not in a public space.

Storytelling Week 6: Froggy Bedtime Story

"Grandhoppa, Grandhoppa, please tell us a bed time story!" cried the little grandfroggies. The old frog grabbed his cane and lifted himself off of his sofa chair, then slowly hopped over to his grand-babies.

"I have a grand story for you two tonight," said grandfather frog. "Have I ever told you about the time I pretended to be a king?" 

     "No, Grandhoppa, you haven't! Please tell us!"

"Alright, well, one day I was minding my own down by the river, and in the distance I saw a massive tiger. I knew he was hungry; he was practically trying to attack patches of grass just hoping there would be an animal there for him to eat! I was terrified, but I hoped to figure out a way to trick the tiger into not eating me. I shouted, 'Hey Tiger! Where ya going?' and the tiger said, as I knew he would, that we was going to find something to eat, but now that he had found me, he was going to eat me!"

     "That's terrifying, Grandhoppa! What did you do?" exclaimed the little frogs, bundled up under their covers in fear. 

"Well, I puffed out my chest, stood up on my back legs, and said 'Well Mr. Tiger, you are talking to the King of the Frogs!'" 

       The little frogs burst into laughter. 

"But it worked!" said the old frog. "I dared him that I could jump further over the bank than he could. Of course he accepted the challenge, and when he jumped, I grabbed his tail and it flew me much further than where he jumped! You should have seen that tiger's face, he was stunned! He had no idea how I had jumped that far!"

      The little froggies burst into another fit of laughter. 

"I dared him to another competition; I told him we should both vomit."

      "Ewww!" cried the frogs in disgust. 

"But when I threw up, I just spit a little of his hairs out of my mouth, and he couldn't throw up anything! He asked how I did that and I told him that I was so mighty and strong that I gobbled up a tiger the other day, and I would do the same to him if he didn't leave me alone... He sped off quicker than ever!" 

      The grand frogs continued to laugh at the crazy story. 

"Oh, but then, you should have seen it, he came back! But this time he was with a fox, and they had tied their tails together! It was so hilarious. I pretended I was still the Frog King, and said to the fox, 

'Oh hello fox, thank you for coming; you hadn't paid your toll to me today, so that must be my dinner you've got tied to your tail?' The tiger's eyes tripled in size and he sprinted away so quickly that the poor fox could hardly keep up; he was just being yanked and dragged behind this terrified and fooled tiger. Goodness knows they are still tied together and running, even today."

Frog King
Source: Clip Art

Author's Note: This story, originally called "The Tiger and the Frog," is from the book Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton (1925). The story is the same, only I wrote it in a first person format as a grandfather frog telling his grandchildren frogs a bedtime story. The original story has a little more information about what was going on in the mind of the tiger, but the storyline is the same! I hope you enjoyed reading it! 

Storytelling Week 5: The Fisherman and the Genie

Dragging himself out of bed, just after the rooster crowed at dawn, the old fisherman yawned and stretched, ready for another day of fishing. He changed into his black goulashes and old, worn out overalls, and placed his forest green fishing hat upon his peppered gray hair. "Let's see if we can catch a some food today," he thought as he grabbed his lucky red and white fishing pole and threw the heavy rope net over his shoulder. He stumbled out the door.

When he got to his fishing hole, he cast out the net, and he plopped down on the bank, mostly consisting of mud and a few patches of bright green grass. He sunk into the mud just a little and made himself comfortable for a long day of fishing. As he looked over the still blue-green lake, he hoped and prayed to God that he would catch just one decent fish to take home and feed his family with. He sat for a few minutes, taking in the morning sun and feeling the slight breeze while the birds sang good morning, then he stood up to pull in the net. It was getting increasingly difficult for him to pull, making the old man's hopes rise that it could be a school of fish. He continued to pull, with all of his might, until his net and its contents were up on the shore. The old man's face dropped as he examined the rotting, broken donkey carcass he had pulled ashore. The old man bent down to disentangle it, but held his breath as to not pass out from the stench of the dead animal. He moved the animal aside. Disappointed with his catch, and upset at the gaping holes the donkey's carcass had made in his net, the old man cast out the net again.

This time, he pulled in the net with ease, which meant he must not have caught anything. But as he pulled in the net, he noticed a shiny gold object caught in the netting. He pulled out a pot. He examined the beauty of the details and bright colored gems decorating the pot, then felt that it was full of something. He pulled open the lid, and a bundle of thick, black smoke rolled out, causing him to drop the pot and stumble backwards a couple of steps. The smoke continued to roll into a massive black cloud, which slowly took a shape... The fisherman realized it was a genie. The genie was massive, over 15 feet tall and as wide as an elephant. Its eyes glared red, and its teeth were gray spikes, and the hands were in the shape of claws. Every inch of the fisherman's body froze, and he nearly burst into tears with fright.

The genie then began to speak with such boldness that it shook the earth beneath the fisherman's feet. The genie was to kill the old man because the genie was sworn to kill the man who released him from the jar. The fisherman became shocked and upset at the genie's intentions, but then the old man had an idea to trick the genie. The fisherman consented to the genie's request, but on the condition that the genie answer a question. "Did you actually come from that vase?" asked the old man. The genie replied yes, but the old man threw his head back just a little and scoffed. "It's not possible that a genie as large and powerful as you could fit into that jar." The genie was instantly offended, but was determined to prove to the ignorant man that he could fit into the jar. The massive genie's figure then disintegrated back into a cloud of smoke, which swirled in a massive circle over the lake, then sucked very quickly back into the pot. The old man walked over to the pot, and leaned over to peer inside. Only seeing the terrible face of the genie, the genie asked if the old man now believed the genie could fit in the vase. The fisherman said he did believe, but as he said this, he pulled the lid to the jar out from behind his back and thrust it upon the pot, sealing it shut once again.

Old man fishing
Source: Wikipedia

Author's Note/ Bibliography: This story originated from Andrew Lang's "The Story of the Fisherman," found in his book, The Arabian Nights' Entertainments (1898). The original story and mine are actually almost the same, I just chose to make it descriptive, as to paint a picture of what I would imagine the story being like. The only thing I changed was that in the original story, the fisherman cast his net out four times before getting the jar, and I only made him cast it twice. Also, the very beginning I have is not in the original, I added the 'getting out of bed' scene to set up the rest of the story. I enjoyed writing this though; the original story did not have any descriptions, but I think they make for a more relatable and entertaining story.

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Storytelling Week 4: Katie's Diary

May 4, 2011
Dear Diary,

I just married the love of my life! I mean I know we've known each other for only a week but I knew he was the one the moment I saw him and I'm so happy! His name is Michael and he's so rich and handsome; I am obsessed! And honestly, we are inseparable. We are with each other nonstop, all day, everyday. Really though, he's sitting beside me right now watching me write in my diary. He's so amazing. I love him so much. We will have a forever perfect marriage, and he will never cheat on me, nor I on him... It's going to be wonderful.

November 15, 2011
Dear Diary,

I know it's been a while, but I've been too obsessed with Michael to write! We have a wonderful marriage and I love him more than anything in the world@ But the real reason I'm writing is because Michael went out to town today and he.... bought a parrot. Not just any parrot. It talks. Weird right? It doesn't repeat things; it talks like a human! Michael said it was a special bird, it cost a lot of money, and we should be happy to have it. I figure that's true... It's still really weird though, and kind of creepy. Also, Michael thought this bird would be lonely in his cage, so he bought another talking bird. When the heck did birds learn to talk?? Whatever, I love my husband and he loves me so it's okay. :)

December 10, 2011
Dear Diary,

Michael had to go on a three month business trip and I'm so upset about it... How am I ever going to live without him? I'm so depressed. I cry myself to sleep every night. I can't get in touch with him because he's out in the middle of nowhere... On the bright side, though, I have the birds here. Turns out they're really cool to talk to. The parrot is really nice, and I enjoy the conversations we have. He helps cheer me up sometimes. I try to keep busy around the house, but I just can't seem to get out of bed sometimes. I think it'll take some time, but I'll learn how to cope, and just keep looking forward to the day he returns.

December 12, 2011
Dear Diary,

So I met this guy yesterday. Actually, I didn't technically meet him; I was at the window looking forlornly outside, and he saw me. He moved in across the street, into the most magnificent house I've ever seen, and looked over and saw me in the window. He stopped what he was doing and just stood there. Staring. It was kind of creepy, but he's super handsome. Is it bad that I think that? Anyways, I'm not sure how he found out, but he dropped off a letter today saying he knew my husband was gone, and if I needed any company, I could come over whenever. He also said that he's in love with me and thinks I'm the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. I am extremely flattered, but I'm wondering... Is that... a booty call? Maybe I'm reading too much into it; we'll see.

December 15, 2011
Dear Diary,

Concerning that note I mentioned earlier... it was definitely a booty call. He keeps asking me to come over after dark, but I keep turning him down. It is the middle of December though, and it's quite cold at night... maybe someone to snuggle with would be okay?

December 16, 2011
Okay Diary,

Let's be real here. If I go over there, I'm totally going to sleep with him. He's way too attractive not to. And honestly, I think him and I would make a great match! Yeah, I know I have my husband, but he's not exactly here at the moment and I've sort of fallen for this guy! He's way richer than my husband, and he is such a charmer.
So basically I've decided I'm going over to his house tonight. I'm so excited! There is one caveat though... one thing my husband made me promise was to ask the parrot if I could leave the house. Yes, I know that seems super controlling and odd, but it was his only request, and honestly, how hard can it be to convince a parrot to let me leave the house?

December 17, 2011
Dear Diary,

You know how I had to ask the parrot for permission to leave? Well late last night, I asked the first parrot if I could leave and it said no, so I yanked him out of the cage and smashed him and killed him! I know it's cruel, but I really wanted to visit this guy! Then I asked the second parrot. He said yes, but then he mentioned some story... and I got curious. By the time he was finished with the story though, it was daylight! I guess I'll just have to wait until late tonight to visit my lover...


January 20, 2012
Dear Diary,

So every night I ask this parrot for permission, it says yes, but then he mentions a story, and I can't keep myself from asking him to tell me the story! Next thing I know, it's morning and I can't visit my future lover. So frustrating.

March 2, 2012
Dear Diary,

Michael, here. I just returned from my business trip and the parrot told me my wife had fallen in love with that guy across the street, and she killed him with her own two hands?! Not sure how she did that, being as little as she is, but the bird said it, so it must be true. Anyways, Katie is dead now. I killed her. She won't be returning to write in her diary. Turns out she's a mean, selfish, bird/people killing whore. Oh well. Maybe I'll find a wife one day that will actually be faithful.

Katie asking the Parrot to let her visit her lover.
"Nude with a Parrot" Painting by George Bellows
Source: Wikipedia

Author's Note/Bibliography: I originated this story from "The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot" by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801). I chose to write this story from the point of view of the wife through a diary. The original is written in third person, and the events from the above story are the same as the actual one. I also changed the era of the story, to be as if it were written in today's time. I attempted to highlight the strange events that were dismissed as normal occurrences that happened in the original story (such as buying a talking parrot, marrying within a week of meeting someone, and having to ask the parrot's permission to leave). The parrot tells the wife many stories on purpose to keep her from cheating on her husband, and he succeeds in doing so. Except, when the husband gets back, the bird tells him that his wife had fallen in love with and killed a prince, then the husband kills his wife. It was quite the shocking ending as I was reading it, and I tried to induce the same kind of sudden shock in my story. 

Storytelling Week 3: The Girl Who Couldn't Die

There was once a girl, a beautiful girl,
Renowned for her great beauty in all of the land.
Though her beauty was great, and many men loved her,
Still none would ask for her hand.
So she cried and she cried, and she pondered as to why,
The reason she could not find a man,
And thought, if I can't find a man, I'll die if I can, so she flung herself off of a cliff.

On her way down, she hit a soft branch,
And the tree braced her safely to ground.
She then realized that she, oh no, was still breathing!
So she set off to find her a hound.
She searched and she searched, till she found the dog Stan,
And asked, please help me end my life, if you can.

The dog stared for a moment, then quickly ran up,
Giving puppy kisses from her head to her toe.
The girl stood in shock, and slightly frustrated,
For this dog would not help to escape her cruel woe.
So she looked and she looked, till she came to a river,
Where she shouted, goodbye cruel world!
And she jumped right in, only to see
The water's depth hardly reached to her knee.

She stood in the water and began to cry.
Why could she not find a way to die?

So she cried to the gods, Oh Venus, please hear,
I no longer wish to live; please find me a cure!
Then Venus sent down a small clear glass vile,
Filled with a liquid that was ever so pure.
And the girl smiled and thought finally, my days are at an end,
I will never have to see the light of day again.
But as she drank, she realized what potion it was; it extended her life, and the great Venus had lied!

The girl scorned the goddess, then stomped firmly away,
Determined to figure out some other way.
And as she was trotting, she found a small dwelling,
A shed that was covered with hay.
So she peeked just inside, only to find
A sharp blade that could end her today.
So she drove the sharp blade deep in her bosom, and cried gods please carry me away!

She felt as if she was breathing her last,
When an old man came round to help the poor girl out.
He was a witch doctor, and a witch he sure was,
For he mended the girl, there's no doubt.
The girl opened her eyes and let out a scream,
Wondering why he needed to save her,
Then the man said, my son, he's in love with you;
I could not let you die, or my son would try to die too.

The girl's interest was piqued, a boy, you dare say?
Are you sure, old man, that he loves me this way?
The man nodded a yes, and the girl, she was sold,
She would marry this boy, and with him, grow old.
So off she ran, far across the land, looking for the boy she'd been promised,
But then all of a sudden, despite all her luck,
The girl, by lightening, was struck.

The lightening bolt that struck and killed the lovestruck girl
Source: Wikipedia

Author's Note/Bibliography: I originated this rhyme from Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche, translated by Tony Kline from the book, Golden Ass (2013). The actual story is not much like the rhyme at all, but in the story, Psyche is constantly trying to commit suicide but all the gods keep saving her, so that's where I got the idea from. In the story, Venus actually hates Psyche because of her beauty, and wants to kill her, but here I was just trying to use a goddess in the rhyme so I used Venus. In addition, in the actual story, Psyche only tries to die from jumping off cliffs and into rivers, so I added a few other different attempts as well. Also, Psyche actually lives happily ever after with her husband, but I thought it would be ironic and a little funny to have her die by a lightening strike at the end.