-(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.
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| 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.
This was such an entertaining story! I love how you told this in the monkey's perspective. This is definitely how I would picture a monkey would think and act! I think animal stories are so much more enjoyable to read, because we never actually know how they think and communicate with one another. I also love your picture you paired with the story, it's very fitting! I'm glad you explained what happens in the rest of the story, I was curious what was going to happen after the monkey told the chief of the fight!
ReplyDeleteThis was interesting! I think it’s original that you made your retelling based around the monkey’s thoughts, rather than telling the story in standard narrative. Since I’ve been in your group several times, I’ve noticed your characteristic humor in your stories, which was laced into this one as well. I definitely laughed more than a few times while reading this, especially during the last paragraph. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteHello! Your story is such a cool and unique way of telling a story. I never would have thought about telling a story from the conscience of the Monkey instead of just telling the story. I think you did a great job. The conversations flowed great and it was funny to read sometimes. My favorite part was when the monkey just randomly ate the spider!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really cool storytelling technique. Doing a stream of consciousness like this is pretty difficult, but I think you did an awesome job of depicting what a monkey's mind might be like. The monkey was all over the place haha. It made me wonder what being my dog's mind would be like. This was a really unique take on this story. Nice job!
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