There once was a kingdom of mice. The Mouse King was a kind man and was very blessed. He had three wives and his three wives had four sons, each strong and great in his own way, but it was known that Rama, the eldest, was the most loved of all the sons.
One day, Rama and his brother Lakshmana were out walking in the fields talking boasting about all the great things they would accomplish. An old shrew heard the conversation and stepped out in front of their path, hoping that they might be able to help him from a growing terror.
“Oh, great Princes, sons of the King! My whole family has been devoured by a terrible evil! But, your powers are well-known throughout this land. Thus, only you can defeat the foul Thataka! Please help!” The shrew wailed, throwing himself at the feet of the young mice.
Rama and Lakshmana were caught off guard. Of course, they had never actually been in a battle, but they were afraid of disappointing the old shrew, so they insisted that he direct them to the lair of the great Thataka.
The great beast stepped out of the hollow of an old tree. Its eyes were a fearsome yellow, its legs bore great claws, its teeth were sharp and yellowed and its ears were large and capable of hearing the tiny mouse steps as they approached.
“Who dares disturb Thataka!” she yowled, stretching herself on front legs and flexing her claws.
“It is us! The great Princes of the Mouse Kingdom!” Rama roared back to the cat.
The three combatants sprung forward at the same time, meeting in the middle. Laksmana flew upward, scratching Thataka’s nose and clipping off the tips of her ears. From below, Rama drew his slingshot and tossed stones into her sensitive paws, making her hop in pain. She leapt into a nearby apple tree, concealing herself completely and the tree began to shake. The two brothers darted back and forth, attempting to dodge the apples threatening to smash them.
Rama was struck by an idea. He lashed his slingshot to two low branches of a srub, placed one of the apples in it’s pouch, and together with Lakshmana, he pulled it back as far as it would go. The apple launched into the middle of the tree. Thataka gave a great scream and fell from the tree, unconscious.
Rama and Lakshmana and the old shrew hugged each other and cheered. The cat would never bother the Kingdom again!
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| Image Source: "Matt's Cat by Aidan - Flikr. |
Author’s Note:
I chose the story of Thataka from the Public Domain Edition Ramayana. I decided to retell the story as a type of fable or fairy tale. I decided not to have the mice kill the cat, but just hurt her ego. I also left out the weapons, as I felt they weren’t necessary. However, I did change Rama’s bow to a slingshot in this story.
It was very hard for me to read the Story telling for week 2 because of the black letters on the green background. However, I liked the story. I liked how you took the original story and re-told using mice and cat. I thought the story was short and sweet. I have previously read your introduction and you stated that you loved animals. Your love of the animals was reflected in the story because you decided not to kill the cat and just hurt its ego.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your telling of this story, I found it slightly comedic and gave the story a new little spin. It also almost had a Disney fairytale feel to it, almost like Cinderella's mice versus the stepmother's cat. One of my favorite parts of this story was the description of Thataka, however I really would have like to have known more about the setting, and more description of the fight between them. However despite that, I really liked that you made sure that the weapons used were on the same size level as the mice, I thought that was really creative. I would have liked to have seen some longer paragraphs as I felt that some of the paragraphs were only one or two sentences. However overall I really enjoyed your take on the story, your fairytale twist, and I look forward to seeing more of your stories!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story. It was interesting how you incorporated mice against a cat. It reminded me of fairytale movies/books I have read during my childhood. I look forward to reading more of your stories!
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