Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Storytelling Week 2


Some time ago, there was a king named Dasharatha. He was king of a city called Ayodhay. One day while ruling over his kingdom, he realized how lonely he was. He thought and thought, it took him a long time, but he finally realized the root of his loneliness. Dasharatha's problem was that he had no children. After a long while, he began to ask the gods, even beg them to give him children. Ultimately, they refused. They told Dasharatha that their refusal was due to a problem they had which was of greater importance. After asking what was needed, the gods told Dasharatha that they needed a Demon named Ravana to be defeated. They informed him that Ravana possessed ten heads, which would make it an extremely difficult task. The gods also informed Dasharatha that the only being that can defeat Ravana is that of a normal human being and if he could deliver they would award him with children of his own. A few days passed, however, after much consideration Dasharatha decided to take the gods up on their offer. Dasharatha spent weeks doing research. After compiling all of his data, he was prepared for the epic battle that would pursue. He found that the demon, Ravana, is easily susceptible to and easily distracted by fire. To make the most of this, he gathered many torches and hand made many spears with which he could light the spear tips and throw in order to further distract some of the heads of the demon. His research also showed that the necks of each head of the demon were extremely weak to steel material. In order to make the most of this, he crafted many throwing blades and arrows for his bow crafted from the purest steel that he had access to. Once all of his supplies and materials were gathered and his pack was full of the weaponry that he decided on, Dasharatha set out on his journey. Before leaving, the gods blessed him. With the blessings of the gods, Dasharatha now had a heightened sense of touch, smell, and feel, while also having increased agility and strength. Upon arriving at the cave within which Ravana resided, Ravana came outside. The demon laughed allowed at Dasharatha telling him that he had heard the tales of some mortal coming to attempt to defeat him, but he told Dasharatha that he never imagined it being someone so puny. Ravana did not realize how much preparation Dasharatha had taken and the battle only lasted an hour. Dasharatha had won. Upon arrival back to Ayodhay, the gods were waiting. They thanked him and for his completion of the quest by rewarding him the children that they said they would. Years went by and Dasharatha was never again lonely.

Author's note: While keeping the basis of the story pretty much the same, I did change the fact that Dasharatha defeated the demon on his own and that he was rewarded with children for this by the gods. I just started typing and the story basically came out on its own, hope you enjoy.

(Ravana, Source)

Bibliography: Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana

2 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed the plot twist! The fact that Dasharatha needed to do his research on his villain and the fact that by doing so he was able to prepare for Ravana’s weaknesses drew me in. Also, it was neat that Dasharatha received some enhanced abilities from the gods. It made me think of a Marvel movie where Dasharatha is the superhero!

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  2. This story was an interesting read. I like how you twisted the original story and put your own aspect to it. I enjoyed the part where Dashratha does research on his enemy to find his strengths and weaknesses. If the epic really happened the way you articulated it, it would have been much shorter and less complicated. Good work, Dylan!

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