Week 2 Story: The Lost Prince
(Old Castle by Tanya K via Flickr)
It was now nighttime and having lost all hope, the prince sat against the wall and began to cry. While crying, the prince hears a voice asking him what was wrong. The prince looked up and saw a man aged no less than fifty and began to tell the man his story with tears still streaming down his face. The man then offered the prince to come to his home and stay for the night as the boy had nowhere else to go. The prince followed the old man to his house where the man fed him and gave him a place to sleep. As the prince fell asleep, he couldn’t help but notice that there was barely anything in the house. There was only one bed in which he was sleeping in and no food to be seen but the young prince didn’t pay too much mind to this and eventually fell asleep. The next day, the old man brought the young prince back into the city where he found the caretaker looking around. The young prince ran to the caretaker and gave her a hug before looking back, realizing the man had disappeared. Wondering where the man had gone, the prince and the caretaker returned to the castle.
Fast forward many years later, the prince had now become the king of the kingdom and today he had to attend the trial of an old man who could not pay his taxes. As the king went up to the throne where he would judge the trial, he looked upon the old man undergoing the trial and thought to himself that the man looked familiar. The king then realized that the old man was the man who had helped him when he was young. The king then stood up and declared the verdict immediately. The old man was to be pardoned for everything and was given his own land for him and his descendants. The king explained to all those watching of how the old man had helped him in the past when no one else would. The old man gazed at the king with a look of gratefulness and thus the trial had ended. Finally, after the trial had ended the old man and the king went together and enjoyed a meal in the palace while talking about all the things that had happened since they last met.
Authors Note: This story was based on the story of Androcles and the Lion. I kept the underlying message of gratitude but changed up the setting to be from a time where there was a vast distinction between royalty and commoners. I changed up most of the story but kept the basic storyline where someone (the prince in this case) had a problem and someone helped them out in which they would return the favor later on.
Bibliography: "Androcles and the Lion" from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs (1894). Web Source
Hi Chris!
ReplyDeleteI love stories with wholesome endings. I definitely think it's a sign from the universe when things like that come full circle and the old man is helped in return for what he did for the prince in the earlier stages of your story. In a lot of stories you see people who have power and aren't vulnerable take advantage of that and not care about what they say or do to others. What did you enjoy most about this version of the story when you recreated it? I personally loved the ending!
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteI am also drawn to the stories with a moral message or undertone. I really like how you built up the story and background in the first two paragraphs and let the meaning of the story, which was around remembering those who have helped you and being grateful and generous back, speak for itself in the final paragraph. You let the reader come to that conclusion on their own, which makes them feel it more strongly.
Hi Chris!
ReplyDeleteThis story was a great read because it is relatable to today's life as people's attitude change based on perception of another. Even though it seems a more and more distant past, Samaritan acts like the old mans hospitality to the young prince are truly moments that encase all that is good in humanity. Not every act like this is rewarded this greatly, or even rewarded at all. But as a story, the pleasant ending gave the reader closure that the man received what should have been.