In a lake far from the lake where the Crab now lived, was the brother of the Crane that was killed. In this lake, the Brother Crane chose not to eat the fish, but rather the fruit from the nearby trees. One day, Brother Crane started to miss his sibling who he had not seen in a long time, so he decided to pay Crane a visit. The flight was long, but there was plenty of fruit on the trees for him to eat. After 9 days of flying, Brother Crane finally arrived. He called out to his brother, "Crane! It is I. For I have flown many nights to see you. Why do you hide from me?" There was no response. Again, Brother Crane called out, "Brother, where are you?" No response.
Meanwhile, Crab was resting in a shallow area of the lake when he heard shouting. He was angered by the noise and decided to investigate. When he came to the surface of the lake, he searched the trees for the voice until he spotted Brother Crane. Crab was frightened, for Brother Crane looked exactly like his sibling. Crab then scanned the lake to find Cranes body still lying where he was killed. Luckily, Brother Crane had not spotted his dead sibling, so Crab had to think fast. He came up with an idea and shouted to Brother Crane, "Hello Crane! Back so soon? I thought your Brother lived further away?"
Brother Crane look for the voice and saw Crab on the surface of the lake. "What are you talking about? I am not Crane, I am his Brother. I came to visit him, for it has been too long," said Brother Crane. Crab quickly responded, "What a coincidence. Crane left 3 days ago to go visit you because he had not seen you in so long." Crab started to walk toward Brother Crane so that he could keep him distracted from Crane's dead body.
Brother Crane felt suspicious of the Crab because Crane was not a sentimental sibling. Crane would never have made the flight to go see Brother Crane.
Brother Crane decided to go along with the Crab, "Well how silly of us. I suppose I will head back and try to catch up with him."
Crab thought he had won. "It was nice to meet you Brother Crane! Make sure you come and visit again when Crane is here," he said. Brother Crane replied, "I will! It was nice to meet you too," and began to fly away.
Brother Crane still did not trust Crab and hid in a nearby until the crab went back to resting. When Crab was back asleep, Brother Crane flew over the lake to try and find his brother. That is when he spotted the dead body of Crane near the shore. Brother Crane knew who did this because Crane's head was cut from his body.
Brother Crane waited for Crab to awake from his nap, hiding in a tree close to the shore. When Crab emerged from the water, Brother Crane swooped down and scoop him up in his beak. Crab yelled, "Do not eat me! Your sibling was going to eat me so I had to cut off his head!" Brother Crane replied, "I do not eat Crab just like I do not eat fish," as he continued to fly away from the lake. "But I cannot let you live after what you did to Crane."
"What are you going to do with me?" asked Crab.
After a long flight that lasted 5 days, Brother Crane landed at another lake. He spit out Crab and put his foot on him so he could not get away. "Sister Crane! Are you here? I have brought your favorite food!"
Sister Crane ate Crab and gave Brother Crane some fruits from a nearby tree in return. The spent the next few days together, for it had been too long since they last saw each other.
Meanwhile, Crab was resting in a shallow area of the lake when he heard shouting. He was angered by the noise and decided to investigate. When he came to the surface of the lake, he searched the trees for the voice until he spotted Brother Crane. Crab was frightened, for Brother Crane looked exactly like his sibling. Crab then scanned the lake to find Cranes body still lying where he was killed. Luckily, Brother Crane had not spotted his dead sibling, so Crab had to think fast. He came up with an idea and shouted to Brother Crane, "Hello Crane! Back so soon? I thought your Brother lived further away?"
Brother Crane look for the voice and saw Crab on the surface of the lake. "What are you talking about? I am not Crane, I am his Brother. I came to visit him, for it has been too long," said Brother Crane. Crab quickly responded, "What a coincidence. Crane left 3 days ago to go visit you because he had not seen you in so long." Crab started to walk toward Brother Crane so that he could keep him distracted from Crane's dead body.
Brother Crane felt suspicious of the Crab because Crane was not a sentimental sibling. Crane would never have made the flight to go see Brother Crane.
Brother Crane decided to go along with the Crab, "Well how silly of us. I suppose I will head back and try to catch up with him."
Crab thought he had won. "It was nice to meet you Brother Crane! Make sure you come and visit again when Crane is here," he said. Brother Crane replied, "I will! It was nice to meet you too," and began to fly away.
Brother Crane still did not trust Crab and hid in a nearby until the crab went back to resting. When Crab was back asleep, Brother Crane flew over the lake to try and find his brother. That is when he spotted the dead body of Crane near the shore. Brother Crane knew who did this because Crane's head was cut from his body.
Brother Crane waited for Crab to awake from his nap, hiding in a tree close to the shore. When Crab emerged from the water, Brother Crane swooped down and scoop him up in his beak. Crab yelled, "Do not eat me! Your sibling was going to eat me so I had to cut off his head!" Brother Crane replied, "I do not eat Crab just like I do not eat fish," as he continued to fly away from the lake. "But I cannot let you live after what you did to Crane."
"What are you going to do with me?" asked Crab.
After a long flight that lasted 5 days, Brother Crane landed at another lake. He spit out Crab and put his foot on him so he could not get away. "Sister Crane! Are you here? I have brought your favorite food!"
Sister Crane ate Crab and gave Brother Crane some fruits from a nearby tree in return. The spent the next few days together, for it had been too long since they last saw each other.
(Two Cranes. Source: PublicDomanFiles)
Authors Note: This story was a continuation of "The Cunning Crane and the Crab."
Bibliography. "The Cunning Crane and the Crab" from The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse. Web Source.
I loved your story it was different from the ones I have read the fact that mourning over his brother the brother Crain suspected something was not normal and found out the truth and keeping his calm he took the crab and kept him in dark what is to happen to him. The brother Crain can eat the crab but he likes to eat fruits so without breaking his personal goal he traded the crab with his sister for fruits and both enjoyed their favorite food that is smart. The Crain brother was smart and did not loose his temper and was smart.
ReplyDeleteHi YaBoiiiii, this story was so good that I thought it was an actual story written in the jatakas. The part where the Crab thought he was tricking the Crane was a sequel to the first part which really interested me as it was a parallel concept between the two. Great job on this story!
ReplyDeleteHey Jacob! This story is really well written and follows along with how traditional Indian folk tales are written. I think my favorite part was the perspective the story was written from, you do an excellent job at capturing what the creatures are thinking as the plot progresses. As well, the brother crane is an interesting character that serves as a nice dichotomy of the original crane that may as well be in the original story. Overall, super well done!
ReplyDeleteHey Jacob!
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading your story. I have to concur with Riddhi and how this story's style is so different from the stories I have read from other classmates'. You do a great job of continuing the traditional epic with adding your own twist and flair, yet not venturing too far off from the tone of the original jakata. Perhaps you may consider writing more in your author's note? Though I have read the "Cunning Crane and the Crab," other readers might have a hard time understanding the parallels from the original story with your continuation of the story.
Hi Heath! I found this story also to be a really interesting read when I had to read it for the class. I think you did a really good job on keeping the structure of the story in line but also adding in your own parts to it. I really felt like I was reading one of the Jakata stories because of how well you had kept the story flowing from one thing to next. The addition of the brother crane was a good idea I feel.
ReplyDeleteThis retelling was a fun ride! The conclusion particularly was so unexpected. You did well to maintain suspense throughout with the choice that the killed crane was within visibility, and while I assumed he had to see him sometime I certainly didn't expect the brother to go from sparing the crab to taking him to his "sister" who wasn't a vegetarian(?) like him. At the very start I thought his personal decision not to eat fish was as a result of what happened to his brother, but to learn it was unrelated and just a trait of this character threw me for a loop- but not a bad one! Very creative retelling!
ReplyDelete