Once there was a fox and a stork. The fox would oft' play tricks on the stork, but the stork would just turn a blind eye to these antics. One day the fox got up to his rude ways once more. He made a call for the stork to come eat a late day meal at his home. The stork much to his own shock said yes 'fore he knew what he did. So, at dusk he set out for the home of the fox.
Fox took stork's cloak and led him to the heart of the den. There they sat and had a short chat till fox said "I will get the meal." He brought out two bowls though they could scarce be called that for the depth was less than an inch. Each bowl held a bit of broth. The fox set down the bowls and got down to his meal. He used his tongue to lap up the thin soup. But the stork, try as he might could not get even one sip. His beak was much too long and his tongue much too thin. He tried and tried but got not one drop. When fox was done with his food, stork left with his tum left void. Though he said not a word of his woe to the fox.
The next day, stork made a call for the fox to come eat at his home. The fox was glad to say yes to the stork. He thought it might be good to see stork's house to help him come up with a new trick close to home. When the fox got there, stork sat him down in the nest. He then went and came back with one tall vase and then one more. The best smell came out of the vase as the two braced to start the meal. The stork then used his long beak to peck at the food in his vase. He ate and ate and ate. The fox, though, could not get his nose through the top of his vase. Though he tried he got not one bite. He left the meal most stung, while the stork was most pleased.
The fox had a void deep in his gut where a nice meal should have been. He was not pleased at all with what had gone down. And that fox thought twice 'fore he pulled any more tricks on that wise old stork.
Bibliography: "The Fox and the Stork" is from Fables in Rhyme for Little Folks by W.T. Larned (1918)
Hi again, Eryn! I really liked this retelling--I though it sounded a bit whimsical and dry-humored! I'm always impressed by people who choose to do the one-beat stories, because it really is such a challenge; I tried it earlier in the semester and gave up after one paragraph that took me about two hours. But what you did here with the repetition of the different phrases was really interesting--it probably made finding different one-syllable words a bit easier, and it gave your prose a sing-song quality that works really well with the fairy tale vibe. The only thing I wish you'd described a bit more was the personalities of the fox and the stork--this story shows them pretty well, but sometimes telling just a bit more makes characters pop. But anyway, awesome job!
ReplyDeleteEryn, I really enjoyed reading your story! I haven't read the original story, but your re-telling was great! I haven't found a story in this class that someone has chosen to re-tell using the monosyllabic style. It's a very creative way to re-tell a story and you did a really good job! I would imagine that took a lot of effort and brain power to accomplish. Good job this week, and good luck on the rest of your semester!
ReplyDelete