Epics of India

Hint Fiction of The Chicken, Cow, and Spider "Hey Cow, you're in danger," said Spider. "Hey Chicken, you're in danger," said Cow. "Hey Spider, you're in danger," said Cow. "Let's leave," said all. Two Sentence Story of The Chicken, Cow, and Spider "Since we're all about to get killed, do you think we should leave the farm?" asked Cow and Chicken. "Yes," said Spider, as he got his things and headed out. Bibliography These two microfictions come from one of my stories that I recently rewrote, based on T he Woodpecker, Turtle, and Deer by Ellen C. Babbitt. My story, called, The Chicken, Cow, and Spider, takes a lot of elements from the plot of the first one and extends it. In the original story, each animal is trying to help the other animal escape danger. In these microfictions, I retold that story using quick sentences to describe each animal's feelings. In doing so, it helps add a comedic ef

The Foolish, Timid Rabbit   by Ellen C. Babbitt rabbit sitting under palm tree, sleeping wakes up and wonders what would happen if earth suddenly broke apart suddenly, a coconut falls from the tree, and timid rabbit thinks the earth is breaking all up he runs and yells, attracting the attention of another rabbit the other rabbit asks him why he's running, and he tells him the earth is breaking all up and needs to run, too! second rabbit runs, and tells another rabbit, who tells another rabbit, until there's a lot of rabbits running they tell deer, who tells fox, who tells elephant, and suddenly there's a big heard of animals running and panicking because they think the earth is breaking all up Lion, King of the Beasts, roars three times and tells the herd to stop. He asks them why they're running and scared they tell him the earth is breaking all up Lion asks who saw it Elephant says Fox told him, and Fox says Deer told him, and Deer says a rabbit told him,

The Empty Lake by Noon Inayat lake covered with waterlilies lived fish, one of them told them all a story: once a great golden king fish of theirs that they admired and followed queen rain forgot to send showers to earth before the time of heat Mother Earth and thirsty sun rays drank the water of their lake and king wind destroyed all the water with his fires queen rain heard them calling and got the cloud fairies who make the water and thunder king thunder king made his army to fire, which made thunder, and lightning and water rain fell it was soft and sweet King feared the water would be taken away King fish spoke again and said King of Thunder and Queen of Rain please let it rain sky fell like a mountain of water sunrays covered and crows chased away King thunder and queen rain came down from sky they tell them they love him and just call when he needs water Lake

Once there was a farm that had lots of animals. On this farm lived a chicken, cow and spider. They were all great friends and looked out for one another. Cow lived in a field, next to the chicken coop, where Chicken lived, and in the corner of that coop lived Spider, in his finely spun web. They loved it on the farm, until one day, Spider overheard the farmer talking about getting ready to slaughter Cow so he could sell beef to the market. Immediately, Spider told Chicken, who told Cow. They had to come up with a plan soon. The night before the farmer planned on butchering Cow, Spider came up with a plan to help his friend. He ventured out to the field where Cow lived, and told Cow to lay down and pretend to be dead. Then, he spun a web all around Cow, so that it looked like Cow had been dead for quite some time. When the farmer came out the next morning, he saw Cow, and said, “Oh no, Cow has died! I can’t butcher him now, his meat has spoiled and will no longer be good to eat. I’ll

The Woodpecker, Turtle, and Deer by Ellen C. Babbitt deer lived in the forest, turtle lived in lake, woodpecker lived in treetops, all friends hunter comes and sees deer tracks, he sets traps near the lake deer springs the traps and calls out for help, turtle and woodpecker come to his aide turtle begins chewing off the leather straps on the trap, while woodpecker goes to the hunter's house hunter wakes up and starts to come outside with his knife, but woodpecker flies at his face, and he goes back inside to rest longer hunter wakes up and tries again, but woodpecker does it again. Lastly, hunter comes out and woodpecker flies back to his friends, yelling turtle has bloody mouth from chewing so much and deer breaks the last strap deer and woodpecker get away, but turtle is captured and put in a bag on a tree by the hunter deer comes back to save turtle. He leads the hunter far into the forest, and then runs back to free turtle deer lifts the bag from the tree and turtl

The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls by Ellen C. Babbitt king and his family go to the lake for a swim, queen gives her pearls to her servant who watches over them in a box within the garden garden has lots of monkeys  Girl Monkey sees the pearls and wants them. She waits for the servant to fall asleep, and then she swoops down, grabs them, and runs back up her tree. servant wakes up and sees the pearls gone, the king orders the guards to find the person responsible  chief guard discovers no one could hav taken the pearls, so it must be a monkey he comes up with a plan to trick the Girl Monkey guards set out strings of beads, then the monkeys all come down and grab them, except girl monkey because she already has a string of pearls hidden all the monkeys gloat about their beads to Girl Monkey, who finally pulls hers out to show them off, revealing herself to the chief guard they catch her and send her to the king, who thanks the chief guard for being so wise Monkeys

Wise Merchant vs. The Fool You're a fool, you will die. Being First Means You're Last "I'm going to travel the countryside first and sell my goods to all the people, so I can reap all the benefits and become rich," said the merchant who is later eaten by a demon. "Knock yourself out," said the wise merchant. Bibliography These two microfictions are based on one of the Jataka tales, called The Wise and The Foolish Merchant by Ellen C. Babbitt. Basically, two merchants are buying goods in a city with plans to travel across a desert and sell those goods to others that they pass by. They want to make a profit from doing this. The foolish merchant says he wants to go first, so he can sell all of his goods first, set his own prices, have fresh grass for his oxen, and drink from clean water. The wise merchant allows him to do so, because the wise merchant knows that his oxen will eat the fresh grown grass, prevent himself from digging wells, and be able

The Wise and the Foolish Merchant by Ellen C. Babbitt two merchants stopping in a big city to stock up on goods and supplies so they can sell it to people throughout the countryside (desert) both are leading at the same time. Wise merchant asks if the other merchant will go before or after him other merchant, who is a fool, says he will go before him, in hopes of getting the best prices / food / path first wise merchant lets him, because he knows the fool merchant will have to dig his own wells for water, let his oxen eat the old grass, and set his prices based on the first merchant fool merchant sets out to the countryside, carrying lots of barrels of water with him and his men demon in the desert spots the convoy and decides to trick him so they can eat him demon and demon friends dress up as merchants and decorate themselves, wagons, and oxen in water-lilies and wet grass to act like there is a forest and ponds in the desert they tell the foolish merchant that they should

The Sandy Road by Ellen C. Babbitt men traveling in a desert with oxen. They have to travel on the sand at night because it is too hot to cross during the day travel by night and sleep / eat / feed oxen by night one was a pilot and knew the stars better than others, so he lead the way and the others followed one night the pilot falls asleep, because it is hard to sleep during the day he wakes up and they traveled backwards they were so sure that they would reach the city that they threw away their water, they now were going to die if they didn't find water merchant searches endlessly until he finds a shrub they dig it up till they find a rock merchant convinces a boy not to give up; if he gives up, they all die they break the rock and all are saved when they find a lot of water The Quarrel of the Quails by Ellen C. Babbitt man who lived near forest is a fowler, he catches quails and sells them to the market he catches them by imitating the lead quail's ton

Two young boys were out playing basketball in their front yard on a bright and sunny day. One of the boys, Alex, shot the ball up, but it got stuck between the rim and the backboard. Oh no! They were too short to reach it, and had no way of getting it down. Suddenly, a tall man wearing a #24 Laker’s jersey appeared, and saw the boys’ problem. He walked up to the basketball hoop, and used his long arms to grab the ball from the rim. He handed the ball back to Alex and Jack, smiling to them. The boys ran inside and told their dad of the giant basketball player outside. When their dad came out, he immediately recognized the man as Kobe Bryant.             Kobe explained to the three that he wished to train the boys so that they may help him win a bet against one of his old friends, Shaq. Shaq had challenged Kobe, saying that he could find and train two kids to beat Kobe in a 3-on-3 basketball game. Kobe accepted the challenge, and was now looking for two kids to train and become his

Trial of the Princes by Sister Nivedita Drona hosts a tournament for his students Bhima and Duryodhana have to be separated from fighting  Arjuna is the best with the sword, bow, and mace Karna enters a challenges Arjuna Clouds and rainbows surround Arjuna, Karna is surrounded by the sun Duryodhana makes Karna the King of Anga  The Teacher's Fee Drona tells them they must attack and capture King Drupada. He wounds Duryodhana and Karna, and Arjuna uses this opportunity to attack and capture Drupada Drona doesn't kill Drupada, but makes him give up half his kingdom to Drona. He accepts, and by doing so, he seeks to find a son who can seek revenge against Drona The House of Lac King Dhritarashtra makes Yudhishthira his successor, making Duryodhana super jealous Vidura urges caution to his brothers Duryodhana plots to send the Pandavas away so that he may become king he sends the Pandavas away to a house that will set fire while they're inside, however, V

How the Princes Learned to Shoot by Sister Nivedita Pandavas and Kauravas playing ball, when it goes down a well. a brahmin uses a spell to retreat the ball by making grass turn into chained darts. He also uses a spell to bring his ring back to him, using an arrow that shoots right back at him with the ring on it boys tell Bhishma, and Drona explains he was outcasted by a friend named Drupada, King of Panchala, and wants revenge Bhishma agrees to let him train the boys they have to swear they'll help him after he has taught them Arjuna becomes his favorite, and Karna because the rival boy named Ekalavya tries to join but is rejected, he goes to the forest and learns archery, he shoots seven arrows into mouth of dog Demands he it Drona's pupil and Drona demands his right thumb as his sacrifice. He does it and loses his archery skill Drona tests the boys and asks them what they see on top of a tree. None say right except Arjuna, he sees a bird. He shoots it and becomes

I've appreciated the assignments and reading in the class, and I'm also satisfied with my story telling progression so far. At first, I didn't think this would be my type of thing, I wasn't confident in my story telling skills. However, after taking more and more reading notes and writing a couple stories, I've learned some new skills and developed more confidence in my stories. One of my favorite stories that I've written was my first story, The Eagle and the Turtle. For the second half of the semester, I plan to branch out more with my stories, mixing it up a little more and trying new things. I also plan to give myself some more time to read all the stories, and perhaps combine a few stories into one. Motivation

The feedback I receive from other students is beneficial when drafting new stories because it gives me insight on some things I could try that I wouldn't have thought of myself. Overall, I'm pleased with the comments and feedback I receive from other students. It helps me as a writer to see the story from other people's perspectives, which is really nice. When leaving feedback for other students, I try not to hold back, because I think a comment or feedback that criticizes the story is actually more beneficial than a comment that just says "good job." Not saying that I try to rip other student's stories apart when I give feedback, but I try to look for things that could use some tweaking and point it out to students. I enjoy that people leave comments on my blog, especially my introduction post, and I enjoy being able to learn about other students from their introduction too. However, being an online class, you can only learn so much from your peers, so I'

The readings I have read so far in the reading assignments have given me more interest in some of the characters, weapons, battles, and stories. After some reflection on the course, I went back on my blog and website and figured I should change it a little. I altered the theme to a crisp and easy to read design, and changed the color and theme to some dark woods, for a better storytelling experience. Some of my favorite stories that I've read and altered to my own version include many of the encounter Rama has in the Ramayana, including Rama's Wraith. I also enjoy the battles in the Mahabharata because they bring a lot of dynamics that can be changed or retold in other ways. I've also discovered that, although taking reading notes may take some time and may not be my favorite assignment, they are essential when creating your own story, especially to get some inspiration and let thoughts develop. Looking forward, I realize I can start to manipulate my stories in a couple dif

There once was a powerful and strong king that conquered many kingdoms. He did this with his mighty strength and combat skills, forcing the kingdoms to surrender from his vast power. His name was King Yute, and everyone knew of his reputation, so nobody bothered him. Because of how scared people were of King Yute, he became very obnoxious and cocky. He knew that he could take any kingdom he wanted, and dared anyone to challenge him to a fight or contest. King Dole heard of King Yute’s wrath, and feared that his kingdom, Happenstanceland, was next on the list to be taken. This deeply troubled King Dole, because he knew he could not defeat King Yute in combat, and all he had was his tiny kingdom. He had to come up with a way to beat him without using physical strength. Suddenly, he thought of an idea that would give him the upper hand and let him keep his castle. King Yute, eager to conquer more land, decided to venture to Happenstanceland, a small piece of land where King Dole

Bhishma Falls by Donald A. Mackenzie Bhishma advances ferociously in his chariot, seeking to wreck havoc Krishna knows that Bhishma will not kill a woman, so sends Shikhandin and Arjuna Arjuna is reluctant because he looks at Bhishma as a father figure. His emotions are torn Arjuna ends up fighting Bhishma because he realizes he must fight against someone he loved, just as Bhishma did the same. They battle for hours and everyone stops engaging to look at them Shikhandin charges Bhishma, and he puts his defense down because he can't fight a woman. Arjuna uses this opportunity to shoot him with arrows. He falls of his chariot and will soon die setting describes as darkness and nightfall Arjuna weeps, as do the rest of the warriors Bhishma cries in vain for peace to be resolved and for the Pandavas and Kauravas to become friends again He spoke to Karna, asking for his forgiveness, but Karna hated him, and wanted him dead Bhishma was protected by a guard all night, "p

The Gambling Match  by  Donald A. Mackenzie Duryodhana jealous at the riches of the Pandavas  Yudhishthira is who he wants to take revenge on, but he knows he must find a way to beat him without strength or power he plans to outwit him in a game of dice, specifically known as Parcheesi he hire's Shakuni to do the betting for him. Shakuni is good at gambling, he uses loaded die they invite the Pandavas to Hastinapura for a gambling match Shakuni invites Yudhishthira to gamble with him, however, the stakes are between Yudhishitra and Duryodhana  Yud knows its a trap, but he cannot back out of a match at battle or gambling, so he has to do it he lost every single hand, losing all his riches, his cattle, his elephants, everything he owned until he gave up his life then he gives up Vidura Vidura says that he can't bet on her life because he already gave up his own, so she won't comply Duryodhana doesn't care and has guards take her anyway strange series of even

            Wind rushing through my hair, tips of waves licking my feet, sunrays beaming down on me. It’s summer, and I’m flying across the lake on a jet ski, with my friend on the back with me. It was my first time on a jet ski, and I absolutely loved it. Something about the speed and thrill of skipping across the water really exhilarated me. I was 13 years old, staying at a friend’s house on the lake.              We’re having the time of our lives, when suddenly, I see something in the side view mirror. It’s the last thing I want to see: red and blue lights. So, I “pull over,” which, doesn’t really mean anything in the middle of a lake. I turn off the jet ski and look at my friend. Neither of us are smiling anymore. The police boat pulls up next to us, and the two officers ask me to step on their boat. They start grilling me with questions, asking me if I have a license or proper safety gear with us. Of course, we don’t. I’m on the boat for almost 20 minutes before they let me go

House of Fire  by Sister Nivedita  Prince Vidura suspects that Prince  Duryodhana is setting them up to a trap Pandavas and Queen Kunti reached palace of Varanavata, amazed at its glory and beauty Prince Vidura tells Prince  Yudhishthira, who trusts him and realizes it is a  trap the palace is covered in oil and the roof is made out of wood they hired a skilled miner to dig a tunnel from the palace to outside in the nearby forest, while pretending to not know what's going on to not alert the guards Captain Purochana is in charge of looking after them and then he is supposed to burn the palace down while they are asleep inside finally the day comes, and Queen Kunti and the Pandavas are able to escape Price Bhima goes back to the palace and sets it on fire, killing Captain Purochana that same night, a mother and five boys came to the palace and asked for food. They were given food and wine, and they fell asleep at the palace. When the palace burned up, they perished, and 

Bhishma at the Swayamvara  by Sister Nivedita Bhishma is looking for a queen for his half brother,    Vichitravirya King Benares, who has 3 daughters (Amba, Ambika, Ambalika), invites all the kings and knights from the land to come to his kingdom so that he may find a king for each of his daughters to marry place was elegantly decorated  His voice boomed loudly he declared that he wouldn't participate in the Swayamvara, but that he would take the princesses by force, and fight off any other king that would try to seize them back he scoops all three up on his chariot with his bow, he manages to fight off all kings until they surrender  He takes the three princesses back with him Amba  by Sister Nivedita  Amba tells Bhishma just before the wedding that her true love is devoted to the King of the Shalwas, so she asks if she can leave Hastinapura and go to Shalwas to be reunited with her love Bhishma agrees and sends her on her way turns out the King of Shalwas is a

    In the backyard of a suburban home lived an army of ants. The ants had a giant mound in the corner of the yard, with millions of them living there. There was the King Ant, and the king had a son named Rambo, who was a fierce fighter ant and had tremendous strength. One day, Rambo, his cousin Lance, and his girlfriend Simone all set out to the tall grass beyond the territory of their ant hill. The ants said that what lay beyond the tall grass was mystery and danger. Backyard             While making their way through the tall grass, exploring, the trio of ants came to a clearing. Simone expressed to the group that she was getting thirsty, and wanted to go find some water.  “Right then, I’ll go fetch us some water,” said Rambo. “Lance, stay here with Simone and make sure she’s safe. I’ll be back soon.” So Rambo wandered into the thicket until he came to a nearby sprinkler. He began pouring the water into funneled leaves for the rest of the group. Sprinkler Meanwhile,

Ravana's Son is Killed , by  Sister Nivedita Vibhishana and Lakshman tell Rama that Sita has been killed by Indrajit Vibhishana thinks it's a ploy to delay the monkey army so they won't attack all three pursue Ravan's son to take back Sita They arrive and do battle with Indrajit and his army Lakshman takes most of the damage, but he is blessed with protection from the gods Lakshman sends a powerful arrow through Indrajit's neck, severing it and killing him Ravana grieves hard for his son and vows to kill Sita in revenge, but his counselor convinces him not to, and once he kills Rama, Sita will be his wife Ravana's Fury , by  Sister Nivedita . Ravana is sitting and devising a plan to kill Rama setting is dark, grim, deathly, evil gnashed his teeth, bit his lips and laughed evily goes off to battle with Big-belly, Squint-Eye, and Big-Flank Battle

Rama's Wrath  by  Sister Nivedita Rama and Lakshman leave Sita alone in the forest when they come back, she is gone and they assume a rakshasa ate her they come across a bird called Jatayu, and he tells them that Jatayu fought of a rakshasa, named Ravana, and they battle for Sita before Ravana eventually won and took Sita away to the island of Lanka Rama and Lakshman are thankful for Jatayu and his sacrifice and they build a memorial for him and mourn for him the heroes trek on in search for Sita they come across another terrible rakshasa, and do battle with him, and once they defeat him the rakshasa thanks Rama, claiming he was cursed as a demon until Rama defeated him, and now his soul is free the freed soul tells Rama about a group of monkeys, one called Sugriva, who he should seek for help in order to find Sita Ravana Slain  by  Sister Nivedita Rama hymned the sun, and drank healing water Ravana and Rama come to battle, trading blows back and forth describes

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Ramayana: Rama Attacks, by  Sister Nivedita "Don't attack Rama, Ravana." "I'll attack." This six word story is in reference to the advise Ravana receives from his spies and soldiers in regards to Rama coming to Lanka to retrieve Sita. All the spies tell Ravana he is way in over his head, and that Rama has limitless power. Never the less, thanks to Ravana's incompetence and ignorance, he doesn't surrender Sita, and Ravana goes to battle with Rama, where he is defeated. Ramayana:  Kumbhakarna, by  Donald Mackenzie Kumbhakarna is the greatest demon warrior of all time, and has been in a deep slumber for months. When he is woken up, he fights Rama's army and eats lots of apes, but eventually is slain by Rama. This two sentence story basically sums up how Kumbhakarna affects the battle between Rama and Ravana. Although the demon warrior is supposed to sleep for 6 months before waking up for one day to eat, he is woken up a little early and

Ramayana: Rama Attacks, by  Sister Nivedita setting: dark, cloudy, stormy, earth is shaking Ravana sends monkey spies to see what Rama is up to monkey spies come back and tell Ravana that Rama's power is limitless and they should surrender Sita Ravana gets mad at the spies and banishes them, he sends more monkey spies but they return giving him the same advice, which only angers Ravana even more Ravana comes up with a plan to fool Sita. He makes the illusion of Rama's head and his bow severed and presents it to Sita Sita cannot believe her eyes and tells Ravana to kill her so she may join Rama suddenly, Ravana gets called to battle, and as he leaves, the illusions decimate. Sita knows it is an illusion Ramayana:  Kumbhakarna, by Donald Mackenzie Kumbhakarna is a great a ferocious sleeping demon warrior. He is a giant. He used to roam the earth, killing humans and destroying anything in his past. He even defeated the god Indra. However, Brahma cast a spell on him,

Ramayana: Sugriva and Vali, by Romesh Dutt story expands over three parts, including Sugriva and Vali, Vali's Death, and King Sugriva Tell's the story of Sugriva Sugriva and his brother went chasing after a foe, foe went down hole and Sugriva waited at the entrance to the hole while Vali chased after the enemy. Sugriva thought his brother died, so he filled the hole and returned to the kingdom. When Vali finally emerged from the hole, he returned to kingdom and claimed his brother betrayed him He banishes his brother from the kingdom Sugriva returns with Rama to their kingdom  Kishkindha  to face his brother and reclaim the throne Vali and Sugriva end up battling, and Rama comes in and shoots Vali with an arrow to end it entire monkey kingdom mourn their dead king and Sugriva mourns his brother Ramayana: Sampati and Jatayu by  Frederika Richardson Macdonald Sampati tells the story of how he earned his wounds and why he cannot fly anymore Sampati and his brother u