Once upon a time in a land far far away, there lived a man
named Kowasa. Kowasa lived with his wife who at the time was pregnant with twin
boys. In the land they lived there lived an evil witch. This witch hated anyone
that was happier than her, so she took away their gift.
One day when Kowasa
went away to work she paid a visit to his wife and knocked her down then ripping
open her belly and took out the twins. She threw one behind the curtain and the
other she threw in the river.Kowasa came home that evening tired after a long days work.
“Honey I’m home. I am starving could you fry this fish that I caught from the river?” asked Kowasa. But he got no reply. He then walked over to his wife that appeared as if she was just sitting there smiling but in fact she was dead.
“Honey I’m home. I am starving could you fry this fish that I caught from the river?” asked Kowasa. But he got no reply. He then walked over to his wife that appeared as if she was just sitting there smiling but in fact she was dead.
Many weeks had passed and Kowasa came home to a lonely house
and ate dinner on his own, until one day he heard a voice “May I eat with you?”
said the voice. Kowasa looked around and heard that it was coming from behind
the curtain.
“Reveal yourself”
Kowasa called. And there stood his son and they ate dinner together. His son
explained what had happened and so Kowasa called him Thrown-behind-the-curtain.
Thrown-behind-the-curtain often visited the river where he
played with a young boy of the same age. One day Kowasa came looking for his
son and saw that he was playing with a boy. When Thrown-behind-the-curtain came
home that evening Kowasa had asked him who that boy was and if he would like to
stay with them. But Thrown-behind-the-curtain had told his father that he did
not like to play with others as he lived in the river. “Bring him home one day”
said Kowasa.
“He will not come out to play if he sees you” replied
Thrown-behind-the-curtain.
“I shall hide” said Kowasa.
And so the next day he set off to play with the boy. When
the boy saw that he was being watched he climbed the wall where Kowasa sat and
tried to bite him with his otter appearing sharp teeth. But before he could do
it Kowasa had broken off his teeth and they took the boy home.
Later that evening when they sat for dinner the boy had
explained what had happened to him and so Kowasa knew that it was his other son
and decided to name him Thrown-into-the-river. The two boys grew up to be brave
conquering all the most dangerous obstacles and eventually killing the witch
that cast a spell on their mother which caused her to sleep for many years.
Their mother had awoken from the spell and they lived happily ever after.
Author’s Note: I decided to retell the story of the
Lodge-boy and thrown-away. I enjoyed reading this story the most. I kept the
plot of the story the same but I changed up the names of the characters. The original story is about two boys that
were thrown away by an evil witch before birth. When their father found them to
be alive, he took them both into care and they went on to go through dangerous
adventures which the father had told them not to. But each time they went they
would come back victorious. In the end their mother is bought back from the
dead and so the story ends.
Link : Lodge-boy and Thrown-away
Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).
I really enjoyed your storytelling for this week! The beginning was so wicked and dark, I am really glad that things ended well for the whole family. I think it is a little strange that the boys were big after just a few weeks, but I guess that is what happens in stories. I wonder how they disposed of the witch that put their mother to sleep. That sounds like a great story to read.
ReplyDeleteAbdirahman,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting story. Thanks for retelling it and sharing it with us. You did a great job with it. There were a lot of weird elements to the story, but that's what is great about storytelling. There can be all sorts of supernatural elements and strange things can happen, but that is okay, because it adds to the excitement of the story.
Hi again Abdirahman,
ReplyDeleteThat was a pretty cool story to use, you've done a really good job of finding and telling interesting stories. I liked how it was an odd story with weird characters and twists but a good conclusion. The teeth pulling part unnerved me though since pulling teeth and anything of that nature makes me squeamish. Great job!