Updated story: The Helpful Jackal
Hello! I'm Jake the Jackal and I'm going to tell you a story about how I met my human friend, Bennett. The day I met Bennett, I was in a terrible mood. You see, I am the oldest sibling, I have one brother and one sister. On this day, I had plans to go hangout with my buddies, but at the last minute, my mother asked me to stay with my siblings. My dad has been away for awhile hunting for the winter and she said she really needed my help. I was so mad! Fine, I thought to myself, I will just take them with me.
When I showed up with my siblings in tow, my buddies were NOT happy. The didn't want to hangout with "babies," they told me I couldn't go with them this time. I became angrier as we went back and waited for my mother. Finally, my mother came back and I told her she ruined my entire day by making me watch my siblings and that I was never going to watch them again. I took off, I didn't know where I was going but I needed to get away.
It was dusk when I finally calmed down and stopped running, I was walking back to the pack when I came across a human walking frantically in our territory. We are not suppose to approach humans, I didn't care though. He looked scared and pitiful.
I approached the human, "Hello, you shouldn't be here... there are some mighty beast that roam these areas."
"Mind your own business! I am facing death as we speak!" said the human.
I slowly approached the human, "by who? Maybe I can help you, this is my home you know."
The human, Bennett, went on to tell me that he had been walking when he came across a tiger in a trap. He knew if he helped the tiger it would turn around and kill him but the tiger promised this poor human that wasn't the case. The tiger had told him he would owe his life to Bennett. In my experience, tigers are so full of themselves, why would he toy with a human like this? I mean, I am not a fan of humans but this one, Bennett, he seems nice enough. He let a tiger out of a cage for goodness sake! He's either crazy or too good of a person, maybe both.
I interrupted Bennett, "I'm not really understanding everything, I think if I could be there I could picture it better and maybe understand what you are telling me." The human looked at me in a very distrustful way, but could I blame him?
"I really want to understand, was the tiger in the cage, or were you?"
"I will just take you, what do I have to lose at this point" said Bennett.
We walked along and through his sobs, I realized that my day really wasn't so bad compared to his. I can't believe I got so upset with my family. Maybe I can do something about it, I can try at least. Maybe doing something in kindness will make me feel better.
"Ahhhh, here you are my feast, oh you brought another for me," said the Tiger.
Bennett was trembling, "well actually, I just brought Jake along because I was telling him our uhm... situation and he just couldn't get it through his head. So I brought him here to better understand what is going on."
Bennett goes on to explain again what went down, meanwhile the tiger is sharpening his claws. From the corner of my eye I can see the tiger silently laughing.
"So from what I understand.... Bennett was in the cage and you the tiger, let him out?
"No you dog, I was in the cage!!" said the tiger.
"Well why did you go in there? That wasn't very smart."
The tiger huffed and got up to walk towards us, "I didn't go in the cage on purpose, it was a trap. Why can't you understand that? You wouldn't willingly go into a cage would you? How dumb could that be!"
"How did you get trapped though? I really am not understanding."
"Oh my goodness, I am starving, I will show you not because I care but because I am ready for my dinner." The tiger proceeds to tell me that he was hunting when he was lured into the cage with a fake scent. He then goes into the cage like I had hoped he would. I immediately rushed over and locked the cage.
"NOOO!! You dumb dog, let me out!!" roared the tiger.
"You wouldn't willingly go into a cage would you? How dumb could that be, tiger?" I said.
Bennett and I walked away as the tiger was clawing and roaring. He couldn't stop thanking me, "you saved my life Jake!! How could I ever repay you?"
I feel so good, I helped someone, a human! I saved a life today, and it felt good to be helpful.
I thought for a second on how my day had started out so bad and how I treated my siblings and mother. My mom needed my help and I couldn't take a day off from exploring with my buddies to help her. She keeps us safe, feeds us, teaches us, the least I could've done was help her. If I feel this good when I help a stranger, why can't I feel this good when I help my family? I can, and I will from now on.
"The only way you can repay me is by doing good for others. If someone asks for your help, no matter how small or big, help them. It will make them feel good as well as yourself." I told Bennett.
"Of course, of course, I will look for ways to be helpful, I will help when asked and if I can't do it, I will find someone who can."
Author's note:
In the original story, the Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal, the jackal was my favorite character. This is why I chose to write a story from his point of view. One could explore many reasons why the jackal went out of his way in the original story to help the Brahman, this is my take.
Bibliography: "The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal." by Joseph Jacobs. Web source.
Image: The Meeting
Hello! I'm Jake the Jackal and I'm going to tell you a story about how I met my human friend, Bennett. The day I met Bennett, I was in a terrible mood. You see, I am the oldest sibling, I have one brother and one sister. On this day, I had plans to go hangout with my buddies, but at the last minute, my mother asked me to stay with my siblings. My dad has been away for awhile hunting for the winter and she said she really needed my help. I was so mad! Fine, I thought to myself, I will just take them with me.
When I showed up with my siblings in tow, my buddies were NOT happy. The didn't want to hangout with "babies," they told me I couldn't go with them this time. I became angrier as we went back and waited for my mother. Finally, my mother came back and I told her she ruined my entire day by making me watch my siblings and that I was never going to watch them again. I took off, I didn't know where I was going but I needed to get away.
It was dusk when I finally calmed down and stopped running, I was walking back to the pack when I came across a human walking frantically in our territory. We are not suppose to approach humans, I didn't care though. He looked scared and pitiful.
I approached the human, "Hello, you shouldn't be here... there are some mighty beast that roam these areas."
"Mind your own business! I am facing death as we speak!" said the human.
I slowly approached the human, "by who? Maybe I can help you, this is my home you know."
The human, Bennett, went on to tell me that he had been walking when he came across a tiger in a trap. He knew if he helped the tiger it would turn around and kill him but the tiger promised this poor human that wasn't the case. The tiger had told him he would owe his life to Bennett. In my experience, tigers are so full of themselves, why would he toy with a human like this? I mean, I am not a fan of humans but this one, Bennett, he seems nice enough. He let a tiger out of a cage for goodness sake! He's either crazy or too good of a person, maybe both.
I interrupted Bennett, "I'm not really understanding everything, I think if I could be there I could picture it better and maybe understand what you are telling me." The human looked at me in a very distrustful way, but could I blame him?
"I really want to understand, was the tiger in the cage, or were you?"
"I will just take you, what do I have to lose at this point" said Bennett.
We walked along and through his sobs, I realized that my day really wasn't so bad compared to his. I can't believe I got so upset with my family. Maybe I can do something about it, I can try at least. Maybe doing something in kindness will make me feel better.
"Ahhhh, here you are my feast, oh you brought another for me," said the Tiger.
Bennett was trembling, "well actually, I just brought Jake along because I was telling him our uhm... situation and he just couldn't get it through his head. So I brought him here to better understand what is going on."
Bennett goes on to explain again what went down, meanwhile the tiger is sharpening his claws. From the corner of my eye I can see the tiger silently laughing.
"So from what I understand.... Bennett was in the cage and you the tiger, let him out?
"No you dog, I was in the cage!!" said the tiger.
"Well why did you go in there? That wasn't very smart."
The tiger huffed and got up to walk towards us, "I didn't go in the cage on purpose, it was a trap. Why can't you understand that? You wouldn't willingly go into a cage would you? How dumb could that be!"
"How did you get trapped though? I really am not understanding."
"Oh my goodness, I am starving, I will show you not because I care but because I am ready for my dinner." The tiger proceeds to tell me that he was hunting when he was lured into the cage with a fake scent. He then goes into the cage like I had hoped he would. I immediately rushed over and locked the cage.
"NOOO!! You dumb dog, let me out!!" roared the tiger.
"You wouldn't willingly go into a cage would you? How dumb could that be, tiger?" I said.
Bennett and I walked away as the tiger was clawing and roaring. He couldn't stop thanking me, "you saved my life Jake!! How could I ever repay you?"
I feel so good, I helped someone, a human! I saved a life today, and it felt good to be helpful.
I thought for a second on how my day had started out so bad and how I treated my siblings and mother. My mom needed my help and I couldn't take a day off from exploring with my buddies to help her. She keeps us safe, feeds us, teaches us, the least I could've done was help her. If I feel this good when I help a stranger, why can't I feel this good when I help my family? I can, and I will from now on.
"The only way you can repay me is by doing good for others. If someone asks for your help, no matter how small or big, help them. It will make them feel good as well as yourself." I told Bennett.
"Of course, of course, I will look for ways to be helpful, I will help when asked and if I can't do it, I will find someone who can."
Author's note:
In the original story, the Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal, the jackal was my favorite character. This is why I chose to write a story from his point of view. One could explore many reasons why the jackal went out of his way in the original story to help the Brahman, this is my take.
Bibliography: "The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal." by Joseph Jacobs. Web source.
Image: The Meeting
Hi Destiny!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story! I am very impressed with your ability to use dialogue throughout the story. This is something I always struggle with when writing stories, and hopefully I can find inspiration from others like you. Reading the story from the perspective of Jake the Jackal was very neat. I appreciated the fact he was in a mood/having a bad day, but still found a way to help Bennett escape from the tiger.
Hi Destiny!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the additional explorations you added in your retelling. The well-developed backstory to the jackal was fun to read, and the "fake scent" on the cage helped me understand why the tiger was caught in the cage in the first place. I am glad you added a feel-good moral to the story, but I also wonder that if the jackal wants Bennett to help anyone "no matter how small or big," he might end up helping a tiger again!
Hey Destiny,
ReplyDeleteThis was a great story to see the Jackal as more than just a trickster. I liked the Jackal in the original story as well, I just felt like some greater character development would do him some justice. I enjoyed your insights into the Jackal. I originally thought that the explanation for his trickster behavior was going to stem from the fact that he was in a bad mood. However, you went even further a decided to use this story to establish a moral and act as a teaching tool. It undid the sense of failure that comes from the Brahman's form of helpfulness and reaffirms that helping others does provide rewards.