Week 2 Story: Mr. Wolf v. The Goat Family
They say in the afterlife, God will question each soul for the good and bad they did on Earth. Every second, every moment, and every interaction will be treated like a court case. On this particular day, the case in front of us is Mr. Wolf. Brought into the court case in a stretcher, the Wolf has two puncture wounds on his grey, furry stomach that seems to be full of water. To testify against him he have his own body parts, they have been given permission by God to speak the truth and nothing but the truth.
An angel welcomes Mr. Wolf to leave the stretcher fully healed and take a stand on the witness stand as he is read through the sins of his life. Mr. Wolf reluctantly accepts, sweat dripping from his forehead.
"In the case of Mr. Wolf v. The Goat Family, do the witnesses swear on their creator to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
Before Mr. Wolf could answer this question himself, various parts of his body echoed in unison: "We hear and we obey."
"The first to the questioning are the eyes and the ears," the angel boomed, "please state what you observed together."
Mr. Wolf, shocked from the terror and disbelief witnessed his eyes and ears reply, "We saw the goat leave her family to collect grass and we heard her tell her four kids to only open the door when shown a red hand."
"What did you do then, Mr. Wolf?" the angel interrogated.
Mr. Wolf felt the hot whips of panic overrun his thoughts, "Nothing. I did nothing. I walked away from the scene."
His tale would be overshadowed by his hands and feet, they two collaborated in their confession, "He lies, Your Honor. We were led to the door and then the hands were turned red so that they could deceive the kids."
"May I remind you, Mr. Wolf. You swore and oath. Your body is no longer under your command, but slaves to the truth. What did you do to the kids?"
The muscles were now awakened, "We led them back to Mr. Wolf's house, all but one were in our hands. We began to cook ash when out of nowhere earth was thrown into the ash and we no longer could control sight."
"It was the goat mother and the last kid, Your Honor. They threw earth into the ash in an attempt to take back their family," the eyes and ears explained.
"Is that not a crime," Mr. Wolf called foul, "that they could blind me in my own home? Will they not answer?"
"Mr. Wolf, it is not their hearing, it is yours. They are still living. What did you do after you cleared your eyes?" the angel pushed on.
"He accepted a challenge to fight, Your Honor. We went to the dentist to get sharp teeth after taking him a gift," his tongue responded.
"And this gift, was it one he would have liked to receive?" the angel asks.
"No your honor. In his rage, the dentist took us out instead of sharpening us. He replaced us with cotton," the teeth professed.
Silence drew in the court room, a goat had not only outwitted a wolf, but had also killed him. After deliberating with other angels, the court judge decreed his decision:
"On the case of Mr. Wolf v. The Goat Family, the court finds Mr. Wolf guilty of kidnapping, greed, selfishness, and deception."
Author's Note: This story really got to me as I was reading through some Persian tales because it brings into light the values that the culture admires. I tried to highlight these cultures by pushing on a court case to tell the story from the point of view of the Wolf.
Bibliography: "The Wolf and The Goat" from Persian Tales by D. L. R. Lorimer and E. O. Lorimer
"In the case of Mr. Wolf v. The Goat Family, do the witnesses swear on their creator to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
Before Mr. Wolf could answer this question himself, various parts of his body echoed in unison: "We hear and we obey."
"The first to the questioning are the eyes and the ears," the angel boomed, "please state what you observed together."
Mr. Wolf, shocked from the terror and disbelief witnessed his eyes and ears reply, "We saw the goat leave her family to collect grass and we heard her tell her four kids to only open the door when shown a red hand."
"What did you do then, Mr. Wolf?" the angel interrogated.
Mr. Wolf felt the hot whips of panic overrun his thoughts, "Nothing. I did nothing. I walked away from the scene."
His tale would be overshadowed by his hands and feet, they two collaborated in their confession, "He lies, Your Honor. We were led to the door and then the hands were turned red so that they could deceive the kids."
"May I remind you, Mr. Wolf. You swore and oath. Your body is no longer under your command, but slaves to the truth. What did you do to the kids?"
The muscles were now awakened, "We led them back to Mr. Wolf's house, all but one were in our hands. We began to cook ash when out of nowhere earth was thrown into the ash and we no longer could control sight."
"It was the goat mother and the last kid, Your Honor. They threw earth into the ash in an attempt to take back their family," the eyes and ears explained.
"Is that not a crime," Mr. Wolf called foul, "that they could blind me in my own home? Will they not answer?"
"Mr. Wolf, it is not their hearing, it is yours. They are still living. What did you do after you cleared your eyes?" the angel pushed on.
"He accepted a challenge to fight, Your Honor. We went to the dentist to get sharp teeth after taking him a gift," his tongue responded.
"And this gift, was it one he would have liked to receive?" the angel asks.
"No your honor. In his rage, the dentist took us out instead of sharpening us. He replaced us with cotton," the teeth professed.
Silence drew in the court room, a goat had not only outwitted a wolf, but had also killed him. After deliberating with other angels, the court judge decreed his decision:
"On the case of Mr. Wolf v. The Goat Family, the court finds Mr. Wolf guilty of kidnapping, greed, selfishness, and deception."
Author's Note: This story really got to me as I was reading through some Persian tales because it brings into light the values that the culture admires. I tried to highlight these cultures by pushing on a court case to tell the story from the point of view of the Wolf.
Bibliography: "The Wolf and The Goat" from Persian Tales by D. L. R. Lorimer and E. O. Lorimer
Hi Muneeb! I am so glad you liked the Persian stories; that is one of my favorite units in the UnTextbook! For this first story, the idea was to tell a story from the Anthology, and that way everybody would have more of a basis for understanding the original story each person started from. This story will be perfect for Week 5 or 6 when we get to the Middle Eastern units... do you think you would have time to write a story based on the notes you took this week about the Man in the Moon? If so, that would be GREAT, and you can use this story in Week 5 or Week 6. If you don't have time, no problem... but to put a story in the randomizer for people to read and comment on next week, it needs to be one of the Anthology stories. I hope that makes sense; I'll send you an email too! And either way is good; if you're busy, no problem, but if you have time for a Moon story, that would be great!
ReplyDeleteHi Muneeb, this worked out great! I'm putting this in the randomizer now, plus you'll get comments at your Portfolio later on (that starts in Week 6)... and you can tell another Iranian story this week, or choose some other reading for Week 5 if you want. The Raja Rasalu unit has a Punjabi hero; that might be fun. Anyway, there's a ton of choices for this time around, including the Persian stories again. So much good stuff! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Muneeb! I enjoyed your story very much. I think the way you wrote it like a court case is very interesting. I also liked the way you wrote the dialogue that came from the wolf's body parts. The way the body parts spoke made it very clear that the wolf did not have control over what information his body parts would reveal to the court. I look forward to reading more of your stories!
ReplyDeleteHey Muneeb,
ReplyDeleteI read your Squidward story yesterday and I was excited to read more of your stories so today I found this one, and I thought it was fantastic. I like the idea of the wolf's body testifying against him. You managed to tell the story of the trial and the previous actions very well together and made it easy to follow along. I am definitely looking forward to reading your story book or portfolio as you work on it.
-Cat
Hi Muneed!
ReplyDeleteI have never read the story of The Wolf and The Goat before. However, when i read your storytelling, it appears just like one of the folklore in Vietnam. The Goat Mother left the house to find some food for the kids and told them not to open the door for anyone because the Wolf are very good at imitation others. Unfortunately, The Wolf finally got to the home and ate all of them except the little one hiding behind the wall.
Your version are very interesting to read, because it is adapted to kind of modern style of writing. I love the context that you make up, in the court and under the oath.
-Kha-
Hey Muneeb. Great story. I loved the setting of a court case, and the magical realism of being able to question the body parts individually and without input from the mind. It was really creative and honestly a little creepy to imagine, but in a good way. I was reading and trying to imagine hearing my ears or eyes speak without my permission. Will the goat and her family eventually be charged with the manslaughter of the wolf? I mean they did kill him, indirectly.
ReplyDeleteHi Muneeb, for this comment I will be using the pretend method, and will be pretending to be Mr. Wolf.
ReplyDeleteIt was treachery I tell you! I had no such intentions to harm those kids, I merely wanted to show them a thing in my home. Before I could do such a thing, the mother and the one kid who I wasn't able to persuade showed up. They blinded me in my own home. Then that treacherous dentist removed my perfectly beautiful teeth and replaced them with cotton! I could not defend myself well against that goat, and as such, was unlawfully killed. Whatever sentence I am punished with is folly, and I will not stand for this! The goat and the dentist are the ones at fault, I am innocent! These parts of mine must also have been deceived by another who has it out for me. I have done no harm, please O god, hear me and know what I say to be true!
Hey Muneeb,
ReplyDeleteI just read your first story in your portfolio The Goat Family v. Mr, Wolf. I actually also read this story when you originally posted it as a story for your blog so I was excited to see what changes if any you had made. Before I talk about the story though, I want to give you some tech tips. First, like Laura told me, it is extremely helpful to have a link from your website back to your comment wall so that we easily switch over to give you feedback. Along those lines, your link from the comment wall to your website seems to be broken. I got a 404 error when I tried to follow it back to your website. So I think something is wrong with it, but I don’t know what.
As for your story, the original and your original story there was something about the goat filling his belly with water? I wonder what happened after the wolf was wounded from the fire. How did the duel go? The ending/the court’s decision seems kind of sudden. What if you had some third person explanation of what the jury (god?) thought about the case. Just some things to think about.
I am looking forward to reading more of your work.
-Cat