Week 2 Story The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses
In a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, Devadatta came to life again in the form of a monkey. He resided at the bottom of a mountain in the Himalayas where he became king over a tribe of monkeys. Devadatta was very self conscious however, and felt threatened that one day his sons would grow strong and overtake him as king. So when each of his sons were born the monkey king gelded them with his sharp teeth, preventing them from ever growing strong enough to overthrow him.
It was until one day a monkey, pregnant with the Bodhisatta, fled the tribe for fear of her son being gelded at birth. The Bodhisatta was born and grew to be strong and sturdy, large framed, yet swift as the wind. The time came when the Bodhisatta asked his mother where his father was.
The mother replied, "Your father lives far away. It is best that we stay here for your own safety. Your father is a jealous man."
The Bodhisatta looked confused and replied, "What do I have for him to be jealous of?"
The mother replied "You are young, yet stronger than an elephant and faster than a cheetah. Your father fears that you will overtake him as king."
"That's foolish, I only wish for us to become part of the tribe again", the Bodhisatta replied.
"I know, but your father cannot see past his jealousy and would never let you live safely under the same rule as him", said the mother.
So that night when the moon was high in the sky and all was quiet, the Bodhisatta snuck away and embarked on his journey to find the monkey king and plea to let him and his mother back into the tribe. The Bodhisatta was so strong and agile that he zoomed over multiple trees with a single bound. It wasn't long before he arrived at the base of the mountain where the monkey king ruled. The village was surrounded by a large wooden fence which had sharpened pikes pointing towards the sky. It didn't do much to keep the Bodhisatta out, however, as he effortlessly bounded over the wall. Once inside the walls he the village was rich with resources. To the left there were mounds of nuts, fruits, seeds, and flowers, and to the right there was a spring where young monkeys were playing. Ahead the Bodhisatta saw the monkey king, sitting on his throne where he was being fanned by large leaves held by female monkeys. The monkey king jumped up immediately alarmed at the sight of the Bodhisatta. The old monkey king looked grey and tired next to the young strong Bodhisatta.
When he approached, the Bodhisatta said to the king, "Hello o supreme monkey king, you do not know me but I am your son. My mother fled the tribe to give birth to me for fear for my safety. Now I am back asking for you to let us into your kingdom."
The monkey king embraced his son gripping the Bodhisatta's forearm tightly, to try and show his son how strong he still was. The Bodhisatta returned the firm shake, gripping tightly down on the monkey king's arm knowing he had the power to snap it if he so chose. The monkey king let out a shriek and pulled his arm away quickly.
"You are strong my boy, but I fear we do not have any room for you here" the monkey king said, while rubbing his bruised forearm.
Outraged that he had came all this way for his father to turn him away the Bodhisatta replied, "My mother has spent the last many years caring for me all alone without help. You will make room for us!"
The monkey king sucked in a deep breathe, puffed his chest out, and stood tall before replying, "I am the king here and refuse to take orders from some stray monkey".
The Bodhisatta was so full of rage his face became flushed red and it seemed like he grew 5 inches in height as he stood tall before the king. "There appears to be only one way to settle this. My mother has told me of our tribe's traditions, I challenge you old king!"
Now with the whole village watching the monkey king had no choice but to accept the challenge. The members of the tribe prepared the ring in the middle of the village for the banana eating contest to decide who would be the new king of the village. At the sign they both began eating as fast as they could. The monkey king, old and wise with experience, had flawless banana peeling technique. But he couldn't quite keep up with the Bodhisatta's frenzied assault on his pile of bananas. The Bodhisatta flew threw the pile eating them one, two, three at a time! The challenge was quickly over and the monkey king sat next to his pile of uneaten bananas, defeated.
As punishment the monkey king had to live the remainder of his days in exile of the village, for shame of losing the challenge. The Bodhisatta's mother was then granted entry back into the village and the Bodhisatta ruled there happily for many years.
Author's Note
I kept the characters the same. The story was originally supposed to be the monkey came back to the monkey king and the monkey king feared how strong he had gotten and knew that he couldn't kill his son himself. So instead he sent him to go gather lotuses, which was actually a trap because there was an ogre that lived in the swamp. When the clever monkey gathered the lotuses while avoiding the ogre, the ogre befriended the monkey and carried the flowers back to the village for him. Upon seeing this the monkey king knew he was doomed and his heart literally exploded into pieces. I didn't really have a plan for changing the story, I just started typing and this is what came out. I thought the banana eating contest would be funny.
Bibliography
"The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses" by Robert Chalmers. https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/lotuses
Monkey goin bananas by DailyHaHa. http://www.dailyhaha.com/_pics/monkey_banana_crazy.htm
It was until one day a monkey, pregnant with the Bodhisatta, fled the tribe for fear of her son being gelded at birth. The Bodhisatta was born and grew to be strong and sturdy, large framed, yet swift as the wind. The time came when the Bodhisatta asked his mother where his father was.
The mother replied, "Your father lives far away. It is best that we stay here for your own safety. Your father is a jealous man."
The Bodhisatta looked confused and replied, "What do I have for him to be jealous of?"
The mother replied "You are young, yet stronger than an elephant and faster than a cheetah. Your father fears that you will overtake him as king."
"That's foolish, I only wish for us to become part of the tribe again", the Bodhisatta replied.
"I know, but your father cannot see past his jealousy and would never let you live safely under the same rule as him", said the mother.
So that night when the moon was high in the sky and all was quiet, the Bodhisatta snuck away and embarked on his journey to find the monkey king and plea to let him and his mother back into the tribe. The Bodhisatta was so strong and agile that he zoomed over multiple trees with a single bound. It wasn't long before he arrived at the base of the mountain where the monkey king ruled. The village was surrounded by a large wooden fence which had sharpened pikes pointing towards the sky. It didn't do much to keep the Bodhisatta out, however, as he effortlessly bounded over the wall. Once inside the walls he the village was rich with resources. To the left there were mounds of nuts, fruits, seeds, and flowers, and to the right there was a spring where young monkeys were playing. Ahead the Bodhisatta saw the monkey king, sitting on his throne where he was being fanned by large leaves held by female monkeys. The monkey king jumped up immediately alarmed at the sight of the Bodhisatta. The old monkey king looked grey and tired next to the young strong Bodhisatta.
When he approached, the Bodhisatta said to the king, "Hello o supreme monkey king, you do not know me but I am your son. My mother fled the tribe to give birth to me for fear for my safety. Now I am back asking for you to let us into your kingdom."
The monkey king embraced his son gripping the Bodhisatta's forearm tightly, to try and show his son how strong he still was. The Bodhisatta returned the firm shake, gripping tightly down on the monkey king's arm knowing he had the power to snap it if he so chose. The monkey king let out a shriek and pulled his arm away quickly.
"You are strong my boy, but I fear we do not have any room for you here" the monkey king said, while rubbing his bruised forearm.
Outraged that he had came all this way for his father to turn him away the Bodhisatta replied, "My mother has spent the last many years caring for me all alone without help. You will make room for us!"
The monkey king sucked in a deep breathe, puffed his chest out, and stood tall before replying, "I am the king here and refuse to take orders from some stray monkey".
The Bodhisatta was so full of rage his face became flushed red and it seemed like he grew 5 inches in height as he stood tall before the king. "There appears to be only one way to settle this. My mother has told me of our tribe's traditions, I challenge you old king!"
Now with the whole village watching the monkey king had no choice but to accept the challenge. The members of the tribe prepared the ring in the middle of the village for the banana eating contest to decide who would be the new king of the village. At the sign they both began eating as fast as they could. The monkey king, old and wise with experience, had flawless banana peeling technique. But he couldn't quite keep up with the Bodhisatta's frenzied assault on his pile of bananas. The Bodhisatta flew threw the pile eating them one, two, three at a time! The challenge was quickly over and the monkey king sat next to his pile of uneaten bananas, defeated.
As punishment the monkey king had to live the remainder of his days in exile of the village, for shame of losing the challenge. The Bodhisatta's mother was then granted entry back into the village and the Bodhisatta ruled there happily for many years.
Author's Note
I kept the characters the same. The story was originally supposed to be the monkey came back to the monkey king and the monkey king feared how strong he had gotten and knew that he couldn't kill his son himself. So instead he sent him to go gather lotuses, which was actually a trap because there was an ogre that lived in the swamp. When the clever monkey gathered the lotuses while avoiding the ogre, the ogre befriended the monkey and carried the flowers back to the village for him. Upon seeing this the monkey king knew he was doomed and his heart literally exploded into pieces. I didn't really have a plan for changing the story, I just started typing and this is what came out. I thought the banana eating contest would be funny.
Bibliography
"The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses" by Robert Chalmers. https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/lotuses
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