Week 2 Story
The Hawk and the Snake's Heart
Once upon a time, while Brahmadatta was king of Benares, the Bohdhisatta came to life at the foot of Himalaya as a snake. He grew strong and sturdy, and lived by a curve of a canyon.
Now at that time there was a Hawk dwelling in the sky. The Hawk's mate spotted the great frame of the snake, and she had a burning desire for his heart to eat. So she said to her lord, "Sir I desire to eat the heart of that great king of the snake!"
"Good wife," said the Hawk, "I live in the air and trees and he hides in his underground tunnels: how can we catch him?"
"By hook or by crook," she replied, "caught he must be. If I don't get him, I shall die."
"All right," answered the Hawk, consoling her, "don't trouble yourself. I have a plan; I will give you his heart to eat."
So when the Bodhisatta was slithering near the side of the canyon, after taking his final sips from a small puddle, the hawks drew near and said: "Sir Snake, why do you live on bad food in this old familiar place? On the other side of this canyon there is no end to the mice and water. Is it not better to cross over and have all kinds of different meals to eat?"
"Lord Hawk," the Snake made answer, "deep and wide is the canyon: how shall I get across?"
"If you will go, I will carry you to the other side."
The Snake trusted him, and agreed. "Come here, then," said the other; "let me carry you!" and up the Hawk flew gently carrying the Snake. But when the Crocodile had flown a little way, he began flying down into the canyon.
"Good friend, where are you taking me!" cried the Snake. "What is that for?"
Said the Hawk, "You think I am carrying you out of pure good nature? Not a bit of it! My wife has a longing for your heart, and I want to give it to her to eat!"
"Friend," said the Snake, "it is nice of you to tell me. Why, if our heart were inside us when we go slithering from foreign hole to foreign holes, it would be torn to pieces!"
"Well, where do you keep it?" asked the other.
The Bodhisatta pointed out a hole know as the Snake den, with a cluster of snakes around. "See," said he, "there are our hearts hiding in the hole."
"If you will show me your heart," said the Hawk, "then I won't kill you."
"Take me to the hole, then, and I will point it out to you."
The Hawk brought him to the place. The Snake slithered into the hole and sat within it.
"O silly Hawk!" said he; "you thought that there were creatures that kept their hearts in a hole! You are a fool, and I have outwitted you! You may keep your mice to yourself. Your body is great but you have no sense."
The Hawk, feeling as sad and miserable as if he had lost a thousand pieces of money, went back sorrowing to the place where he lived.
Author Note:
This story originated with a monkey and crocodiles. The partner crocodile wants to eat the heart of the monkey so the husband crocodile tries to trick the monkey. The monkey's 'heart' was in a fig tree that was unreachable by the crocodile so he had to bring the monkey back from the middle of the river so he could grab his 'heart'. The monkey did not end up giving his heart to the crocodile and he swam away.
Bibliography. "The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart" from Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock. Story Source
Hi Matt! I really enjoyed your story, and I feel like changing the characters from a crocodile and a monkey to a hawk and a snake was creative. By keeping the desired object the same across both stories, it established a clear connection between the narratives but still allowed for creative liberty. I also liked the change of environment; rather than keeping it a river, a canyon poses a much bigger obstacle for a snake.
ReplyDeleteHey Matt!
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you changed the characters to a hawk and a snake instead of the original crocodile and monkey. The change in setting was a nice element to the story. I loved that you decided to use a canyon as the background of the story. Did you consider maybe adding more detail of how the desert and the canyon looked? Perhaps, you could describe the vegetation if there was any or the other animals that lived there, as well. You might want to better explain where the Snake den is located. I was confused if it was on the side where the snake was originally on or did he get to the other side and into another Snake den? Should the hawk go back home and explain to his wife what had happened? It would be funny to see the wife’s reaction because he almost had the snake but got outsmarted by it. You did a great job!