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| (Ayodhya |
The Deal
Once upon a time,
there was a King named Dasharatha. He ruled over the capital of Koshala,
Ayodhya. Aydohy is known for its wide streets and extravagant homes. King
Dasharatha had everything that he could ever want. He ruled over a wealthy
kingdom. He lived in a beautiful palaces that was surrounded by gardens that
were numerous in birds, exotic flowers, and fruit trees. And his people loved
him.
Although King
Dasharatha appeared to be happy, if one was to look closely one could see that
he really wasn’t. He and his queen have been married for several years yet they
do not have a child or an heir. This saddened Dasharatha. Despite his riches,
he felt unfulfilled without a child.
One night while
everyone was sleeping, a magical fairy godmother visited King Dasharatha. The
godmother heard King Dasharatha’s prayers and she came to answer his wishes.
The Godmother promised the King a son on one condition – he must decree that
fairies are equal to humans as soon the child is born. Now, in the kingdom of
Adohy fairies were looked down upon. They were nothing but pest to humans. King
Dasharatha excited about the new of possibly getting a son readily accepted the
Godmother’s deal.
Once the child was
born, King Dasharatha was overjoyed. He was so happy and overcome by his son he
forgot about his promise the fairy godmother. This angered the godmother so
much that she approached the king and placed a curse on the child: if he does
not find true love by his 18th birthday he shall die.
It was almost the
king’s son’s 18th birthday. The King Dasharatha has been trying to
find a fair maiden for him but the son turned down every girl. He did not love
any of them. This made the king anxious for he never told his son his fate if
he does not find love by his 18th birthday because he did not want
to scare and upset him.
One day the king’s
son was wandering through the forest and came upon a beautiful young fairy. The
king’s son was raised to stay away from the fairies but the king’s son was so
taken aback by the fairy’s beauty he could not help but introduce himself. It
was love at first sight. Because of King Dasharatha’s detest for the fairies,
they kept their love a secret.
It was the day before
the king’s son’s 18th birthday. King Dasharatha could not sleep that
night at all for tomorrow his son will die because he has not found love yet.
It was finally the
day of his son’s birthday. King Dasharatha entered his son’s room and was
astonished to find that his son was still alive. He asked his son “how this was
possible?” He went on to explain how a fairy godmother put a curse on him. The
son then went on to explain how he had fallen in love with a fairy. The King
was upset by this at first but he was too happy by the fact that his son was
alive he did not care that his lover is fairy. Eventually the son and the fairy
married and because of their marriage the humans and fairies lived in peace and
equally.
Author’s note:
I really enjoyed reading the “King Dasharatha.” I decided to intertwine some fairytales into my version of “King Dasharatha.” I kept how the king was wealthy but not happy because he did not have an heir. In the reading “King Dasharatha,” the king gets a son through a long ritual. I changed this in my story. I was inspired by the traditional fairy tales, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Therefore I intertwined “Cinderella” and Sleeping Beauty” into my story. Instead of having a damsel in distress, the prince needed the saving in my story. I thought this change would be interesting for the reader. I ended the story by making everyone happy. The king is happy because his son did not die, the son is happy because he found the love of his life, and finally the godmother is also happy because now the fairies and humans are finally at peace.
The reason I chose the picture that I chose was because I wanted a picture that represented the essence of the story, which was money does not buy happiness. King Dasharatha, had money, power, land, and authority but he still was not happy. This picture depicts a beautiful kingdom but behind all that beauty is sadness.
"King Dasharatha" from Ramayana (1913). Web Source: Public Domain Edition Ramayana
Your intertwining of these three stories is very smooth. When I am reading your story, I feel like that I had read the settings and background in my childhood, but I cannot recall the detailed content and the names of the stories. I finally find the stories you twisted together are the Cinderella and the Sleeping Beauty. That is really an excellent idea to tell a story like that. I did not think about using stories other than the Ramayana, but I will definitely try to do so next time.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how smoothly you combined the stories. It did not feel like three different stories at all. It flowed quite well. I was even feeling a little anxious for the son to find his wife before he turned eighteen.
ReplyDeleteI think it would have been an interesting twist if you wrote more about the son and the fairy. It did add a surprise ending to the story. But, it could have been interesting if you made them have a hidden love story, following the lines of Frank Churchill and Jane in Jane Austen’s story, Emma.
Also adding some dialogue would let the readers see what exactly the king was thinking. You could show how stressed he was about his son’s future and maybe if he was trying to come up with a plan to help his son. Also, there could be the dialogue where the son tells his father he actually has fallen in love with a fairy. That was probably a shocking moment for the king!
I enjoyed reading your twist on the story!