Week 11 Story: The Loved Ox
The Loved Ox
The ox being celebrated
Web Source: Gateway
In a rural town far away, there was an ox who was loved and celebrated by all who knew him.
The ox was mighty and strong. He was the best ox in the town and there was nothing too heavy for him.
One day, the ox was in town with his beloved owner and was offering to help pull loads of hay for the local people.
An outsider found his way into town and saw the marvelous ox pulling loads of hay for the people without getting tired or taking a break.
He questioned the true strength of the ox and said, "There is no way the ox can pull something heavier than hay like my carts filled with stone."
The owner of the ox looked confused as to why this outsider had such a heavy load and it was because he planned to settle down in the town.
Out of the kindness of his heart, the ox decided to pull this load for the outsider and help him get a start on his new home.
On the journey to the empty land, the outsider noted that the ox was incredibly strong and thanked him for his assistance.
The outsider offered money to the owner of the ox as compensation for lending the ox's service to him despite his disbelief in the ox's strength.
The owner turned him down and instead asked the outsider to express his gratitude solely towards the ox.
The outsider fashioned a garland of flowers and hung it around the ox's neck. He thanked the ox over and over again for helping him because he knew it would have taken weeks to move all of that stone across town.
The ox felt loved and vowed to never stop helping people in need. On his way off the land, the ox looked back and nodded to the outsider, which let him know that he had been welcomed into the town.
For this story, I decided to take out the part where the owner of the ox boasts about the ox and loses money in a bet. I wanted to fill the story with love and show that animals can be valued. I am a huge animal lover, so it was an easy decision to go down this route with my story. I think my love for animals shows in my stories because I tend to recreate stories involved with animals. In the original story, there is a person questioning the strength of the ox, but the owner challenges the person to a bet. The ox is furious with how the owner was treating him and decided not to perform well in the bet, which cost the owner his money. They end up discussing their quarrels with each other and enter another bet where they win back their money. However, for my version of the story, I left all of this out and highlighted the owner's love for his ox by the owner refusing to accept compensation for the ox's good deeds.
Bibliography:
The Ox Who Won the Forfeit
Author: Ellen C. Babbitt
Web Source: The Ox Who Won the Forfeit
Hi Adrianna!
ReplyDeleteI liked what you did with this story! I hadn’t read the original story, but someone else referenced it in one of their stories so I looked it up. I think it’s cool how you removed the antagonistic aspects of the tale and turned it into a story of collaboration. The only suggestion I have is that maybe you could have the owner almost get frustrated and make the bet, but then realize that wasn’t fair to his ox.
Hey Adrianna,
ReplyDeleteI liked what you did with the story and I am glad that you made it a happy one! I honestly thought that the outsider was going to do something bad, but then I was surprised when it didn't come. The only thing I would fix, would be in the second line. You put "there was not anything too heavy," which paints the image, but it is chunky. Instead, I would put "there was nothing too heavy." This would make it flow better and the sentence would not be as choppy.
Hi Adriana,
ReplyDeleteI find it really cool that you took out the part where the owner boasts about the ox. Making the Ox a selfless and helpful being was a great move for the story. I liked the changes you made to the Ox from the original story. I look forward to reading more stories from you later in the semester.
Hi Adriana,
ReplyDeleteRecently I also read the Jataka Tales and liked this one about the Ox a lot! I really liked here that you did not include the part about the owner boasting and made it a completely different story. It was all for the most part positive and I liked that! I also liked how much the owner appreciated his ox and treated him so kindly! It was not the owner who should be awarded for the animals hardworking but the OX.