George, a peasant living in feudal times, sat on a rock looking up at the night sky. This was his favorite part of the day, because he was able to gaze at the stars and not have a worry in the world. As he gazed up he saw a shooting star and wished for a life of luxury. Maybe not even a life of luxury he thought. Maybe just a life where he had enough.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash and a metal box appeared in front of him. George could not believe his eyes. Out of the box stepped a man dressed in clothes George had never seen before. The man also had a face of bewilderment. Before George could speak the man said, "What year is it?" "It is 1020," George replied. "Oops I must have mistyped the numbers," the man said to himself.
Before the man could ask another question George asked "Are you here to grant my wish?" "You are here to bring me riches correct?" Looking to have some fun, the man replied "Why yes I am, but you must answer my three riddles." "Ok," replied George.
"What is your name?" asked the man. "That's not a riddle," said George. "Do you want riches or not?" asked the man. "My name is George," George replied. "Correct." answered the man. While he was correct George wondered how the man knew his name.
"What is your profession?" asked the man. "I am a farmer for the local lord." "Correct again!" replied the man. "Only one more question and the riches are yours. Being a farmer you should know this next one easily."
George could not believe what was happening soon he would have the riches he needed to lift his family out of poverty and improve his town. "How long does it take to grow corn?" asked the man. "What's corn?" asked George. Realizing his mistake the man hesitated. "Umm... Incorrect..."
George was crushed. "But do not despair George. Since you were able to answer two of my questions I will still give you riches, but in a different form," the man said. From inside the man's pocket he pulled out a piece of paper. "These numbers are very important and one day they will bring you and your family riches as long as you hold on to them," said the man.
With that the man departed back into the metal box and the box vanished as suddenly as it had arrived. And while George was excited, he was somewhat sad. If only I could read he thought to himself.
Lottery ticket
Author's Notes: I was inspired by the riddles at the lake story in the Mahabharata, and I wanted to add a fun twist where the protagonist did not get all of the riddles right. I was also inspired by the Monty Python and the Holy Grail bit where they have to answer weird riddles at the bridge in order to cross.
Bibliography: Public Domain Edition of the Mahabharata "Riddles at the Lake" by Donald A. Mackenzie Link
Hey Caleb, This was a very well written story. I really enjoyed the twist you made to the story by making the main character actually fail to understand all of the riddles. I'm a big fan of this style of story and I think you did a great job of adapting it making it your own. I like how you left the story on kind of a cliffhanger with George having what I would assume is a lottery ticket by your image but cant read it.
ReplyDeleteHi Caleb! I really enjoyed reading your story and thought it was very well written overall. I like how you took the original story that most of us read and gave it a bit of a twist which makes your story unique. I love the style you ended up going with for the story and I think you did an amazing job taking what we all read and making it your own!
ReplyDeleteHello Caleb! I actually did not read the original version of your story since I elected to read Tiny Tales from the Mahabharata. After reading you story I went and read the original. I must say that the approach you took was very creative. It was certainly a fun read. Totally awesome, I can't wait to read more of your stories throughout the rest of this course!
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