Storytelling for Week Four: Prince Charles

Prince Charles

There once was a prince named Charles. He had to take the throne at the ripe age of sixteen due to the untimely death of his great father King Bradley. As with any young man in his position, he let the power go to his head. He started making absurd laws and not serving his people in a just way. Mobs began forming outside the castle everyday growing in rage and violence. They were so displeased with the performance of the prince and wanted him removed from the thrown instantly.

The prince’s advisors told him the only way to save his throne was to marry a woman to help him justly rule the country. The prince eventually obliged and started seeking out women. He had many problems finding a wife due to his unpopularity within the country. Eventually he found three women who were willing to be his wife. To decide which one to marry he gave them the task of quieting the growing mob outside the castle. The first woman made him some wonderful earplugs that could silence all the noises of the mob and let him lay in peace. The second woman started making large and delicious meals in an effort to keep the crowd’s mouths full so they could not yell. The third woman took charge and stood before the people calming them down with her kind words and wisdom.

After much deliberation the prince finally decided on the third woman. The third woman was the most take charge and he felt she could help him run this country justly. She was very proud to have been picked and they were quickly married.

All was well for a while. Then the prince started reverting back to his old ways. He started partying too much and having no regard for the country he was supposed to be running. Again the mobs were formed. Naturally, the prince decided to send his wife out to calm then mob since she did such a wonderful job the first time around. Unfortunately, this times things did not go as planned. The wife went out to the courtyard to try and reason with the people and promise she will get the prince back on the right track. The people were outraged claiming he had already used up all of his chances and they were done waiting on him to grow up. Her efforts at reasoning were failing but she was not keen to giving up. She trying day and night to calm the angry mob with no success. And while she was out there the prince was just dragging the country further and further downhill with debt at its all-time high along with massive crime rates and deaths around the country.

After a few days the crowd became fed up and decided that if the wife would not let them in to the prince they would just go through her. The wife was trampled dead by the angry mob as they rushed into the castle. Once inside they grabbed the prince from his sleeping chambers and carried him to the furthest border of their country. Out of respect for his great father (may he rest in peace) they decided to spare his life but ban him from their country for the rest of his days. 

Author's Note: My tale is a combination of the overarching story from Tales of a Parrot and one of the parrot's nightly tales. The overarching story is of a wife wanting to cheat on her husband while he is out of town. The parrot distracts her from leaving each night by telling her these lengthy tales. When the husband returns the parrot tells him of her thoughts of cheating and he kills her for her unfaithfulness. The tale I mashed with the overarching story is called The Merchant whose Daughter was Lost. This tale is of three gentleman callers fighting over a woman. One day she is taken in the night and the three men use their skills to find her and bring her home. Then she must decide which one to marry based off of what they did to save her. She chooses the third one who actually came and picked her up. 

My thoughts for this tale was to take the small story and change the roles and make it a male with three females after his affection since this is not usually the case in old tales. I thought it would make the story a bit more dynamic. I then combined it with the main story by adding the sad ending which is in line with the sad ending of Tales of a Parrot. I wanted to keep some elements of the reading while still making it new and interesting. 

Bibliography:  The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801).

the young prince

Week Four Reading Diary Cont.: Tales of a Parrot

The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801).

• The first story in this section the parrot tells about friendship and how a snake and a frog repayed a prince for his kindness to them but once they had repayed their service they went back to their homes. I also like how he took his money to charity and did not become rich from it. 
• The main woman starts to question her new lover's personality
• The next story was probably the best so far it is of three men fighting over a young woman trying to win her over with their skills. She is captured and all their skills were used to save her but only one was willing to actually go in and rescue her with no regard to his own life. 
• A princess runs off with a man of no status and takes enough gold from her father so they can live in peace outside his territory for the rest of their lives
• This was another tale about who deserved the woman in this one her husbands head and body got displaced so which one was the rightful husband? head or body? the head because of the thoughts, memories and wisdom kept there
• Now the main woman feels like she is shameful for even thinking of going and is questioning her "lover"
• The next story is actually one that is about not committing adultery. It is about wanting to and realizing the wrongs but then dying without their one true love. 
• The next story a man tries to help a snake then the snake goes to bite him so the man tricks the snake and ends up killing him
• This story basically tells that no secret is truly safe unless it is only in your mind. Once he confided in his wife he was busted.
• The lesson of the next story is not to always follow other's actions because it may not have the same outcome for you. Like hitting a man and him turning to gold because of a phrophecy 
• this story was awful, the elephant just had a scratch he was not trying to harm the eggs it is awful that he had to die for it. especially in such a cruel and suffering way
• Now the main woman wants to be completely single
• This story was weird, basically some animals came into the garden and got caught because the donkey started singing poorly
• HOLY COW! The ending was entirely unexpected. Not just with the last tale but also with the original characters. As for the tale I am glad the son was not killed and that family could rejoin. As for the main story I am so surprised as the parrot for telling everything, and I am surprised she was killed considering she never actually went out to meet the man.

Elephant from one of the tales, I really enjoy elephant pictures

Week Four Reading Diary: Tales of a Parrot

The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801).

• The female seems a bit crazy, like she has anger issues. When the parrot told her cheating was bad she just killed it with no thought
• This parrot is very clever telling his first story like that of what reality could soon be looking like
• the next story is of men fighting over a woman and then the woman disappearing and none of the men getting what they want
• Next is of giving your livelihood for someone "lesser" than you
• The next is about saying your kids even if you have to be decitful to others
• The next is about a cheating wife catching her husband trying to cheat and making him out to be the bad guy
• The next is about playing your card right to keep your job then going away and not telling your replacement how to do the job properly
• the next story is of a frog who asks for help from the wrong person and has to run away to save his own life
• The mistress complains that the parrot is keeping her from her lover with all his stories but everynight she wants to hear more
• the next story tells how if you do not listen to your friends you will end up lonely
• The final story tells of more women cheating on their husbands this one she finds someone to be her replacement and the replacement gets beaten for not speaking to the husband while trying to conceal her identity

The elephant from The King of Kinoje and his Daughter