Week 7 Story:
Hunger. This was the ever-present thought that filled the minds of the Brahmin Gaya and his family. However, this was an intentional practice. The family sought to free themselves from their desire for food. In the morning, they would wake to the sounds of trees swaying and birds fluttering through their corn fields. At first, Gaya, his wife Mella, his son Roto, and his son's wife Alia would awaken and focus on the prospect of the mid-day meal. Each would go outside and work the cornfields, ploughing and weeding in silence because they were too hungry to talk.
"Ha!" laughed Gaya. He had just seen a small hare hop across the field and thought it was funny. The rest of the family smiled at the Brahmin's outburst and, for a moment, forgot food. This ability to forget for a moment marked the start of the family letting go of their desires.
Eventually, the family awoke and felt the cold floor under their feet, the breeze in the cornfields, and the warm dirt on their feet instead of their burning hunger and all was well...
"Father! Come quickly," yelled Roto
Gaya came running, for he had never heard such fear his son's voice. As Gaya ran from the family's hut, he saw a withered, brown field where there had been bright green rows of corn plants just the day before. They were ruined! Without their harvest, there would be no food for their family. Just when they had learned to live past their hunger, another challenge had been forced upon the family.
It grew increasingly difficult for the household to even get out of bed. They would spend the day scavenging in the forest and would usually only produce a few berries to eat. They would bring their findings back to the hut and split the food evenly among all the members.
One day, when Gaya was scavenging in the forest, he again saw the hare scurry across the forest floor. This beautiful creature again brought a smile to his face. He then realized that the creature seemed to looking at him instead of just passing. Quickly, the hare turned and started hopping away from Gaya, who followed close behind. Suddenly, through the brush, Gaya saw the leg of a woman emerge from behind a large tree trunk. As he got closer, he saw that she was silently crying.
"My friend, what is troubling you?" asked the Brahmin.
"I have no food and can hardly walk. Do you have any food?" replied the woman.
"We are in the midst of a famine but my family is scavenging for food right now. I will go find them so we will have more food share among us," the Brahmin assured her.
The Brahmin went in search of his family and found them huddled in the hut waiting for him, the food untouched. He beckoned them to follow him into the forest. The Brahmin and his family found the woman moaning on the forest floor.
"Here, my dear, take my share of the forest's food," said Mella, her fragile body shaking as she handed over her meagre supply of berries and barley.
The woman took the food and ate it quickly, asking for more until Gaya, Mella, Roto, and Alia had given the woman all of their food. Still, she was not satisfied.
"Why do you not kill that hare?" the woman asked, point to the hare sitting and watching the group, "You are skin and bones."
"We do not harm living creatures; it is not part of our practice," answered Mella.
Alia could see the violence is the woman's eyes and, quick as a bullet, picked up the hare and started running as fast as she could into the depths of the forest. There, she planned to hide the hare that had been there for the family through all of their trials. The warm, fuzzy creature watched Alia intently as she carried it to safety. The rest of the family had followed Alia, not wanting her to get lost by herself in the forest. Once they were sure they had gotten the hare to safety, the family tucked it away in the safety of the underbrush and gently curled on the floor to die. They hare watched their faces become peaceful and new that they would meet in their next lives.
Author's note: This story is based on the story the Mongoose told in the PDE of the Mahabharata. In this story, a Brahmin's family is practicing fasting but then they are plagued by a famine. As they are nearing starvation, a traveler comes upon their home and needs food. They give the traveler all their food because he continues to be healthy. Then, the traveler turned into dharma and sent the family in peace to heaven because their sacrifice is greater than the king, Yudhishthira's, sacrifice of many gems and gold. I took this story and added some elements of protecting animals as well. I also wanted to keep the same selfless giving nature of the family from the original story.
"Ha!" laughed Gaya. He had just seen a small hare hop across the field and thought it was funny. The rest of the family smiled at the Brahmin's outburst and, for a moment, forgot food. This ability to forget for a moment marked the start of the family letting go of their desires.
Eventually, the family awoke and felt the cold floor under their feet, the breeze in the cornfields, and the warm dirt on their feet instead of their burning hunger and all was well...
"Father! Come quickly," yelled Roto
Gaya came running, for he had never heard such fear his son's voice. As Gaya ran from the family's hut, he saw a withered, brown field where there had been bright green rows of corn plants just the day before. They were ruined! Without their harvest, there would be no food for their family. Just when they had learned to live past their hunger, another challenge had been forced upon the family.
It grew increasingly difficult for the household to even get out of bed. They would spend the day scavenging in the forest and would usually only produce a few berries to eat. They would bring their findings back to the hut and split the food evenly among all the members.
One day, when Gaya was scavenging in the forest, he again saw the hare scurry across the forest floor. This beautiful creature again brought a smile to his face. He then realized that the creature seemed to looking at him instead of just passing. Quickly, the hare turned and started hopping away from Gaya, who followed close behind. Suddenly, through the brush, Gaya saw the leg of a woman emerge from behind a large tree trunk. As he got closer, he saw that she was silently crying.
"My friend, what is troubling you?" asked the Brahmin.
"I have no food and can hardly walk. Do you have any food?" replied the woman.
"We are in the midst of a famine but my family is scavenging for food right now. I will go find them so we will have more food share among us," the Brahmin assured her.
The Brahmin went in search of his family and found them huddled in the hut waiting for him, the food untouched. He beckoned them to follow him into the forest. The Brahmin and his family found the woman moaning on the forest floor.
"Here, my dear, take my share of the forest's food," said Mella, her fragile body shaking as she handed over her meagre supply of berries and barley.
The woman took the food and ate it quickly, asking for more until Gaya, Mella, Roto, and Alia had given the woman all of their food. Still, she was not satisfied.
"Why do you not kill that hare?" the woman asked, point to the hare sitting and watching the group, "You are skin and bones."
"We do not harm living creatures; it is not part of our practice," answered Mella.
Alia could see the violence is the woman's eyes and, quick as a bullet, picked up the hare and started running as fast as she could into the depths of the forest. There, she planned to hide the hare that had been there for the family through all of their trials. The warm, fuzzy creature watched Alia intently as she carried it to safety. The rest of the family had followed Alia, not wanting her to get lost by herself in the forest. Once they were sure they had gotten the hare to safety, the family tucked it away in the safety of the underbrush and gently curled on the floor to die. They hare watched their faces become peaceful and new that they would meet in their next lives.
Author's note: This story is based on the story the Mongoose told in the PDE of the Mahabharata. In this story, a Brahmin's family is practicing fasting but then they are plagued by a famine. As they are nearing starvation, a traveler comes upon their home and needs food. They give the traveler all their food because he continues to be healthy. Then, the traveler turned into dharma and sent the family in peace to heaven because their sacrifice is greater than the king, Yudhishthira's, sacrifice of many gems and gold. I took this story and added some elements of protecting animals as well. I also wanted to keep the same selfless giving nature of the family from the original story.
Indian Hare by Koshi Koshi on Flickr
Wow Jessica, this story is exceptional. You do such a great job of capturing and holding the reader’s attention throughout the text. I love how you took elements of a story from Mahabharata and combined it with elements of conservation and protecting animals. The first word of your story was deep. You had me engaged in the tale at that. Great job, and I look forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteHey Jessica! I just want to say that I loved your story! I can see that you put a lot of hard work and imagination into your writing! I like how you kept some of the core essences of the original story and incorporated it into your own. Keep up the good work! And good luck with the rest of your semester!
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica! I loved the sentiment of your story and it was very clear to me that you weren't just writing a story to write one. You intentionally put a lot of meaning into it. I liked how strong the families' characters were. They were willing to sacrifice all of their food, during a famine, just to help one gluttonous stranger. I love that. When you said the hare would meet the family in their next lives, were you referring to reincarnation or Heaven? What if, ultimately, the family attained Nirvana because they rid themselves of their desires? Just some suggestions. Loved the story!
ReplyDeleteHey Jessica! From your introduction, I know you're an environmentalist just like me so I wonder if you're also looking for environmental or conservation themes in stories. I love this story because it teaches a universal moral of protecting all living creatures. It reminds me of the religion Jainism, as I encounter a lot of Jain people when I visit India, and they take more drastic measures to not harm living things in their lives, like adopting a vegetarianism that excludes the consumption of underground vegetables like garlic and onions to prevent harm to small insects or microorganisms that can be killed when uprooting the vegetables. It is actually a very beautiful religion that is worth looking into to shape your own relationship with creatures on this earth!
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica! I really enjoyed this story. I love that you made the characters so selfless and caring for others and animals. The ending was epic. I love that the rabbit starred at them and knew they would meet again in another life. There is a typo in the last sentence. Sorry to be that guy, but it is such an epic ending! I hope they do find each other in the next life, and maybe you can write a sequel!
ReplyDeleteHey Jessica. I really enjoyed getting to read your story an loved how you were able to make your characters love and care about the environment. It really helps and makes your message easy to see and understand while reading this. You also did a great job at being able to write an interesting that gains and keeps the readers attention for the entirety of it.
ReplyDeleteHey Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI really like your stories a lot! I think they are so creative and different. I can really imagine your story when I read it. When reading your story it keeps my attention which is really great because not all stories do that! You really have a great element of the original story in the story that you created. Looking forward to reading more of your stories.