Week 14 Storytelling: The Elephant in the Room

            Roger, a five-year old boy, walked home from the school bus with his head filled with so many questions he couldn’t understand.

Why did everyone think he was so different?

Did he do something wrong?

Was his mother disappointed he didn’t look like her?

(And most importantly…) Where do babies come from?

         
   Walking through the door, his mother greeted him with open arms. Roger fell into his mother’s embrace, but she instantly knew something was wrong. After all, mothers always seem to know these kinds of things. “What’s wrong, honey?” his mother asked.

            Roger simply shook his head because he didn’t know where to start. He was also scared he might say something that would offend his mother anyway. However, his mother didn’t take no for an answer. She simply grabbed his backpack from him, set it on the floor, and took his hand. “Let’s go get ice cream.” She said. The boy followed with mixed emotions. Both mother and son went to the car and drove in silence with the car radio playing at a low level.

After they arrived at Baskin Robins and Roger got his favorite – Rainbow Sherbet, mother and son sat down at a table. “So…” Roger’s mother started, “Are you going to tell your mother what’s on your mind?”

Roger held his breath for a moment and suddenly blurted anything and everything that was on his mind from “Why is the sky blue?” to “Why don’t I look like you?”. At that last question, Roger’s voice lowered to a whisper. “Jamie and Carly said they look like their moms…”

           Roger’s mother knew this day would come. She thought she’d be more prepared for this conversation, but she never knew she would have to talk about it so soon. Her mind instantly raced to remember what were on those darn pamphlets five years ago. “Well…” she began, “you see, Roger…. You look different because you’re a boy!” Roger’s mother freaked out because she had looked into his big sad brown eyes and tried to get out of the conversation. If she had this conversation, she thought it would change their relationship forever. Maybe he won’t love me. She thought. Maybe he’ll try to find his birth mother and leave me forever.

            Meanwhile, Roger was confused. Yes, he knew that he was a boy, and boys looked different from girls but that’s not what he was talking about. “No, mom. Look!” Roger held out his arm to his mother. “Our color is different. All my friends said they look like their moms and dads. But. I don’t…”

            Roger’s mother took a deep breath. She had to address the elephant in the room. She had to put all her worries and fears to the side. This was her son. Nothing was ever going to change that. “Roger… I am not your real mom---“

            “WAIT. DID YOU STEAL ME?!?!” Roger interrupted. His mother immediately covered his mouth with her hand.

            "SHHHHHH!" She exclaimed, but she couldn’t help but laugh internally looking at the fear and surprise in her adopted son’s eyes. They were getting so many stares from the other people in the ice cream shop. “Roger, no. I did not steal you. I adopted you when you were a baby.” When she saw some realization in Roger’s eyes, his mother slowly took her hand away.

When he said nothing, she said, “She loved you, Roger. Your real mom did. She just couldn’t take care of you so she had to give you away. I… I couldn’t have a baby so I went to these really nice people who introduced me to your birth mother. She gave you to me when you were just a baby, and I have loved and cared for you ever since.”

Still, Roger said nothing. Everything was spinning around in his head. Was everything he knew a lie?

“Roger, you have to understand. We both love you. One day, if you want to meet her, I can try to get in contact with her.” Tears immediately filled in his mother’s eyes. It pained his adoptive mother to say this because she feared his birth mother would take him back.

Roger looked up and saw his mother’s sadness. He looked at his arm, then at her. Then, he placed his hand on hers. “Mom,” he said, “don’t cry. I’m sorry I made you cry. I love you.” Roger’s mother didn’t understand what she did to deserve her son. She immediately got out of her chair to hug him.

While trying to keep her tears in check, she said, “I love you too, Roger. I know you still don’t  really understand, but all you need to know is: Even though I did not give birth to you, I still love you with all of my heart just like if I did.”

Roger hugged his mother to comfort her. He promised that he will always take care of his mother when he gets big and strong. He accepted the fact that he looked different, and that his mother would always be the woman hugging him right there in the ice cream shop. But... Roger had one last question that was bugging him.

“What’s your question?” Roger’s mother asked as she released her son from a hug.

Roger looked at his mother quizzically and said, “Where do babies come from?”

His mother simply laughed. “Okay, Roger. That’s a different conversation for another day.” And so she dropped the conversation like that. If she felt like she wasn’t ready for the adoption talk, she was definitely not ready for the talk.

Roger still didn't understand his mother's behaviors that evening, but he figured that one day he will and shrugged it off. So Roger returned to his normal spirited self and began telling his mother all the exciting kindergarten adventures that happened that day while messily eating his Rainbow Sherbet.

The Elephant in the Room

Author’s Note:

            This story was inspired by Ellen Babbitt’s story “Granny & Blackie,” which was about a woman who was given a baby elephant named Blackie from a rich man and who cared for the elephant even in her old age; Blackie loved Granny so much that when he got older, he decided that he would start working so that Granny didn’t have to. The whole story reminded me of adoption, and the name of my story was a play on words in a sense – “The Elephant” to acknowledge Blackie, and the phrase “The Elephant in the Room” to acknowledge the topic of adoption. I also wanted some elements of this story to be vague (such as the ethnicity of Roger and his mother, if Roger had an adoptive father, and if Roger's mother was single) so that the reader can fill in the blank for themselves in whatever frame of reference they best relate to.

I really enjoyed writing Roger and his mother’s interaction. I felt like it came relatively naturally despite the fact that I, myself, am not adopted nor have an adopted relative. However, I did have a Chinese friend in middle school who was adopted as a baby by a nice Caucasian family. They loved her wholeheartedly and made her feel at home despite their skin color difference. Like Roger, my friend always wondered why she looked so different from her parents and older sister, and asked her parents about her adoption at a young age. Unlike Roger, my friend had a closed adoption so she could not meet her birth mother even if she wanted to, and she always thought that her birth mother did not loved her since she gave her away. Despite everything and after their emotional talk, my friend ended up loving her adoptive parents more than she thought was possible.

So as a final note, this story is dedicated to my dear friend who addressed the elephant in the room only to find out that she was more loved than she could ever imagine.

Bibliography: Ellen C. Babbit's "Granny & Blackie" from The Jataka Tales

Reading Notes: Babbitt's "Jataka Tales" (Part B)

Here are the notes for my favorite stories in the second half of Babbitt's "Jataka Tales"!

The King's White Elephant

• A big elephant with a splinter in her foot limped over to some carpenters that were cutting down wood.
• Upon seeing the splinter, the men took it out and washed the sore carefully so it would heal.
• The elephant was very grateful, and in returned, helped them cut down trees, roll logs, and brought them tools.
• The men took very good care of the elephant and feed him well.
• One day, the elephant gave birth to a beautiful white elephant, and she decided to bring him to the carpenters to teach him how to help them.
• The men also took very good care of the white baby elephant, and after they were done for the day, the baby went to the river and played in the water with the carpenter's children.
• The king passed by and noticed the magnificent white creature, and paid the carpenters a lot of money for him.
• The white baby elephant looked at everyone one last time, and finally went off to live with the king who took very good care of him as well.

This story kind of took me by surprise because I was expecting a sad ending, especially when the baby elephant was taken away from his mother and his new playmates. I was surprised that the mother elephant didn't really throw a tantrum either. BUT! I'm glad that things turned out well, and the king does not mistreat the baby elephant.

The Elephant & The Carpenter

Granny's Blackie

• In a village, there was this elderly woman who was given a baby elephant by a rich man, and she took very good care of him throughout his life.
• The village people called the elephant "Granny's Blackie," and they played with him every day.
• One day, Blackie wanted Granny to go with him to the forest, but she kindly told him no since she had to go to work and make money.
• Blackie was upset and starting noticing that Granny was becoming a little more older and frailer by the day, and he didn't want her to work anymore so he went out to search for work for himself.
• As he went to the river, Blackie noticed a man and his oxen struggling to bring wagons over through shallow water.
• The man offered Blackie two silver pieces for every wagon he helped bring over. So, that is what Blackie did all day.
• After all the wagons had been pulled, the man counted out one piece for each wagon, and Blackie retaliated by not touching or accepting the money whatsoever and blocking the man from his wagons.
• The man finally gave up and went home to grab more silver pieces for the elephant.
• That night, after worrying Granny and the children of his whereabouts, Blackie came home and showed Granny all the money he's gained.
• From then on, Blackie began working for money, and Granny rested. Both lived happily ever after.

I was intrigued by the title of this story compared to the other titles because of its vagueness, and I was even more intrigued by its storyline. I love the message behind it, and the overall story kind of reminds me of an adoption story. Even though Granny was not Blackie's original mother, they loved and cared for each other like mother and son, and when the time came, Blackie became the breadwinner of the house to take care of his mother.

Granny & Blackie

Bibliography: Ellen C. Babbitt's "Jataka Tales"

Reading Notes: Babbitt's "Jataka Tales" (Part A)

For these last two weeks of the semester, I decided to keep with the theme of children's stories except this time from Jakata Tales! Again, I will choose two of my favorite stories that I could potentially use as the week's storytelling post. Here are this week's favorites:

How the Turtle Saved His Own Life

• A king loved his young princes so much that he made a lake from them to play in and later filled it with fishes so they can see it.
• A turtle was among the fishes, and since the princes have never seen a turtle before, they were fearful of it and thought it was a demon.
• The princes then went to their father for help, and the king sent out men to retrieve this "demon."
• In the court, the king commands the men to kill the demon. Then, all the men and princes talk among each other deciding on what horrible death the turtle will go through.
• One said to bake him to death. One said to pound him into dust. An old man said to throw him into a lake so he'll float into the rocks and be killed.
• At that last comment, the turtle used reverse psychology, saying "Friend, what have I done that you should do such a dreadful thing as that to me? The other plans were bad enough, but to throw me into the lake! Don't speak of such a cruel thing!"
• And so this is how the turtle saved his own life.

I kind of went a little deep in my analysis of this story. From a surface perspective, the lesson could be to never judge a book by it's cover since the men thought the turtle was a demon and later, did not realize he would do perfectly fine if he were thrown into a lake. From a deeper perspective, the lesson could be to not jump to conclusions about someone or something and immediately hate them because he/she/it was different.

The Turtle & His Conviction

The Ox Who Won the Forfeit

• There was a man bragged about having the strongest ox ever.
• One day, he decided to go into the village and bet 1000 silver pieces if there was a wagon his ox cannot move.
• When the ox was attached to the first wagon, the man whipped the ox and called him "wretch" and "rascal" to make him move.
• Offended and fairly passive aggressive, the ox decided not to move because his owner had never treated him like that before, and was disgusted by the behavior.
• So the man had to pay his forfeit to the people and became the laughingstock of the village.
• That night, the man asked the ox why he didn't move the carts when he'd seen him move 100s before! The ox, in turn, asked the man why he had treated him badly today when the man had never done so before.
• The man apologizes and says he'll never treat him that way again, and so the ox promises to move the carts for him.
• The next day, the man and ox go back into the village and bet 2000 silver pieces, and the village people laughed and took the bet based on yesterday's performance.
• Unfortunately for the village people, the ox moved each and every wagon.

I think the lesson learned in this story is to never treat people horribly and they will do what you want. Treat people with respect and you get respect back. It's better to gain authority by respect anyway rather than through brute force and fear.

The Man & His Ox

Bibliography: Ellen C. Babbitt's "Jataka Tales"

Week 13 Storytelling: A Letter About A Beggar

Dear Anika,

You wouldn’t believe what happened today! It was such a fascinating day in Ayodhya. A beggar actually got to EAT the king’s food! Now, King Dasharatha was always a good king, but whenever it came to his food, he never shared. Every day, the king started this new thing where he would have his lunch in the palace courtyard and let everyone watch him eat his delicious and expensive meal. I never knew why he did this, but it was a sight to see for every citizen in Ayodhya. The only thing more exciting than seeing the king eat was watching the king be tricked into letting someone else eat his food!

I think his name was Mohan – that was the beggar that tricked the king. I see him around from time to time, and he always had a smile on his face but he was always up to something. Today, this bold beggar ran through the crowd yelling “News! News! News!” and then collapsed in front of King Dasharatha feigning exhaustion. Because all of us and the king wanted to know what the news was, the good king gave a share of his meal and his wine to the beggar to revive him. But Mohan just ate and drank and ate again! You would have thought he was never going to stop!

However, soon after he was done with his food and drink, the impatient but excited king asked the beggar once more to hear what news Mohan brought to him. Mohan replied, “The news is, your Majesty, that an hour ago I was hungry, and now I am not!” Everyone was so quiet because we thought that the king would have been so angry! After all, the king never shared his food and no one has ever tried to eat it! But no, King Dasharatha just laughed! And so everyone else laughed too! Then he said, “Oh, that is good news! You are one bold beggar, and this was such a clever plan so I will allow it to pass this time. But mark my words, this is the last time I will let you or anyone else pull such a move again.” With that, the king just kept eating his meal and the beggar walked away happily!

Oh, Anika. It was such a fascinating day in Ayodhya. Everyone has been talking about it all day!  I never thought I would ever see such a thing in all my life, but there I was in the crowd watching it all happen! The king is really a good king unlike other kings around here, which makes me very proud to be an Ayodhyan. I wish you could come visit soon, and maybe I could show you who Mohan is! Anyway, mom and dad are doing great. They told me to tell you that they love you, and we hope your travels are going very very well. I will keep you updated on any other interesting stories from home! (Maybe this bold beggar will try to eat the king’s food again soon!)

Until next time,

Mayra

Dear Anika

Author's Note:

This story was based off the Indian fable "The Bold Beggar," which appeared in Rouse's collection of old Indian fables. This week, I was inspired to tell this story from a blend of a written letter between sister and a Ramayana element with the king being Dasharatha and the location as the kingdom Ayodhya. When I read the original fable, I thought it was hilarious that the beggar got away with eating the king's food with such a ridiculously simple plan. For the character of the king, I needed someone who had a good heart (at least a good enough one that would let the beggar go without punishment) but who was still greedy (since he does purposely eat in front of people without offering food and since he does warn everyone not to try the beggar's trick). At first, I thought about using Rama as the king but then again I didn't think he had enough greed in his character to pull it off. SO! I decided to use Dasharatha and the rest of the story fell in place!

Bibliography: Rouse's "The Giant Crab & Other Tales from Old India"