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xx Flexy
The Gardener's Beheading
There once lived a grand King in a quaint little castle just east of the Little River Valley. When he was a young Prince he had a passion for plants and flowers. As a prince he kept his own greenhouse and nurtured it from day to day. He would spend hours upon hours in the greenhouse reading and writing. It was his pride and joy. As he grew up, he became well aware of his fate to become the next King and not a famous landscape architect as he would have liked. He continued to care for his greenhouse and knew that no matter what he would always have one wherever he ended up.
As he grew older his father, King Batura, and his mother, Queen Eileen, started to put pressure on the Prince to find a wife and settle down; his father was not doing well and it was said to be any day that he would take over the throne and actually become King. As time passed, the Prince could not find a woman he felt suited him well enough, so he became King without taking a wife. With this decision the newly appointed King was satisfied. He had his garden and that was all that mattered to him. He spent most of his time walking around the trees, taking in deep breaths of the fresh, cool air.
One day the King became ill and bed-ridden. As a result of his illness, he had to seek out a gardener to take care of his trees, plants, and flowers because he could no longer manage to do it. He flew in a well accomplished gardener from Greece to interview and found him fit enough for the task; the man had been the groundskeeper at the most beautiful palace in Greece for quite some time.
About three months after the King had asked the gardener to come take care of the garden, the King decided to throw a party for his citizens in the streets of the city. The gardener, wanting nothing more than to fit in with the rest of the community, decided that he wanted to find a way to go to the party. He knew it would be hard, though, because he was supposed to stay at home and care for the garden all day. As he sat on his bench in the garden where he did most of his thinking, he thought of a brilliant idea. "I may have the monkeys water the plants just for today. They are smart enough to handle such a simple task for just a few hours," the gardener thought to himself. So he set out to find the monkeys.
When he found Furry, the leader of the monkey clan, he was holding a meeting with the other head monkey community leaders. The gardener approached Furry and offered him a bushel of bananas for every tree on the plot if they would care for the garden for the day. Furry, excited about the incentive, agreed to the gardener's proposal.
Believing the task to be nearly mindlessly easy, Furry appointed some of the not-so-bright monkeys to care for the gardens. As they went to water the plants and trees, one monkey said, "How do we know when we have given each plant enough water?!"
"Well, I never thought about that," said another monkey.
Then a third one chimed in, "Why don't we take the plants and trees and flowers out of the ground, fill up their holes with as much water as they will hold, and put them back in? Then we'll know we got enough!"
"That's a great idea!" said the first monkey.
So they proudly lifted every tree and every plant and every flower and filled up their holes to the top with water.
The next morning the King awoke to a screeching yelp outside his window. Using all his strength he jumped out of bed, hobbled to the window, and let out a wail loud enough to be heard all through the city. Every single plant and every single tree and every single flower in his garden was dead. He summoned the gardener immediately and demanded an explanation.
"Your Majesty," the gardener began, "I am so deeply apologetic for my irresponsibility, but it is the monkeys' fault completely that your garden has withered."
"You are in no position to blame innocent figures in this situation. The garden was yours to keep up and you have failed this simple task," said the King.
"You shall lose your head because of your carelessness."
The next day, as the gardener was dragged to his fateful meeting with the guillotine, a line of mournful monkeys sat in the trees watching the poor man's end. Dressed in all black, they each whispered a faint apology to be heard only by the rustling of the trees.
Author's Note: I chose this story because I thought it showed how lighthearted, funny situations can actually turn bad if not given enough attention. I loved the hint of humor that was added in the middle with how smart the monkeys thought they were being when they decided to lift the plants out of the ground. It reminds us of how many times we set out to do something we think is such a great, monumental idea only to see it fail miserably. I wanted to tell more of the story with background information on the King having an obsession with his garden to make the story more dramatic. Because the King loved his garden so much, it was a much bigger deal that everything died whereas in the original story it was not as big of a deal. I chose to simply tell the story straight this time to mix up my writing styles. I would like for each story to be written in a unique manner so I get to work with a couple of different ways to create them. One of my favorite parts about this story is the lesson. I wanted to show that when you have a task or an assignment, it is always better to complete it on your own instead of handing it down to someone else. It was most likely given to you for a reason and no one else should have the pressure put on to fill your shoes. The original story, The Stupid Monkeys, was told by Ellen C. Babbit from her collection of Jataka Tales called "More Jataka Tales" published in 1922 and can be read here.
Bibliography: "More Jataka Tales" by Ellen C. Babbit. New York: D-Appleton Century Company 1922. Link.
Image Information: Monkey's Garden. Annabel Church Smith. Carribean Collage Collection. Link.
Rub Some More Tummies on the cover page!
Introduction
Story One: The Queen's Pearls