Story Week 10, The Giant Squid
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| The Giant Squid, Google search |
Once in a large lake lived a giant squid that was larger than a queen-size bed, and its tentacles reached over fifty feet long. He was an unusual squid because he was the only squid in the whole world that could live in freshwater. Although he often felt lonely because there was no other fish in this lake beside him because he just ate them all. He ate everything that came near the lake, which is why he was so large. He ate anything that came to take a sip of water, such as deer, elk, elephants, lions, and many more animals.
He ate so many animals he gained a reputation among the animal kingdom. Every animal within a five-mile radius knew of his evil actions and tried to stray away from the lake. The only problem is that this was the single water source for miles. The animals had to put a stop to this, or else they would die of thirst.
One day a herd of elephants decided that they needed to band together to put a stop to this giant squid. Mr. Elephant said to his wife, " We need to get our clan there safely and watch for the squid while the others get as much water as they can." Mr. and Mrs. Elephant led their herd to the bay of the lake and went as far out as they could so they could watch for the squid while the other drank and bathed in the lake.
When all the elephants finished, Mr. Elephant was walking out when he felt a tentacle wrap around his leg, and he looked at his wife to say his goodbyes, but Mrs. Elephant did not want to give up so easily. She cried out to the squid, "Mr. Squid, please, oh, please let my husband go, and ill give you a kiss!" The squid poked his eyes out of the water and began to unwrap his tentacle from his leg. The squid leaned closer to Mrs. Elephant while observing her. Mr. Elephant feared for his wife's life, so he quickly jumped up and on top of the squid, crushing it into the bottom of the lake. Nothing was left of the squid except his a few of his tentacles, which were washed away in flood. Years later, villagers found them all dried out and used them as drum sticks, which made a loud, frightening sound that warned off any enemy.
Authors Notes: This story was originated from " The Giant Crab," which, in my account, I used a squid instead. I changed some details and added a distance from where the lake was located. In the end, I also used tentacles instead of crab legs. The dialogue is slightly similar to the real story.
Source: The Giant Crab, Blogger, W. Robinson
Overall I think that the story was really good! I wish there was a little more action or feeling words where when Mrs.Elephant was about to kiss and have Mr.Elephant monologue about what he should do and then deciding to jump on his head. Or even having the squid stalk the elephants before attempting to prey on them. I did enjoy the story and thought that a giant squid was perfect for the role.
ReplyDeleteI love your account of this short story from the Jakata Tales! I actually think I enjoyed this more than it's original version with the crab and crane. I wonder if you took into account the reputation of these creatures when you were trying to choose animals since squids and elephants alike are known to be smart and strategic? I enjoyed the imagery of the tentacles wrapping around the elephant's legs, it's somehow more suspenseful than a crab's claws or crane's beak since there is something so eerie about squids multiple limbs that seem so suffocating. I think you've paired a good amount of dialogue for the story too at just the right moments that they really enhance the story. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny!
ReplyDeleteI liked that you kept some of the original elements of the Jataka tale. Like the elephants getting together to stop the evil creature in the lake. However, I also like that you changed things up a bit. Instead of a crab, you used a squid. Your description of this squid was great! You explained how large it was and that it had large tentacles. In the original story, it says the crab’s claws were used as drums. I thought it was funny that the tentacles were used as drum sticks. Very creative.