So off he set again to find food. However, now he was looking to also to feed another mouth. He quickly found the path he followed each day and followed it to where he could expect to find small game. Today, however, he seemed to have worse luck than days before. It was two in the afternoon before he was able to capture anything for dinner. Disappointingly, the rabbit he caught was rather small, and he knew it would not feed both him and the female dog. So he stayed out until nearly five trying to find more. He noticed the sun would soon set, so he started his journey, meat in his mouth, to where he first met the other dog. He decided that he would give her all of the food and hope tomorrow would bring better luck.
As he crossed the river, he looked down and saw, what he thought to be, another dog carrying meat. This dark dog looked rather small, so he decided he would try to ambush him and steal the food. He jumped towards it to snatch the meat away, but in doing so, he dropped his own meat. Unfortunately, what the male dog did not know was he was actually seeing his shadow. As the dog surfaced the water, he watched the dinner swiftly move down the river. With disappointment at hand, the dog scurried home, making sure not to be seen by his could-have-been companion.
~ ~ ~
Author's Note: Aesop's original story follows a dog which was crossing a brook when he notices his shadow. The dog believes his shadow to actually be another dog which also has a piece of meat. So the dog decides he wants to have both pieces of meat, and in trying to do so, loses the only real piece of meat. For my story, I first wondered if there could have been an ulterior motive. What if this dog had another mouth to feed? So in my version, I imagine a scenario where the dog is acting in an arguably less selfish way. However, he still loses his food when he resorts to the selfish act of trying to steal.
Bibliography: The Dog & the Shadow in the Fables of Aesop, retold by Joseph Jacobs. Web source.
Picture: Rabbit taken by Cecil Law. Source: Pixabay
Ohhhhh, what a great way to imagine the backstory of that famous fable, Todd! Aesop's fables are usually super-short, focused on a single moment (the dog crossing the river), but of course you can expand the story backwards or forwards based on how you imagine it, and I really like the idea of the dog who was trying to impress his lady friend (and his intentions were actually pretty generous in their own way)... so that in the end he has made a double mistake: losing his meal AND failing to make that good impression. Since Aesop's fables are about learning from others' mistakes, your approach brings out that message even more fully: especially if you are trying to make a good impression on someone else, stay focused and don't get distracted... or else!
ReplyDeleteAnd I am glad you found your way to Pixabay: they have dramatically increased their CC0 Public Domain images, especially for nature pictures, animals, etc. ... maybe later in the semester you will read some stories about the mighty Rabbit Tricksters of folklore: the poor rabbit in this story was not able to save himself by his wits, but there are a lot of rabbit trickster stories out there too. :-)
I decided to read your story before I looked at the original fable, and I'm glad I did. Your goal to make the dog appear somewhat generous as opposed to selfish was completed in my reading. It adds to the original theme in the fable and also sort of creates a new one about something along the lines of doing the wrong thing for the right reason. It reminds me of my legal studies course where we talked about jurisprudence and individual justice. I felt the tension to root for the dog, even though he was trying to commit an immoral act.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there is some pun about seeing the dog in a different light to go with the title too.
ReplyDeleteI didn't look to see what the original story was before reading yours but by the end of it, I realized which fable it was based on. I like that you added details to such a concise story as the original. The love interest was fun and it added an aspect of cockiness to the story. Obviously his greed ended up costing him in the end because he didn't get himself dinner OR get the girl PLUS he spent all day out hunting with no reward for his efforts. I enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteI get the feeling this story is a little more bittersweet than the original! The way you added backstory and character to the dog, and gave him a reason for the hunt, made him way more sympathetic. We even got to hear about his hopes and dreams. Ow, my heart.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I liked your title a lot. It grabbed my attention.
This was a really cute story. I really like how you added the male dog seeking food to feed himself and the female dog, rather than him just being selfish trying to get the bigger and better meat that the original story says. Though stealing is still selfish, he was trying to do a thoughtful thing and still lost in the end. I enjoyed the backstory you gave beforehand, it really tied the story together at the end and made me feel so sorry for the poor pup! Great work!
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