Once upon a time, there lived a pair of twins in a small village. Growing up together, they have always been polar opposites in nature but always competing with one another. One afternoon, they got a message from the village elder summoning them to his home. After arriving, he explained to them a rare flower found in the woods a half-days journey away. Almost instantly, they knew it was going to be a race to get that flower. At the next sunrise, the twins were off. They dashed through the trees and brush with only one goal in mind. Part way through the journey, the more ill-tempered twin tripped and fell. The calmer twin looked back and came to his aid. Only a few feet away from his fallen brother was a small turtle. Instinctively, the ill-tempered twin began scolding the turtle telling him to watch where he was going. Filled with rage, he began kicking the turtle and pocking him with a nearby stick. Fearful that the turtle was a manido, the calmer twin advised that they should apologize and leave the turtle alone. Without listening, the ill-tempered twin flipped the turtle on its shell and left it near the river bank. Afterwords, the twins continued on their journey. With the twins gone, the turtle used its momentum to reposition itself and entered the water. Slowly, the water level began to rise. Soon, there was enough water to flood the entire village. Looking back, the calmer twin saw the tidal wave approach their village and ran back to the turtle. After reaching the river bank, he begged and prayed to the turtle to spare his village for his brothers ignorance. Not fully pleased, the turtle turned the tidal wave towards the ill-tempered brother. Not seeing what happened, the ill-tempered twin continued running till he found the flower. Once he reached the flower, he rejoiced as he knew he had beaten his twin. Unbeknownst to him, and large tidal wave washed over him and he drowned.
Authors Note: This story was based on The Porcupine and the Two Sisters Menomini. I changed the gender of the characters, the animal, and the natural disaster associated with the animal. The one major change I did was having one of the siblings beg for forgiveness rather than continuing on. This changed the ending of the story so only the sibling that provoked the animal was punished rather than both siblings.
MS/Lakes: The Porcupine and the Two Sisters
This story is part of the
Mississippi Valley / Great Lakes unit. Story source:
Myths and Legends of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1914).
Evan, I liked your retelling of this story. I am a twin and so I can definitely identify with the competition aspect of the story, but it is sad that at the end the brother dies. I thought your story was well-told and the writing was very smooth, I would have liked the font to be a little larger so it was more readable. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Evan! I liked the retelling of your story even though the poor turtle died in the end. I like that you included 2 different personalities for the turtles, which I feel is very common among twins. Your story was very entertaining and easy to read, I liked you changed the characters and the ending of the story. Your picture of the turtle at the top was also cute! Good job!
ReplyDeleteHey Evan!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story “The Twins and The Turtle.” I liked how you made one of the siblings ask for forgiveness. I feel like this made your story more in-depth and well rounded. Further, I think this made the ending of the story a lot better! Also, the image you used complemented your story really well! Overall, I think you did a great job on your story and I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!