There was once a camp of girls that was built by a gorgeous lake. One day construction began on the opposite side. The next summer there was a new boys' camp built there. It was a very nice construction, but the girls did not want to have to deal with more people. In their minds, the lake and everything near it was meant to be part of the girls' area. It wasn't supposed to be invaded by boys! About a week after the boys' camp opened, the leaders of the two camps met and decided to have a game day so the groups of children could get to know one another. To foster competitive spirit, they grouped them so it would be the boys versus the girls. They put the oldest of the camp residents in charge, leaving it up to them to come up with a valid game plan to win the day. The first game that the children decided to play was capture the flag. In their version the kids decided that the two groups were able to take prisoners, though they would have to post guards in order to ensure that the prisoners did not escape and make their way further into the enemy territory. The leader of the girls was smart, telling the girls working for her that they should work in squads of three so that they could help one another escape if they came across any of the boys. The boys, on the other hand, began to get frustrated when their prisoners kept escaping. Things changed, however, once some of the girls got in a fight after one of them tripped and blamed the other. The one who accidentally tripped the other apologized, but it was too late. Now that there was contention within the group, the plans for unity and beating the boy's camp fell apart. The other girls all took sides, leading to them refusing to help their friends escape from the "prison". This fall out led to the boys winning the camp tournament, as well as forcing the girls to apologize for their behavior prior to the defeat. In the end, this turned out to be a good thing, as the boys and girls came to be friendly rivals and made friends with one another. The competition became a yearly occurrence, strengthening the ties between the camps and leading to lifelong friendships. While the struggles within the group led to it falling apart, it eventually led to them growing closer together.
Author's Note
This story is a retelling of the Quarrel of the Quails, which focuses on how working together can be beneficial, while fighting within the group can lead to everything falling apart.
Story source: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt, illustrated by Ellsworth Young (1912).
(Image of a quail, photo source: Wikimedia)
I actually read the Jataka Tales and this was one of the stories I almost chose to retell. I just loved the message of it. I think you have done a great job of updating the story while remaining true to the theme of the original. The great thing about these tales is that you can tell them in anyway you want, and that leaves room to continually update the stories so that they can fit right in with any current situation. You update is story I could tell my own child to that he could learn the value of teamwork. Great Job.
ReplyDeleteI also did the Jataka Tales this week and had a lot of fun reading them! I like that they were short stories but so many to read! They were definitely fun stories! I really liked your retelling! I did something similar a couple weeks ago and made a story about a camp as well! Really reminded me of the actually story! Great job!
ReplyDeleteI read a storytelling post either this week or last week based on the same story from the Jataka Tales. That story was based on the perspective of an outside source other than the quails so I liked how you kept with the original version and told the story from their perspective. I think this story has a great lesson to teach and I like how you were able to capture that as well! Also, the image of the quail is adorable. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI have not read the Jataka Tales, but it seems like every storytelling assignment that i've read for this week was a retelling from them. It is making me really interested in them! I liked your story. It was well-written, enjoyable, and had a really great message. I like that old tales relay a message or lesson and this one's is a really good one: working together is often necessary and can be a very good thing while quarreling within your group can lead to disaster. Plus, you added in a motif of gender separation. Splitting a group up between boys and girls often happens naturally, but mixing the two can lead to such better outcomes. Well done!
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