Once upon a time there was a lovely elephant that belonged to the King. Her name was Girly-Face. She was the kindest elephant to ever live! In fact, she got her name because of her friendly and kind demeanor. All of the keepers loved working with her. Some of the other elephants would be mean to the keepers and refuse their help, but never Girly-Face!
One night, before she fell asleep, Girly-Face overheard a band of robbers outside of the King’s gate. One of the robbers said, “We must go in and take what we want with force. We must be mean and heartless. That is how you get what you want in this world.”
Girly-Face decided that this was how she should act too.
The next day, when Girly-Face was being tended by the keepers she threw a huge fit. She stomped around and grabbed one of the keepers with her tusk and flung him to his death! She did the same thing the next day to another keeper. By the third day everyone was afraid of her and did not want to go anywhere near her cage.
When they told the King about the change in Girly-Face, he was shocked! How could this be? Girly-Face had never harmed a thing in her whole life before two days ago. One of his advisors told him that a band of robbers had come by and spoken of such cruel behavior.
The King decided that he should go talk to Girly-Face. He asked her, “What has happened? Why have you become so mean and heartless? This is not like you.”
But Girly-Face would not listen. She turned her back to him and walked away.
When this happened, the King asked her, “Did you over hear what the men were saying the other night?”
Girly-Face turned shyly towards him and nodded.
The King then explained to Girly-Face, “Those men were bad men who sought only to do harm to people. You do not want to be like them. You want to be like good men who treat other people with kindness and love.”
Girly-Face understood what he was saying and made up her mind the from that day on she would always be a good elephant that treats other people with kindness and love, just like the King had taught her.
Author’s Note: I based this story off of The Elephant Girly-Face story by Ellen C. Babbitt. I thought it was a cute story and I really liked the name Girly-Face. My one issue with the story was that I couldn’t understand why the King didn’t just explain to Girly-Face why her behavior was wrong. So, I changed that here. I also changed Girly-Face to a girl instead of a boy, just because I always viewed her as a girl!
I thought this image of an elephant looked how I imagine Girly-Face.
Bibliography: Jataka Tales: The Elephant Girly-Face by Ellen C. Babbitt
Hey Piper! I enjoyed your story! I did not read this jataka, but I really enjoy the jatakas. I think they are very interesting and they usually have one well-defined moral and tell it through an animal.. I like that you had the king explain to Girly-Face why what she was doing was wrong. I feel like that must add a lot to the story because I do not know how else she would have learned.. Great story!
ReplyDeleteHey Piper, I loved your take on this story. I also rewrote this story but with an anime twist to it. I absolutely love how you changed the gender of the elephant because I also view the elephant as a female. I also liked how you used to the king to explain why her behavior was wrong. If you have time, you should check out my story!
ReplyDeleteGirly-face is such a charming character! Even though she was acting out, I couldn't help but root for her since from what I understand the keepers had intended to harm the elephant, and this way since she stood up for herself they weren't able to. Her owner who told her that she should not live by the same mindset of the men she had overheard had a good point, though. With this one change, I wonder how the story would have differed had she been told this moral message before she had eavesdropped on the robbers? Anyways, wonderful retelling of the Jakata! It really hit the nail on the head since these short stories are so known for their overt moral messages.
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