Week 9 Story: Animal Origins


How the Giraffe Got Its Long Neck:
An animal was wandering around the savannah looking for food. The sun was setting and she had to find something to eat soon before it got too dark to continue traveling. Every time she thought she saw plants in the distance, it turned out to just be her imagination. She finally came across a few trees with the exact type of leaf she was craving. But when she got closer, she realized the branches were way too high for her to reach. She tried shaking the tree, but nothing would fall. A few birds flew above her and landed on the branches. She thought to herself "well, if they can reach up there, surely I can too." Then she began extending her neck until her head was leveled with the foliage. She munched down on a delicious leaf and quelled her hunger. 


How the Lion Got Its Mane:
A little cub had somehow found himself lost from his family and roaming the savannah. The temperature lowered drastically when the sun fell below the horizon and the cub realized he could hear his teeth chattering. The shivering baby animal managed to rip some leaves off a bush and fashioned himself a little blanket. When he awoke the next day, he thought another creature was sleeping on his head. But he soon learned that the fur around his head had grown overnight to keep him warm. As he examined his new hairdo, he heard roars up ahead and knew his family was nearby.


How the Rhino Got Its Horn:
A rhino was giving herself a mudbath to feel refreshed after a long day. Once she was done, she raised herself up but immediately slipped on the mud and landed face-first into the ground. Her nose hurt for days and she could tell a bump was starting to appear. Other rhinos started to notice the bump as well and began laughing at her. The rhino tried her best to conceal it, but the bump kept growing until it had a sharp, pointy end. One day, a group of rhinos arrived and tried to claim the land as their own. But upon seeing the horn of the rhino, they fled immediately in fear. The rest of the group was thankful that she started growing her horn.



 Author's Note: Several West African Folktales are aetiological stories, meaning they tell the origin of different natural phenomena. The stories How the Tortoise Got Its Shell and How Mushrooms First Grew are some examples of the folktales found in this culture. These inspired me to write three short stories of my own to explain the origin of some animals' notable physical features.

Pixabay ImagesGiraffeLionRhino
Story Source -  West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair (1917)

Comments

  1. Hi Deepa! I really enjoyed these short stories you wrote. I like that you did three short stories instead of one long one. These stories were well written and easy to follow along with. I think it would be cool and fun if more people decided to write multiple small stories. Great work!

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  2. Hi Deepa!
    I like that you decided on short stories to tell your story. These are well written and I like that the reasonings are straightforward. The giraffe has long neck because it reaches for the leaves from the tall tree, The lion got its mane because it is cold, and the rhino got its horn because it fell. I haven't write short stories yet so you're kind of my inspiration to start on one for my weekly storytelling.

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  3. Hi Deepa, I loved reading these short stories! I think you did a great job following the trend of West African folktales explaining the origin of certain things and applying it to your own writing and teach us how other animals gained their features. When I was reading them, it actually felt like I was reading a folktale that someone else passed down, but it was your own well-written story.

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