"Please, let me have a dozen apples for my mother so she can give me money to buy some shoes," she pleaded to the apple farmer.
"Fair enough, you can have a dozen apples if you give me a large basket to put my apples in." So Alex set off to a basket weaver to ask for a basket.
"Basket weaver, please weave me a basket so I can give it to the apple farmer so he will give me a dozen apples for my mother and she will give me money for the shoes." The basket weaver thought for a minute and replied, "You can have your basket when you bring me some twine."
Alex went next to a yarn maker, in search of twine. "Can I have some twine to give to the basket weaver, who will give me a basket to give to the apple farmer, who will give me a dozen apples to give to my mother, who will give me money to buy some shoes?"
"I will give you twine, if you will give me a handmade blanket made of yarn." So next, Alex went to the sewing shop down the street and asked for their finest made blanket to give to the yarn maker, who would give her some twine to give to the basket weaver, who would give her a basket to give to the apple farmer, who would give her a dozen apples to give to her mother.
The sewing shop owner said, "I will give you this blanket when you return with a belt of fabric." Alex now went to a fabric store and asked for a belt of fabric to give to the sewing shop owner, who would give her a blanket to give to the yarn maker, who would give her twine to give to the basket weaver, who would give her a basket to give to the apple farmer, who would give her a dozen apples to give to her mother.
The fabric store owner heard her plea and replied, "You can have the fabric, if you bring me back some buttons." So Alex, now tired, set off to find some buttons. She met a small child in the street carrying a small bag of buttons he found from his travels. She pleaded, "Please can I have that bag of buttons to give to the fabric store, who will give me some fabric to give to the sewing shop, who will give me a blanket to give to the yarn maker, who will give me some twine to give to the basket weaver, who will give me a basket to give to the apple farmer, who will give me a dozen apples for my mother, who will buy me some shoes."
The young boy agreed, "I will give you these buttons for some ice cream." Alex, who had a few dollars agreed and bought the boy an ice cream cone. She then gave the buttons to the fabric store, the fabric to the sewing shop, the blanket to the yarn maker, the twine to the basket weaver, the basket to the apple farmer and the apples to her mother. The next day Alex's mother gave her some money and she went out and bought her the shoes.
(Source)
Author's Note. This story is based off of The Liver, which tells a similar story of a young girl trying to get liver back for her mother to eat. It gets really long and complicated towards the end, which is something I wanted to maintain in my story. I changed it to a pair of shoes and made the other people she encountered anything I could think of, but the original theme and plot remains the same.
Bibliography. "The Liver" from Turkish Fairytales by Ignacz Kunos (1913).
Really cool story! I know absolutely nothing about Turkish mythology, so this was a nice way to understand something that I've never paid attention to. The adventure aspect of your story is what I think I enjoyed most, and I look forward to reading more of what you write and learn over the course of the semester. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your retelling of this story. I loved that with the shoes and the ice cream cone it makes the story feel like it's more close to our lives than a story about trying to get liver would be! It was very well written and I thought you did a great job compounding the tasks, making it complicated but not so much that the reader gets lost. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI did not read this unit but in the Persian Tales unit I read there were similar stories that accumulated on each other. I also decided to write an accumulation piece for my storytelling this week. I think the style is really interesting and kind of fun to read. It was interesting to see your story from the Turkish Fairy Tales unit because the Persian Tales unit included mostly gruesome stories. My accumulation story involved multiple people dying after hearing some news. I enjoyed your story of each person adding on to the list of what they needed in order for the girl to get what she needed: the shoes.
ReplyDeleteI actually read this unit and you did an amazing job with this story. I really enjoyed how you made it into a modern version that every girl will understand: the need for new shoes! I really enjoyed that you continued with the same general story line. Great Job! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story Jessica! It was funny how the chain of things she needed to bring to all the people kept getting longer and longer. I like the changes you made to the story as well, I think a girl wanting a pair of shoes makes a lot more sense in modern times than a girl searching for a liver!
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