 |
| Balarama cutting the river |
There lived a prince named Benjamin in a distant kingdom. He had spent most of his life preparing for his role as king. He was known for taking what he wanted. It was not uncommon for Benjamin to take food from the kitchen or take toys from children he would play with when he was younger. He was never told "no" because he was the prince. Everyone feared saying anything to the prince. So as time when on, the prince got older. He got wiser. However, he still had the mentality of taking what he wanted.
As the time came closer and closer to his coronation, Benjamin decided to take a short vacation. Just to have some time to himself. He decided to go visit a small town near the Yamuna river.
The prince decided to take a walk through a nearby forest to enjoy some fresh air. While he was walking he noticed a strong fragrance. As he is walking towards the Kadamba tree, he noticed the scent getting stronger. On closer inspection of the tree, he saw that the tree was hollowed out and inside there was a bowl of liquid. The fragrant scent was tempting to the prince. So the prince took the liquid. To his surprise it was wine. He had never had wine that good. He drank it all.
The prince, warm and giddy from the wine, began to dance and sing. The prince was enjoying his time away from all responsibility and just let loose.
Afterwards, the prince wanted to swim. He called to the Yamuna river to come to him. The river would not listen. The prince only wanted to swim in the spot he was. He called to the river again, "Yamuna river! Come to me. I wish to swim." Again, the river did not listen.
Angered and outraged, the prince took his plowshare and went to the river. He said, "I am telling you one last time that I want to swim. Go to where I was standing before."
Benjamin became even more enraged. He went to a nearby tool shed and grabbed a plowshare. He swung the plowshare into the river and dug a channel back to where he wanted to swim. He did not stop until he was back at the exact spot he called to the river the first time.
 |
| The human form of the river is pleading with Balarama. |
Once the prince was able to reach the original spot he swam, all the while ignoring the woman who was still begging and praying to him. After his swim the prince closed the channel and went on his way, ignoring the woman. Slowly the river gained its currents again. The water level got higher. The woman got stronger. She went back to the river and disappeared.
Author's note: I took a specific encounter from Adventures of Balarama and Pradyumna and retold it. Balarama is the brother of Krishna! His name means strong- Rama. He is also known as Baladeva, Balabhadra, Haladhara and Halayudha. I'll be referencing him as Balarama. He has strong associations with farming and agriculture. That is why he used a plowshare to cut the river. Also, he used it in the original story.
I retold the part where Balarama gets drunk on wine and carved a channel to make a pool. He did that because while drunk he asked a river to come to him and create a pool where he was so that he could swim there. The river did not listen to him. This made him mad. He did the same thing in the original story. I wanted to create a back story that would explain why he would cut a channel to bathe in a specific spot. I tried to make him look stubborn and hot-headed.
I retold the part where Balarama gets drunk on wine and carved a channel to make a pool. He did that because while drunk he asked a river to come to him and create a pool where he was so that he could swim there. The river did not listen to him. This made him mad. He did the same thing in the original story. I wanted to create a back story that would explain why he would cut a channel to bathe in a specific spot. I tried to make him look stubborn and hot-headed.
Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories by C. A. Kincaid (1920)
It's cool how you made Benjamin a hot headed prince and that was the ultimate source of his actions against the river. This makes the story a kind of mix between a simple retelling and a story with something extra added. It's really fun for me to imagine a guy drunk off of his first sips of wine while screaming at a river to let him swim in an exact spot. Then said man starts digging so the river has to come to him, but that's cheating. Good story with a little bit of a chuckle if you think about it like I did!
ReplyDeleteHowdy Sheneka,
ReplyDeleteI thought this story was a great recreation of an exact scene out of an Indian Epic. It was an entertaining and fun read. I though the imagery was great. I could just imagine some drunk person hallucinating and yelling about something absurd. I laughed here and there, and in other parts of the story I felt like I was reliving my past life back when I mentor at an elementary school full of bratty kids! Overall, I enjoyed reading this story.
Hi Sheneka,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your story. My first thought that came to mind was regarding the name Benjamin. My little brother's name is Benjamin, so the whole time I just kept imagining him as this character haha. I love the way you structured your sentences and the words you used to describe feelings and different emotions. I felt like your story was really easy to engage with and I had fun reading it! Great job.
Hey Shen,
ReplyDeleteI like how you added some background about the prince rather than just delving into the story. Also, I like the amount of detail that you added in your story; it definitely makes the story easier to read. I think it’s terrible what the prince did to the river. He refused to hear the cry of the poor woman who was pleading him to stop what he was doing. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your story.