Week 12, Storytelling: Liam's protector

Liam's Protector

the Dog

My dear sweet pups, I want to tell you a story of survival and loyalty and forgiveness. You know we live with the wonderful prince Friedrich and his sweet little son, Liam. They treat us well and it is up to us to protect them. Our loyalty to the prince is extremely important. He trusts us and we trust him. It hasn’t always been that way.

When I was younger, Friedrich would take me and our other dog friends out with him hunting. I loved hunting with our prince. I was really good at it. I also used to sleep at his bedside. It was my place to be next to him. He loved me and I loved him, and still do.

One day, I heard a strange noise coming from little Liam’s room. I heard the call of the prince to start the hunt, but the strange noise in the Liam’s room concerned me. I was torn, do I run to Friedrich to join on the hunt that I love so well, or do I check on the noise in Liam’s room.

I chose to check out the noise. Boy, am I glad I did. Liam was asleep in his bed, but there in the corner of the room was a wolf. The wolf was crouched down, about to pounce on the little boy. I couldn’t let that happen to my friend. I would never be able to forgive myself if anything bad were to happen to little Liam and I did nothing. So I reacted in the best way I knew how. I attacked the wolf. It was a bit of a struggle. The wolf was bigger and more powerful than me. But I had one thing on my side, my love for little Liam. I was able to kill the wolf, but the room was destroyed. Broken furniture and blood was everywhere. Liam was knocked over in his bed. It landed on top of him. I checked to make sure the boy was unharmed and then headed outside to await prince Friedrich’s return. 

the wolf

I was so excited to see Friedrich when he got home. I did my best to lead him to Liam’s room. When we got to the room, Friedrich started calling Liam’s name. He looked scared because Liam didn’t answer. It was then that Friedrich started yelling at me. I was scared. Then Friedrich started kicking and hitting me. I was confused. I didn’t know what was wrong. I thought he would be happy I killed the wolf. But Friedrich was angry. He continued to hit and kick me until I thought he was going to kill me.

I cowered in the far side of the room where the dead wolf lay. Friedrich started towards me, but suddenly stopped. He picked up Liam’s bed and found the still sleeping boy under it. He turned back towards me and then walked slowly up to the dead wolf nearby. He cautiously kicked at the wolf and then started to cry. He called to me, saying he was sorry over and over again. I think that maybe he thought I did something bad to Liam, but once he finally saw the wolf realized that I was protecting him. I slowly went over to prince Friedrich, and he gently pet me. He kept saying he was sorry and that he would never doubt me again.

For a while I had a hard time trusting Friedrich. I was afraid he would hurt me again. But he didn’t. I chose to forgive him for beating me. I realized he did it out of fear. Friedrich made certain that I was comfortable as I healed. I can no longer go hunting because my injuries were bad enough that I never regained my full strength again. But I am okay with that. Friedrich trusts me completely now. So much that I now sleep at the feet of little Liam at night. I feel honored that he trusts me. I am little Liam’s protector. 

Author's note: I based my story off of The Martyred Hound. In the story a prince takes his dogs out hunting. One day his favorite dog didn't come when called. The prince left without him. Upon returning the prince felt the dog was acting funny and noticed the blood on it's face. The dog led him to his child's room where he see's the baby's cradle overturned. The prince, fearing the worst, decided to kill the dog. Afterwards the prince finds his son unharmed and sees the dead wolf. He realizes that his dog killed the wolf, protecting the child. It is too late. I chose to change the ending. Instead of killing the dog, he beat him, but he finds the dead wolf before he fatally wounds his beloved pet. I wanted the prince to beg forgiveness for his brutality and to have the dog forgive him. I put this in the point of view of the dog, having him tell his story to the younger pups. I also wanted to include the importance of forgiveness and how trust can be regained.

Bibliography: Story source: The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas

Week 12, Reading Diary: Welsh (Thomas) Cont.

Story source: The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas
  
The Bride from the Red Lake - This is a story of a man who fell in love with a nymph in a lake. He begged the nymph's father to let the nymph be his wife. Her father agreed as long as the man never struck her with clay. They lived happily until one day, as they planted a tree, he tossed some of the dirt on his shovel over his shoulder for luck and some of it accidentally hit her.

The Devil's Bridge - The woman was grieving because her only cow was trapped on the other side of  a flooded river. A man dressed like a monk heard her cries and agreed to build a bridge but at the cost of the first living thing to cross the bridge. Not wanting to lose her cow, or herself, to him she came up with a plan to get her dog to cross the bridge first. Thus tricking the man.

The Martyred Hound - This story a prince was set out to go hunting and called for his dogs. One of them did not come. When the prince returned from his hunt, his dog greeted him, but the prince saw that the dog's face was covered in blood. Going inside, he found his child's cradle had been overturned and the child did not answer when called. The prince immediately thought the worst and killed the dog. Then the prince heard his child from under the overturned cradle and saw the dead wolf. The dog had killed the wolf and saved the child, but it was too late, the dog was now dead. This reminded me greatly of Lady and the Tramp where Tramp kills a rat in the baby's room and is sent off to the pound because it is thought that he was attacking the baby.

Tramp and the Rat

Week 12, Reading Diary: Welsh (Thomas)

Story source: The Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas

March's Ears - In this story there is a Lord who is unhappy because he has a secret. The secret is known only to his barber. The barber was sworn to secrecy, to tell the secret would mean his death. Holding on to the secret was eating away at the barber to the point that he was becoming ill. He told the secret to the ground and afterwards started feeling better. Later in the spot where the secret is told reeds are growing. A musician cuts the reed for a pipe to play and instead of music, the secret is heard.

The Stray Cow - This is a story about a farmer who captured an elfin cow. From that day forth the farmer was wealthy. After a time he was worried that the cow was becoming old and would no longer bring in money so he decided to fatten her for market. Before the cow could be killed, the elves came and took the cow away. The farmer lost all his money and was poor for the rest of his life.

Dick the Fiddler's Money - this was a short, but cute story. I loved how the fiddler got the money to pay his rent and after he paid for it and got a receipt, the money turned to cockleshells. The man never told where he got the money.

fiddler