Week 3 Storytelling: The Dog and the Egg

There was a Dog and a Chicken that were the best of friends. They did everything together, from frolicking around the chicken coop to playing in the mud. Nothing could separate their bond... or so they thought. The Dog was always getting into things that he shouldn't be and he was always hungry.

One day, the Dog noticed his friend, the Chicken, laying some eggs. Although he did not know what they were, his senses were off the charts. They smelled so delectable, he asked the Chicken if he could have just one of his many eggs. The Chicken replied, "Are you crazy? No you may not have one, I am waiting for them to hatch. You may never take from me." Not sure what to o, the Dog respected his good friend and attempted to stay away from what the Chicken was watching.

As the Dog and the Chicken were hanging out one day, a farmer came and scared the Chicken off of her eggs so that he could take some for himself. The Chicken was not happy to say the least. The Dog whimpered, "What is happening? Why is the farmer taking your eggs from you?"

The Chicken cried back, "He is taking my eggs to eat. They will never become my children. The farmer will turn them into scramble."

Curious to help and friend... and find out more information on these eggs, the Dog took off after the farmer to see what he would do to them.

The farmer walked to the inside of his rickety house with haste and the Dog trailed not far behind. The Dog, unlike the Chicken was allowed to go inside the house. He wandered through the intricate and delicate furniture to follow the farmer to the kitchen. Wondering what he would be doing to the egg, his eyes stayed glued to every move that the farmer made. The Dog watched him heat up a pan on the stove and glob a slice of butter on to the pan. Then, it happened.

All the sudden, the farmer grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet and cracked the egg. "Woof woof", the Dog attempted to exclaim to the farmer. The farmer did nothing but hush the dog up and began to whip the eggs. The Dog had never seen anything like this before.

A few minutes later, the farmer had made what he called "Scrambled Eggs" and began eating it immediately after it was on his plate. After the farmer was all done, he set the plate down and called the Dog over to eat. He too lazy to rinse the plate off, so he let the Dog lick off the remainder.

The overly excited Dog scrambled over to eat the scraps as they tasted so delicious. Although he felt guilty about his friend and betraying him, he continued to eat this magical meal.

Still curious after finishing, the Dog still wanted an egg all to himself. He waited until the farmer wasn't looking and swiped an egg off the counter and ran off with it. Hiding from the Chicken and the farmer, he looked at the shiny white round thing that lay before him. Feeling guilty, he put the whole egg in his mouth and swallowed it whole. It was painful, but the Dog did it and didn't feel any different, nor did he really enjoy eating the egg. Not wanting to tell the Chicken what he did, he tried to keep it a secret from his friend as they continued about their business. About three days later, the Dog was not feeling great at all. He was sweating profusely and sick to his stomach.

The Chicken tried to help his friend, but didn't know what was making him feel this horrible. The Dog's fever would not go away. Thinking he wasn't going to survive, the Dog exclaimed to the Chicken that he had eaten a raw egg and betrayed him. He was apologetic to his dear friend and vowed never to betray their friendship again...

(The Dog and the Chicken, Web Source) 

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Author's Note: 
After reading through some of the stories by Milo Winter, I came across an interesting one called, "The Dog and the Oyster". As interesting as it sounds, it was about just that. In the original story, the Dog would go around eating whole eggs. When he was out by the sea one day, he ate what he thought was an egg, but was really an Oyster. The Oyster upset his stomach and the lesson was that if you act too quickly, you'll end up being sorry. For my story this week, I added a different twist to the story. I left out the oyster part and elaborated on the egg that the dog ate. The lesson here again is that the dog acted too quickly without realizing what could happen.

Bibliography: 
Aesop for Children by Milo Winter, link to source 

Reading Notes: Aesop for Children, Part B

The second part of the reading included more short stories with lessons within them. The first story that grabbed my attention was "The Wolf and the Goat". It was about a Wolf wanting the Goat for as a meal so he tried to temp him by saying there was grass for the Goat. The Goat knew what the wolf was doing and politely declined. The lesson was not to be too selfish. There are a few things I could do to this story to transform it if I was to remake it my own. I could have made it more adventurous and had the Goat falling. Just when the Wolf thought the Goat would be his I could somehow give the Goat wings to fly or make him vanish like it was just a figment of the Wolf's imagination. I think I could transform it to bring different things to life that shouldn't be. For instance, the Goat was standing on a cliff and I could bring the cliff to life and scare the Wolf waiting for a meal.

(The Wolf and the Goat; Web Source) 

Another story I enjoyed was "The Dog and the Oyster". I love how the author pairs together some of the most insane things throughout his story and I think that is what makes them so unique. In my story I think I want to pair together an interesting duo. It was also funny that the dog was eating a whole egg. That is weird and almost unheard of, but could be funny to include random things like that in my next story. It would have been fun to extend on the story and to bring the eggs to life inside of the dogs stomach... in fact I might do that in my next story. Stay tuned.

Bibliography: 

Aesop for Children by Milo Winter; link to web source

Reading Notes: Aesop for Children, Part A

I really enjoyed reading these fables. They all had a lesson to be taught within the story and at the end of the stories there was a line that repeated the lesson. I think in my writings I should include more lesson. One story from Reading A that I thoroughly enjoyed was "The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox". The descriptions were very detailed and that is something I should work to improve in my writing as well. In addition, the lesson was very clever. The Fox thought that he could trick the Cock who was wandering in his territory. In the end though, the Fox was tricked by the Cock because he didn't know that there was a Dog with him. Not only do I enjoy lessons, but I enjoy stories with a twist to them. When things don't turn out the way they are expected, I think that really draws the reader in. Another story that I enjoyed reading was "The Gnat and the Bull". Even though it was a short tale, it left me with a powerful message. The Gnat was resting on the Bull and thought he was high and mighty. When he was leaving from resting on the Bull's horns he made an announcement. The Bull wasn't even aware of the Gnat and the Gnat thought that he was so great. 

(The Gnat and the Bull, Web Source) 

When thinking about my own story that I will write this week, I think it would be cool to add a lesson or reverse a lesson. The last story that I really enjoyed was "The Sheep and the Pig". I think it would be interesting to do a take on the animals as food items talking to each other and maybe adding in some dialogue. With the Sheep and the Pig story, the Sheep were unaware of why the Pig was squealing so loud when the Shepard took him. They didn't understand that the Pig would be killed for bacon and the sheep were only being used for their wool, which would grow back. I could do a twist on the story where the Pig escapes somehow and the Shepard or the Butcher are the ones that get killed for their meat.

Bibliography: 
Aesop for Children by Milo Winter, link to the reading