Week 2 Story: The Quick Sloth and the Slow Tiger
Once, in a tropical rainforest, a Sloth was comfortably hanging in a tree as he usually spends his days. He spent every day, all day in trees sleeping and slowly eating, but rarely went down to the forest ground in fear of predators. Sloth had become very wise because he had spent many years hanging in the trees, observing the rainforest and the animals that inhabited it.
Other animals despised Sloth for his wisdom, especially the Tiger’s wife. Tiger’s wife demanded her husband, Tiger, to find Sloth and bring him back to her so she can eat his heart. This seemed like a daunting task for Tiger, since the Sloth lived so high in the trees, but she refused to take no for an answer.
Tiger knew exactly where needed to go to find Sloth, since Sloth doesn’t move too often. Tiger approached Sloth and said, “Sloth, don’t you ever get tired of staying in the same tree day after day?”
Sloth replied, “Sometimes, but I am too slow to travel across the rainforest and it can be dangerous”
“I will carry you! There are beautiful trees with plenty of food up the river! I can get you there much quicker than letting you make the journey alone,” Tiger insisted.
Sloth trusted Tiger and climbed down from his tree and onto Tiger’s back. Not long into their journey Sloth noticed they weren’t going up the river like Tiger had promised. He quickly became skeptical and asks, “Where are you taking me Tiger? This is not up the river like you said.”
Tiger was confident there was no possible way Sloth could outrun him, so he told Sloth the truth, “I am not taking you up the river, I am taking you to my wife, who will then eat your heart!”
Despite Sloth’s slow nature, he was very quick-witted. He immediately made a plan and replied, “Well I wish you would’ve told me. Sloths don’t keep their heart in their bodies, we keep them high up in our trees. You will need to take us back to my tree and I will climb up and retrieve it for you”
Tiger carries Sloth back to the original tree he found him in. He let Sloth off his back and waited patiently as Sloth climbed up to the top of the tree. Once Sloth was safely at the top of the tree he yelled down to Tiger, “I actually can’t find my heart for you! Sorry!”
Tiger, afraid to return to his wife empty handed, left Sloth and miserably went home. Once he explained to his wife everything that happened with Sloth, she yelled at him, “You fool! Sloths don’t keep their hearts in trees! You’re a strong tiger and you were outsmarted by a sloth!” Tiger was left feeling dejected for being so gullible and believing the Sloth.
Sloth hanging in a tree (Flickr)
Author’s note
I kept the plot and theme of the story the same. However, I changed the setting and animals of the story. I made Bodhisatta into a sloth instead of a monkey, changed the crocodiles into tigers, and the setting from a river to the rainforest. In the end, I made the Tiger’s wife be the one to belittle him for his wit instead of the Sloth.
Bibliography
The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart by Marie L. Shedlock, from Eastern Stories and Legends
Hey! I really like your rendition of using a sloth instead of a gorilla, and substituting a tiger for the crocodile. I think your story ran very smoothly; reading your story makes me want to try swapping genders/animals/characters in the next story that I write. For a second, I was worried for the sloth--I was thinking oh no he's way to slow to get away from the tiger once he's down on the ground! Then once you mentioned the quick-witted sloth, I remember the original rendition's ending and I knew it would work out. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHello Clara, I just read your story and here is a little bit of feedback:
ReplyDeleteIt was really creative to change the characters in the story and make them your own. It makes it feel like you are reading a new story. I also really appreciate the irony in the title that is also shown in the story and not in the original story. A slow animal ended up faster than a fast animal because he was smart, which makes this more interesting than the original. There is one thing I don't get. I can understand why the sloth would want to be able to travel to a different tree, but why trust a tiger who is a predator that the sloth fears? This is something that didn't make sense to me in the original story either. What if you had a small backstory explaining why the sloth would be so desperate to move trees to risk trusting a predator. That could make the story more intriguing and make the sloth a more interesting character.
Hi Clara!
ReplyDeleteThis was such a fun story. I thought the part where the sloth tells the tiger his heart was not in his body, but in the tree, was funny. That was probably my favorite part! Overall you did well at retelling this story. I wish I knew why the Tiger believed eating the heart of a sloth would make her more wise. I wish I knew why a sloth was so wise to all of the animals. Overall, great job!
Hi Clara,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a good job with this story, and I love your background theme thingy for your blog. Every time I read this story or renditions of it I get so annoyed and flabbergasted with the stupidity of the crocodile character. Like why was he so dumb to think the sloth would actually go get his heart to be eaten. WHY!? I love the sloth so much. This would obviously not be able to be casted by Sid the sloth.