Week 13 Story: The mighty buffalo.

Cute cartoon buffalo Source:Pinterest
    

    There was once a mighty buffalo with great big horns and hooves like iron. The buffalo was mighty, but it had a kind heart. His name was Falo and he was an orphan buffalo raised by a cow couple who picked him up. The couple originally thought that Falo was just a slightly bigger cow, but they soon realized that he was in fact a buffalo with great strength. They knew that he might grow up to be arrogant and violent due to his strength so they taught him patience and humility. They said to him, "Falo, your strength is much greater than you can imagine so you must always be mindful of those around you and restrain yourself." Falo greatly respected his parents and he also knew of his own power, because he grew larger than his parents when he was only 2 years old. 

    Even after his parents passed away, Falo continued to follow their teachings. He was kind and gentle to everyone. However, there were always animals around who liked to take advantage of his kindness. An especially obnoxious monkey named Anky was one of these animals. Anky always told his friends, "He looks so scary, but he's always so calm. I really want to make him angry!" Despite Falo's kind heart, he looked scary due to his muscular body and big horns. This was why some animals like Anky wanted to test his patience and pick on him. 

    One day, Anky decided that he was going to actually start picking on Falo with all his strength. He started climbing on top of Falo's back to sing loudly and dance while stomping his feet. Falo was slightly annoyed by the singing but he could barely feel the stomping so he just let Anky be. Upset by his failure, Anky decided to grab a stick and hit Falo's horns with it to make even louder noises around Anky's ear. Anky would also yell, "Come on! Come on! Get angry Falo!" Falo just sighed and kept on about his business since Anky always grew tired before Falo lost his patience. 

    Eventually, a magical fairy heard the news that there was an obnoxious monkey on a mighty buffalo's back annoying the buffalo day and night. She decided to take a look since it's been awhile that she saw such a stupid little monkey. When she got to see the two of them, she asked Anky, "Why do you annoy Falo so much?"

    Anky answered, "He looks so scary, but he hasn't said a word or did anything about me annoying him. I want to see how scary he would look when he actually gets angry!"

    The fairy was shocked. She never thought that the monkey could be so oblivious to the fact that a single hit from Falo's horns could kill him. In order to prevent this from happening, she decided to fix this problem. She has long heard of Falo's kindness so she decided to make Falo look adorable. She said to Falo, "Since this all originated from your scary looks, I will make you look cute! This way, not only will you be mighty, but also loved by all. You deserve this with your kind heart." As the fairy expected, Anky lost all interest in Falo after his transformation and Falo was able to continue his life the way his parents taught him to. His patience was never tested again.

Bibliography: Twenty Jakarta Tales retold by Noor Inayat.

Author's Note:

    I read this story from the Jakarta Tales and I thought it would be fun to write a story about an obnoxious monkey. I originally thought about possibly making the buffalo violent instead of patient, but I thought that would take away from the message of kindness and patience. In the process of looking for a picture for the buffalo, I found the cute cartoon buffalo and decided to let the fairy make him look cute. In the original story, she gave him charm so I thought that it would be pretty similar anyways. 

 

Comments

  1. Hi Shaun!

    What a cute story! I love the image you chose of the adorable buffalo too. I was very satisfied by the ending of this story where the buffalo becomes cute and doesn't have to worry about being picked on anymore as he really did deserve a peaceful life after putting up with the monkey. I really enjoyed this story.

    Great work!

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  2. Hey Shaun, your story was really unique and fun, something that could definitely be in a children's book. I like the way you split the work into paragraphs, as it always makes it easier for the reader to comprehend. My favorite part was the very end where he was transformed into a cute being, and how it tied back to the virtue of having patience. Nice work!

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  3. Hey Shaun! Great story! I like how you made the buffalo such a kind soul! Even if the monkey was constantly pestering and testing him. I definitely would have lost my patience. How did you come up with the name Falo? It is cute! I also like how you decided to change Falo instead of the monkey. I was wondering why you wouldnt want to change the monkey into something more scary looking so he could learn not to judge others by their appearance. Great job!

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  4. Hello Shaun, this was a great addition to your website. I really enjoyed the story on the buffalo. I thought it was funny that your title said the mighty buffalo, yet your illustration of the buffalo was a cute cartoon buffalo. Overall I believe you did a great job with your story and representing the lesson from the original.

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  5. It isn't hard to add a lesson or meaning behind a story as you have cleverly represented in your stories. You did a great job showing character and strength in your plot. I liked the fact that you were able to show characteristics in a character that is out of the ordinary such as a heavy wild animal with patience and kindness. You did an outstanding job.

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