Week 7 Storytelling-The Businessman and the Beggar

As I stood in line for my daily train ride to work, I noticed a raggedly dressed man walking by his lonesome muttering under his breath. The man walked close enough where I could hear the words he repeated under his breath mindlessly.

"If only someone would give me money to eat, I would never forget the kind act they performed," the homeless man said over and over.

"Excuse me, sir, are you in need of some assistance?" I graciously asked.

"Kind sir, if only you could spare me enough money to eat today I would forever remember your good graces," sputtered the man with a gleam in his eye, "I would not run and spend it on drugs and alcohol, this I promise. I just need food to eat today."

The homeless man had seemingly read my mind as that very thought is what was causing my apprehension to lend him the cash. I decided to help the poor man and reached into my back pocket to pull out my wallet.

As I pulled out the wad of cash within, the beggar could see that I had more than enough money to give him to eat for multiple days. He eyed the green dollar bills with unabashed envy. I stuck out my hand to give him the ten dollar bill I had taken out, and he grabbed it while still staring at my stack of cash. I hoped he didn't think that this could become a daily routine.


The businessman's wad of cash (Flikr).

"Thank you, sir. It means a lot," said the man as he started off towards the train station exit.

A month passed by and I had not seen the beggar and quite honestly had completely forgotten about him. Then one day, as I again waited in line for my train, I heard the man's ragged voice yell out from somewhere behind me.

"Sir! Sir!" he exclaimed while happily waving towards me in a new set of worn out clothes.

This time he was not alone. He had at least five acquaintances with him. I immediately thought that the only explanation could be that he told all his friends about my wad of cash and how I had helped him previously. Fully expecting to be ambushed with questions of assistance I was pleasantly surprised at the next sequence of events.

"Do you remember me?" quizzed the old beggar.

"Yes, how are you? Looking for more money to eat?" I arrogantly asked.

"No! Actually, I am here to repay you," said the poor man with a smile that seemingly stretched across his entire face.

I sat confused as the man pulled out dollar bills and quarters, dimes, and nickels to the tune of a ten dollar total: the man had paid me back in full.

"I wanted to repay you for your kindness a few weeks back. I found a job that paid me a little so I've been saving up in case I ran into you again. It is my way of saying thank you for your generosity," explained the old man.

I could only stand in shock as the beggar turned with his friends and walked away. I managed to stammer out a thank you but of course he had already been long gone.

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from The Wizard and the Beggar found in Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899). In the original story, a beggar is looking for someone to help him end his craving for hunger. He comes across a wizard who warns him that men forget benefits they receive from others. The beggar promises he will not do that if only the wizard will help. The wizard then shows him two jewels: one that, when held in one's mouth, enables them to fly and another, when held in one's mouth, enables them to receive all they wish to possess. The beggar takes the second jewel and returns home. After awhile, he and his people decide they want the other jewel as well and return to the home of the wizard to take it. The wizard knew the beggar would forget the kind act he performed for the beggar and tricked him by stealing the beggar's jewel and then flying away by aid of the other jewel.

For my story, I decided to make the beggar just need food for the day and the wizard was replaced by the business man. I wanted the ending to be a happy one because in the original story I felt bad for the beggar up until the very end and thought he would stay true to his promise. I thought the feel good ending would make the story better in my eyes. I used the train station for a more present day feel.

Extra Reading Diary: Japanese Fairy Tales

I chose to do an extra reading this week instead of writing an essay post. I chose the Japanese Fairy Tales unit because it contained stories that were a little longer than the unit's stories that I have read lately. I kept note of which stories were my favorite after reading half of this unit.

The Stonecutter

I've read a story like this in another unit I think so I kind of knew how it would end up but it was one of my favorites nonetheless. I really liked how the stonecutter thought he wanted to be all these things that were increasingly more powerful than the other. The way the story ends with him seeing that his initial body of work was the most powerful of all makes you look around and stop wishing for all these things you want to be and be grateful for who you are and what you have.

A statue of a stonecutter (Flikr).

The Envious Neighbor

I think I liked this story so much because of what happened to the neighbor in the end. The old couple continuously gave the neighbor what he so desperately wanted even after he had showed that he could not stay true to his word and return what they had given him. This is without mentioning that everything he took and destroyed was near and dear to the old couple. The neighbor got what was coming to him at the end of the story.

The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue

I liked this story much for the same reason I enjoyed the one above. The evil character paid for its mistake at the end of the story. In this story it was once again greed that led to the demise of the evil character. This seems to be a common theme with the stories I've chosen to be my favorites with the endings either being a lesson learned or the demise of a character.

Reading Diary B: Laos Unit

Today I read the second half of the Laos unit that I started on Monday. I really enjoyed the first reading so I was looking forward to finishing out the unit. I once again took notes and here I mention some of my favorites from the reading.

The Wizard and the Beggar

This story seems like a good story to do a storytelling post over. I liked that the wizard could almost foresee what would occur if he gave the beggar what he was looking for. He set him up by telling him about the other jewel he possessed and used it as a test to see if the beggar would stay true to his word. I feel like for such a short story there was lots of action and I want to be able to do that in my writing.

The Wizard's face when the Beggar went back on his word (Pixabay).

A Boy of the City Streets

The boy in this story was to smart for the three "wise men" that came from neighboring villages. I liked how at the beginning of the story it could be seen that the men thought the child to be nothing but a nuisance and wanted to teach him a lesson. As the story goes along, it is apparent that the child has street smarts and ends up outsmarting the three wise men and making money by selling them as slaves.

The Blind Man

I just found this story amusing because of all the excuses the blind man could come up with when questioned by his wife. Especially the time where the house is burning down and he says he isn't trying to reach the door yet because he is trying to measure the house to build a new one for them.

Reading Diary A: Laos Unit

I chose to read the Laos unit this week during my reading. In the overview of the unit it mentioned that there are plenty of origin stories: why things are the way they are now. I really seem to enjoy the take from different cultures on why they believe certain things or what stories have influenced them. After reading the first half of the unit, I came up with some of my favorite stories.

The Enchanted Mountain

I liked this unit because the description of this place somewhere high in the mountains sounded so majestic. To me it sounded like Laos' heaven or holy place. It almost reminds of the Garden of Eden from the story of Adam and Eve.


Moraine Lake in Banff National Park (Wikipedia).

The Man in the Moon

This story was entertaining to hear because I've never really thought twice about hearing about "the man in the moon". It's very interesting to read stories that have different explanations for how things happened or why things are the way they are than what I am used to in my own culture.

The Lovers' Leap

After reading this story I really feel like I could write a good story using the main plot behind it. It gave me somewhat of a Romeo and Juliet feel to it as they both decided to die with each other in the end. Also, it gave me inspiration because for such a short story I felt like lots of power and captivation was shown through it.

The Giants' Mountain and the Temple

The message behind this story is what makes it one of my favorites: "If you ask aid from others, it is well to put your own heart into the work". To many times people ask for help and expect to get it done for them. I think this puts into perspective what should really be the intention when asking for help from another.