Week 2 Story: The Indian Who Wrestled With a Ghost (Retelling)
The Man in the Woods - Based on The Indian who Wrestled with a Ghost
Once there was a man who walked in the wood,
He carried with him a gun and some food,
At nightfall it grew dark and he heard a sound,
But there were only great grey owls around
The next day he continued on his track,
With nothing but the backpack on his back,
He walked over the golden, dusty plains,
Until dusk - then in darkness he remained
In a blanket, he laid down by his fire,
He heard a shout but chose not to inquire,
Then from between trees came an old woman,
Dressed in an old, long gown of tan buckskin
Frightened, the man pretended to be dead,
In his blanket, leaving out just his head,
He waited as the old woman approached,
Indeed, his space she began to encroach
She drew closer - he even heard her breath,
He feared this may be his moment of death!
She grabbed his leg and drew out a dull knife,
So he got his gun and shot for his life
The following day he was tired and scared,
From the tips of his toes to the top of his hair,
He walked but grew weary and longed for rest,
But the woods loomed overhead at sunset
Frightened, he settled down again to sleep,
Before long, he heard another voice peep,
He arose and beside him a man sat,
He'd no flesh - just bones, and a coat but no hat
The skeleton said, "share your food with me,"
The man shared a snack though he disagreed,
The skeleton said, "we'll fight - can you win?
"If so, you're strong and your luck will begin"
The man raised a fist, the skeleton too,
By firelight, they had a rough rendezvous,
They fought and they fought, while the flames flickered,
Later that night emerged the true victor
The man had won, after that he slept well,
And the next morning he kept on his trail,
The skeleton's prediction soon came true,
The man became quite lucky, I'll tell you!
Author's Note: I chose to keep close to the original story because I liked it and didn't want to make any major modifications. Instead, I chose to make a significant stylistic change by writing the story in the form of a ballad or a poem rather than a regular narrative.
Bibliography: "The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost" from Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson (1913). Online Source.
Once there was a man who walked in the wood,
He carried with him a gun and some food,
At nightfall it grew dark and he heard a sound,
But there were only great grey owls around
The next day he continued on his track,
With nothing but the backpack on his back,
He walked over the golden, dusty plains,
Until dusk - then in darkness he remained
In a blanket, he laid down by his fire,
He heard a shout but chose not to inquire,
Then from between trees came an old woman,
Dressed in an old, long gown of tan buckskin
Frightened, the man pretended to be dead,
In his blanket, leaving out just his head,
He waited as the old woman approached,
Indeed, his space she began to encroach
She drew closer - he even heard her breath,
He feared this may be his moment of death!
She grabbed his leg and drew out a dull knife,
So he got his gun and shot for his life
The following day he was tired and scared,
From the tips of his toes to the top of his hair,
He walked but grew weary and longed for rest,
But the woods loomed overhead at sunset
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| black pines by Eric Vondy via Flickr |
Frightened, he settled down again to sleep,
Before long, he heard another voice peep,
He arose and beside him a man sat,
He'd no flesh - just bones, and a coat but no hat
The skeleton said, "share your food with me,"
The man shared a snack though he disagreed,
The skeleton said, "we'll fight - can you win?
"If so, you're strong and your luck will begin"
The man raised a fist, the skeleton too,
By firelight, they had a rough rendezvous,
They fought and they fought, while the flames flickered,
Later that night emerged the true victor
The man had won, after that he slept well,
And the next morning he kept on his trail,
The skeleton's prediction soon came true,
The man became quite lucky, I'll tell you!
Author's Note: I chose to keep close to the original story because I liked it and didn't want to make any major modifications. Instead, I chose to make a significant stylistic change by writing the story in the form of a ballad or a poem rather than a regular narrative.
Bibliography: "The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost" from Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson (1913). Online Source.
Wow Natalie, this was such a creative story. I absolutely loved the rhyming scheme that you put in place. That takes so much talent as a writer to produce such a strong story that also rhymes. I might try to use this idea in my own stories throughout the semester. You did such a great job of developing your characters throughout the story. I wonder what the ghost was thinking before the fight. I also wonder what large impact the old lady had on the story as she seemingly disappeared. What if there was something at the end to tell how the man became lucky? Then again, I like how you left the story. You did a tremendous job overall and I look forward to reading the changes you make in the future. Is the rhyming scheme something that you plan on using in future stories? If so, that would be super creative for a project. Great work!
ReplyDeleteWoah, this is really impressive! I can't believe how smoothly you were able to rhyme every line. I'm terrible at rhyming so reading through this ballad my mind was pretty blown. This definitely sounds like a song that someone made up a long time ago and passed down through generations. I think the ending verse is really fun and wraps up the whole poem really nicely. When I read this story, I had no idea how I would retell it, but this was a super creative solution that was really fun to read!
ReplyDeleteWow Natalie, I'm blown away by this! I lack any ability to rhyme unless by accident, so the fact that you were able to retell the story like this is amazing! I’m curious about what inspired you to go with poetry instead of doing your retelling in prose like the original story. Was it something about the story itself, or are you that comfortable with poetry (I’m definitely not!)? Additionally, and if you can manage it, since poetry is such a hard format, do you think you can build in more of the character’s background? Why was the man walking in the woods? Does he have a destination, or is he just moving around from place to place? And how was he lucky? Was it just because he won the fight, or did he have a lucky life afterwards? I agree with Andrew, if you think you could keep up the poetry style in the future that would make for a great storybook!
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