Week 2 Story: The Rich Man's Trap

     

"Beggar"

    In this land, the homeless are seen as worthless. They are treated just the same as the dirt they have to sleep on. They are mocked and beaten if they speak without being spoken to. The laws of this land do not allow for any aid for their troubles, leaving them to starve and rot on the streets. In fact, it is illegal for anybody to help them in any way. The King of the land grew up in the castle and has never worked a day in his life, he sits atop his throne basking in his riches and sees the homeless as unequal. The King banned anybody from helping the homeless in any way including giving them any food, water, money, or even helping them cross a street. So, the King set traps around the land and had his guards dress as the homeless to try and catch anyone who tries to help them.

    One day, a man by the name of Kugan was walking to his job as a teacher at the local school when he happened upon an old man sitting outside the vendors market. He appeared to have bruises and cuts from being jumped and robbed and now he is left to beg on the streets. The old man begged and begged Kugan for just a little money so he could buy a loaf of bread and some cloth for his cuts. However, Kugan had heard of the stories of the King locking away those who helped the homeless and was hesitant to help. After the persistent begging from the old man, Kugan gave him some money. Instantly the old man tore away his disguise revealing his uniform. "You are a traitor of the King," said the guard, "you must come with me at once and sit before the King." Kugan plead with the guard and asked for just a moment to ask three things to see if the King was treating this act fairly. 

    So, Kugan walked over to a spider and asked what it thought of the matter. The spider replied, "you have killed hundreds of my brothers and sisters, you have torn down our houses, and for what? Because you are scared of us? We help you in many ways that you choose to overlook, why should I help you now? You deserve this fate."

    Then Kugan asked a honeybee if it thought he deserved this treatment. The bee replied, "I have given you honey and pollinated your flowers. I have fertilized the food you eat every day and without me, you would be in famine. However, I have never received a thank you of any kind. You absolutely deserve this fate."

    Finally, Kugan found an elder who was reading his book on a bench overlooking the river running through the middle of the land. Kugan asked him what he thought of the matter. However, the elder was hard of hearing. Kugan repeated his question but to no avail. The elder then asked Kugan to help him cross the street to the site where it all happened so that he could better understand what Kugan was asking him. When they got back to the waiting guard Kugan repeated what had happened and the elder asked the guard if this was true. The guard agreed and the elder spoke, "well Mr. guard, you outta double his sentence because I am homeless too and he just helped me cross the street."

Authors Note: The original story ends with a happy, feel-good ending. However, I feel those are overused and wanted to switch it up. The original story also has a different main character and is not set in a medieval dictatorship. I knew the kind of approach I wanted to take but also freestyled a bit as I went along. I hope you enjoyed it!

Bibliography: "The Tiger, the Braham, and the Jackal" by Joseph Jacobs (1912) Web Source

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons