Week 2 Story - Jataka, restyled

UPDATE - The newest version of this story is available here on my portfolio!

There once was a somewhat happy royal couple living in a kingdom far, far away. The king was happy with his life - he loved his kingdom, he loved his wife, and for the most part, he loved his court.

One day, an acclaimed prophetess visited the kingdom. The king wasn't particularly enthused about receiving such a woman in his palace, but his wife insisted, wanting to hear about her future.

As soon as the king received the prophetess into his court, she went into a trance - predicting his demise at the hands of one of his children. He was instantly furious and had his guards throw her out of his palace and chase her out of his kingdom.

His wife had been asking him about having children for several years, but the king had always refused, not wanting any children. Several weeks after this incident, when she broached the subject again, he became extremely enraged and also had his guards kick her out of the palace and out of his kingdom. He vowed then to not have any children, for he loved ruling his kingdom greatly.

His wife left to a nearby kingdom, and quickly realized she was, in fact, pregnant. An elderly couple with no children of their own took pity on her, and let her move in with them. Seven months later, she gave birth to a healthy, baby boy.

Years past, and the son grew into an adult, who loved his mother dearly but still had no contact with his father. In fact, his mother had refused to let him know who his father was. He heard whispers from his neighbors, pointing to his father being the king of a nearby kingdom. He then went to his mother and told her what she had heard, and she reluctantly confirmed the rumors. He was shocked and despite his mother's protests, immediately prepared for a journey there.

He managed to get as far as the palace gates before he was stopped by his father’s guards. He was then told, if he wanted to get an audience with the king, he would first need to cross the moat surrounding the palace without using the drawbridge. There were dozens of half starved crocodiles lazing around in the moat, keeping watch for any signs of a possible meal. The son thought and thought about a solution to get across. Such was his determination, that he decided to use a sturdy rope and then loop it around a turret and swing across. His incredibly risky plan worked! The rope did not snap, and he managed to narrowly stay out of the crocodiles’ way.

After his guard informed of this development, the king decided to go near the edge of the moat to meet his daring son. Unfortunately, unlike his son, he went a little too close to the edge of the moat and the hems of his royal robe was quickly snapped up in the jaws of a crocodile, and before anyone could blink, he was dragged into the moat, and his head was quickly bitten off.

The guards told everyone in the kingdom of what had occurred, and they insisted on making the son the new leader of the kingdom. He and his mother moved back to that kingdom, and the kingdom continued harmoniously. As had been predicted so long ago, the king’s demise had been at the hands of his progeny, despite his efforts to prevent such an event.

A Crown Fit for a King [source]

Author's Note - This story was based on my favorite jataka from this week - the Monkey who Gathered the Lotuses. I decided I wanted to make all of the characters into people, add a prophecy, and also sort of adapt into a fairy tale style. I hope the results are satisfactory, and while different, do follow the outline of the jataka!

Bibliography - "The Monkey who Gathered the Lotuses" translated by Robert Chalmers. Web Source