Week 9 Story: The Selfless Gentleman
A home far from the inner-city, surrounded by giant trees, there lived a man named Jonah.
Jonah was a farmer who had been living away in a deserted area for many years now. He
decided that this would be the most preferable option for him, now that his family had all passed.
All of his immediate family died from a natural disaster that hit in the inner-city, leaving him all alone. In order to stay away from those awful memories, he made the ultimate decision to stay away.
Jonah had been living off very little and as humble as he was, he still fed his very few animals. He would try to grow vegetables and sell his eggs that he got from the hens, but with the weather being hot and dry, there was very little production. Jonah could feel that his time was coming, where he perish from this world and live with his family once again.
Until that day came, Jonah continued to feed himself and his remaining animals. Weeks had passed and Jonah was getting weaker and thinner with barely anything left for him. One day he was feeding his animals and a old man passed by out of no where. Jonah was shocked to see someone even show face in the area, so he immediately rushed over to see what was up.
Once Jonah was able to get clear sight of the old man, he politely asked what his business was around this type of area. The old man simply said that he was just passing by and was wondering if he could grab a bite and some water to quench his thirst in this heat. As humble as Jonah was, he offered the very last bits of what he had to the old man. The old man shared a few stories back in his time and kept Jonah busy laughing at them. Time came around when the old man grew hungry again and asked for more food. Nice as he was, Jonah offered his animal's portion of food and gave it all to the old man.
When the old man had finished eating and telling his stories, he simply smiled at Jonah and said thank you for your hospitality. Jonah walked the old man back to the trails and greeted him a farewell. Once he had turned away and walked off, he saw that the old man had vanished. He was still surprised that he came across another human being around his farm, because it was old and dead around the area. As he situated himself back home, he realized that he would have to starve for the day.
It was at that very moment he walked back inside that he saw an egg. A random egg that was discolored and sat at the edge of his table. Skeptical of the situation, he observed the egg and gave it a few taps and then BOOM! The discolored egg popped and gave out a quick flash, blinding Jonah for a couple of seconds. Once he was back to a stable setting, he saw that there was a plethora of gold just sitting on his table that seemed to be worth a fortune. Jonah fell to his knees and looked up into the sky, shedding a few tears with a small smirk on his face.
The old man had blessed Jonah for his selfless act and decided to give him gifts of riches.
Bibliography: The Mongoose by Annie Besant
Author's Note: In this story, I used the character Jonah to portray a poor man who was barely living off of his goods. In this story, Jonah had lost everything, including his family and was left alone with his very few animals. In the original story, The Mongoose, there was a Brahmin who had a family and famine struck at the time. The family was so skinny, they were basically skeletons. The were living off barley and powder, which was not to last very long. There was a guest who visited them and was basically treated by this humble family. They had very little for the guest to eat, but they still gave all their portions to this stranger. Later, they realized they had been feeding a Dharma, who then had a mongoose pop out of nowhere and gifted this family with riches.
Jonah was a farmer who had been living away in a deserted area for many years now. He
decided that this would be the most preferable option for him, now that his family had all passed.
All of his immediate family died from a natural disaster that hit in the inner-city, leaving him all alone. In order to stay away from those awful memories, he made the ultimate decision to stay away.
Jonah had been living off very little and as humble as he was, he still fed his very few animals. He would try to grow vegetables and sell his eggs that he got from the hens, but with the weather being hot and dry, there was very little production. Jonah could feel that his time was coming, where he perish from this world and live with his family once again.
Until that day came, Jonah continued to feed himself and his remaining animals. Weeks had passed and Jonah was getting weaker and thinner with barely anything left for him. One day he was feeding his animals and a old man passed by out of no where. Jonah was shocked to see someone even show face in the area, so he immediately rushed over to see what was up.
Once Jonah was able to get clear sight of the old man, he politely asked what his business was around this type of area. The old man simply said that he was just passing by and was wondering if he could grab a bite and some water to quench his thirst in this heat. As humble as Jonah was, he offered the very last bits of what he had to the old man. The old man shared a few stories back in his time and kept Jonah busy laughing at them. Time came around when the old man grew hungry again and asked for more food. Nice as he was, Jonah offered his animal's portion of food and gave it all to the old man.
When the old man had finished eating and telling his stories, he simply smiled at Jonah and said thank you for your hospitality. Jonah walked the old man back to the trails and greeted him a farewell. Once he had turned away and walked off, he saw that the old man had vanished. He was still surprised that he came across another human being around his farm, because it was old and dead around the area. As he situated himself back home, he realized that he would have to starve for the day.
It was at that very moment he walked back inside that he saw an egg. A random egg that was discolored and sat at the edge of his table. Skeptical of the situation, he observed the egg and gave it a few taps and then BOOM! The discolored egg popped and gave out a quick flash, blinding Jonah for a couple of seconds. Once he was back to a stable setting, he saw that there was a plethora of gold just sitting on his table that seemed to be worth a fortune. Jonah fell to his knees and looked up into the sky, shedding a few tears with a small smirk on his face.
The old man had blessed Jonah for his selfless act and decided to give him gifts of riches.
Bibliography: The Mongoose by Annie Besant
Author's Note: In this story, I used the character Jonah to portray a poor man who was barely living off of his goods. In this story, Jonah had lost everything, including his family and was left alone with his very few animals. In the original story, The Mongoose, there was a Brahmin who had a family and famine struck at the time. The family was so skinny, they were basically skeletons. The were living off barley and powder, which was not to last very long. There was a guest who visited them and was basically treated by this humble family. They had very little for the guest to eat, but they still gave all their portions to this stranger. Later, they realized they had been feeding a Dharma, who then had a mongoose pop out of nowhere and gifted this family with riches.
Hi Paul, this was a very nostalgic story. It has the feels of a classical religious tale about being nice to people regardless of who they are, and that those who help others even at their own expense will be paid a thousand times over. I am curious as to why there was an egg and why he decided to tap it. I actually thought he got an egg to eat out of the entire ordeal, but thank goodness that wasn't true! This was a great story and I hope you have a good semester!
ReplyDeleteHi Paul! You set up the story really well and gave good a background for Jonah. I liked how he was getting to the end of being able to continue and that is when someone appeared to help him. It's like he was being watched to see if he was truly worthy of receiving the gold. Good job writing this story!
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