Sunday, March 04, 2012

Story Time!!!

Each time I visit my grandparents in Corozal, Grandfather begins his storytelling. He knows how much I love to listen to him talk so as I finish greeting and giving hugs to everyone, we sit down in the kitchen and the story begins!
Here is one as I remember as he told me as he remembers as he was told by his grandfather. . . [a sort of edited version and pardon me if I get scenes mixed up because this is the first time I'm testing out my skills as a storyteller. Maybe I should say a story writer?
In a land [not certain whether it was far or near but let's settle for not very far away], a woman did her best to make ends meet. She raised turkeys and sent her son to sell them throughout the land. He was not to return until he had some money. So off he went with his turkey. Going house to house and street to street, he realized that no one was interested in taking ownership of the turkey. He didn't give up though and continued walking until he came near the castle.
Being tired of walking around with a turkey, he decided to stop for a rest. While he rested, a young woman approached him and asked what he was doing. He replied by saying that his mother sent him out to sell the turkey but that no one wanted to buy. She became thoughtful and finally told him that she would take the turkey and give him something in exchange. He agreed, not knowing what her bargain was. So, he gave his turkey over to her and waited for her end of the bargain. Slowly, she started lifting the hem of her blouse while he waited in suspense.
He tried to tear his gaze away, but she wouldn't let him. Imagine his surprise when he saw what she was showing him! She then told him that each time he gave her a turkey, she would show him more. What he was looking at was the first color on her navel. By now he realized that he wasn't going to get any money for the turkey so he returned home.
When he got there, his mother began asking him how the sale was and demanded to see the money. He told her that it was stolen from him. Upon hearing that, she began to worry for she didn't know how else to get through. The turkeys were all that she had left to sell. He tried to cheer her up but his conscience kept nagging him.
The following day, he took another turkey and went straight to the place where he met the young woman, as they had planned. There, she showed him the second color. For the five days that followed, he returned home with the same story of someone robbing him of the turkey. On the seventh day, she told him not to return because she didn't have anything else to offer him. Not knowing why she showed him the colors of her navel, he returned home, puzzled about the last seven days.
Soon after, word spread that the ruler of the land was in need of entertainment and seeking young men who could guess the seven colors on his daughter's navel. The people at the castle prepared for the festivities and the young men came from all over. For days, one by one each young man started choosing which seven colors he thoughts of and presented them to the ruler but none came close. Finally, the ruler got bored.
Meanwhile, the turkey guy saw that there was a lot of excitement in the land. He set out to find out what it was all about. When he heard, it dawned on him that the young woman he met was none other than the ruler's daughter. He smiled for he knew exactly what the seven colors were. So, what else was he to do? He made his way into the castle and faced the ruler. One by one, he began telling which were the seven colors. So surprised was the ruler when he heard the colors being named. In the end, he couldn't believe so he asked the servants if they had seen him near his daughter at anytime and they said no.
Since no one could prove that they knew each other, the ruler had no other option but to give his daughter as wife to the turkey guy. The wedding was celebrated and the mother was finally happy that she could now forget about her worries of making ends meet.

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