The Green Jewel by Donald A Mackenzie
"What a boring day" the king thought to himself, "All of this space and I am struggling to find something to entertain me. I have killed all the people in the dungeon and invaded all the nearby countries. How am I supposed to find entertainment now". He flung himself onto the chair to wallow in self pity. He sat there in sadness for an hour, until his chief scribe walked by.
"Oh thank goodness you're here" he exclaimed!
"Is something wrong your majesty?" the scribe inquired.
"I am going out of my wits. I am beyond bored in this building. It is a mansion that feels a lot like a prison" the king wailed.
"I am sorry to hear that your majesty, but I have a very busy day today" the scribe tried to explain.
"Please, I will let you off for the day, if you please please get me out of this castle" the king said.
"How about a boat ride?" the scribe suggested.
But, this did not seem to appease the king.
"We can have beautiful girls rowing and you all can go swimming together. It will be a joyous day with company that is pleasing to the eye" the scribe explained.
"Ooh, a perfect idea" the king said shifting into a daydream about the ride.
Before he knew it, there were 20 beautiful women lined up ready to row.
The sun was shining and the heat was nearly unbearable. After 30 minutes in the sun, the king began to complain again. Thankfully, the scribe was prepared because this happened more often than others would think. He suggested a swim in the lake.
After an hour of splashing around with his beautiful company, the king was ready to return for dinner. They all climbed back into the boat and were heading back when one of the oars swung a little too high and knocked one of the girls in the head.
She stopped rowing.
"Why have we stopped?" the king asked.
"I lost my jewel. I need my jewel." the girl explained.
"I will buy you thousands more just like it, but I have dinner waiting. Let's move it." he ordered.
"No, I want my jewel" she retorted, still refusing to row.
"Fine. Chief, can you do something for this whiney woman?" he asked.
It was then that the scribe split the sea. He walked straight through the water to the bottom to find her jewel. He returned it promptly to her. As beautiful as it was, it was not worth the hassle. But, regardless he returned it to her. The boat went on it's way. Once the king was fed and bathed off the lake water, he was more content than he had ever been. To thank the scribe, he sent him more jewels than the scribe had ever imagined he would see.
This is a possible depiction of what the hairpiece would look like. Source: Flickr
Author's Note: There was a king. He was a pouty king who could find no entertainment in his castle. So, he called upon his chief scribe to help him find entertainment. He suggested a float on the lake with the prettiest girls rowing. He agreed and was having a marvelous time. Until, one dropped her green jewel. This caused them to stop rowing. He tried to convince her to go onward and he would buy her a new one and she refused. So the chief scribe separated the lake to find the jewel and return it to the girl.
Brynlee, I love the fact that you made it very obvious that the King is an obnoxious child. Though the original story itself is pretty simple, I liked how pretentious and foolish you made the King look with his behavior towards his scribe, and then towards the women. The King thought the one woman was being foolish, but throughout the whole story he was basically embarrassing himself with his own behavior. So, I really liked that element to the story; it was well written!
ReplyDeleteHey Brynlee! I laughed from the very beginning of your story, and the King is complaining over his lack of prisoners, countries to destroy, etc. I like how you keep the tone light and humorous throughout the whole story. I also like the conclusion, how even though the king was terrible acting, he was finally content.
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