Week 9 Storytelling: The tale of the owl's big eyes
When King Eyo ruled over all the humans and animals, he decided one day to host a feast. He invited dozens of animals — jackals, tigers, hyenas and other fearsome, powerful creatures.
It was a lavish feast: fruits and cheeses of all kinds, meats from all around the world, covered a dining table. The animals were treated to plenty of wine and as much food as their stomachs could hold.
Imo, an owl, stayed perched on the windowsill of the dining hall. She wasn't invited to the feast, but the smells of the fine feast lured her to the dining hall. Wise enough to stay out of the lively dinner, she quietly observed from window.
Eyo was deep in conversation with a group of jackals, who distracted him as a tiger — drunk from the wine and feeling powerful — challenged a hyena to a brawl. Imo saw the duel unfolding and swooped down from her perch, cutting through the air across the room to the king.
Meanwhile, the tiger's roar was lost in the roar of the raucous dining hall. The hyena's laughter quickly stopped as the tiger lunged at him, and the hyena, fast on his feet, narrowly escaped.
Imo tugged at the king's robe.
"Sir, sir, excuse me, Your Majesty," she whistled in his ear.
The king's head whipped around, and he looked surprised to see an owl at his feast.
"Sir, please, that tiger is going to hurt the hyena. Please, stop them!" Imo implored.
The king looked around to see the tiger preparing to lunge again, and with a thunderous clap of his hands, the room fell silent. The tiger stopped short and slunk out of the room. The hyena breathed a sigh of relief.
The king turned to Imo.
"Thank you, wise owl. Because your watchful eyes have saved lives tonight, I want to make them even larger — with your new, big eyes, you'll be able to watch over the land day and night. Your wisdom will protect us," Eyo said.
Imo blinked once, and suddenly, her range of vision was huge — she could see all around her, crystal-clear. She thanked King Eyo profusely, and flew away from the dining hall. From then on, owls have been given large eyes so that, along with their innate wisdom and calmness, they can be protectors of the earth.
Author's note: For this story, I drew on Nigerian folk stories from Elphinstone Dayrell. Many of the stories focused on animals' origin stories — for this one, I took some elements of a story about why worms live under the ground. In my version, I focused on owls' big eyes, which were not part of the stories I read. Rather than worms living underground because of fear, like the original folk stories suggest, I wanted the owls to get their large eyes for their good deeds. In this story, Imo the owl (whose name is Yoruban, a Nigerian language, for knowledge) is rewarded for saving lives at a too-rowdy feast with large eyes to watch over and protect the earth.
Story source: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).
It was a lavish feast: fruits and cheeses of all kinds, meats from all around the world, covered a dining table. The animals were treated to plenty of wine and as much food as their stomachs could hold.
Imo, an owl, stayed perched on the windowsill of the dining hall. She wasn't invited to the feast, but the smells of the fine feast lured her to the dining hall. Wise enough to stay out of the lively dinner, she quietly observed from window.
Eyo was deep in conversation with a group of jackals, who distracted him as a tiger — drunk from the wine and feeling powerful — challenged a hyena to a brawl. Imo saw the duel unfolding and swooped down from her perch, cutting through the air across the room to the king.
Meanwhile, the tiger's roar was lost in the roar of the raucous dining hall. The hyena's laughter quickly stopped as the tiger lunged at him, and the hyena, fast on his feet, narrowly escaped.
Imo tugged at the king's robe.
"Sir, sir, excuse me, Your Majesty," she whistled in his ear.
The king's head whipped around, and he looked surprised to see an owl at his feast.
"Sir, please, that tiger is going to hurt the hyena. Please, stop them!" Imo implored.
The king looked around to see the tiger preparing to lunge again, and with a thunderous clap of his hands, the room fell silent. The tiger stopped short and slunk out of the room. The hyena breathed a sigh of relief.
The king turned to Imo.
"Thank you, wise owl. Because your watchful eyes have saved lives tonight, I want to make them even larger — with your new, big eyes, you'll be able to watch over the land day and night. Your wisdom will protect us," Eyo said.
Imo blinked once, and suddenly, her range of vision was huge — she could see all around her, crystal-clear. She thanked King Eyo profusely, and flew away from the dining hall. From then on, owls have been given large eyes so that, along with their innate wisdom and calmness, they can be protectors of the earth.
 |
| A watchful owl. Web source: Wikimedia Commons |
Author's note: For this story, I drew on Nigerian folk stories from Elphinstone Dayrell. Many of the stories focused on animals' origin stories — for this one, I took some elements of a story about why worms live under the ground. In my version, I focused on owls' big eyes, which were not part of the stories I read. Rather than worms living underground because of fear, like the original folk stories suggest, I wanted the owls to get their large eyes for their good deeds. In this story, Imo the owl (whose name is Yoruban, a Nigerian language, for knowledge) is rewarded for saving lives at a too-rowdy feast with large eyes to watch over and protect the earth.
Story source: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).
Hey Dana,
ReplyDeleteGreat job with the story! I am a huge fan of origin stories for all things, so for you to make up your own story for the origin of the owl's great vision was an enjoyable read for me. Like you said in your Author's Note, you changed up the basic format of the Nigerian origin folktales where most traits were adapted out of necessity and instead chose to give the owl his vision due to his good deeds. That was a great use of both fantasy and personification. Keep up with the good work!
Hello Dana. I loved this story about the Owl. Origin stories can come off boring at times or drawn out. This one was pretty exciting and short but got the point across perfectly. The only thing I was left wondering was if the Owl got to eat? I love food so that kind of stood out to me, chubby person priorities haha.
ReplyDeleteDana,
ReplyDeleteI did not read this original story, but looking it over after I read yours, you really embodied what the tale was about. I like that you put your own twist on the story by adding an element of the animal that was otherwise overlooked. Not only that, but it was good to give the hero something in the end, as many times in folklore, and mythology, the hero is definitely handed the short straw. Great job on this! I look forward to reading more from you.
Cassidy
Hi dana!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I really enjoyed reading your story, “The Tale of the Owl’s Big Eyes.” I liked how in your story the reason why owls have big eyes is because of their good deeds. I think this gives your story a lighter/happier theme then the original story. Overall you did a great job and I can’t wait to read your other stories!
Hi Dana! I really enjoy origin stories, and you did very well with this one. I liked the amount of detail you put into setting up this story. I could see it in my mind. I found the sentence about Eyo being distracted to be confusing. For a second, I thought you were saying the jackals were distracting him dressed up as a tiger. You might consider rearranging this a bit. Another sentence that I had a hard time with was the one in your author’s note explaining the origin of Imo’s name. I thought you were saying the owl’s name was Yoruban instead of Imo. Overall, very nice story! I enjoyed it and only found a couple minor things that you might consider taking another look at.
ReplyDelete