 |
| (The Fox and the Grapes) |
The Fox and the Grapes
Once upon a time a little fox spotted a vine far in the distance with bundles of glorious, ripe grapes dangling from its ends just waiting to be eaten. These were no ordinary grapes, they were glistening in the sunlight and appeared to be the juiciest grapes this little fox had ever laid his eyes on. Just the sight of these beauties was making the fox salivate as he adored them from afar.
Unfortunately for the little fox, these grapes were much too high for him to reach. Nevertheless, he was determined to capture them. The fox put all of his might into his first leap towards the branch, and just when he could almost taste their sweetness, he fell short and stumbled to the ground. He was sure he would get them the second try, but once again failed.
“Third time’s the charm,” he said, as he walked himself back, took a running start, and gave his biggest leap toward the branch. Inches away from the prized grapes, the little fox missed yet again. The fox was puzzled and disappointed.
“Stupid grapes,” he said. “Those stupid grapes probably aren’t even that great anyway.”
And just when the little fox was about to give up and walk away, his father came around the corner.
“Reaching for some tasty grapes?” his father asked. “I was just leaving,” said the little fox. “Those grapes aren’t worth having.”
His father shook his head in disgust. “Reach for those grapes like they’re the last food on this earth for miles, son. You will get them.”
Flustered and tired, the little fox knew he had to try once more for his father. He stretched out his legs, took a long, deep breath, set his sight on the grapes, and put all his might into his final jump. Eyes closed, the little fox grasped the branch and pulled down bundles and bundles of grapes with him on his way down. He could hardly believe his victory.
After bragging to his father that he knew he could do it all along, the little fox began to dig in. “These are even better than I could have ever imagined, father!” he exclaimed. And they were. They were the sweetest grapes in all of the land.
If at first you don't succeed, try again. Victory is sweet.
-------------------------------------------------
Author's Note: This fable is based off of "the Fox and the Grapes." This particular fable can be found in The Aesop for Children , released in 2006 by Jason Isbell. Just as I have described, this story is about a fox that has spotted some delicious looking grapes, that he has to have. The fox tries his hardest to reach these grapes on the high branch several times, until he is discouraged and gives up. The fox then tells himself that the grapes weren't worth having anyway. However, in the original fable, the fox decides to eventually walk away empty handed instead of trying again like I have portrayed. The original moral of the story is that many people will minimize or put down that which is unattainable to them. For my rendition of the story, I decided that the little fox got a little encouragement from his father, tried again, and finally captured the grapes. After reading this fable, I knew it was the story I wanted to retell this week because I really wanted to switch the ending up. I am a big believer in not giving up on your goals, so while I thought the ending of the fable was ironic and a little funny, I wanted to provide a more uplifting ending to the story. I chose the photo at the top of the page because I thought it was a good representation of the fox admiring the grapes. I loved that it showed him just walking below the branch glaring up at the them, it goes perfectly with the story.
This story made me hungry, but since I don't have any grapes, I'm now eating an apple. Your addition to the story tells how important it is to have people in our lives who encourage and make us better. The father fox could have snatched the grapes down for his son, but he instead taught his son the value of persistence. I also like how the fox is portrayed in a positive light instead of being a devious creature. Good story!
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favorite fable- The fox and the Grapes. I liked how you added a twist to the old story. My favorite part of the story was when the father came in and asked the fox to try one more time and motivated the fox to reach for the grapes again and the fox finally got the grapes. This story is a good motivation to keep trying and not give up.
ReplyDeleteTaylor,
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be amazing if we had these high quality grapes at Walmart! This story kind of reminded me of how my mindset can be sometimes. When things get too hard for me at times I deter from that situation instead of tackling that situation head on. Once the going gets tough for some people, they usually shy away from it.
When I was reading your story, I was feeling comfortable because the format of your story is very good.
ReplyDeleteOverall, your story looks very neat because you have spaces between your paragraphs. The size is good as well since I do not need to adjust my browser’ size to read your entire story; the only thing I need to do is just scrolling up or down. Moreover, the cut-off rule under your story is really good; though I did not see that in the course instruction, it is very reader friendly. I think I will probably use the rule in my storytelling as well before the author’s note.
The font is Arial, which is the one I like the most since it is very easy to read. Your font size is big; this is different with me, but I think big size is much easier to read after viewing my posts. Big size fonts will not make my eye tired.