Once upon a time, two fierce brothers lived who were managers of a Kansas corn farm. John, who was honest, scrupulous, and fair-minded, disliked cheating and liked to work with his son all throughout the year, especially during the harvest season. John was popular, so he had many followers and sharecroppers who genuinely liked him. In addition, the owner of the farm, who was an old man in his eighties, really liked John and wanted him to succeed his ownership once he died.
There was another brother whose name was April. Unlike John, April was greedy, competitive, and was always determined to win. April disliked rules and often ignored the proper procedures when he was working on the farm.
One day, April decided to cheat John out of excessive greed. April wanted bumper crops for himself and did not want to share as much with his fair-minded brother John.
So April, along with his fellow crooked followers and sharecroppers, decided to revolt against John and his scrupulous followers and sharecroppers during the harvest season.
John, who was not stupid or foolish, did notice April's malicious intent at a quick glance; April saw the corns on the farm reduced in half even before the harvest began.
Deeply confused, John asked April about the situation, "April, our crops are reduced in half even before harvest. What happened?"
Insincere and lying April replied, "Tornado must have struck our farm then. Don't ask me why."
John had enough with his greedy, dishonest, and unscrupulous brother. John told April that he would no longer work with April on the farm and report his abuse to the old owner.
April was ready to revolt. His men and followers were waiting behind the brothers' conversation and suddenly attacked John with sickles and shovels. When John screamed in pain, his followers heard and noticed from a distance. Unaware of the sudden attack, they ran in hurry without being fully armored to help John.
When April's followers saw John's army coming, they started to shoot their hunting rifles to shoot them down. Tang, who was John's right-hand man and who had been his closest and most loyal friend, got shot with eight bullets in his body. April approached Tang with a rifle.
John begged April to spare Tang's life, "Dear brother, please spare my best friend's life. Tang has nothing to do with your 'unfair treatment'."
April replied in stone-cold face, "He's your man. I don't care." April aimed at Tang's head and shoot him down.
John was enraged. So deeply enraged that his face turned red-white.
April and his men were advancing. They almost encroached the entire field and claimed occupancy.
Then April accidentally trapped in a mud hole. It was a mud hole that John dig to prevent boars from destroying the corn farm.
John quickly approached April with a rifle and aimed at his head.
April cried in despair, "Please my brother, spare my life! You are a honorable man!"
John replied dispassionately, "Honor? You unfairly killed my right-hand man when he was in deep injury. You deserve your death."
John shoot his brother down in an instant shot. April's men and followers suddenly stopped fighting John's men when they said their boss killed miserably.
April's men then bowed their heads to John, who was their new master, and the farm's new owner became John.
Bibliography:
Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
Author's Note: I re-created this story of Arjuna and Karna's fight in PDE Mahabharata in my own version of the story. Original content may be different from my re-created story, so you are advised to visit the website in my bibliography for the original content of the story.
There was another brother whose name was April. Unlike John, April was greedy, competitive, and was always determined to win. April disliked rules and often ignored the proper procedures when he was working on the farm.
One day, April decided to cheat John out of excessive greed. April wanted bumper crops for himself and did not want to share as much with his fair-minded brother John.
So April, along with his fellow crooked followers and sharecroppers, decided to revolt against John and his scrupulous followers and sharecroppers during the harvest season.
John, who was not stupid or foolish, did notice April's malicious intent at a quick glance; April saw the corns on the farm reduced in half even before the harvest began.
Deeply confused, John asked April about the situation, "April, our crops are reduced in half even before harvest. What happened?"
Insincere and lying April replied, "Tornado must have struck our farm then. Don't ask me why."
John had enough with his greedy, dishonest, and unscrupulous brother. John told April that he would no longer work with April on the farm and report his abuse to the old owner.
April was ready to revolt. His men and followers were waiting behind the brothers' conversation and suddenly attacked John with sickles and shovels. When John screamed in pain, his followers heard and noticed from a distance. Unaware of the sudden attack, they ran in hurry without being fully armored to help John.
When April's followers saw John's army coming, they started to shoot their hunting rifles to shoot them down. Tang, who was John's right-hand man and who had been his closest and most loyal friend, got shot with eight bullets in his body. April approached Tang with a rifle.
John begged April to spare Tang's life, "Dear brother, please spare my best friend's life. Tang has nothing to do with your 'unfair treatment'."
April replied in stone-cold face, "He's your man. I don't care." April aimed at Tang's head and shoot him down.
John was enraged. So deeply enraged that his face turned red-white.
April and his men were advancing. They almost encroached the entire field and claimed occupancy.
Then April accidentally trapped in a mud hole. It was a mud hole that John dig to prevent boars from destroying the corn farm.
John quickly approached April with a rifle and aimed at his head.
April cried in despair, "Please my brother, spare my life! You are a honorable man!"
John replied dispassionately, "Honor? You unfairly killed my right-hand man when he was in deep injury. You deserve your death."
John shoot his brother down in an instant shot. April's men and followers suddenly stopped fighting John's men when they said their boss killed miserably.
April's men then bowed their heads to John, who was their new master, and the farm's new owner became John.
Battle between Arjuna and Karna. Source: Arjuna confronts Karna
Bibliography:
Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
Author's Note: I re-created this story of Arjuna and Karna's fight in PDE Mahabharata in my own version of the story. Original content may be different from my re-created story, so you are advised to visit the website in my bibliography for the original content of the story.
I really liked your story! You definitely captured the malice that you were going for with April. I was absolutely enraged when April killed Tang. But, sweet revenge was not far behind! Your writing flowed very well, and you were able to set up the story nicely! I do not remember the original story from these, because I might not have read them.
ReplyDeleteGreat story Peter! I enjoyed the dynamic you created between the brothers and the themes you had throughout the story. You created a very honorable character, John, and made him appear even more honorable by contrasting him with April. The call for compassion really elevated John's character. I also liked the way you set up the story at the beginning and set the whole thing on a farm.
ReplyDeleteHey Peter!
ReplyDeleteI too wrote about Arjuna! It's good to see another story come from this epic! Great job being creative and using the original to influence your story! I liked how you used the farm setting and set two brothers against each other. In the beginning, you mentioned two fierce brothers but John seemed like a pretty nice person. Other than shooting his brother of course. Keep up the good work!
Hey Peter! I just wanted to say that I loved your story! Wow! I can see that you put a lot of hard work and creativity into your writing! You also grabbed my attention and had it till the very end! Therefore, keep up the good work! I look forward to reading more of your stories! Good luck with the rest of your semester! It is close to being over! Also, have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteHey Peter! I really liked this story! I enjoyed how you took a story out of the Mahabharata and made it more applicable and relatable to modern day life. You did a good job depicting the emotions behind each of the characters in this story – April’s greed, John’s heartbreak, and Tang’s loyalty. It made the story so much more real!
ReplyDeleteHey Peter,
ReplyDeleteI really liked this story and enjoyed getting to read it. I loved how you where able to take this story and keep the theme the same but also place it in modern day to where it is a lot easier for us to relate and understand the story. The emotions with the characters were so good too.