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Week 10 Planning: The Tree Spirit's Plea

THE SPIRIT THAT LIVED IN A TREE


Source: Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock

I plan to change up a few things, including the origin of the tree spirit. I think it could have an interesting backstory, along with more detailed relationships to the other trees in the grove that are his children. I also want to expand on the king's story, detailing his reasoning for wanting to build a palace from the tree.

I plan to make the tree-spirit into a Yakshini, rather than the Buddha re-born. I think this will mesh better, with the tree-spirit trying to protect her children.

I think the premise of wanting to build a mighty palace built on one single beam of a tree is kind of dumb, so I think I will focus on the tree have a godly magnificence that the king is drawn to. He wants his palace to exude that same aura of godliness that the tree does. Additionally, the king will want to make his throne from the heart of the tree, symbolizing his belief that his family was chosen by the gods to rule these lands.

The Tree Spirit (Source: wikimedia)

At the end of the story, rather than the king simply giving up on making the palace and the tree getting her way, I am going to have them come to a compromise. The tree will grow a mighty throne for the king, as a gift for agreeing to spare her and her children. The tree-spirit will form her branches into a magnificent seat for the king, so long as he promises to always protect this forest. The two agree, and the story ends with the king sitting upon his new throne, conversing with the tree spirit, part of whom still resides in the branches that make up the seat.

Finally, I do want to update the language, getting away from the old sounding language that is used in the original story. I find that it gets in the way of a modern reader, as it sounds clunky now. I think my story will be easier to read because of this, and therefor more enjoyable.
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Comments

  1. Nate JohnsonApril 2, 2018 at 3:10 AM

    Hi Cal. Wandered over here since I already hit your intro. If you want to see some good magic tree inspiration, check out this person's storybook. You don't need to read it, just the tree in the background. Of course, if you ever have a chance to read someone's thing from the other class, Myths and Folklore, I highly recommend this blog. She's a dope writer.
    https://sites.google.com/view/thedragonundertheyew/part-ii

    ReplyDelete
  2. chriskweigelApril 21, 2018 at 8:27 PM

    Hey Cal! I think this is a really cool idea for a story. I haven’t read the original, so I can’t give you any suggestions; at least not thematically accurate ones. I can, however, confirm what Nate is saying. That person’s storybook was in fact dope. She is a really good writer. Anyways, I hope you turn this into a story, it looks super cool!

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