Week 2 Story: The Weasel and the Ram

There once was a weasel named Wesley that lived at the bottom of a humongous mountain. Wesley had lived his life to this point rather happily, going about his days eating and playing to his little heart’s desire. Wesley would look up to the mountain occasionally and wonder what was up there, but never really had enough interest to try making the ascent himself. However, one day, this all change because Wesley saw a powerful ram bounding his way up the rocky terrain effortlessly. “Woah!”, Wesley said, as the ram continued his way up, “I wonder what he will see when he reaches the top.” The sight of this ram climbing the humongous mountain gave Wesley the desire to go and see what was at the top of the mountain. Every single day for almost a month after Wesley saw the impressive climbing skills, he attempted to mimic the ram. Wesley had a problem though. His problem was that he did not have the stamina to make it all the way up the mountain. “How did that ram do it it!?”, Wesley exclaimed, as he sat exhausted on a rock near the base of the mountain. No matter how much he rested, Wesley just could not seem to make it any further up the mountain. Following this realization, Wesley sought to find the ram and ask him for help reaching his goal.

Conveniently enough, the very next day Wesley saw the ram come hopping along towards his home. Wesley called out to the ram, “Hey, you with the horns!”, “Come here I want to talk with you!” he continued. The ram happily walked over to Wesley and introduced himself. “Hi there, my name is Ralph, who are you?”, said the ram. “Well my name is Wesley. How do you get up that mountain so easily Ralph?” Wesley replied. Ralph gave Wesley a little smirk and answered with, “Why don’t you join me on my way up today Wesley?”. Wesley was immediately excited as this was all he could think about for the past month. So, Wesley agreed to accompany his new friend up the mountain. Ralph told Wesley before they got on their way, “Hang on tight Wesley, I have to make some pretty big jumps to make it up.” Wesley grabbed on to Ralph as tightly as he could and the two made their way up the mountain. Ralph would take all his usual jumps, and showed Wesley everything he knew about this part of the mountain. Eventually the two made it to the peak, and they looked out over the horizon. “Wow, its beautiful Ralph, thank you so much for helping me get up here!”, Wesley exclaimed as he took in this new astonishing view. Ralph and Wesley then made the journey back down the mountain after enjoying the fruits of their labor. The two would make that journey together once a week for the remainder of their lives. 

View from Wesley's Home

Author's Notes: This story was inspired by the two turtles Jatakas. More specifically the Turtle and the geese. This Jataka involves a turtle and two geese who became friends due to the geese looking for food. One day the geese offer to take the turtle to their far away home, but only if the turtle can say not a word to any one on the way. The turtle agrees, and the geese pick up a stick for the turtle to latch his mouth on. On the adventure the turtle winds up talking to someone and falling to his death. In my story I changed the characters and setting as well as the over all goal of the characters. MY story also ended on a happier note than the death of a turtle. 

Bibliography: "The Turtle and The Geese" from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbit