One day, as the roller bird was looking for insects for lunch, she spotted the elephant walking past, looking for his own lunch. The elephant was delicately picking marula fruits off of the marula tree. The roller bird decided to have some fun with the elephant. Discreetly she flew closer to the elephant and plucked off one of the marula fruits. With the fruit in her talon, the roller bird hung the fruit as if it were still hanging off of the tree. When the elephant came to pick this fruit with his trunk, the roller bird quickly pulled the fruit up before he could reach it.
The elephant lowered his trunk and tilted his head up at the tree, however which his small eyes and the bird's camouflage appearance, he could not see that it was the roller bird at work.
The roller bird lowered the fruit again, and the elephant tried to pluck the fruit from the tree. Once again, the roller bird pulled the fruit up in the last second. Now the elephant was frustrated. He was determined to get this fruit. Standing on his back two legs, the elephant reached as high as he could to pick the fruit, but still the bird moved it out of his reach. This time, the elephant lost his balance and quickly came crashing to the ground.
Quite in pain from the fall, the elephant then heard a familiar rak rak rak coming from the trees. It was the roller bird! Furious, the elephant shouted at her, "This is the last time you play a trick on me!" He stormed away while the roller bird continued to laugh.
The elephant went directly to the king and made his complaint. The king decided the roller bird must be stopped for good and the way to do that was to make the roller bird more noticeable.
The elephant gathered some of his friends for this task. They borrowed some paint from the humans and came to the roller bird's tree. Even though they knew she was up there, no one was able to spot the roller bird. So the meerkat dug up some insects and placed them in a large pile so as to lure the roller bird down. The other animals hid as best they could so she could not spot them.
It worked, and soon enough the roller bird swooped down to her dinner. She was so focused on the delicious insects that she did not notice the other animals around her. As soon as she landed, the animals jumped from their hiding places and began to throw paint at the roller bird. The meerkat threw green paint, while the monkey threw blue chunks of paint. The hare threw yellow colors at the bird, and the elephant threw lilac.
By the time the roller bird was able to react, she was covered in bright, colorful paint. No longer was she able to hide in the trees, as when she flew away, all of the animals were able to see her even through the dense branches. This is why the lilac breasted roller bird is so colorful now, and why she is so ashamed to trees for very long.
Author's Note: As I was reading folk stories from Nigeria, many of the stories that stuck out to me where sort of creation stories which explain why some animals look or act the way that they do. The stories usually are very outlandish and unrealistic, but they are still fun to read. As I was looking at animals from Africa, one that stuck out to me was the Lilac Breasted Roller Bird, which has such beautiful multicolored feathers. I decided I wanted to write how this bird got its beautiful feathers. It is unrealistic and outlandish, yes, but hopefully it entertains.
Bibliography: This was inspired by various animal folk tales from Nigeria, collected by Elphinstone Dayrell, from Nigerian Folk Stories. From the unit Nigeria
Image 1 information: "Maroela" taken by Davinci77, 2005. Web source: Wikimedia Commons
Image 2 information: "Lilac Breasted Roller" taken by Gareth Rasberry, 2013. Web source: Wikimedia Commons
Nice job! I really like how you linked the story to the origins of the bird's color (that's a really cool looking bird, by the way). I also like how you went into detail about how plain it used to be and how it took advantage of that; it made a lot of sense in the context of the story.
ReplyDeleteThe ending was great! The myth stories of revenge are usually pretty dark and morbid, so this was refreshing and easy to imagine.
Good job as always.
First off, I like how the story is about a colorful bird and your blog is colorful as well. It is very appealing to the eye! I have not read the original yet, but your version was so fun to read. I did not expect for a bunch of animals throw paint at the little bird. I love this concept!
ReplyDeleteThat little bird is so fluffy and colorful! You used that picture to great effect by including it at the end of the story instead of the beginning.
ReplyDeleteThese kinds of stories stick with me, too. I guess every time you see something with a creation story behind it, it reminds you of the story.
Great story! I could tell in your writing that you enjoyed the story. It made it more enjoyable to read!
This is such a cute story and I love the photos of the birds! I didn't read the Nigerian folk tales but after reading your story I am considering reading those for some bonus reading in the course! Also, very cute layout for your blog! I love the colors and they are easy to read. I look forward to reading more of your stories! and... It's Friday! Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story! I felt like I was actually reading one of the fairy tale stories! It was written so well! It was such an entertaining story too! I didn't read the stories you did, but I feel like it probably is very similar to the stories you read, like you could put your story in the list and no one would know! Good job on the story!
ReplyDeleteAmanda, I really enjoyed reading your story about the roller bird. I thought you did an excellent job introducing the bird and showing just how annoying it was that she blending in so well. Additionally, the story had the feel of a story being told to someone. It reminded me of a fictional story from the Native Americans on how a certain animals became what they are today. Overall, I thought it was an excellent story!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this story! I like reading creation stories and this one seems like it fits with that theme because it describes how the bird came to be how it is. Was the original a similar story or did you make up everything about the trickery and the paint? It was really creative and you did a great job!
ReplyDeleteAmanda, I really enjoyed reading your story! You showed great creativity in portraying the character of the bird. Your story felt like a fairy tale it was really well written and structured. It was a joyful read and that cute bird was definitely a bonus! Good job!
ReplyDeleteThis story was so fun. I thought that you did a good job of adapting the original story and making it your own. I thought it was funny that the other animals just threw globs of paint at the little bird so that they could see it better, but when you look at its picture that’s exactly what looks like happened to it!
ReplyDelete