Week 11 Story: Hanuman and Sun Wukong's Adventure
Once upon a time in high heavens, Hanuman and Sun Wukong was enjoying each other's companies. Their peaceful tea time was interrupted by the arrival of the Buddha. Buddha requested Hanuman and Sun to deliver a special message to a temple in the far east. Sun Wukong suggested Hanuman to see who arrives to the temple first. Hanuman took the offer and was ready to go when Sun Wukong casted a powerful spell that made Hanuman fall asleep. "Good night!" Sun said to Hanuman as he jumped far away.
As Sun was heading towards the temple, he ran into demon brothers named Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King. They possessed a powerful artifact called Purple Gold Red Gourd, which can trap anyone who speaks their own name. Since Sun Wukong was aware of the gourd's power, he reminded himself not to say his name. Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King challenged Sun to a duel and told him that a powerful warrior always to present themselves before the fighting starts. Being a prideful god, Sun Wukong loudly announced, " My name is Sun Wukong! The Monkey King of the far east!" As Sun shouted his name, he got sucked into the gourd and was trapped instantly.
Hanuman woke up from his nap realizing that he fell under Sun's spell. He quickly ran after Sun realizing that he was far behind him. Hanuman also ran into the Horned King brothers. They told Hanuman that they have captured Sun Wukong and that Hanuman will be next. Horned King asked Hanuman to a duel and Hanuman also accepted the challenge. Horned Kings told Hanuman to introduce himself before the fight began. Seeing through their tricks, Hanuman told the Horned King brothers that he cannot dare to introduce himself first in the presence of greater power. Conceited Horned King brothers took the Hanuman offer and announced, "My name is Golden Horned King!" and his brother said "My name is Silver Horned King!" As they finished their introduction, they got sucked into the gourd and screamed realizing their mistakes.
Hanuman freed Sun Wukong and told Sun not to be too prideful or conceited. Sun accepted his defeat and walked to the temple to deliver Buddha's message with Hanuman.
Author's Note: This story is based on The Wise and The Foolish Merchant from the Jataka Tales. Original story is about two merchants traveling the desert and coming face to face with demon of the desert. Foolish merchant, as the name indicates, gets caught up in the demons scheme and ends up getting killed by the demon. Wise merchant managed to avoid the demons trap with his wits and gets away with the goods that foolish merchant left behind. I added Hanuman and Sun Wukong in this story since my portfolio is mainly about Hanuman.
As Sun was heading towards the temple, he ran into demon brothers named Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King. They possessed a powerful artifact called Purple Gold Red Gourd, which can trap anyone who speaks their own name. Since Sun Wukong was aware of the gourd's power, he reminded himself not to say his name. Golden Horned King and Silver Horned King challenged Sun to a duel and told him that a powerful warrior always to present themselves before the fighting starts. Being a prideful god, Sun Wukong loudly announced, " My name is Sun Wukong! The Monkey King of the far east!" As Sun shouted his name, he got sucked into the gourd and was trapped instantly.
Hanuman woke up from his nap realizing that he fell under Sun's spell. He quickly ran after Sun realizing that he was far behind him. Hanuman also ran into the Horned King brothers. They told Hanuman that they have captured Sun Wukong and that Hanuman will be next. Horned King asked Hanuman to a duel and Hanuman also accepted the challenge. Horned Kings told Hanuman to introduce himself before the fight began. Seeing through their tricks, Hanuman told the Horned King brothers that he cannot dare to introduce himself first in the presence of greater power. Conceited Horned King brothers took the Hanuman offer and announced, "My name is Golden Horned King!" and his brother said "My name is Silver Horned King!" As they finished their introduction, they got sucked into the gourd and screamed realizing their mistakes.
Hanuman freed Sun Wukong and told Sun not to be too prideful or conceited. Sun accepted his defeat and walked to the temple to deliver Buddha's message with Hanuman.
Author's Note: This story is based on The Wise and The Foolish Merchant from the Jataka Tales. Original story is about two merchants traveling the desert and coming face to face with demon of the desert. Foolish merchant, as the name indicates, gets caught up in the demons scheme and ends up getting killed by the demon. Wise merchant managed to avoid the demons trap with his wits and gets away with the goods that foolish merchant left behind. I added Hanuman and Sun Wukong in this story since my portfolio is mainly about Hanuman.
Bibliography: The Wise and The Foolish Merchant, Sun Wukong Wikipedia, Characters of Journey to the West
Hello Tim. Great story. I thought that adding Hanuman was a great addition to the story. You also did a good job at incorporating him into the original story. One thing I would have liked to have seen was more divergence from the original story. I also liked the picture that you used. I also liked how you kept the message of wisdom in the story.
ReplyDeleteHi Tim! I enjoyed your story and immediately suspected it was a retelling of The Wise and the Foolish Merchant. I wondered, though, how both Sun and Hanuman know of the trap. If they knew, why did they go that way? And why did Sun make Hanuman go to sleep? I would’ve liked to hear more about how the demons tricked Sun. Overall, though, very nice job with this!
ReplyDeleteHi Tim! I haven't read the story of the Wise and Foolish Merchant, but all of those Jakata tales somehow end up with the smarter character winning. I also love Hanuman in the Ramayana so I like that you added him to this already super cool and fun story.
ReplyDeleteHey Tim, since I had already read your project I was familiar with this story. I did not really give you any feed forward notes for your story here or on your project page because I really like it the way that it is. I guess the only note I could give is to make the font black or darker so that the words are brighter on the page.
ReplyDeleteHey there, Tim!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really cool story to read. I had not come across this before in my reading for this class. I am, however, very familiar with the monkey king. I thought you captured his essence perfectly. He is always very quick to announce who he is and how strong he is. His overconfidence backfired on him this time. Keep up the great work!