Week 7 Story: Deception

(The old wandering monk. Source)

There was once a monk who resided high in the mountains. His appearance was what you would expect from a monk with old wrinkled skin, a head with no hair, and wearing the only article of clothing as an orange robe with holes and stains that visibly had not been washed in a long time. He often wandered about around the mountainside, helping any animal or human in need.

One day, while walking around the mountain on the outskirts of a village, he saw a little boy running by himself with no one around. The boy caught sight of the monk and ran toward him with haste. Once the boy got close to the monk he tried to talk to the monk but couldn't for his mouth was completely closed with no visible opening and covered by skin. Although the boy couldn't speak, he kept pointing in the direction he came from and it was clear he was in danger and afraid of something in that direction. Then the monk told the boy to hide in a nearby ditch and told him to wait there while he confronted the danger.

After a short time had passed, an elderly woman riding a horse with long white hair and wearing a long dark colored dress down to her feet came upon the monk and asked if he had seen a little boy with a closed mouth. "Perhaps. How do you know this boy?" replied the monk. "He is my grandson," said the woman. Still skeptical, the monk led the woman to the boy.

Once they arrived where the boy was hiding, the monk asked "is this your grandmother?" The boy shook his head furiously while pointing at his mouth. Then the monk took out one of the scrolls from his bag, unrolled it, and recited the ancient words from it at the women. Then she turned into ash right before their eyes, saying "what have you done?" before losing her head. The monk looked back at the boy who now transformed into an ogre with horns growing out of his head. "Thank you," said the boy before flying off and out of sight.

Author's Note: This story is based on The Flying Ogre by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens. In the story an old monk wandering nearby a giant tree stumbles upon a little girl who asks for his help and helps her hide in a giant hollow tree. A man flying on a horse tells the monk that he is looking for the girl asks for her whereabouts The monk refuses at first but then reveals her position once the man says she's not a little girl but an ogre. The man goes after the girl in the tree with the two eventually flying in the air off out of sight. I decided to change a number of things in this story including the location, characters, and plot. Instead of being near a big tree I changed the location near a mountain since that is where monks are known to reside. An elderly woman character was also added, giving the appearance of a possible witch with knowledge of magic, and the little girl was changed to a little boy. Lastly, the plot was changed by the little boy plotting to get rid of the woman that had a spell on him.

Bibliography
The Flying Ogre by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens