Once upon a time there were two children of a farmer. The one named Emmett was very hardworking, and helped their father plant the fields each spring, tend the crops each summer, and harvest the crops each fall. The other was named Francis and was very lazy, preferring to spend his days climbing trees by the river and chasing rabbits through the fields.
One day, Emmett was out tending the crops when his brother stopped by on his way down to the river and said “I hope the crops come in well this year.” Then, he continued on his way, but every day that he passed his brother in the fields, he gave this greeting.
As the harvest approached, the trees in the orchards became heavy with fruit, the corn grew tall on the stalks, and Emmett was again tending the crops to prepare for the harvest. Francis stopped and said, “I hope the harvest is good this year,” before continuing down to the river.
Emmett and his father labored heavily during the harvest, but this year they’d gotten the largest crop to date. They would be able to sell the extra for a profit that Emmett and his father planned to split between themselves, as they’d put in all of the effort.
They reveled in their success until Francis approached and said, “Well, I see that my blessing was successful. The harvest has indeed been good. What is my share of the profit?”
Both Emmett and their father looked at each other in shock. Surely Francis could not think that he had earned part of the profit that they worked all year for. Emmett broke the stunned silence, “Brother, I cannot imagine why you think your share would be anything more than zero.”
Francis replied, “Every day when I passed you, I said that I hope the crops come in well this year”
“Well, yes, you did, but that does not mean you contributed in the least!”
Emmett said, “We’ll put this to a fight, and the last man standing wins.” And though their father hated to watch his children fight, he did not want to give Francis the idea that he could be rewarded for his laziness.
The boys started fighting, and it seemed as though Emmett was going to lose until his father stuck his foot out behind Francis and tripped him as he backed up. Emmett recovered and won the fight.
Francis could only sulk as he had been outwitted. He failed to realize his father’s part in the outcome of the fight, and went down to the river to wash the dirt off of himself.
“And so every one who is greedy is put to shame.”
Author’s Note:
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| (Original story illustration by Hilda Roberts) |
This story is called Tortoise Bowl-On-The-Back and the Fox, and it’s about a tortoise named Bowl-On-The-Back who works hard to harvest a good crop, and throughout the year is visited by the Fox who always says “May God give you strength.” After the harvest is over, the Fox shows back up and asks for his share of the crop, which the tortoise refuses. Then, the Fox challenges Bowl-On-The-Back to a race for the right to all of the grain. Knowing he will lose, the tortoise tells his brother to wait at the end of the race and pretend that he is Bowl-On-The-Back because the Fox won’t be able to tell them apart. And so the brothers trick the Fox into letting them keep their crop.
I decided to change up the story by making it a sort of Cain and Abel-type story of brothers fighting with each other. Francis represents the Fox and Emmett is Bowl-On-The-Back, while their father is the accomplice in defeating Francis. I decided to have them fight instead of race because it seems more like something that brothers would do and it would be harder to trick Francis in a foot race. The last line of the story was taken directly from the original story because I really felt like it summed up the point of the story in a really direct, succinct way.
Bibliography:
Tortoise Bowl-On-The-Back and the Fox, Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919).
