JLE#11: Week 2 Story The Tale of Genji
Genji
It was a clear day in the Mountains of the Old and Genji was
camped by a river when he found a dress floating downstream. His journey
of tracking the beast Orochi had brought him to this remote area in the
mountains so he was curious as to where this dress had come from. Genji
journeyed downstream to find a small village no more than 300 people.
Astonished by this remote village, Genji entered and was immediately taken to
the Temple of the Gods.
In the Temple of the Gods, he was questioned by those who governed the town because he had the dress from the river in his possession. As the interrogation grew more hostile, a terrible noise was shaking the village. It was Orochi, the eight-headed serpent, the beast Genji had been tracking for some time. Genji realized the village was in immediate danger so he told the council he was wondering about the mountains in search of Orochi. Terrified, the counsel let Genji go under the agreement that he would slay the monster.
The battle between Genji and Orochi lasted for 3 days. The booms and cracks in the air were results of the powerful blows both opponents had landed on each other. Genji, now appearing tiresome, had one trick up his sleeve. As one of the serpent's heads attacked him, he finally pulled his sword off of his back and sliced the head clean off. the Serpent now realized that Genji appeared fatigued but was putting on a show for the village and all to see. Genji sliced all of the remaining heads off of the creature and it to its end.
Genji was awarded the village's highest honor and resided in his remote home on a peak overlooking the village until his death. The village people made a statue in honor of Genji commemorating his achievement of slaying the serpent Orochi. The statue was on the same peak Genji had built his home and was then made sacred by the village council.
Awesome story! I've read a little bit of material about the eight headed serpent while doing research for my future storybook project in this class. Japanese mythology has gotta be one of my favorite categories, if not my favorite (see my Japanese last name). I like the change you made from the love story to the protector story - I'm not much of a love story guy. Keep up the good work! Looking forward to reading more
ReplyDeleteHowdy Jack! I love the story you've put together here. I think your change to remove the romance fits the story quite well (if I'm being honest, I liked this one better than the original). The wandering protector saving a town from a terrible assailant reminds me very much of the western or samurai movies of the 50's/60's, but made a bit more mythical by the original content of the story. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHi JLE!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very exciting story from start to finish! I liked the mysteriousness of the dress floating down the river. It added suspense while I read as to what scene he was going to find. I wish that there had been a more elaborate battle scene between Genji and Orochi, as I thought the battle ended to quickly without enough detail.