JLE#24: Rags to Riches

 Rags to Riches  

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Ray had endured hardships for many years of his life.  He thought to himself how he could go any further in life.  The land he inhabited was ruled by a gracious King, but he seemed to overlook many areas of the vast empire.  As ray saw it there were only a few options: join the King’s guard or try to make his living by hustling and thieving around the empire’s poverty-stricken areas where the King’s guard seem to overlook such petty crimes.  Having grown up in such areas throughout his childhood, he saw the destruction that could be caused by the guards ignoring crimes such as those.

One day, Ray managed to make it into the King’s palace as he was trying to make an honest living by becoming a member of the King’s guard.  After a few months of training, he was not selected to become a member of the guard and was told to gather his belongings from the barracks and to leave the palace at once.  On his way out he was walking and saw an object thrown from a window high up in the King’s castle.  Having no other obligations, Ray walked over and made sure no one was watching.  Upon closer inspection, it was a large fruit that had been thrown from the window.  Within the fruit was a precious and beautiful stone.  The stone undoubtedly would buy Ray provisions and other items necessary for stability.  Ray sold the gem to a merchant just outside the King’s palace and thought to himself how he could be so blessed to have such a thing happen to him.  Curiosity had struck Ray and so the next day he snuck back into the palace courtyard just before dusk—the same time the fruit had been dropped from the palace window.  Ray weighted for some time fearing he would surely be caught by the patrolling guards.  To his astonishment, another fruit was thrown from the window and within the fruit was another precious stone.  Ray quickly grabbed the stone and again sought out to sell it for profit so that he may be able to finally live a comfortable life.

For months Ray repeatedly snuck into the palace just before dark and every time the fruit thrown from the window contained a precious gem.  Ray had amassed an impressive fortune and he was well known throughout neighboring kingdoms for trade.  He became an avid adventurer and befriended Kings and wealthy merchants from all over the world.  After all the wealth he had been blessed with, Ray encountered a monk from a nearby monastery in his home kingdom.  The monk had asked Ray how he had amassed his wealth and what has he done with it.  Ray simply thought up a lie and fed it to the monk so he would not have to continue the conversation.  After that simple question, Ray thought about that interaction later that day in his home. 

He thought to himself how lucky he was to be blessed by the outrages chance that gems would be thrown from a window in disguise as a fruit!  Ray then thought of his childhood and the years he was a young man in the slums of his home kingdom.  He had become blinded by his fortune and desires and sought to make amends.  Ray declared he would spend the rest of his days trying to alleviate the harsh living conditions the people and most importantly the youth were experiencing in those areas of his kingdom.  Upon completion, he sought out other kingdoms and did so until the end of his days.

Author's Note: I decided to stray far from the original plot of the story.  I did not include the King or the Goblin!  Two of the main characters in the original story.  I thought about adding the King in somehow because that would be relevant considering my new character, Ray was doing great things for his kingdom and many others.  However, I felt that it might complicate my simple story of how luck changed a man’s life and ended up changing the lives of many others.  When I read about fruit the monk was giving to the King contained gems and they were being thrown away I could not let that go to waste.  I saw a lot of potential and wondered what if someone were to find the gems as soon as the fruit was discarded?  I like giving gifts when I can or just doing random acts of kindness and it makes me happy when I see other people doing it too.  Additionally, a part of me wanted to be the character I added in this story.  I think it would be awesome if I found bundles of cash falling from the sky.  I think my story was drastically different from the original and contained almost a completely new plot.  I saw something early on when I was reading the story and decided to run with it and see where it took me. 

Story source: Twenty-Two Goblins, translated by Arthur W. Ryder, with illustrations by Perham W. Nahl (1917).