A Child of the Woods
Deep in the forest of the North there is a large village of jungle people, and among them is one old woman who is held in reverence by all. The stranger who asks why she is honored as a princess is thus answered by her:
Verily, I have much boon, for I am but a child of nature. When I was a young maiden, it fell upon a day that my heart grew hot with anger. For many days the anger grew until it filled my whole heart, also were my eyes so red that I could see but dimly, and no longer could I live in the village or among my own people, for I hated all men and I felt that the beasts of the forest were more to me than my kindred.
Therefore, I fled from the face of man into the jungle where no human foot had ever gone. All day I journeyed, running as though my feet would never weary and feeling no pangs of hunger. When the darkness closed about me, I was not afraid, but lay down under the shelter of a tree and, for a time, slept peacefully, as peacefully as though in my own home.
At length, I was awakened by the breath of an animal and, in the clear light of the moon, I saw a large tiger before me. It smelled of my face, my hands and my feet, then seated itself by my head and watched me through the night, and I lay there unafraid. In the early morning, the tiger departed and I continued my journey. Quieter was my heart. Still, I disliked my own people but had no fear of the beasts or the reptiles of the forest.
During the day I ate of the fruit which grew wild in abundance, and at night I slept ’neath a tree, protected and guarded by fierce, wild beasts which molested not my sleep. For many days I wandered thus, and the nights were secure, for the wild beasts watched over and protected me.
“Thus my heart grew cool in my bosom, and I no longer hated my people and, after one moon had gone, I found myself near a village. The people wondered to see me approach from the jungle, dreaded as being the jungle of the man-eating tiger. When I related my story, the people were filled with wonder and brought rich gifts to me. For a year and a day I abode there, and no more the wild beasts molested their cattle.
But my heart yearned to see the face of my kindred again, so, laden with silver, gold and rich garments and seated in the howdah of an elephant, the people escorted me to my own village, and here have I abode in content these one hundred years.
Verily, I have much boon, for I am but a child of nature. When I was a young maiden, it fell upon a day that my heart grew hot with anger. For many days the anger grew until it filled my whole heart, also were my eyes so red that I could see but dimly, and no longer could I live in the village or among my own people, for I hated all men and I felt that the beasts of the forest were more to me than my kindred.
Therefore, I fled from the face of man into the jungle where no human foot had ever gone. All day I journeyed, running as though my feet would never weary and feeling no pangs of hunger. When the darkness closed about me, I was not afraid, but lay down under the shelter of a tree and, for a time, slept peacefully, as peacefully as though in my own home.
At length, I was awakened by the breath of an animal and, in the clear light of the moon, I saw a large tiger before me. It smelled of my face, my hands and my feet, then seated itself by my head and watched me through the night, and I lay there unafraid. In the early morning, the tiger departed and I continued my journey. Quieter was my heart. Still, I disliked my own people but had no fear of the beasts or the reptiles of the forest.
During the day I ate of the fruit which grew wild in abundance, and at night I slept ’neath a tree, protected and guarded by fierce, wild beasts which molested not my sleep. For many days I wandered thus, and the nights were secure, for the wild beasts watched over and protected me.
“Thus my heart grew cool in my bosom, and I no longer hated my people and, after one moon had gone, I found myself near a village. The people wondered to see me approach from the jungle, dreaded as being the jungle of the man-eating tiger. When I related my story, the people were filled with wonder and brought rich gifts to me. For a year and a day I abode there, and no more the wild beasts molested their cattle.
But my heart yearned to see the face of my kindred again, so, laden with silver, gold and rich garments and seated in the howdah of an elephant, the people escorted me to my own village, and here have I abode in content these one hundred years.
Thoughts
This story reminded me so much of the Jungle Book, maybe it is! But the Jungle Book is usually set in the jungles of India while A Child of the Wood is in a Laos jungle. I actually picked this section in the first place because I like how the word Laos rolls off the tongue haha. But now all I can think about is the new Jungle Book coming out in 2016 produced by Disney. This will be a live action in contrast to their animated classic. I will probably love this one more than the original but both are great and I'm sure the new one will be one of my top 5 favorite movies. It's interesting because I am a lion fan through and through and don't even like tigers because people think tigers are the only ones that can take down lies. BS. But out of my top five favorite movies three include tigers ha - from the arena in Gladiator, to Life of Pi, to now Jungle Book (that's how confident I am that I will love it haha).
Another big contrast to A Child of the Wood and Jungle Book is that Mowgli is a boy and the Laos story is an old woman speaking on her time as a young girl alone in the wonderful jungle protected by tigers and other beasts and in love with nature. While researching more about the Jungle Book I came across a beautiful sentence I thought I should share about these types of stories: that evoke a timeless atmosphere, similar to the beast fables of Aesop or to certain folktales where animals have the power to think and speak. Beautiful.
This kinda makes me want to write about Mowgli as a beast warrior bro. He's basically at the Tarzan of India. Or Tarzan is basically the white Mowgli haha. Wow those stories are super similar as well. Look at all these connections I'm gathering. Maybe Tarzan v Mowgli, uh oh. Or just a super bad ass Mowgli. Or a remix of A Child of the Wood. Now enjoy this dope gif.
This story reminded me so much of the Jungle Book, maybe it is! But the Jungle Book is usually set in the jungles of India while A Child of the Wood is in a Laos jungle. I actually picked this section in the first place because I like how the word Laos rolls off the tongue haha. But now all I can think about is the new Jungle Book coming out in 2016 produced by Disney. This will be a live action in contrast to their animated classic. I will probably love this one more than the original but both are great and I'm sure the new one will be one of my top 5 favorite movies. It's interesting because I am a lion fan through and through and don't even like tigers because people think tigers are the only ones that can take down lies. BS. But out of my top five favorite movies three include tigers ha - from the arena in Gladiator, to Life of Pi, to now Jungle Book (that's how confident I am that I will love it haha).
Another big contrast to A Child of the Wood and Jungle Book is that Mowgli is a boy and the Laos story is an old woman speaking on her time as a young girl alone in the wonderful jungle protected by tigers and other beasts and in love with nature. While researching more about the Jungle Book I came across a beautiful sentence I thought I should share about these types of stories: that evoke a timeless atmosphere, similar to the beast fables of Aesop or to certain folktales where animals have the power to think and speak. Beautiful.
This kinda makes me want to write about Mowgli as a beast warrior bro. He's basically at the Tarzan of India. Or Tarzan is basically the white Mowgli haha. Wow those stories are super similar as well. Look at all these connections I'm gathering. Maybe Tarzan v Mowgli, uh oh. Or just a super bad ass Mowgli. Or a remix of A Child of the Wood. Now enjoy this dope gif.
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