I am Agni, God of Fire. Like everybody, I get hungry
sometimes. Unlike most people, though, I can’t just decide to kill something
and eat it. No. I can only eat those creatures that lose their lives in a fire
I do not start. Most people don’t intend to start fires, though. So I don’t get
to eat too often.
Not too long ago I had grown quite hungry. It had been
several months since any fires that claimed lives had been set.
A man named Arjuna heard of this. He desired to win my
favor, so he set out to start a fire. “How should I go about properly
satisfying Agni?” he asked himself out loud. “No ordinary fire will do. I must
get him plenty to eat!”
He went on talking to himself for quite a while before he
settled on setting the Khandava Forest aflame. “The Khandava Forest is so big
and full of life. All of the animals in there shall do!”
So he went to the edge of the forest. “How can I make sure
that all of the animals go to Agni? And how can I make sure no men or women in
there die?” he wondered to himself. “I know! I’ll cast a spell over the forest
trapping in all of the creatures except for humans!”
 |
| Forest Fire Source |
He cast a spell blocking off all of the exits to the forest.
Only humans could cross the barrier. Then, he set fire to the forest.
The trees went up in flames. The smoke billowed into the sky
and could be seen hundreds of miles away. Animals and hermits rushed to the
edges of the forest, but only the men could get through.
All of the animals were trapped inside and eaten up by the
fire. They went to nourish me. Oh, there were so many of them! Thousands of
little squirrels and opossums and deer! I could barely eat them all!
At the end of the fire, all of the lives in the forest had
been consumed. I was so full! I can’t remember a time when I was more
satisfied!
Now it will be quite a while before I hunger again.
To show my gratitude towards Arjuna, I blessed him with
gifts. I gave him the great bow Gandiva and a quiver that never runs out of
arrows. This has made him nearly unconquerable to his enemies.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Author’s note: This
story was inspired by Narayan’s 1978 version of the Mahabharata. I’m not a huge fan of the moral of this story, but I couldn’t
think of a way to change it without changing the story too much. The situation
that plays out here reminds me of the meat industry in this country. People want
to eat lots of meat as long as they don’t kill it themselves. I thought about
telling a modern-day version in this setting, but couldn’t think of a good
reward for the meat producers.
This is a good retelling of the story. I agree, the moral of this story is not exactly something I would follow. It seems so macabre, setting a forest on fire and trapping all the animals inside to be burned... yikes, I just got a flashback to Bambi. But, you know, it was to feed a god so it's all good... That's really interesting that thought to compare it to the modern meat industry - I wouldn't have thought of that, but I totally agree. It's a very troubling comparison.
ReplyDeleteGretchen, this was a great retelling of the story. Before reading your authors note, I had agreed with you that the moral of the story is not a great one! I think it would have been really cool to tell this story in a modern-day version. It would have really opened peoples eyes and sent out a message. Youre writing is beautiful, and I found very little grammatical errors. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGretchen,
ReplyDeleteGreat re-telling! I love the small details you added and how you personified Agni. Your author's note put the story together and I like how you compared it to the modern-day meat industry. I definitely was not thinking of it this way, but once you stated of that, I realized how it incredibly true that is. I love eating meat, but if I had to kill it myself, I don't know how much longer I would be able to eat it. Even killing a spider or fly terrifies me. Haha. You telling a modern-day version of this would have been a good read as well! Good job though! Keep it up.
Hello Gretchen. I think you did a good job of retelling this story. In your author's notes you mentioned that you wanted to update this story but could not think of a way to do and reward the producers. This may be a johnny come lately idea but while I was reading your story I instantly started thinking of a movie by pink floyd which is odd because I only saw bits of it years ago and am not a fan, but in one scene they show people being used as a meat product. I know it is a morbid thought by maybe you could use that idea as some guidance and use profits as a reward to the producers. I think this would go along well with your comment about people eating meat without having to care about it, which kinda speaks to a larger issue of people eating or consuming without caring about where it comes from. I too am not a huge fan of the moral of this story but you did a great job of presenting it here in your storytelling.
ReplyDelete