Time after time, the iguana would complain about how slow the turtle was moving. Each time, the turtle tried to explain that it is physically impossible to move as fast at the iguana can. Still, the iguana would continue on. He tried to give the turtle tips and even tried to push the turtle once. No matter what, he did not believe that it was impossible for the turtle to move quicker.
As the days passed, the turtle grew irritated with the iguana's constant remarks and he started to plan ways to get the iguana out of his daily routine. He felt so bad as the iguana would talk to him about how he had no friends, but he just could not take it anymore. He needed the best possible plan to get rid of the iguana in a polite way.
After getting a headache over all of the brainstorming, the turtle ended up visiting his father for advice. The father thought that it would be perfect for him to be the reasoning for the turtle to part from the iguana. They sat and brainstormed plan after plan until one seemed to be decent.
The day finally came that they planned to get rid of the iguana and the grandfather set out on his route to the pond. Once the iguana and turtle got to the pond, the father slowly crept in demanding that this pond was only for turtles and that the iguana must leave or he will be cursed. The iguana scurried off before the father could say another word.
(Photo by WikiMedia.)
The original story started out with the iguana and turtle being good friends that always go fishing together. The iguana invited the turtle to go to a different pond that he knew of. When the owner of the pond came out, the iguana got away, but the turtle did not. The owner took the turtle and tied him up. The turtle went to look for his friend and, when he found him, he found out that the old man wants him to marry his daughter. The iguana wanted to marry his daughter and took the turtle's spot. But, when the old man came back, he tried to hit him and he ran off. He came across his turtle friend again and he was listening to his grandfather rubbing two bamboo pipes together from a tree above. The iguana went up out of curiosity and got injured.
I changed it and just made it a bit more simple as I felt many of the details in the original were not bringing the story together. I also took out the whole marriage part and changed the turtle against the iguana in the end.
Filipino Tales. Filipino Popular Tales: The Iguana and the Turtle by Dean S. Fansler.
Hi Natalie! I like that you simplified the story. Stories with too many useless plot details are the worst! I've run into that a couple of times in the stories for this class and it just makes them so hard to read. I felt bad for the iguana but at least the turtles didn't make the iguana feel bad or anything. They got him to go away without being mean and he had no idea they didn't want him around.
ReplyDeleteHey Natalie!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this story and the transformation you made to it. It seems unfair in the original story that the turtle had to pay the price for both himself and the iguana so it was nice to see it be the opposite situation. The flow of the story was also very nice and it was pleasant to read. Great writing keep up the good work!
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI never read the original story, so I think your take on it really embodied what the tale was supposed to be. My experience in this class has proven to me that the stories either don't have enough detail, or too much, so it was great that you took out unnecessary details to get the story rolling in a better way. My only advice is to try and lengthen your retelling! It's so much fun to work with the stories we read and I wanted more from this.
Good work!
Cassidy
Hi Natalie,
ReplyDeleteWow, thought it couldn't get any better than opossum's. Then you throw an iguana at us? You're too nice. This was a great story to read. You did a good job of taking the original story and making it your own. I liked the basis of your plot, it was really interesting. Great work this semester, keep it up.
Brooks