Week 4 Story: The Journey of the Ants
Author's Notes
This story was primarily inspired by a part in the Ramayana titled 'The Bridge' 1. However, this story does contain a lot of the background information from the rest of the Ramayana. I had already typed up a majority of the background before realizing that is was not really on topic, but it did not make sense to delete it. I envisioned that most of the Gods from the Ramayana would take the forms of animals. Rama himself is the commanding ant, and those who follow him are the rest of his friends and allies. It is not correct for ants to have mates in the case of Rama and Sita's ant versions; this has been ignored to simplify the story. Additionally, there is no love interest between Ron and the queen, which is different from the dynamic between Rama and Sita.The Madhya Pradesh is the largest forest in India2. Here is a picture of it!
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The Journey of the Ants
Background
It was a normal day in the Madhya Pradesh forest. The wind blew through the trees spreading the smell of the evergreens through the air. The birds chirped as the sun rose over the tree line and the creatures below started to stir. Down on the forest floor we meet our hero. An ant by any other name, but this one, was special. In the years to follow this faithful day, he will rise to the challenge to save his queen, with the help of friends along the way.Our hero's name is Ron, the son of the former queen like all of the others. However, when Ron was born he was blessed with the gift of the sky. For as long as Ron would live, he could not face death from above.
As it drew closer to noon, word spread throughout the colony that an outsider from another tribe had come to speak of peace. As envoys for the queen, Ron and his fellow inspectors went to examine this mysterious intruder. After sniffing the intruder thoroughly he was cleared for meeting with queen. She arose and climbed out of the hill, a rare occurrence indeed, for very few ants ever get to see the queen. Her beauty halted all that stood by and even our mysterious intruder was taken aback for a moment, but quickly returned to focus on the importance of his meeting.
A leaf wove canopy was set up for the meeting to be held in, and so the meeting commenced. After many hours on intense debate, the two parties were unable to come to an agreement. The queen frustrated with the lack of an agreement stormed out of the canopy to return to the hill. As the queen exited, Ron heard the intruder let out a loud whistle, and Ron knew that something must be wrong. He ran to catch up to the queen, but he was too late as a large raven swooped down and carried the queen away.
The colony was devastated and heartbroken at the capture of their queen. Ron and the other members of his envoy were banished for failing to protect the queen. Thus begins Ron's journey to save the queen and to restore his reputation.
Bridge Story
We rejoin our hero Ron on the cusp of victory. The enemy king has been located and the queen has been deemed unharmed by the knowledge of local squirrel intelligence. Yet there remains a daunting obstacle blocking Ron's army from reaching the queen. They sit on the bank of a river, impossible to swim across due to the current. Ron requests that the squirrels carry them across, but they refuse stating that it would be killed swiftly if they arrived in such small groups.Ron thinks long and hard to determine how he could get his troops across the river in an efficient manner. He concludes that it will only be possible by building a bridge. Learning that there are nearby beavers, legend to be experts at woodcraft, he sets out to seek their help. Upon describing the story of the kidnapped queen, the beavers agree to help Ron and his companions in their mission to cross the river. The beavers chew up wood from the trees surrounding the river and instruct the ants to carry the twigs and to lay them down in the water. After a month of work, the ants managed to complete the bridge and were now on the boarder of the enemy’s territory.
Therefore begins Ron’s final fight to save his queen, and to restore his reputation.
Bibliography
Rama's BridgeMadhya Pradesh Forest
Image: Madhya Pradesh Forest
I really liked how you made the main characters of the Ramayana ants! Maybe I’m reading into it too deeply, but I saw it as a representation of their seeming insignificance as being mortals during the story, but with the help of the other gods (other ants and animals), a mighty task was able to be overcome. It took cunningness and bravery for Ron to pursue his queen, which I think was a good way to show some of Rama’s characteristics.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the other ant who lured the queen out and the raven who captured her had a motive outside of just usurping this “kingdom.” Did they stand to gain anything from her capture, what is it revenge, etc.? This may be interesting to go into in a backstory!
You didn’t talk much about Ron’s fellow helpers from his ant kingdom, I wonder if they were also outcast for having let the intruders in or if they were perhaps just other members of the colony who would do anything to save their queen?
hello again Logan. This is a very creative story and told in a way that draws me in nicely. I like how you transformed the characters in the story into ants and still explained why it is appropriate based on other Indian Epics stories. Getting help from other wildlife they employ gives it a Chronicles of Narnia kind of feel where a lot of the sentient wildlife banded together against evil.
ReplyDeleteHello Logan! Nice Story you wrote there. I like how you make the entire ant represent the Ramayana character it was interesting. I like how Rama made as Ron and Sita as the Queen Ant. Also one more thing the boon of Ron not facing death form above it was interesting because in original story Rama didn’t have that kind of boon.
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