Week 2 Story: Why The Dog Plays Fetch
Author's Note: This story is based on " The Foolish, Timid Rabbit". I wanted to take the premise of the earth breaking apart and the element of mass hysteria and apply it to a different setting. By changing the ending of the original story where the lion tells the other animals about what really happened to an ending where the cats keep their wisdom to themselves, I was able to turn my story into an explanation for why dogs play fetch.
Centuries ago there once was a dog who feared the ground would fall apart. The dog was terrified that the earth would break apart and he would fall to his death.
One day the dog came across some children playing a game that involved throwing a round ball. He noticed that every time the ball hit the ground the dirt flew away beneath the ball.
"These children are going to break the ground!" the dog thought. He decided he must stop this terrible activity so he darted towards the ball and picked it up.
The dog brought the ball back to the children and told them they must stop their game and place the ball up high in a safe place for the ball would certainly break apart the earth if they continued to play. Unfortunately, the children did not understand him and continued to throw the ball and allowed it to hit the ground. Panicked, the dog chased after the ball and swiftly picked it up. He did not want to take the ball away from the children so again he brought the ball back but once again the children threw the ball. This time the dog was able to run just quick enough to catch the ball before it hit the ground. Just like the times before the dog brought the ball back, and again the children threw the ball.
Eventually the dog grew tired and finally did not bring the ball back to the children. He instead just dropped the ball at his feet and lied down. The children came to the dog to retrieve the ball but he tried to prevent them from grabbing it by putting it in his mouth and turning his head from their hands. He growled whenever they got close but the children were not frightened. Eventually they took the ball from the dog.
Fortunately, the children did not throw the ball after taking it from the dog. Instead, they went home until the next day.
After the children left the dog told all the pets in town not to let any ball touch the ground because it would break the earth. The other dogs were quick to jump on board. They did not want the earth to break but the cats were quite reluctant to believe one silly dog so they decided to put the claim to the test.
One cat climbed all the way on top of a house and pushed a ball off the roof with her paws. She watched the ball hit the ground and saw nothing happen as the ball hit the concrete below. Just to be safe she went down grabbed the ball and did this a few more times. Nothing happened each time the ball fell to the floor.
The cat informed the other cats but they decided to let the dogs figure out for themselves. Without the wisdom of the cats, the dogs were never able to figure out that the ground was not falling apart.
That's why to this day only dogs chase after balls.
Bibliography. "The Foolish, Timid Rabbit from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. Web source.
Why the Dog Plays Fetch
The modern dog chasing a ball (Personal Photo)
Centuries ago there once was a dog who feared the ground would fall apart. The dog was terrified that the earth would break apart and he would fall to his death.
One day the dog came across some children playing a game that involved throwing a round ball. He noticed that every time the ball hit the ground the dirt flew away beneath the ball.
"These children are going to break the ground!" the dog thought. He decided he must stop this terrible activity so he darted towards the ball and picked it up.
The dog brought the ball back to the children and told them they must stop their game and place the ball up high in a safe place for the ball would certainly break apart the earth if they continued to play. Unfortunately, the children did not understand him and continued to throw the ball and allowed it to hit the ground. Panicked, the dog chased after the ball and swiftly picked it up. He did not want to take the ball away from the children so again he brought the ball back but once again the children threw the ball. This time the dog was able to run just quick enough to catch the ball before it hit the ground. Just like the times before the dog brought the ball back, and again the children threw the ball.
Eventually the dog grew tired and finally did not bring the ball back to the children. He instead just dropped the ball at his feet and lied down. The children came to the dog to retrieve the ball but he tried to prevent them from grabbing it by putting it in his mouth and turning his head from their hands. He growled whenever they got close but the children were not frightened. Eventually they took the ball from the dog.
Fortunately, the children did not throw the ball after taking it from the dog. Instead, they went home until the next day.
After the children left the dog told all the pets in town not to let any ball touch the ground because it would break the earth. The other dogs were quick to jump on board. They did not want the earth to break but the cats were quite reluctant to believe one silly dog so they decided to put the claim to the test.
One cat climbed all the way on top of a house and pushed a ball off the roof with her paws. She watched the ball hit the ground and saw nothing happen as the ball hit the concrete below. Just to be safe she went down grabbed the ball and did this a few more times. Nothing happened each time the ball fell to the floor.
The cat informed the other cats but they decided to let the dogs figure out for themselves. Without the wisdom of the cats, the dogs were never able to figure out that the ground was not falling apart.
That's why to this day only dogs chase after balls.
Bibliography. "The Foolish, Timid Rabbit from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. Web source.
Hi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your story!! It's such a creative story about something in real life. I bet your inspiration was your own dog! You sort of changed the ending of the story because the character, to this day, still doesn't know. Those poor dogs who are stressed all the time because of the world breaking up!
I hope you keep up this unique type of creation stories.
Can't wait to read more
Hello Hannah. I liked your take on the story. It is very creative to take a story and put in your own characters and meaning. Also your story is more relate-able to the reader than the original because everyone knows that dogs always chase a thrown ball though only sometimes bring it back. And the part where the cat pushes a ball off a roof was also so realistic to a cat’s behavior.
ReplyDeleteBy the way… just a minor thing you can work on for your next stories is that you have a typo where you left off the “y” on “they” and you have some run on sentences. It does not take anything away from the story it’s just something I noticed.
Hi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI love this story. The way the cats acted in your story perfectly matches the stereotype of cats. I like that this story explained a never ending phenomenon that we see today. I think it’s interesting that the dogs mainly feared small balls hitting the ground. So many things big and small hit the ground. Even dogs themselves run and jump on the ground, and many are probably heavier than a ball. Maybe dogs should move everything up into the trees or mountains.
My favorite by far!!! After reading this fokltale for myself and seeing so many other interpretations of it, I never ever ever would have thought to relate it to something like this. It sounds so believable that I almost don't want to play fetch with my own dog anymore! Such a great story... this could honestly be its own folktale. And another reason why dogs are the best animals on this planet.
ReplyDelete