Week 2 Story: The Crow

The Crow

Once upon a time, there was a farmer that lived near a fertile field.  The farmer would reap and sow day and day, bringing in plentiful harvests every season.  The farmer planted berries in the summertime, squash in the fall, melon in the winter, and flowers in the spring.  He also had many acres of land in which he tended to numerous species of trees which created a glorious forest.  

 

The farmer lived alone and was without a wife or children; however, he was very wealthy and prosperous in money.

"My land is fertile, and my fruits and plant are abundant.  I need no woman or child to keep me company," the farmer would say. 

Although the farmer had more than enough to eat every season, he was very greedy with his possessions.  He knew that he had the best produce in the land.  No other farmer could grow juicier fruits.  No other farmer had been able to provide as large of plants as he.  

Instead of sharing his food, the farmer would keep many of the plants he harvested for himself.  The times he did sell, he would often charge fortunes to the families that bought from him.  Even if they were poor, the farmer had no compassion, and would get well over what his produce was worth.

One day, a poor girl came to the farm and pleaded for a squash for her family to eat.  

"We have eaten only rice for days, and our grains are being depleted rapidly."  She begged for just one vegetable, but the farmer would not budge. 

"If you are unable to pay the price, you may scavenge for scraps in my trash like a rat," the farmer rudely replied. 

The little girl decided to make him a deal.

"I have no money to offer, but I do have something you may desire."

Piqued by his curiosity, the farmer allowed her to propose her idea. 

"You have no wife, no children, and no company.  I am sure you get lonely here on this large farm of yours.  I am prepared to offer you my most prized possession."

The greedy farmer was more than eager to take what she claimed was her most prized and valuable object. 

"And what do you have to offer?" he asked.

"Only my best friend, and most loyal companion: my pet crow," the little girl responded.

The farmer considered this for just a moment, then quickly agreed to the deal.  

"Bring me back your crow, and I will give you one squash," he said to her.

The little girl sadly left the field to bring him her crow.  

The farmer heard a knock on his door, and found the crow sitting in a wooden cage on his doorstep.  The little girl was nowhere to be seen, but the farmer paid no mind. 

"Now you belong to me," the farmer said to the crow.  He was enamored with its sleek, black feathers.  While the crow was beautiful the farmer felt a strange sense of foreboding in its beady eyes.  The farmer kept the crow locked up in a cage and watched it every night still feeling a strange ominous sense to the creature. 

Years passed and the farmer grew older, but his produce became smaller, and less.  The farmer soon began to lose the profits he had made and was becoming poorer and poorer as time went on.  The farmer became more cynical, more greedy, and slowly became mad.  

"Ever since you came, I have had nothing but bad luck," he angrily shouted to the crow. "This is all your fault!"

The farmer decided that he wanted to rid himself of this creature and decided to take it to the field and kill it.  While walking to the field, the farmer stumbled and fell into a ravine.  He looked down and saw that he had broken his leg.  Far from any other person, the farmer was alone on his large farm.  He tried to call for help but knew that it was useless.  No one would hear his cries for help.  Days passed and the farmer was still stuck, unable to move and fiercely hungry.  The only other life he had seen for these past few days, was the crow flying circles above him.  

The farmer began to go insane from hunger and seeing the crow.  

"You bought this upon me!  My demise was brought onto me by my own hand!" cried the farmer. 

In his fit of rage and screaming, the crow squawked and flew down to attack the farmer.  The crow pecked at the farmers eyes and face.  The crow attacked the farmer with his beak while the man tried to swat at the bird.  Finally, the farmer lay still and on the verge of death, when he heard a familiar voice speak.  It sounded like the little girl that had given him the crow many years before.  He turned his head, and to his surprise, the voice came from the crow.

"You reap what you sow, and your seeds of greed have bough you nothing but loneliness and death," the crow said.  In one fell swoop, the crow pecked the farmer one last time, and he lay still and lifeless.  

The Crow.  Needpix.

Author's Note

I got the idea for my story from the story cited below.  I decided to keep the same type of story telling style and point of view.  The story had a lesson at the end that taught the reader basically 'you reap what you sow'.  It showed how doing bad things, and deceiving others would ultimately trail back to the person.  I wanted to keep the same little lesson in this story, and show how karma would pay back the bad deeds you had done.   

Bibliography: The Cunning Crane and the Crab from Old India by W. H. D Rouse. Websource.