Week 14 Story: Prince Shibi
Image info: Hawk Flying, Image credit: Unsplash
Once upon a time, there was a prince named Shibi, who was often known for his unselfishness, kindness and love for people and animals of all sizes. Growing up, he was always told that he would become the next king. His father always pushed him toward academic and learning about warfare; however, Shibi was disinterested in his studies. He was more interested in skipping class to feed the animals along the walls of the palace. As he would feed the animals, Shibi would catch the glimpses of life outside of the palace. Enclosed in a safe and protected environment, Shibi felt bad for the sick, poor, and old that lived in his kingdom.
Furthermore, on his 18th birthday, instead of obtaining
his full right to inherit the throne, Prince Shibi decides to leave the kingdom
in hopes of doing good for the world. With that being said, Prince Shibi packed
a light bag with only a few essential items and set off on a journey with no
destination in mind but hopes that he could help others around him.
Stopping at a nearby river to catch a break from his
journey, a pigeon fell into his arms, exhausted by its efforts to escape a hawk
which had long pursue it.
“You must give me back my prey. I am not doing this out of
cruelty. Instead, I must eat the pigeon in order to survive!”
Therefore, Shibi proposes a compromise in which he would
allow the hawk to eat the same weight of the pigeon from his own body decides
to allow the hawk to eat the same weight in flesh of the pigeon from his own
body. With that being said, the hawk would let go of the bird. Furthermore, the
hawk agrees, letting Shibi sacrifice his own body for the suffering of both of
the birds.
Bibliography:
“Shibi and The Hawk” by Shovona Devi. Website: Freebookapalooza
Hi Sara! I liked your tale. I haven't read the original piece, so I don't know how close your story matches the original. However, I did glance at the Wikipedia article on Shibi, and I think you definitely followed it to some extent. Shibi was incredibly selfless, and I think it was this that caused him to give up his own flesh for that of the pigeon. Curiously, the pigeon (though dove in the article) was an incarnation of Agni and the hawk was an incarnation of Indra, which I thought was interesting.
ReplyDeleteHello Sara,
ReplyDeleteI really like the story. I wish you could have left an author's note as I am not familiar with the original story. Nothing that I've read so far rings a bell, the only thing that remotely resembles this story is that of Buddha. However, the message of the story was beautiful. I also like your style of writing.