Dear Diary,
I
have been more insulted in my incredible life than yesterday. While I was at
the table dining, I was told by that my position of Stablemaster was no office
at all. It doesn't even carry any rank! Can you believe that? How could the Jade
Emperor, the supposed Lord of the Heavens, give me such a lowly job? I am Sun
Wu Kung. I am the Ape King. I am the Venerable Sun! How dare he?!
Do
these heavenly officials not know who I am? Do they not know that I can travel
eighteen thousand miles in one turn of my cloud somersaults? Do they not know
that I have discovered the way to eternal life? I have travelled to the Nether
World, and I have erased my name from the book of life. Therefore, I have no
need to fear Death the Ancient anymore! Do they not know that I have mastered
the art of transformation? With just one of my hairs I can summon thousands of
myself, and who else can work such magic? Do they not know that I was
victorious in battle against the Devil King? Who else can wield Riyu Jingu
Bang, my magical staff taken from the Dragon-King and Dragon-Queen? No one can!
There are none who are strong enough! On
my mountain, I am a father. I am a King. I am practically... no, I am a god on my mountain! The evening
star was right to advise them to show me mercy. For, there are none among them
who could defeat me. Not even the Buddha in all his wisdom and power could
overcome me!
Blessed
be my family! They showed me a proper reception today. My loyal prepared a
glorious banquet in my honor. If only those in the Heavens were so wise. I
especially liked those two devil-kings. Their horns were impressive, but there
words were even more so. "The Great Saint who is Heaven's Equal" they
called me. A more fitting name has never been given! Mark my words, there will
be a day when the Lord of the Heavens, and all of his officials, and all the
world will bow in wonder at my greatness! I promise you that I, Sun Wu Kung,
the Venerable Sun, the Ape King will see to it that this day comes soon. In
fact, it is already on the horizon. They will send the whole host after me.
They will try, but they will fail, for I am the Great Saint who is Heaven's
Equal!
Sun Wu Kung depicted by Yoshitoshi, source: Wikipedia
Author's Note-
I based this fake diary entry off of The Great Saint, a story about the famous Monkey King, Sun Wu Kung. He is extremely powerful, and he knows it. So I thought it would be interesting to explore his anger about being belittled by the Heavenly hosts. Obviously, he is super arrogant, so he doesn't handle it well!
Bibliography-
"The Great Saint"
"The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book
Edited by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens
1921
I really enjoyed this story you wrote! Great job turning it into a dairy post. From reading your author's note about how he was an arrogant king, I think picking a dairy was the perfect choice. You really got to see how arrogant he was and his anger at not being recognized for his full power through his ideas expressed in the dairy. The only thing I found confusing was adding in all the characters of The Devil King and the Dragon-King and Queen with no explanation of who they were. I would have liked to know why it was so impressive that he defeated the Dragon-King. Was he a huge 1,000 pound dragon with thorns as big as trees? I would have liked to have had some more details. But other than that, I think you did amazing!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your story! The entire time I was reading it, I was thinking of how arrogant he was, so when I read your author's note and realized that was what you were going for, I was relieved. Overall, I really like the diary format that you used. I think it helped in gaining insight into the main character's mind. You were very creative in delivering this story! Great job, I look forward to reading more from you.
ReplyDeleteGreg,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your story. I thought you portrayed his arrogance so well through your writing. It was so interesting to read it as a diary post. I like that you really played up his arrogance to make it really pronounced in the story. I don't know if it is like that in the original, but I like it in your story.
Linzee
Great story! His arrogance definitely showed in the diary post extremely well. I have not read the story, so it would have helped a little to know how you changed it from the original, but I like how you go through all of his accomplishments in the diary post. You can really see his frustration and his desire to be looked at as a god. Overall, this story is really fantastic!
ReplyDelete