As Prince Siddhartha walked through these glorious halls to the garden, he had a sudden urge to leave the palace. The prince's father heard word of him wanting to leave the palace. The king knew that if he tried to keep his son from leaving the palace, it would only make his desire stronger.
So the king sent for his charioteer. When he came, the king told him that the prince was going to take a trip to see the cities' marvels. However, "The prince shall not see any beggar nor sickly people lining the street that he will be traveling," said the king. So the king had all the people who suffered removed from the side of the street that the prince would be viewing.
When the prince reached the royal stables the king's charioteer was already waiting for him with the chariot ready. So the prince and the charioteer set off on their trip to the city. As they left the palace the prince saw a vast amount of people roaming the street. The street was ornately decorated with streamers and lanterns covered in precious stones and lined with gold. As the chariot passed through the street the people were enamored with the prince's unearthly presence. The entire city flocked to the sight of the prince.
Only words of praise could be heard about him.
As the God's watched this spectacle they became jealous of the warmth that was in Prince Siddhartha's soul. In their jealousy, the God's created an old man and stuck him next to the street that the prince was traveling on. This old man was extremely frail, having to troublesomely lean on a walking stick, and was wrinkled to no end.
When the prince laid eyes upon this man, it stirred up some curiosity in him. He questioned his charioteer, "Who is this man so frail and feeble? He struggles to stand and walk, is it by nature that he does this so?"
(Frail Old Man: WikiMedia)
The realization that old age takes away any and every persons youth made him shudder. He could not stop thinking about the terrors of old age. How could one enjoy the beauties of the world with old age looming over each persons soul. Saddened the prince returned to the palace, however, he could not find peace in the beauty of the castle.
Authors Note: This story is based off of The First Encounter. I didn't want to change much of the story since it was such a prominent part of Prince Siddhartha's life. It was the first time the prince had seen something less than glorious. It was the first time that he had seen suffering. It began to change the way the thought of the world.
Bibliography:
Book Title: The Life of Buddha
Story Title: The First Encounter
Author: Andre Ferdinand Herold
Year: 1922
I actually read this same unit for this week's reading! In fact, I chose this particular story for my storytelling piece! I found it to be such a moving story out of the whole unit! If you read mine, I changed quite a bit of the story so the author's note will definitely be useful! However, I enjoyed reading your story despite the fact that I already was aware of what was going to happen! In addition, I love the picture you placed with the story, it's quite comical! I hope you found the 'Life of Buddha' to be as interesting as I did. After reading the story it made me appreciate how the infamous figure of Buddha came to be known!
ReplyDeleteI thought this was really interesting and well written! I have some knowledge of Siddhartha, so I knew what to expect when he went out traveling. I didn’t realize that there were gods involved, though; and it was interesting that they had very human emotions. Who knew that the gods would get so jealous of his beauty? And it’s interesting to see Siddhartha’s reaction. He’s both so sheltered he has to ask what age is and so troubled by it. Anyways, this retelling was really well done!
ReplyDeleteThis is the second retelling of this story I have read, and this one seems much more traditional than the other. They both still carried the same themes, but yours was more clear about what triggered the prince's disillusionment and its effects on him. Though I think it may be a little dramatic to claim that they cannot appreciate beauty because there are ugly things, I understand that we all feel that way sometimes, especially when we are younger.
ReplyDelete