Rhampsinitus Rhymes
Over Egypt, King Rhampsinitus once did reign,He had so many riches, that anything he wanted, he could fain.
Next to his castle, the king built a room for all his treasure;
He needed to protect the things that brought him the most pleasure.
However, little did the king know that the people he hired,
Would construct a trick that would make his brain quite tired.
Secretly, one of the constructors made a wall nook,
So that he could come in and steal without the king knowing what he took.
After the building was complete and done,
The two sons of the constructor went out to have some fun!
Their father had fallen ill,
And told the boys about the nook so that they make take everything they willed.
So into the vault the brothers went,
Thinking of all the ways their new riches could be spent!
This went on for several nights,
Each time leaving the guards and king stumped by morning's light.
The king never could discover
Why his treasures were disappearing under night's cover.
To solve the problem, he decided to lay a trap
In order to give these robbers one good whap!
The next night, the robbers came in looking for the night's dealings,
But all of a sudden one brother was in a net at the ceiling!
"Brother!" he frantically bellowed,
"There's no way out for me, you'll have to kill me, please don't be mellow."
The plan was for the free brother to slice off his kin's head,
Then run back out the nook, leaving the body unmarked and dead.
The free brother did as he was told
And ran away with his dead brothers head and three bags of gold.
The king awoke to the body swinging in the air
He was enraged that the other robber had gotten away, it just wasn't fair!
He had the corpse hung on the wall
To see if anyone would pass by to mourn at all.
Meanwhile, the mother of the corpse
Demanded her remaining son to retrieve the body in her remorse.
The son again did as he was told,
Went to the castle, tricked the guards with wine, and carried the corpse away, which was very bold.
Again the king was outraged that he had been fooled,
So he sent his daughter out to find this man and show him who really ruled.
The daughter found the robber and he confessed to her under false pretenses.
He managed to get away and the king almost lost his senses!
One final attempt to catch this thief,
He would hold a grand ball and if this failed he would forever angrily seethe.
The robber came and managed to schmooze them all,
So much so that the king's daughter married the robber the very next fall!
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| (Egyptian Bust. Source: Wikipedia) |
Author's Note: This story is based off of the Egyptian Myth of the The Tale of King Rhampsinitus. This story was very ironic to me, it showed how the less fortunate are significantly more clever than the wealthy and that the wealthy can be fooled quite easily. I felt that this motif was simple that it needed to be in nursery rhyme form! And I also love to rhyme things, so that too.
Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend, Donald Mackenzie, 1907.
Considering most older tales are told in verse this was a really clever idea. It was well rhymed and very ascetically pleasing. You did a really remarkable job retelling the story in such a condensed way, and still managed to hit all the high points just fine. As for irony, have you ever read The Eloquent Peasant? Old Egyptian story about a farmer who can speak really well and shocks the whole court - quite hilarious.
ReplyDeleteWow this was really good. I liked the rhyming. I have never seen anyone write this way for this class. The story was so catchy and made it easy to read. I think this story is very ironic. The end of the story is great that the robber ended up with the kings daughter and will ultimately gain all the riches eventually.
ReplyDeleteThis story was so fascinating! And I love that you retold it in a rhyme! When I was reading it, I was sure that the robbers (and later the one robber) would be caught eventually. Usually, when someone steals from someone else for their own personal gain in stories, they end up getting their just rewards. I was definitely not expecting the robber to marry the princess, let alone escape, even up until the very last verse. Anyways, well done!
ReplyDeleteI really like the approach that you took to tell this story. I don't usually like poem format, but yours was very easy to follow and understand. In addition to that, I also liked the story's plot. I find it very interesting that the robber was able too fool everyone, and eventually even married the king's daughter. Great job on your post and thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredibly clever idea, making an ancient story into a nursery rhyme. I loved it because not only was the patter of a nursery rhyme fun and familiar, but the story was interesting. I have found that some of the best stories are those where the less fortunate can full the wealthy, and they have been around time and time again. Such a great writing style! I look forward to reading more of your work in the future. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteHannah, I love what you said in your author's note about the motif being so simple, it could have been a nursery rhyme - it does seem like a lot of nursery rhymes are about horrific and disturbing events doesn't it? I also read that story and it did almost remind me of a child's fable with the rich being outwitted continuously by the poor. I was very impressed with your ability to rhyme throughout the entire story. That took commitment! Great work!
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