Storytelling: The Giant Elk

There once was a small village so deep in the woods that no one could find it. In this village lived a peaceful tribe who lit the night sky with fire and who sang beautiful songs of adventures and love. This village lived peacefully for hundreds of years before tragedy struck. From the forests far to the west lived an elk. This was no ordinary elk. It was giant and ferocious, feeding on all who had joy in the world. The elk had been traveling and had come upon this village only by accident. It heard the songs of the villagers with the drums beating to steps of dancers. The elk charged in and took the village by surprise, eating up all it could before heading away for its sleep. The village was in a panic. They had never faced anything of such evil before. The leader of the tribe, Sunyain, and his trustworthy friend Ugai knew that something had to be done to defeat such evil. So they followed the footprints of the elk up to a great field where they found the beast sleeping out in the open. The men hid behind some trees, not daring to get close to the elk with fear that they might wake it. "How can we kill this beast when we cannot get close enough to strike it down," questioned Ugai? As if it was listening to their conversation a leopard appeared. "I can help you my friends.

(leopard)

You see I am very quick and if you get on my back I can run to it so that you may strike it down before it hears us. That elk killled my cubs and I will do whatever it takes to help you," the leopard insisted to the men.

"It is very gutsy and we still have no weapons to strike the beast down," replied Sunyain.

"Maybe I can be of service," said a porcupine that had snuck up from behind them.

(Porcupine)

"My quills are very sharp and will serve as excellent weapons for you to strike down the creature." The group devised a plan and it was agreed upon. The two men plucked the giant quills from the porcupine's back and hopped onto the leopard. Zoom!!! They were off. They were heading full speed towards the elk with the quills aimed directly at the heart. When they were only feet away the leopard tripped and sent the men flying forward and their quills, missing the mark. The quills only injured the beast. The elk shot up with pain and sent out a bellow that could be heard throughout the entire forrest. The men, now terrified, took off running hoping that they could hide from it in the forest. The elk, after his bellowing, was now filled with anger. It charged the men and gained ground very quickly. The men had no hope of escaping. "The only chance our village has of surviving is if we kill this beast once and for all," said Ugai. With Sunyain agreeing, the two men took up their quill spears and prepared to charge the beast. Sunyain yelling out "charge" at the top of his lungs took off, but before he could get anywhere he felt a sharp pain in the back of his leg. He turned to see Ugai pulling the quill out of his leg. "I cannot let you die here. You are our leader. The people... they need you to survive, and let's face it, they don't really need me." Before Sunyain could say anything Ugai took off continuing to run at the beast. He ran past the point beyond the sight Sunyain and then as Sunyain was crying out all noise fell quiet. Sunyain stopped and listened, but heard nothing. "Ugai!!! Ugai!!" Sunyain called out, hoping to hear the voice of his dearest friend. But there was nothing. Sunyain hobbling as fast as he could came upon a sight he wished he had not seen. Before his eyes was the elk and Ugai both dead with an antler piercing Ugai through the heart and a quill piercing the head of the elk.

(Elk)

Years later, Sunyain still remembered his dearest friend Ugai. The story of his bravery had become a song that was sung every night in memory and thanks to the bravest of them all. The man who had sacrificed his life. 

Author's Note: The original story, an Apache story, tells of a single man, Jonayaiyin, who with the help of a clever lizard and gopher was able to take down an elk and an eagle that had been terrorizing their village. It tells of Jonayaiyin and his trek to where the elk and eagle both were, respectively. He is able to kill the beasts and return to his village a hero. This story has also has an influence from a God-like character who helps the village by sending a hero to kill the beasts. My story follows closely with the main idea, but I changed a few areas. I added a friend for the main character to accompany him and in the end sacrifice his life for him. I also changed the animals that provided help and used a different angle on how their plan played out. In the original it does not go into the future, but I wanted to show the impact that the friend made and his joyous celebration. 

Bibliography: Native American Hero Tales: The Killing of Monsters by Stith Thompson; link to reading