Week 7 Story: Tricks in the Yard.

Tricks in the Yard

One day the 3 puppies were running around the yard when their owner came out side and put them all in their outdoor kennels except one of them. To which he told them all “Today you will be tested on the tricks you were supposed to have learned!” The first puppy up was Buster, who had made it clear from the beginning that he didn’t care to learn any of his master’s tricks or commands.

“We will start off easy” said the Buster’s owner. “Sit!”

Buster took a second to think about his owner’s command and then decided to instead run towards a chew toy laying on the ground. To this action, the master chased him down, took the toy, and punished the dog by putting him in his kennel the rest of the day.

Next up was Penny, who knew a couple of the commands and tricks but is easily distracted by anything and everything because of how hyper she was.

“Alright Penny, let’s see if you are more disciplined than Buster was.” Said Penny’s owner. “Sit!”

Penny remembered this one and thought it was an easy command, so she sat as she was taught to do so.

“Good Girl! Now shake!” said Penny’s owner.

Penny knew this trick too, but just as she was about to lift her paw, a squirrel ran by on the fence across the yard. Penny couldn’t resist her distraction and before she lifted her paw to shake, she immediately bolted towards the squirrel.

The owner became madder that another one of his dogs had not listened to him, and he once again chased down his dog and put it in his kennel for the rest of the day.

The next dog up for the test was Lilo. Lilo was not the most skilled of the three puppies in terms of performing the tricks and commands, but she was a great listener and didn’t become as easily distracted.

The owner, who expected Lilo to fail as she had in the past, was fed up as he started the test again with the simple command of “Sit!”

Penny as slowly and crooked as possible lowered her body into the sitting position she had been taught as she looked up at her owner for the next command.

This is an image of Lilo sitting which I found on Wikimedia Commons.

“Good Girl! Now shake!” said Lilo’s owner with a sense of doubt in his voice.

Lilo becoming off balance slowly lifted her paw and tried to maintain posture as she waited for her master to grab her paw.

“Good Job! You’ve made it past the other two!” said Lilo’s owner.

Lilo began to become scared as she didn’t want to disappoint her master for she had heard him yell at the others and knew she would be punished if she didn’t perform.

“Last one is to roll over!”

Lilo became relieved as she knew how to do the trick but was slightly worried because she was uncoordinated. She began to roll over, although it looked less athletic than any other dog to have ever performed the trick.

“CONGRATS LILO! All you had to do was listen and pay attention, and with time we will make these tricks look better!” said the owner as excited as ever. “

The owner then gave Lilo three dog treats for each of the commands she had followed. Lilo knew that the other dogs could perform the tricks even better than her but realized they had not listened. She then decided that she didn’t want her treat unless the other dogs could share them with her. She then put the three treats in her mouth and ran over to their kennels where she dropped a treat in front of each of them and began to sit as her owner had taught her.

Lilo’s master watched and realized that she wanted her sister and brother to be free and enjoy the treats with her, so he said, “I’ll let them free but let it be known that being disciplined and listening is the only way to enjoy the treats in the future.”

Author’s Note:

This story is based off Riddles at the Lake from Mahabharata. In the original story the Pandava brothers are resting before they go on a hunt for a deer with sacred twigs. The brothers are extremely thirsty so one of them climbed a tree to see where water was located. Once they saw, one of the brothers, Nakula, went to the pond first to drink but before he did so a voice challenged him to answer riddles before he drank. He decided not to do so and when he drank the water he dropped dead. Then another brother, Sahadeva, came and he too ignored the voice and dropped dead once he drank the water. Arjuna then went and he too ignored the voice but in an arrogant manner. Finally, Yudhishthira came to the pond where he listened to the voice and answered his questions patiently. The voice then reveals himself as Dharma and awards Yudhishthira two boons. Yudhishthira then wishes that his brothers were returned to life. In my story, I used dogs in order to make the story more modern and easier to read. Although I didn’t make them desire anything as the brothers did, I had their owner symbolize The Voice who challenged the dogs in tricks he had taught them instead of riddles. I had both of the first two dogs show neglect and lack of patience toward their orders to symbolize the three brothers who died. Instead of having the dogs die, I had the owner punish them by locking them in kennels. The third dog, Lilo, who completed his master’s test symbolizes Yudhishthira which is why I made her patient and once she completed her tasks I had her want to share them with her siblings, just as Yudhishthira wished his brothers were alive. The lesson in the story is that patience and listening can be rewarded even if one is not the best performer of the challenge.

Bibliography: 

Riddles At The Lake from the Mahabharata found in Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).