Friday, August 19, 2016

The Story of Dave


Author's Note:The Aesop's Fable The Man and His Two Wives tells a story of an aging man with 2 wives, one young and one old, who feel differently about the man's grey hairs.  The young wife decides to pull out the greys, while the old wife pulls out the rest, intending to just leave grey.  He ends up bald.
The moral of this story is "yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield."  Though I appreciate the moral, I like to imagine that they came up with a solution that made everyone happy, so I turned it into a sort of poem with a different ending.  

Enjoy.




Dave's Cone Head
Cartoon Head 31 by doodleguy on openclipart

Dave was small in size but had two wives; their names, Greta and Cindy. One was old, age untold, while the other, 30 years his junior. He held them both dear but soon it was clear, Dave was beginning to age. Without Dave knowing, the greys started showing; his wives had different opinions. 10 years his senior, Greta was eager to stop being called his mother.  
But Cindy quite feared the jabs from her peers, like calling Dave her great-grandfather.

With what to do with their man, they both had a plan, but their thinking was quite the contrary. Cindy’s demand, tweezers in hand, was to pluck all those pesky greys out. David abided and laid by her side as she searched for those evil white hairs. The very next day, to Greta’s dismay, Dave’s hair was just looking black. With a long sigh and Dave’s head on her thigh, Greta had her turn with his locks. Soon he was bald, his wives quite appalled, not knowing where they had gone wrong. When he looked in the mirror, it couldn’t be clearer; Dave’s head was shaped like a cone!


Being embarrassed because he was hairless was really bumming Dave out. Having taken an oath to please them both, Dave was in a predicament. At a family meeting, they ended up agreeing to only pluck half of his head. After quite the fight over who’d get the right, Cindy settled for the left. So every other evening to each woman’s pleasing, they’d pluck out the hairs that they did not like. Because of Dave’s tact, one half was black, and the other side solely grey. The next day in town, he was called a clown; everyone mocked Dave’s new ‘do. Dave did not care - he loved his hair, for reasons they did not quite get. This may sound sappy, but it made his wives happy, and that’s what Dave always strived for. They did not intend to start a trend, but half colored hair became all the rage. {Everyone hopes to be content.}

Dave, after. (Not actually Dave)
Photo courtesy of The Costume Guild on  Flickr




Bibliography. "The man and His Two Wives" from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs. Source.

7 comments:

  1. WHAT FUN, Sara!!! I am glad you picked one of the fables that is not one of the standard "children's stories," and putting the note first can be a great idea for situations where your readers might not know anything at all about the story you started with. It transitions us right into your story ... and then... the RHYMES sneak up on us by surprise. How cool! I wonder how long it will take everybody to notice that you are rhyming. Being embarrassed because he was hairless... HA!!! I think Dr. Seuss would approve.

    And how perfect that you found a picture of a two-tone hair-do (or perhaps that is a hair-don't ha ha). Plus, it is very sweet how, in the end, it made his wives happy. That doesn't sound sappy at all! I VOTE FOR DAVE!!!

    Anyway, your story is quite fabulous and unforgettable; that is one of my favorite Aesop's fables already, so now I will remember your version each time I run into that man with his wives. I'm guessing this is probably the last story I will be reading this week, and it is nice to end the week with such an enjoyable post. Happy Friday!

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    1. I'm glad you liked it! I tried to write about it without rhyming, but it just wasn't going to happen.

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  2. Leave it to the women to want to control their husband's hair! I think just the topic is funny on its own. I thought the ending would be Dave telling his wives off because he doesn't care what they think, but to my surprise, he ends up doing something that pleases both himself and his wives. I thought that was a great way to end your version of the fable. It was a great lesson to do what makes you happy and not what you think others want you to do.

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  3. I totally wasn’t expecting the story to rhyme haha. You’re talented with poems! I could never write such a long one that seems to flow with such ease, poetry is not my “thing”. I enjoyed the whole story though and thought it was cool that he was able to please both of the people that he cared about. Kinda funny that he had a cone head though!

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  4. This is such a great story. Love the rhyming and definitely did not expect that at all. It is amazing how you changed the story to fit who you are and still were able to keep rhyming. That takes some creative and skillful thinking, something I couldn't have done. I love this story and the message that it brings. Such an amazing thing to care more for what makes you happy and the people you care about, rather than let others manipulate you for something they want. Keep up the amazing work.

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  5. Very cute story! The poem-like writing made the story catchier. I like how you added the new ending. This ending shows how Dave loves his wives and how his wives love him too although they’re not giving up on plucking his hair. It’s very nice when you still keep the moral of the story while gives an example of how things can work out when people compromise with each other. Great job!

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  6. What a funny story! I must admit you seem to be very good with poems, I would never be able to write such a long story with rhymes so good job on that. Your story was very captivating as you make the reader go inside it and wonder what will the end look like and your picture does a great job on that. Indeed it is a very funny picture of a man who seems to be happy enough with his two "crazy" wives. However, I wonder if you made this story a little bit more different by making the man listening to one of his wives and not the other adding to it all the problems that it will generate. Finally, this story overall was successful in every way from the rhymes to the funny story, I would be definitely coming back to read more of your stories.

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