There once was a clan of deer. This clan was quite large
with Father being the leader. Father and Mother had two fawns. Their names were
Beauty and Brownie. Beauty and Brownie were in charge of their own herds within
the clan.
One day, Father told Beauty and Brownie to take their herds
out of the forest because it was not safe for them to stay there.
“But I do not want to leave!” Shouted Brownie.
“I am sorry, but you must,” stated Mother.
“Why must we leave Father?” Beauty asked.
“There is great danger at these times. Hunters are after us,
and we cannot all stay here,” said Father.
“Come with us!” Brownie and Beauty urged.
“We are too old to make the travel,” Father said.
“You must take your herds and leave. Travel by night, watch
for hunters, and always go around the villages,” Mother said concerned.
So, Brownie and Beauty gathered their herds and left when it
turned dark.
Brownie and Beauty split up with their herds. Beauty thought
that it would be too dangerous having all of the deer together, and that it
would slow the whole group down if everyone traveled together. Brownie was
nervous being away from his whole family. He was not as smart as Beauty was.
Beauty listened to what their parents told her and she
traveled at night. She made sure to never go through any of the villages. She
always led her herd around them. She made sure to never fall into any of the
hunter’s traps, and she always made sure to point out to the herd where a trap
was. She was a wonderful leader. Beauty was patient, kind, and caring towards
her herd. She made sure to always take car of her herd whatever they may need.
Brownie on the other hand, he forgot what his parents told
him. He took his herd out in the middle of the day when all the villagers were
outside. He always went through all of the villages and did not go around the
villages like Mother told him. The consequences of this were horrendous. His
herd was quickly diminishing. Brownie did not really seem to mind. He was just
concerned with making sure he was well fed and safe. He knew that as long as
there was someone slower than him in his herd that he would be okay.
Eventually, it was safe enough to come home, so Beauty came
home with her entire herd. Not one of the deer in her herd was ever harmed
through the dangerous time. Mother and Father were so pleased!
A few of Brownie’s herd trickled in, but Brownie was not to
be seen. Mother asked a few members of his herd about this, and they simply
said, “We do not know. One day we just woke up and he was gone!”
Brownie was never to be seen again…
Author's Note: After writing all the stories in my portfolio, it was nice to be able to just do a little fun story like this one! This story was from More Jataka Tales by Babbitt called Beauty and Brownie. The Jataka Tales are quite fun to read, and mostly all have a great lesson that comes with it. I followed the original story almost exactly except that the father was the one that told them to travel at night and gave them all the advice not the mother. I also added some dialogue and added some more knowledge about the characters. I had a lot of questions reading the original story, so I wanted to make this story less vague. For instance, I added more dialogue to give more personality to the characters. I also added that Beauty is very smart and kind, and Brownie is dumb and selfish.
