Week 11 Story: The Merchant of Seri
Image Credit. ORRA Diamond Necklace. Source: ORRA.
A woman whose name was Maureen entered the spiteful jeweler's store hoping to get an appraisal on her favorite necklace. Maureen was a woman of few possessions. Her necklace was one of her prized possessions. However, it was Maureen's oldest granddaughter's 18th birthday and she wanted to make sure that the day was incredibly special for her granddaughter. The spiteful jeweler took one look at Maureen's diamond necklace and could tell that the woman did not know the worth of it. He quickly told her, "Oh this necklace is simply clear cubic zirconia and is worth only $50". Maureen was heartbroken and decided to keep the necklace because of it's sentimental value to her.
Then as Maureen was leaving the jewelry shop the humble jeweler saw her leaving and looking very heartbroken. He could not help but walk over to her and ask if she was alright. "I am okay sir. Just heartbroken that I will not be able to get my granddaughter a gift for her 18th birthday." The jeweler noticed the necklace she had on and carefully asked, "Ma'am I do not know if I am allowed to ask but would you be willing to trade in your necklace?". Maureen was on the verge of tears and softly said, "It is of no value. I just left this jewelry store and was told it was worth only $50". "Let me take a second look, if you would, ma'am". Maureen decided to let him and walked across the street to his shop. As soon as the humble jeweler looked through his microscope he could see that it was a jewel of great value. As Maureen left the shop she was rich with the feeling of love for her granddaughter in her heart and the humble jeweler was rich with a stone of great value.
Author's Note:
I am retelling the story of The Merchant of Seri but I was hoping to add in some details and some characters so that you could get a deeper sense of the setting and characters in the story. I thought that the original was lacking in detail so that is why I decided to rewrite it.
Bibliography:
Babbitt. The Jataka Tales. Source: BlogSpot.
Hi Hannah!
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job retelling this story. I would agree that the original story lacked the characters to make the story easy to relate to. I think you did a great job in your version. You could really tell who each merchant was and how they conducted their business. You could also connect with the woman who wanted to get her granddaughter something nice. I think you retold the story very clearly without a lot of fuss. Great job!
What a sweet little story! It's great that the grandmother was able to get a good price for the value of her necklace so that she could get her granddaughter a gift. You have a very simple and straightforward feel to your retelling, I wonder if you considered embellishing it with some description to set a more vivid visual scene? We know the jewelers do business differently, maybe the look or atmosphere of their shops give off a certain vibe that fits their characteristics? I have noticed in the past Jakata Tales use these sort of techniques to emphasize characters' qualities with their settings, so this is just a suggestion!
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