Week 12 Story: The Prisoner and the Guard

There once was a man who owned a tower and lived alone.  He guarded a prisoner in that tower, a man exiled after a crime he committed inside the walls of the kingdom. He was to be executed for his crimes, and the king's guard didn't want to do the dirty work, so they paid this man to do it, for he had the tower to keep the prisoner in while he went through his final proceedings. 

(Torre di Centocelle, Web Source)

On the eve of his execution, the prisoner began speaking with the guard. 

"Can I tell you a story?" The Prisoner asked the guard.

The guard, bored, with no one to go home to and nothing better to do than listen, said something he might not have said in different circumstances. 

"Sure," said the guard blankly. 

And so the prisoner began his story:

**

Once upon a time, there was a wealthy merchant who went on a journey. He took his horse and brought plenty of supplies to last him for this journey, prepared for any trouble to cross his path. After riding for hours one day, the merchant stumbled upon a waterfall. He decides to pull over and rest, thinking that this running water provided a perfect opportunity to bathe. He did just that, kicking some rocks away so he could clear a spot for his bare feet. He took his time and felt quite rejuvenated after. 

He decided to take a nap there, going to lay by his horse, feeling nice after a lovely shower in a waterfall. That is, until a genie appeared, waking the merchant from his brief slumber with a rage. He began to speak with a terrible voice. 

"You killed my son! You will pay for this, you shall suffer the same fate as him, for it is only fair."

The merchant awoke suddenly, startled. "I have done no such thing."

The genie was unamused, "I shall kill you for you have killed my son."

The merchant was starting to get frustrated. "Can you please tell me how I killed your son?"

"Did you not kick rocks by the waterfall?" asked the genie. The merchant nodded. 

"You hit my son in the head with one of those rocks. You see he is very small and that rock came flying at his head after you kicked it, killing him. You must suffer the same fate as him!"  cried the genie.

**

The sun was setting and the guard wished to go to sleep at this point, but he wanted to find out what happened in the story, for it was the first bit of entertainment he's had in weeks.

"I am to go to bed now, but I will return tomorrow to hear the rest of your story," said the guard to the prisoner. 

And so the guard went to bed and arose the next morning, the day of the execution, and made him and the prisoner some food, making his way back up the tower. 

"I brought you some breakfast," said the guard. "You must continue the story."

And so the prisoner took the breakfast and began again.

**

"Please don't kill me!" cried the merchant, "I have a family at home. Please give me time to tell them goodbye. I must make arrangements first!"

The genie pondered this "Okay. I will give you one year's time to say goodbye to your family. But at the end of the year, you must come back here and suffer the same fate as my son."

The merchant, grateful for this time, left to go say goodbye to his family. The year came and went, and at the end, he went to the waterfall where he met the genie. There, he met an old man. They got to talking and he told the old man of his fate. The old man felt sorry for him and once the genie got there. He decided to intervene. 

"Mr. genie, before you kill the merchant, please let me tell you a fascinating story about my life. And at the end of that story, if you still want to kill the merchant, go ahead, but at least hear me out first."

The genie pondered this, not having anything to do after, he agreed. For he could still kill the merchant no matter what, so why should it matter if he hears the old man's story.

"Sure, tell me this story."

And so the old man began.

** 

The sun was beginning to set once more, and the guard was getting hungry for dinner, and he did not wish to make the journey back up the tower, but he was intrigued by the story and knew if he executed the prisoner now, he would never get to hear the end. He decided to wait to execute the prisoner until tomorrow after he finished his story. 

"I am to go back to my cottage today, but I will be back tomorrow to finish the story and execute you," said the guard grumpily. And so he went back to his cottage, leaving the prisoner alive for another night. 

Author's Note:

The original story was titled "The Merchant and the Genius" and it followed a woman who was telling this story to her husband. She is to be killed by her husband the sultan, but she tells him this story each evening until it is time for him to rise for his duties on the council. He continuously lets her live because her story is never-ending, she continuously adds characters, prolonging her life through this story. Her motives begin to bleed into the story itself because what she tells a story about very clearly reflects her own situation. I changed the setting in my retelling to make it focus on a prisoner that is to be executed by a guard because I feel like it more clearly defines what the prisoner is avoiding. I also changed the setting to tell this story during the day and let the evening be the ending point in the story because I found myself wondering during the original if the man ever slept, which is clearly defined in my retelling. I also introduced the setting to the reader at the beginning of my story, whereas the original version jumps right into the story itself and only introduces the storyteller halfway through when the husband is going to work and he has to let her live another day. However, I did not change much about the story being told to the husband in my retelling. Some of the details are slightly different but the characters and plot are the same. I really liked this story because of the way the storyteller's motives bleed into the story they are telling, yet they still keep getting away with it.

Bibliography:

"The Merchant and the Genius"

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).