The Language of Animals by Joseph Jacobs
I find this story very ironic because it is literally a retelling of the story of Joseph from the Bible in Genesis, and the author's name is Joseph as well. The author did a wonderful job making the story his own, but the parallels were too blatant not to notice.
The story begins with a son and his father. The son is sent off to school and when he comes back, he tells the father that he has learned how to interpret dogs. That's right. He can understand what dogs bark. The father was unsatisfied, so he sent his son back to school. The son came back after another year of school and told his father that he can understand frogs now too. The father was unsatisfied yet again, and he sent his son back to school. Another year passed, and the son comes back, telling the father that he can interpret birds now too. The father doesn't believe him, and asks him to tell him what the birds are saying near them. The son listens but he doesn't want to tell the father. The father pushes the son to tell him, and he claims that the birds say his parents will bow down to him with a basin of water and a towel. The father became very angry and hated the son after that moment. He hired a robber to take his son and kill him in the woods and give him the son's heart as proof. However, the robber told the son about the plan and allowed the son to run away free. The robber took back the heart of a deer and told the father that it was his son's heart.
The son ran away and stopped at a castle where he heard a bunch of dogs barking. The dogs were warning that there was going to be an attack later that night, so the son told the king of the castle, who didn't believe him. However, he put out an extra guard just in case, and truth be told, there was an attack. Since the guards were prepared, the attack was thwarted. The king thanked him with a reward, and he left with another guy from the castle.
He went to another castle where the lord's daughter was sick. The lord could not figure out why. The son listened to the frogs outside in the moat and knew what was wrong with the daughter. He told the lord that she has dropped the holy wafer from her mouth and a frog ate it. The lord didn't believe him, but they found the frog, killed it, and the wafer was there. The daughter was healed, and the lord thanked him with a reward, and he left with another guy from the castle.
The three travelers headed towards Rome, where the popes were. As they were resting, the son said that he heard the birds say that one of them was going to be the next pope. At first, the other two travelers did not believe him, but they remembered how he understood animals before, so they believed.
They got to Rome and it turns out that the pope has just died, and they were going to find his successor. People were to walk under the arch and if doves were to land upon their shoulders, they were the next pope. The son was the next pope.
He held a banquet and his family was there. He ordered the servants to give his father and mother a basin of water and a towel. He went over to confront his family, and he revealed himself to them, forgave them, and took them in to live with him.
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| A bird, perhaps the one that spoke to the son (Wikimedia) |
I find this story very ironic because it is literally a retelling of the story of Joseph from the Bible in Genesis, and the author's name is Joseph as well. The author did a wonderful job making the story his own, but the parallels were too blatant not to notice.
The story begins with a son and his father. The son is sent off to school and when he comes back, he tells the father that he has learned how to interpret dogs. That's right. He can understand what dogs bark. The father was unsatisfied, so he sent his son back to school. The son came back after another year of school and told his father that he can understand frogs now too. The father was unsatisfied yet again, and he sent his son back to school. Another year passed, and the son comes back, telling the father that he can interpret birds now too. The father doesn't believe him, and asks him to tell him what the birds are saying near them. The son listens but he doesn't want to tell the father. The father pushes the son to tell him, and he claims that the birds say his parents will bow down to him with a basin of water and a towel. The father became very angry and hated the son after that moment. He hired a robber to take his son and kill him in the woods and give him the son's heart as proof. However, the robber told the son about the plan and allowed the son to run away free. The robber took back the heart of a deer and told the father that it was his son's heart.
The son ran away and stopped at a castle where he heard a bunch of dogs barking. The dogs were warning that there was going to be an attack later that night, so the son told the king of the castle, who didn't believe him. However, he put out an extra guard just in case, and truth be told, there was an attack. Since the guards were prepared, the attack was thwarted. The king thanked him with a reward, and he left with another guy from the castle.
He went to another castle where the lord's daughter was sick. The lord could not figure out why. The son listened to the frogs outside in the moat and knew what was wrong with the daughter. He told the lord that she has dropped the holy wafer from her mouth and a frog ate it. The lord didn't believe him, but they found the frog, killed it, and the wafer was there. The daughter was healed, and the lord thanked him with a reward, and he left with another guy from the castle.
The three travelers headed towards Rome, where the popes were. As they were resting, the son said that he heard the birds say that one of them was going to be the next pope. At first, the other two travelers did not believe him, but they remembered how he understood animals before, so they believed.
They got to Rome and it turns out that the pope has just died, and they were going to find his successor. People were to walk under the arch and if doves were to land upon their shoulders, they were the next pope. The son was the next pope.
He held a banquet and his family was there. He ordered the servants to give his father and mother a basin of water and a towel. He went over to confront his family, and he revealed himself to them, forgave them, and took them in to live with him.
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