Week 1 Storytelling: Hercules and the Wagoner

There once was a lazy farmer who lived on top of a hill, a short ways from town.  His land was fertile, produce profitable, and this made him a wealthy man.  He had inherited his farm from his father, this had included all of the farmhands, and he never had to work the land. The gods pleasingly overlooked the farmer and had granted him not only a beautiful, but hardworking, wife.  They were inseparable, and although they worked as a team, she did anything that would consist of any kind of labour. 

  The night before he was to bring his goods to town, the god's decided to unleash a powerful rainstorm from the heavens.  Against his wife's judgement the farmer decided to make the venture anyway, and this caused a large argument. The wife proclaimed, "you have never lifted a finger or completed any task on your own, go onto town by yourself!" The farmer angrily left his home, strapping his best horses to his wagon and set off down the muddy path.  Soon the farmer's rage had cooled and his thoughts drifted to his wife's words. He wanted to show her that he could, indeed, complete a task but he also knew that her words had a wisdom behind them.  Before he could begin to fret he felt a sudden jolt, and flew from his wagon. He landed in the mud, yet quickly recovered himself, and began to immediately curse his wife and the horses.  He unmistakably forgot his initial intentions of doing work on his own, for once.

Hercules happened to be training nearby, overheard the farmer's curses, and ventured over to see what all the commotion was about.  He overheard the farmer exclaim, "I have never worked alone, why should I start now?! How am I ever going to get this wagon out of the mud ON MY OWN?!"  He observed the farmer then sit down and continue to pout.  The farmer said, "too bad the gods aren't nearby, I could just have one of them move my cart for me."  Hercules began walking towards him, and the farmer quickly caught site of him.  He immediately demanded that the demigod remove his wagon from the mud at once.  Hercules was known for his temper, and the farmer had ignited his anger at once.  He replied, "pitiful man, have you even tried to move your wagon? Put forth effort at once or I will smash it to pieces!"  Fear overcame the farmer and he entered the mud at once, behind the wheels, and began to push the wagon with all his might.  The horses caught on quickly, and began to aid the farmer in his task.  Soon, the wagon was out of the mud and the farmer, elated, turned to thank Hercules who had already disappeared.  The farmer was disgruntled that he could not thank the demigod, but his happiness over the lesson he had learned prevailed all other emotions. In all his life he always relied on the aid of others, and he was ecstatic that he had accomplished a task on his own.  He rode the remaining way to town, anticipating his return home to tell his wife of his accomplishments. 

(Hercules and the Wagoner: Wikipedia)

Author's Note:
I created this story based on Aesop's Fable "Hercules And The Wagoner," which attempts to teach a lesson to those who excessively rely on help.  I have included the complete fable below.

HERCULES AND THE WAGONER

A Farmer was driving his wagon along a miry country road after a heavy rain. The horses could hardly drag the load through the deep mud, and at last came to a standstill when one of the wheels sank to the hub in a rut.

The farmer climbed down from his seat and stood beside the wagon looking at it but without making the least effort to get it out of the rut. All he did was to curse his bad luck and call loudly on Hercules to come to his aid. Then, it is said, Hercules really did appear, saying:

"Put your shoulder to the wheel, man, and urge on your horses. Do you think you can move the wagon by simply looking at it and whining about it? Hercules will not help unless you make some effort to help yourself."

And when the farmer put his shoulder to the wheel and urged on the horses, the wagon moved very readily, and soon the Farmer was riding along in great content and with a good lesson learned.

Self help is the best help.

Heaven helps those who help themselves.

When creating my retelling I decided to keep the characters of the farmer and Hercules.  I tried to justify why the farmer did not try to solve his problem in the first place, and instead displayed what he felt was appropriate in his situation, pouting.  Since Hercules was known for his strength, and could have moved the wagon easily, I kept his character intact and exemplified his justification of lecturing the farmer as well.  The quote at the end of the fable is what caught my eye, and inspired me to rewrite it.  Learning to take care of oneself is a valuable life lesson, as we age, and I wanted to portray that the farmer was now all the more wiser. 

Bibliography:
   "Hercules and the Wagoner" by Esop, from The Esop for Children (2006). Web Source: Aespop