Storytelling week 6: The Envious Neighbor

The Envious Neighbor

one point in my life, I had everything. I lived with an old couple in a nice village in a small cottage. Our cottage had a very large garden, and I was happy. And then, everything changed…

I sit and watch as my master tends to his garden. I love him and his wife more than life itself. I can’t forget when they brought me in from the cold in the dead of winter and made me a warm bed by the fire in their room. Ever since that day, I do everything I can to make them happy. Last night, I saw a man bury a box of coins under our tree. So, I alert my owner. I begin to scratch and sniff at the spot where the coins are buried. I go back over to my owner and get his attention. I pace back and forth until he finally gets up to investigate.

He digs and digs until, finally, I see him pull the box from the ground. The box was too heavy for him alone, so his wife helps him carry it inside! He is so grateful that he gives me all of the food they have in the house for dinner! I fall asleep with a full stomach in my bed by the fire.

I wake up the next day to find that the neighbor is over and he seems to be wanting to take me from my home. I growl in contest. He leaves, but he continues to come back and demand my companionship for several more days until finally, my owner hands him my leash and he leads me out the door.

I smell something by a tree next to his house, so I lead him to it. He isn't happy that it is just bones, but I do not know where any more treasure is buried. Suddenly, I turn to see him swinging a pickax at my head and everything goes dark.

Now, I watch over my owner’s home as a spirit. The neighbor lies and tells my owners that I just fell over dead. For the next three days, I am tortured to watch my beloved owners mourn my loss by weeping uncontrollably without stopping, and I know I must somehow help them.

That night, I was able to appear in my owner’s dream. I was told by spirits in the area that if he made a mortar out of the wood of the tree by his garden, good things would happen. So, I tell my master this news and encourage him to follow his heart and know that I am always with him. I also tell him I am happy so that he does not fret too much over my departure.

I watched for months as the crops were prepared. Finally, the crops are ready and my master uses the mortar to grind the rice. To my astonishment, the rice turns into gold pieces before our very eyes and they were once again happy.

The neighbor, however, soon comes when he hears the news of the magical mortar. He takes it from my master, who does not object because he is a kind man. He carries the mortar back to his house and attempts to use the mortar. However, I blessed the mortar, I was told by the other spirits, and so I also cursed it to those who had done me wrong in life. So, as he tries to make gold coins with the mortar, poisonous rotten smelling berries take place instead and the smell is so terrible that he has to run from the house. He, of course, breaks the mortar in a blind rage and goes to tell my owner that this, too, 

was an accident.

This time, I appear in my master’s dream and tell him to get the ashes of the mortar broken by our crooked neighbor, and scatter them over a procession that would soon pass close by.  I watched as he did this two days later, and the Daimio rejoiced when flowers began lining the trees in the most glamorous bloom yet. As a reward, the Daimio gave many gifts to my owner and his wife. They remained happy for the rest of their lives.

As for our neighbor, he attempted to do as my master had done and spread the ashes. However, the ashes blew into the faces of the Daimio and he was ordered to become a prisoner, where he remained for months. When he returned to the village, everyone knew him for the man he truly was and he remained miserable for the rest of his life, as he well deserved. 

Author's note: You can find the original story here: The Envious Neighbor. I didn't change many of the original details. However, I did tell the story from the point of view of the dog. I love animals, and thought this would expand my writing skills a bit because it is different than anything I have ever done. 

The picture was taken by me and is a picture of my puppy Milo.