Week 13 Story: Lake Crescent

Children gather round, gather around. Find a spot around the campfire. Tonight, as we sit by Lake Crescent, I want to tell you the story of how this water came to be. Listen to my story!

Once upon a time on an island off the coast of what is now known as Washington. Back then, there was no mountains. The deep blue pacific ocean surrounded this island, named Crescent, because of its moon shaped coast. On island crescent, there was a towering castle where a king ruled over the people who  lived there. The king was corrupt and selfish. He forced the people to do all his work. The poor people went hungry as they brought the king their earnings, food, and riches every evening. The king's mistress became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. The people feared what was to come. When the old king died, his son, learning everything from his father, would become the new king. 
To celebrate the birth of his new son, the king hosted a festival. Only the other corrupt rulers from other nations were invited. The people were not bothered, however, because they wouldn't have wanted to attend their ruthless leader's celebration anyways. While the festival was going on, the people were working by the water. The fish, one by one, came to the surface and whispered "revengeance." The people, luring in by the sound of the water, set sail to hopefully catch some fish. All these fish would make dampen punishment from the king. The fish continued to whisper, "revengeance, revengeance, revengeance," louder and louder. When the boats made it a mile out, the people looked around to see a mountain range, now known as the Cascade Range, surrounding them. They were now in the boats in the middle of lake crescent. Today this lake, Lake Crescent, symbolizes peace and order. The mountains pierced through the island, ending the reign of the king. The people were free. 

Lake Crescent, Wikimedia

Author's note: 
This is a retelling of the Welsh folktale, Bala Lake. The original story discusses the origin of Lake Bala, located in Wales. In a valley between mountains, there was a horrible king who ruled the people. The people disliked yet feared him. When the king has a son, he threw a party. One of the harpist, poor and working as a slave to the king was lured away from the party by a bird. When away from the party, the harpist turns around to see as lake, Lake Bala, filling the valley of where the party was.
In my story, I was inspired by Lake Crescent, located in Olympic National Park in Washington. Instead of having the water arrive, eliminating the king, I used the mountains to end his reign. I chose to do this because when looking at mountains, they look more powerful. I thought I could use the sharp edges to essentially  pierce through the ruthless ruler.

Bibliography: W.J. Thomas, Welsh Fairy Book: Bala Lake (link)

Comments

  1. Hi Shary!

    I really like how you had the voice of the narrator call the children to gather around and listen at the beginning of the story. I thought it was a nice touch. I also think the changes you made of setting the story at Lake Crescent in Washington and your use of the mountains were a really cool way to add your own touch on this folktale. I really enjoyed reading your story!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shary,
    I really like the basis of your story. I would love to find a beautiful place such a crescent lake. I also enjoyed that the people found it instead of the wealthy people that would have probably made poor use of the water anyways. I did wonder what happened with the king and his son? That part of the story seemed to drop off a bit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Shary!

    I like how you used the mountains the end the king's reign, as opposed to the water! I think that mountains are so symbolic and I agree that they have a more powerful appearance! I think that it is interesting that the fish were the ones to lure the men into the water. I think that is is ironic that the fish were chanting "revengeance." They could not have given the people a bigger hint in regards to their future. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Shary!

    I really like the image you used, the mountains do look very powerful! Your story was very clear and easy to read. I think you did a great job of retelling the welsh story to incorporate Lake Crescent. I am also really curious to know what happened to the king and his people I can imagine they would freak out after seeing what’s happened to the island! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Shary! I just wrote a story about the origins of a lake too! It was a different lake though, but I'm excited to find out how Lake Crescent was created. Oh wait! It is the same story; you just changed the name of the lake! I like how you changed the setting of the story and made the bird into a fish to match!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment