Week 1 Storytelling: The World's Strongest Man

A very long time ago in a distant land across the ocean, there lived two best friends, Arnold and Hanz.  These two young boys were inseparable; they did everything together, from hunting to fishing to stealing food for each other just so they could eat. They ate the same meals, used the same bed, and even shared the same clothes together. The villagers would even say that they were two brothers born from different wombs. Where one boy would go, the other would quickly follow.

Now the boys grew up like this, with the strongest of loyalty and the best of friendships. Arnold matured into a kind and humble young man, while Hanz became known for his arrogant and competitive attitude, which on several occasions dragged Arnold and him both into many altercations. The two developed a reputation throughout the land for their physical prowess. And yet the two remained the best of friends, and throughout their many escapades together over the years, the boys grew to become exceedingly strong and resilient. So strong, in fact, that they garnered the attention of the nation’s king who was in search of a suitable partner for his beautiful daughter, Princess Hoze.

So when the day that beautiful Princess Hoze finally came to their lowly village to see her suitors, the two men who had shared everything growing up naturally imbued the same passion and desire for the princess.

“Whom in this village is the strongest, most resilient, and most powerful man,” the princess asked, “so that he might be my new prince?”

Instantly, Arnold and Hanz spoke up, “It is I!”

The two men shot a seething glance at each other, not realizing that their desire for the princess could drive them apart.

“Well then,” said Princess Hoze, “I declare we have a competition to determine who indeed is the strongest. Whomever can lift the most weight above his head shall be the champion!”

“I’ll go first!” shouted Hanz arrogantly, puffing his chest. He walked up to the bar tied with 500 bricks on both ends. He grabbed it, and giving a loud roar, hoisted the weight above his head. The crowd gave a loud applause, and the princess looked to be impressed.

“It’s my turn, then,” spoke Arnold softly. “Please double the amount of bricks on the bar so that I may prove to the beautiful princess I am truly the strongest man in the world.”

At this command, the crowd, Princess Hoze, and Hanz all gasped in amazement. “Double the weight?” they cried, “But that will certainly crush him!”

With confidence, Arnold walked up to the 2000-brick bar. He clenched the bar in his hands, and with a booming, bellowing yell, Arnold lifted the bar just barely above his head before letting the weight crash back down to the earth.

The crowd erupted with applause, and the princess seemed taken by the amazing feat. But Hanz, unrelenting in his pursuit of Princess Hoze, was determined to defeat his competition.

“Impressive brother, but I’ll surely prove I am the strongest!” Hanz said. “Double the weight!” he shouted. Despite everyone, including the princess and Arnold, objecting to the demand, Hanz had the weight doubled to 4000 bricks.

With the uneasy crowd watching, along with Arnold and Hoze, Hanz grabbed the bar. And with a thunderous yell, Hanz heaved the bar up to his shoulders. “He actually might do it!” the crowd gasped. 

Hanz lifted it just a little higher…

Then suddenly, under the enormous amount of weight, Hanz dropped the bar. And when it dropped, it fell on his neck, breaking it instantly. At this, Arnold sprinted over to his dear friend and wept, apologizing for letting his love for the princess kill his best friend.

After all of this, Princess Hoze finally spoke, saying “You are indeed the strongest man in the world. But I do not love you, Arnold. I must leave you to find a better suitor. Goodbye.”

THE END

Moral of the story: Bros before Hoze

The real moral of the story? Don’t try to do the impossible, especially for the sake of pride.

Author's Note:

The original story is one of Aesop's fable called "The Frogs and the Ox." In this story, an ox stops by a pond to drink and accidentally steps on a young frog, killing it. The other frogs who saw the incident tell the old frog what happened, describing the ox as a huge monster. The old frog then tries to puff herself up to try and get an idea of how big the ox was. The young frogs tell her that she isn't as big, to which she responds by puffing up more and more until she explodes.

The moral of the story was "Do not attempt the impossible."
When I read the fable, the frog puffing herself up gave me an image of that person who likes to work out too much and who doesn't believe that someone might be bigger than them. From there, I tried to write an entertaining story about how pride can cause people to attempt to be bigger than what they are. 

Bibliography:

"The Frogs and the Ox" by anonymous, from The Aesop for Children, with Pictures by Milo Winter (1919). Web source: Project Gutenberg

Photo Credit:
Stanislaus Zybszko (left) and Ike Robin shake hands before their 1926 fight in New Zealand. Unidentified photographer. Source: Wikipedia