Tech Tip: Including Images in a Google Sites Page

This week's tech tip of including an image in a Google Sites page was fairly difficult for me! It took several tries for me to add the image in its own box, rather than trying to add it to the header, which threw everything off. I finally added the image by uploading it from a picture saved on my computer and added the image information below the introduction so that it wouldn't alter the aesthetic too much. I liked that I could size the image and it would show me where it was evenly spaced, but I did not like that I couldn't tell what size it would turn out to be until I published it and viewed the page later. Overall, it was not too bad figuring it out!

Week 5 Storytelling: The Snake, the Nobleman, and His Horse

[The scene is set in an open field with a nobleman who is hunting with his favorite companion, his horse. He heard several strange noises, something moving in the tall grass, and immediately reached for his arrows. His horse neighed as he whirled around to see a frightened snake hurrying towards him. Alarmed, the nobleman jumped back from the snake.]

(The nobleman and his horse hunting) 

SNAKE

Please, oh my lord, allow me to hide! An enemy with a stick is pursuing me! He wants to kill me!

NOBLEMAN

Oh yes, kind friend, conceal yourself in my shirt sleeve. No enemy will reach you there, for I will protect you!

[Just then, a devious looking man holding a sharp stick ran towards the nobleman and his horse. The nobleman double-checked his sleeve to make sure the snake was still hidden.]

MAN

You haven't by any chance seen a sneaky snake slithering around here, have you? I have been searching everywhere for him because he bit my dog and the poison killed him!

NOBLEMAN

No, sir, I have not seen a snake around here and I cannot be of assistance to you! I wish you all the best! 

[The nobleman's horse stamped its hoof at hearing the nobleman's false words, for the horse did not trust the snake, but he quickly placed a hand on the horse's back to calm it. The man was not quite convinced and searched around the field anyway, but alas, could not see the snake hidden in the sleeve. The man then went his own way in search of the snake elsewhere and the nobleman sighed with relief, letting the snake out of his sleeve.]

NOBLEMAN

Your enemy has gone and you should also be on your way, kind friend.

SNAKE

I have deceived you! You are quite ignorant to believe that a snake could be your kind friend, for you see, I have already bitten you and poisoned you.

[The nobleman suddenly felt a sharp pain and he glanced down at his right forearm to see that the snake had indeed bitten him, though he was just now beginning to feel the effects. His bite wounds began to leak blood and poison and the nobleman fell to his knees in agony.]

(The evil snake after biting the nobleman)

NOBLEMAN

How could you do this to me? I helped you and hid you from your enemy, you fiend!

SNAKE

Ah, but it is as they say, 'it is not right to do good to every person'. So when I smelled your human scent and had the urge to bite you, I did! 

[The nobleman shook his head in denial and pain as the snake chuckled to himself, watching the nobleman become weaker and weaker with the pain. The snake then turned to slither away but before he could leave, the angry horse came to the nobleman's defense. He leapt forward and smashed the snake's head into the ground, instantly killing it.]

NOBLEMAN

My dear horse, my sweet friend, thank you. You have avenged me and I can now die in peace knowing that I had the greatest horse that ever lived. Thank you for being my dearest companion.

[The nobleman sighed as the poison overtook his body and he took his last breath. The horse cried out in sorrow, knelt by the nobleman's side, and stayed with him through the night. When the rays of the morning sun awakened the horse, he galloped to the nearby town and urged several men he encountered on the street to follow him to the field where the nobleman's body lay. They too cried out when they saw the tragic scene and carried his corpse back into town to prepare him for a proper burial. While it was the saddest day the horse had ever experienced, he knew he had done the right thing and was glad to let his master rest in peace with.]

Author's Note:

I decided to try something creative with experimenting with a new storytelling style for this week's tale. I wanted to write it in a script style because I have not written a script since high school, but have always enjoyed doing it. I noticed that I was not able to include as much detail as I normally like to, making my story shorter than it usually is, but I was challenged in a different way of keeping the story flowing at a quicker pace. I ended up writing it as if it were a children's play, even if the content was a little dark for that. I kept the original premise of the story the same with a nobleman who hid a snake in his sleeve, but instead of the nobleman managing to kill the snake, I turned the tables and caused the nobleman to be bitten and poisoned after all. I wanted to expand on how evil and deceiving the snake was, but I did not want the snake to get away with it. So I created a bigger character in the nobleman's horse, who avenged his death by killing the snake and then warned the townsfolk of what had happened so that they would not just leave the nobleman's body in the field. He deserved a proper burial and peaceful ending, even if it was a little dark and sad. I was challenged by writing in this style, but I had a lot of fun!

 
Bibliography: Tales of a Parrot, an early 19th century English version of the Tutinameh and an adaptation of an earlier book written in Sanskrit

Reading Notes: Tales of a Parrot, Part B

Of a King and His Sons, and of a Frog and a Snake

• The prince saves a frog from a snake one day but carves a piece of his flesh for the snake, so they both return to him in the form of humans to pay him their gratitude
• Could rewrite the story from the point of view of the frog Mukhless or the snake Khaliss and explain their frustration at the prince receiving all the glory of their good deeds

The Merchant Whose Daughter Was Lost

• The merchant's daughter only wanted to marry a man who was wise or skillful, so three men fought over her, each explaining their skill
• She was kidnapped by a fairy one day and the first used his skill to identify her, the second made a wooden horse that the third could ride to the mountain, shoot the fairy, and return her

Of a Brahmin Falling in Love

•  A Brahmin and princess met one day and instantly fell in love, but knew they could not be together, so the Brahmin sought a magician who gave him a magic ball that transformed him
• He took on the shape of a woman that the princess befriended and confided in, but when he took the ball out and explained, they ran away to another country to be together
• Could rewrite the story so that the magic ball did not transform the Brahmin back so he was stuck in the body of a woman

The Son of the King of Babylon

• A prince fell in love with a princess and he vowed to sever his head if she married him, so he did, but a Brahmin saw him and was afraid of being guilted, so he cut off his head too
• When the princess found them, she put the heads back on the bodies to revive them but accidentally put the wrong heads on the wrong bodies
• Could add to the story the point of view of the Brahmin or prince at discovering they had different bodies attached to their heads and the confusion that followed

The Merchant's Daughter

• The merchant's daughter was so beautiful that he wrote to the king to marry her if he found her fitting, but his advisors worried he would neglect the country and told him not to marry her
• But one day he saw her and was shocked by her beauty, instantly falling in love, becoming sick with love, and then dying of grief that she was married to someone else

The Nobleman who Concealed a Snake in His Sleeve

• A nobleman gave refuge to a snake being chased, but it quickly turned evil and told the nobleman he had been foolish for trusting his enemy and that he would bite him 
• The nobleman tricked him into thinking another snake was coming and bashed his head
• Could change the story so that the nobleman and the snake actually become friends

 The Soldier and the Goldsmith

• A soldier thought a goldsmith was his friend and entrusted him with a bag of gold he had found, but the goldsmith stole it and buried it in the ground, though he lied and said he didn't
• The soldier asked the Cazy, who interrogated him and knew he was lying, so he gathered the secret from the goldsmith's wife, uncovered the gold, and hanged the goldsmith

Of the Merchant and the Barber

• A merchant received a vision that beating a brahmin with a stick would change him to gold, which came true, but then he tried to beat more brahmins and they bled instead
• The magistrate brought the merchant to court to ask him about this, which he explained, and then they banished the barber being a witness, but being mad as the merchant said
• Could tell the story of watching the merchant beat the first brahmin from the point of view of the barber himself

The Frog, the Bee, and the Bird

• An elephant knocked over a bird's nest of eggs so the bird, frog, and bee plotted to pluck the elephant's eyes out and lead him to a place he falls into and could not get out of

The Elk and the Ass

• The elk and ass were grazing into a garden they had sneaked into and the ass began braying and singing loudly so the gardener woke up and bound them both as prisoners

A King Falls in Love and the End of Khojisteh

• A king fell in love with a woman and took her from her former husband and son, but she sneaked her son over as a servant and the king thought he was a lover
• When he found out he was her son, the king was elated and the mother and son were reunited
• When Miemun returned, the parrot told him everything, and he had Khojisteh killed

(The evil snake in the nobleman's sleeve. Photo from Pixabay) 

Bibliography: Tales of a Parrot, an early 19th century English version of the Tutinameh and an adaptation of an earlier book written in Sanskrit

Reading Notes: Tales of a Parrot, Part A

Miemun and Khojisteh:

• Miemun bought a parrot that predicted many travelers of a caravan coming to the city and buying spikenard, so he bought it all and sold it to them himself

 Khojisteh and the Parrot:

• Khojisteh wanted to sneak out and see a prince while her husband was away and killed the second bird in anger when she was denied. The parrot knew he would die if he did not agree with her, so he piqued her interest by mentioning a story

 The Parrot of Ferukh Beg:

• The Parrot tells a story that is exactly like Khojisteh's situation in real life in which she and the Parrot are both thrust from their home, though the Parrot is believed to be dead, and he pardons the wife and reunites her with her husband
• When the Parrot in the story tells the wife to shave her head and wait 40 days, it could be fun to expand on that and create more ridiculous things that the parrot makes her do simply for laugh

The Goldsmith, the Carpenter, the Taylor... Wooden Woman

• A carpenter fashioned a wooden figurine, a goldsmith bejewelled her, the taylor sewed her clothes, and the hermit brought her to life upon which all the men fell in love with her 
• They asked the Tree of Decision who she should belong to and she was swept back up into the wood, from which she came
• Could add that the Tree of Decision was unable to divide and let her in, so she was stuck as a woman and the men had to settle the argument with someone winning

The King of Kinoje and his Daughter

• The poor dirveish loved the king's daughter and he could have her if he brought an elephant load of gold, so he asked the royroyan, who was generous enough to give it to him
• Then he was to bring the royroyan's head, but the royroyan was so generous that he offered to be dragged in with his body attached to his head. Then he was given the princess instead
• Could change it so that he did bring just his head, but the royroyan lived without his body

The Fowler, the Parrot, and her Young Ones

• The Parrot was taken from her nest by the Fowler and taken to the king to cure him of illness, but the Parrot flew away after half-curing him

The Merchant and His Wife

• The merchant was gone for six months and when he returned, he asked for a mistress to be fetched for him that turned out to be his own wife 
• Could tell this story from the point of view of the neighbor who helped them reconcile

The Old Lion and the Cat

• The lion commissioned the cat to stand watch and keep the mice away while he slept, but one day the cat's kitten killed all the mice and the lion dismissed the cat

The Commander of the Frogs and the Snake

•  The frog king, Shapoor, was banished by the other frogs and asked a snake to help him get revenge by eating them
• When all of the frogs in the well were gone, Shapoor ran away and left the snake alone waiting

Four Rich Persons Who Became Poor

• Four men walked with balls on their head and dug in the ground wherever their ball fell. 
• They found copper, then silver, then gold, but the fourth man thought there would be more and continued on only to find an iron mine.
• Could have the fourth man actually stumble upon the jewels instead of the iron and reward his patience and persistence

Besheer and a Woman Named Chunder 

• Besheer and Chunder were having an affair and her husband took her away so Besheer had to bring his friend the Arab to seek her out
• The Arab suffered a beating when he posed as Chunder to the husband while Besheer and Chunder were together, but stayed the night with Chunder's sister

(The magical parrot from Commons Wikimedia)

Bibliography: Tales of a Parrot, an early 19th century English version of the Tutinameh and an adaptation of an earlier book written in Sanskrit