There once was a king and queen that really wanted a son and at last the queen gave birth to a baby boy. Then when the king brought his son to the temple of Apollo, the priest there said that he would kill his father and have his father’s queen for his wife. Then when the king heard this, he ordered one of his servant’s to kill his son, but when the servant got where he planned to kill him, he pierced his ankles and hung him up on a tree.A shepherd came and found him and then he went to the city where he came from and gave him to the king and queen of that city. Then he grew up to be a good sports player, racing and boxing and wrestling. When he went to a temple to pray, the priestess there said that he would kill his father and take his father’s queen for his wife, just as his real father heard when he was just an infant.Then he ran away through the city, tried to escape. He saw a chariot coming. The rider on top said “Get out of the way and let me pass.” And when he would not pass the servant tried to whip him, but the prince was too fast. He grabbed the whip, struck the servant dead and also knocked the man off the chariot and his head landed on a rock and then he died. Little did the prince know that this man was his real father.Then he heard of a giant monster called the Sphinx which had the wings of an eagle, the head of a woman, and the body of a lion. Then he dared to go and try to answer its daring riddle. He solved it. Then the Sphinx went out of the city, cawing and flapping, cawing and flapping. And then he returned to the city and had a queen for his bride. Little did he know that this was his real mother, the second part of the prophecy.Then a giant plague ran through the city which he was in. He sent messengers to go to the temple, to go into the hills, and see what they wanted them to do before the plague stopped. Then when all the other people didn’t know who, there was an old blind man who knew. Then the king said it wasn’t true. Then suddenly the story of his life unraveled and the truth came crashing down on him. And then he stabbed his own eyes to blindness. Then everyone started robbing from him. All he did was stumble and beg through all the streets. Only his own daughter cared about him. He drifted away in peace.
-- narrated by First Son today (in third grade) after a reading of the myth in Classic Myths to Read Aloud
I resolve to read this post every time I despair of First Son's ability to narrate.
