Storytelling Week 14: Old Sadie

(Horse and Snake: Horses and Horse Information)

There was an old horse, Sadie, who was raised and kept by her master and his family.  She had lived with this family for eighteen years, providing them comfort and protection.  She had many jobs around the farm and was happy and content with her life.  One day she over heard her master talking to this wife.  “Honey, Sadie is getting old.  I think it is time we put her down.  Her mane has turned gray, her gait has become stiff, and her teeth have fallen out.  She is useless now and we must get rid of her.”  The wife replied, “She is part of the family.  She has protected our family and she has done a lot of work around this place.  The kids love her and would be devastated if we let her go.” The debate went on but Sadie was too sad to listen to their conversation anymore.  She galloped away to the pond to talk to her snake friend, Jake. Jake was full of wisdom and always had a plan for everything.  He would know what to do!  As she approached the pond, Jake was stretched out across a fallen tree limb soaking in the sun.  “Jake! This is urgent.  My master is planning to kill me because I am of no use to this family anymore. What should I do?”  Jake pondered for a few short moments until he perked up atop the log he was laying on.  “I have a plan,” said Jake.  “When the little children come to the pond tomorrow, I will slither up the log and wrap around their ankles.  When the children scream for their father you will run to the pond and scare me off, saving the children.”  Sadie sighed with relief.  She was so thankful for Jake and his creativeness in all situations.  With a plan in place, Sadie was able to sleep well that night.  Mid day came around and the children headed out to the pond to cool off in the water as they did every hot summer day.  When they sat on the log to take a rest, the snake slithered behind them and wrapped around their legs.  The children began to scream and cry out and their father looked up from working on the tractor.  He began to run towards the pond in fear.  On cue, Sadie galloped to the pond and rearing back on her hind legs, scared the snake off from the children.  Crying from fright, the children latched on to Sadie thanking her for saving their lives.  The father finally arrived at the pond seeing what Sadie had done, and began to thank her and give her hugs.  That night Sadie was listening to the man talk to his wife.  He was telling her the story about Sadie saving the children from the snake.  “Honey, we have to keep Sadie around.  She would do anything for our family and she will never be too old to love us and that is what is really important.”

Author's Note:  In the original story, Old Sultan, the story was about a dog and his owner saw no more use of him.  He told his wolf friend about his situation and the wolf created a plan to steal the baby of the Sultan’s master.  Sultan would save the baby in order to change the master’s mind that he was useful to his family.  The plan worked and Sultan was treated like royalty from that day on.  I made a few small changes to the story, but not very many.  I changed the characters to a horse and a snake but wanted to keep the meaning behind the story the same.  In both of the stories the animals are viewed as old and useless.  This devastates the animals and they want to do anything they can to prove to their masters they are worth keeping.  In both stories, the masters realized that the animals did not have to be useful in any other way as long as they were faithful to their family.  Also, in the original story, the wolf got mad at the dog because the wolf expected a favor in return.  This favor was to give the wolf one of the sheep from the dog’s master.  The dog, remaining true to his master, would not give the sheep to the wolf.  They had a small dispute but ended up remaining friends.

Bibliography:The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).