Stephanie+Palmer

=﻿The Chickens From Kamal =


 * The Chickens from Kamal is set in Kamal, on the south coast of Madura. A ship leaves from the Sunda Islands, to Java, but gets attacked by pirates on the way.
 * The main characters are the Dwarf, Pirates, Cock, Hen, King Majapahit and Lord Vishnu.
 * The Chickens from Kamal is basically about a dwarf who is hiding on a ship, when the ship gets attacked by pirates. The pirates discover the Dwarf, who has his chickens with him, and they decided to put the dwarf and chickens in a big cage. They are mean to him and his chickens, so the Dwarf and his chickens get in a boat and start rowing (although the dwarf has not the slightest idea of where he is going). The wind pushed the Dwarf's boat back to shore and the pirates re-discovered him. The pirates decide to kill him and his chickens by tying them up and starving them. The sad Dwarf prayed to the god of the Hindu people, Lord Vishnu, and the pirates teased him. All of a sudden, a big storm came up out of the ocean and the ship he was on started to break up. The wooden post the dwarf and his chickens were tied onto snapped off and went into the ocean. Then the Dwarf had a dream that there was a beautiful lady who said "I am Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu. He has heard your prayer and has rescued you from a cruel death. Now, I give you one wish. Think carefully before you make it". The post floated in the ocean to Madura, near the small town of Kamal. He tells the people there about his chickens, and the headman asked if the hen could lay an egg and if he cock could crow. However, the headman doesn't understand that you cannot just make a hen lay an egg or make a cock crow. In his anger, he said, "You stupid people! I wish that all of you would turn into cocks and hens!". And on cue, they did. The Dwarf had forgotten about his wish! Luckily, a ship arrived and the captain took pity on the dwarf. He let the dwarf on the ship and took the dwarf to Java. Eventually, the dwarf made it to see King Majapahit.
 * The moral to the story is probably to be careful with what you wish for!
 * There are many differences between The Chickens From Kamal and most other stories from other countries. I think one of them is praying to Lord Vishnu, the Hindu god. Australia isn't a Hindu country and so we don't hear of these gods. Another one might be that you don't often hear of stories about people turning into chickens!
 * This story is a folktale. The definition of a folktale is a story passed around by word of mouth among commoners. I think this is appropriate for this story.

By Stephanie Palmer