Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Edwards lived an honorable King Edward III and his family. King Edward was known for his patriotism, strength and loyalty to his people. He was the type of leader that wanted to serve the people and wanted the best for his kingdom. As time passed by, King Edward started to age and had eight children of whom six were male. Per tradition, the oldest of his children would inherit the throne and continue his legacy. However, King Edward was known for his righteousness and wanted to grant all eight of his children the right to have a chance to inherit the throne. When the news broke, the eldest son was furious and felt belittled by his father. However, all of King Edward's children were currently working under him either in the kingdom’s castle or leading sectors of the army except the eldest one. The distress among the children worried King Edward and left him in dilemma whether to be righteous or follow the traditions. As the King was debating with the Queen daily about this topic for months, tension started to increase among the children which made the King feel like a decision had to be made. The Queen favored the oldest son to reign since the youngest four of the six were from a different wife.
That being said, the King had to set a family meeting to gather all the children and announce his decision. Before they met, the two eldest children decided to call for a meeting amongst their siblings to discuss this topic and try to come an agreement before they meet the King. The youngest child Jacob was known to be the bravest of men in the army and he had earned many honorable medals due to his vast achievements. Jacob had considered being the successor of his great father the King. When the children met, Jacob entered with an attitude and mentality that he deserved the inheritance as he had accomplished the most for the kingdom and the people.
The eldest child disagreed and wanted the throne to himself although he had not engaged in any military activity before. King Edward’s greatest fear was that his family would break apart due to greediness. That was prone to occurring because of a clash between Jacob and the eldest son.
Later that night, the whole family got together and King Edward was ready to give a speech about his decision. At the table he announced that this decision was not something that he could have decided himself because there were certain traditions that the Kingdom had to follow. That being said, he announced that the eldest son would reign and continue his legacy but could not avoid honoring Jacob for his great achievements for the Kingdom. The King advised his eldest son to take Jacob into his cabinet and keep him close to him as he believes Jacob has a lot of potential. Additionally, he also mentioned how by doing that, they would stay united and unity is strength! Although the king made the emphasis of his speech to be unity, the eldest son was unhappy about the King’s comment on Jacob as he had never seen him honor somebody in that manner before.
The whole family seemed at an agreement and Jacob was accepting of his older half-brother taking the throne and looked forward to serving his Kingdom. Months later, the King died and the whole kingdom mourned his death. The eldest son took the throne but refused to take Jacob into his cabinet. The jealousy in his mind and heart grew as the King’s last days were spent glorifying Jacob and the accomplishments he had made for the Kingdom. It became like a sickness in his mind, where he could not see beyond what he was capable of instead what Jacob has done that he has not achieved. This cancerous mentality kept on growing in his mind and his second brother was driven on the same wave. The elder siblings’ hate was overcoming the love in their heart and mind. They had refused to conduct meetings with Jacob and left him out of most activities. That started creating some tension among the family. The bond of unity that was left by the King was overtaken by the jealousy and hatred.
The thoughts of getting rid of Jacob had been lingering in their mind ever since the King’s last speech. Finally, they had a plot to overcome Jacob and get rid of him once and for all. One night the two eldest sons gathered and decided that this would be the perfect time to kill Jacob. They entered his room, and the younger of the two brothers grabbed Jacob steady as the eldest took out a knife and said, “The only thing the King said before dying was how great you are! Since he isn’t here anymore, you shouldn’t be too!” Jacob was at a loss for words as he got stabbed and died. The morning after, it was announced in the city that Jacob had been murdered but there were no signs of who had committed that murder. The rest of the siblings knew that the two eldest were plotting for the murder and decided to go to the people and overthrow the king. Since Jacob was the people’s champ, everyone stood behind his siblings to overthrow the new King and so they did! The Kingdom imprisoned the eldest son while the rest of the family agreed on the eldest sister to take the throne and become the Queen of the kingdom.
Author’s note:
The original story discusses how unity is strength. An old man before his death wanted to teach his children this moral lesson so he used a bundle of sticks to display it. He proved to them that individually they could not break the bundle of sticks. However, if they each took a stick to break, they can break it.
That resembled unity and the strength it can give. I decided to make a twist in the story to where jealousy and greediness overcome unity even if the family or group has a strong bond. Additionally, when it comes to greediness, many characters do unrighteous actions that are driven by unjustifiable motives. Due to their strength they normally can’t be called out for it by the people, but the story portrays how unity of the people can overthrow the strength of the leader. This is because leaders are created by the people and not vice versa.
The picture I chose is taken from Game of Thrones. It is a picture of Ned Stark getting executed. This picture was a shocking moment for most viewers of this show because he was accused for committing treason. The accusation, similar to the story above, was a result of jealousy and greediness by the Lannisters.
Jacobs 72. The bundle of Sticks From the Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs
