The Singing Bone
nothing remains hidden from God
Plot
There is a wild boar that lives in the woods near the village that terrorizes the land. The king gets fed up with it and decides to give the honor of marrying his daughter to whoever can slay the beast. Two brothers decide to take on the challenge. Before they entered the woods, a man gave the youngest brother a spear to kill the boar with.They enter the woods on opposite sides. The youngest brother then kills the boar and proceeds towards the village with his trophy. The oldest brother sees him, and hits him in the back of the head so he can marry the king's daughter. He buries his brother under the bridge by the river and takes the boar on his shoulders and goes back home to the village. He told the king that the boar must have ripped his brother to shreds and everyone in the village believed him. Several years later, a shepherd was moving his herd across the bridge when he seen a bone sticking out of the ground. He thought it was make a good mouth piece and when he picked it up, it started to tell the tale of how he was murdered by his brother. The shepherd then decided to take the wonderful little bone to the king. When the king picked up the bone, it once again started telling the tale. The king then realized what had happened and the murderous brother was sewn shut into a bag and thrown into the river to drown while the skeleton was laid to rest in a beautiful tomb.
Setting
The setting takes place in a little village that is surrounded by woods. The woods are occupied by a man-eating wild boar that everyone is terrified of.
Characters
Older Brother
He is the son of a poor man. He is crafty and shrewd out of pride. He is mean spirited and only cares about himself and getting what he wants. He kills his brother so he can marry the King's wife.
Younger Brother
He is the son of a poor man. He is innocent and simple from a kind heart. He kills the boar with the spear that was gifted to him. His jealous brother kills him.
The King
He rules the village that is being terrorized by the beast. He offers up his daughter as reward for killing the beast. He wants what is right and just, and makes sure people pay the consequences for their actions.
Theme
The theme of the story is "nothing remains hidden from God". In the story, the older brother kills his younger brother because of jealousy. No one knows the truth, except God, and the secret remains in the shadows for quite some time. Eventually, however, the murder is brought to light.