Week 12 Story: The Gracious Titan

Authors Notes:

This story was somewhat based on the story of Beowulf, but more than anything, just kind of came to me on my own. In this story, the son of an unjust king and queen finds out how easy he has it and begins to resent the way his parents treat their kingdom. He finds a beggar and brings him back to the castle as a friend but sees how his parents react to the sight of a beggar and becomes angry with them. This story is about fairness and being understanding of other people and shows how charity and generosity can go a long way. In the story of Beowulf, Beowulf was always looked at as not being as strong as he really was or was made fun of because of how clumsy he was. This story is related because the king and the queen both find the sight of poor citizens to be appalling, until one day those same citizens whose lives had been ruined by the king and queen, show up at their door and demand the kingdom return to the people. I hope you enjoy this story and hope that you all can find a message or some kind of meaning in it to apply to your daily lives.

A long time ago, in a reality far from our understanding, lived a prince named Titan. Titan was only son of a king and queen. For most of Titan's childhood, he spent time in the royal castle where he was given everything he needed. The king and queen had hired experienced teachers, in all of the different arts, come into their castle to teach young Titan about the world. Titan had a very easy childhood that led him to believe that the world outside of the castle would cater to his every need. This was not the case though.

One day, when Titan a young teenager, he ventured outside of the castle walls and decided to spend the day exploring the large city. He ventured to an area called The Buzz. The Buzz was an area in the city where there were many restaurants and stores where normal citizens always flocked to during the day. When he arrived, he began noticing that other people were dressed in ragged clothing and some of them wore clothing that had large tears and holes in it. He wondered why this was. As he continued to walk through the plaza area, he noticed the beggars sitting outside of shops begging others for money and food. He went up to one and asked, "Why do you just sit here asking for food and money? Go into the stores and demand they cook you food and give you what money they have."

Being the only child of the king and queen, Titan would simply just ask his parents for food, money, or anything he desired, and without hesitation, they would give it to him. When Titan watched the beggar get thrown out of the store, he told the beggar to come with him.

Titan and the beggar quickly returned to the castle and were greeted by the king's guards. The guards allowed Titan to enter in but told the beggar to scram. Titan told the guards to allow him entry because he was his new friend. Now Titan had never had the ability to become friends with those his own age because he was not in the schools or other settings where they were. The concept of friends was very new to Titan. As the guards finally let the beggar enter, he was quickly overwhelmed with the sheer majesty and glory of the castle and all of its belongings. He began touching the large vases, weapons, and other expensive items in the castle. Titan took note of this and told him to take whatever he wanted. The man quickly began filling his pockets with gems and fine jewelry that he found sitting around the house.

Take back the castle credit: wikipedia

Titan then brought the man into the large dining hall as it was time for supper. As the two walked into the large room, the king and queen gasped at the site of the beggar. They quickly scolded Titan and told the man to leave. Titan responded to this by saying that the man was his new friend. After telling his parents the story about seeing the man get thrown out of a restaurant, Titan said to his parents, "Why is this man treated like this, but I can ask for anything and I get it? It's not fair for others to get this kind of treatment when I get whatever I want." The king and queen looked at him in confusion and said, "You are the son of a great king and queen who have immense power in the kingdom. You receive special treatment because you are of our blood. When you brought this man into our house, we thought you were planning on using him for target practice or as a sparring opponent, not to give him refuge and gifts. Now get this beggar out of our dining room." Titan stood up and told the man to leave. He apologized to his parents and to the man, but the man said that he shouldn't be sorry.

Over the next couple of weeks, the king and queen began to notice all of the items that had gone missing and realized that more kept disappearing every night. They told their guards to keep a close watch, but still, more antiques and jewelry would be stolen. What Titan had not told his parents was that he went out later that night after the beggar was kicked out and talked to the man. The beggar told him that at one point, he was a successful merchant, but his shop and his home were destroyed to make room for the castle’s expansion. Hearing this, Titan became more and more angry. Titan did some researching and realized that his parents had been taking advantage of the normal citizens who were required to pay the king and queen expensive taxes to, 'maintain the kingdoms peace,' when really it was just to make his parents richer. Titan told the beggar to return during the late night and even gave him a map of the castle. He instructed the man to steal everything he could get his hands on and to return it to the people in the city.

After a while, the king and queen caught onto this, but when they sent their guards out to the city to hunt the man down, the guards had realized that all their weapons had been stolen and that they had nothing to attack with. They returned to the king and queen and told them about it, and then Titan yelled loud from the front gate of the castle, "Come out and see the city you have abandoned and taken advantage of! For years you stole from these people, but now they will steal from you!" As the king and queen went to the gate to see what he was talking about, they saw the entire city lined up in front of their door, holding the weapons that once belonged in the castle. They realized that the fight was impossible to win and so they quickly ran from the castle to find refuge.

The citizens took the castle with ease and Titan found his spot on the throne as king. His parents asked him why he did it, and he responded with, "You should not steal from the people that look up to you and look to you for leadership. This should be a fair and just kingdom where everyone gets what they deserve, and you two deserve nothing."

Bibliography: Henry Pitz, The Story of Beowulf, Beowulf