Week 7 Story: The Grass-Cleaving Sword
Portfolio Entry: https://sites.google.com/view/taletwists/grass-cleaving
A vast field of grass and weeds sprawled Yamamoto's front lawn. A suburban jungle grew completely unhindered in front of his house and the time for apathy was no more. With a sigh, Yamamoto resigned himself to spending the morning bringing order to his chaotic lawn.
Opening the door to his garage, Yamamoto found his way to his home improvement tools. There lay a standard pull cord lawnmower, the red exterior covered in dust from months of lacking any sort of use. Yamamoto took a nearby rag and wiped the dust off of the handle, coughing as the particles entered his lungs.
Nothing.
He tried again and again, made sure the gas was full and the cord wasn't stuck, but to no avail. Yamamoto was defeated. The grass would continue to grow, and he was helpless to oppose it.
As Yamamoto dejectedly dragged the lawnmower back to its home in the corner of the garage, he noticed a glimmer out of the corner of his eye. There, perched upon nothing but air, floated a mighty sword. He was shocked, as he never owned a sword nor knew how to even use one! Yet here was such a fine piece of craftsmanship, somehow magically levitating in his garage. There could only be one purpose for his fateful meeting with the blade.
Grasping the handle of the sword, Yamamoto took the sword from its perch and brought it outside. He once again stood face to face with the scraggly, weed-infested lawn. He widened his feet, loaded up the sword behind him like a baseball bat, and swung perpendicular to the ground with all his might.
In one fell swoop, the sword sliced through grass, weeds, roots, and anything in its way to level the whole lawn. Leaving everything else unscathed, the lawn was reduced to a perfect one-inch tall layer of grass, with any unwanted growths completely eradicated.
Yamamoto was shocked, but before he could completely appreciate the sword's work, it vanished from his hand into thin ait. He grasped for it all around him and searched his whole property, but could not find the blade. So many questions ran through his mind, as was to be expected of a magical sword. However, after some thinking, Yamamoto decided to just accept it and appreciate the job well-done.
Author's Note:
When reading about The Labor's of Yamamoto in the Japanese Mythology unit, I just couldn't get out of my head the strange name of his sword. His sword is one of the 3 Imperial Regalia, a very powerful and important item in Japanese mythology. However, the name is the Sacred Grass-Cleaving Sword. My first thought was that it must be great at mowing lawns, and that was the inspiration for this story!
Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917)
The Grass-Cleaning Sword
A vast field of grass and weeds sprawled Yamamoto's front lawn. A suburban jungle grew completely unhindered in front of his house and the time for apathy was no more. With a sigh, Yamamoto resigned himself to spending the morning bringing order to his chaotic lawn.
Opening the door to his garage, Yamamoto found his way to his home improvement tools. There lay a standard pull cord lawnmower, the red exterior covered in dust from months of lacking any sort of use. Yamamoto took a nearby rag and wiped the dust off of the handle, coughing as the particles entered his lungs.
Yamamoto's lawnmower. Source: Wikimedia
Returning to the daunting task before him, Yamamoto made up his mind that there was no going back. He allowed the lawn to grow unkempt for this long, so it was his job to eliminate it. Bending down, Yamamoto gripped the handle of the pull cord tights, braced his core, legs, and back, and with a mighty explosion pulled back on the cord to start the engine.Nothing.
He tried again and again, made sure the gas was full and the cord wasn't stuck, but to no avail. Yamamoto was defeated. The grass would continue to grow, and he was helpless to oppose it.
As Yamamoto dejectedly dragged the lawnmower back to its home in the corner of the garage, he noticed a glimmer out of the corner of his eye. There, perched upon nothing but air, floated a mighty sword. He was shocked, as he never owned a sword nor knew how to even use one! Yet here was such a fine piece of craftsmanship, somehow magically levitating in his garage. There could only be one purpose for his fateful meeting with the blade.
Grasping the handle of the sword, Yamamoto took the sword from its perch and brought it outside. He once again stood face to face with the scraggly, weed-infested lawn. He widened his feet, loaded up the sword behind him like a baseball bat, and swung perpendicular to the ground with all his might.
In one fell swoop, the sword sliced through grass, weeds, roots, and anything in its way to level the whole lawn. Leaving everything else unscathed, the lawn was reduced to a perfect one-inch tall layer of grass, with any unwanted growths completely eradicated.
Yamamoto was shocked, but before he could completely appreciate the sword's work, it vanished from his hand into thin ait. He grasped for it all around him and searched his whole property, but could not find the blade. So many questions ran through his mind, as was to be expected of a magical sword. However, after some thinking, Yamamoto decided to just accept it and appreciate the job well-done.
Author's Note:
When reading about The Labor's of Yamamoto in the Japanese Mythology unit, I just couldn't get out of my head the strange name of his sword. His sword is one of the 3 Imperial Regalia, a very powerful and important item in Japanese mythology. However, the name is the Sacred Grass-Cleaving Sword. My first thought was that it must be great at mowing lawns, and that was the inspiration for this story!
Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917)
The Grass-Cleaning Sword
Hi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteGreat story that you have here! It was so simple yet I was intrigued about what would happen. I think it is amazing how by just having one thought, you wrote a whole story. This just shows how amazing mythology is and how this class has taught me that one little thought can lead to a whole project. When I brainstorm for my stories I try to think about small stuff and how I make it something big. Great job tho I enjoyed the read on this. At the beginning I was trying to figure out how working a lawn mower would have anything to do with mythology but you tied it all together.
Hi Andrew! I had no idea where this was going to go at the beginning, but I was so intrigued by the concept of Yamamoto trying to use a lawnmower. It was simple yet effective. This was incredibly entertaining! I’m excited to check out your portfolio now! I’m definitely excited to see what other stories you come up with. Nice work!
ReplyDelete