Week 5 Story: The Tale of Professor Emeritus
Once upon a time, there was a great professor who was revered by all students and faculty. He was known as Professor Emeritus, the very best in his field and respected by all. In order to pass on his many years of wisdom, he took on a professorship at a prestigious university.
At this university, he hired several graduate students to aid him in renovating his office to house his many papers and exams for his classes. However, one of his graduate students, cunning as he was, deliberately left a few bricks without plaster behind the great bookcase in the office.
It chanced that when the professor had settled into his new office and filled it with his many papers and exams, the graduate student who had left a few bricks without plaster in the wall was set to graduate. So, he told of his doing to two younger students, both of whom were still in their undergraduate studies.
When the graduate student had since graduated from the university, the two younger students plotted to exploit the professor's office secret. So, they snuck into the building late one night, removing the bricks without plaster, pushing the heavy bookcase out of the way, and taking some of the next exam's materials. They left the office, putting everything back as it was, and escaped in the night.
The next morning, the professor noticed many papers missing from his office. He set security cameras outside his locked door; yet, the two students still came and plundered his office. The professor was truly puzzled and angered.
However, the professor was apt to his ingenuity. Utilizing the research of one of his graduate students, he devised a contraption to trap the would-be robber. The following night, the students came back, hoping for more spoils from their exploits. They removed the bricks and pushed the bookcase out of the way, as was their typical routine by this point.
One of the students entered the dark office first, only to be trapped in a giant net, suspended high above the office floor. The student, fearing his doom, called out to the other student. Rushing in, the other student saw the fate of his fellow colleague.
Yet, the other student was not without his wits. Pulling out his handy pocket knife, the student climbed on top of the great bookcase in the room to reach his colleague. Cutting at the net, he finally cut the net open enough for his colleague to slip through to his freedom. Together, the two slipped away in the night, grateful for their escape.
So, Professor Emeritus, thwarted by the thieves once again, sought to find the way that they have been able to gain access to his great office. He investigated all aspects of his office. The door, the windows, the ceiling were all inspected carefully for signs of meddling.
By chance, he happened upon his great bookcase, which wobbled to and fro. He spotted the hole in the wall that the two students had forgotten to replace in lieu of their hasty retreat the previous night. Immediately, Professor Emeritus had the hole patched, and the two students would never disturb him again.
Author's Note: I chose to rewrite The Tale of King Rhampsinitus from the perspective of a professor of a university. In my story, I replaced King Rhampsinitus with Professor Emeritus. I also replaced the builder with a graduate student and the builder's two sons with two undergraduate students. The original story tells of how a builder places a stone that could be removed from the outside in the king's treasure chamber. The builder falls ill upon the filling of the chamber with treasure. He tells his two sons, and they proceed to exploit their father's act and loot the king's treasure chamber. Eventually, one of them gets trapped and pleads the other to behead him, else the king take his vengeance out on their family. The corpse of the brother was hung from the palace, which the other brother stole back when he tricked the guards by getting them drunk. Amazed with his ingenuity and cunningness, King Rhampsinitus eventually offers the man his daughter's hand in marriage. Though, my story deviated from the ending of The Tale of King Rhamsinitus, I think it works better with a professor as the main character. My rendition of the story illustrates how the revered professor is able to combat the cunningness of the thieves with his own ingenuity, thwarting their plans and saving his office from future plunders.
Bibliography: The Tale of King Rhampsinitus from Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald MacKenzie (1907)
At this university, he hired several graduate students to aid him in renovating his office to house his many papers and exams for his classes. However, one of his graduate students, cunning as he was, deliberately left a few bricks without plaster behind the great bookcase in the office.
It chanced that when the professor had settled into his new office and filled it with his many papers and exams, the graduate student who had left a few bricks without plaster in the wall was set to graduate. So, he told of his doing to two younger students, both of whom were still in their undergraduate studies.
When the graduate student had since graduated from the university, the two younger students plotted to exploit the professor's office secret. So, they snuck into the building late one night, removing the bricks without plaster, pushing the heavy bookcase out of the way, and taking some of the next exam's materials. They left the office, putting everything back as it was, and escaped in the night.
The next morning, the professor noticed many papers missing from his office. He set security cameras outside his locked door; yet, the two students still came and plundered his office. The professor was truly puzzled and angered.
However, the professor was apt to his ingenuity. Utilizing the research of one of his graduate students, he devised a contraption to trap the would-be robber. The following night, the students came back, hoping for more spoils from their exploits. They removed the bricks and pushed the bookcase out of the way, as was their typical routine by this point.
One of the students entered the dark office first, only to be trapped in a giant net, suspended high above the office floor. The student, fearing his doom, called out to the other student. Rushing in, the other student saw the fate of his fellow colleague.
Yet, the other student was not without his wits. Pulling out his handy pocket knife, the student climbed on top of the great bookcase in the room to reach his colleague. Cutting at the net, he finally cut the net open enough for his colleague to slip through to his freedom. Together, the two slipped away in the night, grateful for their escape.
So, Professor Emeritus, thwarted by the thieves once again, sought to find the way that they have been able to gain access to his great office. He investigated all aspects of his office. The door, the windows, the ceiling were all inspected carefully for signs of meddling.
By chance, he happened upon his great bookcase, which wobbled to and fro. He spotted the hole in the wall that the two students had forgotten to replace in lieu of their hasty retreat the previous night. Immediately, Professor Emeritus had the hole patched, and the two students would never disturb him again.
Albert Einstein as a Professor - Courtesy of Wikipedia
Author's Note: I chose to rewrite The Tale of King Rhampsinitus from the perspective of a professor of a university. In my story, I replaced King Rhampsinitus with Professor Emeritus. I also replaced the builder with a graduate student and the builder's two sons with two undergraduate students. The original story tells of how a builder places a stone that could be removed from the outside in the king's treasure chamber. The builder falls ill upon the filling of the chamber with treasure. He tells his two sons, and they proceed to exploit their father's act and loot the king's treasure chamber. Eventually, one of them gets trapped and pleads the other to behead him, else the king take his vengeance out on their family. The corpse of the brother was hung from the palace, which the other brother stole back when he tricked the guards by getting them drunk. Amazed with his ingenuity and cunningness, King Rhampsinitus eventually offers the man his daughter's hand in marriage. Though, my story deviated from the ending of The Tale of King Rhamsinitus, I think it works better with a professor as the main character. My rendition of the story illustrates how the revered professor is able to combat the cunningness of the thieves with his own ingenuity, thwarting their plans and saving his office from future plunders.
Bibliography: The Tale of King Rhampsinitus from Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald MacKenzie (1907)
Hey DaMythDaLegend,
ReplyDeleteThis retelling was a really creative rendition of this story! I've never read the Tale of King Rhampsinitus, but it's obvious that you put a lot of effort and creativity into this story. Your decision to do a modern retelling with professors and students was well worth it in my opinion. While the ending was slightly different from the original (as you state it) I think that it definitely makes the most sense in the context of the story. Perhaps the students could have been caught and punished, but the rewarding of ingenuity and sacrifice of one student would have been pretty difficult to do in a modern setting. Nice story!
Hi Jackie!
ReplyDeleteI've never read this story but after reading the author's note, I enjoy the direction you went with using a professor as well. It's very relatable as we are in college and it's totally plausible. Changing the ending was a good idea, as retelling the entire story with just different characters is less genuine. Also, interesting choice in name!
Hello Jackie,
ReplyDeleteI would like to start off by saying that you did a great job with this story. I have not had a chance to read the original story but after reading your retelling it seems like a very interesting story. I also like how you changed the ending back to the original story which made the story better in my opinion.