Week 12 Story: Elissa and Elena

Greed. Source: Golfian

There was once a set of twins Elissa and Elena. They lived with their mothers, as one twin belonged to one mother, and the other belonged to the second mother. This is because only one mother was able to get pregnant with the King. He loved both women beyond belief and was saddened at the fact that Arti, the first mother, could not get pregnant. So when Ambika got pregnant with twins, he asked her to share the children and she happily obliged. Elissa belonged to Ambika and Elena to Arti. The family was happy for a while, but as the girls grew up, they became competitive. Elissa and Elena had their own strengths. While Elissa was kind and caring, Elena was bold and brave.

Their competition was only greater between the two mothers. Arti became defensive. She was afraid that since she did not physically give birth to Elena that the king would not grant her the same respect as Ambika. She became ruthless and arrogant, as did Elena. They resented Ambika and Elissa, but Ambika and Elissa could not come to understand why they had such a change in heart.

A few months later, the king passed away due to a grave illness. He was bed ridden for weeks and both wives were sad to see him go. However, as soon as all the rituals were completed, Arti kicked Ambika and Elissa to the curb. She yelled, "You do not belong here! Don't come back again you wretched woman!"

Ambika and Elissa were only more confused, but packed their things and moved to a small hut in the woods. They spun wool and sold it for income. It was not of much profit, but the mother and child were happy with one another. One day, Elissa saw her mother spinning wool and noticed that she looked greatly fatigued. She told her mother, "Mom, go sit inside. You work so hard, so I will finish today's work."

Her mother looked at her with endearing eyes and allowed her daughter to care for her. She felt guilty for all that happened, but she let her take care of her just this once. As Elissa was spinning the wool, the wind picked up. It got faster and faster until it picked up the great amount of wool that she had and blew it away. She began to chase it, begging the wind to give it back to her. As she was running, a gardener asked for some assistance to pick up leaves from the ground, Elissa, as kind as she is, agreed and assisted the elderly man. As she began running again, a horse stopped her and asked for help to find his stable. She guided him back to his stable and began to run again. A cow then stopped her and told her he was starving. He asked her if she could feed him some hey. She gladly fed the cow and ran on again.

She found herself at a palace, where a woman was sitting on her chair in front of a pond. Elissa asked her, "I lost my wool. Could you tell me if I could find it here? We are very poor and need it for food."

The woman responded, "Sweet girl! Of course I will give you your wool, but first take three dips in the pool."

Elissa did as asked, and took three dips. She emerged wearing beautiful clothes and jewelry. The old woman then showed her a collection of small and large boxes. She asked her to choose the box of wool, as they all contained some but differed by size. She picked the smallest one and walked away. As she made her way home, the cow stopped her again and thanked her but giving her some calves to take home for milk. She was stopped again by the horse, and he gifted her with a pony for her to take home in return for her help. The gardener stopped her as she almost reached home and thanked her by giving her fresh plants and herbs for her and her mother to grow and use in their food. She was gifted all these things and brought them home to her mother.

Her mother was elated, and they were happy to share with Arti and Elena. They rejected their gifts and Elena attempted to do the same thinking her gifts would be better.. She ran past all who asked for help and did not stop to help them. She met with the older woman and the old woman told her to take one single dip. Elena got in the water and took more than one thinking she would get more than Elissa. When she rose from the water she was mortified by what she saw. Greed had overtaken her and her mother. This came to show that being kind-hearted and avoiding greed can lead to good karma. It is best to give to others and what you deserve will come naturally. Elena and Arti learned their lesson and lived happily with Ambika and Elissa once again.

Author's Note:

I wanted to retell the story of Sukha and Dukha but I wanted to make it a happier ending where they live together again and they learned their lesson. This is such a wonderful story in the series for children to understand that greed is not good. It emphasizes karma and shows how being selfless can help you in the end. I wanted to retell the story and emphasize this point, as it was not truly spoken of in the comic. I hope that this was a fun story! I changed the story up a bit in the beginning and who she saw while running, but I hope that it made sense!


Bibliography

"Sukha and Dukha" by Amar Chitra Katha. Literary Source.