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likethestarsatnight · 3 days ago

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Asclepius and the Flea

Original children's fable written by me :3!

Hear me Muses as I tell the tale of a noble house, awakened by the chariot of Helios, dragging the sun above the earth. A family of 4 who got up from their beds to greet the waking sun. This family was very fortunate. Throughout their lives, they never had to deal with hunger nor poverty. They were rich in both wealth and crops, which they worked very hard for, but they never accounted to be rich in their health until one day when an old man rapped upon their house's door.

The head of the house, the father of the family, opened the door and was shocked at the sight of the sickly elder who hacked and coughed before he could speak his first words to Father. “Oh help me, good sir, I am on my way to the next village over but I am so thirsty and so easily do I get tired. Please help Father. May you be a good man, may I have some water?”

With a clap of his hands, Father called for the servants to give the old man a cup of water. The old man thanked Father and Father shook his hand. “Elder, please tell me, where do you go at this hour?”

“The next village, a mile from here.” Replied the old man, “That town holds a doctor and I am very ill. This town holds no doctor, there is nothing for me here but my will.”

“A doctor?” Father laughed. “What does a doctor have that I do not give you? Do I not spoil my villagers with money and land? Do people not feed from my hand?”

“Medicine, Father, medicine is what I need.” The old man tried to explain, but his words fell on deaf ears because Father did not care.

“Medicine! How silly! Medicine is a scam, a ruse! We men are strong enough without it. Go back to your home, Elder, go back to your bed. Or stay with us tonight and I'll make sure that you're fed.”

The old man frowned, “Father, how can you say that? Medicine is a gift brought by the son of Apollo, Asclepius. He brought this gift to help us.”

Father shook his head and shooed the old man away. “I care nothing for the work of Asclepius. Go now, Elder. Leave this village if you must. But if you return, don't bring your fancy medicine, for that I do not trust.”

“Have it your way.” Scoffed the Elder, “But do not be surprised when every villager leaves this old fashioned place for the next town. Never again will I come back around!”

Ignoring the old man's warnings, Father shut the door. Mother, who had listened to the conversation, laughed at the idea of the villagers leaving. “The villagers would never leave, they rely on us too much. They trust that we'll take care of them, not fall for lies like medicine and such.”

Father agreed. As well as their little boy, as innocent and little as he was, did not understand how to think beyond his fathers words. So that night, when Helios brought the sun back down into the earth, they went to bed with peaceful minds having already forgotten the old man's words. But to their great surprise, when they woke up the next morning, the village was desolate and silent. Everyone seemed to have disappeared, including their servants. On their door was nailed a notice that explained to the noble house how the villagers needed a doctor and left for the next town.

Still in disbelief, they walked around the entire village calling for the baker, the blacksmith, the farmers, and neighbors. But all that was left were their empty houses. The little boy wept, not understanding why his friends left him. The dog howled, wondering where his mate had wandered. But Father and Mother were enraged.

“My village is gone!” Father fumed, “There is only one man to blame and that is Asclepius, he who brought scamming doctors and took my villagers away! How dare he bring earth such foul play!”

“May Asclepius never be praised in this village again!” Mother shouted. “All praise of him would be in vain!”

Well, high above the sky in Olympus, Apollo heard their shouts. Angered by the blame they put on his own godly son, he thought of a plan that would help the family see the weight of their words.

“This family has never fallen ill before, so how could they understand their villagers?” Thought the great healing god, “And to think they have a child that they would not give medicine to if he were ever to fall ill. They must see why my son brought his gifts to men. They will take back their words then.”

Apollo went down to earth and stood in the middle of a field that is home to tall grass and rats. There he took soil in his hands. With a tight squeeze, he compacted the dirt until the dirt became tiny. He then breathed life into the dirt and created a flea. HIGH did the little creature jump away from Apollo. And jumped it did, until it found a rat in the tall grass to feast upon.

Apollo picked up the rat who now housed the flea in his fur. “Go now, my little pests.” he commanded, “Keep north and in the first village you see, you will find a family or four waiting for you. Go to the door of their house and allow the flea to jump off of you.”

Apollo sat the rat back on the ground and the rat scurried off. It walked upon a trail that led north away from the tall grass. In no time, it found the village. The rat tiptoed around the houses and hopped up on window seals to peak into windows. The rat did this until it got to the largest house. There the rat could hear the family, still cursing Asclepius's name.

“Oh flea!” Whined the rat,

“Feast upon my blood no more,

Do not bring me to Hades' door!

May Apollo's arrows get rid of you

For you, I am through!”

HIGH did the flea jump away from the rat, with his belly full of blood. It crawled under the noble house's door and found a large dog sleeping on the entrance rug. It jumped onto the dog and quickly latched on. Awakened by the sharp pain, the dog yelped and ran around the house toppling over vases and stools.

“Oh flea!” howled the dog,

“Feast upon my blood no more,

Do not bring me to Hades' door!

May Apollo's arrows get rid of you

For you, I am through!”

But the flea laughed, “Oh Dog!”

“Feast upon your blood I shall,

Sickness I bring, my pal!

It is Apollo who brought me here

And here I will bring fear!

The dog scrambled across the house until it bumped into the little boy. The boy bent down and scolded his dog. “Puppy, why must you run around the house? Don't you know that Mother and Father will be angry that you broke their lovely vases? Do you wish to see their angry faces?”

“Oh Boy, I am sorry! But a flea jumped upon me and I panicked. Now I feel so ill. Oh I hope a flea cannot kill!” Whined the dog.

“Nonsense. A flea cannot hurt us.” Reassured the little boy.

Little did the boy know that HIGH did the flea jump as he spoke. Crawling onto the boy's fatty arm, the flea latched on. Surprised at the sharp pain the boy cried and ran through the house.

“Oh flea!” bawled the boy,

“Feast upon my blood no more,

Do not bring me to Hades' door!

May Apollo's arrows get rid of you

For you, I am through!”

But the flea laughed, “Oh Boy!”

“Feast upon your blood I shall,

Sickness I bring, my pal!

It is Apollo who brought me here

And here I will bring fear!”

The boy ran through the house until he bumped into his mother, where he latched onto her shirt and sobbed. “Little boy, why do you run and scream throughout the house? Must you wet my pretty blouse?”

The little boy continued to cry, “Oh Mother, I am sorry! But from the dog, a flea jumped onto me. Will it kill me mother? So soon is my life over?”

“Nonsense. A flea cannot hurt us.” Reassured Mother.

Little did Mother know that HIGH did the flea jump as she spoke. Crawling down onto Mother's legs, the flea latched on. Shocked at the sharp pain, Mother yelped and ran through the house.

“Oh flea!” yelled Mother,

“Feast upon my blood no more,

Do not bring me to Hades' door!

May Apollo's arrows get rid of you

For you, I am through!”

But the flea laughed, “Oh Mother!”

“Feast upon your blood I shall,

Sickness I bring, my pal!

It is Apollo who brought me here

And here I will bring fear!”

Mother ran through the house until she bumped into her husband, where she held onto his arm. “Mother, why do you run into my arm? What has set off your alarm?”

“Oh Father, I am sorry! But from our boy, a flea jumped onto me. Will it truly kill me? Could this be fixed by Apollo with a plea?”

“Nonsense. A flea cannot hurt us.” Reassured Father.

Little did Mother know that HIGH did the flea jump as she spoke. Crawling down onto Father's legs, the flea latched on. Jumping at the sharp pain, Father screamed and ran through the house.

“Oh flea!” shouted Father,

“Feast upon my blood no more,

Do not bring me to Hades' door!

May Apollo's arrows get rid of you

For you, I am through!”

But the flea laughed, “Oh Father!”

“Feast upon your blood I shall,

Sickness I bring, my pal!

It is Apollo who brought me here

And here I have now brought fear!”

Father ran out the house's door and fell to his knees outside. HIGH did the flea jump away from the father and hopped away from the village. The flea knew that even when he was gone, his presence would still be felt for in a few days the family fell deathly ill. They're fingers turned as black as night and red, painful sores covered their body. They hacked day and night until finally they could not take it anymore.

“Oh Apollo!” Cried Mother and Father outside of their home, “Please hear our prayer! Rid us of this horrible disease, we beg you! If not us then heal our child! Do not punish our child for the offenses we have committed against you and your son! We are truly sorry, great healing one!”

Well, high above the sky in Olympus, Apollo heard their cries. Quickly, he went down to earth and, shining bright in front of the family, spoke. “Tell me, Mother and Father, how can I heal you if you reject the medicine my son has made to heal you. Why should I exhaust my powers to people that reject them entirely? My son and I had worked together to give these gifts you scoffed at and kept away from your villagers, but now you tell me you want to be healed? Are you wishing to be healed or do you wish for a magic forcefield?”

“Oh great Apollo, we are very sorry. We did not understand the importance of such a gift. We had never experienced such sickness before. I thought tales of misfortune were simply rumors. Please give us this medicine and much more so our villagers can be healthy as well. I pray that with medicine, every human on earth can be swell.”

From behind Apollo, Asclepius emerged. In his hand he held a thin needle. He went up to the family and pricked each member of the family with it. It hurt like the fleas bite, but the effects were much different. The family gasped in awe as they watched their fingers regain their original color and all the sores on their body disappear.

“This is medicine.” Explained Asclepius, “It can come in the form of a needle, a liquid, or a solid, but the effects are largely the same when it comes to illness. Each will help cure you and your villagers of all sorts of ailments.”

Then suddenly, as Asclepius spoke the flea returned. HIGH did the flea jump, aiming for the chest of Apollo's godly son, but he quickly caught it in his hand. When he released it, it appeared that the flea had turned into a woman dressed in red and white robes. “And this woman here will be your doctor.” Asclepius continued.

“She will be the one who will give out this medicine and make more,

So do not worry about going to hades door,

My fathers arrows will strike this sickness down,

Happy shall be this town!”

This is my first time writing something specifically for children so it's probably really corny but oh well 😛 Also don't steal and claim as own work👍!

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