Punch and Judy
Fought for a pie;
Punch gave Judy
A sad blow on the eye.
- - - -
The year 1776 was a blow for colonial Great Britain. Not only were they fighting in a revolutionary war in the Americas, but they were also dealing with plagues and unrest among their own lands. King George III was widely unpopular, and a horrible ruler of his kingdom. This trickled down to his servants, who did not enjoy working for the king much anymore. They were facing pay cuts in order to fund the war, and were treated with more malice as control began to slip out of the hands of Great Britain.
This was no different for Mr. Punch, the king's House Steward in the years of the revolution. But, unlike many servants, Mr. Punch had spunk. He had a personality suited for dishing out sarcasm when it needed to be, and that was the reason the king enjoyed his company. For once, the king found someone who he could be himself with.
However, in the shadow of the revolutionary war, money took precedence over relationships. On July 4, 1776, Mr. Punch was fired. As was custom, Mr. Punch was allowed one last meal in the servant's quarters before his departure. Upon gathering his things, Mr. Punch went to the servant's kitchen to find a delectable, blueberry pie. The pie had been prepared by Ms. Judy, the head cook for the King. Mr. Punch, in his anger, decided to cut a square piece from the center of the pie.
 |
| Blueberry Pie. Source: Wikipedia |
Ms. Judy walked in as Mr. Punch was dangling the knife over the pie. In one swift blow, Ms. Judy was able to knock Mr. Punch to the ground and wrestle the knife from his hands. The two scuffled on the floor until Mr. Punch did the unthinkable. He pulled back his fist, and gave Ms. Judy a shiner. After that he grabbed the pie and ran the whole way home. In that moment everyone learned an important lesson: never get between a man and his comfort food.
Author's note: This story is based off of the traditional nursery rhyme, Punch and Judy, and is quoted at the beginning of the post. This rhyme can be found in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897). This rhyme was one I had no prior exposure to, and proved to be fun and interesting to provide a backstory for.
Wow, what a cool transition from the Punch-and-Judy "blow in the eye" to the revolutionary "blow for colonial Great Britain" in your opening sentence! And you have taken those legendary Punch-and-Judy puppets to make them seem like real characters: Punch had spunk, ha ha. Very nice! And I absolutely LOVE the moral of the story: I don't know that it would actually come to blows, but it might be pretty dangerous to come between me and my comfort food too, ha ha. Nice! The original rhyme is connected to the Punch-and-Judy tradition, most famous as puppets — there's a great article about all that here at Wikipedia, with pictures too! It existed as a tradition in colonial times, so that works perfectly for your story: the Wikipedia article mentions that even George Washington went to a Punch-and-Judy show! :-)
ReplyDeleteDakota,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your take on this story! I loved how you included a historical aspect to the story as well. It was also unique to use comfort food as your moral. Like Professor Gibbs, it might also be dangerous for someone to come between me and my favorite comfort food. You were really able to bring life to Punch and Judy, and I enjoyed reading it. Great job!
You have a great imagination, and you are really creative. I know how I am when I'm in a bad mood and I want my comfort food. Everyone better watch out. Sounds like we both may have the same problem. The background information you gave was a nice touch. I hate history, and I rarely know those kinds of details. Well I just never care to remember them!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this story! I have never heard this nursery rhyme and you took a very entertain approach to the elaboration of the rhyme. The fact that you threw in a little historical reference was very unique. It makes the reading more realistic, as if this story could have actually happened in the 1700’s.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that I would suggest is to add dialogue. Dialogue adds a lot of character and individualizes each role. It gives us, as readers a more personal idea of what is going through their heads in the moment. I believe that if Ms. Judy and Mr. Punch would have some conversation it would have added immensely to the story.
Overall, this story was very well written and I can tell that you put a lot of effort and thought into this, but it’s just a little too formal.
Keep up the good work, I hope to read future stories you write!