In the 11th Grade in York Memorial Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Canada, the teacher one day asked her students to compile a monologue containing a dash of drama. One quirky, yet intelligent, student came up with the following:
An Oath of Vengeance
Thy heaving bosom and weeping appearance ill disguise the message that you have surely come to herald.
But nay, I shall not heed your plea, for you meddle in matters, which you know naught of.
No longer am I a blundering and unsuspecting fool,
Entrusting my life unto those who have yet to prove their mettle.
I have erred such, once,
And that ordeal has taught me well.
This very dawn marked one score years from the day whence I embarked from my lordship,
And what had been the lordship of my forefathers before me.
But I also forsook the comfort of the throne, to which I was heir,
And my betrothed, whom I was to wed upon my return.
Yet I see no resemblance between her and you,
And I speak of differences that run deeper than graying hairs and again skin.
I reminisce in my mind's eye the fateful day,
The day whence I set foot beyond the realm of my brethren and countrymen alike,
To confront dangers unknown.
And amidst the chaotic mayhem of the battle against the enemies led by the Kurd,
Wherein the enraged disciples of the Mahomet overwhelmed us.
Their fury augmented by that draught known to them as Jihad.
Defeated, we were bound like slaves and led to confines.
I at once instructed scribes to apprise my plight to my subjects so that they may hasten a ransom for my release.
At length, the delay of a response endeavoured me to inquire as to the cause.
Lo! Such dismay I have never experienced in my life!
He whom I had granted an office of stewardship over my sovereignty and possessions,
Had betrayed me and dishonoured the oath of allegiance he had so sworn to me,
Had crowned himself sovereign, and denied to all my existence in the prisons of the enemy!
Though it was neither of these blows that struck me as deep as those he dealt me when he wed the woman who was by right mine.
My captors would awake at the break of dawn to the cry of the muezzin.
In place of prayer and muezzin, my heart awoke to a vow of vengeance.
One I had sworn to execute over the graves of my sires.
Has the evildoer not marveled at the steed displayed to all my guests of the tournament?
One that befits even the tale of Pegasus?
Heed my words! I have reared it most laboriously and fed it well,
So that I may slay my mortal enemy astride its back.
Do not mistaken yourself, and think not that I do not witness the trembling of my enemy beneath his armour.
I too know, just as you have come to entreat me, that he beseeches me to forgive him.
But it is by my own design to let my animus strike terror into the heart of my foe.
There rises a lust in my heart that will not be quenched, it has possessed my mind.
Not until the moment I have drawn my blade through the blackness that lies beneath his breast shall it be quenched,
Even if you be widowed.
Nay,
The sins he has committed cannot be washed without the shed of blood!
The student's name? Arif Patel.
An Oath of Vengeance
Thy heaving bosom and weeping appearance ill disguise the message that you have surely come to herald.
But nay, I shall not heed your plea, for you meddle in matters, which you know naught of.
No longer am I a blundering and unsuspecting fool,
Entrusting my life unto those who have yet to prove their mettle.
I have erred such, once,
And that ordeal has taught me well.
This very dawn marked one score years from the day whence I embarked from my lordship,
And what had been the lordship of my forefathers before me.
But I also forsook the comfort of the throne, to which I was heir,
And my betrothed, whom I was to wed upon my return.
Yet I see no resemblance between her and you,
And I speak of differences that run deeper than graying hairs and again skin.
I reminisce in my mind's eye the fateful day,
The day whence I set foot beyond the realm of my brethren and countrymen alike,
To confront dangers unknown.
And amidst the chaotic mayhem of the battle against the enemies led by the Kurd,
Wherein the enraged disciples of the Mahomet overwhelmed us.
Their fury augmented by that draught known to them as Jihad.
Defeated, we were bound like slaves and led to confines.
I at once instructed scribes to apprise my plight to my subjects so that they may hasten a ransom for my release.
At length, the delay of a response endeavoured me to inquire as to the cause.
Lo! Such dismay I have never experienced in my life!
He whom I had granted an office of stewardship over my sovereignty and possessions,
Had betrayed me and dishonoured the oath of allegiance he had so sworn to me,
Had crowned himself sovereign, and denied to all my existence in the prisons of the enemy!
Though it was neither of these blows that struck me as deep as those he dealt me when he wed the woman who was by right mine.
My captors would awake at the break of dawn to the cry of the muezzin.
In place of prayer and muezzin, my heart awoke to a vow of vengeance.
One I had sworn to execute over the graves of my sires.
Has the evildoer not marveled at the steed displayed to all my guests of the tournament?
One that befits even the tale of Pegasus?
Heed my words! I have reared it most laboriously and fed it well,
So that I may slay my mortal enemy astride its back.
Do not mistaken yourself, and think not that I do not witness the trembling of my enemy beneath his armour.
I too know, just as you have come to entreat me, that he beseeches me to forgive him.
But it is by my own design to let my animus strike terror into the heart of my foe.
There rises a lust in my heart that will not be quenched, it has possessed my mind.
Not until the moment I have drawn my blade through the blackness that lies beneath his breast shall it be quenched,
Even if you be widowed.
Nay,
The sins he has committed cannot be washed without the shed of blood!
The student's name? Arif Patel.
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