Post by Hector on Jan 20, 2020 21:30:09 GMT
One of the most memorable bed time comic stories I read in my childhood, though I remember it not as much for its quality as for the emotional impact it had on me.
In his attempt to get a decent job, Donald lies in the resume he sends, claiming that he used to be an economic adviser to Scrooge. Really? Is it that simple to lie in your resume in real life too? Because, if it is, perhaps I should consider it! Nah, just kidding. Never tell lies, kiddos! Scrooge finds out and threatens to send his nephew to jail, unless the latter does a job for him, for free of course! He must go to an exotic island that belongs to his uncle and start a pineapple plantation.
Donald has no choice but take his nephews and go there. For a while, he forgets about his uncle's demands and revels in the care of the ever cheerful natives, who are seemingly cool with feeding Donald for free indefinitely! (Talk about kind hosts!)
Scrooge is not that cool, though! Soon, Donald receives a threatening message from his uncle. Panicked, he begins doing his task.
When the natives realize Donald has cut off some of their beloved exotic trees in order to plant pineapple trees, they get outraged and show a totally different side of them.
Without even bothering waiting to hear Donald's apology, the village elders convict him to spend two minutes with a shark in the sea! Donald tries to explain that he was just taking orders from the island's owner. Soon after that, it is found out that this island does not belong to his uncle; Donald has come to the wrong island!
However, even after that, even after it has turned out that it was all a misunderstanding, the natives still want to punish Donald in the same manner! That exasperated my child self. Why couldn't they just let it go?
Donald serves his 'sentence' and is lucky enough to survive, albeit wounded.
When he returns to Duckburg, healed, he tries to force his uncle to jump in a pool where a shark is swimming, so that he can have his revenge on him. Due to an accident, it is Donald instead who ends up struggling with a shark. Again!
The story ends happily, with Donald receiving compensation money from his uncle, which will help him lead a comfortable life ever after (or until the next story, when the reset button technique will render him poor once more!), but I didn't like it.
Why was everyone (both Donald and the natives) so vindictive? A story that teaches children the 'eye for an eye' moral, which is morally right if you believe in the Bible, but not according to how I felt back then and still feel nowadays.
Rating: 6/10