This post is by Doris McCraw
As a child Paul Harvey‘s radio show “The Rest of the Story” fascinated me. Mr. Harvey would tell a story with pieces of information that most people had forgotten or never knew.
Tonight I chanced to find the rest of the story. While waiting for the murder mystery show I was in to finish ( I died at the end of the scenes while the suspects had to stay to be questioned) I found a book of German Stories published in 1898.
Now I can hear you ask, what does that have to do with Paul Harvey and his radio program? I counter with the question, how many know the full story of William Tell? Yes, that William Tell of arrow and apple fame. The “William Tell Overture” became part of “The Lone Ranger” theme song along with “The Charge of the Light Brigade“.
Paul Harvey, 2005 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
But back to the William Tell story. Yes he was to have shot the apple off the head of his six year old son. Do you know why the incident even happen? He had failed to bow to the hat of the king. As punishment he had to complete the feat we now remember him for. What you may not know is he had two arrows and when the king asked what he had the second arrow for he said “if I had killed my son, then I would not have missed when I shot this arrow through your heart.” You can imagine how the king felt about that. He then ordered him bound and taken to the dungeon at the castle. That is not even the rest of the story. There is more.
For many of us, myself included, we stop short of finishing the story. When developing a character we skim the surface of their lives and for some reason stop short of the true story. Much like the legend of William Tell the whole story is so much more. The layers and moral are that much stronger. The story becomes more than just one incident and the character deeper, more interesting.
Now hopefully you are asking, what is the rest of Tell’s story. Here it is. As they are crossing the lake to the castle a storm comes up and everyone, including the king are unable to navigate to safety. They release Tell from his bonds to save their lives. He leads the ship to a rock and at the last moment he jumps ship. The king and his men manage to arrive on shore safely. Then to finish the story Tell follows the king, who was an evil man, and uses the arrow to pierce the king’s heart.
So as Paul Harvey would say, you now know ” the rest of the story.”
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