Storytelling for Week 7: A Day Heaven Would Never Forget

Storytelling for Week 7: A Day Heaven Would Never Forget

It was a normal day in Heaven.  Nothing excited was going on, as usual, and all of the gods and goddesses were peacefully going about their daily business. Nothing unexpected ever happened, which is why today was a day to be remembered forever.  Things may have started out typical, but they did not stay this way for long.

Things were very quiet when all of the sudden there was a huge commotion in the middle of Heaven.  Everyone, gods and goddesses alike, were all shouting incoherently for everyone to hear!  This was unsettling, considering no one ever shouted in Heaven, especially not everyone.  Heaven was a peaceful place, not a college bar.

(Gods and Goddesses in Heaven)

Everyone dropped what they were doing and ran to the middle of Heaven to see what the shouting was about. In the middle of Heaven, a hemp rope ladder flew into the air from Earth! Now, the gods and goddesses were curious creatures, and wanting to know where this strange ladder came from, they all banded together and held on to the rope, pulling it up quickly.  The rope was heavy, and after dipping their heads below the clouds they saw why.  There were many men and women climbing it furiously to escape a dragon! The gods and goddesses were caring people, and because they wanted to help these people out, they continued to pull the ladder out of danger’s way.

By the time they had pulled nearly the whole rope up, over eighty people had climbed into Heaven. The gods and goddesses were pleased with saving all of these people from the dragon, but there was still one man left to go.  The man, known as Kweku Tsin, was bravely fighting off the dragon to give the others more time to escape.  Thankfully, the gods and goddesses finally pulled Kweku Tsin up to safety before the dragon could eat him.

They asked Kweku Tsin about his story.  Kweku Tsin told him how they had all been captured by the dragon and were being held prisoners until the dragon decided to eat them.  By using his wisdom, he got all of the prisoners together and made a rope to throw into the heavens, hoping the gods and goddesses would help them escape.  Then, knowing the dragon would try to kill them before they escaped, Kweku Tsin risked his own life and fought the dragon and kept him occupied so the others could make it to safety first.

He was not only the wisest of the prisoners, but he was also the bravest.  Impressed with this, the gods and goddesses decided to reward Kweku Tsin. To reward him they made him the Sun, the source of all light.  Without Kweku Tsin the other prisoners were dim and powerless, therefore the gods and goddesses made them the stars, where they relied on Kweku Tsin for light and life for all of eternity.

Author’s Note:  This story comes from the West African Folk Tales unit, specifically the story The Moon and the Stars.  The original story was about Kweku Tsin and his tale of how exactly he and his father got captured.  The story also went into detail about how Kweku Tsin came up with the plan to escape.  It also explained the details of everything he and the prisoners did to escape.

In the original story there wasn’t much information about the gods and goddesses.  All that was written was that they were impressed with Kweku Tsin for his intelligence and bravery, so made him the sun, and his fellow prisoners the stars.  When I was reading it I wondered what it would be like for the gods and goddesses to have a random rope ladder thrown into their home, and then have eighty people climb up into Heaven. So, I wrote about the story from the perspective of being in Heaven.

Bibliography: West African Folk Tales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair (1917)

Extra Reading Diary: Folklore of Laos

Extra Reading Diary: Folklore of Laos

A Child of the Woods: Why does she hate her own people so much? I wish she would explain.  Also, I feel like feeling anger is just a part of being an adolescent.  Hormones cause interesting things.   But it’s awesome that the animals protected her!

Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops: 12 daughters who they no longer loved or desired? oh my goodness! what?!

“The wild beasts molest not those who sleep fearlessly with them.” No wonder the princess in the first story wasn’t harmed at all.

I wonder why the cannibal just cursed elephants forever instead of killing that one and stealing the 12 maidens again.  Also, what happens after that? I must know more! or maybe I’ll write my own ending.

(Indian elephant)

The Man in the Moon:   I hate the idea that the man in the moon is a whiney person.  People look up at the moon and admire it’s beauty (or at least I do) and thinking that the beautiful moon is actually a whiney, wishy-washy person is unsettling.

The Lovers’ Leap:  What a tragic and upsetting love story.  Gah, I think my heart broke a little reading that.

The Giants’ Mountain and the Temple: Wow, those people are awful.  I really like the ending quote, “If you ask aid from others, it is well to put your own heart into the work.”   I agree, if you’re going to make someone else go through the trouble of something for you, you better do all you can do as well, and not just take advantage of the situation.

Reading Diary B - West African Folk Tales

Reading Diary B: West African Folk Tales

The Moon and the Stars: Another story about famine! Why didn’t it give any explaination to where Father Anansi had been the whole time? I feel like it’s an important part of the story, even if dragons aren’t involved.  I think it’s pretty funny that the spiders are being watched by a chicken.

It’s interesting that a ladder was made AND all of the cattle were killed and skinned in the same period of time..

If the God’s were nice enough to hold the latter, couldn’t they have just saved the prisoners in the first place?
I could write a story telling about whomever is holding the rope not expecting all of the prisoners to show up

The Leopard and the Ram: How sweet! They decided to live together! This won’t go well… especially considering they both decided to build it with only themselves in mind as a tenant.

If they live together, why are they being so distrusting towards each other? You would think they would be closer friends than they are.  

This was an interesting explanation for why the Ram stays home and a leopard lives in the woods.

King Chameleon and the Animals:   I think the fact that the chameleon one using his brain is a better quality of a ruler than speed is. I believe the chameleon would have made a better ruler than the others. Poor guy.

(Chameleon, photo by Tambako)

How Mushrooms First Grew:  I could write a story about the adventures of the Highway Robber Brothers before they decided to pay off their debts.  Also, I could explain why exactly they wanted to pay off their debts.  

The bird was going to sell it’s own children to pay off the evil deeds debt? what? How does that work??

This story was interesting.  I expected the debts to be forced back on the original brothers, but that wasn’t the case.  I could write a storytelling over it and end it the way I believe it should have.

Reading Diary A - West African Folk Tales

Reading Diary A: West African Folk Tales

How We Got the Name Spider Tales: I love how clever the spider is. That story was fun to read.

How Wisdom Became Property of the Human Race:  The title reeled me in more than anything!

I like that hiding wisdom was the most severe punishment.  Valuing wisdom is something important that I think a lot of people overlook.

Why White Ants Always Harm Man’s Property:   I think I have a thing for story about ants.  Also, most of these stories are about famines.

A wolf and a leopard are friends?  Weird! I wonder if they are truly friends, or of it is just because they have a common enemy.

Ants! There’s power in numbers! Why would they help the leopard and wolf when they could have just joined the feast with the others?

I’m also wondering, because it’s an african folktale, if the fact that the ants are white is a jab at white people in general.

Okay, that story took a tragic turn! The ants got murdered! whattt?

I can’t say I blame the White Ant for wanting revenge forever.

I could write a storytelling about this story, adding more of a background and more details.  Or possibly all the ways the white ant took out revenge on people as a continuation of this story.

Why We See Ants Carrying Bundles as Big as Themselves:  More ant stories! <3

He killed the dwarf?? If Anansi is so intelligent and wise in most of his stories, wouldn’t he also possess the knowledge to know that that would have killed the dwarf??

Okay, I don’t think the reasoning in this story was actually good.  It didn’t make sense to me.

(Harvester Ant, photo by Kirsty Coghill)

Extra Reading Diary: Chinese Fairy Tales

Extra Reading Diary: Chinese Fairy Tales

Fox-Fire:

It’s cool that the farmer boy can call back people’s souls when they’re sick.  Maybe I could write a story about that some how. But I’m still mad that he stole it from the fox!

If the fox could take back the power, why would he have waited 30 years? That was polite of him, I suppose.  

(Fox)

The Talking Silver Foxes:

This was the weirdest story.  Why would the talking fox say exactly what his kryptonite was? That’s ridiculous.

The Maiden Who was Stolen Away:

He brought her all these things, but how did she shower?? Someone needs to ask the real questions.

I could write a storytelling over her thoughts and experiences on the top of the tower.  She was there for quite a while. Perhaps I could tell the Ogre’s side of the story.

The Flying Ogre:

What if the girl wasn’t actually a flying ogre, what if the man chasing her was actually the ogre in disguise? It would have been the ogre from the other story!

Yang Gui Fe:

This story was really sweet.  I love that they had secret words that they said to each other, but I wish I knew what they were! The story was sweet, but it still had a sad ending.  If he was emperor, shouldn’t he have been able o stop the people from hanging her? What awful people.

Reading Diary B: Chinese Fairy Tales

Reading Diary B: Chinese Fairy Tales

The Favorite of Fortune and a Child of Ill Luck: This story made me chuckle.  I don’t think waiting 18 years for happiness would be worth it, even if she had lived more than 8 days. 18 years is such a long time! She wasted the prime of her life waiting!  I am impressed that she stayed faithful for 18 years, though.  That is impressive.  

The Cave of the Beasts:

If the older children suspected, why wouldn’t they try and save their younger siblings?! What the heck!

What a weird ending.  How could you live happily to the end of your days with such an awful father? Seriously, he tried to kill them over goose eggs. These fairy tales are weird.

Why Dog and Cat are Enemies: I think it’s interesting that the dog is the one that came up with the plan.  Typically cats are the intelligent ones in stories and dogs are the followers.

Hahahha, the cat is awful and perfect.  I loved this story.  Cats rule, dogs drool.

(Cat Kicking Butt)

The Miserly Farmer:

I’m curious as to what eating a pear with “gusto” looks like…

The whole crowd laughed? That’s rude. :(

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Extra Reading Diary: Ryder's Panchatantra

Extra Reading Diary: Ryder's Panchatantra

(Stories from the Panchatantra)

Introduction:

I love that the king actually cares about intelligence.  Far too often it seems like the main characters in stories are more concerned with bravery or bron versus intelligence.

I want to go to a six month program that makes me one of the most intelligent people on Earth. So jealous. Where can I find and memorize those five books?

Numskull and the Rabbit:
I love that the lion was defeated by his own reflection.

The Plover Who Fought the Ocean:

The poor turtle… I think it’s interesting that not only did he fall to his death, but he got eaten as well.  for extra effect I assume.

Forethought, Ready-wit, and Fatalist:

While reading this I couldn’t help but think of the scene in Finding Nemo where they get caught in the net.

The bird is almost as dumb as Numbskull if he thinks he can fight the ocean.  Also, if the girl bird was so sure her eggs would get eashed away, then why did she put them there anyways? I feel like they could have test trialed with pebbles or something.  

The Duel Between the Elephant and the Sparrow:

This story kind of reminded me of how bad the mental health system is in the world.  The elephant had spring fever, so is it really his fault that he killed the babies?  It was on accident after all, and he couldn’t have changed his spring fever even if he had wanted to. It’s sad, and I believe the elephant was misunderstood.

The Lion and the Ram:

Oh my goodness.  I can’t believe they got the eggs back from the ocean.  Well then, maybe I’m worse than Numbskull for not believing it could happen in a work of fiction!

Reading Diary B: Tales of a Parrot

Reading Diary B: Tales of a Parrot

(Parrot)

Of a King and His Sons:  I like how the wives of the snake and frog have to tell their men to go show gratitude for what the prince did for them.  Also, how big of a piece of flesh did the prince have to give up to substitute a frog? That seems kind of ridiculous.  I don’t think he would actually be able to survive that without getting an infection or something.  What a strange story.

The Merchant’s Daughter:  Oh my goodness! This is one of the stories from Twenty-Two Goblins! That’s awesome! Except it doesn’t have the part where she was married to one of the other men in the King’s service. Also, the reasoning for how the King died is different as well.  Still, it’s really cool that the two met up!

The Nobleman Who Concealed a Snake in His Sleeve: “It is not right to do good to every person.” I don’t know how I feel about this quote.  It’s an interesting one, for sure.

A King Falls in Love and the End of Khojisteh:  Even if it had worked out, bringing the wife’s son into her palace isn’t the best idea.  It would be ridiculously hard to pretend that the boy wasn’t her son.  That’s awesome that the king wasn’t upset with her and actually embraced the boy.  Why would she be ashamed if she had had the boy from her previous marriage? Shouldn’t the king have already known that?

I hate that there isn’t much detail in the ending.  The husband killed Khojisteh.  You would think that the ending would deserve a little more details.

Reading Diary A: Tales of a Parrot

Reading Diary A: Tales of a Parrot

(Khojisteh and the Parrot)

Khojisteh and the Parrot: I think it’s kind of ridiculous how fast Khojisteh fell in love with another man while her husband, someone who she had loved strongly, was away.  Her husband did nothing wrong to her, he just left for business.  That sucks for him.  Also, oh my goodness is she violent.  She killed the bird like it was nothing.  How terrifying.

The Goldsmith, the Carpenter, the Taylor, and the Hermit:  It’s smart of the parrot to try and keep the wife there with stories.  However, how long do these stories last to keep her all night? goodness.  

I love that his stories have lessons overall.  The parrot seems smart enough to be able to escape and find a new home.  I’m pretty sure that’s what I would do.

The Old Lion and the Cat:

The mice are very brave to pick food out of a lion’s teeth, even if he is old and decrepit.

I love that the cat doesn’t kill the mice, that way her job is always necessary to the lion.  Cats are awesome and obviously intelligent.  (Cats rule, dogs drool.)

Dang, the cat should have told the kitten to not kill the mice.  I think I’m going to write my storytelling over this!

Besheer and a Woman Named Chunder:   This woman is not bright.

Chunder is an awesome name.  I think I’m going to name my next cat Chunder.

I like the stories, but it’s getting kind of repetitive. All of the stories the parrot tells are practically the same story with the same lesson, but in a slightly different way.

Extra Reading Diary: Turkish Fairy Tales

Extra Reading Diary: Turkish Fairy Tales

Fear:  I think it’s sweet that the son went to go find fear.  Whether is was purely curiosity based, or to protect his mother, I still think it’s sweet.  

Haha, I think it is hilarious that the boy hit the corpse with a spoon, while all others are terrified of it.  Perhaps I should start carrying around a spoon so I’m not afraid, either.

This boy is insane for not feeling fear at all.  I am somewhat jealous, but I also think fear is a good feeling to have, to keep us from dangerous or peril situations.

Fear Continued:

I realized that his quest to find fear is more about his own curiosity than for his mother.

What the heck.  I think it’s funny that out of all of the things to be afraid of, the surprise of the bird coming out of his food bowl is what actually caused him to feel fear.  That was awesome.

The Wizard Dervish:   This story was kind of ridiculous.  I don’t understand what the point of telling the story was.  I wish it had more background information or details.  

The Crow-Peri: The king is a jerk! Just because he found the bird doesn’t mean he can find the ivy.  That’s kind of ridiculous.

Apparently forty is an important number.

The king is still awful.  The poor boy.

The Crow-Peri Continued: How does the crow know everything?  Also, the boy is going to steal a bird queen… that sounds kind of sketchy.

Okay, all of these stories are just weird.

(The Bird Queen and the Boy)

Storytelling for Week 4: Pearl and the Thief

Storytelling Week 4: Pearl and the Thief

There was a young merchant's daughter named Pearl.  She was gorgeous and everything any man would want in a wife.  All of the men in the village wanted to marry her, and she had recently turned of age.

“Father, please stop.  If you talk to me about this once more I will up and die from boredom.”  

Pearl had been dreading this.  She knew the moment she officially became a woman, her father would not stop trying to set her up to be married.  She didn’t want to get married.  She wasn’t interested in boys.  No matter how attractive, intelligent, brave, or clever they were, she just wasn’t interested.  Pearl would have rather died than marry anyone. Not even a god himself could interest Pearl.

Her father had finally given up hope and stopped pestering his daughter about marriage.  It broke him up inside, but more than anything he wanted his lovely daughter to be happy.

One day, Pearl was going along, minding her own business, and she felt a sharp pain from behind.  She turned around, looking for what had caused it, and saw nothing.  She turned back around and continued her walk onto the balcony.

(Woman on Balcony)

That’s when she saw him.  The most gorgeous man she had ever seen.  She fell in love with him instantly. He was covered in dirt, grime, sweat, and blood.  He was in handcuffs and being carried to the village square to be executed.  She immediately ran to her father and begged him to save the love of her life.  

The father was baffled by his daughter’s choice.  Why must she love a thief out of all of the men in the country?!  He was confused, but he was also desperate to make his daughter happy, so he went to the king and begged for the thief to be released so his daughter could be with her true love.

The king denied the desperate merchant’s claim, and the thief was executed. Pearl was so distraught. Answering Pearl’s prayers, a goddess came to her and brought the thief back as a reformed man, so he and Pearl could live together happily ever after.

Pearl had always thought that the goddess was just being nice because she felt so badly for Pearl.  What she didn’t know was that the goddess had only brought the thief back because she was on Cupid-duty.  

Cupid, the god of love, thought it was funny to make the wrong people fall in love.  He was a bored and evil god, so he ran around the country side, hitting mismatched couples with his arrows left and right.  The goddess that saved Pearl from a life full of unhappiness had only done so because Cupid’s mother, Venus, had demanded that she cover her son’s tracks so that the other gods and goddesses wouldn’t find out.  Pearl’s story, unfortunately for the goddess, wasn’t an uncommon one. The goddess continued her duty of fixing Cupid's pranks, and Pearl lived happily ever after with her husband, the former thief.

Author’s Note:  I wrote this story based off of The Girl and the Thief from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit. The original story was very similar to my own, but Cupid didn’t play a role.  The story never gave an explanation for why the girl fell in love with the thief, only that it was love at first sight. I was trying to think of all of the reasons the girl would have fallen in love at first sight with a dirty thief. To me the only thing that made sense would have been if Cupid had done it. The couple is such an odd combination that I find it hard to believe that she just fell in love with some random thief on her own. I decided to give an explanation of my own with Cupid being the instigator. I blended in a little bit about Cupid from what I read last week, because I thought it was fitting. The original story had almost the same ending, but the goddess that saved the thief and fixed Cupid's mistakes was actually the god, Shiva. Instead the original god brought the thief back to life because he felt so badly for Pearl's heartache.

Bibliography:

The Girl and the Thief from the book Twenty-Two Goblins.

Translated by Arthur Ryder (1917)