Mythology and Folklore

Monday, April 27, 2015

Storytelling Week 5: The Kitten’s Big Responsibility

“I’m so excited!” the kitten thought to herself.

You see, today was a big day for the kitten.

The kitten’s mom worked for a lion. Her job was to scare away the mice at night. The mice had a tendency to steal leftover food from the lion’s mouth while he was sleeping, which would disturb his sleep patterns and make him very groggy the next day. The cat kept the mice away and worked her way up to a position of power and became a very respected member in the animal community.

Tonight, however, the cat was going away for personal business and asked the kitten to take over watch. The cat would only be gone for the day, but without someone to watch the mice, things would get out of hand. Keeping the lion happy was the number one priority! The kitten was ecstatic at the chance to work the job. Not only did the kitten love scaring mice, but she also wanted to prove to her mom how great of a worker she was.

That night, while she was on watch, the kitten had a great idea!

“What if I show my mom how hardworking I am by killing the mice! Then mom’s work won’t be as hard when she comes back!”

The kitten was so proud of herself for coming up with the plan. She just knew she would be praised by her mom, and maybe even by the lion himself! With her quick kitten-like reflexes, she was the perfect candidate for this job!

The lion was snoring peacefully as the kitten got to work. She was killing mice left and right, silently creeping behind shrubs and trees, pouncing at the right moment! The mice didn’t know what hit them. They were dropping like flies! They had never known a cat to kill them, only scare them, so they weren’t fearful for their lives until it was too late. By the end of the night, there were no more live mice left.

(Kitten Eating a Mouse)

By morning, the kitten had produced a large pile dead mice for her mother to see. When her mother got there, she was appalled by what she saw. She reprimanded her kitten for killing all of the mice, for she knew she would no longer have a job. Realizing that she had never specifically told the kitten to not kill the mice, she accepted the blame.

That day, realizing the cat’s job was unnecessary now, the lion fired the cat.

The kitten felt horrible, but at least now she had more time with her mom! The cat and the kitten went on their way to find work in a new village, for they were no longer needed in this one.

Author’s Note: This story comes from the Tales of a Parrot unit, specifically the story, The Old Lion and the Cat. The original story was very similar to mine. The difference in the original version and my version is that in the original version the kitten did not have its own point of view I decided to give the kitten a voice of its own and explain her side of the situation. I really like giving a voice to characters that originally do not have one in the stories.
I have cats of my own, and though cats can be jerks sometimes, I know a lot of the times when they ruin things it’s innocent. I thought the kitten’s mess-up was innocent as well, so I wrote about it!

I also think seeing both sides of a story is really important in every day situations. I think a lot of the time when people mess up it is purely by accident or from a misunderstanding. I know I keep myself calmer when I think about this, and it's easier to let things go. Hopefully this story helps you all think about all sides of a situation, which will hopefully result in less conflict!

Bibliography: From the book, The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot by Ziya’al-Din Nakhshabi (1801)

Online Education Review

I really enjoy online classes! Sometimes I learn better on my own, so I really appreciate the opportunity to take online classes. Honestly, it depends on the subject, but online classes can definitely be more beneficial for me. There are some classes that I don’t think online courses would work for. This was a really great topic to have an online course for! I really enjoy the freedom of online classes, but it can be easy to be lazy about them. Your daily assignment system made it easier to stay on track!

(Personal photo of my mom and I! She’s the cutest thing next to my cats! Also, she knitted those socks for me!)

Gen. Ed. Review

Gen. Ed. Review

I feel like general education classes are really important! Having a well-rounded education is important to being a well-rounded individual. However, I think some of the gen ed requirements are ridiculous and aren’t very beneficial. For both of my non-western gen ed classes I took music courses that were a joke. Also, most of the gen ed classes are so easy, and you don’t really learn much. At least with my experience! I think making a WGS class as a required Gen. Ed. course would be really beneficial.

(Personal photo of my cats being adorable)

College Writing Review

My major is Pre-Occupational therapy and writing is really important for it! Honestly, I think classes like this are important for all majors. This class was actually a really fun way to learn how to become a better writer. I really appreciate how nice you were in your feedback! The amount of people I know in college who don’t know the correct use of your/you’re is ridiculous. I think a class like this would be extremely beneficial for most college students. English 1 and 2 were great for becoming better writers, but because there were only 4 main papers, there really wasn’t very much feedback on how to become a better writer. With having to write new things every week for this class, it was a much better environment to get better and more beneficial feedback!

(Personal Photo of my cat being seductive)

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Extra Reading Diary: Hans Christian Anderson

Extra Reading Diary: Hans Christian Andersen

The Princess and the Pea:

If I’ve learned anything from this story, it’s that I’m definitely not a princess. I sleep WAY too hard for that! Also, I doubt that this is a true story. There’s no way anyone would be able to feel a pea. They might as well feel the dust mites that live in mattresses! Also also, why is being that sensitive so important? Why is that seen as princess-like? It’ s an interesting concept.

(illustration by Dulac)

The Wicked Prince:

It’s interesting how some people want to hold all the power in the world. I suppose I can’t relate, so the thought seems so repulsive to me.

This was such a weird story! I like it. Defeated by a gnat, heck yes. At first I was wondering why God didn’t just kill him or defeat him early on, but losing the reputation he had wanted so badly, because of a gnat, did more damage than just killing him would have. Awesome.

The Little Match-Seller:

I had already read a storytelling revolved around this story. I like the storytelling better! This version was way more tragic. :(

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Reading Diary B: Grimm (LibriVox)

Twelve Huntsmen: Why couldn’t the man’s wife go with him? Wait, but if he already has a wife, how would he marry again? Did the dad not know he already had a wife? wut.

I love that the lion is the wise one! Why don’t they just confront the women? These are the weirdest ways to see if someone is a woman or not.

I feel like he should have kept his promise to his original wife the whole time… What a weird story.

Jordina and Jordinel: This was a weird story, but I liked it. I’m used to fairies being the good guys, so it was fun reading a story where that wasn’t the case.

Twelve Dancing Princesses: I wonder why a lot of these stories have 12s. Not only in these fairy tales, but in the other units as well. I should google it.

An invisible cloak?? What is this, Harry Potter? This is exciting!

The Turnip: Okay, I really love that this story is about a turnip.

(Illustration by Otto Ubbelohde)