Storytelling Week 6: An Ants Life

"Grandpa, why are you always carrying that big box on your head?" asked Timmy, the tiniest ant in the family.

"My dear boy... this box is the burden I bear because I was once too nice" said Bob, the grandfather ant.

Bob forever carrying the box over his head.

"What do you mean grandpa, how can someone ever be too nice?" asked Timmy.

"You see, we should all strive to be kind, but not so kind that we become naïve. That's what happened to me. I was too kind to the wrong person and he took advantage of it. Now this box has become a part of me!" said Bob.

"Hmmmmm, who were you too nice to grandpa?" said Timmy.

"It all started one day when I was outside the grocery store. I was sitting on a bench in the parking lot and this spider walked by me and he had this box on his head. He asked me if I would hold it for him while he went in to shop."

"I knew that spider pretty well, he was always getting into trouble and causing problems for himself and his family because of his greed."

"So naturally I said no I would not. But then he asked again and he promised he would return immediately after he was done to reclaim the box from me. Being the kind-natured ant that I am, I agreed to it."

"I waited there for an hour or so, and then an hour or so more, and then night came and he still hadn't returned. Finally my arms were weak so I tried to put the box down."

"But no matter how hard I tried the box stayed put on top of my head. I even took my hands off of it, look I'll do it now.... It just stays up there all on its own."

"Wow grandpa that's weird" said Timmy.

"Tell me about it. But you wanna know what's even weirder..." said Bob.

"Ya!" Exclaimed Timmy.

"What's in the box and how it came to be enchanted." said Bob.

"Oooooh tell me grandpa!" said Timmy.

"The spider that I was telling you about, his name was Anansi. The story around town is that when he was trying to grow his crops he went to the kings magical jester for help. He had seen previously that his son got the jester to water his crops for him and Anansi wanted the same thing."

"The jester had told the son to pick up two small sticks and tap him on the bum. When he did this the jester brought down rain from the sky."

"When the son told his father of how he got the water the father decided he could get even more from the jester by using two huge sticks to tap him."

"He got to the jester and the jester made him the same promise of water, but when Anansi tapped him with the sticks the blows hit the jester so hard the fell to the ground and died."

"Then he didn't want to be guilty for killing the kings jester so he tricked his son into thinking he killed him. The son didn't fall for his dads trick and said "That's fine, the king wanted him dead, theres a reward for him."

"Hearing this the greedy Anansi backtracked and claimed he killed him and deserved the reward. Then he picked the jester up and carried him to the kingdom to get his prize... or so he thought."

"When he arrived the king was livid because he loved that jester of his. Instead of a reward the king put the jester in this box and enchanted it so that it could never, ever be put down."

"So that fateful day when I thought I was being nice, I brought the curse upon myself." 

"Now I a tiny ant, will carry this large bundle on my head until the day I die, hopefully breaking the curse."

"Wow grandpa. I knew there was a reason I didn't like spiders" said Timmy.

Author's Note: This story comes from "Ants and Their Bundles." This retelling still has all of the same plot elements except I told it from the perspective of the ant who got tricked instead of from Anansi's perspective. I also added in the character of the grandson so the ant would have someone to tell the story to. I decided to do it like this because when I read the original story I felt bad for the ant, and I thought he probably wasn't too happy about the situation either. I chose the picture because it gives the reader a visual of what I was trying to describe in my writing. I added in the part at the end about the grandpa dying with the box because I thought I wonder if he will try to hand it off to someone else or if not and he dies with it I bet the curse will be broken.

Bibliography: "Why We See Ants Carrying Bundles As Big As Themselves" from West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair (1917).

Week 6 Reading Diary Continued: West African Folktales

The second half of the reading diary is also from West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair (1917).

The Moon and Stars
Anansi and his son were captured by a dragon and taken to his lair to wait with the other captives. A cock was supposed to be guarding them but he was distracted by picking up ride. The son threw a rope ladder to the gods and they hoisted everyone up to escape, the son fought off the dragon when he also tried to climb up. The gods were impressed and made him the sun, his dad the moon, and the others the stars. The son gave life/power to them all.

How the Tortoise Got Its Shell
The kings servant went out to fetch him some palm wine. He had to fight for it and winning he earned a pot of wine and the palm trees. He carried this back but when he returned the gate was locked and everyone was inside. He waited outside in the rain, it rained for two months straight so everyone stayed inside. He died from the pots weight on his back and it molded to him because of the mud... thus creating the turtle shell. I never see these stories turning out the way they do.

The Hunter and the Tortoise
A tortoise sang in the forest and the hunter was not content to visit her everyday so he took her to his home, but she would sing only for him. He spread her secret and was brought before the king. He said he would show them all her gift or he could be killed. So he bought her before the town but she didn't make a sound all day. At night they killed him and then she spoke. He had brought this on himself.

King Chameleon and the Animals
In a race to decide who would be made the king of the animals, the chameleon cheated and held onto the tail of the quick hare. The hare reached the winners seat first but the chameleon dropped off on the seat a second before he did. He became king but the animals didn't like this so they left the area. The chameleon now hides alone at the top of a tree calling for friends.

A king with no subjects is no king at all

Elephant and Wren
This spider, Anansi is the greediest, most evil, terrible excuse for a father/husband I have ever seen. Again in another story he gets food, a whole elephant enough to fee his family. But instead he ties it up to hide for himself and tries to catch a tiny bird for the others to eat. He fails and when he goes back to get the elephant its gone too. Now because of his selfish stupidity everyone starves. This would be a good story to switch up and teach Anansi a lesson.

The Ungrateful Man
A hunter rescued a man, a tiger, a snake, and a rat from a hole that they had fallen into. They each repaid him except for the man who mooched off of him and wanted to ruin his god fortune. The king had his jewels stolen and the man blamed the hunter. When the hunter was about to be killed the kings son was bitten by a snake and the hunter used the anti venom given to him by the snake and mixed it with his traitors blood, who the king had killed, and was able to save the kings son.

Why Tigers Never Attack Men Unless They Are Provoked
A man and tiger became great friends and they visited and stayed at each others homes. Then later the man died and the tiger and his son went to pay their condolences to the mans son. On their way back home two other men shot the tiger but didn't kill him. To see if the tigers friend had anything to do with this the tiger played dead to test the man's son's reaction. He cried and the tiger promised never to hurt a man unless provoked.

Farmer Mybrow and the Fairies
A farmer started to plant crops in a field but fairies lived there and they were eager to help. He got a great crop going but then his wife begged him to know where to field was so she could go pick one item to eat. He told her not to answer the fairies questions when she was there but she didn't listen and she told them she wanted to pick a crop. Naturally the fairies jumped right in and helped her but they picked every single item making them useless because they were still green and ripe.

Week 6 Reading Diary: West African Folktales

This week I read West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair (1917).

How We Got The Name "Spider Tales"
A very jealous spider made a deal with Nyankupon to have all of the future stories men tell be about him instead of about Nyankupon. To complete the transaction the spider had to fetch him a jar of bees, a boa constrictor, and a tiger. He got these three animals by tricking them and then Nyankupon declared all future stories to be Anansi stories, the spiders name is Anansi.

How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race
In this story Ansansi is the giver of wisdom to men, but the men make him mad so he decides to take it all away and hide it where they cant reach it. He tries to hide it in a tree but has trouble because the pot of wisdom keep getting in his way. His son sees his struggle and says father wear it on your back instead, this made Anansi mad and he threw the pot down. It busted and spread all the wisdom across the world.

Anansi and Nothing
I definitely thought this story would be way more boring than it was- the title Anansi and Nothing turned me away. The end caught me off caught when it said when you ask children why they are crying they often say they are "crying for nothing" because Nothing is a king who was killed by Anansi in this story.

Thunder and Anansi
Anansi selfish characteristics really showed in this story. His family was starving so he went to a palm tree to get nuts but that failed and he ended up in the water at Thunders cottage. Thunder gave him a magic pot that made food. He ate and then hid it from his family while they starved. When they found out about it they made everyone in town food but the pot melted from overheating. Anansi went back to the cottage for another pot but instead got a stick that beat him. I think that is exactly what he deserved.
 
Why The Lizard Moves His Head Up and Down
Another story involving Anansi's evil ways. This time he wanted to win the kings three daughters by finding out their names. So he dropped fruit and got them to say their names, he then hired a lizard as his servant to say the names for him to the king. At this the king gave the lizard his daughters. Anansi wanted revenge and so he framed the lizard for killing the kings cock. THe king in turn gave him his three daughters. I could see this tory going differently; maybe the fruit Anansi drops is actually poison and the king hunts him down.
 
Tit for Tat
A battle between father and son for the last meat in the forest. Anansi tried to take away his sons hunting spot but the son got him back by being a god very angry at Anansi and demanding the meat. Later when the son was rich from all the meat he threw a banquet and at it he told the story of his fathers antics. He was ashamed and promised not to do anything like that again.

The Squirrel and The Spider
The squirrel sowed a grand farm, but he got there by the trees. Anansi found and and his family built a road to it and began to harvest it. The squirrel was mad but the law said the road creator was the owner meaning Anansi even though the squirrel planted it. Then a storm came and the spiders abandonded the crops. When they returned a crow was blocking them from the rain and he took off with the bundles that were now claimed as his. This is an example of karma.

Why We See Ants Carrying Bundles As Big As Themselves
The spider families crops weren't growing so the son got a jester to bring his rain by tapping him with small sticks. Anansi learned of this and brought two huge sticks, when he found the jester and tapped him he accidentally killed him. He put his body in a tree and the son knocked it down so Anansi blamed him. The son lied and said that killing him meant a reward so Anansi backtracked and claimed the murder. When he went to get a reward from the king he was doomed to carry the dead jester in a box on his head forever. Until one day he tricked an ant into carrying it on his head.

The Grinding-Stone that Ground Flour By Itself
Anansi's cousing found this stone and food by it and took only enough for himself and his family each day. Anansi say them getting plump and demanded to be taken to the place where the food came from. Again he put ashes in someones bag to make a trail, this time his cousins. He followed him and found the magic stone, instead of taking some he picked up the whole stone. Later he was tired and wanted to put it down but the stone wouldn't allow it. And that is why now we see lots of spiders always under rocks.

The magic grinding stones

Storytelling Week 5: Fisherman's tale

Jay had been living in his shack on the beach for as long as anyone who lived in the area could remember. He never left his home unless it was to patrol the beaches and the nearby fishing dock. He's a rather cranky old fisherman of about 65 who is known for chasing people away from the ocean only to warn them of the danger that he says awaits in the water. People think he's gone mad, and that living alone in his make-shift home for so longer has made him go even crazier. The beach has become nearly deserted because people are scared of seeing him. But one day in May two young, unsuspecting boys were trudging through the sand and Jay spotted them.

As he peered through his window blinds, he almost didn't believe his eyes. Two young boys were about to become victims of the danger in the sea.... he must warn them he thought.

Jay flung open the driftwood cover his front entry and ran at the boys. They saw him coming and started running too. Jay was quick for an old man and tackled the two boys yelling things like "I'll save you!!"

The boys screamed as they hit the sand, and they did a bit of wrestling with the old man before they calmed down.

"Hey your that old geezer who thinks he owns this beach and scares everyone else off" said one of the boys.

"You betcha!" Jay said. "Oh wait no, I don't think I own the place, Im just trying to save you from the genie in the sea!"

"The what Mister??" said the two boys with a look of doubt on their face.

"Oh yes boys you heard me right, there is a genie in a box out in this part of the ocean... and hes a mean one... only wants ta kill ya' once ya let him out." said Jay.

"A genie? You've got to be kiddin' me" said one boy.

"No really, have a seat boys I'll tell ya' all about him" said Jay.

They boys sprawled out in the sand and Jay sat facing both of them with his legs crossed.

"Before all this I used to have a family, and I too would come down to the water to try to catch our meal for the day. I would throw out my net five times each day and would normally catch a few fish."

"But one day was different. I had thrown out my net three times already and didn't catch anything but garbage, and then on the fourth time I pulled out this large golden chest with a lock on it."

"It was a heavy box but when I shook it nothing rattled inside. I knew I had to open it up to see what treasure might lie inside. So I did. I pried the lock off and lifted up the lid to find..... nothing. Or so I thought"

"When I opened that box a cloud of smoke formed and as I peered into it I saw a shape of a person forming. It was a genie!"

Jay peering into the face of the genie when he first released him from the box

"And I thought genies were friendly and only granted wishes, but this genie wanted to kill me!"

"His first words were, I kid you not, "Thanks for rescuing me... now how do you want to die?"

The boys gasped.

"I know, I was shocked too. Then I said I don't want to die I want my wishes you owe me for freeing you from your box!"

"He laughed in my face and said "We are long past that... I've waited 400 years for someone to free me.""

"The genie then explained- "If someone had opened my box in the first hundred years I would have made them the happiest person on earth with unlimited wishes, if someone had freed me in the second hundred I swore I would be their servant and grant them three wishes a day, and in the third hundred I promised myself I would grant them but one wish and nothing more. But buddy you're a hundred years too late. Now for all that waiting I endured I swore the only favour I would give you would be to choose the manner of your death"" recalled Jay.

"I didn't wanna die, so I begged the genie, but nothing would work."

 "Just as I was about to lay down for my beheading I mentioned that I didn't believe the genie really came from that tiny box. The genie got defensive when I said that."

"So I told him I had to see it to believe it. And guess what that genie turned back to smoke and floated into the box to prove me wrong."

"Then what mister it couldn't have been that easy?" questioned one of the boys.

"Well then I sat on the box and put a new lock back on, and boy oh boy did that genie throw a fit. He was so angry at being duped and swore that the next person who opened the box he wouldn't even hesitate to give them a choice in the death"

"I couldn't listen to that genie yap anymore so I tossed the box back into the ocean and moved onto the beach to protect others from fishing out that box ever again."

"But it cost me a whole lot... ya see, my family didn't believe me, no one believed me, and they wouldn't move with me onto the beach.

"And, worst of all, people think I'm the monster in the area when really I just want to protect people from the real monster-that wicked genie!"

Author's Note: This story retelling comes from "The Story of the Fisherman," which is one of the many tales in the Arabian nights unit. In the original version this story is told by a queen to her husband, the king sultan to avoid being killed by him. The original version goes beyond the fisherman tricking the genie back into the box and instead the fisherman demands a story from the genie, which give a second layer of storytelling. I liked this original version but also thought ending it there and spinning off in a different way would be interesting as well. So I decided to make the fisherman an old man who guards the beach to protect others from opening that box and receiving the fate he should have received-death. I told the story from the point of view of an omniscient figure rather than a real person in the story because the scene needed to be set up by someone looking in on it. I chose the image for this story because it is a good depiction of the moment that Jay let the genie out of the bottle and he couldn't believe his eyes.

Bibliography: "The Story of the Fisherman" from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Thoughts about Comments

I read through all of the comments left on my various blog posts thus far and noticed a few things that I really liked in some comments. First of all comments that pose questions to the blog writer are really helpful. Such as questions like "why did you choose to write about this or why did you do it that way?"

I also really appreciate when people have a different vision when reading my posts and share how they saw it going differently. I think the most memorable comments are the ones on my introduction post when people have something in common with each other. Its almost like a little bond is created from that and then you can identify that person based on something you share.

I also like receiving comments focused on the design and layout of my blog. When looking at it with my eyes everyday it is hard to notice things that may be an eye sore or just plain hard to read. This is why I like getting comments about that, for example someone told me earlier this week that my sidebar was too squished... I looked and then I agreed and changed it.

As for my own commenting so far, I think I have done a pretty good job of leaving comments of substance. I liked the last two weeks of commenting because our teacher, Laura, gave us specific things to focus on and that made my commenting more unique than just "I liked this/that." I have worked really hard each week to do the extra blog comments for bonus points, and I think that extra writing is making me a better analyzer of stories and it helps me to better articulate my thoughts. My commenting could benefit from me reading what others have commented before I make my comment. That way we aren't all saying the same things!

Week 5 Reading Diary Continued: Arabian Nights

This is the second half of my reading diary for the Arabian Nights unit. Story source: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Aladdin kneeling before one of the two genies he had when trapped in the cave

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 1 and 2
I haven't watched the Disney movie Aladdin in quite some time but now reading this makes me want to watch it right now. I do remember some parts, and this tales has quite a few different aspects than the movie I know and love. I was surprised that the man who pretended to be Aladdin's long lost uncle was actually a magician who left Aladdin trapped underground. I also thought it was interesting that he had one of the genies retrieve both the bride that he wanted and her new bridegroom, why not just have him killed? It seems kind of crazy that he expects the princess to now just fall in love with him when he had his genies steal her.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 3
Aladdin commanded his genies to disrupt and torment the newly couples sleep each night until the groom wanted to end his marriage. Upon this Aladdins mother went back and reminded the king of his promise of Aladdin to marry his daughter and he requested an insane amount of jewels and slaves. Filling this request, Aladdin and the princess were married and went to his newly created palace. I didn't realize slaves were a part of the story of Aladdin, but in this story they are spoken about as objects not people and its very disturbing. I am glad the kings vizir is catching on to Aladdins magic.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 4 and 5
The magician came back to retrieve the lamp and did so while Aladdin was on a hunting trip. He commanded the genie to transport him and the palace and the princess to a deserted place in Africa, they were in China. The king almost killed Aladdin but gave him 40 days to find his daughter. Aladdin found her in Africa and the two devised a plan to get the lamp back so they could go back home. I like that the princess never gave up on Aladdin's return even in the face of the magician constantly telling her he was dead. It was kind've evil to put drugs in his drink, I wish they would have had a dual or something for the lamp rather than taking it in this way.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 6
What a surprise to learn that the evil magician had an even more sinister younger brother. This younger brother disguised himself as a healing woman and planted an idea in Aladdins wifes head. She wanted a Roc's egg and so Aladdin asked the genie for it, little did he know this was a grave insult. Then Aladdin had to kill this evil brother and from there on out the couple leaved with no more problems. I liked that this ending wrapped everything up and that it ended in favor of the good people instead of the evil. I now really want to watch the Aladdin movie to see how these compare.

Reading Diary Week 5: Arabian Nights

This reading diary will cover half of the Arabian Nights unit. Story source: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Scheherazade
This is the introduction section of the Arabian Nights tales. It begins with an evil sultan who marries a new bride each night and has them killed in the morning. The servant doing his bidding/killing has a daughter of his own and she requests to be married to him to try to save others from the fate. Just before she is killed her sister has her tell a story, and then the story continues in the next section. I recalled the princess in Aladdin telling stories but I didn't really know why until know. What a terrible thing to be so powerful that you command a wife and death each and every day.

The wife telling her first story to her sister and her new husband, the sultan.

The Merchant and the Genius
These stories are utilizing stories within stories, which is kind've hard for me to wrap my brain around but also are really interesting. I was surprised that the same plot that was happening between the wife and the sultan is happening between the merchant and the genie- the genie lets him live to finish telling his stories just like the sultan lets the wife live to finish telling hers.

The Hind
In this story one of the three old men told a miraculous enough story to save the merchants life from the genie. I was surprised in the end when it was over but then the next old man stood up and began to tell yet another story to the genie. Its pretty interesting that these old men who didn't even know the merchant when working on his behalf to save his life.

The Two Black Dogs
In another of the wife's stories the second old man told the genie of how he got the two black dogs following him around. The dogs are his brothers who plotted against him and who were turned to dogs by the husbands fairy wife. The genie was again intrigued and spared the merchant and also again the sultan was impressed with the story. Then it was time for the story of the third man but she didn't remember it so she changed to a better story.

The Fisherman
This story got a little complicated because of the number of layers in it. In simplest terms the queen was at first telling the story of a genie telling a story to a fisherman, then it switched and the fisherman was telling a story to the genie.

The story of the Fisherman
It goes like this, the fisherman caught the genies bottle in a net and instead of the genie granting him wishes he would only grant him the choice of his way to die. The fisherman was cunning and tricked the genie back into his bottle and returned him back to the sea. This could be a fun story to retell, perhaps I could add on to the end. Also it could be told as a warning to future fishers in the area.

The Greek King and the Physician Douban
Another level of storytelling was added to this by the fisherman telling the story of a king who would then tell a story to his grand vizir. So now at this point the wife is telling a story of a story of a story. I bet the sultan is having a hard time wrapping his brain around it all and in this way he'll never let the story end.

The Story of the Parrot
The physician Douban was a character in the Kings story and he bought a parrot to watch over his wife when he had to leave for business. This story was interesting because the physician trusted the parrot but then in the end he thought he was lying so he flung him on the ground and actually killed him. Not a very happy story.

The Physician's Revenge
 Now the fisherman continued to tell the story of the Greek King, and this story began to take shape to represent the situation that the fisherman and the genie were in. It showed that if the king had spared the physician then they both could have lived, but since he did not the physician go his revenge. This is just like if the genie had spared the fisherman, the fisherman wouldn't be about to throw him back into the ocean.

The Sultan and the Fish
The fisherman ended up releasing the genie so he could tell him a story in return for the story about the Greek king/physician. This story was about some magical fish a naive sultan who went to the lake but found a man half made of marble. This is some very complicated stuff, I thought I would like layered stories but they are so hard to follow.

King of the Black Isles
This story had a happy ending for the sultan and for the man made of stone. As well as this the fish were turned back to people and the evil enchantress was killed by the sultan. This tangled web of stories was finally over and I was entertained but so glad.

Tech Tip Website

Here is the link to the very early beginnings of my storybook website!

https://sites.google.com/site/malgetstorybook/

There's not much to it yet, but it will grow over the course of the semester to be a really great platform for my stories. For now my chosen topic consists of tales of fairies, gnomes, trolls, and goblins. In other words, it's going to be all about garden creatures. I think it will be a really fun and interesting project to work on, and I invite you to check back in occasionally to see my progress!

Storytelling Week 4: Speed dating Swordswoman

"Son you've been mopping about the house all week, I know none of those women were right for you... But you cant stop trying! We must keep searching, lets expand our search to include queens instead of princesses. Maybe they'll be more mature and more suitable for you... What do you think ehh?" said king Charles.

Prince George perked up at the thought of meeting some older women, "Okay I'll give it a shot, but how do we get women together for me to meet?" asked George.

"You leave it to me" Said King Charles with a grin.

The next day the prince awoke to a commotion outside his window, hundreds of dazzling women were in the courtyard and going in and out of the castle. Prince George was just about to call for his father when he burst through the door.

"Son why aren't you dressed?! All of those lovely women have come to meet you... we are going to do... um... what do you kids call it these days" said the king. "Oh that's right... speed dating!!"

"But father..." said Prince George.

"No buts, you and I are going to sit down with these women and I am going to help you find the perfect wife" said the King.

The two went downstairs are there was a single table with a chair on either side, and already one woman was waiting in it. Behind her was a single file line of hundreds of women, it stretched out the front doors of the palace and into the front yard and street.

The prince sat down across from the first woman. He reached out his hand and said "Hi, I'm Prince George" and he took the woman's hand and kissed it. She blushed.

Then all of a sudden, King George slid up another chair, cleared his throat and said "And I'm his father" with his arms crossed over his chest.

Prince George gave his dad the "go away" look, but King Charles ignored it and said "So tell me about yourself, sweetie"

"Sure! I'm from Eden, and my trade is making clothes." she said.

"I make five outfits a day, one for my God, one for myself, one to sell, one for a homeless person, and one for my future husband" said contestant 1.

"That is just wonderful. I love how charitable..." George was saying when his father interrupted- "That's great my dear, but NEXT" he yelled out.

So the first girl got up and left, the next woman in line took her seat.

Prince George introduced himself again and kissed the second woman's hand.

"So what do you like to do? asked Prince George.

"Well, I have quite a bit of land... so most of my time is spent taking care of my crops, my animals, or working out in the barn"

"Fascinating... I am have had this itch to do some farming of my own" said Prince George.

King Charles mumbled under his breath "no way will the next queen of my castle be a farmer."

Prince George and contestant two were hitting it off when King Charles couldn't take it anymore and he said "Times up my dear, NEXT... please!"

*A hundred or so women later*

Contestant 127 sat down across from the Prince and King.

Without waiting for introductions she said "I'm Claudia and I'm a swordswoman."

Prince George was taken back by this statement, as was King Charles.

"Show us!" Exclaimed King Charles.

So the woman rose and said to Prince George, "Aren't you going to join me?"

Prince George stood up but was hesitant, she was a woman, afterall.

"Come now my boy, show her what you've got!! exclaimed King Charles.

The two drew their swords and sparred well past the time allotted for each speed dating session. When she had beat the Prince, they were done and she left.

A swordswoman

King Charles was beaming and said "She's a feisty one, she'd give us all a run for our money... I like her!"

"No father, she isn't right for me" said Prince George.

"Nonsense. But if you insist we shall meet a few more and then you can decide" said King Charles.

The last woman in line took her seat at the table, she had been waiting since sunrise and now the sun had set.

Prince George jumped right to the point "tell me about yourself" he said.

"I have the power to bring creatures, people, anything back to life. Here, bring me something dead and I will restore its breath!" said contestant 745.

Prince George raised an eyebrow and was at a loss for words.

Then the king jumped from his chair, "What nonsense is this you speak of! Enough of this. It has been a long day and we have no room for witchcraft today! Be gone!"

She left and the king and prince sat at the table for a minute longer. They were exhausted but had a decision to make.

"So now do you agree that the swordswoman will make the perfect wife?" said King Charles not really asking but telling.

"Yes father" said Prince George.

And then they sent out their page to retrieve the swordswoman.

Author's Note:

This retelling comes from the story of The Four Scientific Suitors. In this story, four men were skilled in a trade science and each of them told of their skills to the King, who was searching for a suitable husband for his daughter, the princess. This story seemed like it might be interesting told in a speed dating format, and furthermore I wanted to switch the gender roles. I did this because to me it seems like it is always the women who get set up, but I wanted to switch it to be a prince who was looking for love instead.

 

For a little bit of context- the original story is told by a goblin to the king. The king is carrying the goblin and as he does it the goblin keeps telling him stories with riddles at the end; the story I retold is one of them. The real king had to guess which suitor the king in the story would have picked, and I have changed that to the selection on speed dating. Therefore the story king, King Charles, helps the prince, Prince George, decide. I chose the image for this story because I figured people who read it would be wondering what a swordswoman looked like; now they know! My goal was to make this a really interesting story with lots of dialogue to help it move along. This story doesn’t fit into my portfolio or storybook but it was an interesting one so I rewrote it.

Bibliography: "The Four Scientific Suitors" from Twenty-Two Goblins, translated by Arthur W. Ryder, with illustrations by Perham W. Nahl (1917).

Week 4 Reading Diary, Continued: 22 Goblins

This reading diary covers the stories from "Twenty-Two Goblins", translated by Arthur W. Ryder, with illustrations by Perham W. Nahl (1917).

The Snake's Poison
The kings answer this time was really interesting, he said that no one was guilty of poisoning/killing the man except for the man himself. That was along the same lines that I was thinking, especially since the thought of the charitable woman being accused for poisoning him made me sad. The poisoned man claimed it was her so she was shunned by her people anyways, how sad.

The Girl and the Thief
A girl refused to love or marry anyone, except when she saw a thief on his way to be executed she fell in love. She was going to kill herself but the God Shiva granted her wishes for her devotion- she rose the thief from the dead and made his a nobleman. My first thoughts were, what a miraculous story, and what a stupid girl. It reminds me of how today some girls are attracted to bad boys when they really shouldn't be.

The General's Wife
When the king answered this time, something was different. The goblin asked him "why?" almost as if that was the wrong answer but he wanted an explanation. Then once the king explained, the goblin liked his reasoning so he again ran away. The moral of the story he told was "actions of devoted men are blameless." Then the moral presented for the kings actions was "No great man stops in the middle of the hardest undertaking."

The Four Brothers
The brothers brought a lion to life and then the lion killed them all. I easily guessed that it was the final brother who breathed life into the lifeless lion was the one responsible for getting them all killed. This story was interesting because it involved animals instead of just people, like almost every other tale before this one did. I like that it wasn't about winning a woman for once... those can get a little old.

The lion that killed the four brothers

The Old Hermit
The old hermit was a magician and so he took over the body of a deceased boy, leaving his old body now deceased and he became reborn again in the youth's body. Again the king guessed correctly as to why the man was both weeping and dancing. I could see this story unfolding beyond the transformation and the old hermit living a really interesting life in the boys body.
Father and Son, Daughter and Mother
On this final riddle, the King was stumped, and so finally the goblin ended his games. He told the king about the other guys evil plan to kill him once he returned the dead body, and then the goblin left the body. Finally the king headed to the monk to give him the body. I really didn't expect this to be the reasoning behind all the stories. I thought of the goblin as so evil when in reality he was stalling the king so he wouldn't get killed by the monk. He did a good deed by telling all these stories/riddles.

Conclusion
The king did as the goblin told him and he tricked the monk and cut off his head. This was pleasing to the goblin and to Shiva, so he became king of the fairies and received a magic sword. The goblin promised him that these 22 stories would become known around the world, and when they were told people benefitted and monsters suffered. This ending couldn't have been any further away from what I expected. I think it may be interesting to do a retelling of the goblin stories but to talk more about the goblin, instead of his stories.

Week 4 Reading Diary: 22 Goblins

This reading diary covers the stories from "Twenty-Two Goblins", translated by Arthur W. Ryder, with illustrations by Perham W. Nahl (1917).

Introduction:
A monk gave the king 12 years of gifts consisting of fruits with jewels in them, and then the king returned the favor by doing a task for the monk. He was to cut down a body hanging from a tree and carry it to the monk in the cemetery. That body turned out to be inhabited by a goblin and the goblin wanted to tell the king stories as they traveled. The stories are riddles and require an answer from the king in the end. This intro was short and to the point. I'm glad it exists because otherwise I would have had no context for why the goblin was with the king and telling stories.

The Goblin hanging from the tree, the king approaching to retrieve him.

The Three Lovers: 
This is the first story told by the goblin, three men bring a dead girl back to life and the king must decide who should be the husband. If he is wrong the goblin will tell another story, if he is right the goblin escapes and hangs on the tree again, if the king knows but pretends he doesn't his head will explode. The king ultimately answers correctly. I couldn't guess what the answer would be or how the king would answer so it was an interesting story.

Brave, Wise, Clever
Another story about who a woman should be given too.. I'm not sure I like this theme. This time three men, one brave, one smart, and one clever, defeat a giant to get a woman and again the King guesses correctly which one should get her. This tale seemed too similar to the last one so I didn't like it.

The Girl, Her Husband, and Her Brother
A woman mixed up the heads of her brother and husband when attaching them back to their bodies. The king said the head matters and that one is her husband. Again the goblin escaped. I'm starting to think the king will never make it back with the goblin. The stories are all very weird.

Food, Women, Cotton
Three men were said to be specialists in food, women, cotton. The king decided it was the cotton specialist who was the cleverest after hearing of how the king in the story tested them. This seemed pretty far fetched, I don't think that man actually felt the single stand of hair through seven cotton quilts.

The Four Scientific Suitors
Four men made their case for the hand of the princess and the king chose the warrior swordsman as the one who should get to marry her. This story had a lesson at the end- "Discouragement never enters the brave heart of a resolute man." I could see this being turned into a dating show, and furthermore the gender roles could switch. The suitors could be women and the princess would turn to a prince.

The Three Delicate Wives
The three wives in this story were injured by either a falling lotus petal, the beams from the moon, or the sound of pestles grinding. The king said the one bruised by sound was the most delicate and he was right. The tales in these stories are so odd, I wonder where the goblin got them. You would think after running after him so many times the king would just give up. I'm ready to see what finally happens.

Gnomes, Trolls, Pixies, and Goblins- Styles Brainstorm

Topic: My storybook will most likely be about mythical garden/forest creatures from a variety of cultures. I particularly want to focus on the tales involving gnomes, trolls, pixies, fairies, and goblins. I have found some initial sources that might be of use to me, "Rubezahl" about a gnome, "The Pixies Revenge" about pixies, "Troll Turned Cat" about a troll, and I plan to find one about a goblin. There are lots of relevant stories considering I am not limiting myself to a certain area's stories, but going through all of them to find the ones I want to retell will be a long process. I think these initial ones are a great start considering I found a story for every mythical creature I wanted to cover.

Bibliography:
"Rubezahl" from The Brown Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang, (1904)

"The Pixies Revenge" from A Peep at the Pixies, or Legends of the West, by Anna Eliza Bray (1854)

 "The Troll Turned Cat" 

Most of these came from the Celtic area of Sacred Texts, so I think I will do some more searching there.


Possible Styles:
Idea 1- I would incorporate my four dogs into telling the stories of the garden. In my head right now, the dogs would be the ones interacting/battling with the mythical creatures. I could see it as three or four rounds of battle- one against gnomes, one against, trolls, one against fairies, and one against goblins. The stories could be told from an older dog to maybe her puppies. This would put the stories as the older dogs past; maybe her and the three others had to take over the yard from the garden creatures.

Idea 2- The story could be written in a little girls diary. Maybe she watches out her window each day what happens in the yard between her dogs and the mythical things that only she can see in the garden. Or maybe she leaves her barbies in the yard and those are the characters interacting with the garden creatures. She could see them come to life in the yard and could write about it in her diary.

Idea 3-  A little girl could be the one to interact with each of these creatures. And she could tell the story in first person to either her parents or her friends. Maybe the parents would play along but wouldn't believe her because they cant see the creatures like she can.

Idea 4- Bedtime stories told by the creatures themselves. They could be friends with the little girl who lives in the house and each night they could make their way inside to sit in bed with her. They would take turns telling her stories about themselves. They are mean and mischievous to others, but love to tell stories to the girl.

Image taken from "The Fairies Revenge"

 

Storytelling Week 3: Tommy the Frog

"I'm Perd Haply, live on the streets. We are here today covering a reported sighting of a human sized frog living in this shed behind this suburban home" said Perd.

*Camera on the shed, there appears to be a huge creature inside bumping around. Neighbors are peering over the fence and a crowd has gathered out front of the home*

"It sure looks like somethings in there... Let's see if the homeowners are home to comment on these allegations" said Perd.

*Camera shows Perd walking up the front steps and knocking on the door*

*A boy answers, he's 11 years old*

"Hi son, are your parents home?" said Perd.

"No..... theyre at work" said Ben. And then he saw the cameras behind perd... "Is this about Tommy?" Ben asked.

*Perd turned back to the camera with a suspicious look and then back to Ben*

"Whose Tommy?" asked Perd.

"Tommy is my frog. He lives out back in the shed" said Ben, with a glow in his eyes.

"Interesting.... Can you introduce me to this frog of yours Ben?" Perd asked.

"Uhhh I don't know.... mommy and daddy think I got rid of him so I'm not sure if he should be on TV" said Ben.

"That's fine, son. Why don't you just tell me a little more about Tommy... maybe like what size is he?" said Perd.

"I can do that. Well, he's big... really big. He eats a lot." Said Ben.

"You don't say... like human size big?" asked Perd.

"Umm yeah I guess so, maybe more like elephant sized." said Ben.

*The camera turns to the nosey neighbors listening to the conversation in the street, they are shocked and whispering about the monstrous claims*

"Now Ben, I don't know if I believe that one... How does a frog get to be so big son? Where did you find this frog?" questioned Perd.

"My daddy and I like to go down to the river behind the square the do a little fishing, and one day I found a frog. I asked if I could keep it and daddy said yes but that I could never forget to feed it" said Ben.

"So you must have fed the frog a lot then?" questioned Perd.

"Well yeah. He was always hungry, at every meal I pretended to eat and then snuck the food to Tommy. But he was still hungry so I started grabbing mommys groceries out of the back of her car and taking them straight to Tommy. I would go out and see him a couple times a day, he was a fast grower" said Ben.

"Do youre parents know you took all the food son? asked Perd.

"Well for a while they did... mommy told me to get rid of him because he ate too much. But I couldn't because Tommy is my friend, he is a good listener and he's good at bedtime stories" said Ben.

"So you kept the frog... and the frog talks to you?" said Perd in a doubtful tone.

"Yes!" exclaimed Ben.

"Alright son that's enough. I cant believe another word of this unless we see proof" demanded Perd.

*The camera backed away and focused on the growing crowd of people and reporters.*

"No wait, don't go! I can show you" said Ben.

*Ben darts down the front steps and grabs Perd's hand. He leads him to the shed, the camera follows*

"Okay I'm gonna open the door, but everyone needs to be quit" said Ben.

*Ben slides the door open, and walks in, when he walks back he is holding Tommy's hand. Tommy is a giant green frog standing at 7 feet tall*

"Good gracious" exclaimed Perd as he started to back away from the shed.

*Screams started coming from the neighbors pearing over the fence*

"Hes a monster" "That aint right" "Eww its green" "Kill him, save the children" "What a terrible creation"

"Stop it, stop yelling at Tommy" yelled Ben.

"There you have it folks, the giant frog is real.... Now run for your lives!!" Yelled Perd.

*camera man drops the camera, people are seen running in every direction*

"Ben, we must go. It is time" said Tommy. *He carried Ben to the forest and sat him down on a pathway

"Since you have showed me good favor, and have done as your father said- never letting me be hungry- I shall repay you threefold" said Tommy.

*Tommy turned to speak to the forest* "All you who fly, crawl, walk, come forth with gifts for my boy" said Tommy.

*Animals of every kind appeared and left fruits, vegetables, herbs, roots, stones, and jewels at Bens feet*

"There my boy, I the fairy frog have fulfilled my task" said Tommy

*Ben gaped at the pile of things in front of him. When he looked up again he saw the frog walking away and shrinking with every step*

Later that evening, Ben appeared in his backyard with a wheelbarrow full of goods and his parents were there trying to calm down the many people that were still running around.



The day that Ben caught Tommy in the river. Source

Author's Note: In the original story, a King and queen die from illness but before passing the father says to his son "go to the market 7 days after our death and buy the first thing offered to you." The son did this and came home with a box with a frog in it. The frog ate everything in their home and grew huge, eventually the son's wife cried because they were starving. The frog led them to the forest and repaid them all the food they had given him, plus more, plus he granted them each a wish. Then he disappeared into the river. I took this ending and decided to make my story of a continuation. I wanted a little boy to pick up that same frog from a river in the present day. Then I saw news reporting as a storytelling style and thought it would be the perfect fit. I tweaked the storyline a bit but stuck to the same main points.

Bibliography: "The Fairy Frog" by Gertrude Landa, from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends (1919). Web source

Week 3 Reading Diary, Continued: Jewish Fairy Tales

A continued reading diary post about "Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends" by Gertrude Landa (1919).

The Sleep of One Hundred Years
I didn't really understand the purpose of the story, but I do know it made me sad. Rabbi Onias, who was saddened that Jerusalem was desolate, fell asleep for 100 years and awoke to the reborn Jerusalem. I thought he would be happy to see the place resurrected, but instead he felt like an outsider to these new people and ways of life. It broke my heart that all he wanted was Jerusalem to be alive and then when it was he didn't fit in there anymore. I wish there could have been some other happier ending, maybe if I retell this story I will switch it up.

King for Three Days
This story focuses on the first crusade by Godfrey de Bouillon and the Rabbi Rashi's prediction. It was interesting to see Godfrey accomplish his goal of becoming king but still to remain sad an empty. I feel like this can relate to a lot of things in our lives, we set our sights on something but once we get there we realize it really wasn't what we wanted in the first place. The character of Godfrey is not one that I liked, he was an evil man and he had no respect for Rashi. He demanded Rashi give him a blessing and threatened to kill him if his prophecy was wrong.

The Higgledy-Piggledy Palace
What an interesting title. I did not like the beginning of this tale when the Pharaoh purchased Sarah from Abraham, but then when the spirit came to save her I really enjoyed it. At one point I even laughed because the spirit was tormenting the pharaoh; he had laid down on his bed and then the spirit lifted it and dumped him out of it. I love seeing the Lord always protecting his people. This tale could be retold as a tour guide taking people through a haunted house.

The Bogey Man
The Boogeyman is a very familiar name today, but the creature and legend is totally different than this tale. The Bogey man in this story is a scary robot like creature that Rabbi Lion built to obey him, and that the children called the Bogey Man. Today it is a monster that is said to live under the bed of children, and many movies/tv shows have featured depictions of him. It's interesting to know where the character originally came from and then to see how it changed over time. This could be a great bedtime story to retell.

The Bogey man trying to break into a synagogue to free himself of the Rabbi's control.

The Fairy Frog
This story made me think of the Shrek movie where the king is a frog and he dies, except this one is a little different in that the king and queen die and the frog is purchased by the son. It made me happy to see the son and his wife following the fathers last will so unwaveringly. I'm sure it was hard on them to give the frog all their food while they were starving. I didn't expect it to turn out this way but I'm glad the son was repaid many times over for caring for the frog. With the frog shrinking and hopping into the river at the end, I could continue the story and have some kid pick up the frog from the river in present day. I think that could be quite interesting to see the frog grow and the kid care for him in todays setting.

 

The fairy frog leading the son and wife to the forest to receive their gifts.

Week 3 Reading Diary: Jewish Fairy Tales

This weeks reading diary will cover stories from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919).

The Giant of the Flood
In this tale of Noah's ark and the flood, a unicorn and a giant are added to the story. I thought it was interesting that this traditional bible story could be twisted in another culture and that would be the version they believe. I like that Noah helped the giant and in return the giant had to help Noah and his descendants. I did not see the story turning out with the giant going back on his word like he did and I liked that I couldn't predict the story.

The Beggar King
What a humbling story. A cruel and boastful king was turned into a beggar by a genie who took his place as king. I really liked the lesson this story taught, and I was shocked when the king turned beggar returned to the palace and wanted to continue guiding the blind instead of retaking his throne. This story shows the good in people just takes the right circumstances to bring out. I wonder how the kingdom will be different now that this more humble and gracious king is in charge.

The King falling prey to the genie boy who would take his place for a while as king.

The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog
This was a fun story to read. It explained the incidence that caused cats and dogs to never be friends. The biggest thing I enjoyed about this story was that the characteristics, the words, and the actions of the story animals are spot on with the behaviors and characteristics of dogs and cats that I see today. This would be an interesting story to see retold from the point of view of the dog, maybe in the diary format like I have talked about before. Or also to continue the story to see what things the cat attempts to get rid of the dog.

The Water-Babe
This is a tale about what Moses childhood might have been like, since the bible was lacking in these details. I love the story of Moses being retrieved from a basket in a river and brought to the royal palace. It was interesting to see the Jewish idea of what may have occurred in his childhood; I couldn't believe anyone would ever put a bowl of burning coals in front of a child to grab as a test, but then again it was biblical times. I couldn't recall ever learning how Moses got his staff, just that he used it to part the Red Sea, so it was cool to learn how that may have come to be as well.

From Shepard-Boy to King
Another example of an extra biblical legend from the Jewish. This tale focuses on Kind David as a shepard boy and his incidence of finding a unicorn, riding a deer, and escaping a lion. In the story David was able to hear animals speaking to each other and to him. I thought is was really inspiring in the end when the deer revealed that he had been commanded to save David from the lion for he was to be Kind one day. I got the idea that David was a pretty mischievous boy so this story made a lot of sense.

The Magic Palace
I am familiar with Ibrahim, but not with this tale. In the tale, a poor Ibrahim goes out to find work but instead finds a man who wants to be sold as Ibrahim's slave. The mysterious man turned out to be Elijah, and he earned Ibrahim enough money for all his days and built a palace overnight. The feat completed by Elijah to build the palace was truly magical and I now know why the story is titled as such. I found the story a little confusing to follow because of some of the dream aspects, but overall it was pretty interesting.