Week 10 Storytelling: An Indian Love Story

"Wait, daddy, before you tuck us in could you tell us about how you and mommy met?" asked the daughter.

"Hmmmm that's an interesting bedtime request... let me see if your mom wants to join in for this one, hold on just a second," said the father.

The dad left the room to go and get the mom. Just as he was leaving the little brother came running into the sister's room.

"Did I hear that dad is going to tell us a story?! Count me in!" said the little brother as he jumped onto his sister's bed.

The two of them got comfy and sat up in bed to wait for their parents to come back. The dad along with the mom entered back into the room and sat down at the end of the bed.

Siblings ready for story time  

"Okay, now that we're all here, you said you wanted to hear about how me and your mom fell in love?" asked the dad.

"Yes!" exclaimed both the kids.

"Well alrighty then, I'll start and your mom will chime in if I start to mess it up," said the dad.

           "Your mother and her sister were the daughters of a very powerful, rich Indian chief. They were beautiful young ladies, and it was about the time that they were of an age to marry that I first saw your mom. You see, I was the sun up in the sky, and my sister, your aunt, was the stars in the sky. We would look down on all the people each day, and one day I happened to see your mother. I saw her standing outside of their families tipi, and a crowd of suitors surrounded her and her sister. However, no matter how many men would ask for their hands in marriage, both your mother and her sister rejected them. I was pretty perplexed, especially when so many of the suitors came bringing jewels, riches, and animals. That's when my sister and I decided we would go down and visit earth and see what these two girls were about.
           To visit Earth, my sister and I had to take on human forms. So during the night we set up a raggedy old tipi for ourselves and I become a boy, a poor dirty boy, while my sister took the form of my very elderly grandmother. When daylight came a crowd of people gathered around our tipi and I could hear them whispering while I laid inside on my pallet; I had a bum leg so I couldn't ever leave that pallet. I heard something about an upcoming competition to win the chiefs daughters, and I told my sister/grandmother to enter me in the competition.
           Four days later the competition happened. It was an arrow shooting contest and we each got two shots to hit a certain eagle perched high up in a tree. My sister/grandmother made me a bow and arrow and pulled the door open on our tipi, from laying on my pallet I shot and hit the eagle... I had won the competition. The chief saw me win but I guess he didn't want to give his daughters to a dirty, sick boy so he declared that there would be another competition and that the next time the winner would for sure win his daughters.
           The next competition was to go up to a mountain pond and set two traps to catch fish, the man who caught a fish would win. I, of course, couldn't make the trek up the mountain so I had my sister/grandmother make me cages and we set them outside our tipi on dry land. The next morning when we awoke my sister/grandmother checked the traps and both of mine were full of fish. When the other men came down from the mountain none of them had caught any fish so I was the winner... again.
           This time the chief sent his daughters to me, but on the way your mother's sister went into the tipi of the Raven family and she married one of their sons. Your mother on the other hand came to my tipi and she became my wife. I was sick and my sister/grandmother told her I was going to die soon so she should go sleep in her father's tipi every night but come and take care of me during the day. She did this for three days and never complained.
           On the fourth night my sister and I decided it was time for us to transform back into our true forms. So, that night our cruddy tipi became brand new and exquisite, my elderly sister turned into a young beautiful sister and I turned into a handsome, healthy young man. When morning came the village was shocked. Your mother came back to take care of me as usual, but was confused at what she saw. My sister greeted her at the door and assured her that I, the now handsome man, was her husband. She came in and sat beside me and she was glad.
           I had the mark of the sun on the back of my hand, and my sister had the mark of a star. I wanted your mother to officially be a part of our family so I dipped her hand into a pot of gold dust and stars covered the back of her hand. Now that I could walk your mother and I got officially married and she fell even more in love with me," said the father as he held the mother's hand.

"Awwwwwww" said the children in unison.

"Yes it is pretty 'awwwww' I would say. Your mother has always had a heart of gold and I love her for that," said the father. And then the parents kissed.

"Ewww get a room," said the daughter.

The mom and dad got up, tucked the kids in, turned off the lights and closed the door "Goooooodniiiiight," said mom and dad.


Author's Note: The Originals story was called "Dirty Boy." In the story the sun and the star of the sky looked upon a village with 2 beautiful girls of the chief who rejected all their suitors. The sun and star went down to earth to see what the two women were about/if the sun could marry them. They made themselves a poor persons hut and the sun became a dirty, sick boy, the stars his old grandmother. The chief had two competitions for his daughters suitor and dirty boy won them both. Finally the chief gave the daughters to him. The eldest disobeyed and married a raven man. The youngest tended to the dirty boy for three days, then on the fourth day the sun and star took on their true form and made a beautiful home, become young and healthy and handsome. The bride was pleased and they lived happily. He gave her stars on her body like they had. As you can see I didn't change many of the original stories elements, I just changed by whom the story was told. I also thought I would try to make it more of a love story and I picked the dad as the story teller because he would know the most since he was the "dirty boy." I also added in some dialogue to make it flow better and to make it easier to picture the story setting of a bedtime love story.  

Bibliography: "The Dirty-Boy" from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). Web source

Week 10 Reading Diary, Continued: Native American Hero Tales

Reading diary continued for the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away
This was a really weird story. In the beginning a witch killed a woman and took her two babies out of her stomach throwing one in the river and one behind the curtain in the tipi. The father found the one in the house and raised him, then the two of them got the other one from the river. The boys became rebellious but also heroes; their father kept warning them of dangerous things that existed that they should avoid but each time the disobeyed and found the thing or person and killed it or destroyed it. I found myself saying how many more times will this happen... how many more times will this dad tell them not to do something knowing they will do it. Then, I didn't see much of a point to this story; especially because in the end no death or harm ever actually came to the boys and instead they lived happily forever as heroes. This story had some very weird things happen.

The Son-in-Law Tests
The title of this story definitely gives away what it was about. A father kept killing all of his daughters husbands by tricking them into doing tasks or they lost in competitions and were killed. All he killed except for one who kept beating him at the tasks or outsmarting him. They probably did around 10 different things, all very concisely told but again I was annoyed at how many there were. Finally the father-in law was killed out on the ocean by the son in law calling up the waves. Some weird aspects were in this story as well, the son had to pick and eat lice from the fathers head, etc.

The Jealous Father
Another story involving someone getting left somewhere while the other person paddled away in the canoe. Also another story where people transform between birds and people, it sounds like native Americans really have a strong connection with nature and especially birds. A man had two wives and one gave him a son. But this son fooled around with the fathers other wife so the father left him stranded on an island. A walrus rescued him and took him to the main land. The father sent lightning and other things to harm him but his mother sent the walrus and things to help him. He eventually made it back and he caught the forest on fire and made the sea boil. He burned up his father and saved his mothers. Then they decided to become birds, the son became a whiskey jack.

Whiskey Jack

Dirty-Boy
The sun and the star of the sky looked upon a village with 2 beautiful girls of the chief who rejected all their suitors. The sun and star decided to go down to earth and see what the two women were about/if the sun could marry them. They made themselves a poor persons hut and the sun became a dirty, sick boy, the stars his old grandmother. The chief had two competitions for his daughters suitor and dirty boy won them both. Finally the chief gave the daughters to him. The eldest disobeyed and married a raven man. The youngest tended to the dirty boy for three days, then on the fourth day the sun and star took on their true form and made a beautiful home, become young and healthy and handsome. The bride was pleased and they lived happily. He gave her stars on her body like they had.

Week 10 Reading Diary: Native American Hero Tales

This reading diary will cover stories from the Native American Hero Tales unit. Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

The Jealous Uncle
This was a pretty long story, three pages in length to be exact, but I enjoyed it. In this story the uncle who they called Unnatural Uncle would kill his nephews shortly after birth, his wife made a deal with the mother to say that the next was a girl to protect the baby boy from death. They did this until his teens but eventually uncle figured it out. Then uncle made four attempts at taking the nephews life but was unsuccessful at each. On the fourth he put him in a box out to sea, he washed up to Eagle land and the chief there married him to his daughter. He missed his family so he put on the eagle skin and flew home. The uncle was mistreating his parents so the nephew dropped him into the ocean knowing he couldn't swim. He then went to his parents and flew them with him to his new adopted land. I was glad that the uncle didn't win and that the nephew came back for his parents.

Bluejay and His Companions
A bluejay and his four companions would go out seal hunting and would share with Grouse, a quail, only the bad fatless parts of the seal. He never complained but instead made a big black seal out of wood and set it into the sea. The next day the men caught it and it pulled them far out to sea for a day and a half. When it stopped they realized it was Grouse's doing. They then paddled back towards land and came upon 3 or 4 villages of people. But each of these villages challenged them to some kind of task or battle and each time they won so they were free to leave and carry on. They finally made it back home with one less man and from then on they gave Grouse the biggest, fattest seal.

Grouse the bird

Dug-From-Ground
This story wasn't as entertaining or as easy to follow as the other two. From what I gathered from it, a daughter dug op plants from the ground and her mother warned her not to dig up any with two stocks. But she did it and then a baby followed her home and became her son. The grandmother raised him and the mother refused to look at him, she went out each day a picked acorns. He followed her and picked some and killed a deer and then she called him her son. He then left home and went to a village, he completed several tasks and won all of them and lots of money. After years of being away he went back for his mother and grandmother and picked up their house to move to where he had been.

The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle
Giant animals once ruled the earth and they killed humans. There was one human however that decided he was going to end the lives of the giant elk and giant eagle. He used the skin of a lizard and the burrowing of a beaver to kill the elk, but not before the elk created the mountains of the world. Then he took the antlers and killed the great eagle mother and father and her stunted the growth and power of the three baby eagles. A old bat helped him down from the eagles nest and in return he gave the bat the eagle feathers. She kept losing them so he gave her no more and she accepted this fate.

Week 9 Storytelling: Ikuloo, the Maker of Light

A preschool class from the Inuit Eskimo tribe of Alaska took a field trip to help them learn about the creation of the earth. Where did they go to learn this crucial information? To none other than a cemetery.

They got off the school bus and made their way to the center of the cemetery when a gigantic grave stone stood hovering far higher than all the others. Around this stone monument were park benches; seems weird to have benches around a grave right? 

Well the kiddos took their seats and the teacher went up to the grave stone to read the plaque that covered the entire front of it. She read it out loud and it went a little something like this....

        "Here lies the first man to ever die on earth.... Ikuloo Naqauoni. Ikuloo was a great man and the reason that there is light on earth. Mankind owes much to Ikuloo for his great sacrifice that he made for all of us.
         When earth was created we lacked light, there was only night and darkness and not even a moon in the sky. Also when earth was created we lived to be so old that our bodies had no use anymore, but still we would not die. Because we lived for forever, the Earth became overpopulated. This darkness and overpopulation made conditions grow terrible for life on earth, and so there was a great flood. The flood knocked down numbers quite a bit but still there were too many of us.
          We all knew that to get light there must be death... but none of us wanted to admit it, that is everyone except for Ikuloo. Ikuloo was the first man to die, he was only 212 years old. (Those were infantile years compared to how long most lived during this time period.) When Ikuloo had taken his last breath, daylight washed over the Earth for the first time.
          That is when the elders of the village called a meeting to contemplate life or light, and they agreed that we must continue to have death to have light. And so it became.
          To Ikuloo may you rest in peace and continue to light our days and nights with the many other who have since followed your lead," read the teacher.



The large grave stone/monument for Ikuloo Naguani  

           
When the teacher finished reading the plaque she turned to the kids to explain it just a little bit more.

"Ikuloo was the first man to die and so his death brought about light for the first time. Now all men and women on earth will eventually die in their old age, unlike how we used to live for forever. The coolest part is that now when we die, our souls float up to the sky to become a part of the moon, the sun, and all the stars," said the teacher

"And thanks to this day light and light during the night, we are able to hunt, and fish, and travel, and we aren't limited to eating on the earth like our ancestors were. We have a lot to thank Ikuloo for, for if he hadn't been the first brave enough to die then who knows if the earth would have ever recovered from overpopulation or gained daylight, moonlight and starlight," said the teacher.

"Okay now everybody grab your partner and back on the bus we go" said the teacher.
 
Author's Note: The original story was an interesting version of the creation story of the world and of mankind. In this tale there was no God... rather the earth and all of its contents and inhibitants rather fell into place. In the beginning people only had nighttime, and the earth was over populated with people because they lived to extremely old ages. Two elderly women agreed that they would trade the death of man in order to have daylight... and this became life. The first man died and there was light; then it said when all men die they become bright things in the sky like the stars, moon, and sun. I was lost in the beginning with choosing a storytelling style and then the randomizer showed me one called "Historical Marker Storytelling." I used this style by making the first guys death a historical marker in time and a physical marker on earth. Then I thought it would be cool to have people visiting it to read it and young kids seemed like the perfect audience for this partial creation story. I'm happy with how it turned out and with the little changes I made to the plot.

Bibliography: "The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago" found in Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Week 9 Reading Diary, Continued: Eskimo Folk Tales

Continued reading diary covering the Eskimo Folk Tales unit. Story source: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother
Papik went out seal huntin everyday with his brother in law, who always caught a seal when he never did. He got jealous and killed the brother in law. When the grandmother found out she threatened revenge and then allowed herself to get swallowed by the ocean. She came back as a bear and dismembered his body. Now this is a lesson not to kill for no reason or a monster will come back to get you like this.

Pâtussorssuaq, Who Killed His Uncle
Another story about men wrongfully killing another man and then getting killed by a ghostly creature. Again like in the last story the ghost came back as a bear and destroyed the body/ate it. Lots of common themes- fishing, seals, ice, ghosts, bears, eskimo kisses, karma, revenge.

The Wife Who Lied
The wife from the cannibal tribe went for a visit back home and had mittens on her hands to make them think her new husbands tribe had harmed her. This caused a back and forth war and her husbands tribe killed her for her lie.

The Eagle and the Whale
A group of brothers gave their two sisters off to live with an eagle and a whale. The eventually grew homesick and missed their sisters so they got them back by killing both of them.

Umiak boat going whaling

Atdlarneq, The Great Glutton
Atdlarneq was a great and greedy fisherman, he came upon a cottage in a cape and three women outside of it. They received him well but were waiting for their master. He arrived and made atdlarneq eat until he was about to explode. Then he never traveled there again.

Ángángŭjuk
This boy^ disappeared from his home one day. The father wanted to immediately kill the mother for his death/disappearance but instead called a wizard to help find him. The found him in a mountain hut with people and the wizard cast them all asleep so they could go in and retrieve him. They never let him out of their sight again.

Âtârssuaq
A man taught his son^ how to swim really well for long distances underwater from the time he was just a baby. The father was killed and the son defended himself and his mother by killing all the people coming after them in canoes thanks to his swimming ability.

Tungujuluk and Saunikoq
One man had a son and the other did not so his jealousy caused him to take the form of a bear and try to kill the son. The dad stabbed him instead and then went to take the form of a walrus and let the other man harpoon him. But they both survived and the first man felt shame so he left and never returned.

Week 9 Reading Diary: Eskimo Folk Tales

This reading diary will cover stories from the Eskimo Folk Tales unit. Story source: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).


The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago
This story told an interesting version of the creation story of the world and of mankind. In this tale there is no God... rather the earth and all of its contents and inhibitants rather fell into place just as they are now. In the beginning people only had nighttime, and the earth was over populated with people because they lived to old age. Then they agreed to trade the death of man in order to have daylight. The first man died and there was light; now when all men die they become bright things in the sky lights stars, moon, sun.

Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak
This was quite a confusing story... I read it twice and I still really have no idea what it was about. All I know is Tupilak's are some creature made by man and the one in this story was eating his creators body. And also Nukú killed the creator by startling him but besides that I no nothing.. which is basically also what the story ends by saying.
 
The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son
A polar bear cub became the foster son of a lonely woman. When he was small he played with the kids of the town. when he was larger he played with the grown men, and when he was huge he went out hunting with men. The foster mom made him a collar as a mark to protect him from being hunted. One day a man from the north set out to kill the unkillable bear and instead the bear killed him. The foster mom wept and sent the bear away to hopefully be safe with his own family.  

The polar bear son

Qalagánguasê, Who Passed to the Land of Ghosts
A young boy, Qala, lost all of his family members to deaths. He was a lame boy and the lower part of his body didn't work. All of his family members came back as ghosts to entertain him while the people of his village left him to go hunting. One time his mother and fathers ghosts came and they told him they could take him away to a better place. Then he became a ghost like the others and no one in the village ever saw him away. This could be an interesting story to retell... Maybe from someone else perspective.  

Isigâligârssik
The town wizard would only let married men see the spirits performance, so Isig found a young girl who wanted to marry him. He went to the spirit thing but the wizard cast him out. He kept trying to get back in and eventually the wizard stabbed him, but luckily he fit into his baby outfit and it healed him to survive. He then shot the wizard with a tiny bow and arrow and he died. This Isig lived happily ever after with his wife. 

The Insects that Wooed a Wifeless Man 
The man was wifeless because he slept all night and day and was hopeless. Then one day when he finally awoke, far later than all the other men, he went out in his canoe. He rescued a man whos canoe had been turned over and this man granted him a wife and a cure for his sleeping as long as he never spoke of that day/how he got those things. HE went on the wake early each day and catch seals, and he got a wife but she was nosy. He told her how he caught the seals each day and he lost the gifts he had been granted. He left through winter, his canoe rotted, his wife left him. This could also be a good story to retell.

Makíte
Again another story I didn't really understand at all. I think the cultural barrier between things like items used in our daily life, and thing in nature is so intense that I just don't know what the heck is going on. All i know is Makite was a sucky fisherman and left his wife to go up the mountain to a better life but came across these houses with people living alone and there was a fight and a wave of water and then they all died? Still not really sure, these stories aren't very entertaining to me since I don't even understand them. 

Atungait, Who Went A-Wandering
This story was pretty weird. Atungait had a wife and killed a seal but went off to find a strong woman to knead the seal skin for him. He found one by playing football? and then they traveled on together up a mountain with their sled dogs. Along the way they came across groups of people with bodily deformations or they were cannibals and they stole things from them. Atungait returned home to see his wife kissing another man, he killed her but not him because he was honest about it. Then he married the strong woman.
 
The Giant Dog
A man owned a giant savage dog who would bring in whales and narwhales.... but one day it killed and ate a man so they had to move away to their own land. The dog was trained and the master ould ride it if they wanted. They dog would disappear very now and then and bring its master back a human leg of an inland dweller. The dog would snatch people from their houses and that is why the are all now still scared of dogs. Another man came one day with three dogs to kill the big one but instead it crushed all three of them. 

Future Reading Selections

My task now is to explore the UnTextbook for this class and to select the stories I would like to read for the next two weeks. The next section is the Native American unit and we will pick two sub units of it to read for weeks 9 and 10, which are the two weeks following spring break. It's hard to believe we are already at the week before spring break and making these final reading choices.

For week 9 I will read the unit called "Inuit (Eskimo) Folk Tales." The title of this unit caught my attention and then I read the summary of it and I knew I wanted to read all the stories. I don't know much about the life of Eskimos but I think it would be really interesting to see what things are popular in their culture and to see some history in these stories. The stories seem like they cover a wide variety of topics so I don't think I'll be at all bored with this unit.

Image on the intro area for the Inuit (Eskimo) Unit. (I'm interested to see what this creature is)

For week 10 I will read "Native American Hero Tales." I have not read any units so far that have focused just on heroes so I think this will be an interesting one to read. Some of the stories within this unit had interesting titles as well so I'm looking forward to reading the whole stories. Again I like that I'll be able to learn about the native American culture from these stories.

Blog Feature Ideas

For this assignment I looked at a few  other blogs and selected three whose layout and features I really liked. I analyzed these three blogs the select a few things that I might want to change on my blog. The links to the three blogs and what I liked about each of them are listed below.

http://mcrelyea.blogspot.com/
I like how the stories and the navigation side bar were together in one large lighter purple block. I also like that her blog didn't have navigation tabs at the top, like mine does, and instead just on the side. It was all so easy to read because of the font styles and colors.


http://3043.mythfolklore.net/randommf.html
I really like how this blog takes up much more of the page with the writing column instead of leaving a lot of empty space on the sides. My blog's writing area is pretty skinny right now and I should look into expanding it to make better use of my blog.

http://3043.mythfolklore.net/randommf.html
One unique feature of this blog is the quote of the day located at the top of the sidebar. I think this would be interesting to include on my blog because it would give the reader something new to see everyday. It would also be cool if I got to pick it as it would be a reflection of my interests.

Time Strategies

In the beginning of the semester I chose to start my work for this class on Sundays, also working on Monday and then finishing up the next Saturday. I have found that pretty much every week since the beginning that this time allotment has not actually worked for me. I usually start the week's work on Tuesday evening, doing both reading diaries and the storytelling post. I also try to do the project feedback and the extra blog comments on Tuesday or Wednesday. Then that just leaves me the work on my storybook project and the blog comments, which I normally knock out Friday afternoon or I'll wait until Sunday to do it.

So my official start date should change to Tuesday- doing 2 hours, Wednesday- 2 hours, Friday OR Sunday- 2 hours.

As for how I handle my time for other classes.... I feel that I've done a really good job of working ahead and working hard all week so that I can enjoy my weekends. There truly is way more going on the spring than the fall so I like to be able to put away the books and homework and go hangout outside, go to sporting events, go to date parties, and do philanthropy events. 

Knowing that after spring break things will get even crazier, I will have to be sure to finish my Netflix shows over spring break so that I'm not tempted to watch them during the rest of the semester. I also think it will be increasingly important that I get enough sleep so I can finish the semester strong.

How I feel when I spend time planning/focusing on time management

Week 7 Storytelling: The Kettle in the Woods

In the forests of Japan there live many animals of all kinds. One of the animals that is native only to this area is called a Tanuki. Tanukis look rather cute upon first glance, almost like a little fox mixed with a bear cub. But, Tanukis are sneaky and mischievous little tricksters who have no respect for humans. They often steal shiny items from the people who pitch
tents for the night in their woods.

One of the items most frequently stolen by Tanukis is tea kettles. The campers in the forest will make a fire for the night and will set a tea kettle over it to have hot water ready in the morning to make their coffee. Little do they know, the whistling of the kettle and then its metal glimmering in the moonlight make it most desirable to the Tanukis.

One night three young Tanuki brothers entered into a campsite, there was a tea kettle over the fire that the three wanted to steal. They played a round of rock paper scissors and the youngest of the three lost so he had to be the one to retrieve the kettle.

He crept between the tents and when he was at the fire's edge he saw how difficult the task would be for a little guy like him. He took a step back to get a running start, then he ran and leapt over the fire to knock the kettle off its holder. The kettle fell down, hot water splashing out and the metal clanging as it hit the ground. The little Tanuki had used his head to hit it off so he was a little delirious.

The other two Tanuki brothers knew they had caused too much noise and that the people would soon wake up and come out after them... so they took off into the woods. The little one shook off his deliriousness and then dumped the rest of the water out of the kettle.

He wanted to carry it back home for his family's stockpile of shiny things they had stolen, so he got inside the kettle and turned it over. His body fit inside and only his feet stuck out the bottom. Because of this he couldn't see anything. However he could hear the people rustling around in their tents, then he heard one of them unzip; a person was probably onto him now.

The Tanuki started running towards the woods, with the kettle on his back and his feet going wherever they could,  but the person was now chasing him and the kettle. He ducked and weaved and jumped over some branches. He was sure he had lost the person since he no longer heard him.

He sat down behind a tree and slipped the kettle off his body, he was panting to catch his breath.

Then, out of no where, the human reached around the tree and grabbed the Tanuki in one hand and the kettle in the other.

He said "You silly animal. You awaked me from my sleep and put me through quite the chase. If you wanted this kettle so badly, all you had to do was ask... We wizards are quite good at granting wishes, you know?" The wizard said

"Well now I suppose I'll grant you what you wish... forevermore you and that kettle shall never part, that is because you will become one part" the wizard said followed by an evil laugh. Then he pulled out his wand, made a few flicks of his wrist, and cast a spell to literally turn the Tanuki into half Tanuki/half kettle.

Tanuki tea kettle

"And finally, I command you to never return home to your family but to instead go find other humans to share your gift with. You shall dance for the people of the land and you will be their enjoyment like once the tea kettle was yours" ended the wizard. Then the wizard vanished back to his campsite, and the Tanuki took off towards a village in the forest.


Author's Note: The original story comes from Japanese fairy tales and was called "The Magic Kettle." In this story a man comes home to find a mysterious kettle, he puts it on the stove but it turns into half Tanuki. He is scared so he gave it to another man who then built a traveling show around the dancing Tanuki/kettle. He became very rich and then gave the Tanuki back to the first man so he could become rich as well. I enjoyed this story so I decided to retell it; in my retelling I made it an origin story. The original story left a lot to be wondered about how the half Tanuki/ketlle appeared in the mans house in the first place so that is what I made up for this story. In this way my story is the lead in to the original story and I think it answers a lot of questions for the readers. I chose the image from the original story because it accurately depicted what a half Tanuki/half kettle animal would look like.

Bibliography: "The Magic Kettle" from the Japanese Fairy Tales unit. Story source: The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1903).

Week 7 Reading Diary Continued: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

Continued from Japanese Fairy Tales unit. Story source: The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1901).

Schippeitaro
Young boys had to go off into the world to prove themselves so this one boy went into a forest to find some great task to conquer. He got lost and slept at nigh in the forest chapel, big cats woke him at midnight talking of Schippeitaro. The next day he found a village and a girl crying because the next day she would be eater by the forest spirit. He decided that was his task and he ask of Schippeitaro- the kings large dog. He begged to borrow the dog and put him in the place of the girl the next day in a box in the chapel. The cats returned and the largest one, the spirit opened it to eat the girl but instead the dog bit him. The boy cut off his head and killed other cats as well. Now all the girls are safe and they celebrate the boy and dog.

The Crab and the Monkey
The crab had a nice hole for a home and there was some rice outside of it. She was bringing it inside when a monkey appeared and asked for a trade- some rice for a kaki kernel. The crab agreed. Later the monkey came by again and the crab gave him permission to climb in her kaki tree if he dropped her some fruit. He dropped the bad ones so she tricked him into doing a somersault which dropped the good ones from his pockets. Seeing he had been tricked he pummeled the crab almost to death. But her friends saved her and made a revenge plan. When the monkey came to apologize they hurt him and eventually killed him. The crab lived happily under the kaki until she died.

The Magic Kettle
A kettle appeared in a mans house and when he filled it with water and sat it on the hot stove in morfed into a cute creature called a tanuki. He was scared and didn't want it so he sold it to a tradesman. He too discoved it was tanuki and was given advice to show it to people for a price once he got the tanukis consent. So he did this and the tanuki would appear from the kettle on command and dance for/with people. Once he had made a fortune he still wasn't happy so he returned the kettle with a 100 gold pieces to the original owner. They both lived a happy, great, well respected life. This would be a fun story to retell, maybe as a how did the tanuki first come to be.

The kettle tanuki

How the Wicked Tanuki was Punished
Only a father tanuki and his son and his fox wife still lived in the forest but they were starving. The planned for the father to play dead while the mother changed to a human and sold him for food. He escaped later and they ate happily, but again they ran out. So they switched roles and the mother played dead while the father sold her. But he was greedy and didn't want to share with her so he told the buyer to really kill her. He got back to his son but now also didn't want to share with him. He survived on his own but sought to avenge his mom. He said he knew magic better than his father so he bet the father wouldn't recognize him if he changed shapes. Instead he hid and watched as the father accused the real king of being his son. His guards threw him into the river and he died. The son was happy and lived on in the forest.

The Slaying of the Tanuki
A man in the forest was tricked by the Tanuki a few to many times so he wanted to kill the Tanuki. He captured him and bound him in his house. But his kind wife freed him and the Tanuki instead cooked her up into a feast instead of him being the meal. He used his magic to take her shape and clothes and then when the man returned he ate the food which was his wife. The Tanuki changed back to itself and told the man what happened then ran away. The man wanted to avenge her so a hare helped him. He set him on fire but that wasn't enough so he took him out fishing a drowned him. Finally the wife was avenged and the man and hare lived happily together.

Uraschimataro and the Turtle
Ura was a daring fisherman and one day caught a turtle in his nets, he brought it aboard but it begged to be freed. Ura put it back and it said it owed him. Later on another voyage his ship was destroyed and he was almost killed but the same turtle came to his rescue. Instead of taking him straight home they went underwater for three days to find a palace. In the palace Ura met a woman who loved him from what the turtle told her. Ura stayed to live with her and she granted him to never die or age. Eventually he longed for his parents so she unwillingly let him go back only to return if he did not open the little chest she gave him. When he got back it had been 300 years and his parents had both passed away. He unconsciously opened the box and instantly became old, almost like a zombie. He waited for the turtle to come take him back but he never arrived and Ura die.

Week 7 Reading Diary: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

This reading diary will focus on the Japanese Fairy Tales unit. Story source: The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1901).

The Two Frogs
Two frogs from two different cities in Japan wanted to explore each others cities. They both set out on the road and the met in the middle and became friends. They stood up on their hind legs together to see if the other city was worth visiting but they forgot their eyes were on the back of their head. SO when they thought they were looking at the other city they were really looking at their own. Seeing it was no better they both turned around for home.

The Stonecutter
A stonecutter finally heard the voice of the mountain spirit who granted wishes. He was unhappy with his life and wished to have a nice bed, the wished to be a prince, then the sun, then the clouds, then the rock mountain, and finally again he wished to be a man. Each time he was unhappy and saw something better and more powerful he wanted to be until finally he realized that his job as a stone cutter man was the best and fine for him.

The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet
A young girl was so beautiful that the mother and father wanted to protect her from men so they told her to wear a wooden helmet. They were a hardworking family and so when the father then mother died the daughter went on to work to support herself. She was brought in to care after a mans sick wife and then one day the son caught a glimpse of the maidens beauty. He asked to marry her to his families displeasure and eventually she said yes. The helmet was stuck to her head before the wedding so she was married in it, later on it burst off into pieces. They lived happily ever after.

The Envious Neighbor
A mans dog lead him to treasure in his yard. The neighbor was envious and borrowed the dog, when he only dug up bones he killed him. The sad owners had a dream of the dog telling them to cut down a tree for mortar, they did this and it turned to gold pieces. The envious neighbor again borrowed the mortar but for him it created stinky berries, he burned them. Then the dog told the owners to collect the ashes and spread them on cherry trees in front of the king, they did this and he gave them rich gifts. The envious neighbor tried to do the same with the remaining ashes but they got in the kings eye. He bound and punished him and when he was released from prison his village would have him no longer.

The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue
A man saved a sparrow from a mean bird and let it live in a cage in his home, he loved it but his wife was quarrelsome and hated it. When he left on a trip she chased it around the house and at last slit its tongue. It was fearful and sad and flew away to the forest. When the man returned he was determined to find his bird friend so he searched many days. Finally he came to a house in the woods and a woman brought him inside. It was the sparrow turned into a woman. They ate and she served him & sent his away with a chest. He opened it at home and it was jewels. The wife was mad he didn't choose the bigger one so she found the house and chose the bigger one. When she got it home she opened it to find snakes which bit her and then she died.

The Cat's Elopement
Two cats fell in love but their owners wouldn't sell one to the other so they ran off to be together. They were in a park when a dog was about to attack Gon the male and the female Kona cried out for help. A man saved him and took him to the princess where he lived happily. He killed a snake for her and then one day he rescued the female from a mean cat in the park. The two went to the princess and she accepted the girl and treated them well. They had kittens and she got married and had babies and they were all friends.

The cats at the woman's feet