Week 11 Storytelling: "Therapy for Gold-tree"

"Miss Gold-Tree, the doctor will see you now," said the receptionist.

Gold-tree got up from her seat in the waiting room and walked toward the receptionist who was holding the door open for her. Gold-tree was a beautiful woman of about 35; she walked through the threshold with poise and grace, but also with what appeared to be a huge worry on her shoulders.

"Okay you'll be in the third room on the left, go inside, lie down on the sofa, and the doctor will be with you shortly," the receptionist said.

Once inside the room, Gold-tree began to feel antsy. This was her first time visiting a therapist, and she wasn't quite sure what she was going to say. Maybe she could bring up how her mother tried to kill her... twice, or that she was a sister wife, or maybe the fact that she lay dead for 6 months when all someone had to do was pull the thorn out of her finger to revive her. Yeahhh, she had a lot to get off her chest. This poor doctor, she thought. Just as she was thinking about the poor guy that would have to listen to her ramble for hours, the therapist walked in.

Gold-tree on the couch for her therapy session

"Hi there, I'm Dr. Mahon," the Dr. said as he shook Gold-tree's hand and took a seat in a large, comfy chair across from her.

"Well, let's just go ahead and jump right in why don't we. Why don't you tell me what has brought you here today... and start from the very beginning. Think of this as if you're telling me the story of your life and I'm just hear to listen until you're totally done. Then, and only then, can we begin to analyze these things and how you feel. Does that sound good?" said Dr. Mahon.

Gold-tree nodded "yes."

"Perfect then you may begin," said Dr. Mahon.

            "When I was little my mother, her name was Silver-tree, and I used to go out to the well behind our castle and chat with the trout that swam in it. One day when I was about 15 my mother asked the trout if she was the most beautiful woman alive, and he said "No." She asked who else could be more beautiful and he pointed his fin at me... I blushed, but my mother's face grew angry and she pulled me back to our castle. I guess you could say things were pretty weird from that day forward.
              Late that night my father came into my room and told me to get up and pack my things. He said it was time for me to go off and marry the prince of another country who had been courting me. This was so sudden, and I was reluctant to go. That's when my father told me the real reason why I had to leave... my mother wanted me dead.
              He said when we came back from the well earlier that day, all my mother could do was scream at her mirror and say how she had to kill me and eat my heart and liver to become the prettiest woman in all the land. He heard this and knew she meant business, so he arranged for the prince to take me away that night.
            In my new castle with my husband I lived happily and I felt safe from my mother's grasp. After all, my father had told my mother I died so she shouldn't even be concerned with me anymore. That is until one day, years later, I got this feeling that she was on her way. Then my dad sent me a letter to warn me that she had taken the boat and was sailing to see me. I was right, and so I had my servants lock me up in the castle tower.
            Unfortunately, my husband was on a hunting trip that same day. My mother arrived and pleaded to see me, but I wasn't having it. Eventually she asked just for me to stick my finger out the keyhole so she could kiss it. Well, sure enough she jabbed a poison-covered thorn into my finger and I died... right there on the spot.
             My husband mourned my death and laid my body to rest on a bed in the tower, he locked the door and kept the key on him always. He remarried soon after. On another of his hunting trips one day, his new wife unlocked my door and saw me lying there. She saw the thorn and pulled it out and I immediately filled with life. I know, how ridiculous that that's all it took... what an idiot husband I have. When he came back he decided he would have both of us as wives instead of the other one going away.
           Well after this time my mother again visited the trout in the well to reassure herself she was the most beautiful. The trout told her I was still the most beautiful and that I was alive. So naturally, that woman hopped on the ship and sailed over again to try and end my life. I could feel that she was coming again, but this time I had the support of my sister wife, so we hatched a plan to kill her before she killed me.
           When my mom arrived we met her outside the castle gates. She offered me a drink... just like we knew she would. But, as is customary, the person who provides the drink must take a drink of it first before sharing. When my mother pretended to tip the glass back, my sister wife tapped the glass so that the liquid actually went down her throat. She immediately died and my life was spared.
           I have since moved my father in with us... but as you can assume he isn't too happy about my husband having another wife," said Gold-tree.

"I see... and how does all of that make you feel?" asked Dr. Mahon.

     
Author's Note: For this retelling I thought the storytelling style of a therapy session would be the perfect choice. The main character, Gold-tree, as you can see went through a lot and so I figured her sharing those rough experiences with a therapist would be a good way to convey the story. I didn't change many aspects from the original, basically the only thing I changed was how and by who it was told. Because of this I wont summarize the original for you now; all you need to know is above. I may have left out some minor parts of the story but I covered all the big things, and I was totally out of room to write anymore even if I had wanted to. That brings me to this, I would have liked to have more of a conversation between the therapist and Gold-tree in the end but I just didn't have room so I thought it was okay to end it how I did. The line of "how does that make you feel" is kindve ironic considering how much Gold-tree just told him so I thought it was somewhat of a comical ending. I chose the image to show what a therapy session like this might look like.

Bibliography: "Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree" from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

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 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 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).

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).

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).

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).

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

Storytelling Week 2: Gossiping Chickens and Naive Dogs

On a small farm out in the middle of the country, there was a farmer who had all kinds of animals. He had donkeys, chickens, pigs, cows, and rabbits. The animals lived in peaceful harmony, that is everyone except for the chickens. The chickens, there were a dozen or so of them, were exceptional at gossiping and they often made fun of the other animals and spread bad things about them.

The chickens would wake up each morning and search for the newest farm member to gossip about, they even talked behind the farmer's back occasionally. The other animals put up with it for some time but then they couldn't take anymore. They decided to shun the chickens and cut off all communication and contact with them. 

The chickens, having no friends to gossip about or pick on, were extremely bored now with all of their free time. However, the addicted gossipers that they were, they still made up things to gossip about, even things like the weather became hot topics.

They were approaching the 100th day of aimlessly gossiping when they heard something from beyond the farm approaching.

The chickens turned their heads and saw four large dogs crossing the pasture. The two eldest chickens had found someone new to gossip about.

"Look Beatrice, those hounds over there are getting closer and closer to our farm!"

"Who do they think they are!"

"I don't know... maybe they are here to steal our eggs or vandalize our pens!"

"They do look like quite wild, quick hens hide your eggs!"

Just beyond the animals cages was a stream, and the dogs made their way to it and stopped to drink. 

Image of the dogs lapping up the river, by Winter  

"That is just filthy, I guess we can't all be important enough to have a farmer bring us pails of water, right hens?"

The ladies agreed and laughed at the hounds drinking stream water.

The dogs stayed at the waters edge for quite some time, only pausing occasionally from drinking to take a breath.

"What on earth.... why wont they stop drinking?"

"I'm not sure... they appear to be verrrrry thirsty."

"No that's not it, there must be some reason"

"Maybe its because they have never had clean water before?"

The hens chuckled again at the dog's expense.

"No no... wait! I almost forgot, this morning the farmer laid some fresh hides in the river to tan them!"

"Oh yes! Those silly beasts must be trying to reach the hides"

"But how..."

The hens pondered for quite some time and continued to watch the dogs lap up the water.

"I've got it! They are trying to drink up our river!

At that remark every hen in the pen laughed so hard that the other animals nearby in their pens turned to see what was so funny.

They too saw the dogs lapping up the river and a few approached the hens to see if they knew who those strangers were.

"Why those four silly beasts are trying to drink up the whole river to get to the hides at the bottom... Isn't that just the silliest thing you've ever heard??"

The other animals laughed along with the hens, and then they started whispering and spreading the gossip amongst themselves about the ridiculous wild dogs who were silly enough to think they could drink up a river.

The whispers and laugher from the farm grew loud enough to where the dogs could hear them.

One of the dogs perked up and glanced in their direction.

"Oh no.. I hope they don't come any closer... those filthy animals probably don't even know how to communicate with classy hens like us"

The dog turned back and he and his three friends drank the last little bit until their bellies expanded to the max. Then the dogs laid down and gave up, they had no more room for water and they weren't any closer to the hides.

The farm animals laughed even more at their expense.

"I just knew they couldn't do it" said a hen

"Me too... I always thought dogs were stupid animals and that proves it" said the other hen.

The other animals chipped in with the gossiping. Eventually the dogs arose and walked back to the farms edge with their heads held low and their tail between their legs.

It's easy to forgive and join in when you're not the one the cruel act is against.

Author's Note: The Original fable by Aesop was about three dogs trying to drink up a river to reach the hides at the bottom. As you can tell, I did not alter the plot, but I did alter the way the story was told. I chose to tell the story from a gossiping perspective and created the chickens on the farm as the gossipers. I thought this would be a good way to convey a silly story like the dogs trying to consume a whole river. It seemed like an old task and like one other people would gossip about because it was so outrageous.

Bibliography: "The Dogs and the Hides", from Aesop for Children, illustrated by Winter (1919). Web Source: Aesop (Winter)

Week 1 Storytelling: The Olympic Candlestick Hurdler

“JACK, be nimble,
And, Jack, be quick;
And, Jack, jump over
The candlestick.”

Those were the last words Jack heard before he took his place on the starting line. Three seconds and one gun shot later and Jack was bolting around the track hurdling over lit candlesticks. The only things standing in the way of Jack and an 1896 Olympic gold medal were a 500 foot stretch of candlesticks to hurdle and 12 other athletes. But Jack had been preparing his whole life for this moment.

Jack grew up a poor boy living and working on his family’s sheep farm outside of London. His family never thought he would amount to much, and at times he didn’t either. Jack was kicked out of every school he went to, he was just too ornery, and for a while it seemed he was destined to be nothing more than a sheep farmer.

But one day when he was out in the pasteur, Jack’s favorite sheep, Bessi, escaped under the fence. Jack took off after her but Bessie kept going and she led him closer to town.

On the edge of town, finally, Jack was gaining on her. But as Bessie ran aimlessly through town she bumped into people and knocked over things. It was too late for Jack to stop so he hurdled boxes, barrels, and bales of hay. By now the whole town heard the ruckus and people had stepped outside to see what all the commotion was about. One of the men who left his desk was Walter Bailey, a former Olympic athlete and now an Olympic recruiter.

Bailey saw Jack making haste of every object in his way, and even the sheep seemed to glance back in amazement. Jack took one final leap and he landed on top of Bessie. He finally had her and little did he know he also had the attention of the man who would change his life.

Jack put a rope around Bessie and led her home. 

Later that day, Jack heard a knock at the front door. Bailey was on the front porch. Bailey told Jack he saw his little chase earlier that day and thought the kid had real athletic potential. He invited him to come down to the town track the next day to run with some other boys. 

That day Jack was introduced to hurdling- an Olympic event involving running and simultaneously jumping over different sizes of lit candlesticks. Jack was a natural at clearing the candlesticks in front of him.



Jack jumping over a candlestick at the 1896 Athens Olympics. Source: Jack

He started to go to the track every day to practice the hurdles and his performances drew crowds. The town was in awe of the once ornery farm boy who seemed to be on his was to athletic stardom.

A few years passed and Jack was old enough, and practiced enough, to enter the Olympic trials.

At no surprise to him or to Bailey, who had become Jack's coach and mentor, he qualified for the 1896 Olympics, leaving his local competitors in the dust.

His family accompanied him to the Olympic Games in Athens that year and they took their place in the stands. Jack waited all day for his event to be called, finally, at 4 p.m. it was time.

As he did before every meet, Bailey rubbed Jacks shoulders and said to him one inspiring phrase:

“JACK, be nimble,
And, Jack, be quick;
And, Jack, jump over
The candlestick.”

Author's Note: As you can see, this nursery rhyme was rather short and left a lot to be wondered about Jack and the candlestick. My first thought was why is he jumping over a candlestick and why is someone telling him how to do it? This led me to the idea of a coach and the candlestick as a hurdle. Candlesticks are somewhat outdated items that are not as popular in homes today, which made me think it would have had to be an event or a game played a century or so ago. Then also the Olympic games are coming up this summer so it seemed fitting to make the story of an Olympic event that happened in the past. Lastly, I added the back story of how Jack got to the Olympics and this moment in his life. I did this because I think the back story completes the picture and makes it a feel good story. I chose the image because it reflected Jack jumping over a candlestick. Some action as odd as that may be hard for people to imagine so now they don’t have to. My goal was simply to create a really enjoyable story. Also, if were being honest, I recently read “Unbroken” and loved it; I made this story kind of similar to the one in that book.

Bibliography: This story is based on the nursery rhyme "Jack, Be Nimble" in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897).