Storytelling Week 5: Fisherman's tale

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The boys gasped.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thoughts about Comments

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

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

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

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

Week 5 Reading Diary Continued: Arabian Nights

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading Diary Week 5: Arabian Nights

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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