Storytelling Week 9: A Gentle Giant

Talat-adega was the most feared lake monster of them all.  He had a long body and an even longer tail but worst of all he had ten legs.  Talat-adega was fully equipped with horns and spikes and was even capable of electric shock.  Though he was rarely seen, all the fish in the lake knew of him and knew how dangerous he was.  The only problem was, the fish never saw Talat-adega in action, they only heard the rumors that surrounded him.

One small school of fish in the lake were all talking about the legends of Talat-adega.  One fish spoke of a tale he had heard of the terrifying lake monster. 

“One time, my brother was out swimming through the lake and heard the cries of a poor fisherman not too far away.  He was confused at first because he didn’t know if the fisherman was crying out of excitement from catching a fish or worse, was being taken under by Talat-adega.  Reluctant, the fish swam closer towards the action so he could see what was going on.  When he got close enough that he could see, he swore he saw the lake monster leap out of the water, grab the fisherman by the head, and submerge him into the lake, never to resurface again.  My brother was so scared by the monster that he swam away as fast as he could but he didn’t make it.  The monster killed him before he could make it back home,” he recalled.

All of the fish in the school were terrified by the story and thought if they ever saw the lake monster, they too would be doomed. 

Out of nowhere, one lone fish swam by after overhearing the story of the lake monster killing the fisherman.  The fish said to everyone, “You are all mistaken.  The lake monster isn’t even a monster at all; in fact, he is here to help us.  He is a protector.  His goal is to prevent fisherman from catching us and eating us up!  The story you told of your brother, was not true.  I was there and saw the whole thing.  The lake monster only scared the fisherman away, he didn’t kill him.  And as for Talat-adega killing your brother, it wasn’t he that did it.  Scared by what he saw, your brother swam so fast, constantly looking over his shoulder, that he hit a rock and died immediately.” 

After hearing the truth about the lake monster, the fish were relieved and even wanted to thank him for his services of protecting the smaller fish that sometimes can’t defend themselves.  So off they went, the whole school of fish, to thank Talat-adega for protecting them and to say sorry for thinking he was such a bad guy for so long.  

School of fish

Authors Note: This story was inspired by Origin of Rivers in Queen Charlotte Islands.  In the story, a monster, Talat-adega is mentioned and I chose to turn him into a gentle giant as a lake monster.  I wanted the monster to actually be a protector instead of dangerous because lake monsters have a bad name and maybe they are just trying to look out for their own.  Who knows! Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917).  

Reading Diary B: British North America unit

I was a little bit disappointed in the second half of the unit, British North America this week.  Since I enjoyed the first half so much, I assumed that the second half would be similar but the stories were more about animals than the earth and moon.  Not that the stories were bad, I was just anticipating similar stories to what I read before. 

One story I did enjoy from the second half of the reading was the story Wolverene and Rock.  I found it funny that when the Wolverene got run over by the rolling rock and then the rock became stuck right on top of him, the other wolves and foxes told him that he got what he deserved for challenging a rock to run after him.  I’m not quite sure why when Wolverene called for his brother Thunder and Lightning that it tore Wolverene’s coat to pieces when he struck the rock into tiny pieces but it was humorous anyways. 

Another story I liked was Turtle and Thunder.  I think I might retell this story for my storytelling post this week because I liked how it incorporated so many different animals in the story.  And I also like how it told the story of why the turtle stays in the water when there is a thunderstorm. 

I wish that throughout this unit, there were more images.  Though they aren't always illustrations from the actual stories themselves, I still enjoy looking at them when I go from story to story.  

Lighting Source: kpbs.org

Reading Diary A: British North America Unit

For this week’s reading diary, I chose to read the British North America unit.  The first story I read, Beliefs, was very interesting to me and made me look forward to reading the rest of the stories in this unit.  I like the belief of there being five worlds, one above the other and the middle being Earth.  Each world had its own name like Afraid of Nothing, House of the Son, and Ghost Land.  The forth one, didn't have a specific name but it was the home of those who die a second time.  One aspect of the story I really liked was that in order to reach upper heaven, one must pass through the House of the Sun and one must pass through the great hole to reach the upper world. 

This unit, in my opinion, has been very different from some of the other ones I've read and I appreciate that about these stories.  Another one of my favorite from this unit was the story of the Creation of Earth.  I like how Earth Woman changed into the earth we live on now.  The story said that, “Her hair became flowers and grass.  Her bones are the rocks.  Earth is never alone now, because she can always see Sun.”  I thought this story was an interesting take on how Earth became what it is now and how the sun and the stars and the moon became where they are. 

I particularly liked the stories in this unit pertaining to the moon and the stars.  I hadn't heard stories like these before so they were new to me and I was interested in learning more.  

Moon and the stars

Extra Reading Diary: Nigeria Unit

For the extra reading diary this week, I chose to read some of the stories from the Nigeria unit.  I thought the story of Why the Bat flies by Night was kind of demented but overall had a funny ending as to why the bat only flies at night.  The overall plot and theme of the story was strange just because the animals essentially boiled themselves into the soup and that’s why it tasted so good. 

I like how a lot of these stories kind of propose the answer to a question in the title.  It lets you know what the story is going to be about and how it went about being that way.  One of the stories I wanted to know the answer to was Why the Fish lives in the Water or The Fish and the Leopard’s Wife.  I thought it was strange that it was a fish and a leopard making love in the story because it just sounds weird but it was an interesting story.  I still don’t think it explained that well why the fish needed to live in the water though.  But I thought the punishment of man or animal should kill and eat the fish whenever they could catch them strangely familiar since so many people fish all the time.  It kind of set up a different reasoning as to why people fish. 

Another thing I learned from this unit was what African driver ants were.  I had never seen them before and I thought the image that went along with the Why Worms Live underneath the Ground story was fascinating so I did a little bit of research and looked at even more images.  To me, they look like a cross between a spider and an ant, my worst enemy.

Driver Ant by Alex Wild 

  

Storytelling Week 7: Justice is Served

After many long and difficult months, Sam the squirrel succeeded in producing the largest farm in the village.  Since he was a squirrel, he did not need a road to access his farm, only trees that were long enough to jump back and forth to.  

Sam returned home to gather his family so that they could all return together to the farm and begin to pick his ripe harvests.  But when they returned, they noticed, little by little, that their harvest was slowly disappearing.  Unable to figure out what was happening to it, Sam thought maybe he was just seeing things and that there was just as much harvest there as there was before.  The family continued to work, picking the ripe corn until the wife noticed that indeed, the harvest was smaller.  

The family looked and looked for hours, unable to find who was stealing all their hard work.  Suddenly, Sam saw a small black creature running through the fields, stealing all of his harvest.  He noticed, this small black creature was a very snappy spider.  In his angriest squirrel voice, Sam shouted, "You there, what are you doing in my field, picking all my harvest?  

The spider responded, "These fields are mine for I have been coming here for weeks and there is no road leading up to it."

The Squirrel did not know, however, that in order for a farm to be considered yours, it had to have a road leading up to it.  Though he told the spider he did not need roads for the farm to be his, he was surely mistaken.  And by that, the spider gathered all the harvest he could fit into bags and left the farm bone dry.  The squirrel and his family had nothing to eat and of their hard work went to waste.  

The thieving spider didn't even need the harvest he just stole from Sam but only wanted to sell it at ten times its cost.  As he made his way down to the market to gather what was not entitled to him, a strong wind storm came through and the bag of corn flew out of the spider’s hands.  As the wind picked up the back and nearly set it down a little ways down the road, a hawk swooped in and stole the back from right under the spider’s nose.  

Spider shouted, "That is my bag, hawk.  You cannot just steal it from me."

But the hawk knew, the hawk had been watching and he replied with, "But spider, I watched what happened down at Sam's house.  I was perched high up in the trees and I watched you steal all that harvest from a good, hardworking squirrel.  You cannot be rewarded with the work you stole from another man."

And off the hawk went, far out of the spider’s sight.  And so later that night, when Sam had made his way back home, sad and hungry, the family went to sleep.  But the next morning, when Sam went back to his farm, there he saw all of his harvest returned.  Though he didn't know who returned it all back to him, in the corner of his eye, way up in the trees, he saw a hawk, perched on a branch, overlooking the whole thing. 

Hawk on a branch 

Author’s Note: I chose to retell the story of The Squirrel and the Spider this week.  While I was reading the original story, I really liked how the beginning played out but wished that in the end, the squirrel would get his harvest back so that's how I changed the story.  I didn't want the spider to reap the benefits of something he didn't work for so in the end, the hawk returned the justice to the squirrel and everything worked out.  I wanted to change the crow into a hawk because it seemed like more of a protector.  When I think of a crow, I think dirty and mean and I didn’t want that portrayed in my story.  When I first read the story, I thought it was interesting how the farm couldn’t be yours unless you had a street that ran up to it.  It seemed like a silly rule to have in order to claim property that is yours.  One of the things I particurarly liked about the story was that instead of the characters being humans, like a more typical story, they were all animals and insects.  You wouldn’t expect the characters to be like that in a typical story. West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair (1917).  

Reading Diary B: West African Folktales

While reading the second half of the West African Folktales unit, one of my favorite stories was How the Tortoise Got Its Shell.  I thought it was fun story that I imagine, people told to their children growing up.  I liked how originally, he was just a tortoise without a shell and after all those months of lying underneath the trees, he had collected so much dust and earthenware pot that he formed a shell on his back.  I enjoyed the way it ended too, with the tortoise coming back to life but never being able to walk upright again due to his newly formed shell. 

There was a quote from another story that I found to be pretty true.  It was from The Hunter and the Tortoise and it read, “It is man who forces himself on things, not things which force themselves on him.”  The stories always seem more appealing to me when they contain a message that I feel I can relate to.  Like this one, I agree that it is man or woman who forces themselves on things and not the other way around.  Not only did I just like this quote but I also enjoyed the story overall, too. 

I thought that the story of The Leopard and the Ram was an unlikely one.  Typically, you don’t think of Rams and Leopards getting along, let alone living together, in this case.  But I thought that it was fun how they unknowingly picked the same site to build a home.  I definitely liked the first half of this story better than the second but still enjoyed the writing.  

Gopher Tortoise Source: fws.gov

Reading Diary A: West African Folktales

For this week’s reading diary, I decided to read the stories of the West African Folktales.  How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race was one of my favorite stories from the first half of the unit.  At the end, the son of Father Anansi tries to climb a tree to place his pot of wisdom there but struggles and is unable until his son gives him a piece of advice to make it easier.  Right after, there was a quote from the Father that I really liked, “I thought I had all the world’s wisdom in this pot.  But I find you possess more than I do.  All my wisdom was insufficient to show me what to do, yet you have been able to tell me.”  I think that everyone knows something that someone else doesn’t and through your own experiences, you learn how to do things more efficiently or better and I liked in the story, how it was the son who gave his father the advice. 

Another story I liked from the unit was The Squirrel and the Spider.  I always like stories of people who do wrong not coming out on top because I don’t think they deserve it.  However, if I were to rewrite this story as my own for the storytelling post, I would change the ending so that the squirrel got his load back since he was the one who dug and sowed and planted them. 

I liked all the stories in the first half of the unit and found it interesting that a majority of them contained spider stories.  I absolutely hate spiders and these stories only remind me of how sneaky they are.  

Squirrel

Extra Reading Diary: Jamaican Stories

For the extra reading diary this week, I decided to read the first half of the Jamaican Stories unit. I chose this unit because it seemed interesting and I had never heard of any Jamaican stories like this before.  The first story I read, Tying Tiger was extremely different from the other stories I've read in other units because it was written the way that a Jamaican would talk so it was kind of difficult to understand at times.  It took me a while longer to read these stories just because I wasn't used to the way the words were written.  I particularly liked the first story of the Tying Tiger because Tigers are one of my favorite big cats and also mangoes are one of my favorite fruits so it was like this story was made for me. 

I also really liked the Eggs and Scorpions and The Christening stories.  Again, it was sometimes difficult to follow but I think it’s cool that the stories are written this way.  For this unit in particular, the text at the beginning of the stories was extremely helpful in understanding what was going on and also what certain words meant like gub-gub peas meaning peanuts.  So it was helpful to have that before the stories so I could follow along better. 

Overall, I liked these stories but wished they were a little bit longer.  They were only about 400 words or so each and I’d like to read a longer Jamaican story.  

Tiger and Mango Tree 

Storytelling Week 6: The Game

Once upon a time in a faraway land, lived two little kitties.  All cooped up inside and wanting to have some fun, the two kitties decided to go for an afternoon stroll.  As they started down the street, they saw Hadley, the meanest kitty of them all.  Hadley stopped and hissed and ran after them until she couldn’t keep up much longer and she disappeared into the distance.

The two little kitties were running for their lives when they found Clo, another little kitty hiding behind a bench.  They said to Clo, “Come with us, hurry and run!  Hadley isn’t far behind!  She’s coming, she’s coming!”   So Clo decided to go, now three little kitties running down the road when they happened upon Baker, who was on the other side of the road.  They meowed to Baker, “Come Baker, come!  Hadley is coming! I can almost hear her!”  So went Baker, Clo and the two little kitties all running down the road.

Off in the distance they found Pepe who was sitting near a mailbox.  Again the kitties cried for Pepe to hurry for Hadley was coming.  All of the kitties were scared for their lives so they ran and ran as fast as they could.  They hadn’t seen Hadley since back before Clo but they knew she was coming so she had to be close. 

They made it to the market, a little ways up the road, where they were greeted by none other than Hadley.  Clo, Baker, Pepe and the two little kitties knew, they had been seen.  There was nothing to do but freeze in their tracks and Hadley approached them and gave one a whack.  She bopped little Pepe right on the nose and as she did it she shouted, “Tag!  You’re it!”  All of the kitties laughed except for little Pepe who was now trying to catch one of his other kitties!  And so the game went on, for hours and hours, until all the kitties had been caught and tagged. 

Tired and worn out, the kitties all went home.  Their game of tag was an afternoon ritual and before the kitties departed, they meowed, “See you tomorrow.”  The kitties were no longer bored from sitting at home and were looking forward to the next day where they would once again run for their little cat lives from their very best friends, Clo, Barker, Pete and Hadley and they would soon meet again.  

Cat hiding 

Authors Note: For this weeks storytelling post, I decided to retell the story of The Two Little Cats.  I was inspired by the original story to turn their adventures into a game of tag.  Instead of having all the animals the cats ran into be different, I made them all cats and best friends at that.  Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925). 

Reading Diary B: Tibetan Folktales

For the second half of the Tibetan Folktales unit, my favorite story was The Two Little Cats.  The title interested me right off the bat and as I was reading it, I thought the story was pretty funny.  At the same time though, I thought it was a little bit random and it didn't make very much sense.  Perhaps that is why I thought it was so funny.  I think I might like to retell this story for my storytelling post this week and change the overall plot of the story. 

My second favorite story in the second half of the unit was How the Wolf, the Fox and the Rabbit Committed a Crime.  This was another story that just made me giggle because I thought it was a bit random too.  I thought it was interesting how they divvied up who would get what depending on what needs they had and then everyone died except for the rabbit.  It’s kind of a messed up story and I’m not sure it’s one I would retell to my future children. 

It seems like a theme in this half of the unit that everyone dies somehow.  The Man and the Monkeys is another story where a man is looking to an animal for help and after the animal helps him, he wished he were dead so that he could go home to his family.  He shook the trees where the monkeys were and killed them all, except for the monkey god who in return, killed him. 

Overall, I think I liked the first half of the unit a little bit better because the stories weren't as sporadic.  But all in all, they were still funny stories even though they were kind of downers. 

Two Little Cats

Reading Diary A: Tibetan Folktales

For this week’s reading diary, I chose the Tibetan Folktales unit.  One of the things I particularly liked about this unit was that each story had a Proverb to go along with it.  One of my favorite stories of the unit was The Cony Who Got into Bad Company.  The Tibetan Proverb on that read, “If you are without kindness, you will meet no kindness in return.”  The story goes on to talk about a thieving rat and cony who stole from a lama.  So one night, the lama set up a tramp to catch them which he did.  As punishment, he cut off their whiskers, ears and tails and let them go.  They assured the lama that they were not thieves and were going to send an army to steal its grain.  When they went to the king, he knew they were lying about what happened and said, “You only got what you deserved.  When you are found in bad company you are judged as guilty as they.” 

Aside from the stories themselves, my favorite part of this unit is the Proverbs.  Another one of my favorite Proverbs from this unit was with The Ingratitude of Man and it said, “Whatever you have promised make it not as changeable as a loop in a string, but as firm as a line on a rock.”  These Proverbs kind of set up the story and let you know what type of lesson should be learned at the end of the story.  Overall, I like the stories in this first half of the unit and I hope the second half has more stories I can relate to and Proverbs that have a good lesson to them. 

 

Dungeon

Extra Reading Diary: Khasi Folktales

For the extra reading diary this week, I chose the KhasiFolktales unit.  Overall, I didn’t enjoy this unit as much as some of the others but there was one story that I really liked because I thought it had a good message and was fun to read.  The Goddesses Ka Ngot and Ka la lam was a fun story to read about two daughters who climbed to the top of a mountain and decided to race each other to see who could reach the plains first.  In most sisterly competitions, one tends to be a little more competitive than the other, just like in this story where Ka lam was fearless and adventurous and Ka Ngot a little more timid.  As they transformed themselves into two rivers, Ka lam took the shortest cut she could find and found that the path she chose was more difficult than she thought.  Once she made her way down and jumped through all the hoops the path had to offer, she saw her sister in the plains and knew she was beat. 

I can relate to this type of story because I think everyone has experienced at least once before thinking that if you take a shorter path or try to take a shortcut, sometimes that shortcut isn't what you think it is and it actually slows you down or prevents you from going that direction.  It’s a lesson that if you take your time and go the right way and try not to cheat or get ahead by taking a quicker way, that you can finish on top and stand proud knowing that you went about it the moral way.  

Folktales of the Khasi, River

Storytelling Week 5: Ghostly Promise

Once upon a time, there lived a poor Brahman who had a wife and three children.  As a poor man, he was a begger and would walk around the town asking for any food they could have.  He went door to door for weeks and knew he couldn’t keep it up much longer for it was not enough for his family anymore. 

A new man in the village had just come into town so Brahman thought he would ask a favor of him, to move onto his land to provide a safe haven for his family.  Little did Braham know, but the new laird was looking for someone to do a task for him and in return, be granted a great reward.  When Braham asked the laird what task he needed accomplished, laird replied with, “I am in need of someone to go fetch me a branch from a banyan-tree far away in the village.  Though I know this tree is haunted by a number of ghosts and that no man has ever had the courage to go to that tree at night, I need someone to get me a branch and in return, they will be granted a hundred bighas of rent-free land.”

Braham knew that the men, who dared go before him, had never made it out alive but he also knew this was his only chance at saving his family from the poor, begging life he was living.  None of the other servants accepted the challenge to make their way out to the tree and get a branch, except for Braham.  And so, that night, Braham walked out into the depths of the village to find that tree and cut off a branch for the laird.  Once he finally saw the tree, a spirit overcame him which was that of Brahmadaitya.  Braham told the spirit of his mission to go to the tree and get a branch to which the spirit replied, “I will help you, Brahman.”  They both set off to the tree and once Braham made his first cut on the branch, they were quickly surrounded by the many ghosts.  The spirit commanded the ghosts to let them be as they only needed a small branch to present to the laird.  The ghosts agreed to let the Braham take the branch and Braham thanked the spirit ever so generously for his help in conquering the tree.

When Braham returned to the laird the next day with the branch, he presented it to him in hopes of earning the promise that the laird made, nearly three acres of rent-free land.  And so, when Braham handed the laird the branch, he was surely mistaken about what he received.  Instead of being given the land, the laird promptly said, “Thank you, Braham, but that is all.  I was too much of a coward to go and get the branch myself so I made a false promise to you that if you fetched it for me, you could have some land.  Truthfully, I only wanted the branch because I thought it would make an excellent centerpiece on my kitchen table.  Now, go on and continue to be a poor, begging man and get out of my sight.” 

And so after all his hard work and bravery, Braham went back to his old habits of knocking on doors to get a small piece of bread and maybe a little bit of rice.  

Folk Tales of Bengal by Warwick Goble

Author’s note: This story was based off of the original story, The Story of a Brahmadaitya.  I decided to have the Braham not get the land he was promised even though he did was he was asked because sometimes in life, promises are made and they are not always kept and that's something you have to learn.  This is a story of life not always being fair.  Although most of my stories have a happier ending, I felt obliged to make this one not as happy.  I think that often, people are promised things that they will never end up getting just so someone can get something out of them for free.  It has happened to me before so I decided to write about it in this story.  Though it wasn’t my personal experience of course, it was very relatable to me.  I also really liked the images I found when I searched for this story and it made the original story more intriguing to me so I added my favorite picture.  If I were to rewrite the story again, I would consider changing Braham to his wife and seeing how the story would playout from there.  Folk-Tales of Bengal by Rev. Lal Behari Day with illustrations by Warwick Goble (1912).  

Reading Diary B: Bengali Folktales

For the second half of my reading in the Bengali Folktales unit, one of the stories that I particularly liked was the story of A GhostlyWife.  The story is about how a ghost nearly kills a woman and becomes her and goes on to live the woman’s life and for a while, no one notices any differences.  Eventually, the family picks up on subtle hints that this woman is not their daughter-in-law or wife and knew that instead, she was a she-ghost.  Although this story has a happy ending, if I were retelling it for my storytelling post, I might change it up a bit.  I like that the woman was returned to her own self but think it might be interesting if she never was and the husband was forced to live with this she-ghost forever instead. 

One story I liked as well was The Story of a Brahmadaitya.  After reading about how all the men who went to the tree before had died from the ghosts, I was sure that Brahadaitya would die as well.  But I did like that he was able to come out with a branch from the tree like he was asked and instead of the ghosts killing him, they actually helped him.  If I were retelling the story, I would consider changing the way the story ends just to make it more interesting.  What if the ghosts wouldn't have been so generous to him?  Or what if when he got the branch, he wasn't granted the land like he was promised?   

Another part of that story that I liked was the image on The Story of a Brahmadaitya cont. was the image associated with it.  I love the darker colors showing the ghost surrounding the Brahman.  Without reading the story, it looks eerie and like the ghosts aren't helping, but if you do read the story, you find out it’s a much different case.  

The Story of a Brahmadaitya, by Warwick Goble

Reading Diary A: Bengal Folktales

For the reading unit this week, I chose the BengaliFolktales unit.  I chose this unit because it seemed interesting to me as I am an animal lover.  One of the stories that stuck out to me was The Origin of Opium.  Though the title wasn't very intriguing to me, the story definitely was.  In the first part of the story, I thought that the mouse would continue to change into different animals until it found one that it liked the most but of course, like everything in life, nothing is only the positives, so the mouse found something wrong with everything it was turned into. 

As the story went on, I didn't think that the elephant, at that point, would turn into a beautiful girl.  That was a plot twist for me as I thought it would continue to change into animals.  I was also surprised when Poppy fell into the water and died because I figured at the end, she would want to return to being a mouse because the world as a beautiful woman had its ups and downs too.  At the end, I finally figured out why the name of the story was The Origin of Opium and I thought that was an interesting end to this story. 

I also particularly liked the image attached to the end of the Origin of Opium series.  It had vibrant colors and helped put an image to the text I was reading.  Overall, I liked this first half of the unit and I’m interested in reading the second half to find out more about the stories from the Bengal Folktales.  

The Origin of Opium  by Warwick Goble

Extra Reading Diary: Arabian Nights

For this week’s extra reading diary, I chose to read the Arabian Nights unit.  I was interested in learning more about this once I discovered that it incorporated the story of Aladdin which was always one of my favorite childhood stories.  One story that I particularly liked was Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 1.  This story gave me more insight to the story that I already knew about Aladdin and his upbringing.  Aside from part one of the story, I really liked all of the stories of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. 

Though the beginning of the unit was interesting, I enjoyed the second half a lot more because it told the stories I was more interested in.  Aside from the stories themselves, I also really liked the images that went along with the stories.  Even though most of the images were in black and white, they were very compelling. 

Another story I really liked was The Story of the Parrot.  I thought it was sad in the story when it said, “The husband, who knew that it had neither rained nor thundered in the night, was convinced that the parrot was not speaking the truth, so he took him out of the cage and threw him so roughly on the ground that he killed him.  Nevertheless he was sorry afterwards, for he found that the parrot had spoken the truth.”  

Disney's Aladdin

Storytelling Week 4: Forbidden Love

"Bring me my carriage," he said.  "If you cannot accept me with the one I love then I will leave.  The love I feel for her now sustains me.  I know that I am able to protect her alone, without guilt from you and the rest of my family.  It is my time now, to go on and leave this place," Siddhartha said to his father. 

Siddhartha's father knew the damage he had done was the reason for his sons leaving.  He knew that he could not go back and take back the things he said and change his sons mind.  Knowing that his words could not be unsaid and the damage could not be undone, he went to get the carriage for Siddhartha and his lady.  

The horse drawn carriage was to take Siddhartha and his lady far, far away until they could no longer see the town where their love was forbidden.  As they hopped into the carriage, they rode away, never looking back.

Hours of traveling later, Siddhartha and his lady stopped at a nearby town to look for food and water.  Once there, a very young girl asked them why they were traveling in her town.  She told them, "This is a poor town and I've never seen a carriage like that before.  I fear that you have come here out of desperation and that you are in trouble for people like you have never visited a town like this.  Please, tell me the story of your leave."  

"Young girl, I will tell you the troubles and the struggles we face but you must promise to keep them to yourself and never speak of this again for we don't want word getting back that we are on this path," said Siddhartha.  

"My family has a strict rule of not dating until you are of a certain age.  I was only 16 when I met Kara, the love of my life.  At the time, I was too young to be in love, according to my parents, so they said I was forbidden from seeing her again.  Though I tried to resist, I couldn't imagine life without her, even at 16 years old.  I couldn't stay away and frankly, I didn't want to.  She was the light of my life, we did everything together but I told my family that I wouldn't see her again.  I even swore on it.  We continued to see each other for two years until I was, under my parents rule, able to date.  On my 18th birthday, I told my parents that I would again be seeing Kara and once again, they refused and told me that I was forbidden from her, not just until I was 18 but forever.  Like I tried the one time, I wasn't able to leave her again and I promised myself that I wouldn't.  My father gave me an ultimatum; either choose Kara and leave this town or never see her again and I will let you remain part of this family.  In the end, I chose Kara, and that's how we ended up here now."  

The little girl sat there with sadness in her eyes.  She couldn't believe that someone would make their own child choose between family and love.  She told Siddhartha and Kara that she admired them for risking it all for each other and running away together to be with the one that they loved.  

Siddhartha's Departure

Authors Note: I chose to retell the story of  Siddhartha Leaves His Father's Palace for this week.  The story intrigued me but I wanted to turn it into a sort of love story.  Once I began writing, I just got carried away and lost my original inspiration for the story.  The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold (1922).

Extra Reading Diary: Aesop (Winter)

While reading the Aesop (Winter) unit, one of the stories that stuck out to me was The Ass and His Driver .  While the actual story itself was amusing, I was more interested in the message at the end that read, "They who will not listen to reason, but stubbornly go their own way against the friendly advice of those who are wiser than they, are on the road to misfortune."  While I think that message pertains well to the story itself, with the Ass thinking the fastest way down the mountain was to be over the edge of the cliff and the master letting him go despite the master knowing better, I don't think that message applies to a whole lot of things in every day situations.  I think its important for people to be able to go their own way and choose what some people think is wrong if they want to.  If nothing else, it is a learning process and if you only ever listened to what someone older or wiser said, you'd never find anything out for yourself.


Overall, I liked this unit the best out of all of the ones I have read.  I wish I would have skimmed through this one before choosing some of the other ones I did because I like the messages attached to all the stories and feel that they relate to real life situations even today.  Another story I really liked was The Rat and the Elephant.  I thought that the message was true and was something to keep in mind.  It read, "A resemblance to the great in some things does not make us great."  Basically just because you look like or do something that someone great and amazing does, doesn't also make you great and amazing.

The Ass and His Driver 

Storytelling Week 3: The Lone Cat

This is the story of a poor little tabby kitty whose cruel owners did not care about her.  Because she was only a tabby and not a gorgeous full bred kitty, her parents dumped her on a hill.  She had nothing but the fur on her skin, not a blanket or any food in sight.  She was left there all alone to face the cold dark night by her lonesome.

A mother and daughter were out for their nighttime stroll, as they were every evening after they tend to their four kittens at home.  As they were walking by a small hill to their right, they heard what they thought was a faint kitty cry.  Though they weren't sure what they had heard, they stuck around and waited for the sound again.  The little tabby kitty didn't make another sound until the mother and daughter had wandered off and her meows could no longer be heard.  But behold, the little girl, skipping down the trail, did in fact hear another faint kitty meow.  Certain of what she had heard, she returned to the spot where she originally was.  Searching high and low, she finally saw her.  A sad little kitty perched atop a hill, cold and shivering she wept.

The daughter insisted that her mother let her take the tabby in to avoid the cold weather.  Her kind-heart and warm soul thought of her little cats at home and was sad to see this poor tabby all alone, so helpless.  Her mother agreed that the little girl could take her home, so indeed, she did.

Once at home, the cat opened up and began to show love to her new owners and their kittens too.  Day by day, the little girl would play outside in the yard with tabby.  Neighbors took notice to their newly adopted pet and one of them was not fond of the idea.  The evil neighbor down the road began posting fliers around the town with a picture of tabby and a caption that read, "FOUND CAT."  Even though tabby was not his, the evil neighbor wanted her gone.

The little girl noticed the fliers around town so every day she went around and one by one took all of them down.  She though she had taken them all but one little poster slipped past her.  The next day, a knock came on the little girls door.  It was an old, bitter woman with a large sac on her arms.  She told the girl that the cat belonged to her and demanded that the little girl hand over tabby.  With tears in her eyes, the little girl said no.  She told the bitter woman that someone who abandons their pets with no place to go and nothing to keep them warm doesn't deserve to get them back.  She told her that she loved her new tabby kitty and that she was forever part of their family.

Cat, Source: dnainfo.com

Authors note: I chose to retell the story of The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe but instead of the wolf who found the baby, it was a family who found a cat.  I wanted to flip the roles of who found who in the story and switch the animals and characters.  I chose to have the original owner of the cat come back to try and get her back to prove a point that you don't always deserve to get things back that you treated poorly before.  The book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown (1900)

Reading Diary B: Saints and Animals

As I started reading the second half of the unit, I liked it better than the first half.  One story that I really liked was that of The Wolf-Mother and Saint Ailbe.  The story caught my attention in the first paragraph as it read, "This is the story of a poor little Irish baby whose cruel father and mother did not care anything about him.  But because they could not sell him nor give him away they tried to lose him.  They wrapped him in a piece of cloth and took him upon the mountain side, and there they left him lying all alone on a bush of heather."  For some reason the beginning of the story reminded me of the plot to a movie or the opening scene of a movie when someone finds a baby and raises them as their own, something similar to the beginning of Benjamin Button.  I particularly liked that it was a wolf that found the baby because a wolf seems like an unlikely hero due to their dangerous nature.  

Another story I liked was that of The Ballad of Saint Athracta's Stags.  Though the story was sometimes difficult to read, I liked that it was a ballad instead of a traditional story.  I enjoyed the presentation of the ballad and liked that its structure was different from the stories I had just been reading.  I liked the second half of the unit because there were so many ballads and the layout of the stories were different so it kept me interested.  

Saint Ailbe 

Reading Diary A: Saints and Animals

For this week, I decided to read the unit Saints and Animals.  I chose this unit because I was interested in the stories of the animals.  As I was reading through the first half of the unit, several stories stuck out to me but The Wonders of Saint Berach stuck out to me the most.  I liked the story because of its plot and story line.  My favorite part of the story was when Saint Berach breathed on the rude boys and their arms and legs became frozen and the look on their faces permanently stuck.  Even though the boys were rude, I thought it was an interesting twist in the story when Berach made the boys come back to life.  I wasn't expecting that since they had once been so rude but like the story said, he was too kind-hearted to injure any living creature.  

The other story I really liked was Saint Blaise and His Beasts.  I especially like the second half of this story but thought both were a good read.  The story incorporated a lot of different animals which I liked.  It had lions, tigers, leopards, bears, and wolves who were all supposed to be beasts that were feared.  I considered retelling this story for my storytelling post because it was such a sad and evil story that I wanted to turn it good.

While I enjoyed reading all the stories in this unit, I didn't like all of them as much as others.  These two stories were my favorites of the bunch but I did enjoy the images that accommodated all the stories in this unit.  The stories didn't incorporate the types of animals I originally had anticipated but I ended up liking them anyways.

St. Blaise, stained glass 

Storybook Topics Brainstorm

Topic: Pirates and Sailors
Comments: I am really interested in stories of pirates specifically after seeing many movies about them growing up, even Pirates of the Caribbean though I know that's more recent.  I think this topic is interesting because there still are pirates in some parts of the world.
Possible Stories: I'd like to find stories of female pirates since typically pirates are associated with men.  I searched through the past Pirates and Sailors archives and found stories there that I liked too.  I'd like to focus on both the adventures of one pirate and also on multiple characters.
Sample Story Comments: I searched through some past storybooks and found one I really enjoyed, Piracy: Not Just for Men and thought the stories and concepts were unique.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: A Pirate's Life for Me
Website Name: Google Sites


Topic: Sea Monsters
Comments: Going along with the pirates and sailors topic, I think it would be interesting to learn about the different types of sea monsters that they might encounter while on the sea.  I'm also just interested in sea monsters because of the unknown and mysterious nature.  I'd like to think that many if not most sea monsters are still undiscovered.
Possible Stories: I am most interested in the Loch Ness Monster so I'd like to know more about that and also the giant squid, Kraken.  I became interested in Kraken after watching Pirates of the Caribbean.
Sample Story Comments: Even though the Loch Ness Monster is considered to be a lake monster rather than sea monster, I still want to learn more.  After reading through the wikipedia page on the Loch Ness Monster, I found out more information that will be useful to me.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: Loch Ness Monster
Website Name: Wikipedia

Kraken, Source: doubtfulnews.com

Topic: Animal Stories - Cats
Comments: I've noticed that cats seem to be a pretty talked about animal in the storybook world.  Having a cat myself, I'm interested in reading more stories about them.  Reading through the past storybooks, I found one I liked a lot called A Cat's Tale.
Possible Stories: I'd like to include a story about my own cat's adventures because she has a mind of her own.
Sample Story Comments: Reading through the past storybooks, I found one I liked a lot called A Cat's Tale.  I liked that it was written from the cats point of view and would like to incorporate that into my stories.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: A Cat's Tale 
Website Name: Google Sites

Topic: Mermaids
Comments: I have always been interested in mermaids and find that the stories are very compelling. Though I don't know a whole lot, I'd like to learn more.  
Possible Stories: I found a lot of stories searching through humanity.org and think this would be a very good resource for me.
Sample Story Comments: The title of this story really intrigued me so I went on to read the whole story.  The language used in the story was a bit difficult at times due to the improper words but I enjoyed the story.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: The Mermaid's Twin Sister
Website Name: humanity.org

Extra Reading Diary: The Odyssey

For the extra reading diary this week, I chose The Odyssey unit and one of the stories that stuck out to me the most during this unit was The Land of the Cyclopes.  I have always been interested in this story so I was looking forward to reading about it.  

While I was reading, there was a part that I really liked and was one of my favorite parts of the story because I liked the way it was written.  “The Cyclopes have no vessels with crimson-painted prows, no shipwrights to build sound boats with oars, to meet their need and let them travel to other men’s cities, as other races visit each other over the sea in ships, no craftsmen that is who might also have turned it into a fine colony.”  

Further on down in the story, in The Cyclops’ Cave, was my favorite line out of all of the readings in this unit.  “There a giant spent the night, one that grazed his herds far off, alone, and keeping clear of others, lived in lawless solitude. He was born a monster and a wonder, not like any ordinary human, but like some wooded peak of the high mountains, that stands there isolated to our gaze.”  I think that there is a truth to this statement for me personally and maybe to some other people too.  Every so often, I feel like I am keeping clear of others and not like any ordinary human.  I imagine that others have probably felt this way too but in addition to the actual words, I liked the description used to describe him not being like any ordinary human.  

Cyclops, Roman Mosaic Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Storytelling Week 2: Cupid's Dilemma

And with those words she unsealed the jar, where there was a drop of beauty, that awoken her soul.  When the cover was lifted, joy filled her instantly, enveloping her entire body.  She immediately rose from where she was and love overcame her.  She was lifted in spirits and joy for everything she could possibly think of. 

Cupid, missing his beloved Psyche, flew out of the window high up in his castle to find his one true love, Psyche.  No longer confined by walls, Cupid roamed the skies day and night until he found her once again.  When he finally found her, he rushed to her side and took notice of her new attitude. 

He could see the joy in her eyes and love in her heart and didn't have the courage to return that energy back into the jar, though he didn't want to anyways.  He spent the next several hours by her side, enjoying all that this new found happiness could offer.  After time had passed, he roused her with a harmless touch of his arrow, saying: “Look at what a miracle you have released unto the world with that irrefutable curiosity of yours.  Come now and show my mother what you have discovered in that jar.”  And Psyche did just that.

Cupid who was so infatuated with Psyche and overcome with love, thought to himself, “to be with the one I love so much, I would do anything.”  Though Cupid loved how happy and cheerful Psyche had now become after opening the jar, he knew that once that beauty ever went back in, Psyche would no longer be the same person she was now.  That was troublesome to Cupid. 

A decision had to be made, would Cupid seal the beauty back into the jar and expose Psyche for who she really was, who she used to be and still is deep down, or would he allow Psyche to remain in a dreamlike state where all the world was right and happiness was nothing out of the ordinary? 

Cupid was in a tough position, knowing that if he took that drop of beauty away from Psyche, she would no longer be the woman he just fell in love with.  But, he also knew that if he sealed the jar back up that it could then be discovered again by someone else and they too would be able to experience what Psyche felt. 

Cupid thought of his options and knew the one that he would make.  He went back to Psyche and without any hesitation, he made his decision.  

Authors note: I chose to retell the story of The Sleep of the Dead because after reading it, I became sad knowing that Psyche opened the jar only to find deathly sleep.  I wanted to retell the story in a more positive way so I turned the sleep into beauty.  Cupid became torn about what to do with Psyche and the jar once he realized that other people could also experience this euphoria as well, he though he loved Psyche, he wanted to give other people the chance to feel that same way too.  I became inspired by this story because I know people experiencing a tough decision of love and I thought this would be a good way to express those emotions through words.  

Apuleius's Golden Ass, as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013).

Psyche, by Waterhouse