Reading Diary B: West African Folktales(continued)

The Moon and Stars

There was a dragon in this story! A dragon! I was surprised and confused that there would be a dragon in a West African folktale. I do not know why I was so surprised but for some reason I just don’t think of dragons when I think of West African folktales/fairytales. The story was very interesting. I knew from previous stories that Anansi and his son, Kweku Tsin, could shapeshift into different animals but I did not know that they were the moon and sun as well. It always seems that Kweku Tsin is always the hero in these stories and not Anansi. This makes me wonder why Anansi is the more well-known character than his son. Why isn’t Kweku Tsin the face/main character of these stories instead of his father?

 

(A Promise Under the Moon)

 Why Tigers NeverAttack Men Unless They Are Provoked

As I mentioned earlier, I was surprised to read about a dragon in West African folklore/fairytales but, I was not surprised that there was a tiger even though, there are no tigers in Africa. I think this is because West African stories are filled with animals that I didn’t even think twice about the absence of tigers. I liked this cute story about friendship. When the tiger decided to pretend to be dead in order to test the man’s friendship, I have to admit that I expected the worse. For some reason, despite the title, I doubted the man’s loyalty to the tiger but I am glad that I was proved wrong.

Reading Diary A: West African Folktales

 West African Folktales

 

I was so excited when I saw that our next unit was Asia/Pacific- Africa! I love the trickster Anansi! I have only heard a few Anansi stories so I am excited to read more stories about him. I am also excited to read the animal stories. African folklore/fairytales have very cool stories about why certain animals behave the way they do and how these animals came to be. The stories are fun and clever and I can’t wait to start reading more of them.

Thunder and Anansi

This is one Anansi story that I have not heard before. When Anansi received the magic pot from Thunder, I was really hoping that he would actually use it for not only for himself but for his family as well. Of course, that was wishful thinking. But, as always, Anansi got what he deserved when the stick that Thunder gave him started beating him for his foolishness.

Why Spiders Are Always Found in Corners of Ceilings

Just like before, Anansi has decided to me greedy and try to get over on his wife and son. As always, Anansi’s son foiled his father’s plan. You would think that as clever and tricky as Anansi is, he would be smart enough to know that the rubber man was not real, especially when his hand got stuck to the rubber man’s face when he tried to hit it. I also think that is cool how both Anansi and his son Kweku Tsin can change themselves into animals. It would be cool to have shapeshifting powers.

(Anansi the Storyteller)



 

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Extra Reading Diary: Persian Tales

Myth-Folklore Unit: Persian Tales

 

The Sad Tale of the Mouse's Tail

I thought that this story was very cute. I’ve read many stories like this when I was younger. It reminded me of an episode of Animaniacs (I think that’s what it was) that had a plot that was like this story. The only difference between this story’s plot and the cartoon’s plot was that at the end if the episode, the character ended back at the place he began asking that person for something to trade. I found myself reading each part of the story faster and faster as it progressed.  Although it was a quick and simple read, it was also an enjoyable one.

 

The Wolf-Aunt

I thought that the backstory of this story was very interesting. I wonder why the wives are told to hate their sister-in-laws. What if a wife really likes her husband’s sister and they actually get along. Do they have to pretend and act like they hate each other?

My favorite part of the story is when the wolf-aunt asks the brother how he would like to be eaten. He didn’t even try to fight her off; he just calmly accepted his fate. There is a line at the end of the story that says “if he had listened to his wife this would never have happened.” As I read this, I could definitely picture my mom or any other mom/wife saying this.

(Werewolf Girl)

Storytelling Week 5: Who Can Ring Her Belle?

Another Valentine’s Day, another year single and I am perfectly happy with that yet, here I am at this stupid speed dating event that I was forced to attend. You would think that by now my parents and my best friend, Aurora, would know me well enough to know that I absolutely do not have the time for a boyfriend. My mom and dad constantly hound me about marriage and kids and my best friend Aurora keeps attempting to set me up with her boyfriend, Philip’s friends. I guess it would be nice to not be the third wheel every time we hangout but, then again I do enjoy my freedom. But, like I said before, I’m here at Snow White’s Singles Mingle speed dating so obviously I can’t be all that opposed to finding a boyfriend.

“Hello, everyone! Are you all ready to begin?”

Gosh, Snow’s voice could be annoying. If she can find a guy to put up with that sound everyday then surely I can find someone to put up with me. As the first round starts, I begin to get nervous. Right when decided that I am going to blow this Popsicle stand, a guy of medium height and bright brown eyes walked up to me.

“Hi, I’m Aladdin. And you are?” he said while extending his hand.

“I’m Belle. It’s nice to meet you. So, tell me about yourself, Aladdin.”

“Well, you may hear people say that I am a “street rat” he said with air quotes, but I am actually quite the hard worker.”

Somehow, I found that very hard to believe but, my mother always told me that you can’t always believe what people say so, I decided to amuse him.

“You see these pants? I made them myself. I actually make 5 pairs a day. I give two to the Sultan, one I keep for myself, of course and the other I would give to my girlfriend,” he said with a wink. “The last pair I sell for you know food and stuff. Gotta eat to live, gotta sale to eat.”

Suddenly, the bell dinged signaling that it was time to switch partners. Thank God! The next guy that sat at my table was tall and lean with brown dreads.

“Hello. I’m Tarzan and may I say you are quite the looker.” After this creepy statement, he proceeded to growl at me.

“Um, thanks. Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”

“Well, um, I’m Tarzan. My talents include talking to apes, vine surfing, and farming. And uh, that’s about it. So umm you wanna get out of here?”

It took everything in me not to laugh at him. Is this guy serious? I mean what did I expect? There is no way I can meet the guy of my dreams at a 5 minute speed dating party hosted by Snow White.

“Last Round!” yelled Snow White in her sing song voice.

Well, here goes nothing. Just one more loser then I can go home. When I looked up, the most beautiful guy I had ever seen was sitting in front of me.

“Hi.” He said with a voice as smooth as jiffy peanut butter. “I’m Adam but my friends call me beast.”

Right from the beginning I could tell that he had to be some type of worrier. He was tall with a muscular build and a fabulous beard that confirmed why his friends called him beast. Adam and I had a connection so deep that our conversation lasted well past the allotted 5 minutes. We moved our date to the nearest coffee shop and I am proud to say that Adam and I have been dating for 8 months now and now Aurora’s dream of double dates and a double wedding is finally coming true.

 

Author's Note: With Valentine's day coming up this weekend, I decided to take the story The Four Scientific Suitors from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit and turn it into the story of the Disney princess, Belle and her experience at a speed dating party. In the original story, there are four men competing for the princess's love but to save time, I decided to only write about three men in my retelling. I tried to keep the story modern by adding some slang in the dialogue.

(Heart)



Bibliography: The Four Scientific Suitors from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit by Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati translated by Arthur Ryder. Illustrations by Perham W. Nahl (1917).

 

Reading Diary B: Twenty-Two Goblins

I really enjoyed this unit. The stories were a bit dramatic but that is what I liked about them. One thing I was curious about was the names of the characters. A lot of the names were not traditional names but instead descriptive words such as Passion, Beautiful, and Lovely. I wonder why the author of these stories decided to do that. Maybe the names were changed once the stories were translated into English.

Goblins: Father and Son, Daughter and Mother

This story was by far my favorite of the Twenty-Two Goblins unit. Even though I probably should have seen it coming, I was surprised when the smaller footprints belonged to the Queen and the larger footprints belonged to the Queen’s daughter. Although it made for a good plot twist, I still think that the King’s son should have married the princess and the King should have married the Queen despite their initial agreement about the King’s son marring the woman with the smaller footprints. The riddle was fun to try to figure out and I was a little disappointed when the King didn’t have an answer for the Goblin. I wish that they would have told us the answer instead of just leaving the riddle unsolved. I tried to solve the riddle myself but it was a hard one.

Princess=Prince’s stepmother/stepsister & Queen’s daughter/mother-in-law

King= Queen’s son-in-law/father-in-law & Prince’s father/step brother-in-law

Queen= King’s daughter-in-law/mother-in-law….

I got confused and gave up.

(illustration by Perham W. Nahl 1917)

 

Reading Diary: Twenty-Two Goblins

Myth-Folklore Unit: Twenty-Two Goblins

When I read the description of this unit, I knew that I had to read it. I love riddles, I am not the best at solving them but I like hearing them and then sharing them with others. I was also interested in reading about the Goblins in the story. When I think of goblins I think of creepy green creatures. The Goblins in this unit aren’t creepy creatures but supernatural creatures that inhabit dead bodies. When reading this chapter, I noticed that a lot of the stories are about men fighting over women. There seems to be a reoccurring theme of marriage in the units/stories we have been reading.

                This unit also had some very dramatic characters. In The Girl, Her Husband and Her Brother the characters very dramatically killed themselves without a second thought. In The Three Lovers the woman that the monk stayed with became very upset with her son because he would not stop crying. Instead of trying to soothe hi, she became angry and threw him into the fire (it escalated quickly). That part of the story really caught me off guard and I even reread it to make sure that is what really happened.

                So far, I am really enjoying this unit and I am excited to read the rest.

(Goblin in the Tree illustrated by Perham W. Nahl)