Essay Week 6: Proverbs in Tibetan Folktales

This week I read through the Tibetan Folktales unit of the Un-textbook. This unit contained a bunch of folktales that took place in distant lands with both animals and human playing the characters. At the beginning of each folktale there is always a Tibetan proverb that is supposed to relate to the story. However, the connection to the proverb and the story is not always obvious. My plan for this essay is to explore some of the stories and see how the proverb relates to the story.

The first story I want to look at is The Story of the Donkey and the Rock. The proverb for this story is “Between iron and brass there is union if the welding is skillful.” When I first read the story, I did not see how this could possibly relate. I then began to think about the proverb. My first thought is “who is the welder?” The answer seemed to most likely be the judge in the story. Then I needed to find an answer to what he was bringing a union to. In the story, both the accuser and the defendant were right, so a verdict was not clear. The judge, however, found a way for both to leave happy. His union of iron and brass could be his creativity in finding a solution. The skillful welding would be a wise solution. Therefore, while the proverb did not seem to fit at first, it really did have a connection to the story.

The next story I will examine is The Ingratitude of Man. The proverb for this story is “Whatever you have promised make it not as changeable as a loop in a string, but as firm as a line on a rock.” This proverb is easy to connect to the story since promises are made within it. The man’s promise was easily changeable. He promised to repay the traveler, yet later falsely accused him of stealing. The animals’ promises were firm as a line on a rock. They helped the man while he was in prison and also helped him escape.

The Traveler in Prison. Web Source: Un-Textbook

Storytelling for Week 6: How the Little Boy Fell Victim to His Own Deceit

Once upon a time, in a village that lied in the valley of two mountains, in a modest cottage lived a widow and her son. The father had died shortly after the boy’s birth, and this made the mother sad, for she did not have a chance to provide him with any brothers or sisters to play with.

One day, while the mother was out shopping in the village, she spotted a little boy who had no family. She brought this boy home with her to be her son’s playmate. This was good for the little boy, for he did not have to beg for food anymore. He simply played all day and accepted what he was provided with.

Years later, again while she was out shopping, the widow spotted another older boy, whom she also took home to be a playmate for her son. This upset the little boy who had first been brought to be a playmate, for he believed that they loved the older boy more than they loved him. This, of course, was not true; the little boy received the very same things offered to the older boy. Even still, the little boy became prideful and began to store vengeance in his heart.

Many years past and the widow grew ill. As a final wish, she asked her three boys to always stay close. With this request, she died. The little boy, who was nearly full grown, saw this as an opportunity to take his vengeance on the older boy. He told the widow’s son that the older boy planned to kill him. This made the widow’s son very watchful of the older boy. The little boy then went to the older boy and told him that the widow’s son never cared for him. He said that the widow’s son was always watching the older boy, waiting for an opportunity to kill him.

The widow’s son and the older boy both became very vigilant and were always thinking of ways to defend themselves and to gain the upper hand. One day, the older boy went to the widow’s son to ask why he had disdain for him. The widow’s son replied that it was because of the older boy’s plot to kill him. The two quickly realized that they had been tricked by the little boy. They sought him out and cast him back into the streets where he belonged. The little boy was again forced to beg for a living, but he could not do so well enough, and soon died of starvation.

Author's Note: This story is based on How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit. I kept the plot very similar; just replace the widow and her son with a tiger and its cub, the little boy with a fox, and the older boy with a calf. 

Bibliography

“How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit”, from Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L Shelton (1925).

Week 6 Reading Diary: Tibetan Folktales

These are stories from the Tibetan Folktales unit.

The Tiger and the Frog: This is a great trickster story. The tiger must have been very hungry to think he needed to go through the challenges, instead of just eating the frog.
The Donkey and the Rock: I'm not sure how the proverb fits into this story, but I love the story anyways! It reminds me of King Solomon's wisdom in court hearings.
How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit: This story could fit into my storybook. I think I would want to rewrite it as a rich man who adopts two children after his wife dies. The first one becomes prideful and envious of the other. Could be an interesting adaptation.
The Ingratitude of Man: The irony in this story is fantastic. The traveler thought that only the man would be able to repay him, but instead the man brought the traveler much trouble and it was the animals who helped him.
The Wise Carpenter: This story reminds me of Spy vs. Spy. The carpenter really was smart to have the loud music played to cover the painter's screams.
The Story of the Two Devils: This story reminded me of a cartoon where the protagonist just happens to defeat the antagonist, with no real qualifications to speak of.
How the Rabbit Killed the Lion: This is an interesting pride story. He was blinded by it and could not see past the rabbit's lies.
How the Raven Saved the Hunter: Poor raven ):

Essay Week 5: The Restlessness of Sindbad

            Sindbad is an interesting character. He inherits a large sum of money from his parents, decides to sail with a band of merchants, and survives seven voyages of epic proportion. The interesting quality of Sindbad isn’t in the fact that he loves adventure. Any young person, especially one who is the protagonist of a story, can be expected to crave a little adventure. The interesting thing about Sindbad is that he experiences some of the most frightful and terrifying things that one could experience when out at sea, yet still he wants more. Of course, immediately after each voyage he tells himself that he will be content to live a quiet life, but at the start of each story to follow, he grows tired of his quiet life. Time and time again, Sindbad trades his safe, restful life for a daring and dangerous adventure.

            Sindbad experience some of the most terrible fates in each of his seven voyages. On his very first voyage, Sindbad and his company are shipwrecked by a whale they mistook for an island. This would most certainly be a dramatic first experience for a sailor. Sindbad expresses this feeling at the end of the first voyage, when he decides to “forget [his] past sufferings” and “live happily…in the enjoyment of all the pleasures of life.” However, at the start of the second voyage, we find Sindbad has become restless and tired of an “idle life.” He then goes on another voyage, where again he becomes shipwrecked and faces terrible adversity. This is the theme throughout all seven voyages.

Sindbad Fleeing From Giants. Web Source: Un-Textbook

            One thing that could explain Sindbad’s constant desire to return to the sea is the marvelous fortune that always results. In the midst of every misfortune, Sindbad always finds himself with a plethora of treasures and befriends powerful kings and merchants. When he returns home from the voyages, he is always far richer than when he had set out.

Read the full story here!

Storytelling for Week 5: The Foolish Beneficiary

Shortly after my parents passing, I was told that I would be the sole beneficiary to a large inheritance. I was shocked when I was told this bitter-sweet news for, while I had never wanted for much of anything, I had never thought my parents to be of wealthy means. Our home was not extravagant, we did not own much land, and we walked to places we need to go. Our lives were no different than those of our peers. What was the purpose of amassing such a large sum of currency if we never spent more than what we needed?

Immediately, I began to dream of all that I would buy with my inheritance! I would live in a home so large that I would be able to sleep in a new room every day of the week! I would buy acres and acres of land with a pond to fish in and horses to ride on. I would never walk when I went into town; instead, I would buy a carriage and have a drive take me wherever I needed to go. I would live above all others, for that was my heritage.

On the day I officially received my inheritance, I went to the bank to collect a portion to purchase my carriage. When I collected the money, I witnessed the most peculiar thing. When I grabbed the first bill in the pouch I received from the banker, it flew away. Thinking that the wind had simply carried off the weightless paper money, I decided to spend my silver and gold coins instead. However, when I touched the first gold coin, it jumped away from me. I was astonished as I watched the coin jump several times on the ground until it finally sprouted two wings and flew away! Surely, I thought, I must be dreaming! I reached in the pouch for a second coin, and again I watched as it grew wings and flew away.

I quickly closed the pouch in fear that this cursed money would all fly away before I could return to the bank. When I went inside the bank, I told the banker of the bizarre circumstances that led to my return. When he heard my story, he did not look the least bit surprised. He told me that this is not a rare experience among young beneficiaries to large inheritances. The money easily flies from their hands because they do not understand the importance of holding on to it. They did not earn the money, so they intend to quickly spend it on that which they do not need. Before they know it, the money has all flown away and they are left with nothing in their old age.

After hearing the banker share his wisdom, I decided to place the money back into the bank. There it would remain until I could find a way to properly invest it. I did not want to end up penniless in my old age.

(14th-century sequins)

Author’s Note: This story is very loosely based on the First Voyage of Sindbad. In the beginning of the story, young Sindbad inherits a large sum from his parents. He spends it recklessly and finds that, if he manages it poorly, it is as if the money grows wings and flies away. He then decides to put it to good use and becomes a merchant and goes on crazy voyages. I really just expanded one sentence of the story.

Bibliography: 

"First Voyage", from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Week 5 Reading Diary: Voyages of Sindbad

Sindbad: First Voyage: What a valuable lesson for Sindbad to learn! That if you are not careful with your money it will grow wings and fly away without a trace. I'm a Dave Ramsey kind of guy, so this stuck out to me.

Second Voyage: I love the way he kicks around the diamonds, since they are worthless to him in his situation.  Plus, the purpose of this voyage wasn't for riches, which he did get, but for adventure.

Third Voyage: I don't understand why they went back to the castle! If they were able to build rafts, they should have been able to build a shelter for the nights.
I like how Sindbad keeps finding his old crew and merchandise at the end of the stories.
Fifth Voyage: Surely this man is some sort of adrenaline junkie. With his constant restlessness, I would not be surprised to see him die in the seventh voyage. I didn't like when his shipmates killed and ate the roc
Sixth Voyage: I really wish that Sindbad would be able to share his fortune with his companions. In every voyage, all of his companions die and he is the sole survivor. It is madness.
Seventh Voyage: Nothing can be more true than when the merchant who took Sindbad as a slave said, "you must be under the special protection of Heaven." That's the only explanation for how Sindbad survived every voyage. Like the fifth voyage, I was upset about the killing of the elephants. At least the elephants provided Sindbad and the merchant with a way to collect ivory without hunting the elephants.

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Essay Week 4: Stories within Stories

                Last week, for our Storybook Project assignment, we explored various storytelling options that we might later use for our final Storybook. It was a great way to learn about telling stories from different perspectives using various techniques. This week, I read stories in the Arabian Nights unit. These stories used a particular form of storytelling. The stories were layered in such a way that some of the stories were stories told within a story, and others were stories told within those stories. The style was very interesting in the way that it brought all of the stories together.

                The unit begins with a story of an evil sultan who takes a bride every night, then kills them the next morning. Scheherazade, the daughter of the sultan’s vizir, then offers herself as a bride and uses the following stories to postpone her death. Each night she will end the story at an interesting point, influencing the sultan to let her live another day so that he can hear the rest of the story the following night. It is a genius plan, but we don’t get to see how it ends for Scheherazade. I suppose that the entire story was too long to fit into this whole unit.

Scheherazade. Web Source: Un-Textbook

                Something very interesting about the stories she tells each night is that they often relate to the predicament she is in. In the Merchant and the Genius, the Merchant finds himself at the hands of an angry Genie. However, the Genie does not kill the Merchant because of the stories told by three old men. We see the same thing happen to a fisherman who is threatened by a genie. In this story, the genie tells a story, then is tricked by the fisherman, who then tells a story of his own. The stories are all so complex, so this provides Scheherazade many nights to postpone her death.

Storytelling for Week 4: The Widow

There once was a man who spotted a black widow scurrying on the floor of his dining room. At once he picked up a newspaper to remove the vile creature from his dwelling, but was stopped when he heard a tiny voice say, "No! Please! I promise I will bring no harm to your home or those within it. Spare my life this day!"

The man was amazed! "How can a spider such as you be able to speak?" the man asked.

"I was not always a widow as you see me now. I was once a woman with a husband, but no offspring. Let me tell you my tale. If you find it entertaining, you must promise not to kill me."

"Agreed," said the man.

The black widow went on to tell her story:

There once was a wealthy tailor who lived with his wife. Their business was very successful. She would weave fantastic fabrics and he would form them into wonderful garments that were coveted throughout the town. Despite all of their financial success, however, they still had a hole in their heart, for they were unable to bear children. This made the tailor sad, for he would have no child to inherit all that he had acquired when he died.

      News spread by whispers of the couple’s misfortunes, and found itself in the ears of the town’s harlot and her bastard child. The harlot went to the tailor and offered to let her son fill the void in the tailor’s heart, if he would only let her live with them in his home. The tailor joyfully agreed, despite the warnings from his wife. The wife was most distrustful of the harlot and her son.

      The tailor raised the boy as his own son, and loved him very much. Then a day came when he had to travel for a month or two to sell his clothing. He asked his wife to take good care of the boy and his harlot mother while he was away. The wife reluctantly agreed.

      While the tailor was away, the wife happened to overhear a conversation the harlot had with her boy. The harlot described an elaborate plan to the boy. Upon the tailor’s arrival, the harlot would fake a terrible sickness. The boy was to plead for his inheritance from his adoptive father, so that he could travel with his mother to a doctor many towns away. However, the boy and his harlot mother would flee with the money and never return. The wife of the tailor knew that her husband would never believe such a tall tale if she told him, so she decided to take matters into her own hands.

      One night, while the tailor was still away, the wife journeyed to the woods just outside of the town. There, she spoke with a witch who lived in the woods. She told the witch of her predicament, and asked what could be done. The witch told the wife what should be done. The wife should use a magical silk made from a spider that lives deep inside the woods. This silk should then be spun into a blanket. When the harlot mother and her son go to sleep with this blanket, they will wake up to find themselves transformed into spiders.

      The wife did as the witch said, and wove a beautiful blanket that she then offered to the boy and his harlot mother. The two slept beneath that blanket the night before the tailor was to return. When the tailor returned the next morning, he entered his boy’s room. Instead of the boy and his harlot mother, he found only a pair of spiders in the boy’s bed. The tailor grabbed a newspaper to destroy them, for he hated spiders, but his wife stopped him. She told him what she had overheard and what she had done.

The man left the room, stricken with grief. The wife became overcome with sorrow for the damage she had caused her husband’s heart. She sat on the bed and began to weep uncontrollably. She finally forced her eyes closed and fell asleep. When she awoke, she found herself beneath the blanket she made for the boy and his harlot mother. She had been transformed into a spider by the same magic she created for her enemies.

"I then left the only home I knew, and have travelled about as a spider ever since," explained the black widow.

"Truly, I have been entertained," said the man. "I will grant you welcome in my home this day. Each day hereafter, though, the price for staying within my home will be an entertaining story such as this."

Author's Note: This story is based on The Hind, which can be found in the Arabian Nights unit. The story is about a man who adopts one of his slaves sons. The wife doesn't like it, so she turns the son and his mother into a cow and a calf. The wife said that the slave had died and the son disappeared. Later, during a celebration, the man tried to kill the cow and the calf, but was stopped both times and was told that they were really the slave and her son. The man then has someone turn the slave and the son back and turn the wife into a deer. In the original story, the wife was kind of whacked out and crazy. I wanted to tell a story that was from her perspective. It gave the reader a reason for the wife's hatred of the other woman and her son.

The Story of the First Old Man and the Hind. Web Source: Un-textbook

Bibliography

"The Hind", from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Week 4: Arabian Nights

Scheherazade: the sultan was off-his-rocker with bitterness over his ex-wife. the grand-vizir being asked to offer his daughter reminds me of the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. I liked how this story was a set-up for the following story
The Merchant and the Genius: I see where this is going. A bunch of stories within stories to stall the death of the grand-vizir's daughter
The Two Black Dogs: So far I can see a general theme of people being spared their death in these stories. I would venture to guess that the daughter of the grand-vizir will be spared in the end.
The Parrot and the Ogress: We are getting into Inception-style story now. We have the grand-vizir's daughter telling a story about a fishman who is teaching a lesson to a genie with a story about a king, whose vizir is jealous of the king's relationship with a physician, telling a story to his vizir about another king and his vizir. Wow.

Essay for Week 3: Philemon and Baucis

The story of Philemon and Baucis starts out as what would seem to be a fairly uninteresting story. Two gods come down to earth disguised as mortals and they dine with a poor couple. What the story lacks in plot, it makes up for it in extravagant detail of the dinner. From the details provided about the dinner, we learn a lot about Philemon and Baucis. We learn that they are set apart from the rest of their neighbors, they do not let their lack of possession limit what they offer their guests, and they are rich in spirit and good company.

When the story begins with Jupiter and Mercury disguising themselves as mortals and traveling to where Philemon and Baucis live, the reader is told that the gods tried to stay in 1000 different homes, but were rejected from each. While the story does not say so, we can see that this angers the gods, based on the wrath they unleash on these neighbors in TheTransformation of Philemon and Baucis. The entire town is destroyed, except for the couple who welcomed the gods. It is clear to see that, by accepting the gods into their home, Philemon and Baucis separate themselves from their neighbors. They are later rewarded for their generous hospitality.

When the gods join Philemon and Baucis for dinner, the story gives a plethora of details demonstrating the couple’s poverty and their ability to do the best with what they have. They offered a bench with a rough blanket for the gods to rest on; they restarted the previous day’s fire; they had a small bronze pot to cook in; a small piece of a pot was placed under one of the table’s legs to make it even, etc. While the couple did not have much, they offered what they had to the gods. They drank wine and ate two full courses. The couple is very poor, but they offer much to the guests in their house.

We also see that the couple is rich in spirit and good company. While the food is cooking they make conversation with their guests to draw attention away from the meal’s delay. The story says that, at the dinner, “there was the additional presence of well-meaning faces, and no unwillingness, or poverty of spirt.” We can tell from this that the gods enjoyed their time at the home of Philemon and Baucis, and that the couple enjoyed having the gods as guests.

It is important to note, finally, that none of the hospitality Philemon and Baucis offered to the gods was simply offered because their guests were gods. Jupiter and Mercury were disguised as mortals. Philemon and Baucis did not realize the deity of their company until the next story. What they had was offered to strangers of no particular significance.

(Philemon and Baucis, Rubens)

Storytelling for Week 3: Philemon and Baucis

There was mountain far away from the great cities and towns of our time's great cities and towns. On the other side of this mountain was a small village. The population in this village lived a very meager lifestyle. They did not have much, but what they did have, they would often sacrifice it in honor of the gods. This village pleased the gods, all except for two inhabitants: Philemon and Baucis. The man's grandfather had led many people to this habitation many ages ago. By the mountain, they found a great spring which gave life to the people who lived there. Philemon's grandfather declared himself the guardian of the spring, but shared its fruit with all of his followers.

Philemon's father, too, became the guardian after his father died, and so did Philemon become the guardian at his father's death. Unlike his fathers before him, however, Philemon was greedy and thought himself to be king of the spring and the village. Instead of sharing the wealth, he would demand the villagers most valued and sacred possessions in exchange for the sustenance provided by the spring. Philemon and Baucis built the finest home with their greed, filled with food, wines, and golden objects. Their home was like a temple compared to the others in the village. However, the gods saw their home as a blight on the village.

One day, Jupiter and Mercury decided to descend from the heavens, disguised as mortals, and visit this village. When they arrived, they appeared as tired travelers in need of shelter and food for the night. Hundreds of villagers offered their humble abodes as refuge for the travelers, but when Jupiter and Mercury spotted the home of Philemon and Baucis, they insisted that they stay there. The villagers cautioned the travelers that Philemon and Baucis would surely not welcome strangers in their home. The travelers insisted on asking anyways.

When first Jupiter and Mercury knocked on the great door at the home of Philemon and Baucis, they received no response. Upon the second knocking, they received warning to leave unless they had a payment great enough in exchange for the shelter of Philemon and Baucis’s home. While the travelers did have any item worth offering, they did offer their warm company, promising Philemon and Baucis a night filled with joy and laughter. Philemon and Baucis scoffed, stating they had no need for such things.

Jupiter and Mercury then left the home of Philemon and Baucis and walked to the village square. There, they revealed their true form as the gods, Jupiter and Mercury. Jupiter then spoke with a voice loud enough for all in the village to hear from inside their home. He declared Philemon unfit to guard the spring. Philemon and Baucis’s hearts were filled with greed and pride, but they were now to be humbled. He then destroyed their great home and all of their possessions. They both pleaded with Jupiter, begging him to stop. When at last there was nothing left, Baucis then pleaded that Jupiter allow her to be free of Philemon. She had no love for the man, just his power, but now that he had none, he was worthless to her. Jupiter, in rejection of her wish, formed a golden chain and linked Philemon and Baucis together at the feet.

Author’s Note:
The original story is practically the opposite of the one I wrote. Jupiter and Mercury travel to a corrupt land and are only welcomed into the humble dwelling of Philemon and Baucis. While the couple has hardly anything, they all have a great evening filled with laughter and joy. Jupiter then destroys the town, but spares the home of Philemon and Baucis, transforming it into a temple for the gods, which the couple then asks to watch over.

(Philemon and Baucis, Rubens)

I thought it would be fun to flip this story upside-down. Instead of a humble spirit being glorified, I wrote of a haughty spirit being humbled.

Bibliography
"Philemon and Baucis" translated by Tony Kline, from Ovid's Metamorphoses (2000).

 

Week 3: Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 8-10)

Philemon and Baucis: I want me and my wife to be like this couple! Living happily within their means, even if they don't have much to call their own. Their home may have been lacking with their small copper pot or their uneven table, but it surely wasn't lacking in spirit. I believe this is why the gods wanted to visit them. They didn't have the finest things, but they had the finest hearts and proved to be the best company.

Transformation of Philemon and Baucis: The story ends perfectly. All they wanted was to take care of what the gods had given them and to always do it together.

Achelous: Achelous talked real big about being a god while Hercules was only a mortal, but when push came to shove, Hercules showed true might. It could be a good "pride cometh before destruction" type of story, if I were to go that route with my Storybook. I like how it is told from a humbled perspective.

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The Darkest Knight Under The Sea (Original) 

Such a fantastic song. It has Batman in it, Little mermaid, and it sounds like a real love song. This guy has a bunch of songs like this.