Extra Reading Diary: Nigerian Folk Stories

I decided to do an extra reading this week instead of writing an essay. I chose to read the Nigerian Folk Stories unit because I wanted to read a unit that involved animals other than rabbits and wolves for a change of pace. As I read I kept notes on my favorite stories.

The Pretty Stranger who Killed the King

This story followed along the lines of lots of other stories I have read this semester. Someone who is in a mighty position of power is tricked by someone who has disguised themselves as a young and pretty woman. I liked the ending of this one because the King who was killed was stopped from destroying the lives of many others. I wonder if any other stories I read in this unit will involve someone tricking another disguised as a pretty maiden.

The Fish and the Leopard's Wife

I found this to be a particular amusing story because I feel like it follows the same plot as many TV series in today's world. This could easily be a show on Netflix worthy of binge watching. I continue to like these small stories that explain why the world is the way it is today. In this story, the fish is banished to the water forever as punishment for betraying his friend, the leopard.

Had the leopard not thought clearly this could have been the end of the fish (Animal Wildlife).

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky

I thought this was a great way to depict why the sun and moon are confined to the sky. I feel like there are many storytelling possibilities with this story. One could possibly make up a story that follows this one as to why the sun comes out during the day and the moon comes out at night.

Week 6 Storytelling-The Playground

"So, will you two help in building the school's new playground?" asked Mr. Thompson.

John and Theodore both replied with a nod of their heads and set off to help build the school's new playground. The old playground was full of dirt and run down jungle gyms, slides, and other outdated pieces of equipment.

After about an hour, John could not help but notice that all the other kids were getting to play and enjoy the sunny day, albeit on the old playground, while he and Theodore toiled away. As they worked on the construction of the jungle gym John came up with what he thought was a brilliant plan.

"Did you hear that, Theodore? Mrs. Booth is calling me to assist her in the classroom," explained John.

Theodore had heard nothing but thought it was plausible as he had been solely focused on his work and had a tendency to space out from time to time.

"Run along then but please come back as soon as you can. There is enough work here for the entire class and only we were chosen," explained Theodore.

With that, John ran towards the classroom but snuck back outside to the old playground and played with the others until he had his fill of fun. When he returned to Theodore and the construction of the playground he could see that the jungle gym had been completed.

"Wow! It looks great," John thought to himself, "And it took me almost no work."

"What did Mrs. Booth have you do in there? It sure took you a long time," inquired Theodore.

"She made me rearrange the library and put the books back in the correct spots. Let's work on this slide," explained John.

As they worked and worked for some time, John once again grew jealous of the kids playing basketball and despised the hot work he and Theodore were selected to do.

"Theodore, do you hear that? It's Mr. Johnson calling me. I will be back in no time. Keep up the good work," yelled John as he scurried off towards the basketball court.

When he returned to the work and Theodore some time later he saw that there was no more work to be done. Theodore had completed the playground while he had been enjoying the game of basketball.

"Alright! Let's start playing!" exclaimed John to Theodore.

"NOT SO FAST!" a voice boomed behind them.

There was only once voice that could belong to and they were both well aware of who it was: Mr. Thompson.

The large man was walking quickly towards the two and looked to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

"Theodore, run and play on the new playground you worked hard on. John, we need to have a talk," he said when he reached the group.

"John, I have been keeping an eye on you two all afternoon and you have tried to trick Theodore over and over to do all your work. What do you think your punishment should be?"

As John looked down at his feet he managed to squeak out a simple, "No punishment?"

Mr. Thompson gave a hearty laugh as he grabbed the young man by his shoulders and escorted him to the principal's office.

Theodore loved the new playground and enjoyed it even more than the others since he had been the one to build it. As for John, he was banished from the new playground for a whole week. So as the others romped and played on the new toys, John was forced to sit and watch from the middle of the old playground.

The playground Theodore built (Pixabay).

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from The Rabbit and The Antelope found in Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898). In the original story the rabbit and the antelope get together to dig a water well so they can quench their thirst when need be in the hot days of summer. They keep a stash of food so that they can eat it when they have finished their work. The rabbit makes up a story that his wife is about to give birth and that he must run back to name their kids. When he is tired of working the rabbit acts as if he is being called and eats a little of their food and comes back. He does this until he has done essentially no work and the antelope has completed the well. The antelope figures out what the rabbit has done and forbids him to drink out of the well. The rabbit does so sneakily until the antelope sets up a trap, ultimately catching the rabbit and killing him.

For this story, I changed characters and what the characters were building. I thought that having two kids build a new playground was a good change in the story because I thought it would be easily relatable to have a kid who doesn't want to work but play. I added in the principal giving out the discipline because in reality I didn't think one kid would take another one banishing him from the playground to well.

Reading Diary B: Tales from the Congo

I finished reading the Congo unit today. I kept notes on my favorite stories and characters throughout my reading and mentioned them here as a blog post.

The Antelope and the Leopard

In this story I was first confused as to why they suddenly just left the story about the antelope and leopard hiding from each other. I was amused to find at the end that the antelope had tricked the leopard and ended up making good on his word that he would take his life. Another thing I liked was how the Congo used this story to explain why leopards now kill antelopes when they meet one.

The Rabbit and The Antelope

I find it amusing that the animals who are the tricky and manipulating ones within this unit are not ones you would expect. They have been turtles and rabbits instead of wolves or jackals. I found it amusing in this story that the rabbit kept running off to eat the food instead of working while he used the excuse of having to name his children. The fact that he used names like "Uncompleted-One" and "Half-Completed-One" when the antelope asked what names he had chosen was funny because he was referring to the share of their food he had eaten.

Why The Crocodile Does Not Eat The Hen

I found this to be one of my favorite stories from the unit just because of pure humor. I found it funny to think of the crocodile being a large and viscous animal and being so intimidating just to be confused because the hen calls him/her brother. Lucky for the hen!



Crocodile who is later confused by the Hen (Wikipedia)

Reading Diary A: Tales of the Congo

I decided to read the Tales of the Congo unit for my assigned reading this week. I chose this using the crystal ball (again) because I had trouble choosing a unit. As I read I kept notes on what stories I liked the best and they are as follows:

How the Wives Restored Their Husband to Life

This story reminds me of many others I've read from the past weeks. It seems to be a big point in lots of cultures that these families have competitions to see who is liked more or whatever. They all kind of seem to be the same where the person who revives the person or whoever gives the gift with the most value is usually the "winner" of sorts.

An illustration of women from the Congo (Wikipedia Commons).

The Vanishing Wife

This story reminds me of something like a genie that promises everything you could every want as long as you follow his one wish. I feel like it is a strange request that the man's wife can not stand to see the fishes without their heads cut off. It seems like a such a simple request as well and I was not surprised to see that in the end all his possessions vanished after he failed to follow the simple request.

The Wicked Husband

This story is somewhat of a good one to show the typical mood of all stories within this unit. Something that seems minor results in someone having a gruesome thing happen to them. I was not expecting this much violence and gruesome acts to occur in this unit.