Extra Reading Diary: Persian Tales

I decided to do an extra reading exercise instead of writing an essay this week. I let fate decide my reading unit as I used the crystal ball. It led me to read the first half of the Persian Tales unit. Here are some of my favorite stories and characters from the unit:


Susku and Mushu

I liked how this story really built on itself in the end. The story really has no major plot to it but it still managed to tell an entertaining story. The continuous pain inflicted on each character at the end of the tale is what made this story in my opinion. I thought it was a very creative, albeit strange, way of putting the finishing touches on the story.

The Boy Who Became a Bulbul

I am starting to realize that every story starts and ends the same way. I feel like this is a great way to put your own subtle stamp on your stories. It could be an interesting thing to try and incorporate into my storytelling posts. At first this story kind of freaked me out with the whole boiling your own sons head and making a soup out of it but I enjoyed it at the end. The repeating of songs or rhymes in these stories is very entertaining to me.

A bulbul bird perched on a limb (Wikipedia).

The Wolf-Aunt

This story was very interesting and especially so after reading the author's note. As an old tale to try and discourage children from liking their aunt on their father's side I'm sure it worked for some. I've never really thought of telling stories to children to make them think some way other than the typical don't do bad things or this monster will get you. This story really made me sit and think about stories that I have heard when I was a kid that molded how I think today.

Reading Diary B: Santal Folklore

I finished reading the last half of the Santal Folklore unit. I found a few of my favorite stories from the reading to be the following:

The Tigers and the Cat

I like little tales like this. They describe why things are the way they are today. For instance, in this story the end tells us why tigers eat raw flesh. Also, relating to the cat, I find it amusing that most stories in this unit involve animals being tricked by what they can't help but have. In this story the cat loves the warm milk so much that he burns his paws and has to wait for the fire to burn down. This ultimately makes the tigers mad at the cat starting the whole ordeal.

The Elephant and the Ants

I also enjoy stories that have a message behind them. This story shows that just because someone is "better" than you based on whatever scale you choose, doesn't mean that they are better than you on every level of life. The ants proved this by outsmarting the "largest and most powerful animal on the face of the earth".

The Jackal and the Leopards

After reading this unit, I didn't necessarily find a favorite character but maybe a favorite character to dislike. In most of these stories the jackal is a trickster who gets all the other animals to do everything for him/her. In this story, he gets the leopards to drive a deer directly to him and he makes them kill it and then rip open the skin. After this, the jackal eats most of the deer himself leaving little for the leopards.

The Jackal waiting for the next unsuspecting animal to be tricked (Wikipedia).

Reading Diary A: Santal Folklore

I let the crystal ball decide my fate this week as I could not make up my mind about which unit to read. After reading the first half I am happy with what the crystal ball decided for me. Maybe I should let it decide a few more things in my life down the road. It led me to read the first half of the Santal Folklore unit and here are what I found to be my favorite stories:

Ramai and the Animals

I enjoyed this story because it made the nicest son end up with the better life in the end. He saved all the animals from death not knowing that the snake would end up giving him the ability to have everything he could ever want. I found this to be odd because in most stories the snake is portrayed as the villain or the deceiver. I kind of enjoyed that little twist within the story. I would have liked to know what the father thought about his other sons since they surely made profits from their endeavors.

The Raibar and the Leopard

I liked this story because I found it very amusing that the Raibar tricked the Leopard into thinking he could set him up with a mate. In reality, he had used his status to trick the Leopard into trapping himself and then the Raibar tried to kill him. It ended up that what the Raibar told the Leopard did in fact happen. I may want to incorporate something like this into my storytelling this week. I found this to be one of the more entertaining stories in the first half reading.

The look on the Leopard's face when he saw his mate promised by the Raibar (Wikipedia Commons).

Extra Reading Diary: Raja Rasalu

I decided to do the extra reading this week instead of writing an essay on my readings from earlier in the week. The unit I decided to read was the Raja Rasalu unit and while I was reading I kept in mind my favorite stories. These are three of my favorite stories:

How Raja Rasalu Was Born

I enjoyed this story because it shows how Raja became to be as strong and powerful as he is. He was kept away from the world for 11 years before he decided he was ready to break out (a year early). He showed his smart early on as he sat outside his father's kingdom and broke the ladies carrying clay pitchers with stones and then their steel ones with his arrow. I felt like this story was great background for how Raja Rasalu became the man he is in all the stories of his triumphs later on.

How Raja Rasalu Killed the Giants

This is the first story where I thought I began to think of Raja as a superior man. He killed seven giants with one arrow that traveled through seven iron girdles. He also showed compassion with his strength as he volunteered to be a part of the city's sacrifice to the giants. I thought this was a great way to convey that Raja Rasalu was a great warrior and a very kind being. This story also reminded me a little bit about the popular movie The Hunger Games.

How Raja Rasalu Played Chaupur with King Sarkap

I think this was my favorite story in the unit. I think this could be a very good storytelling post if I used it. I thought the whole story was amusing because it seemed like such a high stakes battle when it was only a board game. I need to research the game a little more but I thought it was very entertaining to read how serious both players took the match.

Raja Rasalu and his trusty kitten playing chaupur against King Sarkap  (illustrated by John Betten).

Week 4 Storytelling-The Four Super Brothers

Jacob was jealous of his brothers. They could use their powers whenever they pleased and he couldn't even show anyone what he was capable of. He had only used his power once. It was the first time he found out he had it but he knew he couldn't show anyone..

Being the youngest made it even worse. He was constantly teased because he "obviously did not have a power" if he could not show them. It was for their own good that he didn't show them but they would never understand.

One day, the teasing reached a point that Jacob could no longer take it. This was the day that everyone did indeed see his power and knew he was the strongest of all.

Jacob's oldest brother, Ivan, flew down from the top of the house where he had been hiding and took Jacob's toy that he had just received for his birthday a week earlier. He took it and placed it amongst the tallest trees where only he could reach.

"Ivan! Why do you always have to be so mean?" inquired Jacob.

"Tell you what. If you show me your super power then I will not only get your toy back but I will never tease you again," said Ivan.

"Boo!" came a voice directly behind Jacob.

It was his other brother. Brian had the power of invisibility and seemed to use it mostly to pop out and scare Jacob whenever the chance presented itself.

"I too will join Ivan in leaving you alone if you would just finally show your true power to us," bargained Brian.

"I have already told you guys. I can't show you because I don't want to hurt anyone," explained Jacob.

At this point, all the pestering was getting to Jacob. He knew that he couldn't fall into the trap of becoming angry because then he couldn't control his super power. As hard as he tried, the appearance of the fourth and final brother, Luke, sent him over the edge.

Luke had the power of telepathy and used it this time to tear down the wall keeping Jacob from losing his cool. He focused his energy and was able to summon Jacob's teddy bear from his room through an open window. He further used his energy to open the nearest trash can and toss Jacob's precious teddy inside.

As his older brothers laughed, something began to change within Jacob. The ground began to tremble and the trees began to shake on a windless day.

"I asked you nicely to stop teasing me," warned Jacob with a steely glare.

The young boy began to grow and grow until he was the bigger than the house. As he began to rage out of control, nothing in his path was safe. The three older brothers began to flee in fear of their lives as Jacob clobbered everything in site: cars, trees, and even the house. As if in a blind rage, Jacob destroyed everything the family had.

"Jacob! You calm down right this instant!" exclaimed a soft, yet strong voice from the direction of the smoldering house.

It was four brother's mother. Her soothing voice calmed Jacob and she rushed to hug him.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I told them to stop messing with me. I didn't mean to destroy the house," gasped the young boy.

"Don't worry, my son. Your brothers now know to not be on your bad side. As for the house, don't fret because I have the most amazing power of them all," claimed their mother.

With one fell swoop of her arm that seemed to require the tiniest of efforts the cars, the trees, and lastly the house were all reassembled in mere seconds.

"Now wash up! Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes!"

Jacob...SMASH!! (Deviant Art)

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Author's Note: This story found its inspiration from The Four Brothers from Twenty-Two Goblins translated by  Arthur W. Ryder and illustrated by Perham W. Nahl (1917). I used the original story and changed the events to include superheroes. The original story is of four brothers who each can each make a certain part of a dead animal with the last having the ability to give the animal life. In the story the last brother breathes life into the lion the other brothers have helped creating. The lion comes to life and ultimately kills all four brothers. I decided to give the four brothers super powers and added a little amusement at the end of the story with the mother. The inspiration for Jacob's power came from the Incredible Hulk and all the other brothers were given more generic super powers.





Reading Diary B: Twenty-Two Goblins

I continued to read the second half of the Twenty-Two Goblins reading unit and picked out some more favorite riddles told by the goblin. The king remained my favorite character for sticking it out and continuing his quest even though he had to restart again and again due to the goblin's riddles.

The King who died for Love of his General's Wife

This story caught my attention because of the acts of the king. He could have easily taken the general's wife due to his status as king. Instead, he thought that it would have been wrong of him to make the general give up his wife. The death of the general was somewhat surprising to me. I also enjoyed the description of the king to the goblin about why the king in the riddle was more deserving than the general.

The Four Brothers

I liked this story and the message behind it. The last brother used his skill of bringing life to what his brothers made just to show off even though he knew it was a lion he would be reviving. He did so and the lion turned around and killed all the brothers. Sometimes just because you can do something doesn't mean you should, especially when it can have dire consequences.

Conclusion

Who doesn't like a good ending? I liked this part because it seemed like since the king was such a good sport throughout the story in regards to the goblin's games that he decided to warn the king of the monk's overall plans. It was a feel good ending that the goblin ultimately saved the king from death.

A possible picture of the goblin! (Wikipedia)

Reading Diary A: Twenty-Two Goblins

I chose to read the Twenty-Two Goblins unit for week 4. I chose the unit because it contains stories with riddles and I thought it would be fun to try and solve the riddles myself before reading how the king answers them. Here are a few of my favorite riddles:

Introduction
I enjoyed the introduction because I had never heard stories where goblins reside in dead bodies. I thought the backstory was drawn out perfectly. Although, so far, the main story has to do with the riddles and stories told by the goblin, it gave a detailed story as to why the king and goblin are together in the first place. All in all I thought this was a great way to begin the story and give the king's mission meaning.

The Three Lovers who brought the Dead Girl to Life. Whose wife should she be?
I liked this one because it kind of brought a twist at the end. It spent most of the riddle telling about the man who became a monk and found the spell. This led you to believe that this man would surely earn the title of being the girl's husband. The king feels differently and ends up being right. This was a good way to add a little twist at the end of the story.

The Girl, Her Husband, and Her Brother

I think I like this one mostly because it is the only riddle I seemed to get right throughout my first half reading. The severity of the husband and brother's sacrifices were very surprising to me but it made the story what it was. I also think my favorite character thus far is the king himself. He is obviously very smart (he has yet to all for any of the goblin's tricks) but he is also very loyal to his overarching mission as he starts over and over again after every riddle.

The king and the corpse containing the goblin hanging from the tree (Wikipedia).