Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm; Part B

"The Queen Bee" was an interesting story. From the title of the story, I expected something completely different than what it turned out to be. The story had to do with three brothers, one of which was picked on, but he stopped the other brothers from doing some horrible things to creatures. The older two brothers ended up turning into stone after they couldn't complete a task, while the other brother was able to receive help from the creatures that he had saved. I like how the ending tied everything together and the bee was able to tell which had the honey. I think if I was to make changes to this story I would maybe make it about three girls on an adventure, just because of the title. I also think the two brothers should have stayed into stone. That would have been funny.

"The Fox and the Horse" was another  story that from Part B that I enjoyed. It made me mad in the beginning, however, when the owner stopped feeding the horse after all the horse did for the owner. The owner, in my opinion, deserved to have something bad happen to him. Maybe I would have had the lion come back to eat him after the horse rounded him up. I also like the unexpected friendship that was formed with the fox and the horse. Maybe I could also go further into detail about the friendship that they did have. The story didn't elaborate much as to why the fox decided to help the horse out.

(The Fox and the Horse) 

"The Willow-Wren and the Bear" was the last story I wanted to mention in my notes. I like the idea that these animals were part of some type of royalty. I think it is funny that there were Queens and Kings and that the bear had to respect the birds. As the story continued, I liked that the battle was with the animals in the air and the animals on the ground. I was expecting the larger animals to win, but thought it was clever that the animals that flew were able to outsmart the larger animals to get what they wanted.


Bibliography: Brothers Grimm LibriVox

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm; Part A

"The Frog Prince" was a very cute story to read. I thought there were so many changes that could be made to personalize the story. The whole story deals with a princess that loses her ball in the water. She asks a frog to help her retrieve it. The frog does so, asking the princess for a favor and she agrees thinking it was a silly request of the frog. After the frog does as he is asked, he goes to the princess expecting to get what he asked for. At first, the princess is hesitant, but soon agrees to what the frog asked. After a few days of living with the frog, he then turns into a handsome prince one morning and they live happily ever after. I thought about a few changes that I could make to the story. The whole story I was thinking of how the prince actually turned into the frog? Maybe I could do a little back history on what happened to him. I also thought about making the princess a frog instead of them living happily ever after. Not all stories have happy endings for everyone.

 (The Frog Prince) 

Rapunzel was the next story that I read from Part A. I hadn't read the story in a while so it wasn't super familiar with the beginning of it. I thought that the story was a bit different than I had remembered. There are a few different changes that could be made to the story after reading it. I wish I had heard more of what happened to the parents and maybe even about Rapunzel's childhood. That would be different and new aspect. I also would have liked to go more in depth to what made the person want to keep Rapunzel trapped and what they did with the hair. 

"The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean"was another story from the Brothers Grimm section I enjoyed. It was about three completely different items that escape "death", but not being cooked or used to cook something. The three set out on a journey to another country to repair themselves, but ultimately were not too successful when they tried to cross a bridge. The straw and coal were injured as well as the bean. The story ends, however, with the bean being repaired. I think I could make the story continue with another adventure and them somehow meeting up again. 

Bibliography: Brothers Grimm LibriVox

Reading Notes: Russian Folktales; Part B

For Part B, I enjoyed reading The Headless Princess. I was expecting something entirely different than what the story turned out to be. I thought that the princess would have her head chopped off or something in the story. The story already has her with her head attachable and detachable. That would be so weird if people could just take their heads off and on. I bet I could add a back story to why her head was chopped off in the first place. In addition, I liked how it did involve a neighbor who spread rumors about her. When she died, the kid had to read stuff to her that terrified him, but he listened to the granny and stayed safe. Eventually, they told the king that the princess was evil and the boy was rewarded. Seems very interesting that he was rewarded for something like that.

The Warlock was another good story to read in Part B. I liked how this time it was the father that had died and he left special instructions to his sons after he was dead that their wives needed to do. He had three sons and left special instructions for a cross to not be laid on him. The sons wives would be sent in to spin wool. The first two wives were tricked and strangled by the father. The third wife, however had better luck as she decided to not be fooled and bring a cross in. When he tried to strangle her, she set the cross on him and he died and she was left with treasure. Maybe I will add more to the story of what happens and what the cross on the father really represents?

The last story I wanted to take notes on was called "The Two Friends". I wasn't sure what to expect, but I thought the story was a bit strange. It had to do with two friends who promised they would invite the other to the wedding even if someone was dead. One of them was dead, but the other still went to his grave to invite his friend. His friend ended up somehow tricking the groom into drinking and a few hundred years had passed. I wonder what could have made his friend do this? Was it jealousy? I should add to the story to make for something more interesting.

(Grave site)

Bibliography: Russian Fairy Tales by W.R.S. Ralston

Reading Notes: Russian Folktales; Part A

The first story for Part A was quite interesting. I read The Dead mother and there were aspects that I like and didn't like at the same time. I felt like it was a change from all of the other stories I have read and could eventually be turned into a scary movie or something. The basis of the story has to do with the mother dying during childbirth and her "ghost" coming back to feed the baby and keep him calm at night when no one is around. When the nanny starts to notice this, she notifies others and they seek out waiting for what is to come. I find it interesting that they do catch her in the act and suddenly the baby is dead. Maybe there is more to the story? I think I could try to add some dialogue to this story or  I would rewrite the ending to explain more of what was happening.

(Pot of Gold) 

The next story started off with another couple and the wife dying... I hope there isn't a common theme of that. Maybe I'll make the husband die to give the female a stronger role? Anyways the rest of the story I actually enjoyed very much. The poor man whose wife had died just wanted someone to help him bury his wife. He went to the pope was turned down because he did not have any money. Somehow the old man acquired a pot of gold and went back to the pope and asked him again. The pope accepted this time, but still questioned how the old man got the money. The pope talked with his wife and decided to rob the poor old man. Things didn't turn out so well for the pope as he took the money, but his disguise ended up being stuck to him. I like the idea of karma happening. The poor man seemed to be very good and realized that he had survived before being poor. Maybe I will do a story with a lesson about being greedy?

The final story that I want to discuss is The Bad Wife. At first I really liked where the story was going, even though maybe I should create a story called "The Bad Husband", since they seem to devalue the woman's character. I did like how whatever the man said, the wife did the opposite. I think there could be a lot to add from a story based off of one like this. After she got tricked into going into the forrest I got a little confused. I think I would make a completely different ending and have her trick the husband into it? I could also make her into a better character and not into a Demon like the story makes her out to be.




Bibliography: Russian Fairy Tales by W.R.S. Ralston

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales; Part B

(Henny Penny)

I thought the first story for Part B was very cute. I also thought it was a little confusing with all of the names that the animals were given. It made me laugh every time I had to read the names over and over again though. Things then started to take a turn for the worst when some of the animals heads got chopped off. I was not expecting that. Maybe for one of my stories I should just throw something in the readers are not expecting and make them cringe a little. I probably would not make the names so confusing though, I feel like everything got very repetitive and was getting annoyed.

The next story was quite interesting. I don't really know why, but I have not liked the names of the characters very well. I think they should have included characters with more of a background or meaning to why they named something the way they did. I felt like there wasn't entirely a moral to the story either. I don't think I would choose to write something like this.

The next story I enjoyed until the end. Reading Jonny-Cake reminded me the of the old riddle. I was hoping the story would go more in to detail from the song and it did to an extent. The story also felt slightly repetitive again which I didn't care much for. The ending was again surprising and sad. I felt bad for Jonny-Cake, but also felt like he was bragging throughout the story. I think there are a few things I could do with this story to make it interesting.


Bibliography: English Fairy Tales

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales; Part A

The first story in this section was pretty interesting. There were some parts that I thought went together and some that I didn't. At the end I was trying to figure out the moral of the story and if it even really had one. The story begins with a daughter betraying her mother and eating pies that she is not supposed to. It then transitions to her getting to marry the king. Most months with the king would be glorious, with the exception of a few bad days in between. During those bad days she struggled with what she had to do. Help came along the way and they tried to make things difficult for her by having her try to guess their name. I think if I was to change up the story, I would try to make a connection as to why this person wanted her to guess their name. Overall, it was a fairly good read.

I enjoyed The Rose Tree, the second story a little better. Although it was gruesome, there was somewhat more of a moral to the story than the first one. If I was make changes, I would maybe have the daughter and son deceive the stepmother somehow and have her end up killing her own son and then face the consequences that way. I liked the description in the story as well. I felt as if I was able to picture everything, as cruel and unusual as it was. It still creeps me out that some of the stories I have read have someone being killed and then their body eaten by those people. I am disturbed by the fact that a human would have the heart to do that. Maybe I would take that part out.

(The Rose Tree) 

The next story was kind of funny! I enjoyed how things kept adding on to the story to make things seem crazier. It would be a fun twist if I made something mess up in the chain of events happening. I feel like the lady went through so much to get a pig to do something, but overall I liked the idea. 

The last story I liked from Part A was the cat and the mouse having  conversation. I think in my writing I should include more dialogue. I like how nonchalantly the story ended with the cat eating the mouse. It would be funny to do a role reversal and have the mouse eat the cat. Not ideal, but would be very interesting. 

Bibliography: English Fairy Tales

Reading Notes: Beowulf; Part B

Part B continues the story with Grendel coming to attack Beowulf. Grendel is depicted as this great huge beast. It appears that Beowulf is not yet prepared for the battle. They begin to fight in Heorot, with the scene being set as something dark and mysterious. I like how the author was able to make the scene more realistic. I think that is exactly what my stories need, so that people become more invested in what I am writing.

(Grendel)

The battle between Beowulf and Grendel went back and forth, each causing havoc on one another. The fight was very gruesome, but in the end, Beowulf was able to pull off the unthinkable. I think if I was to write this I might change what happens a bit. What if Grendel won? What if he made Beowulf his slave? That might be a fun twist to not always see the hero win. 

The story continued and Beowulf got much praise for his victory. That didn't last long, however, as news came that there was still a monster out there. The monster still causing havoc was Grendel's mother getting revenge over her son. Beowulf thought to himself to go after the mother alone. I think it would be interesting to tell the story from maybe the mother's point of view? I like the idea of explaining the problems that her son was facing and go in depth as to why he was acting crazy. 

The end of the story was victorious for Beowulf, as he was able to defeat the mom and the people were overjoyed for the victory the Danes received. For a period of time, Beowulf went back to his land and eventually ruled over it when king died. No one had come to challenge Beowulf for a while even though he had a lot of enemies. Eventually, towards the end of the story, Beowulf had to battle a dragon and was unsuccessful. He was still remembered as a great hero and was celebrated by his people. 

Bibliography: The Story of Beowulf by Stafford Riggs

Reading Notes: Beowulf; Part A

The story begins setting the scene of Geastland. This area had a ruler named Hygelac. I think it my story I need to put a little more focus into setting up my characters and giving them fitting names and qualities. The intro continued with a great description of the land and the creatures that lived there. There were seamstress and and other creepy characters that make for a spooky kind of story. I like how well the descriptions were attributed to each character and the scene, making it more realistic to imagine being there. I need to work on that in my writings and include better descriptions.

There were many youths, or rather younger men, that were under the Kind Hygelac. One of the men under him was known as Beowulf. Beowulf is appointed the thane of the kind (his uncle). Beowulf had a strong stature, but also had much to learn from the king about war and hunting. Many people were envious of Beowulf because of how close to the king and queen he sat at the feast. People though that he didn't deserve it. Although he was strong he was somewhat "cowardice".

The story continues with a wanderer coming to sing about troubles going on in their land. The wanderer (also a minstrel), pulled out a harp and sang and sang about a monster named Grendel. Grendel brought a great amount of destruction to the land and the people feared him.

All while the wanderer was singing, Beowulf was thinking to himself that he could take on the terrible monster known as Grendel. He then proclaimed that he would go to the land of the Danes and serve as their king to defeat the great Grendel. People didn't know whether to laugh or to cheer.

(Beowulf proclaiming his fight) 

People were then excited for the bravery that Beowulf showed. I think if I am to change the story around, I should maybe change up Beowulf's character or make him a girl fighting for battle. It would be interesting to see this through a female perspective. I could also tell the story through the monster Grendel. That would be an interesting point of view. 

Continuing with the story, Beowulf then prepares for his journey to defeat the great Grendel. Special stuff was made for him and he was also sent with an army of people. I think the story could be made different if Beowulf just fought with what he had himself or with his wits. 

Bibliography: The Story of Beowulf by Stafford Riggs

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales; Part B

The first story in Part B was called "The Dog-Husband". I was excited to read the story because it started off strong, but personally it was a little different than I anticipated. It began with a girl and a dog and at night the dog would turn into a man to sleep with the little girl. Eventually the girl got pregnant and the towns people were not very happy with what happened. The town people destroyed everything and left the girl behind with the puppies she gave birth to. I think I should change the ending of the story if I decide to use this as inspiration for a new story. The ending was a little confusing to understand. The puppies became human again somehow and caught whales. There was also a Crow involved who brought the people back to the town? Not my favorite story, but there are some good ideas that can come from it.

(Puppy running) 

The next story was "The Youth Who Joined the Deer". The story began with the a hunter that had two wives. He was very fond of deer and liked to go hunting. One time he went looking for a deer that he saw the tracks in and came across a woman who wanted him to be his husband. He was then brought back to the Indians and had sex with the woman when he was not supposed to. I didn't like ending to this story very much either. The husband felt bad about leaving his other wives, but this new woman told him to not worry very much about it. Later on in the story he went out hunting and killed some deer. Their bones brought them to life somehow. I liked that idea of bringing the bones back to life as something. I would make a lot of changes to this story to make it flow better. Some aspects were good, but I would maybe add more dialogue.

The last story I wanted to mention for Part B was "The True Bride". I actually enjoyed this story. It had to do with somewhat of an evil stepmother and step sister. The stepmother sent out the other daughter to find berries in the snow even though she knew that berries did not exist in the snow. The daughter went out anyways and got help from her brothers and returned with berries and new clothes. The stepmother wanted the other daughter to do the same, but instead the daughter was rude and did not come back with nicer things. There are a lot of things I could do with the ending of the story. I like the idea of an evil stepmom and stepsister. Happily ever after fairytales are very fun and I think I could do a twist to maybe make the stepmother less evil after something bad happens to her.


Bibliography: Native American Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales; Part A

The first story in this reading was very interesting. It was called "The Piqued Buffalo-Wife". The beginning of the story started out with a buffalo-cow trying to find his human father that helped his buffalo mother and bring them together. The buffalo-cow had to go through a few trials to find the Indian man that did so and he was able to identify him correctly through all the people. When he brought them together, the human father was not supposed to use fire around the mother, but he did so one time when he was angry and the mother and son disappeared. The father felt remorseful and had to go through a few trials to try to find his buffalo-calf son and see if he could correctly identify him. The man was able to pick his son out a few times by different signals, but on the last trial, he was not successful. The father was then trampled by the heard and eventually they found his bones to give to his family and they turned into human being. I thought that this story gave me a lot of different ideas for my own writing. I like the different trials of identification, and also how the buffalo was trying to bring the human father together with the buffalo mom. I also liked how they turned into human beings after.

(headdress of the Matoki Society)

"Bear-Woman and Deer-Woman" was the next story in Part A and I thought it was cool how they were still mixing humans and animals. The into made it seem like something was not going to be successful. These two woman were wives of Chickenhawk men. From the story it seemed that the families of both of these woman were very close. That was true until the Bear decided to bite of the Doe's head and burn it. When the Bear returned, the Doe's children were skeptical and knew that that was their mother. The Bear made them not worry too much about it and so they went of the play with the Bear's children. The Doe's decided to kill the Bears and take them back to the mother Bear and tell them that they were skunks that they killed for dinner. The mother Bear believed them, and then someone mentioned that she was eating her own children. They called her out for killing a person then eating her children's hands. This story was a bit weird, but I like how had a twist and I was not anticipating what was going to happen. I think I could incorporate something like this into one of my stories, by thinking of a weird twist.

The last story that I felt inspired by was, "The Eagle and Whale Husbands". The story had a unique concept to it. There were little girls playing by the shore with eagle bones and whale bones. I thought that part was kind of weird, but could be fun to have random animal parts lying around that transform into other things. The girls then wished for a husband, one an Eagle and the other a Whale husband. Their wishes came true and they were then taken off with an Eagle and a Whale. The little girls did not like this and tried to escape because they felt trapped. They were both successful, but the animals were not. The animals ended up dead. I think it could by creative to continue a storyline with this and have the children trapped and something more happening to them instead of just allowing them to escape. It would have been cool if they turned into the animal or something.



Bibliography: Native American Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson

Reading Notes: Tejas Legends; Part A

The first story was called "When the Storm God Rides". The story takes place along the shore of Texas by the Gulf of Mexico. It involves a storm God, known as Hurakan, who scared the Indians that lived among the land. They also called Hurakan the "thunder bird". I think it would be cool to incorporate some type of God into my writing. I feel like the story is interesting because it describes how the Indians didn't really know what a storm was, so they thought it they were being punished or and hid in fear. The Indians liked it better when the God was away. There was conflict with the Indians that lived there and another tribe who came using weapons. Eventually they prayed for the Storm God to help them and when he came, it was like a hurricane blowing through. Islands were created after for animals and plants specifically.

The next story I enjoyed was "How the North Wind Lost His Hair". The origin of the story was explaining Spanish moss. The story begins with the north wind being afraid of the south. I like that emotions are given to things that usually aren't able to give expression to themselves. That is something I could use in my story as well. The two winds did not like each other. Instead, many people liked the warm south wind as opposed to the cold north wind. The north wind kept blowing, causing spring to not occur. Finally, the north and south winds went at it and younger south wind was able to overpower the old north wind and in doing so he ripped his gray hair out. That is where the Spanish moss came from. I think it would be fun to tell a tale that all connects.

The last story for this part that I really enjoyed was called, "Why the Woodpecker Pecks". I thought it was interesting that the Indian children found a natural source of a psychoactive drug. Even though they weren't supposed to use it, they were still tempted by it and bad things happened. The families were turned into woodpeckers to go find them and never ended up finding them. I think there are a lot of great ideas that can come from hallucinogenic things. I could do a twist on this story and try to incorporate another Tejas Legend with it.

(Wood peckers and tree) 

Bibliography: Tejas Legend by Florence Stratton

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales; Part B

For part B, the first story that caught my attention was the Fox-Fire. It had to do with a farmer stealing something from a fox. What the fox had was very powerful, and in time it gave the farmer great abilities. The farmer became very wealthy and had many powers. One evening, however, the fox came back for what was rightfully his and stole his power back from the farmer. I think there are a lot of things that could have been added to make this story more interesting. I did like the fact that the farmer had the power of invisibility. I think it would be cool to make a character invisible in one of my own stories. Supernatural powers are always fun to play around with and give to different characters.

(Fox)

The next story I enjoyed from this segment was called Retribution. It was about a boy watching the accidental death of a water boy. He saw it from his window and did not say a word when the body of the boy was found. Although the death had been accidental, there was a man that saw it and did not report it to anyone. The boy didn't report it either. Years went by and nothing was said, then the boy who was now grown, saw a figure that looked like the man that had died. He discovered it was more like a spirit that lived there. Things took a strange turn as the boy accidentally killed the man who witnessed the water boy's killing. I think it would be interesting to cycle a story for turn of events such as this one.

The last story from this section that I would like to touch upon was about the maiden who was stolen and trapped at the top of a building. The building was called a pagoda. The maid was stolen by a cyclone and brought to the top of the building. The man seemed normal and nice, but gave her an ultimatum. She refused to go with the man she did not go. He then held her there hostage, but brought her everything that she needed to be successful. She stayed up there for a while, as the man had trapped and made it impossible for her to get down. Every day that he came to visit, he asked if she would like to go with him, but she refused. One day, the man accidentally left the window open and she was able to look down below. The man transformed into some weird creature and she cried out for help. Since she was so high, no one could hear her. Instead, she threw down her clothes hoping that someone might find her. Her family did, and eventually came to her rescue and injured the man that stole her. I think it would be fun to add on to this story or change it up a bit. I thought about making it more drastic and saying that something happens to the man that stole her.


Bibliography: Chinese Fairy Tales

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales; Part A

The first story in Part A was very interesting. It was about a princess who had bad luck and had to choose someone to marry. She chose to marry a beggar who had good luck. Although her parents (mainly her father) did not approve, she was sent off with the beggar anyways and lived a rough life with him. Eventually, the beggar decided to go off and look for his fortune, while the wife stayed in their hut and in a horrible lifestyle. Eighteen years later, the beggar returned, but this time he did not look the same and was instead a king. The wife did not recognize him, but stayed loyal to her husband. The king finally told her who he was and they went off to live in the castle. The happiness didn't last long though. The wife suddenly got ill and died. I think that this story could be taken in a new direction. I could switch the roles and give the girl good luck and the guy bad luck. I also like the idea of a happy story and then suddenly turning something in the wrong direction. That would be cool to do to my readers. I might have to include something like this in my next story!

The next story about daughters, their father, and cave creatures. The story starts off in one direction, as the father finds seven eggs, but wants them all to himself and not for his daughters. The daughters end up eating all the eggs so the father is unhappy. The father takes some of his daughters to "grandmas" house, or so he tells them. They actually end up being left in the woods to fend for themselves and to not get eaten by a fox or a wolf. The daughters somehow outsmart the fox and the wolf in their own cage and end up killing them. They find their jewels and then the father finally comes back because he misses them. This part of the story I didn't necessarily like all to much. I think if I was to change it, I would definitely change the ending up so that the dad doesn't get any of the jewels. I think it would be hard to forgive my father if he left me to die in the woods for eating an egg. I would like to maybe make him have some karma.

The last story for part A that I enjoyed was about a dog and a cat. Their owners had owned a gold ring and whenever they had that, they had enough wealth to live. They did not know this, so they ended up selling the ring for a small amount of money and eventually went poor again. Their dog and cat suffered as well because they were not fed. Then, the dog and cat came up with a plan to get the ring back. They would use a mouse to go retrieve it. They did this, and used each other for help. When they finally got the ring and were bringing it back, however, the cat went off with it and brought it home because he was able to get home quicker. The cat was rewarded by the parents and they were mad at the dog because they thought the dog did not help at all. This is why they think dogs and cats are not friends.

(Dog and cat) 

Bibliography: Chinese Fairy Tales

Reading Notes: Nigerian Folk Stories, Part B

The lightning and thunder story was a good read. I like how the central focus for Nigerian Folk Stories focuses on attributing certain things for why they are the way they are. For instance, in this lightning and thunder story, thunder was the mom and lightning was the son causing destruction. The lightning was always causing havoc and burning things down and the thunder was yelling at her son for doing so. They were eventually banished from town and were sent to another place where they did the same thing and that is why there were sent so far away into the sky. They couldn't harm anyone from there. Bringing things to life from nature would make for an interesting story! There are so many takes I could make a spin off of.

(Lightning storm)

The next story I enjoyed in Part B of the reading was about a hippo who no one knew of his name. The hippo had many wives and threw many feasts for people. During his feast, he asked if anyone knew his name and no one knew the answer. Eventually he made a deal that if someone knew his name he would go live out his days in the water. The tortious snuck his way around the hippo so he could get one of his many wives to call him by name. This fold story is another one of those legends for why hippos stay in water. Thinking I could do something like this story about another animal or so.

The last story that I wanted to comment on was about two birds that were competing for the king. The king promised that he would make whoever could endure pain the longest chief of his tribe. Two different birds were both up to the challenge. One was larger and therefore thought of himself more fit than the other. The other bird was not fit, but rather very witty. They had to build a house and go seven days without food. The smaller, but wittier bird skillfully planned his house to where there was a whole he could go in and out of to get food. The king inspected it and didn't notice the whole. At the end of the seven days the smaller bird had been able to get in and out of his cage and get to food, while the larger bird had died. He became the chief appointed by the king. I like how the story transitioned into why these types of birds are hard to shoot. They are small and witty.

I very much liked reading through these different stories. They were all similar and different at the same time. There were reoccurring instances of some characters and some similar themes. What I think I could use to make my own story might possibly have to do with creating why something does or is the way it is. I could also alter one of the stories. Stay tuned to see what I come up with this week! 

Bibliography - Nigerian Folk Stories by Elphinstone Dayrell

Reading Notes: Nigerian Folk Stories, Part A

The first story for this weeks reading caught my attention fairly quickly and caught me off guard. It was about a king who was successful and well liked and hated at the same time by his people. He got what he wanted and any pretty girl that he wanted as well. A neighboring town did not liked the king and wanted him killed, so a witch agreed to do so. This witch turned herself into a pretty girl and deceived the king by poisoning his food that she made for him. All the sudden the story got gory and she sliced the kings head off when he was poisoned. Her town was able to then defeat the king's town as they were not prepared. I think if I was able to give one of my characters a supernatural power that would make for an entertaining story. I have always liked the idea of tricking others to think you are someone else. Secretly in my own mind I wish I could do that.

The next short story from the reading had to do with a bat and a rat. The central theme was jealousy, and ultimately the rat tried to do what the bad had done to make his soup just as good. In the end, the rat lost his life and the king sent people after the bat. I enjoyed how the end of the story led to the reason that bats only come out to feed in the dark. They have fear that something will happen to them. Maybe for my story I could use something like this and lead up to something normal.

The third story in this first half of the reading

Bush rat 

was about a daughter who disobeyed her parents and wound up marrying someone that she shouldn't. At first, I thought surely something was going to happen to the girl when she went off with the skull who borrowed things to appear handsome for her since the skull was from an evil land of spirits. I thought the moral of the story was going to be that you should listen to what your parents tell you, otherwise something bad might happen. It seemed bad, but then she was sent home because she was kind to the skull's mother. I didn't quite know what the moral of the story was then, but I liked how I thought something was going to happen then something else happened instead.

Following that story, the next one I really enjoyed reading was about a king and a cock's daughter. The king was able to get any girl that he ultimately wanted and had many wives. He heard of the cock's daughter and that she was beautiful, so he wanted her. Seeing as how the cock was poor, he had no option but to present his daughter to the king, although he warned the king that she still contained some qualities of a cock. This part I though was especially interesting because I think it would be fun to add qualities to humans that people don't expect into my story. As the story goes on, the cock's daughter eventually becomes the favorite and the other wives are jealous. They then expose her qualities and embarrass the king so that he gets rid of her, and their plan works. When the king finds out it was a set up he gets rid of the wife that planned it and she ends up poor and homeless. The king himself eventually dies because he is unhappy that he sent the cock's daughter away.


Bibliography - Nigerian Folk Stories by Elphinstone Dayrell

Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha, Part B

The second part of the reading begins with Siddhartha leaving the city of Kapila. He also leaves on his horse Kanthaka. Siddhartha wants to discover life and death all together and feels like he must go out and venture. He wants to find good or evil. I think if I could tell it from the horses point of view that would be neat. I could also make up something along the lines that his father holds him at his palace like he is in prison. His father wants to ultimately be the greatest.

Siddhartha's leaving was very heartfelt and emotional. He talked with Chandaka and realized that he wanted to discover more. Leaving his family would be hard for them, but if he was to stay they might leave him (in death). Gopa realized that Siddhartha has left to become a hermit. The people are not happy and wonder if he can be persuaded to come back and rule. The horse also returned from Siddhartha and was silent and then died. I thought that was really sad and brought out a new emotional side. Maybe the horse was so heartbroken that their next prince who was so divine was straying away from his "path".

King Vimbasara set out looking for Siddhartha. He was told by a man that a God was wandering the streets of the city. He went to help Siddhartha. I thought this part of the story really stood out. Siddhartha had everything he could have ever wanted and chose to give it up to be poor. Maybe my story could have something more meaningful like that. Siddhartha was trying to find enlightenment.

Siddhartha went to Nairanjana where he for a moment was thought to be "dead". His mom Maya appeared among that Gods thinking that he was dead. She uttered powerful words to him. Siddhartha then meditated for SIX years on the banks of the river. What a long time. I wish I could meditate and stay concentrated for that long. He was also followed by five disciples who left him because he could not teach them the correct path of knowledge.

(Buddha Meditating) 

The tree of knowledge was another good part of the story. Siddhartha realizes he has the knowledge and some interesting things happen with an evil soul, Mara. Siddhartha eventually becomes the Buddha. In his time meditating and discovering, he finds that there is no life without death. I think it would be cool to add my own twist of life and death. I want to maybe do a story where something is reborn into something else after death.


Bibliography: "The Life of Buddha" by Andre Ferdinand Herold; Web Source

Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha, Part A

I chose to read this story particularly because of the mini Buddhas I have in my room that my friend had gotten me. I know a little about Buddhism from learning about it in my religion class. I thought it would be interesting to read the stories!

The intro to the story, Maya's Dream, was very detailed and eye opening. I like how it mentioned that the child chose that specific family even before it was born. I also liked how the powerful King felt week at the thought of a child being born and he did not know why. It would be fascinating to turn create a story out of a dream and make it come to life. The Queen and King were summoned by the Gods and they knew that something magical was going to be born. I enjoyed how good things began to happen to those around them as they prepared for something greater. In my story I could make it about someone being healed or having the power to heal... Just a thought!

As the story continues, the son is about to be born and is gifted with all this magical stuff. It made me desire to have all the things the King could offer his Queen at the time of birth. The detail was truly amazing. I think it is interesting how effortlessly they made childbirth seem. Maybe I could put a twist into the story to show that childbirth is not as magical as the Queen had made it appear... Siddhartha was born and everything in the world seemed to be great just because of his appearance.

A hermit comes to see the son and is weeping at the sight. The powerful words that he says to the king really resided in me and I want my story to leave some kind of lasting impact. The son is supposed to "destroy the evil of rebirth".. The King was left with many questions.

The story continued and I was sad, as the mother of Siddhartha had passed away and he was now left in the care of her sister, Mahaprajapati. I would like to add some sort of feelings to my stories as well. I think emotion is key for people to stay intrigued. The sister had Siddhartha wearing nice jewelry that a Goddess did not like. She was ordered to take it off of him.

(Siddhartha and Mahaprajapati) 

Siddhartha grew older and was taken to a temple. He was taught things, but already knew everything that his teacher Visvamitra taught him. Wouldn't that be nice? Just to know everything already. I wish I had that ability in school (ha ha). He began to meditate. Maybe I could do a story about finding peace and meditation after something bad. Finding a sense of belonging in a world...

Bibliography: "The Life of Buddha" by Andre Ferdinand Herold; Web Source 

Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales, Part B

The first story in the part was quite interesting and I enjoyed the first half, but then it got a little confusing. The story was about a maiden who was in a way summoned by a bird to find her "kismet". I didn't know quite what that word was, but once I looked it up, I found out that it meant destiny or fate. Continuing on with the story, there was a lot of really good detail that made you picture the surroundings. In my story I want to try to incorporate more detail. I feel as if really good stories make you feel a part of them. I did not like the second part of the story, I felt a little confused and like it didn't connect with the first part entirely. Somehow there was someone called Bey who granted presents for the servants and the maiden requested a brown patience-knife and a yellow patience-stone. I don't exactly know what they meant by "patience" there. They Bey wasn't quite able to deliver on his promise, but somehow ended up with them for the maiden. She used them to describe a story and in the end she eventually found her kismet. I thought it was weird how she stabbed herself with the knife and the Bey jumped out and said that she was his kismet. Overall, I thought it was an interesting tale. Maybe in my stories I can include more magical aspects.

(Patience-Stone and Patience-Knife, link to web source)

The next story I enjoyed was "The Imp of the Well". Again, I did not know what an imp was, so I looked that up as well and found out that it meant some sort of devil or spirit. The story started off very well. I thought it was funny how the many left his wife in the well. She seemed to not let him do anything on his own and always took from him, so that was bad karma when she fell in the well. The story had a twist to it when the woodcutter left his wife in the well and came back for her the next day. The imp appeared and the woodcutter had to sort of go on a mission for saving the imp from the well instead of his wife. Somehow they ended up back at the well and the woodcutter felt bad for not saving his wife. The imp didn't know if he believed the man so the story sort of left off in a mystery. I could use something like that in my story and leave things off with a mystery and people wanting to find out more. Cliffhangers are a good twist because they leave people to their own imagination and interpretation of the story.


Bibliography:
Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos, link to web source 

Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales, Part A

The first part of this reading was very interesting. I wasn't sure what to expect before I started reading the stories. I don't know a lot about the Turkish culture. The first story was about fear and a boy trying to find it. I like how the author included a lot of dialogue into his story. I think for my stories I need to do that more. I also liked the theme of the boy searching for fear, but not really being afraid of it. There were some fairytale aspects to the story, but it was not what I was anticipating. There were some maidens that found the boy and offered him some nice things, but he was still on the search for fear. As the boy was still in search, he was offered to be the Shah, but declined as he wished to find out what fear was first. I liked thought it was interesting that something landing on his head meant that he was the Shah. Eventually he sat down with the Sultana who was able to scare him by placing a bird in side the dish that when he opened it, it flew out. I thought the ending was pretty basic though. They all lived "happily ever after", and I thought something more dramatic was going to happen.

The next story that I liked from these was about a fisherman. The intro to the story really drew me in to it. The fisherman was able to discover his passion and from that he gained a fish. I like how the fish was brought to life. It really added a new dynamic to the story. I think it would be cool to bring something to life in one of my stories. I also thought it was unique what things the fisherman had to bring to the Padishah. He requested some extravagant things the fisherman was able to deliver so he wouldn't have to give up his maiden. My stories could use a little more creativity like these.

(The Fish-Peri, web source) 

Bibliography:
Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos, link to the reading online 

Reading Notes: Aesop for Children, Part B

The second part of the reading included more short stories with lessons within them. The first story that grabbed my attention was "The Wolf and the Goat". It was about a Wolf wanting the Goat for as a meal so he tried to temp him by saying there was grass for the Goat. The Goat knew what the wolf was doing and politely declined. The lesson was not to be too selfish. There are a few things I could do to this story to transform it if I was to remake it my own. I could have made it more adventurous and had the Goat falling. Just when the Wolf thought the Goat would be his I could somehow give the Goat wings to fly or make him vanish like it was just a figment of the Wolf's imagination. I think I could transform it to bring different things to life that shouldn't be. For instance, the Goat was standing on a cliff and I could bring the cliff to life and scare the Wolf waiting for a meal.

(The Wolf and the Goat; Web Source) 

Another story I enjoyed was "The Dog and the Oyster". I love how the author pairs together some of the most insane things throughout his story and I think that is what makes them so unique. In my story I think I want to pair together an interesting duo. It was also funny that the dog was eating a whole egg. That is weird and almost unheard of, but could be funny to include random things like that in my next story. It would have been fun to extend on the story and to bring the eggs to life inside of the dogs stomach... in fact I might do that in my next story. Stay tuned.

Bibliography: 

Aesop for Children by Milo Winter; link to web source