Reading Notes: The Long-Lived Ancestors

The story begins with a widowing eagle who seeks to remarry. It is interesting to hear that the eagle is so curious to find out how young the owl is. You never actually find out how young or old the owl is, but you find out that the creatures mentioned along with the owl are the oldest in the entire world. You never find out if he marries the owl and when retelling the story you could add in a wedding between the two.

Owl of Cwm Cawlwyd Pixabay

Bibliography: The Long-Lived Ancestors from Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories by Peter H. Emerson (1894).

Reading Notes: The Old Man and the Fairies

This story happens in a time were fairies are present and abundant. They come out at night and dance all night long. They can be seen by green rings along the grass line. They were said to have a lot of gold, making them very rich. The Old Man figures this out when he is taken underground to were they live. I think in retelling the story, I could change the old man to a little child and having her parents not believe that she got the gold from the fairies because she is a foolish child.

Fairy Geograph

Bibliography: The Old Man and the Fairies from Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories by Peter H. Emerson (1894).

Reading Notes: The Pellings

A man goes and hides in the thicket so he can catch a fairy that is said to come out at night. After capturing one and finally figuring out her name, he proposes to her and she agrees under one condition. The condition is that he ever strikes her with iron she will be gone forever. This end up happening surprise surprise. However, it was by accident. I think in retelling this story I could have a woman hide in the thicket and proceed to marry the man she captured.

Fairies Flickr

Bibliography: The Pellings from Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories by Peter H. Emerson (1894).

Reading Notes: Crows

The story opens up with a rhyme talking about seeing black crows and the luck associated with them based on the number you see. The young man then dreams and sees seven black crows. His death is foreshadowed in the dream with the seven crows as well as a coffin. He does not realize that it is he who is going to be buried. He gets back to his wife to try and tell her his dream and then passes away.

Single Black Crow Representing Bad Luck Pixabay

Bibliography: Crows from Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories by Peter H. Emerson (1894).

Reading Notes: The Red-Eyed Duck

In this story, the old man tricks the ducks into closing their eyes so he can kill them and eat them later. However, the twist in the plot is when the coyote comes around and eats all of his ducks and stuffs some of them with ashes. I think when retelling this story, I could change the old man to a young man and have him be a DJ rather than be a singer. This would had a more modern twist to the story.

DJ setup Flickr

Bibliography: The Red-Eyed Duck from Blackfeet Indian Stories by George Bird Grinnell (1915).

Reading Notes: Bluejay and His Companions

In this story, the Grouse is picked on and tormented a little by the Bluejay. The Bluejay's companions warn him not to do so, but he continually picks on the grouse and the Grouse does not say a word back. The Grouse is scheming and decides to crave a wooden seal for the Bluejay and his companions to skewer with a spear. The wooden seal was told to drag them as far away as possible. I think that in retelling this story I could change it to the perspective of the Grouse and have the Bluejay and his companions make it back to where they started and tell the Grouse what he caused them to go through.

Grouse Source

Bibliography: Bluejay and His Companions from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

Reading Notes: How Bluebird and Coyote Got Their Colors

The coyote is watching and wanting to eat this bird as he bathes for 4 straight days. On the fifth day the birds feathers change to blue, the fox no longer wanted to eat the bird, but wanted to get his fur to be blue as well. Being the dumb and proud of his color, he was distracted and did not pay attention to where he was going. He ran into a stump and was covered in dirt. If he were to just live his normal life and realize that people would love to see a blue fox and not get distracted by it, he might still be blue to this day. In changing the story I could have a redbird jump into fire everyday and change his skin to red like the fire.

Blue Bird Wikimedia Commons

How Bluebird and Coyote Got Their Colors from Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912).

Reading Notes: The Theft of Fire

The story begins with the coyote seeking to steal fire for the Indians. He first goes in there and you think that he will be able to steal it by himself, but that is not the case. He needed help from the Indian to distract the people he is stealing it from. When retelling this story I think that I could have someone come from the future and tell the coyote that he needs to steal it and provide the distraction. This would be someone from the tribe in the future helping to make sure the tribe survives and thrives. His distraction would be a little different than running by the people that have the fire.

Fire Pexels

In The Theft of Fire from Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912)

Reading Notes: The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away

In this story, the maiden is taken away and placed in a tower controlled what appears to be a young man. The maiden's greatest fear is having to be stuck with this man who she later finds out is actually an ogre who turns himself into a man right before meeting with her every time he feeds her. He greatest hope is getting away and she increases her chances by dropping her clothes from the tower to a man walking by. The clothes are brought to her family where the brother takes charge and goes in and saves the young maiden. 

Pagoda Blogspot

The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away from The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

Reading Notes: The Story of the Donkey and the Rock

This story is a little ridiculous. The king sets a trial between a donkey and a rock. The donkey knocked over a jar of oil as it was walking down the mountain carrying wood. The man who owned the oil wanted payment for his loss of oil and the other man said that it wasn't his fault, but the donkeys. The King being the smart man he is, set up this ridiculous trial to get everyone into the court room. Once everyone was in there, he asked them why they came to this trial and told everyone to give a half penny as they got out. The money went to the man who lost his oil. When retelling this story I could change the donkey to a self driving car and the rock to something else. 

Donkey and Rock Blogspot

The Story of the Donkey and the Rock from the Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).

Reading: The Judgement of Baboon

One of the stories I read was about a tailor who claimed a mouse tore his clothing. Each character blames a character that counters them and that they dislike. For example the mouse blames the cat who blames the dog and so on and so on. When retelling this story I could change up each character and its counter part to have a whole new story. There is a lot of repetition in this story and that would be kept the same if I were to retell it with new characters. The baboon who is the judge ends up getting the worst of it by having to walk on all fours for the rest of his life.

Baboon realizing his fate Pixabay

Bibliography: The Judgement of the Baboon from South African Folk-Tales by James Honey (1910).

Reading Notes: The Nether World

In The Nether World from The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921), the monkey king visits the land of the dead in a dream. The most important part of the story is when he strikes out the whole ape family from the book of life. It causes uproar from everyone in the Nether World. The monkey king just caused the apes to have eternal life. I could change the plot to a more futuristic timeline and have an AI transfer the consciousness of the human mind to a computer to cause them to live forever.

Transferring Consciousness Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: The Hare, the Fox, and the Wolf

In The Hare, the Fox, and the Wolf, I am going to focus on the Fox. His greatest strength is his cleverness and trickery. He uses his weakness of being fat and slow to persuade the hare into his lair. The Hare thinks that he is going to trick the Fox, but little does the Hare know that the Fox has it all planned out. The Fox agrees to what the Hare has to say, but says he needs to sweep out the corners and place his best carpet down. He instead replaces the sticks holding up the carpet with straw that so when the Wolf and Hare come in; they will fall through and be trapped.

A Fox and a Hare Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: The Hare, the Fox, and the Wolf comes from The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Barrows Dutton, with illustrations by E. Boyd Smith, 1908.

Reading Notes: The Two Travelers

In The Two Travelers, the travelers are met by a challenge at the very beginning and one takes the easy road while the other dives right in and swims across the stream to the other side. This character shows great bravery in jumping without knowing what is directly in front of him. I think I could keep him the same, but change why he is willing to jump in a little with a 21st century twist. I could also change the challenge a little bit to make it more of something that could happen today.

Sergeant Samuel Tice swimming across a river 26th MEU 

Bibliography: The Two Travelers is from The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Barrows Dutton,with illustrations by E. Boyd Smith, 1908.

Reading Notes: Sindbad's Fifth Voyage

On Sindbad's fifth voyage the happen upon an unknown island that they find to be uninhabited. The story is told from the point of view of Sindbad. They happen upon an unhatched Roc egg and the crew decided to kill it and feast on it. At this point the two parents of the egg come down and want to reek havoc. The crew thinks they get away to only find the birds have come back with a rock to drop on their vessel. When retelling this story, I think I could tell the story from the perspective of the birds. It would be interesting to have their reactions and their interactions with each other.

The Crew takes the Baby Roc's Life Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: The Voyages of Sindbad from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Reading Notes: Sindbad's First Voyage

Sindbad's first voyage is only necessary because he was foolish with his inheritance and wanted to bring riches to his family. He goes as a merchant and is selling goods island to island. They happen on an island that is only slightly above sea level. At this point, you know something is going to get bad just merely by that last sentence. They land and walk around a bit before starting a fire. Immediately after starting the fire, the 'island' begins to tremble. At this point, you must be thinking that maybe it is not an island after all. And you would be correct as the island is actually a whale and the whale plunges into the water leaving Sindbad to only hold afloat by a piece of wood. The next part of the story is him landing on an island and being treated well before finding his crew again and getting rich. But what happens from the whale to the island. There was little talk about him floating on a piece of wood to the island. When retelling this story, I could focus on this gap and describe in detail what Sindbad went through.

Floating on Wood Pexels

Bibliography: The Voyages of Sindbad from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Reading Notes: Odyssey: The Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis

Odyssey: The Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis, translated into English by Tony Kline (2004), is two separate stories of the Odysseus passing by sirens as well as traveling between Scylla and Charybdis. In the Passing the Sirens, you are focused in on a strong, well-built vessel that is nearing the island of Sirens. The storyteller tells us that waves have lulled, making you imagine that something bad might happen soon. The calm before the storm. Then Odysseus begins preparing for the Sirens by making wax earplugs and he gets tied up without any. As they pass by he keeps telling his comrades to let him go to island, but they cant hear him and don't let him free. The island must be miraculous and their voices spectacular. For my retelling of this story I could change the setting and time frame that this is in.

Odysseus and the Sirens Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: What Thetis Did for Her Son

What Thetis Did for Her Son, from the Illiad by Alfred J. Church (1907), opens up as Thetis comes out of the sea and finds Zeus on top of a mountain. The storyteller tells you its the highest point on the map helping you imagine Zeus sitting on a throne above everyone looking down at all he has created. I can imagine him holding his staff not even looking at Thetis as she is talking to him.

The setting then switches to Zeus' Palace and as he walks in all the other gods rise at his presence and he sits on his throne. I imagine that Zeus has to walk up a couple of steps to get to his throne while all the other gods are at a table below him looking up to him.

Zeus on his Throne Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: King for Three Days

King for Three Days, from the Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919), is the story of Godfrey de Bouillon fighting in the First Crusade in the 11th century. He hated Jews and was known as a really cruel man for his actions in this crusade. He went from town to town exterminating all the children of Israel. By massacring as many Jews as he could, you can predict that his luck will not last forever and that something will happen to him that he will not like and try to change. The single most important part of the plot happens next in the story. He seeks and tries to obtain a blessing from a holy man such as a rabbi. He finds a rabbi by the name of Solomon ben Isaac. He will later become famous and be better known as Rashi. Knowing who Godfrey de Bouillon is and the actions that he has taken, Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac does not want to give him a blessing. Instead he predicts what will happen and tells Godfrey that he will be the king. Godfrey is happy and thinks this is a blessing. The rabbi continues and tells him that he will only last as king for three days and that he will only come back with three horses and three men. It's interesting that the bible continually uses the number three. It appears hundreds of times in both the New and Old Testaments. As the story continues he becomes king and leaves after three days. He is very happy as he leaves because he leaves with four men on horses proving that the rabbi was wrong. I am not very happy with this part of the story because as he is entering through the gate a huge stone falls off the gate and kills one of his men leading to the rabbi being right. It does not seem right for how he lost his fourth man. I think that if I were to retell the story I could change the ending making it more realistic and have less of a foolish ending.

Stone Smashing Soldier Blogspot

Reading Notes: The Water-Babe and The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog

The Water-Babe, from the Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919), is a story of Moses going to trial at the mere age of three. In the story Bilam, one of the counselors and chief magician to the King Pharaoh, grows very worried about the young Moses. He continually warns the Pharaoh that "this is not play" and that "this child is of the Hebrews - he will rebel against thee and seek to destroy your rule". Bilam predicts the future yet the Pharaoh lets the boy go to trial where another member of the counsel uses his magical staff to manipulate the boy into picking up the coals leading to the Pharaoh to think he is a foolish babe. Looking back Bilam should have used some of his powers to sway the boy into picking the jewelry leading to instant death.

In The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog, from the Jewish Fair Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919), I am going to focus of the character of the dog. It is just turning into winter and the dog and cat agree to part ways and never cross paths while looking for food and shelter. The cat goes to the house of Adam and grows fat. The dog however does not have an easy journey like the cats. He grows tired and weak for he is not a good hunter. He seeks shelter and food from other animals and in return will help them. He either hurts them more than he helps or gets hurt himself. This makes him very sad. Makes him feels that he is worthless and of no use to anyone. Once he finally finds a place that he is truly appreciated at, the cat is there and fights with him, telling him that he has broken the oath and needs to leave. This saddens him even more because he found a place where he is helpful and loved and yet an old friend does not want him there. The story could be changed by changing the cat and dog to different mammals making the story completely different yet keep the same plot.

Cat Attacking Dog Flickr