Shea's Myth-Folk Blog

In the story of " Peter Bull ," a man and his wife have a farm but no children. They want to have an heir to leave their wealth to. They have a beautiful and wise bull-calf named Peter whom they are very find of, and they wonder if the parish clerk can Peter to speak so Peter can become their heir. They ask the clerk, and he says he can do it, but they cannot tell anyone. He says it is forbidden, and it will be very expensive. The man gives the clerk a hundred dollars to pay for books. After a week, the clerk says he needs another hundred dollars for more books. In another week, the clerk says Peter has learned to say "moo," but he needs more money for more books if they want Peter to learn more. The man gives the clerk three hundred dollars for books and ale for Peter. The clerk drinks the ale and gives Peter milk. After several weeks, the man starts to become uncomfortable about how much money he is spending. The clerk decides Peter is as fat as he will be and k...

" Blue Beard " tells the story of a rich man who has several houses, fine furniture, and silver and gold. However, he has a blue beard that makes his ugly. One of his neighbor's has two beautiful daughters and he wishes to marry one of them, but they are both disgusted by the thought. They also do not want to marry him because he has been married several times before and nobody knows what has happened to his past wives. He bring his neighbor, her daughters, and a few other girls to one of his country homes for the week. They party, hunt, fish, dance, eat, and stay up all night. The younger daughter begins to think that the man may be a gentleman. They return home and get married; a month later, Blue Beard tells his wife that he has to go on a country journey for at least six weeks. He gives her keys to his apartments, wardrobes, and caskets that hold his valuable possessions. He also gives her a key to a closet, but tells her that she cannot enter it. Her friends come ...

In the story, " The Voice of Death ," a man only wants to be wealthy; it is all he can think about. One day, his wish comes true. He does not want to lose his wealth and possessions by dying, so he sets out to find a place without death. He went from country to country, asking if people died there. When he heard that they did, he moved on to the next country. He reaches a place where the people say they do not even know the meaning of the word death. The man asks if there are several people there since nobody dies. The people say no, because every so often they can hear a voice calling and someone goes to find it only to never return. They say the person can both hear the voice and see who is calling. The man thinks whoever follows the voice is stupid. He returns home to get his possessions and family to bring them to the land where nobody dies. He tells his family to not follow the voice if they ever hear it once they have settled into their new home.  Several years go...

In the story " How the Dragon was Tricked ," a man has two sons who do not get along very well. The younger son is more handsome and the older brother is jealous. When they walk through the woods together, the older son ties his younger brother to a tree hoping he will starve to death. A humpbacked shepherd passes by and asks why he is tied up. The son replies that his back was crooked, but now is straight after being tied up. The shepherd says he wishes to be tied up so his back will be straight too. The shepherd unties the young men and the son ties the shepherd to a tree and leaves. The young man takes the sheep of the shepherd and convinces a horse boy and a driver of oxen to come with him and join his adventures.  The king hears of his tricks and has his guards kidnap the young man to see if he is as clever as he has heard. The king says he still spare the young man's life if he can bring him the flying horse that belongs to the dragon. The son goes ...

In the "Jingles" section of the Nursery Rhymes unit, there are several well-known tales. The first is "Hey Diddle Diddle."  HEY! diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laugh'd To see the sport, While the dish ran after the spoon. The next is "Tweedledum and Tweedledee." TWEEDLE-DUM and Tweedle-dee Resolved to have a battle For Tweedle-dum said Tweedle-dee Had spoiled his nice new rattle. Just then flew by a monstrous crow As big as a tar-barrel, Which frightened both the heroes so They quite forgot their quarrel. Another is "Rub-a-dub-dub." RUB a dub dub, Three men in a tub: And who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, The candlestick-maker; Turn 'em out, knaves all three! As I said in the other reading post about the Nursery Rhymes unit, I think it would be difficult to write my own jingles inspired by these. They are all fairly short and follow a similar rhyme scheme. Th...

In the "Riddles" section of the Nursery Rhymes, there are several short riddles. At the end of each, the answer to the riddle is revealed. Many are written in "AABB" or "AABBCC" rhyme scheme. One riddle I liked was THIRTY white horses upon a red hill, Now they tramp, now they champ, now they stand still. The answer to this riddle is "teeth and gums," in which the horses are the teeth and the hill is the gums. While I think it would be fun and interesting to write riddles like the ones found in this unit, I think it would be difficult to reach the word count required for the writing assignments for this course. To reach the required minimum word count, I would have to write several riddles, probably at least ten. These riddles tend to be shorter, usually between two and twelve lines. It would also be difficult to keep to the rhyme scheme. Teeth by Kjerstin Michaela Story source:  The Nursery Rhyme Book  edited by Andrew Lang and illustr...

In the story "Miemun and Khojisteh," a prince had several riches, but no children. He constantly prayed for children, and eventually he had a son, whom the prince named Miemun (which means auspicious). The prince had his son married to a radiant woman named Khojisteh (which means prosperous). The husband and wife were inseparable and completely in love. Miemun went to visit the market one day and saw a parrot-seller. He asks what the price is and the vendor replies that the bird costs "the sum of a thousand huns." Miemun says whoever pays that much for a "handful of feathers, and a cat's morsel, must be an ignorant blockhead." The parrot thinks Miemun will have misfortune if he does not purchase the bird, so the parrot tells Miemun that the bird is wise and knowledgeable and advises the man to buy all the spikenard to sell to the arriving caravans. Miemun pays the thousand huns and goes to buy the spikenard. He sells it to the caravans a few days late...

In the story, "Johnny-Cake," a mother and father live with their young son. The mother puts a Johnny-cake in the oven to bake and tells her son to watch it while she and his father hoe potatoes. The little boy, however, does not watch the oven and hears a noise before seeing the oven door pop open. The Johnny-cake jumps out of the oven and rolls out of the house, down the stairs, and into the street. The little boy tries chasing after the Johnny-cake and his parents hear him yelling and join in the chase too. They all run out of breath and have to sit down. The Johnny-cake keeps running and finds two well-diggers. They ask him where he is going and he replies that he has outrun an old man, an old woman, and a young boy, and can outrun them too. They take on the challenge, but cannot keep up and have to sit down. The Johnny-cake finds to ditch-diggers and the exact same thing happens. He then comes upon a bear who asks him where he is going, and he says he h...

In the story "Mouse and Mouser," a mouse and cat have a conversation while the cat is spinning. The mouse asks the cat what she is doing, and she replies that she is spinning breeches. The mouse tells her that he hopes she wears them a long time, and she says that she will wear them and tear them. The mouse says he was cleaning his room and the cat replies that he is cleaner. The mouse says he found a sixpence and the cat says that he is now richer. The mouse says he want to the market and bought a pudding, then put it in the window to cool. The cat starts snarling, and the mouse timidly says a cat came and ate the pudding. The cat pounces on the mouse, saying she will eat him, and she does. This story is written as a back and forth conversation. Each comment is written as a repeating sentence, such as " I was sweeping my room, my lady, my lady,  I was sweeping my room, my lady." I think it would be difficult to write my entire story in the style, but it may be i...

The story "The Memaloose Islands" tells the story of a young chief and the woman he loves. The chief goes over the spirit trail and cannot find any rest in the land of the spirits. The maiden had a vision telling her that she should go to the land of the spirits and she told her father about her vision. He prepared a canoe and they paddled up Great River to the spirit island. They heard singing and a beat drum and four spirits greeted them when they reached the death island. The maiden got off the canoe, but her father returned home. She found the chief and they danced all night. When the morning came, the spirits slept but she could not sleep soundly. She woke up later that day, surrounded by skeletons and skulls. The maiden realized she was in the island of death and became filled with horror. She found a boat and paddled home to her village. Her father was worried though, because she had been to the spirit land and evil would fall upon the tribe if she returned. Again, th...

In the story " How Beaver Stole Fire ," animals and trees walked and talked and there we no men on the earth. Pine Trees had the secret of fire and refused to share with anyone else, no matter how cold it got. One winter, it got so cold that many animals came close to freezing to death. The animals held a council because they wanted to steal fire. At the same time, the Pines held a council on the Grande Ronde River and had a fire to keep them warm. They had guards watching for animals so they could not steal fire. Before the guards took place, however, Beaver hid near the fire. When a lit coal rolled towards him, he grabbed it and ran away. The Pine Trees started chasing after him, but Beaver kept running. Sometimes he ran side to side and sometimes he ran straight, and this is why the Grande Ronde River curves in some places and is straight in others. Many of the Pines grew tired and stopped along the river. That is why there are thick...

This week, I chose to read American Indian Fairy Tales. In the story " The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds ," the Story-Teller Iagoo sits looking into a fire. The children know not to disturb him, as he is thinking through the great things he had heard and seen. One night, though, the children begin to worry they would not get a story from Iagoo. One girl named Morning Glory asks Iagoo if the mountains were always there. He replies that he often thinks about this himself, then says that yes, the mountains and hills were always there. He goes on to say, however, that there was one hill that was not always there bur rather it grew like magic. He asks the children if he has told them the story of the Big Rock and how it carried a boy and girl up to the clouds. In the old days, in the time when men and animals got along pleasantly, there lived a little boy and girl. They lived in a beautiful valley filled with green grass, colorful flowers, berries, birds, and nothing to f...

"The Sorcerer of the White Lotus Lodge" tells the tale of, surprise, a sorcerer who is a part of the White Lotus Lodge. He is known to deceive many people and has many students learning the ark arts from him. One day before going out, he put a bowl down and covered it with another bowl. He ordered his pupils to watch the bowl and not touch it. They of course open it to find water and a small boat, which they play with. The sorcerer returns angry that they disobeyed him, telling them his ship capsized at sea. Another night, he lit and candle and told his students to make sure it does not go out. They get tired and go to bed before he returns. The candle had gone out, so they relit it. The sorcerer returns mad and tells them he had to walk in the dark for fifteen miles. When one of the pupils insults the sorcerer, the sorcerer says nothing. Soon after, he sends the pupil to feed the pigs and turns the student into a pig when he enters the sty. The sorcerer sells him to a but...

In the story "The Lady of the Moon", a prince named Hou I was a great archer. There were ten suns in the sky, and they got so hot that people could not stand them. The emperor ordered Hou I to shoot them and he shot down nine of the suns. Hou I rode his harder to Kunlun Mountain and found the Queen-Mother of the Jasper Sea there. She gave him the herb of immorality, which he then hid in his room. His wife Tschang O ate some of the herb and floated up to the the clouds. She reached the moon and has lived in a castle there since as the Lady of the Moon. A emperor of the Tang dynasty was with two sorcerers and one made a bridge up to the moon. They climbed up and found the castle, on which was inscribed "The Spreading Halls of Crystal Cold." A cassia tree grew next to it. A man sat in the tree and cut off branches. One of the sorcerers decided this was the man in the moon and the tree must be cut down every thousand years so it does not cover the beauty of the moon....

In the story "Jackal, Dove, and Heron," Dove lives on top of a rock. Jackal asks Dove for one of her children, and she says no. Jackal says he will fly up if she does not give him one of her little ones. She throws one down, and Jackal returns day after day to take more of Dove's children. Heron sees that Dove is sad and asks her what is wrong. She tells Heron than she must give Jackal her children or else he will fly up and take them. Heron calls Dove foolish and tells her that Jackal cannot fly. When Jackal returns the next day and asks Dove to throw one of her little ones down to him, she tells him no and tells him that Heron has told her that Jackal cannot fly to take them. Jackal finds Heron at the water. Jackal asks Heron how he stands in different situations, and when Heron bends his neck down, Jackal hit him on the neck and broke it in the middle. This is why the Heron's neck is bent. This story is almost entirely written in dialogue, and each line of dialo...

This week, I chose to read South African Folktales. In the story "Tink-Tinkje", the birds decide they want to have a king since humans and animals have a king. They cannot decide on who the king should be, and go through many suggestions. First, they suggest Ostrich since he is the largest, but decide against him because he cannot fly. They think suggest Eagle because he is strong, but then decide he is too ugly to be king. The next suggestion is Vulture for his ability to fly the highest, but the birds deem him too dirty and smelly. Someone suggests Peacock since he is beautiful, but someone else says his feet and voice are too ugly. The final suggestion is Owl because he can see well. They decide against him since he only comes out at night. One bird suggests that whoever can fly the highest will become the king of the birds. The other birds all in agreement on this system. Vulture flies for three days straight and thinks he has won the title, but then he hears "T-sie...

"The Tale of King Rhampsinitus" tells the story of a king named Rhampsinitus, who creates a chamber for his wealth. He has builders construct a stone chamber near his palace. One of the workers put in a stone in a way that allowed it to be taken out and put back in without anyone noticing. The worker realizes he is close to dying, and he tells his sons about the stone so they may go into the chamber and take treasures from the king. One night, the two sons entered the chamber and stole some of the riches. The king realizes someone has stolen from him, but does not know how. He places traps throughout the chamber to catch the thief. When the brothers go back, one enters first and is caught in the trap. Realizing he would be killed the next day if just left there, he also tells his brother he should cut off his head so his body will not be identified. The escaping brother does as the trapped one says, and leaves with his head. The king again returns to the tomb and is conf...

In the story " The Death of Osiris ," Osiris's brother, Set, creates an ornate chest that match Osiris's exact dimensions. During a large feast, Set tells everyone that whoever's dimensions are a perfect match for the chest will be gifted the chest. All the guests tried fitting in the chest, but none fit. Finally, Osiris tries laying in it and fits perfectly. Before he can get out, however, the "evil followers" of Set nail Osiris into the chest, killing him. The party quickly becomes filled with sorrow rather than joy, and Osiris and his coffin are put in the Nile, which they float down until they set sail in the ocean.  I think it would be interesting to tell a similar story to this one, in which people thought someone was doing a good deed for society, but it is secretly a sinister act. I could use the same basic premise by having someone create an object that is unknowably created for one specific person, people trying to win this object, and ...

In the story "The Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis," Odysseus and his men encounter sirens and two sea monsters. Odysseus has just heard from many ghosts and has gotten advice from Circe on how to get through his upcoming trials. When Odysseus and his men sail past the sirens, his men put beeswax in their ears to block out the sirens' song. Whoever hears the song is lured to their death. Odysseus wants to hear the song, so instead of putting beeswax in his ears to block it out, he has his men tie him down to the ship so he cannot be lured to the sirens when he hears their song. Although Odysseus is very tempted by the sirens' song and tells his men to let him go, but they just row harder and faster and tighten Odysseus's ropes. I found it interesting that in the sirens' song, their promise is for wisdom; perhaps this is what is so tempting to everyone who hears it, or maybe it is specific to Odysseus. The crew gets past the sirens, but immediately find themsel...

In the story "The Cyclops Defeated," Odysseus and his crew have been captured by a Cyclops and trapped in his cave. Odysseus tries to think of an escape plan after the Cyclops begins eating some of the capture men. When the Cyclops leaves to tend to his flocks, Odysseus and his men take the Cyclops' club and fashion it into a spear. They plan on stabbing it into the Cyclops' eye when he falls asleep. When the Cyclops returns, Odysseus offers him wine under the ruse that he wants to give the Cyclops the wine as an offering so the Cyclops will not kill him. After giving him several glasses of wine, Odysseus tell the Cyclops his name is Nobody. When the Cyclops falls asleep, Odysseus and his men drive the heated olive wood stake into the Cyclops' eye, causing blood to pour out. The Cyclops runs outside to his fellow Cyclopes and they ask why he is yelling in pain, to which he replies Nobody is trying to harm it. The Cyclopes take this to mean that the harmed Cyclops...