Extra Reading Diary: Tibetan Folk Tales

I chose to go with Tibetan Folk Tales for my extra reading diary this week. It was a very good read chock-full of vibrant stories from a rich culture. I would definitely recommend reading this to anyone that I know.

The Tiger and the Frog: This was a very interesting cast of characters with an even more unique outcome. I loved the brazen attitude of the frog in this story. He was not foolish since he realized how much danger he was in from the start with the tiger. He knew that he could not let the tiger see the fear in him. His boldness is definitely out-shined by his shear wit. He was able to think and adjust to any situation that presented itself to him. I also loved that he knew that he could talk to the tiger in the same way even though he returned with a companion. The frog had won the most important fight, the battle of wits.


(the tiger and frog)

How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit: I really loved the characters and moral of the story. I still am unsure as to why the fox was not included in the speech by the dying mother tiger. It seems like he should have been included in that since he had been there longer than the calf. My favorite event in the story had to be when the calf had enough of the tension and confronted the tiger about wanting to kill him. I think that is the hidden moral of this story for sure. It shows that conflicts can be defused if you simply talk to the person. I think this moral is just as significant as the actual one of the story about never coming between friends.

Storytelling for Week 7: A Bat's Regret

I still can not believe that the rat is dead. Did he honestly believe me when I told him to bathe in his boiling cauldron of soup to make it extra sweet? What an imbecile! I thought that every animal was smart enough to not willingly get into a boiling vat. I was just trying to play a little prank on him. I never would have pulled this stunt if I knew that it would have killed him. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would be in this predicament.

To make matters worse, his wife went on and told everyone that I was the murderer! How was she able to spin that lie about? Better question, how did she convince the king that I was to blame for this? He has all of his men out on the hunt for me as we speak. I do not know how to convince them otherwise without them trying to kill me. I tried telling them what really happened as they chased me out of town; they thought I was lying and that I was just trying to save my hide. 

Why won't they listen to me? Nobody is taking me serious when I try to tell them what happened. The rat's wife is really pulling at everyone's heartstrings with her sob story. I do not know how I can possibly compete with that. Who would want to take my side after hearing that? I think they all have a grudge against me to begin with. Maybe my sarcasm rubbed them the wrong way? Nobody around here appreciates the art form that is comedy. Actually, maybe I do not need them after all. Why would I want to live around a bunch of stiffs that can not take a joke anyways? This could be a silver lining the more I think about it.

Living in the bush is not too bad now that I think about it. I do not have to live by the king's strict laws anymore; I am free to do as I please. I hope they stop their hunt for me soon though. I can not go out in the daytime without risking being spotted. Lucky for me, none of the king's lackeys can see good at night. It looks like I am going to have to stay on my nocturnal schedule until all of this blows over.

(bat)

Author's Note: This is based off of the story "Why the Bat Flies by Night." In the original story the bat tricks the rat into thinking that the best soup is made by bathing in it to make it extra sweet. The rat decides goes home and tells his wife about this, and he decides to make his own soup the same way. His wife later finds him dead in the boiling cauldron of soup. She tells the king what happened, and he quickly sends everyone out after the bat. The bat is only able to survive at night after this since everyone is hunting for him during the day.

I wanted to frame this story from the perspective of the bat immediately after everything unfolded. I also wanted to use him as a modern trickster by using comedy and playing jokes on people.

Bibliography: "Why the Bat Flies by Night" by Elphinstone Dayrell, from Nigerian Folk Stories (1910). Web Source: UN-Textbook.

Reading Diary B: Nigerian Folktales

I finished reading Nigerian Folktales, and it was great. The rich Nigerian culture was able to really come to life in these stories. I love reading cultural stories that are relayed through the personification of animals; it really shows where each of these stories are coming from.

The Affair of the Hippopotamus and the Tortoise: This was quite the perplexing story. I found it really interesting that the tortoise would go to such great lengths to have the king hippo leave the land. Nothing about the story made it seem like the hippo was unfair to anyone. I really want to make a backstory explaining why the tortoise wanted to get the hippo out of his role, even though the tortoise did not try to take the vacant throne himself. I did enjoy reading that his seven wives would be the hippos ultimate downfall. He could not possibly expect to keep his name a secret while have that many wives.

(hippopotamus)

Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes: This a very interesting explanation for the cycles of the moon. The full moon being a large woman is something that I have never heard before. The little girl in the story is still the most intriguing to me. She is only mentioned the one time that she alerts everyone. Why didn't she have any loyalty to the old woman? I want to know more about her. I did like how the moon only being out at night was explained by the fact that she was scared of people after her encounter.

Reading Diary A: Nigerian Folktales

I chose to go with Nigerian Folktales for my reading diary this week. I loved how it incorporated animals that have not been used as much in the other areas that we have read about thus far. 

Why the Bat Flies by Night: This was a very unique cast for the story. The bat seemed like such an interesting character. He was cunning enough to cause the demise of the rat and get away from all of the would-be captors. He also was disciplined enough to stay away from coming out in the daylight when everyone searched. I have never thought of the bat in such a wise role before reading this. I think the bat could be a potential candidate for my storytelling post this week. I would really like to explore what happened after the story ended.

(bat)

Why the Worms Live Underneath the Ground: This was another story that featured animals that I have never read about in folktales before. Worms are such a mysterious creature that I have never even thought about what kind of personalities they would have if they were in a story. I also found it interesting that they were the only animal to take offense to the boisterous words of the ants. I never would have expected them to have enough pride to try to combat the gigantic ant army. I really enjoyed how the ants were positioned to be exactly like an army taking the battlefield. Talking about their military process would be a fun idea for a storytelling post this week as well.