Week 14 Storytelling: A Lesson About Death

One night, a mother named Clara was trying to put her two children to bed in their room. They were boisterous and bouncy, and they wouldn't hold still long enough for them to fall asleep.

"That's it! I've had it!" Clara cried. "So long as you don't keep your father and I awake, I don't care whether you sleep or not."

She shut their door and went into her bedroom next door. She she was getting ready for bed, she told her husband about her day with the children. Clara was homeschooling her children, and had spent all day teaching them lessons about how different baby animals are born. She had taught them that birds lay eggs, and mammals have live young.

"Tomorrow," she said, "I'm going to teach the children a lesson about death."

What Clara didn't know was that her children were listening on the other side of the wall.

The little girl, Hannah, looked at her brother, Jacob, very seriously.

"Mom's going to kill us for not going to bed on time!" Hannah said.

"Surely not," Jacob said. "Maybe we misheard her."

"She said she was going to teach us a lesson about death!" Hannah cried. "We had better run away or she's going to kill us!"

Jacob wasn't all that convinced, but Hannah's panic was catching, and soon, Jacob was worried too. The two children packed up a few belongings and quietly sneaked out of the house.

Outside in the cold night air, Hannah and Jacob glanced around. They decided left was as good a direction as any, and they started walking.

Suddenly, the heard a dog barking and snarling. They looked over their shoulders to see a great Saint Bernard was chasing them down the street.

(Image Information: "Female Saint Bernard Dog" by ZaGerald, 2008.)

"Run!" Jacob yelled. The siblings took off running down the street. Jacob was sure they wouldn't be fast enough, but just as the dog started gaining on them a car came out of no where. It swerved to avoid hitting the children and the dog. It squealed to a stop in the middle of the road, putting a barrier between the kids and the dog.

The driver of the car got out and ran toward the dog.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright, Muffin," the woman said, patting the dog's ears.

"Be careful!" Hannah said. "That dog tried to kill us!"

"He wasn't trying to kill you. He was just trying to catch you," the woman said. "When I saw two children walking down the middle of the road at night, I got so nervous. So I sent Muffin to bring you back. I'm sorry if he scared you. But why are you out so late at night?"

"Our mother said she was going to teach us a lesson about death tomorrow!" Hannah cried.

"That's an odd thing to say. What did she teach you today?" the woman asked.

"About how animals are born," Jacob said.

"Well, that's life! Tomorrow's lesson will probably be about how animals die," the woman said.

"Ohhhh," Hannah and Jacob said together.

"Now, children, let me take you home to your parents. They must be so worried," the woman said.

The next day, the mother was so thankful to have her children back home that they took the day off from lessons entirely and played board games instead.

The moral of the story is two-fold. Don't listen in on people's conversations, and once you think you see your future, it changes because you now will have a different idea of how to reach it or hide from it.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by "The Monks and the Butcher," from the Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre, translated by Walter K. Kelly, 1855. In the original story, two monks stay the night at a butcher's house. There is a mix up over the difference between the word for monks and pigs, and the monks fear for their lives. One climbs out the window and runs away, but when the second one jumps from the window, he hurts his leg. He hides in the butcher's barn, and when the butcher comes the next morning to slaughter a pig, the monk absolutely freaks out. Eventually, the whole thing turns into a funny story about a misunderstanding.

Week 14 Reading Diary: Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre

This week I chose to read the Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre unit.

In the story of the Boatwoman and the Monks, I was glad that the young lady was smart enough to save herself from being raped by the two monks. But even though this story is from the 1500s, I don't like the emphasis it places on how it is women's responsibility to protect their purity. It is always men's responsibility not to rape.

In The Lady From Milan and Her Lover, it seems crazy to me that the man would pursue her for three years with no reply. Like geez, take a hint. But the woman's test of his valor was pretty impressive.

The story of The Virgin with Child was a strange one. I was glad that the church realized that the girl couldn't have been pregnant without having sex because that would pretty much signify the second coming of Christ, and he isn't supposed to come as a baby again. I also liked the analysis that covering up a crime with religion was twice as bad. But the whole idea of a priest getting his thirteen year old sister pregnant and then lying about it was very strange.

The Monks and the Butcher has definitely been my favorite story so far because it had nothing at all to do with a woman's purity. This story is about two men who think they hear their future, and once they learn it, it changes. In the process of trying to outrun their future, one of them accidentally almost fulfills it.

I didn't much like The President of Grenoble's Revenge. There was one particularly sexist line: "The doctors say that such a sin is more pardonable because a man is not master of such emotions, and, consequently, the sin he commits in that state may be forgiven." And as usual, the man that the wife cheated with wasn't punished.

In the Brother and Brother-in-Law, the brother certainly acts foolishly. Even after his sister tells him that she is married to the man he is sleeping with, the brother still has him killed, and then he sends his sister off to cover up the mistake. It reminds me of the story of David and Bathsheba. 

At the end of The Woman and the Chanter, it definitely seemed like the storyteller was blaming the husband for not keeping a better eye on his wife. While I'm glad that the blame wasn't placed on the wife for being adulterous, it is certainly not the husband's responsibility to keep his wife from leaving him either.

Secrets Revealed is a 1500s example of rape culture. When the wife is retelling the story of her rape, the listener basically says that the wife enjoyed it.

Week 13 Essay: Children's Stories

Because so many of these fairy tales were already familiar to me, they definitely reminded me of my childhood. The Cinder-Maid was a retelling of Cinderella. The Language of Animals seemed like a version of Snow White with a male main character. Johnnie and Grizzle was a clever version of Hansel and Gretel. Even the stories that I was reading for the first time seemed like good children's stories because they had a clear moral and dealt with silly concepts.

I think that children especially enjoy stories about characters that they can relate to. Often, these are stories about other children like Johnnie and Grizzle or Thumbkin. As a child, I definitely enjoyed fantastical stories where I got to use my imagination like The Cinder-Maid and Beauty and the Beast. I think just about any story can be good for children to read so long as the content is appropriate for their ages.

Cinderella was my favorite princess growing up. I loved how she had a relationship with the adorable mice. In The Cinder-Maid, she had a relationship with the little bird that granted her wishes. I also loved the idea of a prince seeking me out specifically to become his wife, and that is exactly what happens to Cinder-Maid.

Growing up, I loved the imagery in Hansel and Gretel. The idea of living in a gingerbread house highly appealed to me. The story of Johnnie and Grizzle definitely stayed true to that. "The door was made of butterscotch, the windows of sugar candy, the bricks were all chocolate creams, the pillars of lollypops, and the roof of gingerbread."

Another story aspect that I enjoyed as a child was the idea that anything is possible. This is portrayed in Beauty and the Beast when Beauty has the courage and faith to believe in the Beast, and she gets rewarded when the Beast transforms into a handsome young man.

 

(Image information: "Beauty and the Beast" by John Batten 1916.)

Week 13 Storytelling: Harold and the Unthankful Snake

Once upon a time, a young man named Harold was walking through a forest. He had a messy shock of blonde hair and square shoulders. His momma had raised him to be kind and generous. So when he spotted something trapped and wiggling under a huge rock, he rushed over to be of assistance.

He grunted and groaned as he tried to pick up the boulder. After a few minutes of maneuvering, he succeeded and found that he had rescued a long, black snake.

"Why hello there, ssssson," the snake said. "Than you for resssssscuing me. But I'm afraid that now, I'll have to eat you for supper."

(Image Information: "The Snake" by John Batten, 1916.)

"And what kind of a thanks would that be?" Harold asked.

"The very yummy kind," the snake replied.

"No, I don't think that's fair at all. I saved you. You should show me true gratitude by letting me continue on my way though the forest," Harold said.

"No, what's mosssssssst important in life is sssssself-preservation. I can't let you go because I have no idea when my next meal will come along," the snake reasoned.

"Well, if I won't let you eat me, and you won't let me leave, then what are we to do?" Harold asked.

"Let'sssss ask the next passsssser-by of their opinion," the snake suggested.

That seemed agreeable to Harold. And so they waited, and waited.

While they were waiting, a troubling thought crossed Harold's mind. What if the next passer-by agreed with the snake?!

"Say, snake. What if we poll the next three passers-by? That way it will truly be a fair outcome," Harold suggested.

"Well, alright. If it will make you feel better about me eating you," the snake said.

Along came a old horse, and Harold and the snake both explained their sides.

"I don't see why the snake shouldn't eat you for supper," the horse said. "Just today, I found out that my master plans to sell me for my hoofs and my hide. Some gratitude that is."

"Why thank you very much for that opinion," the snake said.

Next, and old dog walked by, and Harold and the snake explained their situation.

"Go ahead and eat him. See if that teaches him that gratitude isn't worth anything. I was a hunting dog my whole life, and  I served my master well. But today he made me leave because I wasn't catching as many birds anymore. He kicked me out of his house with not a second thought! Humph. Gratitude," the dog said.

"That's two votessss!" the snake said. "Why sssssshould we bother hearing from another passsssssser-by? If he agreesssss with me, I'll eat you, and if he doessssn't, I'll ssssstill have more votesssss."

"No, no. The deal was that we would hear from three voters. Let's keep waiting," Harold said.

The whole time they waited, Harold worried.

Then along came a sly fox.

Once Harold and the snake made the fox aware of the situation, he fox quickly realized the version of events that would be best for him.

"What will you give me to eat if I help you get out of this?" the fox whispered to Harold.

"As many chickens as you want," Harold said.

The fox nodded.

"So let me see if I understand this predicament correctly. Harold was trapped under a rock, and the snake-"

The snake interrupted the fox.

"No, I was trapped under a rock. Not Harold," he said.

"Excuse me," the fox said. "The snake was trapped under a rock, and Harold wanted to eat him."

"No, no, no," the snake said. 'I want to eat Harold."

"Oh, yes. I see it quite clearly now," the snake said.

"The snake was trapped under the rock, he wanted to eat Harold, but Harold couldn't remove the rock," the fox said.

"Oh for heavenssss ssssake," the snake said. 'Let me ssssshow you."

The snake wiggled and wiggled until he was once again trapped under the rock.

"Now, I was ssssstuck like this, when along came Harold," the snake said.

"That's right. And that's just where you'll stay," the fox announced.

With the snake trapped once more, Harold let the fox back to his farm and gave him as many chickens as he could eat in gratitude.

Author's Note: This week, I retold "Inside Again" from Europa's Fairy Tale Book by Joseph Jacobs, 1916. I kept most of the story the same except that I changed the ending. In the original, the man takes the fox back to his house to get the chickens. But the man's wife doesn't want to give the fox any chickens. So she puts their old dog in a bag, and the fox takes the bag back to his den. When he opens it, the dog eats him up. This was supposed to be further proof that gratitude isn't good for much. But I think gratitude is very important, so I changed around the story to reflect that moral.

Week 13 Reading Diary: Europa's Fairy Tale Book

This week I chose to read Europa's Fairy Tale Book. I chose this unit because when  Joseph Jacobs compiled these stories, he mixed and matched elements to make them his own. That is what I am doing for my storybook project. So I wanted to see how someone else had done it.

In the story of The Cinder-Maid, I loved the incorporation of the bird and the little nuts with Cinder's dress and the carriage. It was clever of prince to put honey on the stairs to make Cinder's shoes stick.

I didn't see too many changes in Beauty and The Beast except that the story omitted the dying rose.

The beginning of the Language of Animals is clearly a version of Snow White with a male main character. I'm glad that Jack got to rub the future in his father's face without killing him. It was a just way to handle the situation.

The story of A Dozen at a Blow is pretty funny. This tailor kills twelve flies at once and convinces himself that this means he should go out and conquer the world. He does do pretty well for himself though. So maybe those flies were a good sign.

I liked the Earl of Cattenborough story very much. But I was confused as to how Miss Puss knew so much about pretending to be an earl.

In the story of The Swan Maiden, it is interesting to me that they lived happily together once they were married because the hunter essentially forced the swan maiden to marry him.

In A Visitor From Paradise, the husband starts off so smart and then loses all of that. "He who minds the door, minds the house. So we'll take the door with us, and then they can't get in." Close enough. At the end of the story, it said "It was and it was not." I'm not really sure what this means.

In the story, Inside Again, the part where the fox tries to confuse everyone about what truly happened reminded me of the humor in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The twist at the end was funny too.

I liked the ending of Johnnie and Grizzle where the witch tries to drink up the stream and bursts. That was creative.

I really wasn't familiar with the traditional story of Thumbkin, but this one was quite unusual. Thumbkin is doing so well and then he gets tricked so many times.

Week 12 Essay: Crime, Justice, and Revenge in England

This week I chose to read the English Fairy Tales unit. Within these stories, I found many story elements that had to do with crime and justice.This unit in particular seemed much more gruesome and much more obsessed with death than the previous units I have read. Revenge is also a common motif in these stories.

In The Rose Tree, the little girl tried three times to buy her step-mother a pound of candles and failed each time. This could seem like a crime, but to me, the step-mother cutting of the little girl's head off seems like a much more significant crime. Once the little girl turns into a bird, she drops a millstone on her step-mother's head. This is certainly an act of justice and also one of revenge.

In Binnorie, the themes of crime and justice continue. The story starts with two sisters who are in love with the same man. First he was with the older sister, but then he left her for the younger sister. The older sister was so jealous that she pushed the younger sister into the river. That was definitely the crime. Once she drowned, a creepy man made a harp from her bones and hair.

 

(Image information: "Binnorie" by John D. Batten, 1890.) 

He took the harp to her parent's castle, and the harp sang about how the older sister killed her. This act of justice was very similar to the one in Rose Tree because in both stories the criminal is called out at a banquet.

In The Story of the Three Little Pigs, the wolf eats up the first two little pigs. This is clearly a criminal thing to do. Then when the wolf tries to eat up the third little pig, the pig completely outsmarts him. For revenge, he boiled him up and ate him for supper.

Week 12 Storytelling: Iris and Duke Cleaver

Once upon a time, there was a young lady named Iris. She was newly eighteen years old and only then allowed to date. For years, Iris's father had scared off the advances of many boys because Iris was too young. But now, all of those young men came back out of the woodwork to pursue her.

On Monday night, Iris went for ice cream with Damon. He was tall and his long brown hair flopped in his eyes. He was going to school to become a scientist.

On Tuesday afternoon, Henry took Iris for a walk in the woods. Henry was short and stocky. He wore his blonde hair buzzed short. Henry planned to join the military.

On Wednesday night, Duke Cleaver picked Iris up for a steak dinner. Duke Cleaver had ice blue eyes and pale skin. He told Iris of his wonderful castle where he could provide for her anything she desired. Iris liked him the best.

Iris saw plenty of other suitors on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but during those outings she was always thinking about Duke Cleaver.

Her father told her that this was a sign. If she couldn't stop thinking about one man while she was with another, then she should marry the former.

Iris and Duke Cleaver agreed that they would get married, and he continued to tell her about his extravagant castle. But Iris thought it strange that he never invited her to visit the grand facade.

But Iris was a smart young lady, and so one day when Duke Cleaver was away on business, she decided she would simply go visit his castle alone.

The great building was constructed of gray stone. It had a draw bridge that ran over a moat, and several turrets came to sharp points in the distance.

Iris crossed the draw bridge and as she was entering through the archway, she found a phrase carved into the stone. It read, Be bold, be bold.

Hmmm, that is a funny thing to carve into an archway, she thought.

She continued on into a grassy green courtyard.

Over the doorway into the castle, it read, Be bold, be bold, but not too bold.

Iris opened the great wooden doors and found herself in a long dining room. On a golden plaque above the fireplace at the back of the room, it said, Be bold, be bold, but not too bold. Lest that your heart's blood should run cold.

Next to the fireplace was yet another door. Iris opened it and inside she found a most gruesome scene. The dead bodies of beautiful ladies were strewn about the room. They were covered in their own blood, and missing limbs lay abandoned on the floor.

Just as Iris was turning to leave, she heard footsteps and whistling. She quickly hid behind a table in the corner.

Not a second too soon, Duke Cleaver entered the room, dragging the body of an unconscious woman. He spread her out on the table that Iris hid behind and chopped of the woman's find to retrieve a diamond ring.

Iris had to cover her mouth to keep from shrieking. The dismembered finger flew off the table and landed in Iris's lap. Duke Cleaver searched around for it for a few moments before giving up.

Once Duke Cleaver had finished his murder of the woman, he left the blood room. Iris quickly snatched up the finger and ran out of the castle.

The very next day was supposed to be her wedding day. So at a feast that evening to celebrate the upcoming nuptials, Iris confronted Duke Cleaver in front of all of their guests.

 

(Image information: "Mr. Fox" by John D. Batten, 1890.)

"My dear," Iris said. "Last night I had the most curious dream. I dreamed that I visited your castle and found the words 'Be bold, be bold, but not too bold. Lest that your heart's blood should run cold.' carved by a doorway near a fireplace."

"But that can't be true," Duke Cleaver said.

"Inside the room were the dead bodies of many women. I hid behind a table, and in you walked, carrying an unconscious woman. You hacked her up right in front of me because you didn't know I was there," Iris continued.

"Oh, no. That can't  be true," Duke Cleaver said.

"You even cut off the woman's finger to take her diamond ring. One that looked very much like this finger and this diamond ring," Iris said. She triumphantly held up the severed finger.

"Guards!" Iris's father called. "Take this wretched man away!"

And Iris continued her time of courting with the many other suitors until she found a truly good man to mary.

Author's Note: This story is inspired by "Mr. Fox", from the English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, with illustrations by John D. Batten, 1890. I kept most of the story the same, but I changed Mary's name to Iris, and I added in some details about her other suitors. I also changed Mr. Fox's name to Duke Cleaver because I couldn't figure out whether Mr. Fox was an actual fox or not. I sped up Iris's retelling of Duke Cleaver's crimes toward the end.