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 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 Reading Diary: English Fairy Tales Unit

This week I chose to read the English Fairy Tales unit.

In the story of Tom Tit Tot, it made me wonder what would be a normal amount of skeins to spin in one day. Because spinning five skeins, really doesn't sound like that big of a feat.

I thought it was interesting how the girl gets to guess the imps name three times each night for the whole month. In the version I'm used to, I'm pretty sure she only gets three guesses.

Also, why is the king so obsessed with these skeins? What does he even need them for? In the version I'm used to, the girl says she can spin gold. That seems like it would be way more of an asset than just yarn.

The Rose Tree is an awfully gruesome story! The poor little girl loses her head for making a silly mistake! And then the step-mother tries to feed the family the little girl's organs! I can't imagine telling this story to my children.

It also seems funny to run outside to see the thunder. Maybe the author meant that they wanted to see the lightning, but you can't see thunder. I'm glad that the little girl got her revenge on the horrible step-mother.

The story of The Old Woman and Her Pig reminds me of The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Spider. While I understand that the woman wants the water to punish the fire for not burning the stick, if her end goal is to have a hot stick to hit the dog with, then pouring water on it doesn't seem like a very good idea.

I'm glad the cow finally cooperated or who knows how long the story would have been!

In Binnorie, my favorite line is both morbid and amusing: "'Sink on,' cried the cruel princess, 'no hand or glove of mine you'll touch. Sweet William will be all mine when you are sunk beneath the bonny millstream of Binnorie.'"

People do the strangest things in these stories. If you found a woman beautiful and were grieved at her death, why on earth would you make a harp from her bones and hair?! That seems very demented. 

I did like how the harp called the murderous sister out on her crimes in front of everyone. That was a good ending.

In The Mouse and the Mouser, the way the characters repeated "good body, good body" and "dear lady, dear lady" reminded me of "There's a Hole in My Bucket, dear Liza, Dear Liza."

They certainly have a lot of dances back to back in the Cap o' Rushes story.

I actually liked this version of Cinderella better than the original. The master's son and Cap o' Rushes actually get to know each other over a couple of days. The ring in the porridge makes way more sense than carrying a shoe around the kingdom to have every girl try it on because not everyone has a unique shoe size. And Cap o' Rushes is reunited with her father in the end instead of having him die. I also liked the way the idea of meat and salt was brought up again at the end.

In the story of The Three Little Pigs, I don't understand why the third little pig had the sense not to let the wolf in, but then he risked his safety by leaving his house to pick turnips and apples. It's funny how the pig becomes the predator at the end of the story by making the wolf his prey. That's an interesting twist.

I remember the Disney movie version of The Master and His Pupil. Mickey was making the water go all over the place in great waves.

In the Henny-Penny story, it's funny how the story is moving right along with the hen, the rooster, the duck, the goose, and the turkey, but none of those birds find the fox's interest strange. 

In the Molly Whuppie story, it seems like the king is getting the better bargain. He gets swords and riches and his sons get wives. But Molly has to risk her life every single time she goes to the giant's house. I felt bad for the giant in this story. He looses his possessions and he accidentally kills his wife.

I was glad that Lady Mary was smart enough to save herself from a murderous husband. I was worried for a little while that Mr. Fox was going to kill her.

In The Ass, The Table, and The Stick, I was really rooting for Jack until he beat up all those women and stole their money. That seemed really uncalled for because he already had as much money as he could spend.

Week 11 Reading Diary: Through the Looking-Glass

This week I chose to read the Through the Looking-Glass unit, which is taken from the Lewis Carrol novel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. I've already read Alice in Wonderland. So I'm excited to read the sequel.

I like how this story starts out in a real house with a little girl who is pretending and slowly reality mixes with imagination.

There's a wonderful contrast between Alice's curiosity about the chess pieces and they way the chess pieces rationalize the things that happen to them because of Alice.

 

(Image Information "Hold White King" by John Tenniel, from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carrol,  1871).

I wonder if something happened in the omitted chapters that allowed the Looking-Glass characters to begin seeing Alice.

I was homeschooled. And when I was in highschool, my mom and I read the Jaberwocky poem. I enjoyed it as much today as I had back then. It reminds me of Dr. Seuss in that there are a lot of made up words, but I can still understand the story. Writing like that takes a real talent.

When Alice meets Tweedledee and Tweedledum, I like how she thinks about needing to shake both of their hands at once as to not hurt their feelings. It shows how mature she is.

In the movie Harriet the Spy, Harriet and her nanny recite part of the Walrus and the Carpenter poem to each other, and I always loved that part of the movie. So this is my favorite part of the poem:

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings."

It's funny how despite Alice's maturity and thoughtfulness, Tweedledee and Tweedledum talk so much nonsense about her not being real that they make her cry. I think this is very illustrative of many people. We get ourselves so worked up over something that's not even a big deal that we forget that we're worried about something that might not even be worth worrying about.

This is such a funny visual: "All this time Tweedledee was trying his best to fold up the umbrella, with himself in it: which was such an extraordinary thing to do that it quite took off Alice's attention from the angry brother."

I find this part pretty funny because so many people do use words like this. "'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'" But what is the point of having a common language, if the words mean different things to different people?

Something I've thought about a lot during this semester's reading units is whether or not the nonsense in the stories is justified. Usually, I don't like it when characters do things for no reason. But I don't find myself upset by it in Through the Looking Glass. I'm wondering if that's because I'm familiar with Lewis Carrol as an author, and so, I knew to expect the nonsense.

I like what the White Knight says here, "My mind goes on working all the same. In fact, the more head downwards I am, the more I keep inventing new things." It's very true. I always have the best ideas when I'm driving or in the shower and can't write them down. Sometimes I think minds work best when they're occupied with something simple.

I like how the riddles in this books almost seem to make sense, but they don't quite. It's very entertaining to try to figure them out and then realize that they can't be understood.

Alice goes through the same thing I think. "Alice sighed and gave it up. 'It's exactly like a riddle with no answer!' she thought."

Even though Alice wakes up from this story and believes it to be a dream, I wonder if that is simply her way of dealing with such strange events. I wonder if it could have really happened to her.

Week 10 Reading Diary: Eskimo Folk Tales

I chose to read half of the Eskimo Folk Tales unit this week.

In The Coming of Men a Long, Long While Ago, I enjoyed the imagery of the Earth falling from the sky. But the thought of a woman finding children in the woods, dressing them, and bringing them home is sort of creepy.

I think it's interesting how many parallels are present between this creation story and the Christian creation stories. The creation of man and woman from the Earth and the flood.

It's cool that the Inuits believe that people become stars when they die.

I really didn't understand the story of Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak.

I love the idea of adopting a bear cub! That sounds like so much fun. I think it's really cool how the bear develops the mind of a human in the story of The Woman Who Had A Bear As A Foster-Son. I think this one would be fun to retell for my storytelling assignment.

In the story of Qalagánguasê, Who Passed to the Land of Ghosts, it's cool to think of the ghosts being able to give the boy back his strength. This story reminds of Pinocchio in the way that the boy's lies have physical ramifications.

In the story of Isigâligârssik, I didn't understand why the wizard took away the man's wife. So the rest of the story was very confusing.

Similarly, I didn't understand The Insects that Wooed a Wifeless Man. Why did insects offering to marry him change anything?

I was totally following the story of Makíte until he threatened to kill the lone-dweller over not knowing what the things that looked like candles were. That escalated quickly.

I understand that anything is possible in folk tales and myths, but I still think that the characters need to have believable motivations, and I just don't see those in this unit.

Reading Diary Week 9: American Indian Fairy Tales

For this week, I chose to read the American Indian Fairy Tales unit.

In the story about Iagoo, the Storyteller I really liked the atmosphere that is set by describing the snow, the wind, and the moon. It made me want to get comfortable and enjoy the stories much like I'm sure the children did.

The king in the story about how Shin-ge-bis Fooled the North Wind reminded me of the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe in the way that we wanted the whole earth to be covered in snow year-round.

This story continues to use the settings that draw the reader in. "When he breathed upon the land, violets appeared in the woods, the wild rose bloomed on the yellow prairie, and the cooing dove called musically to his mate."

It makes since that Iagoo would tell this story about longing for lighthearted summertime during the winter. The children would probably be tired of the cold and snow and would be able to understand winter personified as the antagonist. 

It's interesting to me that the people knew that the South Wind was magic and that he could turn himself into a duck, but they didn't believe that he was powerful enough to beat the North Wind. They must have been very scared of the North Wind.

I like the inclusion of the song about the North Wind. Songs are something that children pick up very quickly, and I think it would make the story more fun for them.

At the end, I thought it was interesting how the South Wind was strong enough to conquer the North Wind in his own cold environment. It shows who truly was the most powerful.

I liked this story a lot. It might be a good one to use for my storytelling assignment.

In the story about The Child of the Evening Star, I thought it was interesting why her sisters didn't like her. "They could not understand her; so they ended by despising her as a silly and unreasonable girl." This is unfortunately many people's reactions to things they don't understand.

In the story about The Boy who Snared the Sun, Iagoo talks about how there used to be only one fire source guarded by two witches. This makes me wonder where the fire came from. Did the witches create it for their own personal use?

I have a real problem with the gender roles in this story. The brother thinks himself high and mighty for shooting the birds, but his sister made the coat. And then he just orders her around, telling her to weave a rope together. You can't act all strong and independent when really it's a team effort.

I know that this story is a myth and that it doesn't have to be super factual. But there is no way for the brother to wait at the hill where the sun would come up because the sun always appears far away on the horizon. I think that if the story is going to boast about a bot snaring the sun, then there should be something a little more exciting to it. And then ending didn't make too much more sense either. I wasn't a fan of this story.

In the story about How the Summer Came, the father knows that he doesn't have to worry about dying because the son can hunt for game. "If some accident should prevent O-jeeg from supplying the family with the game upon which they lived, his son felt sure that he himself could shoot as many squirrels and turkeys as they needed to keep them from starving." This is very illustrative of what it might be like to constantly be in search of your next meal.

I really like this description: "Some wise old men had somewhere heard that the sky was not only the roof of our own world, but also was the floor of a beautiful world beyond, a land where birds with bright feathers sang sweetly through a pleasant, warm season called Summer." I wonder if this could be a version of Heaven. 

In the story of The Fairy Bride, I really liked this description of the girl's eyes. "Her eyes had the look of one who has dwelt in secret places, and seen things strange and mysterious."

The fairies in this story are so mischievous that they remind of the brownies in The Spiderwick Chronicles. 

 

(Image information: "Tam Turtledove, a common house brownie" from Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide, restored by Holly Black and Toni DiTerlizzi, 2005.) 

I think I've decided to retell this story this week. But I'm going to make it much more active. Neen-i-zu and her mother are going to strike up a deal that if Neen-i-zu can prove that the fairies exist, then she doesn't have to marry the hunter.

Week 8 Reading Diary: Assessment

In re-reading the reading diary instructions, I noticed that it said that reading diary posts would differ in length each week depending on how much I liked the reading unit and my reactions to it. I found this really reassuring because some weeks I don't have very much to say, and other weeks I have comments on almost every story.

Typically, when I'm writing, I write about the most positive things like endearing characters, exciting plots, or clever prose. I also focus on negative things like confusing story elements and characters I dislike. In this way, I think I can quickly form opinions about the individual stories.

As far as reading diary tips, I would say that having the reading and your blog post open at the same time is the most effective use of your time. That way when you have comments, you can write them down then instead of trying to remember everything after you finish reading.

While I'm writing my reading diary, I keep notes on which stories I might want to write my storytelling post from. This way, I don't have to skim through all the stories on Wednesdays to remember which ones were my favorites. It also gets me thinking a day or two in advance about how I want to retell the story.

I do like to include quotes when the writer has said something better than I can. Sometimes the descriptions or dialogue really stand out to me.

Often times, a story from the Chinese or Japanese units will remind me of what I consider an American fairytale. I've saw versions of Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel last week.

Compared to my other classes, I would say I remember the readings better than I remember more academic readings. I think this is normal because humans think in the form of stories. We remember stories much better than we remember obscure facts.

Week 7 Reading Diary: Chinese Fairy Tales

I chose to read the Chinese Fairy Tales unit this week.

In the story about The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck, it is so cool to me that the daughter saw dragons crawling out of the ears of a boy and that that meant he had good luck. I love cultural symbols like dragons in your ears!

I can't imagine my husband leaving and me not hearing anything from him for 18 years! I don't think I would be able to stay faithful to him that whole time. What if he had died or remarried? But I'm glad the princess was able to because it worked out well for her for a whole 18 days before she died. This was a funny story because it was so matter of fact.

In the story about The Cave of Beasts, its funny to me that the father's reaction to his daughters eating his eggs was to lead them to their death in the woods. He must get really angry when he's hungry. But once the daughters find precious jewels, then the father is all too happy for them to come home.

The Panther story definitely reminds me of The Three Little Pigs.

I like stories that explain everyday things that we don't think about unless prompted. In the story about Why Dog and Car Are Enemies, we learn the backstory of their relationship.

The picture of the nine-tailed fox in The Foxfire story reminds me of Pokemon.

The lifestyle and cultural that is described in The Talking Silver Foxes sounds so traditional and communal. I really like the images of the sacrifices and gatherings.

I think it's cool that the boy is homeschooled in The Retribution because I was homeschooled!

In The Night of the Battlefield, I really didn't understand why the man's body came apart. Come to think of it, I really didn't understand the story at all. Besides the dismemberment, nothing really happened.

In The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away, I liked that it reminded me of Rapunzel. I also liked that the villain was an ogre instead of a witch. This would be a fun story to retell for my storytelling assignment.

The Sorcerer of the White Lotus Lodge  really confused be because I didn't understand how the sorcerer had tricked them, which was the entire ending.

Week 6 Reading Diary: Japanese Mythology Unit

For this week, I chose to read the last half of the Japanese Mythology unit.

In the story of The Labors of Yamato, I have absolutely no idea what "Goddess of Deathless Love" means. I wonder if that got translated funny.

I really like these descriptions of food. They sound very ethereal. "Sweet ambrosial sake they poured into cups of frail-stemmed sea-lilies. Heaps of gem-like fruits gleamed on plates of opalescent anemones."

It's so funny to me to think about hearing people speak like they do in this story during the modern day. And the things they ask of each other are so outlandish.

 

(Image information:"Benzaiten" by Fabio.)

 It was really interesting to me to learn that this statue is the goddess Benten because I've been seeing her for years and never knew who she was. It's been cool to learn more about her story.

Once I found out that Yamoto had a wife and was still pursing the goddess anyway, I liked his character a lot less. His wife is pining for him, and he's off looking for golden apples.

But then we find out that Benten is only trying to trick him to get his sword. I sort of feel like he deserves that.

In the story of the Demon Boar is pretty much the best sentence ever: "Valiantly the pack drove upon him, only to be tossed instantly in air and to fall, tusked through the entrails, in pools of gore." I've never heard anyone use tusked as a verb before, but I'm a fan!

The sense of time and place is very confusing in these stories. The characters are in one location, and then in the next sentence, they've moved somewhere entirely new. But we're not given the progression of actions that led them there. So it's hard to know the relationship between the places. 

Week 5 Reading Diary: Turkish Fairy Tales

This week I chose to read the Turkish Fairy Tales unit.

The first story is about a young boy who goes on a journey in search of fear. It really seems to back up the saying "Courage is the absence of fear."

But it seems like a cop out that he wasn't afraid of corpses or sea monsters but that he was startled by a bird. I was expecting something more exciting.

I really don't understand the Wizard-Dervish story. If the dervish wanted the prince to marry his daughter, why didn't he just say so instead of beating him and carrying him all over the place.

The story of the Fish-Peri (fish fairy) reminded me a lot of Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the way that the king asked the youth to do impossible things like hatch donkeys from eggs and bring him an infant who could already walk and talk.

(Video information: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" clip, 1975.)

The Crow-Peri story is reminiscent of the Fish-Peri story in that they have similar plot elements. It's funny to me how the king thinks its totally fine to ask the youth to run his errands. It really shows the entitled mindset of some royalty. 

The part of The Imp and the Well where the story teller talks about all of the cat's body parts is just plain silly.

I like that coffeehouses are mentioned throughout these stories. I'm not sure what an old Turkish coffeehouse would look like, but I've been picturing them like Grey Owl in Norman.

The Wizard and his Pupil might be fun to rewrite for my storytelling assignment.

The last story, Kunterbunt, certainly felt like a dream because it didn't make any sense!

Week 4 Reading Diary: Twenty-Two Goblins

This week I chose to read the Indian unit about Twenty-Two Goblins.


I really love the character of the king so far. He always does the right thing.


An example of this is in the introduction when he says to Patience: "Monk, why do you keep honouring me in such an expensive way? Unless I know the reason, I will not take your fruit."


I also really enjoyed the simile about the king's heart: "A brave man's heart is harder than a diamond, and nothing makes it tremble." I have a feeling this is the moral of the king's story and how he evades the goblin.


The way some of this story is phrased makes me giggle. Like how the Coral's suitors in the story of The Three Lovers "feasted on the beauty of her face."


I think it's funny how the monk who is traveling refused to eat in the house of evil, but when the little boy was brought back to life everything was suddenly okay. How was it not still an evil house?


I also find it very funny that if the king knows the answers to the riddles but says differently that his head will explode.


I really like how deep the morals of these stories are so far. For example, "Great-minded people do not waver until they have kept their promises, even at the cost of life."


In the story of the Girl who Transposed the Heads of her Husband and Brother, I think it's interesting how Spotless was so matter-of-fact about his son, White, marrying Lovely. He explained how the two were of equal birth, wealth, and social status, and that was that. There was no concern of whether Lovely wanted to marry White at all.


The way White's brother-in-law when mad with grief and cut off his own head seems very Shakespearean to me.

In the story of The Snake's Poison, I liked how the birds, the earth, and the leaves all lamented the loss of something as Hariswami lamented the loss of his beautiful wife.

At the end of the story about The General's Wife, there is a beautiful line: "No man stops in the middle of a great undertaking." I think this is a very much needed rationale for why the kind keeps going back to get the goblin and why he keeps answering the riddles correctly. It's become the principle of the thing, and if he's going to do it, he's going to do it right.

It seems very coincidental to me that in the story of The Four Brothers, they all learned skills that were related to each other. It's almost as if they planned it that way on purpose.

I really enjoyed the ending of the story because it was so unexpected. The goblin finally stumped the king, but then the goblin turned out to be the good guy and the monk was the bad guy! I thought that was a good twist ending.

Week 3 Reading Diary: Aesop (Winter) Unit

For this week, I chose to read the Aesop (Winter) unit.

I've always loved the saying that the tortoise carries his house on his back. But it has never occurred to me that not being able to see the world would make him feel sad and disconnected. I think this is a very easy thing to relate to as a human. We typically carry all of our worries and responsibilities around on our shoulders, and they often keep us from seeing the more important things in life.

I've heard the story of The Boy and the Filberts told before but it was a monkey who was trying to get seeds out of a coconut shell and got his hand stuck. Funny that little boys and monkeys would have so much in common.

It seems like complaining is often rewarded in our society: the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So its nice to see that in the story of the Oxen and the Wheels, the Oxen told the Wheels off for being so whiny. It's very draining to listen to someone complain all the time.

The Lion and the Ass seems to have a very biblical message. Don't respond to scorn with scorn, but rise above and turn the other cheek.

It's a shame that The Two Goats couldn't have just taken turns to cross the river. I've never understood people being so stubborn and prideful because it's usually much easier to work together.

It's interesting to me how many of these stories feature lions, wolves, donkeys, and foxes. I wonder where the great liking of these animals came from...

(Image information: "The Monkey and The Camel" by Milo Winter in 1919.)

The story of The Weasels and The Mice reminds of the children's book series Redwall by Brian Jacques. Those books had mice battles in them too.

I can identify with the Money in the Monkey and the Dolphin story. Often times, a group of people will be discussing a musical group I've never heard of, and I'll say, "Oh, yeah, I love them too." Of course, that's when the group says he's a signer not a group. It's natural to want to blend in to the conversation.

At the end of The Farmer and The Cranes story, one of the morals is that bluff is no proof that hard fist are lacking. I don't quite understand that because usually, when people give empty threats, it's because they don't really want to do anything to you. I haven't really experienced an empty threat that eventually led to the outcome threatened.

The moral of The Goatherd and The Goats is a really important one. If you always give the best to your new friends and the worst to your old friends, you won't have any friends at all.

The story of Mercury and The Woodman would be a fun one to reinvent for my storytelling assignment.

I don't understand why the Frog wanted to drown the Mouse in the story of The Frog and The Mouse. They're not predators and the Mouse hadn't done anything to the frog. Maybe the Frog had a rough childhood.

The story of The Cat and The Old Rat reminds me of Tom and Jerry in the way that the cat came up with clever tricks to catch the mouse.

Week 2 Reading Diary: Saints and Animals

For this week, I chose to read the Saints and Animals unit.

In the story of Saint Kentigern and the Robin, I could identify with how the other school boys made fun of Kentigern for doing well in school. But I thought it was funny that when the boys couldn't make him fail his lessons or get him into trouble, they didn't simply give up and leave Kentigern alone. Instead, they thought they would get creative by blaming him for the fire going out.

I really liked how in the second part of the story, the bird came back to life and his song not only convicted the cruel boys who had killed him, but also told Saint Servan the true story. It was cool to see a miracle, which is usually a joyous occasion, get the other school boys in trouble. And I was glad to see that that conviction changed their mischievous ways at last.

The theme of jealousy was again present in the story of Saint Blaise and His Beasts. It seems the common folk were often envious of the spiritual gifts that God entrusted to the saints during this time.

I like how in the stories about Saint Comgall and Saint Berach, the author gives the year it took place in relation to Christ's birth. It makes the stories seem that much more real.

The way Saint Berach binds the mother cow and the wolf together after the murder of the calf is really thought-provoking. On the one hand, I would never accept the murderer of my child into my home and call him a replacement. But on the other hand, it can sometimes be hard to see exactly where the line between victim and criminal is drawn. If the murderer were abused as a child, it might change my outlook ever so slightly on the situation.

The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe reminds me of The Jungle Book in that a mother wolf discovered an abandoned baby and brings him into her home.

I wasn't really a fan of the ballads because they were written in poetry style. The sentence structure makes it harder for me to comprehend the story.

However, I really enjoyed one stanza of the Ballad of Saint Giles and the Deer.

"Swift as a thought his arrow flew,
Saint Giles threw out his arm,
Alack! the aim was all to true,
Saint Giles must bear the harm."
I really liked that he was willing to take an arrow for a wild animal. Furthermore, I loved how Saint Giles ended up using that experience as an opportunity to minister to the pagan king.

This quote from Saint Francis of Assisi struck a chord with me. "It does not become a servant of God to have an air of melancholy and a face full of trouble." It would be tough to tell people about the Good News with a grouchy face.

The way that Saint Francis wanted to live his life being poor in order to follow his Master is really commendable. Many Christians agreed when Jesus said "Take up your cross, and follow me." But very few did so.