Europa (Jacobs) -- Extra Reading Diary

Europa (Jacobs) Table of Contents

I really enjoyed this unit. My favorite story from this unit was most definitely the story about Belle in the Beauty and the Beast. This version of Beauty and the Beast was a little different from the Disney version that we all grew knowing.

This version of the "Beauty and the Beast" began by introducing Bella and her family: her father and two other sisters. Her father who is a merchant sets on a journey for business. As he is leaving he asks Bella what she would like him to bring back for her. She replies that she would like a rose. Bella's father seeing a beautiful garden with roses decided to seize this opportunity to retrieve a rose for Bella. Little did he know that the garden belonged to the Beast. Unfortunately, the Beast caught the merchant stealing the rose and thus threatened him. He must bring Bella to him in return for him sparing the merchant's life. The merchant reluctantly obeyed the Beast. The merchant brought Bella to the Beast. The Beast treated Bella well. The Beast's kindness towards Bella was evident. Eventually, the Beast and Bella became close. One day, Bella was looking for the Beast. She found him on the ground dead. Saddened by this, Bella professed her love for the Beast. Just as she was confessing her love for him, the Beast became a handsome young prince. (An enchanted magician turned him into a Beast and only love could turn him back). The Prince and Bella then lived happy together ever afterwards.

(Bella professing her love to the Beast)

Storytelling for Week 14: Cabbage Stalk

The Cabbage Stalk

    There once was an old poor couple. They did not have much but they were happy. They at least had each other. One day the old man went to the market to get some groceries; it was like any other day. He came upon a beggar. Despite not having much, the old man gave the beggar an apple. The beggar gave the old man seeds in return. These were not any ordinary seeds; they were magical but the old man was not aware of this.
 
    The old man returned to his wife and showed her the seeds the beggar gave him. The wife disregarded them and threw them outside. They carried out their day as if it was like any other day. They did their chores and at the end of the day had dinner with what little they had and went to bed.

     The next morning, the seeds that the wife threw outside grew into a little cabbage stalk. The cabbage stalk continued to grow each day. One day it was as tall as the old couple's home. The couple did not really know what to do but to watch it grow.

     It finally stopped growing once it reached up to the sky. The old man driven by curiosity decided to climb the cabbage stalk. When the old man finally reached to the top of the stalk, he found that he was in another world. Who knew that there was a whole other world up in the sky. While wandering around, the old man came upon a barn.

    Inside the barn were hundreds of golden eggs. He took two eggs with him and climbed down the stalk. He showed the gold eggs to his wife and his wife was overjoyed for now they will no longer be poor anymore.

    The next morning the old man set out to climb the stalk again to retrieve more gold eggs but with his wife this time. As he climbed the stalk he was carrying his wife. They finally reached the top and he showed her the barn full of golden eggs. Driven by greed, the wife grabbed as many eggs as she could. Eventually, the old couple decided to return home.

    The husband began to climb down the cabbage stalk with his wife but the weight of the many golden eggs made him lose his grip on his wife. The wife fell to the ground with the golden eggs. The husband finally made it to the ground where he found his wife dead with the golden eggs.

After grieving for a time, the old man went on with his life with boundless wealth but no one to share it with.

Author's Note:
My story was based on the story of the The Fox Physician  from the Russian Folktales. In the "The Fox Physician," a cabbage stalk is grown by the old couple. Driven by curiosity, the old climbed the cabbage stalk. He climbed all the way to the top which was above the sky and into the heavens. While he was in the heavens, he found a mill and in the mill was cake and a pie. After he ate his fill, he climbed back down the cabbage stalk and returned home so that he may tell his wife all that he saw. Hearing all that that her husband saw, the wife wanted to go up as well.So the old man carried his wife in a sack up the cabbage stalk but as he was climbing he lost his grip on the sack and the woman fell to her death. Not knowing what to do, the old man asked for help from a fox. The fox rather than actually trying to save the wife, ate her. This left the husband alone and in poverty. for my story, I kept the old couple, the cabbage stalk, but I left out the fox. I wanted my story to focus on the relationship between the old man and and his wife and how their lives were affected by the cabbage stalk.

Russian Folktales-- Reading Diary A

Russian Folktales Table of Contents

The second half of this was just as entertaining and dark. One of my favorite stories was the story of the The Fox-Physician. The story begins with a husband and wife growing a cabbage stalk. The husband's cabbage stalk grew so tall he had to cut a hole into the barn's ceiling so that the stalk may grow through it. It grew even taller -- so tall that it reached to the heavens. One day the husband climbed the cabbage stalk and visited the heavens. While he was up there, he visited a mill and was astounded that people actually lived in the heavens. When he finally returned to Earth, he persuaded his wife to climb the cabbage stalk with him. He climbed the stalk with her in his arms but eventually his arms gave out and the wife fell to the ground and was smashed into pieces. A fox stumbled upon the husband grieving and offered his help. The fox demanded a bag of oatmeal and butter and to leave him alone with his dead wife. The husband waited and waited until he lost his patience and barged in on the fox eating the remains of his wife. And that is pretty much the ending of the story. It is pretty sad but I found it to be really entertaining because it was full of surprises. It kept me on edge.

(Fox)

Russian Folktales -- Reading Diary A

Russian Folktales Table of Contents

I really enjoyed this unit even though it was kind of dark. It was very entertaining. One of the stories that I really enjoyed was the story of the The Dead mother.

“The Dead Mother” is about a mother that dies giving birth. She leaves the child to her husband who does not have a clue about how to raise or nourish a child. He hires an old woman to help him raise the child but the child rejects the old woman. The baby continued to cry except during a great part the night. During the night the baby was quiet but as soon as morning approached the baby would cry. The mystery of the baby not crying at night spurred questioning. The husband, the old woman, and friends stayed up one night to find out the source of the baby’s quietness. They discover that the source of the baby’s quietness is his dead mother. During the night, the dead mother feeds the baby. When the dead mother finally finished feeding the baby and left, they found the baby dead.
Another story that I enjoyed was the story of The Bad Wife. This story is about a husband who is married to a bad wife. Whenever the husband asks for favor from his wife, she does the opposite. She also likes to call names such as “thief.” This angers the husband to the point he plots her disappearance. He tricks his wife to go into a bottomless pit. The wife is stuck in the pit forever and the husband is free to live a more peaceful life.

(Dead mother's tombstone)