Nigerian Folktales-- Reading Diary B

Nigerian Folktales Table of Contents

    Although the second half of the Nigerian Folktales was not as good as the first half, there were still some stories that I really enjoyed. For instance, I really enjoyed the story of The Affiar of the Hippopotamus and the Tortoise. This story was about a wealthy hippopotamus who holds ravish feast and banquets. One day while hosting a feast, the hippopotamus realized that no one of his guest knew his name. This saddened him. Stricken by sadness, the hippopotamus decreed that only ones that know his name may stay.
    A tortoise, who was one of the hippopotamus's guest, was determined to discover hippopotamus's name. Hidden within the ground, the tortoise overheard one of the hippopotamus's wife calling his name, "Isantim." This was the tortoise's ticket into the hippopotamus's parties.
    I enjoyed this story because it was kind of unexpected. You do not really expect a tortoise to be cunning and sneaky. The tortoise was kind of like the underdog who just won. So it was kind of humorous.

(Hippopotamus

    Another story that I enjoyed was Of the Fat Woman Who Melted Away. I thought that it was really interesting, especially since the woman was made of oil. Being made of oil prohibited her from ever going out into the sun. She was perceived as beautiful and was envied by other women.This kind of reminded me about some of the Disney princesses and how they were locked up because of their beauty or unique quality that threatened other women.

   

Nigerian Folktales-- Reading Diary A

Nigerian Folktales Table of Contents

I really enjoyed this unit even though I thought that it was silly at times. The story of Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King was very entertaining. It was about a witch who turns herself into a beautiful woman in order to seduce the greedy King. The King fell for her of course and married her immediately. While he was asleep she cut the King's head off. The moral of this story was pretty much about "stranger danger" or "do not trust strangers."

Another story about the dangers of strangers was The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull. This story was about a vain girl who had very high standards; she would only marry someone who was just as good looking as she was. The Skull heard this and so masked himself with beautiful body parts. The girl saw the him and instantly married him. It was not until they crossed into the spiritual world that she finally realized the Skull's true form. Underneath all those beautiful human parts he was hideous.

The story of Why the Bat Flies by Night was also humorous. To summarize this story was about why bats are nocturnal. In this story the bat tricks a rat into boiling himself by telling him that if he boils himself and using that boiled water, his food will be even sweeter. The naive rat believed him and boiled himself -- to death. That rat's wife was so devastated by her husband's death she told on the bat to the King. The king decreed that the bat be captured and imprisoned. So to avoid imprisonment, the bat only comes out at night.

(rat)

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Essay: Tricksters in Bengal Fairy Tales

Bengal Fairy Tales Table of Contents

In this particular unit, there were a lot of supernatural happenings. For instance, in A Ghostly Wife there was a ghost. The ghost in this story was a "trickster." She hid the Brahman's wife in a tree and took her place as the Brahman's wife. She did this by putting on the wife's clothes to fool the Brahman and the mother-in-law and it worked. For some time the ghost lived peacefully with the Brahman and the mother-in-law without raising any suspicions.

Eventually though, the ghost could not resist her supernatural instincts. For an example, when asked to obtain something that was in a different room or far from reach, the ghost would unconsciously stretch her hand several yards distance to get it; this is not something a human-being could do. Having witnessing this, the Brahman and mother-in-law realized that this was a ghost and that they have been tricked. They invited an exorcist and were able to force information out of the ghost about the whereabouts of the wife.

Another trickster in the Bengal Fairy Tales was a young lady in the The Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled. This young lady used her beauty to trick or blind the king into falling in love with her so that she may be queen. The young lady appeared to be beautiful, innocent, and having good intentions but really she was a Rackshasi, which is a Hindu demon.

The king blind with love married the young lady and made her queen. The young lady had such power over the king; he would do anything for her. For instance, he attempted to kill all seven of his previous queens just for her. The demonic young lady brought mischief and chaos on the kingdom under her ruling.

I guess the moral of this unit is to be careful who you trust.

(The Ghost and Brahman's Wife)

Storytelling for Week 5: The Alliance

The Hares were so persecuted by the other beasts, they did not know where to go. As soon as they saw a single animal approach them, off they used to run.

One day they saw a troop of wild Horses stampeding about, and in quite a panic all the Hares scuttled off to a lake hard by, determined to drown themselves rather than live in such a continual state of fear.

But just as they got near the bank of the lake, a troop of Frogs, frightened in their turn by the approach of the Hares scuttled off, and jumped into the water.

"Truly," said one of the Hares, "things are not so bad as they seem: There is always someone worse off than yourself."

(The Hares and the Frogs)

The Alliance

Once in a forest, there lived hares. They have lived in this forest for hundreds of years; their great great grandfather stumbled upon this land and fell in love with it so much he claimed it as his home. The forest was filled with trees that seemed to reach the sky. The land was green and fertile -- just waiting to be claimed or to be inhabited. The appearance and comfortable atmosphere of the forest was not the only reason the old hare fell in love with this place but also the amiable creatures that inhabited it.

As soon as the old hare decided to make this forest his home, creatures from all over the forest came to greet him and help him feel at home. For these reasons, the hare decided that this forest was the place he would settle and start a family; his children, grandchildren, and grand-children's grandchildren  and so on shall live and flourish here. The hares lived happily in the forest until word got out about the forest's abundance.

Outside of the forest, lived snakes. The serpents were tired of their dry and rocky home. There was hardly any creatures to prey on and the rough rocky terrain made it hard for the snakes to be comfortable. One day, there were these birds flying overhead. The snakes overheard them discussing a place full of food and fertile vegetation -- the forest. The snakes longed for a place where they could slither on soft land rather than rough rocks. As soon as they heard this, they made their way towards the forest. 

At their arrival at the forest, they saw that the forest did indeed live up to their expectations. It was full of creatures that they could prey upon. The ground was covered with soft soil and soft grass. As they further progressed into the forest they noticed hares; their favorite meal. 

For months, the serpents preyed on the hares until the hares had enough. The hares sent out one of their own to seek for help. While looking for help, the hare ran into some frogs. The frogs looked unusually fearful and in a hurry. The hare asked them what they were afraid of. The frogs replied that the serpents have terrorizing them for months. The hare suddenly realized that they were not the only ones being preyed upon but also the frogs.

Finally coming to this realization the hare came up with an idea; the frogs and hares should form an alliance against the snakes. The hares did not stand a chance against the serpents alone but with the frogs by their side they had a fighting chance. The frogs agreed to this plan. 

The hares and frogs stood side by side and were able to drive the snake out of the forest. The hares and frogs lived happily with their family in the forest and their new friendship flourished.

(The Hares and Frogs)

 Author's Notes:

This story is based on the story of the The Hares and the Frogs. The story of the "The Hares and the Frogs" can found in Aesop's Fables. "The Hares and the Frogs" is about hares that are being preyed upon by beasts. The hares attempt to runaway. They run towards a pond and run into frogs. The frog in fear of the hares ran away. The moral of the story is that "there is always someone worse off than yourself." I kept the part that the hares were being prey upon but changed it to where the frogs were also being preyed upon by the same predator as well. I chose the snake to be the predator because they are sneaky, menacing, and greatly feared by many creatures. The hares and frogs share a commonality: they are both being preyed by snakes. It is because of this commonality that the hares and frogs form a friendship and decide to face the snakes together. Alone they could not challenge the snakes but together they were able to run off the snakes. I wanted the moral of the story to be that one can accomplish more working together rather than working alone.

"The  Hares and the Frogs" from the Fables of Aesop (1902). Web source: Sacred Texts Archive.

Bengal Fairy Tales-- Reading Diary B

Bengal Fairy Tales Table of Contents

The second half of the Bengal Fairy Tales was different from the first half in that it was more haunting and dark. I still enjoyed it though.

I liked the first story of the second half: The Ghost-Brahman. This story was about a man's wife who is killed by a ghost. After killing the wife, the ghost takes the place of her as the wife. At first the husband does not notice that the woman that returns is not his wife but a ghost. It is not until later that he realizes that the woman in his home is not his wife but a ghost. He finally discovers this when he notices the supernatural happenings done by his so called "wife." This story was haunting and dark because it dealt with a ghost and exorcism.

Another story that I enjoyed was the The Story of a Brahmadaitya. This story is about a poor Brahman who embarks on a dangerous journey with the help of Brahmadaitya. With the help of Brahmadaitya, the Brahman was able to cut off a branch of a tree that was heavily guarded by ghosts. That branch was Brahman's ticket to wealth. Brahmadaitya's generosity did not stop there. Every time Brahman requested something from Brahmadaitya, Brahmadaitya granted him his wish. I felt like this story was a little too good to be true. I was waiting for something bad to happened but nothing bad did happened. Instead, the Brahman continued his wealthy lifestyle and lived happily ever after. 

(Vakula Tree)

Bengal Fairy Tales- Reading Diary A

Bengal Fairy Tales Table of Contents

I really enjoyed this unit. I have never really read any Indian stories until now so I did not know what to expect. I am glad that I chose this unit though.

One of my favorite chapters of Bengal Fairy Tales was The Evil Eye of Sani. I really enjoyed this chapter because it showed a husband's love for his wife. Sribatsa, the husband, believed that the goddess Lakshmi was superior to Sani. This angered Sani. As a result, Sani cursed Sribatsa with bad luck. Knowing that he was cursed with bad Sribatsa encouraged his wife to leave him to avoid being harmed by his bad luck. This characterizes Sribatsa as unselfish. Sribatsa would rather let his wife go then force her to endure a tortuous life.

(Lakshmi, Goddless of Fortune)

I also enjoyed the chapter The Origin of Opium. This chapter was about a mouse who kept on wanting more. He was never happy. Rishi loved the mouse so much; he would grant the mouse any wish. The mouse began with a simple wish to be a cat so that he may no longer live in fear of being preyed but this did not satisfy the mouse. He then begin to wish to be a dog, then an ape, then a wild boar, then an elephant, and then finally a queen. He believed that if he was a queen he would finally be happy but he was wrong. Being Queen was not enough; he eventually drowned himself. Rishi then made him into tree that produced opium. The story of the mouse is analogous to how opium can be addicting. Those that use opium continuously want more, never feeling satisfied -- like the mouse.