Week 14 Famous Last Words

Well this week has certainly been an interesting one. Basically it is the end of the semester and that means it is crunch time. I definitely think that my writing for this class has gotten a whole lot better these last two weeks! I wish that more people in the class would read my Unknown Soldier storytelling though. I have to say that it is by far my best writing ever! I just wish that I wrote like that more often. Maybe I could expand on it and turn it into a book, just for me of course. I am going to miss this class, without a doubt. I like being able to write creatively and think in a way that I probably normally would not. Maybe I will just start a new blog and do some of the readings from the mythology and folklore untextbook and then do writing over it just for fun. When I was in that class last semester it was very difficult just picking one reading unit, and there were so many different stories and storytelling’s that you could do! So I might just do that in my spare time, I mean, why not?

Anyway, this week has certainly been interesting. I have a job interview in Dallas on Friday that I am very excited about. Hopefully it goes well and the job is a job that I actually want. I think it is safe to say that I have had a plethora of interviews, most of which have ended in them rejecting me or me being over qualified for the job. Seriously, one company wanted me to go door-to-door from 6-9pm and then work Saturdays as well. No thank you!

My other classes have been pretty stressful to say the least. Luckily there is not too much left to do, so I should be finished with everything by next week!

Pink Water Lily (Source)

Week 14 Essay

For this week, I chose to read Ryder's Panchatantra. This reading was fantastic. The majority of the stories were really fun and cute. I actually found many of them to relate to a few Shel Silverstein poems. For instance, my favorite story was Mouse-Maid Made Mouse. It was actually a really cute story. In the story a holy man and his wife are unable to have children so he uses his magical powers to turn a mouse into a girl and they raise her as their own. When the girl turn twelve-years-old, they realize that she is of age to be wed so they decide to find her a suitor. The holy man calls on the sun, but the girl does not like the sun. So the holy man calls on that superior to the sun – the clouds – but the girl does not like the clouds and the holy man calls on the wind (which is superior to the clouds). The girl does not like the wind, so the holy man calls on the mountains. The girl does not like the mountains, so the holy man calls on a mouse. When the girl sees the mouse she recognizes him as her own kind and asks to be turned into a mouse.

I think I like the story so much because it is one of those happy ending sort of stories. Anyway, it made me think of this poem by Shel Silverstein that goes…

Masks by Shel Silverstein (Source)

I found the poem to be indicative of what the story was trying to say, kind of like be yourself and do not hide who you really are.

The only problem I found with all of these stories was the random poems, or quotes, that were imbedded in them. I understood that the stories were supposed to be teaching tools to learn intelligence, but sometimes it would be confusing and not really completely necessary for the story. Sometimes the stories themselves taught a lesson and they did not really need the quotes in them, so it was kind of like a lesson inside of a lesson rather than a story inside of a story.  

Week 14 Reading Diary B: Ryder's Panchatantra

Ryder's Panchatantra

Right-Minded and Wrong-Minded:  I found this story to be very predictable. It was enjoyable, but felt tedious.

Mouse-Maid Made Mouse: This holy man turns a mouse into a girl and he and his wife raise it. Then when she turns 12 they decide that she of age to be married. The holy man summons the sun and asks her if she liked him. She replies no because the sun is too hot. The holy man then summons the clouds, but the girl does not like him either because he is too black and frigid. So the holy man summons the wind, but she finds him too fidgety. The holy man summons the mountain, but the girl finds him to be took rough and stiff. Then the holy man summoned a mouse. When the girl saw him she knew he was of her kind, and so the holy man turned her back into a mouse where she lived happily ever after. This one was definitely my favorite!

Wood Mouse (Source)

Week 14 Storytelling: From the Mouths of Tiger, Monkey, & Snake

Story of the Tiger:

Here I was just walking along the tall grass hunting for some dinner when suddenly I fell in a well. I tried with all of my might to get out, but I could not. There was nothing for my claws to grab onto and I was very deep below the ground. As I lay there resting, I felt a rather large plop on my back. I looked up and there was a monkey. I guess he had not seen the well and fallen in too.

I watched him as he tried to climb out, jumping and flipping about, until he finally exhausted himself. So we sat there at the bottom of the well and talk of our homes and told each other stories. He was just telling me something about a fruit or whatever, when something whacked him across the head. It was a snake. “Great!” I thought to myself. “Now there are three of us trapped in this stupid thing!!!”

The snake was very nice. He did not take up much room. The man who fell in after him did! He was not pleasant! The monkey, snake, and I huddled together to get away from the vicious monster…the goldsmith.

Thank god for that Brahman  saved me! Isuch a delight; he even came over to my cave later that day. It was just so kind of him to save me. If he had not randomly come across the well and pulled us out, I am sure we would have died. I decided to give him some gold jewelry and ornaments as my way of saying thank you, other than not eating him of course.

Bengal Tiger (Source)

Story of the Monkey:

I am not too fond of wells anymore. I fell into one the other day as I was swinging in the trees. I honestly thought that branch would be much stronger than it looked. Oh well. I made some pretty good friends out of it. Like that Brahman who saved me! He was a pretty swell guy, a little worn down though. It’s okay, because I helped him out. I brought him back to my home with me and fed him lots and lots of fruit! He was much more pleasant after that. I’m pretty sure he was hangry… get it? Hungry and angry…HANGRY!!!

Anyway, I hope that everything is okay with him. I invited him to come back and eat more fruit with me sometime, but I have not seen him since I took him to the tiger’s place. That tiger is a swell guy, you know? Let me sleep on top of him when that evil goldsmith fell into the well with us. That guy was CREEPY!

Indian Monkey (Source)

Story of the Snake:

Never again will I ever go hunting after frogs! Damn those things can jump!!! There I was lunging after this delicious-looking frog when all of the sudden I was falling into a deep, wet hole! What the hell!!! Then I begin to basically drown in this foot of water when a furry thing picked me up and put me on another furry thing. Once I finally got the water out of my mouth and eyes, I was able to see a monkey and a tiger just staring at me. It was a pretty uncomfortable situation to say the least.

I was stuck down there for what felt like an eternity, and those two would not shut up. No, don’t mind me, I’m just trying to sleep! They finally stopped talking when that man fell in the hole. Not really sure how they felt, but I did not get good vibes from that guy. I swear at one point I saw a blazing fire twinkling in his eyes.

That Brahman that pulled me out was a swell guy! He ended up getting into a bit of trouble, though.
Apparently the tiger (moron) gave the Brahman jewelry or something, and the Brahman brought the jewelry to the goldsmith. Well, the jewelry belonged to the Prince, and when the goldsmith saw it he went and told the King and Queen that the Brahman stole the jewelry. Obviously the royals were not happy with this and had the Brahman fettered. I had told him not to trust that evil man in the well, but does anyone listen to me? NO!!! So then I was forced to bite the Queen so I could save his sorry ass from the trouble he got himself into.

I do not enjoy biting people, but I promised the Brahman that I would help him out. My plan worked too. I bite the Queen so no antidote can save her except for the touch of the Brahman, Brahman tells them he can help, Brahman touches Queen, Queen is healed, Brahman is a hero, and I slither away scot-free. Thank god it worked! I am truly exhausted.

Naja Naja (Source) 

Author's Note. These three stories are based off The Ungrateful Man. In the original story a Brahman is kicked out of his house by his wife and told to go find food for his starving family. During his long journey, he begins to search for water and stumbles upon a well that his hidden in overgrown grass. In the well are a tiger, a monkey, a snake, and a man. The animals ask him to set them free and, after some debating, the Brahman does so. The animals let him know that they are indebted to him and they also warn him not to let the man out because the man is evil, then they go on their way. The Brahman becomes filled with guilt and lets the man out, discovering that he is a goldsmith. The Brahman visits the monkey, who gives him food, and then the tiger, who gives him a necklace and other gold. Then the Brahman visits the goldsmith so that the goldsmith may sell the fine objects he just acquired from the tiger. The goldsmith recognizes the necklace and tells the King about it since the necklace belonged to the Prince. The Brahman is then seized and going to be killed. He then asks for the snake's help. The snake decides to bite the Queen so only the Brahman’s touch can save her. The Brahman tells the King everything that happened and the Brahman is rewarded and made a hero, while the goldsmith is punished.

 I chose to write it from the three animal's perspectives because they were all included in the story, but not necessarily present the entire way through. It also allowed me to give more personality to the story through the three different personalities, as well as a back-story.

Bibliography. The Panchatantra of Vishnu Shama, translated by Arthur W. Ryder (1925).