Reading Diary B: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

 

The Monkey and the Crab illustrated cover

The Crab and the Monkey: This story has animals that possess a house and tools just as we humans do. The crab in this story is said to be a good housewife but I did not read anything about her being a wife since she had no husband. It made me wonder what happened to him. The monkey was a greedy and cunning animal that nearly killed the poor crab. Luckily the crab had a friend who was close by and helped her get better and get back at the monkey. The plan they came up with involved a heavy mortar that ended the greedy monkey’s life. In this story, what goes around comes around.

 

A statue of a tanuki with a hat and a staff

How the Wicked Tanuki was Punished: In a lot of Japanese folklore, there are certain animals who have the ability to use magic. In this story the tanuki and the fox both know how to use magic and could turn into humans. Just like how the sparrow turned into a young woman in the story of “The Sparrow and the Slit Tongue” that is mentioned in my Reading Diary A: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang). The wicked tanuki and his wife, who is the fox, came up with a brilliant plan that would deceive humans in order to buy food for them and their son. Their plan worked twice, but the second time they did it the tanuki told the buyer that the fox was not quite dead. Soon the fox was killed and there was only the wicked tanuki and his son the young tanuki. The young tanuki soon figured out what had happened and challenged his father to a magic shapeshifting contest. The wicked tanuki turned into a man and stood in the middle of a bridge where he would meet his son in a disguise. A king soon came by and the wicked tanuki accused the king of being his son in disguise. This action only ended tanuki’s life as the king’s guards threw him over into the river where he drowned. The young tanuki watched and was pleased that his mother was avenged. 

Reading Diary A: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

Two frogs in old Japanese outfit attempting to hold on to one another

Japanese Fairy Tale (Lang)

The Two Frogs: I found this story in the Japanese Fairy Tale (Lang) unit to be quite funny. Two frogs from different places deciding on the same day to go visit one another’s town and meeting each other on top of a big mountain sounds ridiculous because that is a long way for a frog to travel. Then their idea of holding each other up to see over the mountain to where they wanted to go was hilarious because I can imagine two little frogs with their nose up in the air looking behind them since their eyes are on top of their heads. A pretty funny story about two frogs deciding not to go visit the other town just because they forgot that their eyes are on top of their heads.

The Envious Neighbor: Here is a story about evil and greed of a neighbor next to an old man, his wife, and his precious dog. What was interesting was that the old man’s dog found treasure and kept bringing wealth to him and his wife when the dog was alive and after he passed away. The spiritual connection between man and his best friend really hits the spot in this story. Then when the envious neighbor had the dog, all he got was smelly things and frustration. It was sad what happened to the dog but in the end I am glad that the evil neighbor got what he deserved. This story was a bit long but it was worth reading.

The Sparrow and the Slit Tongue: This is another story that led to the demise of those who are greedy. Once again there is a relationship between man and an animal, this time the animal being a sparrow whom the man saves from a hungry raven. It was nice to see that the man and the sparrow had a great bond, however the man’s wife was greedy and bitchy about everything. It was cruel that she slit the birds tongue and chased it out of the house which made the man sad. Honestly, I do not know how that man could’ve ever stayed with such a crazy woman. However, the man did meet the sparrow once again but this time the sparrow was a young woman. I know that in Japanese mythology and folklore that entities can take shape of a human body so this was not a surprise to me. After seeing the sparrow again, she offered the man a small box and a large box to take home. The man left for home with the small box and soon after his wife went back to go get the larger box. It was then after she opened the large box and met her doom fitting for her. Snakes of venom with slit tongues just like how she had slit the sparrows ended her life.  

The greedy evil woman about to slit the sparrows tongue

Reading Diary A: Khasi

The Tiger and the Monkeys: This was a very interesting story that told of how animals in the wild lived by the ruling of a king. The king in this story was the Tiger who is the top predator in India which was predictable hence the title of the story. However, the most intriguing part of the story that caught my attention was how the monkeys came up with a plan to save their tribe from being punished by the Tiger for tricking him.

 

Baby tigers and baby monkey

The Legend of the Iei Tree: At the beginning of this story it seemed like the Iei Tree was going to be a light hearted story but instead it was about impending doom of shadows. The fact that this tree grew so big that it covered so much of the world in darkness is quite impossible to believe. An interesting part of the story is how a tiger named U Khla was healing the tree by licking the spot that the wood-cutters were chopping at. Such a big tiger that healed the tree but did not hunt the wood-cutters doesn’t seem like a bright predator to me.

Hunting the Stag Lapalang: This folk-lore was a very sad story about the Stag Lapalang. He went to go eat begonia leaves and was seen by people who soon started to hunt him. After a long chase the Stag Lapalang was trapped and shot with thousands of arrows. His mother heard of his death and mourned for him and cried so loud and full of sorrow that it was heard throughout the country. The Khasis heard this deep love and devotion from her mourning that they felt that their own way of mourning for their departed ones were inferior. Since then the Khasis decided that they will mourn in the way that the mother of the Stag Lapang did hundreds of years ago.

A beautiful stag

Week 4 Storytelling: Mrs. Fishy's Dream

As everyone was asleep in the tank, Mrs. Fishy began to have a dream. She saw great big bubbles dancing around. They were floating around the top and started to descend down to her. The big bubbles surrounded Mrs. Fishy making her feel warm and happy.

She then woke up happy and excited swimming around her husband Mr. Fishy. Waking up from the excited swimming of his wife, Mr. Fishy cuddled close to her and asked, “Why the sudden excitement this morning my dear?”

“I had a dream. A dream of great big warm bubbles,” replied Mrs. Fishy. From that moment he knew that she was ready to have babies. Mr. Fishy began making rounds around the tank finding a spot for their nest.

Soon he started making hundreds of bubbles for his wife and soon to be laid babies. He made sure to find the warmest spot so that his children will be born of great color and strong fins. “Come here my love. I have made a great nest of warm bubbles for you and I to care for our eggs,” said Mr. Fishy.

 

(A bubble nest that male Betta's make for mating and holding eggs)

Both Mr. and Mrs. Fishy lay in the nest of bubbles next to one another. Shortly afterwards, Mrs. Fishy began laying her eggs and setting them carefully within the nest. As she laid each egg the tank became more and more vibrant with life and color. The gravel on the bottom of the tank were clean and shiny, the moss ball sprouted more moss, the leaves of the plants became more green and lively, and whole tank became warm and cozy.

Mr. and Mrs. Fishy looked at each other with happiness and new that their children will be of beautiful fins and colors that will bring great warmth and life to the world. The other fish in the tank noticed all warmth and happiness of the two and started dancing around the tank in joy of their soon to be born children.

One by one the other fish began bringing Mr. and Mrs. Fishy shiny rocks for them to decorate an area in the tank where their children will be playing around in. The oldest fish in the tank, the Corydoras, swam from his slumber to congratulate the two on their happiness.

“A great joy it is to have young ones of your own. May your children be full of life and beautiful in color. If one day they leave this tank, they will bring life and warmth where ever they may go,” said the great old Cory.

 

(Corydoras)

The tank was lively and warm with all the bubbles that Mr. Fishy made as well as the celebration of their new eggs.

Author's Note. This story was inspired by the story of "The Life of Buddha" in the chapter of "Maya's Dream". In that chapter Queen Maya has a dream about being visited by Gods who bestow her a child that will become Buddha. After waking up from the dream, she is fill with joy and happiness. She then sends servants to get King Suddhodana, who is her husband, to meet her in the gardens. Then upon arrival to the garden, the king is stopped by the Gods and tells him that his son will be of great and supreme knowledge. After that, Maya is caring the young prince and has the ability to heal and cure the ill. My version of this story is a little bit different since the characters are fish and have multiple babies at once. The inspiration for the characters is the fact that my blog site is called "My Fish Mr. Fishy" and from my childhood pet fish. Much of the story is changed but it still brings a happy and bright mood. The dream is about big warm bubbles and the Brahmans were changed into the Cory fish because I thought of them as old men with beards and mustaches and the Cory has whiskers which match perfectly in my story.

Bibliography

"The Life of Buddha" by Andre Ferdinand Herold (1922). Web Source: Sacred-texts

Reading Diary A: Buddha

Maya’s Dream: This story is the beginning of Buddha as Maya will give birth to him. Buddhism actually plays a small part in my culture since several family members have actually became Buddhist monks. The idea of having gods come into your dream and favoring you will blow anyone’s mind. It is a very interesting concept since these Gods gave Queen Maya and King Suddhodana a child who was to become Buddha.

The Birth ofSiddhartha: Queen Maya walked through the garden and gave birth to her son who King Suddhodana named Siddhartha. As their son was born, there was many good things happening around them such as the world being alive and joyful and everything becoming well and rid of evil. The brahmans sang praises that Siddhartha would bring many good things into the world and make it a better and healthier place.

Siddhartha at theTemple: Soon after the birth of Siddhartha Maya passed away and ascended to the sky to join the Gods. Many gifts were given to Siddhartha that would entertain a child of his age. Mahaprajapati who is Maya’s sister, was in care of Siddhartha after the passing of her sister. As Siddhartha and his father went to visit the temple, the statues of the Gods came to life and sang of pride and of Siddhartha.

The First Encounter: In this part of the story Siddhartha has a desire to leave the palace to see some of the outside world. His father knew that he could not stop his son from going out so he ordered people to clean the path where Siddhartha would go to see the garden. It was interesting how King Suddhodana did not want his son to see the sadness of the old, homeless, and ill and paved a way of beautiful and healthy people. What intrigued me more was the fact that the Gods were jealous of such a wealth and joy that they put an old man in the street for Siddhartha to see. After seeing the old man, Siddhartha did not have any joy left and could not find peace.

(Prince Siddhartha)

Mythology and Folklore Brainstorming Topics

Storybook Topic: Japanese Fairy Tales: Greed of Power

Comments: I have a very large interest in the Japanese culture and their stories are very captivating. Choosing Japanese Fairy Tales as my topics is a must for me because it gives me the chance to learn more about the history and culture of historical to modern Japan.

Possible Stories: I am not sure how many other online books are available for this topic but I have a feeling that there are lots to choose from. One source that I found my sample story is from the Un-Textbook unit of Japanese Fairy Tales and stories.

Sample Story: While I was looking through the Un-Textbook, I found a cool story about a stonecutter who was granted wishes from a spirit that dwelled in the mountains.

Bibliography:

Sample Story: TheStonecutter

Book Title: The Crimson Fairy Book

Book Author: Andrew Lang

Year: 1903

(The Stonecutter and the Spirit of the mountain)

Storybook Topic: Japanese Fairy Tales: The Man Who Loved the Sea

Comments: Again I have a huge interest in Japanese mythology and folklore. There are a lot of weird entities that are in their stories and legends which drive people away but, for me these weird beings intrigue me and want me learning more about them.

Possible Stories: There are lots of stories all over the internet about Japanese Fairy Tales that include mythological and folklore creatures that intervene with the lives of humans. My sample story for this is found in the Un-Textbook.

Sample Story: I found a second story in the Japanese Fairy Tale unit of the Un-Textbook that told of a man who fell in love with the princess of the sea and faced consequences of leaving her to return to his parents.

Bibliography:

Sample Story: Uraschimataro and the Turtle

Book Title: The Pink Fairy Book

Book Author: Andrew Lang

Year: 1897

Storybook Topic: Japanese Fairy Tales: The Golden Boy

Comments: This is the third choice in the Japanese unit. I have heard of several Japanese Fairy Tales from movies and books throughout my life and the story of The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy is a familiar story I heard of a while back.

Possible Stories: There are lots of stories to be found on the internet and the story I have chosen is from the Un-Textbook.

Sample Story: The story of The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy is about a young boy who lost his father before he was born and lived in the wilderness with his mother. He was no ordinary child for his strength was beyond that of a regular kid and made friends with the animals around him.

Bibliography:

Sample Story: TheAdventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy

Book Title: Japanese Fair Tales

Book Author: Yei Theodora Ozaki

Year: 1908

(Kintaro the Golden Boy)

Storybook Topic: The Monkey King Who Traveled West

Comments: For this topic about the Monkey King Sun Wu Kung, I have seen many different movies about him and his journey to the west and how he became the King of Monkeys. The original tale of Journey to the West is a very long one and I have yet to finish it ever since high school.

Possible Stories: There are lots of stories that can be found on the internet and different renditions as well. My sample story that I read was found on the Un-Textbook.

Sample Story: The story of the Monkey King Sun Wu Kung and his journey to the west with his companions is a long story that has them facing countless obstacles and even celestial beings.

Bibliography:

Sample Story: Journeyto the West

Book Title: Journey to the West

Book Author: Wu Cheng’en

Year: 16^th Century, Ming Dynasty

Week 2 Reading Diary B

This is the Reading B of Aesop’s Fables. The story of The Eagle and the Arrow was interesting because of its moral. With the moral being "We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction," it reminded me how the bad guys in movies and Saturday cartoons always loses to the good guy because they revealed their evil plans to rule the world to them. The Ant and the Grasshopper was a relatable story to me because I have been in both the grasshopper and the ant’s place. No matter what situation I was in, being prepared was always the better than winging it last minute. In the story of The Woodman and the Serpent, the moral reminded me of my girlfriend’s ex-roommate. Her ex-roommate would never show any gratitude or appreciation towards my girlfriend and her other two better roommates whenever they would do something nice for her. This last school year my girlfriend and the other two roommates got fed up with the ex-roommate and severed their ties with her this summer like how the woodman severed the serpent in half. The Wind and the Sun was an interesting story because the moral seems like it doesn’t quite fit it. The moral was that “Kindness effects more than severity” but both the wind and the sun were mean to the traveler since they used him as their way of competition. Neither the wind nor the sun were kind to the traveler. The story about The Man and His Mother has a very true moral which says “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart therefrom.” There are quite a lot of spoiled and ignorant people out there whose parents spoiled them and never really discipline them to be a better person. However, we are all somehow alike our parents in one way or another.

The Ant and The Grasshopper

Week 2 Reading Diary A

For this week I have chosen to read stories from Aesop's Fables in the Classical unit. "Androclesand the Lion" was an enjoyable story to read due to its friendship between a man and the king of beasts. Gratitude is a something that we should all have and the story demonstrates what can happen because of gratitude. The story of “The Dog and the Wolf” had an interesting take on freedom. In the United States of America, there is a long history of freedom and slavery. In any case people will fight for their freedom rather than being a slave to another. I remember the story of the “The Lion and the Mouse” when I was in elementary school. Reading this story again brought back childhood memories of watching TV shows such as Reading Rainbow and Between the Lions which were both shows that revolved around reading and books. Another childhood story was the story of “The Hare and the Tortoise.” This story was one of the first fables I remember hearing about from family members who caught me running really fast around the house. They told me the story about “The Hare and the Tortoise” so that I would not run around so dangerously. The last story in Reading A of Aesop’s Fables is the story about “TheHare With Many Friends.” This story caught my eye because of the sad ending and moral. I have a lot of friends just like the Hare did in the story but I know only several of the many friends who would truly help me in nearly every situation I stumble upon. It makes me very grateful to have these close friends.

The Hare and The Tortoise