Week 12: Storytelling - How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox

 How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox (Story Source)

    Brer Fox was sitting around his house one day thinking of ways to trap ol' Brer Rabbit. He was going through every thing he could think of from traps and snares, to riddles and games, but try as he might, Brer Fox just couldn't think of the perfect way to trap Brer Rabbit.

Out of nowhere, Brer Fox came up with the idea to create a tar baby that would trap ol' Brer Rabbit. 

The tar baby was very sticky so Brer Fox had to be careful to not get stuck to it himself, but after a little while he finally had the tar baby in the perfect spot to get Brer Rabbit. The tar baby was set up on the side of the road heading into town, and it was positioned to hide its face from anyone passing by. Brer Fox knew it was only a matter of time until Brer Rabbit came on down the road heading for home.

Just as Brer Fox thought, Brer Rabbit came strolling on down the road and stopped once he got to the little tar baby.

"Why are you sitting on the side of the road young sir?" asked Brer Rabbit.

The tar baby stayed sitting in the same spot.

"Um excuse me, it is very rude to ignore someone young man" said Brer Rabbit with a bit of annoyance. 

The tar baby still did not move from its spot. 

"Now you listen here!" yelled Brer Rabbit. "Who do you think you are? I am trying to help you and you won't even look up at me. Well let's have a look at who you are."

And with that Brer Rabbit grabbed the tar baby's shoulder to look at his face and his hand became stuck.

"Unhand me you scoundrel" cried Brer Rabbit as he put his other hand on the tar baby.

This hand became just as stuck so he tried to kick the tar baby off of him but to no avail, he was as stuck as they come. 

At this moment Brer Fox, who had been watching the whole ordeal, comes strolling out of the brush and begins laughing at Brer Rabbit. 

"I am gonna have so much fun cooking you up Mr. Brer Rabbit" said Brer Fox.

"Why would you wanna cook me up?" asked Brer Rabbit. "It would be such a bother to gather the wood for a fire. Do whatever you want to me Brer Fox but please just don't throw me in the briar patch."

"You make a good point. I won't cook you but I think I'll just hang you" said Brer Fox.

"You can hang me if you want to drag me to a tree seeing there isn't one in sight" said Brer Rabbit. "Do whatever you want to me Brer Fox but please just don't throw me in the briar patch."

"Why must you keep pointing out flaws in my plan?" yelled an angry Brer Fox. "You are the fool. I caught you because I am smarter than you. And because I am smarter than you, I will do the one thing you dread the most."

With that, Brer Fox hurled Brer Rabbit into the briar patch and the tar baby went flying off of him. 

As Brer Rabbit landed, he bounced right back up and laughed at Brer Fox. 

"You fool, I was born in a briar patch" yelled Brer Rabbit. "I have outsmarted you once again you dumb fox."

With that Brer Rabbit ran off and lived to fight another day.

Brer Rabbit and the tar baby (Picture Source)

Week 11: Storytelling - The Attack on the Giant Elk

  The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle by Jicarilla Apache (Story Source)

    In the olden days, the people feared the great beasts that roamed the earth and did as they pleased. They would kill for sport any human that they desired, and there was no way for the people to protect themselves. One of the most powerful and ruthless of the great animals was the Great Elk. 

The people began to wonder what could be done if anything about the problem of the Great Elk. Some said they should move the tribe to another region away from the Elk. Some said they should offer to make peace. And lastly there was a small group that chose to pray towards the gods.

The woman who lived in the west heard their prayers.

She decided to have a son and send him down to help out the people. Jonayaiyin was his name and he came to earth as a child.

Within four days he had grown to manhood and the people went to him for help defeating the Great Elk. Jonayaiyin was more than happy to help and could not wait to get started.

"Where does this Great Beast live?" Jonayaiyin asked.

"In the vast desert out west," replied the village Chieftain. 

The moment the Chieftain told Jonayaiyin where the great beast lived, Jonayaiyin was off to slay the beast. Within four steps he had reached the vast desert and started looking for the Great Elk. 

The Great Hawk was flying overhead and saw Jonayaiyin on the outskirts of the desert and decided to fly down and see what he was up to. 

Jonayaiyin told the hawk that he was here to kill the Great Elk. At first the hawk was taken aback by the thought of one of the other great beasts being killed, but then thought of how much he despised the haughty Elk and decided to help. 

They came up with a plan for the hawk to take Jonayaiyin up over the elk and drop him from above onto his back. 

With Jonayaiyin clutched in the hawk talons, the duo began nearing the spot where the Great Elk was grazing. When they were directly above him, the hawk released Jonayaiyin and he began falling through the sky headed right for the unsuspecting elk. 

Jonayaiyin landed directly on the back of the elk. The Great Elk suddenly began bucking wildly trying to rid himself of this nuisance, but Jonayaiyin was too nimble and strong. With one great swoop of his hatchet, he lopped off the head of the elk and they fell to the ground. 

Jonayaiyin had done it. The Great Elk was no more. 

He then lopped off the hind quarters and gave them to the hawk for his help, took the front quarters back to the people, and lastly kept the antlers for himself. 

Giant Elk (Image Source)

Week 7 Story: Sinbad the Sailor - The Sixth Voyage

  Sinbad the Sailor: The Sixth Voyage (Story Source)

The past three months have gone by without much going on. This was a peaceful time of rest compared to Sinbad's typical adventures, but that was all about to change.

Sinbad was grateful for this peaceful period of his life, but he needed adventure. Little did he know that his next adventure was right around the corner. 

As Sinbad was walking around the market one day, he overheard talk of a long voyage towards new lands. Sinbad was very intrigued.

He made his way to the docks and found the captain that was to set sail. The captain said he could use more hands on board as long as Sinbad carried his weight. Off they went.

Not long into their voyage, a dark storm arose and their ship had nowhere to go. They were tossed around for days until eventually a large cliff appeared and the ship was dashed against it. 

Sinbad was the only one that was able to scramble onto the rocks and make it to safety. Once he was on the island, he stumbled upon a cave that was filled with diamonds and rubies. Sinbad also found a lot of water and plentiful fruit. He decided that this was a place that he could reside for at least a little while.

A movie cover for the 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Picture Source)

Week 6: Storytelling - Sinbad: First Voyage

 Sinbad the Sailor: First Voyage part 1(Source)

It’s dark, cold, and ominous. The waves appear to be cliffs rushing toward the ship. The Insurrection’s crew notices a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs as they begin to realize that their ship will not make it through the night. 

Despite the near impossible task ahead, the captain puts all the men to work. Some men are bailing water for their lives while others try to keep the ship pointed bow first toward the incoming waves. Everyone stops what they are doing at the sight of a wave bigger than any of them had ever seen. All that can be done at this point is to hang on for dear life and say whatever prayers one might need.

As dawn breaks over a peaceful ocean, Sinbad wakes up in a confused stupor. He takes in his surroundings only to realize that he was the only one that survived the storm. He was fortunate enough to have grabbed ahold of the mast and managed to hang on to it through the night. 

Sinbad was sitting there contemplating his options when he noticed a large portion of the ship floating along in the water, so he swam over and climbed on board. Being utterly lost and out of food or water, he decided the only thing to do was to lay on the wood and pray that someone came along or he drifted to some island. 

After three days, Sinbad was at his wits end and began to wonder if he should just end it all instead of dying a slow hallucination filled death. At that exact moment a pod of dolphins swam up to him. They asked his name and what circumstances had led to his current situation. Sinbad recalled his tale to them, and when he said his name their eyes lit up. 

“Are you the great Sinbad?” their leader asked.

“That would be me” replied Sinbad. 

The dolphins told him how they had heard many things about his great travels and tales. They also mentioned that there was an island not too far away that was inhabited by a friendly people that would take him in. 

Sinbad climbed on the back of the strongest dolphin and away they went. After about an hour with the dolphins, they dropped him off on the shores of the island they said was owned by King Mihrage.

        This story is based off of Sinbad's First Voyage from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang. The original story begins with Sinbad telling another man named Sinbad about how he squandered his wealth inherited from his parents and now goes from ship to ship seeking adventure. He then tells the story of one particular ship he was on that would stop at little islands on the way to the West Indies to trade goods and explore the cities. They then accidentally land on a whale and he gets thrown into the sea. He then lands on some cliffs on an island and climbs up. I chose to head straight into to Sinbad getting thrown into the ocean and floating about. The part about the dolphins is based off of one of my favorite songs by Jimmy Buffet called Jolly Mon Sing. In this song a traveling musician gets thrown into the ocean, but a dolphin has heard him singing and loves him so he takes him to an island. I thought this would be a fun little twist to the original telling of Sinbad's First Voyage.

Animated Picture of a Dolphin (Picture Source)

Week 5 Story: The Three Lovers

  The following story is based off of the Twenty-Two Goblins: The Three Lovers translated by Arthur Ryder (Source)

    I chose to loosely base my story on the story of the three lovers, but I changed the ending to something a little darker. In the original tale, the young girl comes back to life.

        The Brahman stepped out onto the balcony and spread his arms to the heavens. He was the happiest man alive. The Brahman's first daughter, Coral, had just been born in the middle of spring. She looked just like his lovely wife, and they could not wait to watch her grow up into a beautiful woman.

Years later Coral had indeed grown into a beautiful woman and many young men were vying for her affection. Three in particular had distinguished themselves as the favorites to win her heart.

The three young men continually showered her with gifts and flowers to finally win her heart.

During a particularly cold winter, Coral became very sick and eventually died.  Her mother and father were devastated that their lovely little girl was taken from them.

The three young men were also devastated and mourned for months.

When the leaves began to fall, the young men each decided to try and find out how to get the beautiful young girl back.

One decided to move into the woods and live by himself. One chose to become a monk and moved to a local monastery. And the last one chose to travel the world in search of different brahman that might have cures to bring back the dead.

As the last young man traveled the world, he came upon brahman after brahman that did not have the answers that he was seeking. However, just before he was going to head back home, he was eating in a brahman's house and he found his answer.

The brahman's family invited the young man over for dinner, and as they were eating the brahman's baby son began crying. No matter what the mother and father would do, the child would not stop crying. The mother then got up and through the child into the fire. The young man sat aghast and did not know what to say when the brahman told him to not worry because he could easily bring the child back to life. As the brahman worked to bring the child back to life, the young man took detailed notes to take back to his love and bring her back to life.

The young man made the long journey back home and went to the girl's gravesite where he did exactly as the brahman had done, but to no avail. The young girl could not be brought back to life.

A Wise Old Man (Source)

Week 3 Story: The Friendly Old Cyclops

 Homer’s The Odyssey (Source)

 

            This story that I have written is loosely based on the first part of Homer’s The Odyssey. Some of the characters are the same, but most of the plot has been changed to go in a different direction.

 

 

On a cold rain-soaked night, a dark ship crashed through a large wave and a monstrous island loomed into view. Their voyage at sea had been hard and sleepless for the last couple of days. Eurylochus, who was on watch, cried out to the rest of the crew “Land Ho!”. They had made it.

 

As they beached the ship, the rosy streaks of dawn began to appear on the horizon. Their skin feeling the warm relief they had long been yearning for.

 

“Pair off in groups of five and explore the island” ordered Odysseus, “We will meet back here at night fall to decide on a course of action.”

 

“Aye Captain” they all replied in unison and off they went.

 

As the groups were exploring the island, they began to hear very loud booms that shook the earth. At first, they were perplexed by these sounds until one saw a cyclops that towered over the tallest tree thundering along towards a mountain. The group quickly headed back to the ship to report what they had seen.

 

“The cyclops was how much bigger than a man?” Odysseus asked.

 

“At least fifty times my height Captain.” Replied Eurylochus.

 

“We must go meet him and see if he has hospitality to weary travelers.” Said Odysseus.

 

Off they went in search of the cyclops following Eurylochus who remembered the way to the cave dwelling of the giant.

 

As they approached the cave, Odysseus called out to the cyclops, “Hullo! Cyclops sir would you be gracious enough to some weary travelers to let us come inside?”

 

“Of course, friend!” replied the cyclops.

 

As they entered the cave, the cyclops said, “My name is Zacheus. What brings a crew of men to my island?”

 

“We were on a voyage to cross the sea when we lost our way.” Replied Odysseus.

 

“Well you all must be very tired and hungry. Good for you all I have a large herd of sheep that I can prepare a feast with as well as good sweet wine to drink.”

 

With that, the men and Zacheus ate, drank, and sang songs until late in the evening when they all dozed off from exhaustion.

 

They woke feeling refreshed and blessed to have met such a nice cyclops in Zacheus. He gave them sheep and wine for the voyage and sent them on their way across the sea.

 

 

 

 

 

 Odysseus (Source)

 

 

           

Week 2 Story: The Tiger and Brahman

 The Tiger and Brahman

 

The story I have written is a take on a classic Indian Fairy Tale about a Tiger, a Brahman, and a Jackal. I have chosen to focus only on the Tiger and Brahman, and create a story entirely its own.

 

Story Source: Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

 

 

            One scorching hot mid-August afternoon, a Tiger was strolling along the road and happened upon a cool shaded well.

 

The Tiger, being thirsty from the heat, says to himself, “I must have some of this water or I will surely die.” He slowly strolls over to the well and reaches out for the bucket. At that very moment, a cage springs up from the ground as if it were magic!

 

The Tiger is frightened and begins to claw and bite at the bars but to no avail. He is trapped. A voice of laughter slowly reaches him. The Tiger turns to see a Brahman sitting on a stool laughing at him.

 

The Brahman says to the Tiger, “You fool! You have fallen directly into my trap and now I will sell you to the highest bidder.”

 

“You can’t sell me!” said the Tiger, “I am too valuable to you.”

 

“And pray” said the Brahman, “tell me how on earth you would be valuable to me.”

 

“Let me out of this cage,” cried the Tiger,” and I will show you how I can be of service to you.”

 

“You are out of your mind if you think I would let you out of this cage Tiger.”

 

“There must be some way that you would trust me enough to release me from this cage.” said the Tiger.

 

“Why if you were to tell me your greatest weakness,” said the Brahman, “I might just think about letting you out. But first you must tell me how you are valuable to me.”

 

“Well,” began the Tiger, “I am very strong and a fearsome fighter, and this road is fraught with thieves and murderers who might wish you harm. I could accompany you to the end of the road to keep you safe, and then you set me free.”

 

“That is a very interesting proposition.” Said the Brahman as he thought it over. “You have yourself a deal as long as you tell me your greatest weakness.”

 

“Oh of course,” said the Tiger, “I am blind in my right eye so cannot see anyone approaching from the right side.”

 

“Very well!” exclaimed the Brahman, “You will accompany me to safety and then be set free.”

 

The Brahman found the key in his pocket and released the Tiger. Within the blink of an eye the Tiger was on the Brahman. “What are you doing? cried the Brahman, “we had a deal!”

 

“I don’t care about whatever deal we had“ said the Tiger, “no one plays tricks on me and expects to live.” And with that, the Tiger killed the Brahman and went back to the well for a refreshing drink of water.

 

 

Sere Kahn https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/95/Shere_Khan_Disney_Jungle_Book.jpg