Week 14 Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Hunt), Part B

Snow White and Rose Red Illustration by Herman Vogel. Source.

Original Story: "Snow White and Rose Red" from Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1884), translated by Margaret Hunt. Source.

A poor widow lives in a cottage with her two daughters gentle Snow-White and playful Rose-Red. In front of the house is one white rose bush and one red rose bush.

One evening the two girls were playing and would have an off a cliff if there were not distracted by a beautiful boy in a shining white attire.

Later, one winter evening, a bear shows up at the door and asks to be warmed by the fire. The mother lets him in and the two girls brush the snow out of his fur. The girls like to play with the bear and the bear scolds them when they play too roughly. When the ground thaws, the bear must leave and protect his treasures from greedy dwarfs who were before blocked by the cold hard ground. Snow White thinks she catches a glimpse of gold on the bear.

The long-bearded dwarf is stuck by a tree by his beard trapped. Snow White cuts cut beard free, which only makes the Dwarf angry because he loves his beard. A similar event happens when the dwarf is fishing, only for the fish to be too strong and for his beard to be tangled with the fishing line. The third time with a bird, the girls notice the dwarf has precious jewels.

The fourth time they see the dwarf, their friend the Bear kills him and transforms into a handsome golden prince. Snow White marries the golden prince, and Rose Red marries his brother.

Retelling Ideas:

Shouldn't the girls have been more curious about how their friend the bear has treasures? Wouldn't they think that the mean dwarf they met is one of the evil ones, especially when they see the dwarf has jewels?

What is the beautiful boy who was the second prince?

What if girls keep the dwarf trapped, with Rose Red staying with the dwarf and Snow-white seeing if she can find the bear to tell him about the dwarf?

What if the second prince had more of a story. Either as a cursed animal or as a human who asks the girls to help him find his brother?

I've been calling Snow White and Rose Red girls the whole time so it feels weird that they got married. Maybe age them up or no marriage at all? Maybe they get royal rewards of education?

Week 14 Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Hunt), Part A

Allerleirauh illustration by Otto Ubbelohde. Source.

Original Story: "Allerleirauh" from Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1884), translated by Margaret Hunt. Source.

Queen with beautiful golden hair is dying and asks that her husband not marry anyone else unless they have beautiful golden hair like she does.

The people want a Queen to rule over them again, but no noble lady or princess in any kingdom has beautiful golden hair like the queen. Except for the King's daughter who inherited her mother's looks. His advisers are shocked and try to dissuade him from forcing the princess into marriage with him. However, the king had gone mad. The princess came up with impossible challenges for the king to fulfill, such gifts like

"golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one as bright as the stars; besides this, I wish for a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur"

However, the King accomplished this and rather than be forced to marry her father, the princess ran away from home, covered her self in soot, and when she was tired, the princess fell asleep in a hollow tree. She apparently ran far enough to go to another kingdom into the royal hunting grounds. The King there sees her and hires her to serve in the castle kitchen out of pity. Different feasts are thrown at the castle, and each night the King sees her in two of the dresses and falls in love with her. Finally, the princess makes the King soup and putting her ring in. This happens multiple times with multiple golden objects but each time the princess says A third ball comes and the princess wears a dress and puts on the coat, the King forces her to reveal her identity.

Retelling Ideas:

The King forces the princess to reveal her identity. Don't include this.

The Princess is dependent on the King because she does not have anywhere else to go besides back home to marry her father. Don't include this.

The Princess decides to enlist foreign aid to overthrow her mad father. The mad father has threatened everyone into silence and killed the seamstresses and most anyone who kno=ew he wanted to marry his daughter. He pretended to be a loving father whose daughter has been kidnapped and offers a reward for her safe return. The Princess knows this is a lie but does not want to hide forever. She decides to keep her disguise as a fur-covered beastly woman to see how the King treats his inferiors. Once she decides he is trustworthy, she petitions for aid. An international council is called and the Princess becomes Queen and her father is put inside an elderly home in hopes he will recover from his insanity.

Week 13 Reading Notes: King Arthur Part B

 Original Story from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. Source.

King Arthur (1903) by Howard Pyle. Source.

King Arthur's knights of the round table decided to search for the Holy Grail, which left the kingdom unattended and weakened.

King Arthur took a pilgrimage to St. Augustine and experienced a glimpse of holiness with singing and light. However, Arthur decided to be inspired to become a better man and better king.

The Holy Graal suddenly appears in Camelot's halls briefly. While the King is glad to have experienced a bit of its wonder, all the other knights want to search for it so shirk their duties in order to bring themselves honor. They vow to find it, and vows cannot be broken. King Arthur and the entire court is disheartened that the knights of the Round table are disbanded.

Sir Galahad is a perfect knight. In his quest to obtain a shield, he comes across an Evil dead man who cannot use his powers on Galahad because, "'I see about thee so many angels that my power dare not touch thee."' He is the son of Sir Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic. (Elaine raped Lancelot by pretending to be his lover Queen Guinevere, also known as King Arthur's WIFE. Sir Galahad was conceived because of foreknowledge of his maternal grandfathert that he would become the greatest knight ever. Yet, Galahad also shirks duties by searching for the holy graal.

Sir Lancelot can not get close to the Holy graal in the old chapel because his sins are heavy and weigh him down. (Sins of worldly adventures for worldly desires. He tries to search for the Holy graal as if it is a worldly thing.) The holy graal heals another old knight.

Seige perlious to be sat by the knight who finds the Holy Graal.

Knight of a King to the Knight of God transition? Earthly, sinful knights are weak compared to heavenly, righteous knights.

Half of the Knights of the Round Table are killed in the Quest for the Holy Graal. Sir Lancelot goes back to Camelot after seeing his son, but Galahad continues the quest.

Galahad had a vision with the Holy Graal and sees much more joy in eternal life in Heaven compared to life on Earth. Galahad becomes prays to go to Heaven already, so he dies.

Morderd, Arthur's son and nephew, plots to kill Arthur. Arthur is wounded, Excalibur is returned to the lake it came from (despite one knight's plans to keep Excalibur for himself). Arthur sails to Avalon to be healed but is as good as dead to the mortal world. Guenevere becomes a nun and reject's any further affair with Lancelot (funny how she respects marital fidelity when her husband is dead compared to when he was alive). Lancelot also dies later. The end.

Retelling Ideas:

Lancelot was tricked into sleeping with Elaine, so how can sucha union be the prophetic conditions for the greatest knight who ever lived. Also, How was Galahad the greatest knight who ever lived if he decided to stop helping people when he was young to go to heaven a few decades earlier?

Kign Arthur tells the knights to care for their people more! Help their fellow men instead of mudering people to find the Holy Graal.

Week 13 Reading Notes: King Arthur Part A

 Original Story from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. Source.

King Arthur (1903) by Howard Pyle. Source.

Uther Pendragon was the king but then died. The land fell into chaos over the right to succession, every knight wanted to become the new king. Merlin and the Archbishop revealed the Sword in the Stone in the Great Church. Whoever can pull the sword from the stone is the rightful king of England. However, people (nobles, knights, and other high-born) decided people could win the sword in a tournament. Sir Ector and his son Sir Kay enter the tournament. Except they forgot the sword from the inn so Ector's foster son goes back. However, inn is locked so Arthur decides to get sword from the stone. Arthur learns he is the rightful king of England and that Merlin brought him to Ector's house when he was a baby. Ector didn't know the son of Uther Pendragon lived in his house until that moment.

Except people don't want to except a boy as their king so months pass as knights travel far and wide to pull the sword from the stone. Over time, Arthur is crowned and promises to be a great king for the people. The scabbard has power so Arthur doesn't lose any blood.

Sword of Stone was for birthright. Excalibur from Lady of the Lake is magical and only used by Arthur in a deux es machina moment. Lady of the Lake asks a favor ( that she will not say) in return for excalibur. Arthur accepts.

Merlin visits in disguise and says that his sister's son will be his worst enemy one day.

King Arthur fights against a great knight and almost dies, except Merlin cheats for him so knight loses.

King Arthur asks Merlin for who to marry, he is most infatuated with Guenevere, the daughter of daughter of Leodegrance, King of Cameliard. Cameliard holds the round table, which apparently was a gift from Uther Pendragon. Merlin says if he can not be faithful to Guenevere, he could find other women as beautiful as she is that he could be faithful to. The round table is given as a dowry.

Sir Lancelot is to escort Guenwvere for the wedding preparations.

Merlin falls in love with a maiden (Nimue, Vivien) that he knows will kill her. However, Merlin continues to spend time with her and refuses to change the fate he saw. Merlin teaches Vivien magic, and Vivien buries Merlin alive.

Morgan le Fay is the sister of King Arthur. King Arthur killed a knight she loved and Morgan wantts revenge. She steals the scabbard of excalibur. King Arthur wants to punish her for treason, but almost accepts a gift from her that will kill him.

People decide to find the Holy graal despite Arthur's wishes and the kingdom is neglected in favor of the impossible graal.

Week 12 Reading Notes: Beowulf Part B

Original Story: "The Story of Beowulf" by Strafford Riggs. Source.

Beowulf resolved to stay awake, but Grendel's strange magic causes him to drift halfway into unconsciousness. However, as the other warriors completely fell asleep, Beowulf broke free of the spell

Grendel has trunk legs and milk-colored eyes. Shaped like a man but somehow disfigured that you can never describe him as human.

Grendel succeeds in killing and eating one soldier and takes the metaphor of grind your bone to dust much too seriously.

Meanwhile, Beowulf was struck with fear and could not move at the sight of Grendel. However, the sight of Grendel eating Honscio forces him to action. Grendel and Beowulf wrestle and by the end, Beowulf has torn Grendel's arm off. Grendel flees and the lords in the drinking hall wake up. The people rejoice and Grendel's arm is shown in front of everyone. However, Grendel's mother steals the arm back. Unferth, who insulted Beowulf and did not believe he could kill Grendel now gives Beowulf Hrunting, a magic sword. Beowulf assembles a company and sends off but he decides to go into the monster cave of Grendel's mother alone. On the way down, Beowulf battles jellyfish and a one-hundred-armed monster.

Grendel's Mother has hissing snakes for hair. Beowulf tries to use Hrunting but Grendel's mother has magic of her own that overpowers it. Beowulf ends up killing Grendel's mother with an old blade. Beowulf burns Grendel and his mother in a fire. Grendel was in the scene the whole time, but seemingly dead. Beowulf returns to the surface but most of the men gave up on his survival and left. Only his close company remained and when they saw the water at the entrance to the cave turned red, they feared it was Beowulf's blood. However, Beowulf comes and everyone is happy.

Retelling Ideas:

What if Unferth did not defend his people because he was secretly working with Grendel all along. He pretends to support Beowulf and give him a so-called magic sword that he knew would be ineffective against Grendel's mother.

Grendel's Mother is Medusa from Greek mythology.

Grendel is an old murderer who was cursed to be as monstrous outside as he was inside.

What if Beowulf did not freeze when he saw Grendel eating a person. What id Beowulf killed Grendel with his bare hands as he wanted to?

Illustration of Grendel by J. R. Skelton Found in Stories of Beowulf (1908) by H. E. Marshall. Source.

Week 12 Reading Notes: Beowulf, Part A

Original Story: "The Story of Beowulf" by Strafford Riggs. Source.

Illustration of Grendel by J. R. Skelton Found in Stories of Beowulf (1908) by H. E. Marshall. Source.

Hygelac is the King of Geatsland and his Queen is Hygd, the Wise and Fair.

Clans fought wars, and monsters roamed the land. Somehow, minstrels who traveled avoided the monsters. Overall, the monsters stuck to their own lairs. When the fearsome warlords of the land gathered in their home, they behaved as any other people with family, friends, and dogs. They would tell stories and dream or boast of their adventures.

Beowulf is Hydelac's nephew who learned how to do war and set sail. Beowulf became incredibly strong, so much that he could not control his strength. The other boys laughed at his inability to handle a weapon but were actually very jealous of him.

After some time, Beowulf sits near the King and some people complain. One "ancient warrior" says that Beowulf is destined for greatness. Meanwhile, Beowulf is upset because he is too old to kill young dragons and his Uncle doesn't rage a war.

A Wanderer Minstral appears and sings many songs, one of which about the monster Gretel who stole into the drinking hall, Heorot, which belongs to Hrothgar, the King of the Danes. Grendel has attacked for twelve years so far and must be stopped. Beowulf is eager to prove himself and so volunteers to kill Grendel with his bare hands. The people who once scorned Beowulf now cheer for him.

Retelling Ideas:

Beowulf was isolated from others because of his very strength. You would think that this strength would cause admiration but it did not. What if Beowulf was isolated for another reason?

Grendel has defeated many warriors over the years. What if someone other than a warrior were to defeat Grendel?

Minstrels can go through monster-ridden lands. What if they had special techniques to slay monsters. Except no one accepted their advice because their career is not that of a warrior, so how would they be an expert in killing? Or assasination methods of minstrels are not honorable. Think minstrels as assassins, spies, able to spread information in a spy network.

Beowulf was weak and tried hard to become a warrior. He meets a minstrel and this becomes his inspiration to become one himself. Beowulf then knows techniques on how to kill monsters-via assasination methods and not direct combat.

Except, Beowulf only lives with his uncle because of his strength. Change this to Beowulf's parents were killed by monsters and Hygelan took Beowulf in as his nearest kin.

Week 11 Reading Notes British North America, Part B

Excerpts from Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917). Source.

Photo of Coyote by Yathin S Krishnappa. Source.

Coyote's Gifts. Source.

Coyote's house fire creates the aurora borealis.
Coyote rolls over and creates cold wind.
Coyote traveled around the country and shaped the land in his whimsical way.
Coyote also created each tribe's unique language.
Coyote can shapeshift

Coyote and the Salmon. Source.

Coyote decides to throw a feast and invites everyone over so they will think Coyote is amazing with his generousity, cooking skills. and party skills. However, all the cooked salmon came to life again and they escaped, including the oil! The people went home and Coyote's party was ruined. Later a very long winter came along and Coyote stayed inside. However, it turns out that the salmon had kept the outside around Coyote's house in a winter appearance so Coyote had stayed inside until summertime.

Retelling Ideas:

Combine the two stories above. Coyote knew that the winter was especially long, yet he did not go outside to check if something was wrong.

Coyote could use his powers to shape the world to make it always nice outside his home, but why doesn't he?

How did the salmon come to life again? Why did Coyote cook them if the Salmon were intelligent enough to get revenge on Coyote?

How did the salmon change the weather around Coyote's house?

What if the salmon were magic and that is why Coyote wanted to use them as his main dish?
What if the people laughed at Coyote for failing to catch the fish so Coyote was mocked and not respected?

What if Coyote disguised himself as a Salmon to catch them again and pay them back for making it winter outside his home?

Week 11 Reading Notes: British North America Part A

Excerpts from Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917). Source.

Creation of light. Source.

An old chief owned every bit of light, fire, and water and refused to share it. The animal people of the time gathered outside the old chief's tepee and began to try to create their own light by singing and dancing. Because of this, light began to show but the old chief banished the light again. However, after the animals sang more, the old chief became distracted at the noise level until he accidentally summoned light. Since then, people have had access to light.

Grizzly Bear and Coyote. Source.

Grizzly Bear did not like that nighttime was very short and wanted to make it night all the time. Coyote fought against this idea as people need light. They each began to sing a song. Grizzly Bear sang about how it would always be darkness, and Coyote sang about how it would always be light. The louder song then controlled whether it was light or dark. However, they both got tired and decided to make half the time light and half the time dark. This is how the cycle of day and night was made.
Later on, Grizzly Bear wanted very long winters while Coyote knew all-time winter would hurt people. Instead, Grizzly bear decided to want as many moons of winter as feathers in a Blue Grouse tail. Coyote suggested that they instead do half the number of feathers, but Grizzly Bear did not want this. Coyote suggested they instead do half the number of feathers in Flicker's tail to determine the number of moons in winter. Grizzly Bear agreed because he thought Flicker had a lot of tail feathers. This is how the seasons were made.

Origin of Light and Fire. Source.

Sea Gull owned all the light in the world, and Raven wanted to share light with the people. Ravel tricked Sea Gull into releasing the light. Raven used the light to find out where the fire was and trade for it so the people could have fire.

Retelling Ideas:

Combine all three stories above. Coyote and Raven notice that the people struggle with endless darkness and winter, and decide to bring them light, fire, and spring. Coyote and Raven decide to work together. Raven can flow around the world to find fire but it's hidden to only the smoke can be detected. Light needs to come first so Raven can see the smoke. Coyote has the neighbor Old Chief who has hoarded add the light. The two assemble the animals to sing and dance so the Old Chief is distracted and accidentally releases the light. Raven can then find the fire. Some animals such as the Grizzly Bear don't like that winter and darkness is no longer endless and tries to bring them back. Coyote has endurance and competes with Grizzly bear for the day and night cycle to begin. Grizzly Bear still wants to make as many moons as in the feathers of a bird. Raven flies and spots the Flicker and together Grizzly bear is tricked so there are only six moons of winter in a year. The people are happier.

Photo of Coyote by Yathin S Krishnappa. Source.

Photo of Raven by Greg Schechter. Source.

Week 10 Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends, Part B

"The Land of the Dead" from Myths and Legends of Alaska told by Native Storytellers and edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). Source.

A young woman died. Her dead grandfather's spirit woke the young woman up from ger casket. The young woman travels to an alternate plane where a town of the dead replaces her living village. In the village of the dead, another woman raises a stick to our protagonist, and the grandfather explains it's to show what a dog feels like when you chase it off. Another man is stuck to the ground, with grass growing out of his body because he ate grass stems when he was alive. Soon the young woman meets her dead grandmother, who offers water and deer meat that comes from the offerings to the young woman's funeral service.

Retelling Ideas:

The young woman meets her family, and it is a happy reunion. Dying is unpleasant, but being dead is good when loved ones surround you.

Or maybe the young woman gets her just desserts like the man who ate grass stems only for his body to grow grass.

"The Ghost Land" from Myths and Legends of Alaska told by Native Storytellers and edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). Source.

A young widower walks through the forest for a while and walks along a trail. The man stops at a rock at the edge of a lake. Then the man sees people on the other side of the lake and calls out to them, but they do not answer. Eventually, someone does hear him and brings him to a strange town across the lake. This town is the ghost land where the dead live. Man sees his deceased wife. If the man eats the food, he can never return to the land of the living. The man and his wife return to the living world, but the wife is only a shade. The wife returns, and eventually, the man dies too, and they are reunited.

Retelling Ideas:

The man is reluctant to leave because he misses his wife. However, the man realizes that one day, his time will too come to a few decades apart is nothing compared to an eternity together.

The Aurora Borealis shines above Bear Lake in Alaska by Joshua Strang. Source.

Week 10 Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends, Part A

The first human grew from a beach plea plant and, after a few days, came out of the pea pod as a full-grown adult. Man wandered along the beach and experienced strange sensations like hunger and thirst that he learned were relieved when he drank and ate. Raven discovered the wandering human and is curious about what Man is.

Raven learns that Man came from the peapod of Raven's creation. Raven realizes that he unknowingly created Man and decides to help Man learn how to live.

The world adjusts to Man's presence as Raven creates and moves animals for Man's needs. For some animals, Raven does not want Man to kill them, so places them out of Man's reach. For other animals, Raven multiples them so man can eat. Raven is still worried that Man will overeat, so he creates predators such as the bear to ward Man off.

Over time, Raven sees Man is lonely even if Man does not know what alone means. Raven carves clay and creates Woman to be a companion for Man.

Raven returns back to pea pod and sees that more men grew from it. Raven leads them into different directions and teaches them how to live with their respective lands and animals.

Retelling ideas:

Retell from Raven's perspective of a new parent who just discovered they created mankind without trying to. Perhaps Man accidentally almost hurts himself a lot because he is still ignorant of the world. These shenanigans cause Raven to want to pluck all his feathers out in aggravation and worry.

Retell from the abstract perspective of Man with descriptions of when he feels his stomach rumble for the first time or feels a weight in his chest from loneliness. Here also have almost accidents such as trying to eat a poisonous mushroom.

A mix of both perspectives could be useful, just make sure the transitions are clear.

Bibliography: Excerpt from "The Raven Myth" pulled from Myths and Legends of Alaska told by Native Storytellers and edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). Source.

Photo of the Common Raven by David Iliff, License: CC BY-SA 3.0. Source.

Week 9 Reading: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part B

"The Ogre of Rashomon" Excerpt from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki. Source.

Illustration from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki

At the Rashomon gate of Kyoto, an Ogre is said to kidnap people and eat them. The people live terrified. Nearby is a general Raiko who once defeated many ogres. His knights hear about the ogre of Rashomon and are offended because their master was said to have made the ogres extinct. One knight named Watanabe volunteers to check on the gate, just in case. He comes across the ogre and cuts one arm off. Watanabe is worried that the still alive ogre will return for his arm. One night, his old nursemaid visits and asks to see the ogre's arm. Watanabe agrees and the nursemaid reveals herself to actually be the ogre, who runs off his the arm. The ogre escapes but never attacks again from fear of Watanabe.

Retelling Ideas:

What if the ogre is actually very nice and brings people to magical restaurants humans need an escort too. A traveler hears about the ogre taking people out to eat, but without knowing the context, assumes the ogre kills people then eats them. Watanabe sees the ogre and attacks blindly. Later Watanabe and the Ogre become allies to end Human-Ogre racism.

Week 9 Reading: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part A

"My Lord Bag of Rice" Excerpt from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki, Profusely Illustrated by Japanese Artists. Source.

Illustration from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki

Fujiwara Hidesato was traveling and came across a lake which belongs to the Dragon King. The Dragon King transforms to look human and asks Fujiwara Hidesato to kill the centipede on the mountain because the centipede kills of the dragon's family one by one. The Dragon King asks Fujiwara Hidesato to help because he was not scared to see the dragon. Fujiwara Hidesato promises to help. The centipede comes every night, so Fujiwara Hidesato waits for the next attack. The centipede appears but Hidesato's arrows bounce of the centipede. Hidesato remembers that human saliva is deadly to centipedes and licks an arrow before releasing it. The Dragon king throws a feast to celebrate and when Hidesato wants to leave, the Dragon King gives him gifts. Hidesato reluctantly accepts the gifts.

The gifts are:
An ordinary bell
A neverending bag of rice.
An infinitely long roll of silk.
A cooking pot that makes everything taste delicious.

With the gifts, Hidesato returns home and becomes very rich and became known as My Lord Bag of Rice.

Retelling Ideas:

Why doesn't Hidesato want to accept the gifts?

What if Hidesato's bow becomes broken and Hidesato's only choice is to run-up to the centipede and lick it directly.

What if Hidesato ends world hunger with the bag of rice.

What if the endless bag of rice and silk roll wreck the economy or causes other countries to declare war?

What id the bell had powers to summon powerful beings to aid Hidesato?

What if a war does occur and Hidesato uses the bell to save his country?

Reading Notes Week 7: The Monkey King, Part A

Bibliography: Excerpt from The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). Source.

The Monkey King by Yoshitoshi. Source.

A mountain on the island "Mountain of Flowers and Fruits" contains a high rock that absorbed power since the beginning of time. The rock opened to reveal a stone egg, the egg opened to reveal a stone ape who absorbed the power from the high rock. The Lord of the Heavens noticed this power and freaked out and from the two gods he sent, they told him about the stone ape.

The stone ape plays with other apes and found a waterfall. Stone ape made it through the waterfall so he was dubbed "Handsome King of the Apes." He lived happily with his subjects for 300 years.

The Handsome King of the Apes realized that mortality was a thing, so all they apes were sad about how one day they would die. An elder ape mentioned that the Buddhas, blessed spirits and gods don't die and aren't reborn. The Monkey King wants to know how to become one of the three.

The Monkey King travels and arrives in Asia, disguised as a human but for 9 years he did not see anyone who cared about life. The monkey king then decided to cross the western sea. He arrives in the land of the west and meets a woodchopper who knows a song from a spirit named 'The Discerner'  that lives in a mountain called the Mountain of the Heart. The Discerner gives Sun Wu Kung his name. Sun Wu Kung foes chores for multiple years and when the spirit starts a lesson, Sun Wu Kung was so happy that he understood that he danced. The Discerner offers multiple more lessons, but Sun Wu Kung rejects them since they will not lead to immortal life.

The Discerner whacks Sun Wu Kung on the head who interprets it as a message to learn how to obtain immortal life. Sun Wu Kung follows the message and the Discerner is impressed that Sun Wu Kung understood the message and decides to teach him the way to immortality. Sun Wu Kung must face more dangers.

Sun Wu Kung shows off to classmates and the Discerner sends him away for it. Back home at the island, Sun Wu Kung hears about a kidnapper: the Devil-King of Chaos. Sun Wu Kung defeats him and saves the children.

Sun Wu Kung trains apes to protect themselves and decides they may be seen as a threat. Sun Wu Kung is offered to buy metal for weapons but instead, Sun Wu Kung decides to steal from the armory. Sun Wu Kung can not find a weapon that suits him because they are all too light. He eventually gets a legendary weapon that can grow and shrink at his will and demands armor as well from the Dragon-King.

Sun Wu Kung starts an empire but wakes up in the Nether World. He erases his and his family's deaths from the Book of Life. Now the are all immortal.

Retelling Ideas;

The Discerner did not give a special signal to Sun Wu Kung but gives hum a mission anyways to get rid of him. Later the Dicerner hears about the exploits of someone calling himself the Great Saint, only to realize he is none other than Sun Wu Kung. The Discerner is happy he made Sun Wu Kung promise not to tell anyone that he is the Discerner's former pupil.

Reading Notes Week 7: The Monkey King, Part B

Bibliography: Excerpt from The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). Source.

The Monkey King by Yoshitoshi. Source.

The Lord of the Heavens hears about how Sun Wu Kung decided to erase his and his family's deaths from the Book of Life and decides to take him, prisoner. The Evening Star objects to this and wants Sun Wu Kung to learn responsibility. Sun Wu Kung is given charge of the stables. At a banquet, Sun Wu Kung learns that his position is not honorable and he rages out of the Heavenly realm and goes back to the island. Devil Kings say Sun Wu Kung is equal to the Lord of the Heavens, aka The Great Saint. Sun Wu Kung agrees to this flattery.

Lord of the Heavens hears that Sun Wu Kung went away and orders that he be imprisoned but Sun Wu Kung beats all would-be captors in combat. Evening Star suggests that the Lord of the Heavens accept Sun Wu Kung as the Great Saint because it doesn't actually mean anything. Later, Sun Wu Kung who now lives in heaven is given charge of caring for the peaches of the Queen-Mother so he doesn't get into any mischief. Sun Wu Kung ends up eating a lot of peaches. He decides to go home and comes across some Elixir of Life made by Laotzse and eats the pills of like. Sun Wu Kung decides to go back to the island for real before he gets in trouble. Sun Wu Kung goes home and steals peach wine for his apes.

The Lord of the Heavens hears about all of this and tries to capture Sun Wu Kung. Eventually, they capture him but are unable to kill him. but no one can defeat him. Finally, the Lord of the Heavens sends for Buddha who is able to trap Sun Wu Kung. Sun Wu Kung goes on his own journey and repents and is granted the title of God of Victorious Strife

Week 6 Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales, Part B

The Pearl Fan by Robert Lewis Reid. Source.

Bibliography: Excerpt from Forty-Four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos. Source.

Story: "Patience Stone and Patience Knife"

A young woman is at home alone when a bird flies to her window and says, "Oh my poor maiden, your kismet [fate] is with a dead person." The young woman freaks out about this. Later in the day, the mother comes home and the young woman tells her what happened. The mother advises her to lock the door and window. The next day, the young woman locks the door and window but the bird comes in and says the same thing. The mother tells her daughter to continue locking the door but hide in the cupboard and work with only candles for light. However, the bird continues getting in. The mother and daughter stay at home and wait for the bird to show up again. A few days later, girls in the neighborhood ask the daughter to come out and play. The mother is reluctant but the neighborhood girls promise to watch out for the daughter. However, on the way back on a fun day out, the neighborhood girls and young woman stop at a spring to get water when a magical wall pops out of the ground between the young woman and the neighborhood girls. The mother hears about this but she and her daughter are separated by the wall. The daughter cries a lot and eventually notices a door in the wall that leads to a palace.

In the palace are rooms made out of gems and the young woman eventually finds a young prince lying on a corpse frame (bier). On the young prince is a document that says anyone who fans him with the pearl fan and prays hor him for forty days will find her fate. The young woman remembers what the bird says and fans the young prince. On the last day, another girl comes by and our heroine asks her to fan the prince while she prepares everything for his awakening. The prince wakes up and the rival makes him believe that she was the one who fanned him for many days while the heroine is a servant. The prince has been comatose this whole time so he goes with the flow.

A Festival approaches and the young prince wants to give everyone a gift. The heroine asks for a patience-stone and patience-knife. The young prince wants to know why the heroine wants it. He watches her carve something with the patience-stone and patience-knife. The heroine recounts what happened and the stone splits by the end of it. The heroine says if a stone can't bear her life story, how can she, so she decides to commit suicide. The prince stops her and they get married.

That blasted bird sometimes visits and says, "O maid! O happy maid! You have found your kismet."

Retelling Ideas:

The heroine is tired of bird making her anxious. If she can't avoid her fate, she will confront it. She decides to catch the bird and make it tell her what he is blabbing on about with her fate. With the bird in a cage, the heroine marches right up to where the wall will appear and sees a young prince in a coma, not a dead person. She fans the prince and visitor girl appears. The prince is tricked into believing the visitor girl is his fate. The heroine tells what happened, and uses the bird as a witness. They all live happily ever after (except for the rival girl who is banished).

Image may be from a painting commissioned for the young woman who fanned him for forty days.

Week 6 Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales, Part A

Image Information: Pomacanthus imperator (Emperor angelfish) juvenile Photo by Nick Hobgood. Source.

Bibliography: Excerpt from Forty-Four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos. Source.

Story: Fear

A young man does not understand what fear is, so he decides to look for it. He finds robbers. The robbers are confused for why the young man is not afraid but they send him to other places, like a graveyard. The boy sees a living corpse hand but just smacks it away from his cake. The young man encounters a gathering to select a new Shah (lord). The pigeons that choose the Shah land on the young man's head. The young man and the Sultana eat food. The young man knows fear when a live bird flies out when one dish is opened. Moral of the story is that you don't look for fear, fear finds you?

Retelling Ideas:

Modern AU with one boy not knowing fear out of all of his friends. His friends try to get the boy to be afraid, using ideas from horror movies? The friends get busy trying to find new scare tactics. The boy is left alone. Maybe the boy's fear is isolation and as long as he has friends and family by him there isn't anything to be scared of?

Story: The Fish Peri

Man catches fish but it is so beautiful he doesn't want to kill it. His house gets tidied out from he is away fishing. The man secretly stays home. The beautiful fish turns into a beautiful woman, and the two get married? Noble wants to marry wife, but through wife's magic and the man following her direction, they live happily ever after.

Why did the two of them need to get married though?

Retelling Ideas: They do not get married. Maybe fish is happy to be alive and helps the man not starve to death (which was his original problem in needing a job).

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights, Part B

Original Story: "Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp" from "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments" by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898). Source.

Lamp Photo Taken by Vicki Nunn. Source.

Alladin was an idle boy with a tailor father. The father was so sad that his son was a burden on society that he died.

A magician pretended to be Mustapha's (Alladin's father) merchant brother and brought Alladin to a secret entrance, which has a ring on it. He tells Alladin to take the ring, go into the magical cave, and bring him the lamp in return for treasures. The secret cave has jewel trees with fruit made of riches.

Alladin takes the fruit and the lamp. If Alladin touches anything else, he will die.

On Alladin's way out, the magician tells Alladin to give him the lamp already, but Alladin refuses while he is still in the cave. The magician traps Alladin in the cave.

Alladin rubs the lamp, and the genie from the lamp appears and saves Alladin, brings him home, gives him food on silver plates. Alladin sells silver plates for money, and years pass.

Alladin falls in love with the princess. The sultan agrees but Alladin has to wait three months. Three months pass, and the princess is engaged to the grand-vizir's son.

Alladin transports the princess to him, and the grand-vizir's son away. Alladin tells the princess he is her rightful husband. The princess is understandably upset at this. This happens multiple nights. Until finally the frightened newlyweds decide to divorce.

Sultan says that Alladin can marry the princess if he shows a certain amount of wealth. Alladin agrees but shows even more wealth than asked. He builds a palace for the princess, and the princess is instantly infatuated with the handsome and finely-dressed Alladin. Alladin and the princess marry, Alladin becomes a war-hero, and they live happily for some years.

Magician remembers Alladin and sells new lamps for old. The princess doesn't know that the lamp is magic and gives the lamp to him. The palace and princess are kidnapped by the magician, and Alladin needs to complete a rescue-mission or die.

Alladin comes up with a plan and the magician dies from poisoning.

Evil magician's brother pretends to be a holy woman and tricks the princess into wanting a roc's egg. The Roc is the genie's master? Genie disappears, and the evil magician brother is stopped.
No 3 wishes limit for a genie.

Retelling Ideas:

Alladin's father was the eldest brother of the two evil magicians and the most powerful and good of the three. He gave up his magic and his power to marry and have a family. He was the owner of the magic lamp and sealed it away so only a direct descendent could open it. He wanted Alladin to inherit his power, but Alladin was lazy and showed no worthiness for his inheritance. In grief, Alladin's father dies and his secret is forgotten. The evil magician was Alladin's uncle and needed Alladin to obtain his older brother's lamp. The rest of the story continues as normal.

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights Part A

A sultan is happily married to his wife until he discovers his wife was a horrible person. The sultan determines that every woman in the world must be as horrible and so decides to marry a different woman every night and kill the bride in the morning. His right-hand man/executioner has two daughters. His eldest, Scheherazade, is as beautiful as she is clever. She comes up with a plan to tell an interesting story to be interrupted right before it is time for her execution. The sultan is enraptured by her stories she continues to delay her execution. Scheherazade's plan causes the sultan to stop killing a woman because his wife was horrible.

Retelling Ideas:

Scheherazade's thought process for why she decided to marry the Sultan and entertain him with stories with a cliffhanger so he does not kill her.

What if Scheherazade while clever, is not a good storyteller. 

What if Scheherazade was not a noblewoman, but an ordinary woman whose friends have been killed by the Sultan.

What if a determined but not-very-good storyteller Scheherazade decides to a story without an end. She made the Sultan promise not to kill her until her story was over. For days she continues the story without rest. As long as she is alive and married to the Sultan, the rest of the kingdom's women are spared.

Scheherazade knows a few good stories and practiced them, but when she runs out, she decides to tell the neverending story.

One day the Sultan asks why Scheherazade is so resolute in continuing a story. Scheherazade explains that no matter how sore her voice gets, her pain is nothing compared to the pain the Sultan has brought to their country.

Story of the Fisherman

-The fisherman's nets are weak so that is why he can only throw them 4 times a day.
-Genie and fisherman become friends

Original Story: Excerpt from "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments" by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898). Source.

"The Story Without an End" is based on a fairy tale I read when I was younger. When I searched online, I discovered a version of it but there wasn't an author credited. Source.

"The Sultan Pardons Scheherazade" by Arthur Boyd Houghton (1836-1875). Source.

Reading Notes:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 5-7), Part B

Bibliography: Excerpt from Ovid's epic Metamorphoses, translated into English by Tony Kline. Source.

Jason wants King Aeetus, of Aea, to return the golden fleece. King Aeetus plans on giving Jason and his men many hard tasks, when his daughter, Medea, becomes obsessed with Jason. Medea knows that her infatuation is unreasonable seeing as she doesn't know him at all. However, Medea can't stand the thought of her being cruel enough to let Jason die a horrible death. Medea decides whether to commit treason to help Jason. She trusts that Jason will remember her helping him and will marry her instead of ditching her at the last second.

Medea imagines glory as Jason's "savior" by helping him. She believes that she is not giving up on everything for a chance at a man because her country and family weren't as good as she thought they were. Medea tries to reason with herself that committing treason is, in fact, a bad idea. She snaps out of her infatuation nonsense wins a match with Cupid.

However, once Medea sees Jason again, love winds logic and Medea decides to commit treason to help Jason. Jason promises to remember Medea's help and marry her. Jason wins the golden fleece, and the two leave Aea and marry. Medea is an amazing wife who even expands Jason's father lifespan. And what does Jason do? He dumps her for another princess: Glauce, the daughter of King Creon of Corinth. Medea is upset and goes on a rampage.

Retelling Ideas:

Medea was being manipulated by the gods to fall in love with Jason, only for Jason to fall for another girl. The gods should have made either both of them fall in love or have them team up without forcing emotion.

Medea by Evelyn de Morgan. Source.

Reading Notes:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 5-7), Part A

Bibliography: Excerpt from Ovid's epic Metamorphoses, translated into English by Tony Kline. Source.

Dis has a possible security threat from a trapped giant, causing an Earthquake. He leaves the underworld and checks things out. Venus notices Dis and tells Cupid to make Dis fall in love with Proserpine with one of his love arrows. The logic being that having all the top three gods be affected by Cupid's arrow spread's Venus' influence. The more love there is, the more power Venus has.

The newly infatuated Dis kidnaps Proserpine against her will. Proserpine screams for help, but Dis continues the kidnapping with his chariot.

On the way to the underworld entrance, a nymph notices the chariot. Cyane sees Dis and Proserpine and sees that Proserpine is being kidnapped. She tells Dis that kidnapping is not how you romance someone. She recalls how she married Anapis because he communicated like a normal person instead of using force like a brute. She tries to stop Dis, but Dis only gets angry and is not swayed.

Proserpine's mother Ceres looks for Proserpine and discovers she has been kidnapped, but not by whom. Ceres starts a famine.

Retelling Ideas:

Dis wants Proserpine to love him and listens to Cyane.

Dis realizes that he was affected by a love arrow apologizes to Proserpine. The three decide to get revenge Venus and Cupid. Proserpine returns to Ceres to stop the famine. Dis and Proserpine decide they made a pretty good team.

Venus forgets the natural familial love between Ceres and Proserpine and instead forces infatuation on people.

Moral of the story: Love happens naturally or otherwise, is best left alone

The Abduction of Proserpina (1632) Painted by Rembrandt van Rijn. Source.