Reading Notes: Blackfoot Stories (Part B)

The second half of the Blackfoot Stories share the same general style as the first half. Both sets of stories attempt to convey a message or explain history and nature. The second set of stories explains the reason why certain forest animals obtained their unique physical characteristics. It is likely that the reason only the peculiar animals had stories was because they were different among most other things in nature which would beg the question of "why?'. So, the stories were used to explain unusual phenomena that the natives came into contact with during the course of their life in nature.

The Smart Woman Chief

• this story talks about the beginning of the creation of humans
• the story states that women were created before men and were created poorly so that was why they were weaker than men
• it is interesting that this native story of creation recalls women being created before man and on top of that they were more clever
• this is a stark contrast to the biblical version of creation
• the chief of the women turns Old Man into a pine tree for his bad behavior
• interesting that the woman chief has witch-like powers

Kut-O-Yis Stories

• Kut-O-Yis is compared to the Jack the Giant Killer of European stories. He kills evil monsters and people in order to help others
• I feel like he better resembles a Hercules or maybe even a Robin Hood style character. He always meets with the poor people to find out what their troubles are then tries to fix them
• He usually takes from or kills those who are greedy and have more and then gives the loot to those in need of it
• Kut-O-Yis was born of the blood clot of a buffalo as it was being stewed in a hot pot
• the number four seems to have some special significance in the Blackfoot tribe, I should look it up to find out more information
• Kut-O-Yis, after helping his parents get rid of an evil son-in-law, goes from town to town liberating the most poor from the greed of the town chiefs
• In each town he helps the starving elderly folk by killing the chief that hordes all of the good meat
• first town he kills bears
• second town he kills snakes
• third he kills a demigod-like entity known as the Wind Sucker
• when he killed an animal, he always left one female to be able to continue breeding for the species
• fourth he kills a man-eater who was chief of a village
• he allows himself to be devoured four times and comes back to life each time before eventually killing the man
• Kut-O-Yis as a character seeks out justice for those who have been done wrong but at the same time he is, to some extent, merciful to those he punishes

Kut-O-Yis faces the man-eater of the fourth village.

Bibliography

The Blackfoot Unit

Image Information: The Cannibal found on wikipedia.

Reading Notes: Blackfoot Stories (Part A)

For this week I read stories originating from the Blackfoot Indian tribe. The stories I read often served the purpose of describing an aspect of nature. They would explain the relationship between different seasons, why some animals migrate each year, and how to pray to the gods of the different weather entities.

The Wolf Man

• A man has two bad wives that never help at home or pull their weight around the house
• They become upset that he moved their family away from the village so they plot to kill their husband
• They place his regular sitting spot over a concealed pit fall which he ends up falling into and becomes badly injured
• he used a buffalo skull as a seat
• The wives leave him to die and return to the village and pretend to be sad
• A pack of wolves came, and one of them helped the man out of the pit and took him back to their elder wolf who healed him
• The man becomes a brother to the wolves and when he was cured by the old blind wolf, he received a wolf head and hands
• In return for their help, the man lived with the wolf pack and tripped the snares of the locals before the wolves would get trapped so they could roam freely and get their meat
• the villagers seem to automatically know it is the man-wolf tripping the snares so it may be interesting to write an about an event that makes the existence of the man-wolf known to them
• Eventually the villagers capture the man-wolf and bring him into the light of the lodge where they recognize him
• they suggest that he punishes the wives who treated him poorly but he leaves their judgement up to them

Examples of some common signs of the Plains Indians.

The Camp of the Ghosts

• A man's wife passes away and he can't live without her so he tries to go to the spirit lodge to bring her back
• The old woman goes to the ghost camp to try to bring back with her the spirits of the some of the man's relatives so that he could be guided by them to the camp
• if the man were to open his eyes at any point during the trip he would die and never come back
• he had to lie to the spirits saying that his grandmother requested he come so that he would gain entrance to the ghost camp
• The chief ghost burnt sweet pine to mask the scent of living human which allowed other ghosts to get close to the man
• The man had to stay in the ghost camp for four days before he would be able to see his wife and begin to take her back
• At the end of the 3rd night, the ghosts gave the man the Worm Pipe and his wife's spirit
• The man had to keep his eyes shut for all four days of the journey back to the village and once he got there they had to sit in a sweat lodge outside of the village
• had they not done this the man would die and his wife would disappear
• The old woman took back her medicines and the man became human again
• would be interesting to write about what kind of medicines the man took that allowed him to enter the spiritual plane

Bibliography

Blackfoot Indian Unit

Image information: Signs of the Plains Indians found on wikipedia

Story Lab: Ted Talks on Storytelling

I took the opportunity to work on a story lab this week and more specifically, I watched the videos that discussed stories and storytelling. The two videos that were provided were incredibly interesting and offered points of view that I had not ever thought about. They discussed conceptions I had experienced and brought up excellent reasons as to why I had them.

The Danger of a Single Story

• this Ted talk was presented by Chimamanda Adichie, a novelist from Nigeria. She discussed the issue of telling, or hearing, a single story. 
• The single story phenomena refers to when we are only presented with one piece of information about an individual or group of people and we use that small bit of knowledge to generalize the group
• Adichie talked about how when she was growing up, one of the people that worked in their home was a young man. All her mother ever told her about him was that his family was very poor, and if she ever refused to finish her dinner she would say something about how much someone like the man's family would appreciate that food. Consequently, she developed the perception that this man and his family had nothing and could make nothing.
• One day her family visited the man's and they showed her a beautiful, intricately woven basket that the man's brother had created.
• This opened a new door in her mind, for she had previously only believed that if you were destitute you could not create or be creative and solely lived for survival.
• This video talked about how powerful a single story could be and  the importance of telling multiple stories
• A story can show how good or bad a people can be so it is important to tell many stories so we can develop a well-rounded perception of the subject of the story

Imaginary Friends and Real-World Consequences

• This talk brings up two questions: Why does anyone spend so much time reading fiction, and what effect does this have on us?
• Specifically, this video delves into a subset of these questions and discusses the relationships people form with these fictional characters.
• Why do we care so much about fictional characters and what effects do the relationships we form with them have on us?
• Parasocial relationships are relationships you form with someone you don't know by consuming media about that person.
• We know that fictional characters are fictional, but we alief that they're real.
• Alief - a gut-level belief-like attitude that may contradict an explicitly held belief
• We care so much about fictional characters because we alief that we truly know them, even though we believe and realistically know that they don't exist
• as a side note, this video used Harry Potter as an example frequently and that really hit home for me since it was my favorite childhood memory

The Deathly Hallows from Harry Potter.

Bibliography

The Danger of a Single Story --> video

Imaginary Friends and Real-World Consequences --> video

Image Information: Deathly Hallows found on deviantart

Reading Notes: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains (Part B)

Of the stories in Part B, I much preferred the ones about ghosts and spirits. Even though I felt like the other stories weren't as entertaining, I found it interesting that the rabbit was the trickster character for the Native Americans. Perhaps that is why some tribes, like the Choctaw,  hold rabbit hunting events and pieces of the animal in high regard.

The Man Who Shot a Ghost

• a man traveled alone through the woods and killed several rabbits in the forrest
• perhaps the amount of game he collected attracted the spirits near by
• the ghosts can physically interact with humans, as a ghost comes by and kicks the man in the back while he is hiding
• before the ghost escapes, the man fires a shot through his leg
• the man hears the ghost mention to another spirit that he had been shot in the head even though the man clearly shot him in the leg
• the next day the man walked over to where he last heard the ghosts speak and found that one of the graves was disturbed and that the bone that was visible showed there was a wound to the skull
• many ghost stories stem from someone trying to disturb the resting place of a deceased individual
• tribes take burial sites very seriously and believe that the spirits of those who have passed away still may linger there so it is best not to disturb anything lest you be haunted

The Indian Who Wrestled With a Ghost

• a man goes on the warpath and must stay in the woods overnight
• he hears the sound of a woman wailing for her son but pretends to be asleep
• a woman walks into the light of his fire and picks up his foot and drops it repeatedly to determine if he is dead
• she almost cuts it, but the man springs up from his spot and shoots her and she runs off into the night
• once the light of day arrived, he released he had camped near a burial scaffold from long ago
• even female spirits are dangerous
• once again the man sleeps on burial ground teeming with spirits
• the next night a stranger appears and requests pipe tobacco
• stranger turns out to be a skeleton and challenges the man to a duel
• perhaps this symbolizes the reaper
• if the man wins then he will conquer his foes and take a prize of horses back home
• the closer the skeleton is to the light of the fire, the weaker he becomes
• he grows stronger the darker it is

Defeating the skeleton at the fire.

Bibliography

Great Plains Unit

Image Information: found on pixabay

Reading Notes: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains (Part A)

From reading these stories it became very clear that the Native Americans were a very spiritual group of people. They were a people who were deeply connected to everything in nature, from the animals to the weather. They believed that everything had a purpose, and that any act of nature was an indication of the will of greater beings. Many tribes also believed that gods and spirits played a very active role in their lives, influencing many day to day activities and seasonal rituals.

Arapaho Ghost Dance from around 1900.

Tattooed Ghosts

• Once a man dies he becomes a spirit that must travel the earth to reach his final destination known as Many Lodges
• while living, a person must tattoo their forehead or wrists so that the spiritual judge will allow them to pass on to Many Lodges
• if no tattoos are present, they are sent back down to earth out of the sky to walk the world forever.
• smoke of the cedar is sacred and will ward away spirits
• if a ghost calls to someone living and they answer, they will die soon after

Forked Roads

• The night stars light up the earth for spirits
• spirits are in the sky walking among the stars, the milky way acts as a road
• this story contains a list of actions that will prevent a spirit from entering the land of good spirits

The Eagle's Revenge

• An Eagle is a highly revered animal in native american culture
• one day a hunter killed an eagle for feasting on a deer he had slain
• that night a stranger appeared at their pow-wow and danced
• every-time he told a story, at the end of a song, a member of the tribe would die
• the spirit of the eagle's brother took human form and enacted revenge on the tribe for the death of his brother
• think about using animal-human transformations in a story

The Ghost's Resentment

• native tribes hold their deceased in high regard
• a group of men go to steal some cloth from a death lodge so they could make clothes from it
• a young man paints himself as a ghost and goes to the lodge ahead of them to scare them away
• a potential story could be to have all the men go one night and be scared by the young man, but then they go a second night
• the second night they are met by a real ghost, and suffer some sort of fate

Bibliography

Great Plains Unit

Image Information: Ghost Dance on wikimedia.

Week 9 Story:

**Please visit my portfolio to read a more updated version of this story!**

Once upon a time there was a village nestled deep in the snow-capped mountains of Nepal. The people of this village were blessed with extreme physical fitness. As it was situated at high altitude, possessing high aerobic fitness was necessary for providing a family with the essentials for living and for attracting a partner. Every thing that was of importance in their daily rituals was gathered from the mountain side or its summit. The ladies of the village chose their suitor based on how physically fit the man was because that would determine his ability to put food on the table and make a home.

Now, in this village there lived a poor beggar. He had experienced unfortunate luck since birth as he was born with a particularly low level of physical fitness. This didn't allow him to perform many activities at this altitude, especially compared to the other young men. So as time went by, he grew bigger and more lazy, not caring to put much effort into any activity save for one thing: wooing the princess of the village. She was the most sought after and beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had green eyes that were as vibrant as the flora after a summer rain, and experiencing the smile that accompanied her warm laughter felt like being embraced by a crackling fire during a harsh winter. In addition to that she was tall, of healthy build, and was the gentlest girl in the village. The chief had made a rule that no one may become a suitor to his daughter unless he could present her with the rare flower that grows at the top of the highest peak of their mountain.

It was rumored that the old hermit living just outside the village was a wizard and had the ability to enchant stones with certain qualities. The poor beggar knew that the only way he might have a chance at picking this flower and winning the hand of the princess was to consult with the hermit. 

So, for the first time in two weeks, the beggar ineptly got to his feet and began to saunter up the road to the humble abode of the hermit. As he got closer and closer to the hut, he started to notice unusual weather changes. A heavy gust of wind would bring through a foot of snow, but minutes later the snow would be replaced by a spring rain with all sorts of plants, fruits, and trees blooming. He could feel the soft buzz of the magic aura surrounding the hut and knew that once he set foot inside his future would change forever. 

He knocked on the door, then waited for several minutes. Just as he turned to walk away, the door shuddered and with great effort appeared to slowly open inward. Curious, the beggar poked his head in and saw that the room was quite dark except for the fire illuminating the far corner of the room. He spied the man sitting in a chair near the fire, who beckoned him in without ever turning to look.

"I've been expecting you, come have a seat and we'll chat. I can provide you with the tools to change your future, but ultimately the outcome of your success lies within your hands", said the hermit.

To be continued...

Author's Note

This story was influenced by the story of the Wizard and the Beggar in the Laos unit as well as the story of the Tortoise and the Geese from the Tales of Bidpai. This version of the story in its current state has not arrived to the point at which the story of the Tortoise and the Geese has shown its influence. I plan to add an ending to this story once it becomes a part of my portfolio project. In the Wizard and the Beggar, the wizard gives the beggar a magic stone that grants him anything he wants but because the beggar knows of the other magical stones the wizard possesses he comes back to try to rob the wizard. Because of the beggar's greed, the wizard takes the stone back that he gave to him and flies off, leaving the beggar with nothing again. I plan to add a similar element to this story in the future, maybe.

Bibliography/ Image info

• The Wizard and the Beggar from the Laos Unit
• The Tortoise and the Geese from the Bidpai Unit
• Rare flower image
• Wizard hut image

Reading Notes: Folklore of Laos Part B

Many of the Laos folklore is centered around the idea that if you behave well in life and make the right decisions, you will be greatly rewarded. Often times, the character of a story will be presented with a treasure or with the option to return something of value. If they are satisfied with the initial gift or choose to return the item, they receive even greater rewards than if they tried to be greedy or had taken the item.

After looking at my work so far this semester, I've found that I need to work on finding opportunities to add more detail to my stories. I will be looking for interesting descriptions and details in this week's reading. Many of the tales in this unit were short so it was difficult to find much descriptive language but I feel like even though the examples I found were few, they provided helpful examples and ideas.

One Woman

• "..but take and sell me as a slave to the captain of the ship lying at the mouth of the river."
• the addition of the specified area of the river makes the sentence much more interesting. The author could have just said the captain's boat was on the river, but instead chose to place it at the "mouth of the river" to give the readers more visual.

A Boy of the City Streets

• "...bade the boy to go to a brook..."
• referring to a creek from which to obtain drinking water. Too often I think I forget to use more specific words when referring to a body of water and typically just say "river" or "lake" instead of a word like "pool" which may have more mystical connotations.

To Aid a Beast

• using the venom of a snake to cure eyesight
• using unconventional items to solve problems
• not a detail but interesting story development

The Words of Untold Value

• "...two fine hairs..."
• instead of just calling them hairs, describe it simply
• "...placed the two hairs in a package with his clothing, and sealed the package with wax..."
• instead of simply saying the boy packed all of his stuff, add more visual elements to the sentence like this.

Accurate representation of me, searching for the details. Wikimedia.

Bibliography

Laos Folklore Unit

Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Fleeson

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

To start off, I'd just like to mention that I found this opportunity to look back over some comments and feedback structures very beneficial. With my schedule it is difficult to find time to check out feedback in addition to my regular assignment load this semester so having it as part of the weekly work worked out great.


Overall, I feel like all the comments I receive for my project website was very helpful. I noticed a common theme among them and they were all about something I could correct. I think the suggestions I received from the professor provided more insight into my grammatical and structural errors while a lot of the student suggestions revolved around aesthetics or plot ideas. A lot of suggestions confirmed what I concluded from my own review which was the fact that I should try incorporating more detail into my story. It seems a lot of comments shared that sentiment so that it something I will definitely look into.

When I write feedback to my peers I try to commend them on an aspect of their story that I really enjoyed or that they did well with, ask a question about something that confused me like a word they used or an action a character performed, and then finally I make a suggestion about something they might add to their story or alter in some way. I hope that my comments are seen as helpful, positive, and constructive. I find it a lot easier to write comments about fairy tales I'm more familiar with but hopefully all of my feedback is of a decent level of quality.

I feel like all of the introductions I've read did a good job of giving a solid level of insight into the hobbies and passions of the writer. After reading several of them, they were written so well that I felt like I could easily hold a conversation with that person face to face and discuss similar interests or have an interesting debate. I think my introduction could use some work but overall I like the layout of my blog.

I believe my introduction could benefit from a little change. I feel as though it should have less focus on traveling and more on things I do locally and more frequently. Regarding the feedback assignments, I think it would be beneficial to me to try to allocate some time to go over the comments I receive more often so I can grow more as a writer each time I tell a story.

I feel like a lot of times the idea of not doing something correctly or the possibility of failure keeps me from attempting some things. I remind myself that it's equally as important to experience failures as it is to experience success. If I never fail, I won't learn how to build myself back up or how to correct things I'm doing wrong. Everyone fails, even the greatest athletes, artists, and intellectuals. If they aren't afraid to fail, why should I?

Image Info : cheezburger

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Looking back on some of the things I've written and some of the notes I've taken this semester, there are are a lot of things that I felt were good and bad. I could see that as the semester has progressed I've made some significant improvement in making more useful and concise notes. At first I believe I was adding a little too much fluff from the stories, such as some irrelevant plot line details, but now I am doing better at taking note more specific scenarios from stories that caught my eye or a theme I had not thought of.
As the semester has progressed I feel as though I've become more comfortable with writing a story and I felt like that was evident in the examples I have created. I also feel good about the quality of the plot lines in my stories and the goals of the characters I've created. That being said, there are a couple things I'd really like to improve on. As I read through my stories I feel that, even though the story line is decent, they tend to be a little bland. They lack the descriptive words that make the reader interested and help them create the world I describe in my head. I know that I love reading those details in other people's stories so I'm sure mine would benefit from them as well.

Found on wikimedia.

I've chosen this image  of a depiction of Sindbad for very simple reasons. First, I really like all the vibrant colors it has. I think that accurately reflects the culture and trade that Sindbad comes from. Merchants were very important people in his time, and they traveled far and wide to sell and experience other cultures. I also like how this picture has all the elements of an adventure: food, a treasure chest, and a determined-looking individual.

Looking forward, I think I would greatly benefit from reading more stories that use very descriptive language. I think that is one of my biggest weaknesses regarding my story-telling capabilities. I need to look for more opportunities to add things into my story that would trigger the creative mind of the reader and allow them to really delve into the story. I should also look at more examples of comma splicing because that tends to be a recurring theme in my writing.

Week 7 Story: Sonder and Mollyman

This is one of the many tales of the trickster spirit Sonder. Sonder is originally from the land of Dazarlor and is invisible to the eyes of men but today he wanders all over the world. It is said that Sonder is the comedic sarcasm of man incarnate and will bother anyone to give himself a laugh. He takes the wishes of any individual he follows and grants them but when they arrive in the reality of the new world they've created from their wish, it is not at all what they expected. Without very specific directions, Sonder will bend the words of the wisher to create something he finds entertaining. Without further ado, here is the tale of Mollyman and his unfortunate meeting with Sonder.

It wasn't long ago that Mollyman had lost some of his passion for his work. He was a professor of history at a small community college nearby, and had been for several years. He had taken up the position at a smaller college so he would have the ability to spend plenty of time traveling to all the places he taught about. But lately money had been tight and the trips had become numbered as the years went by. The money he made from teaching in today's world simply wasn't enough to sustain his adventurous impulses and so his enthusiasm, passion, and the twinkle in his eyes had faded for now he often thought about what it would be like if he had chosen some other profession, something that would provide him with all the things he desired.

But today was a new day. Mollyman was a mythology buff and it was the opening day of the new exhibit at the museum which was titled "A History of Japanese Myths and Fairy Tales". He hadn't been to the museum in a long time and had greatly anticipated this showing. He arrived shortly after lunch and began walking through the maze of old scrolls, paintings, and sculptures. As he walked through he would stop and read the placards of information and ponder what it would be like enjoy the riches of a fortunate farmer or experience a night in a lavish palace.

Knowing he would find mischief at this kind of event, Sonder sauntered through the exhibit taking special care to hover near individuals trying to catch some of the wishes they mutter under their breath. Finally his eyes rested upon Mollyman, he had found his target.

Mollyman had just come across the first story that really captured him. As he read the story of the Stonecutter and how the craftsman was able to experience the luxuries of a palace after toiling all his life working with rock he said, "Man, what I wouldn't give to experience life in a palace like that!". No sooner did the utterance leave his lips than he found himself inside a magnificent palace! But something was amiss. He couldn't move his legs, he couldn't turn his head, and now that he thought about it all he could do was stare up at the ceiling. Out of the corner of his eye he spied a large ornate mirror and in it he discovered the truth of his new existence. In the mirror he saw his new form. He now realized that he had gotten what he wished for, except he was to experience the palace from the point of view of a decorative area rug!

"How horrible is this?!", Mollyman thought to himself. On the bright side he was a highly sought rug made of the skin of a polar bear, so that was a plus. After hours of trying to develop an understanding of his current situation he knew he would have to figure out some way to return to his old life.

Just as he was about to give up hope, Sonder made himself visible to the poor man.

"My my, what a fine rug this is!" Sonder exclaimed with a grin as he looked into the eyes of the polar bear.

To Be Continued...

Classy polar bear rug. Found on wikimedia.

Author's Note:
This story received most of its influence from two Japanese fairy tales: The Stonecutter and Uraschimataro and the Turtle. In The Stonecutter, a man wishes to he could be different professions or people to try to satisfy his hunger to have fancier things or a more interesting life style. There is a mountain spirit that grants him his wishes and turns him into anything he desired so that he could experience life as that entity. In the original story the Stonecutter is always turned into what he had in mind and enjoys the transformation for a period of time until he gets bored of it. In this version I try to make sure the main character has his wish twisted. The idea of being in a palace in a different time period comes from the story of Urashimataro and the Turtle.

Bibliography
Urashimataro and the Turtle
The Stonecutter

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales Part B

In Part B of the Japanese Fairy Tale series a lot of the stories involve the main character cooperating with another individual to overcome an obstacle or defeat an enemy.

Uraschimataro and the Turtle

• a good family raises a good boy who grows up by the sea and becomes a very talented swimmer and sailor
• the boy saves a turtle who one day returns him the favor of saving his life when he happens upon a rough sea and nearly drowns
• I like the motif of a good character saving an animal and then receiving the animal's help in his time of need
• the turtle brings the boy to an underground palace where he meets the princess of the sea who falls in love with him
• he stays with her under the water and never grows old, but starts to long to see his parents
• he decides to visit them and the princess gives him a box but says he will never see her again should he open the box while he is away
• it may be a good story idea to have a magical character give someone a present and a challenge; to say that they may have something so long as they refrain from doing something else
• the boy goes home to find our a lot of time has passed since he has been gone and his parents have passed away
• it would be fun to add some sort of time-warp element to a story

Uraschimataro riding his Turtle. Found on flickr.

The Crab and the Monkey

• the crab and the monkey is the story of a kind and generous crab dealing with a rude and selfish monkey
• the monkey takes advantage of the crabs kindness and her weaknesses, such as not being able to reach high to get food from trees
• every time the monkey comes around he takes advantage of the crab and badly injures her
• she is nursed back to health by her friends in the community and they work together to punish the monkey and ultimately kill him
• each friend uses their unique set of abilities to contribute to the plan of taking down the monkey
• a story gains a lot of depth when several characters with unique traits add their strengths together to accomplish a task
• this story focuses on the importance of being a kind person and forming a strong bond with others in your community. Good people are attracted to other good people and will always help each other in their time of need.

Bibliography
Japanese Fairy Tales by Andrew Lang

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Part A)

As I read through Part A of the unit on Japanese Fairy Tales I realized that a lot of these stories were focused on bettering the individual. There weren't as many stories that involved a lesson about community like some other cultures may have. Perhaps the belief here is that when an individual focuses on being a good person it automatically translates into community relationships.

Stone mason hard at work. Found on flickr.

The Stonecutter

• A man who had the profession of being a stonemason becomes tired of his lifestyle after getting a glimpse of the life of someone rich
• a spirit grants his wish of becoming rich and he experiences what it's like to have a palace and servants
• the man experiences many different lifestyles and ultimately discovers that people from each walk of life experience hardships no matter how fun or exciting their life looks at a glimpse
• eventually he asks to return to a stonecutter because he realized how much he actually enjoyed his profession and the life he lived
• it might be funny to have a story where a spirit follows a character and grants them their wishes at inopportune times or takes certain phrases they say seriously when they were meant to be a joke
• that would still pass along a similar lesson: not to be greedy and to be happy with who you are and what you have

The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet

• A beautiful girl wears a helmet over her head for many years to keep would-be suitors at bay
• Her helmet was stuck to her face until she became married to a man who loved her no matter what she looked like
• This is a little bit of a disney princess style story where true love breaks some sort of spell
• it may be interesting to use the idea of a helmet or garment that a character wears being permanently stuck to their person until they perform some act to remove the curse

The Envious Neighbor

• a man becomes envious of his neighbor when he comes across a streak of good fortune
• the man tries to emulate his neighbor's actions but doesn't get the same results because he is not good at the heart of his being and his intentions were selfish
• the neighbor's dog started his streak of good fortune and the man asked to borrow the dog to try to get the same thing to happen to him but grew impatient and killed the dog instead
• it may be interesting to have the dog haunt the man instead of pointing the neighbor in the direction of more good fortune 
• perhaps a story could be written that would be a modern rendition of this tale by replacing some of the rural details with more urban ones

Bibliography

Japanese Fairy Tales by Andrew Lang

Stonecutter

The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet

Envious Neighbor