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