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

Week 6 Story: The King, the Falcon, and the Cup - Revisited

*** An updated version of this story is available on my Portfolio Page***

In  a kingdom in the snowy mountains there lives a strong, good-hearted group of people named the Gyrfallen who have always had very wise and young Kings. The Gyrfallen have occupied this mountain valley as long as anyone can remember. Unlike most kingdoms this one does not choose the successor of the King based on lineage or wealth but instead the new King is chosen by the god Gyr, unbeknownst to the people. Gyr is believed to take the shape of  white falcon which encompasses all the qualities of those he favors: speed, cunning, wisdom, and beauty . The next King is determined by whom the white falcon seeks out and hunts for. This is a tale of  truth behind the god Gyr and how their Kings acquire such vast amounts of wisdom at such young ages. We enter the story at the moment King John finishes drinking the poisoned spring water, after he kills his white falcon...

"Finally...something to drink", I thought to myself. That damn bird had lost its mind, constantly knocking the cup from my hands! Couldn't he see I was dying of thirst, and that the cup took an awful long time to fill? Well... I suppose if I ever make it back it will be time to find a new bird to take as a hunting companion. Now where am I, I wonder?


"Sire, is that you?!", yelled the captain, who was relieved to find his King after searching for two days.
"Sir, you don't look well! Please, don't tell me you drank from the spring. Villagers nearby told us that it was poisoned by the blood of hydra that was slain upstream from here!"

Immediately upon hearing this the King doubled over, vomiting and crying all at once. He realized now that the white falcon had simply been trying to protect him from the fate he was now destined to pursue. 

"What a fool I am! How could I have thrown away my hunting companion so quickly? Had he not served me well for years, and hunted well and taught me the ways of the forest and kingdom? Though I am a King, in the end I now realize that I've become the lowest and most homely kind of man, the kind that doesn't trust the wisdom of his friend."

With that the disease overcame the body of the King, and his eyes rolled back. He awoke shortly in what he believed to be the next life, curious to see what lay ahead. It is here that he meets the spirit of the white falcon that he had thrown away in his rage.

"Wake up King John, it is time for you to fulfill your duty just as I have done and the King before me and the King before him. It is time for you to learn about the duty of the King in death and the history of our people and the world." said the white falcon.


"Gyr, is that you? I'm sorry old friend, for a brief moment I forsake all the wisdom and trust you had shared with me and, in a fit of rage, dashed you upon the rocks so I could drink the water. I know now that you only tried to protect me."

"Now, young King, is not the time for apologies..Nor am I Gyr. I am was once a King like you, in fact, I was known as King Eric and was the ruler prior to your reign. The god Gyr has blessed our people with the ability to be lead vicariously by previous Kings so that our knowledge may forever grow and that we may never make the same mistakes twice. So, when you die you must take the form of a white falcon and do as I did: search out the next King for our people, and teach him to be wise."

And so begins the quest of King John to find a suitable lad to become the next King and carry on the tradition of leading the Gyrfallen. As he took flight, he knew exactly where he would find the next ruler. He set course for the Lost Woods to find a young man who was named Link.

A Gyrfalcon. Found on pixabay.

Author's Note
This story gains inspiration from all of the Tales of Bidpai that I had read but is especially influenced by the story of The King, the Falcon, and the Drinking-Cup. In the original story the king does not drink any of the water from the spring because his guard warns him in time. He realizes that his friend, the falcon, had only been trying to save him the entire time and became very distraught. And that is where the original story ends. Here I have added on to it a little bit and attempted to add more of a spiritual element to the original story.


Bibliography
Fables of Bidpai unit on canvas
The King, the Falcon, and the Drinking-Cup
The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Dutton

Reading Notes: Tales of Bidpai Part B

All of the stories in part B focus on the relationship between humans and animals or the relationship between other animals. A lot of the time the story takes into account the relationships of natural enemies, such as a fox and a hen, and tests their friendship or patience as they go through hard times. With each story comes an important life lesson for the reader.

The Tortoise and the Geese

• a tortoise and two geese share a pond for many years
• a drought came through and dried up the pond so the geese decide to leave
• the tortoise begs the geese to take him with them and they oblige but there is a catch: the tortoise must keep his mouth clamped over a stick so they can carry him
• people saw the geese moving the tortoise through the air and began to laugh at him
• the tortoise could not stand being laughed at and opened his mouth to retort but ended up falling to his death
• the lesson here is that it is better to keep your mouth shut when facing jeers lest you open it and make yourself look or sound like a fool. It also tells us that opening our mouth to respond to hecklers may do more harm than good.
• the main character, due to a character flaw, orchestrates his own demise

The Lean Cat and the Fat Cat

• a hungry, lean cat finds a fat cat and inquires as to how he appears so well-fed
• the fat cat claims he steals his food from the table of the king
• the lean cat is used to eating broth made by his owner for dinner and wishes to have something more filling
• the cat survives well enough on the broth but his greed pushes him to search for the food of the king
• the fat cat offers to lead the lean cat to the king's dinner table where he might steal some food
• there were so many cats stealing food that the king made a decree saying any cat caught stealing food would be hung immediately
• the fat cat leads the lean cat to the king's table where the lean cat is caught and hung
• the lean cat let his greed overcome his good judgement
• it is better to have a consistent and humble meal than to take from others or steal for something more lavish
• this story also shows that eventually, people that do wrong will get caught and face dire consequences

The Partridge and the Crow

• the crow sees how the partridge walks and finds it very attractive
• the crow tries to imitate the walk and practices it so much that it forgets how it walked originally
• this story reminds the reader that while it's fine to appreciate the qualities someone else may possess, remember that sometimes they are unique to that individual and should remain so
• it is much more important to maintain who you are and to become what you should become

A Red-Legged Partrodge. Found on wikipedia.

Bibliography

The Bidpai Unit

The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Dutton

Reading Notes: Tales of Bidpai Part A

This week I read a collection of stories from the Tales of Bidpai. All of these stories would be considered short stories and typically contained some sort of message or lesson in each one. Often some kind of animal taught a lesson, or each character of the story was an animal representing some character trait.

The Rustic and the Nightingale

• This story takes place in a garden where the conflict occurs between a Rustic and a Nightingale
• The Rustic enjoys the beauty of the rose bush in the garden and takes special care to make sure it stays alive and healthy everyday
• The Nightingale bird plays in the rose tree and ruins a lot of the roses which angers the Rustic
• it is never mentioned why the Nightingale enjoys plucking at the rose petals so that may be a story to elaborate on. Perhaps she must eat some to reverse a spell or to maintain equilibrium of the garden
• The Rustic catches the Nightingale and plans to punish it, but has a change of heart and lets her go
• The Rustic is rewarded with a pot of gold, by the Nightingale, for him to put towards his treasured garden
• Be kind to those that bother you and your reward will be great

The King, the Falcon, and the Drinking-Cup

• There is a great King who is very fond of his Falcon
• He takes the falcon with him everywhere, especially to hunt
• The king gets separated from his hunting party and must search the forest for water for he has been lost for some time
• He tries to fill his cup from the stream but the Falcon keeps knocking the cup out of his hands and dumping the water each time he tries to fill it. The King becomes angry with the Falcon and kills it. 
• The King later finds out that the Falcon was saving him from drinking poison water every time he knocked away the cup
• the King becomes distraught and realizes his mistake
• This story was meant to make us realize that we should take steps to fully understand someone's actions before imparting punishment because we could be making a big mistake by making decisions while knowing only half of the story
• This is one of the few stories where the animal does not have a voice. Perhaps in a different version the animal could have a voice, or choose to let the Kind die so they can speak in the spirit world for it was commonly believed that animals were linked to a spiritual realm.
• The Falcon could impart wisdom on the King and then the King could become the new Falcon for the next King to try to share wisdom and guard the royalty.

The King's Falcon. Found on publicdomainpictures.

Bibliography

Fables of Bidpai Unit

The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Dutton

Reading Notes: Sindbad, Part A

Cyclops from the voyages of Sindbad. Found on wikipedia.

Hey everyone! This week I read the first part of the The Voyages of Sindbad. These were a collection of tales of the adventures of the sailor and merchant Sindbad. I had heard of this tale when I was younger but never had the chance to read it and experience it like a lot of other fairy tales/myths. For this post I will look at a few of the most interesting points in the plot and attempt to identify any common themes.

Common Themes
- in each of the four stories that I read, every king that Sindbad encounters automatically accepts him into his good graces and gives him anything he needs
- Sindbad always makes a fortune off of his misadventures before he returns to Baghdad
-Sinbad always gives a good portion of his money to the poor when he returns home
-Sindbad always recovers the goods he lost from the ship after the ship has left him or crashed
-Each story starts out relatively realistic then gets progressively more absurd
-Every time Sindbad returns from an adventure with excess wealth and goods, it is not long before he grows bored of it and goes back out for more

Plot
First Voyage
-Sindbad lands on what they thought was a large island when it is actually a huge whale. This may be a good plot twist to include in a future story. Have a character arrive somewhere they think is familiar then reveal some big illusion that was hiding the true nature of the area.

Second Voyage
-During the second voyage Sindbad paints a beautiful picture of his surroundings. He talks about how he finds himself in a field of diamonds. This stuck out as a reminder to me to try not to be lazy with my description of a setting in my stories because they can have a big impact on the reader's visualization and interest with the story.

Third Voyage
-This tale introduces a confrontation between the main character, Sindbad, and a cyclops who slowly eats all the members of his crew before they escape. Providing a nemesis for your main character can open up many different pathways your story can walk down. It may be a good idea to include a more active nemesis in future stories.


Bibliography
Myth-Folklore Unit: The Voyages of Sindbad
The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang