Week 6 Review

(Ray Bradbury quote, link to source)

I had an extremely busy week this week, so while I was able to complete all the assignments, I didn't have a chance to read all the announcements. While reading back through them there were a lot of tips that could have helped me with the assignments. There also was a picture with a quote on it that was posted on Thursday's assignments. It was a quote from Ray Bradbury about people not reading. I love reading so I am able to do it in my free time however, I know a lot of people who never read because they would much rather watch TV or hang out with their friends. But this quote really resonated with me.

Link to Thursdays announcements

Reading Notes, Aesop for Children (Winter), Part A

(The Tortoise and the Ducks, Milo Winter)

As some extra reading this week I chose to go back to the Classical Unit we completed the first 2 weeks of school and reading something I never had the chance to: Aesop for Children. The stories in this collection were very short but still very cute to read. One of my favorites was the Tortoise and the Ducks. In this story there was a tortoise that was a home-body because he was unable to leave his home. Because of this, he was unable to attend a wedding for the goddess Jupiter. Years later he regretted not going, and wanted to see the world, so when he ran into some ducks he told them his troubles and they offered to help him see the world. They said that they would hold a stick between them while they flew and the tortoise could hold onto the stick with his teeth. Everyone was in awe, when they saw the tortoise flying, and one, a crow said that he must be the "King of Tortoises." The tortoise opened his mouth to respond and fell to the ground. The second story that I enjoyed was called the Travelers and the Sea. There were two travelers walking along the beach and they saw something in the water they thought was a treasure ship. As it got closer they thought it was a fisherman's boat carrying loads of fish. Finally it washed up on shore and the travelers thought it was a treasure chest filled with gold. They rushed to the object to find nothing but a log. The quote at the end is what I really liked. It said "Do not let your hopes carry you away from reality."

Story: Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops

(The Elephant, Flickr

There once was a family; a father, mother and twelve daughters. Now this family was extremely poor as there were so many mouths to feed. One day, the mother and father could no longer afford to feed their daughters and knew it was time for them to go. Their father placed a bunch of ashes in a basket, and covered them with a thin layer of rice, all he had left, then sent went with them into the woods to hunt for food. At the hottest point in the day, the father gave them all a strip of bamboo and told them to go fetch water for him, only he had poked a hole in the bottom of the bamboo so all the water leaked out. While they were occupied trying to get water, he returned home. Finally, the girls gave up and returned back to their camp to find nothing, but a basket of ash.

All began to cry, as they thought hope was lost. But a woman heard them and offered them a home if they would only clean her house and cook her meals. They accepted and returned back to the womans' home. There they lived happily for many years until one day, while picking berries for dinner, they were attacked by a tiger. They fled, running as fast and as far from the animal as possible. They finally slowed as they were extremely tired and were approached by an elephant. Wanting to rest for a while they asked to elephant to hide in his mouth. He agreed, and after all twelve girls climbed in, a long grey piece of clothing was left hanging outside his mouth. He traveled far until he landed back in the place the girls grew up in. Their mother heard the elephant wander up and came outside to see what the ruckus was about. She saw the clothing hanging out of his mouth and recognized it as one of her daughters. Thinking the elephant injured her daughters, she cursed him and his kind, so from then on, the lip of all elephants were destined to droop down like the garment hanging out of his mouth.

Bibliography: Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson link to reading

Authors Note: The beginning of this story is the same as the original. However, in the original the woman that found them offered them a home if they would take care of her daughter, while she was in the woods. They agreed and went to live with the woman. The first time the woman left, she said she was going to be gone just a short while and to not go into the garden. The woman ended up being gone the entire day but still the girls did not go into the garden. The next time she left she said the same thing, but the girls, thinking she was going to be gone the entire day went into the garden and saw human bones strewn about the yard. The woman that rescued them was a cannibal. The girls ran and first hid inside a cows mouth to rest. Then continued to run and hid inside the elephants mouth but the end of one of the girls dresses hung out. Meanwhile the woman came home and realizing the girls left, went to find them. She asked the cow where they went and he told her. She then happened upon the elephant and realizing the girls were inside his mouth, due to the dress hanging out, asked where they were. The elephant lied, and because he lied, she cursed him to a life of his lip drooping .

Reading Notes, Laos, Part B

This part contained many stories that I enjoyed however my favorite was "A Boy of the City Streets." This story began when three men approached a boy on the outskirts of a town. The boy asked where the men were going and as they were wise men, they grew angry when he spoke. So they caught him and planned to sell him. They traveled to another town, and on the way tried to get rid of him. Eventually they wanted him to go into the city for fire, and he said he will if he could tie them to a post. They agreed and the boy went into the town, and eventually sold the three wise men. I dont think that there is very much I could change in this story because its so simple and short but I could at least change the setting, or the wording to make it more present day. 

(Town in Laos, Pixabay)

Bibliography: Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson link to reading

Reading Notes, Laos, Part A

(Elephants Trunk, Flickr)

This week I chose to read Asian Folktales, called Laos. The first part of this collection of stories was interesting. I read about a lot of things including mystical spirits, giants and cannibals which I was definitely not expecting. The story in this part that I found most interesting was called Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops. There are 12 girls, whose parents abandon them in the woods (this part reminded me of Hansel and Gretel). A women finds them and says she will give them a home, if they will only play with her daughter. For a while they all lived in harmony until the women begins to go into the woods for a short time. She tells the girls not to go into the garden and they obey the first time. The second time they walk into the garden and see human bones. They ran away and climbed into an elephants mouth to hide from the women. When the girls climbed into its mouth however, part of one's dress hung out, and the women saw and cursed the elephant to have a trunk for the rest of its life. A trunk that looked like a garment. I just really like elephants, so to hear this folktale from a different country about why they have trunks was interesting. If I choose this story to rewrite however, I will not be making the woman a cannibal.

Bibliography: Laos Folklore by Katherine Neville Fleeson Link to the reading