Storytelling Week 14: Billy the Goat

Wikimedia

Once upon a time…

Hi, I’m Billy! I’m going to tell you about the time my siblings and I were tricked by the Big Bad Wolf. One day, my mother was leaving to go get us all some yummy delicious food to eat. She warned us that there was a big, bad, mean wolf in the area and to watch out for his rough voice and black feet. I gave her a hug and a kiss before she went and told her that we would be okay. Once she left, all of my siblings and I started rough housing and playing around. We like to jump on the furniture, run and play. We stopped when we heard a knock at the door. At once, we knew it was the wolf because of his rough voice, so we didn’t let him in. So, we went back to playing but not long after that another knock came, claiming to be our mother but it was the wolf! He stuck his paw through the window and we immediately recognized the black paw mother had warned us about. So, we refused to let him in again. This time, we played quietly, hoping the wolf would not come back to bother us. After a while, our mother came back and knocked on the door.

Only it was not our mother. We opened the door to find the wolf had disguised his rough voice and black paws so he could get in! We all scattered and went to hide. I hid in the clock case and was the only one that wasn’t eaten. I sat very still and very quiet as I watched the wolf eat all of my siblings and leave. Finally, my real mother came home. This time, I knew it was her because the wolf left the door open and I could see her. I rushed to her side and began crying. I immediately told her everything that had happened. That we had listened to her, but the wolf tricked us. My mother was so angry I thought her head would explode.

She walked outside with such determination. She knew where the wolf slept and went directly to him. She was about to confront him when she saw his belly was still jiggling. My brothers and sisters were still alive! She told me to run home and grab the scissors, so I did. When I came back, she cut the wolf’s stomach open and all of my siblings came out, alive and well. She told each of us to grab a large rock. We all did so and she put each of them inside the wolf’s belly and then sewed him up. We went back home after that, happier than ever. Now, we aren’t allowed to answer the door unless mom is home.

Author’s note:

I told the Wolf and the Seven Young Kids from the youngest goat’s point of view. I kept everything the same as the original story with the exception of the end. In the end of mine, they all go home and lived happily ever after. In the original, they all watch the wolf drown when he tries to get a drink of water and dance in joy. 

Original story: The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids

Reading Diary Week 11: King Arthur

King Arthur Unit

The Drawing of the Sword 

I wonder why Merlin said that all the men should meet. I love the story of pulling the sword from the stone. That’s why I chose to read this unit.  I wonder who enchanted the sword. I never heard to backstory of Arthur and his father Sir Ector and his brother. It doesn’t say how old he is in this story.  I didn’t know that the sword was taken by his brother and he claimed he drew it from the stone. I also didn’t know that Merlin knew Arthur as an infant.

The Questing Beast

A land full of gryphons and serpents. I wonder what the mysterious creature is. Merlin can shape shift? I can’t believe that knight took Arthur’s horse. Arthur has a sister? And she will birth the children who will make his kingdom fall? Marlin is buried alive?!

The Sword Excalibur

The lady of the lake is from the King Arthur stories? I would have asked what she wanted as a gift before agreeing to it. Did all of Arthur’s weapons have special powers and enchantments?

The Round Table

I think it is interesting that his real father made the round table that was made so famous by his stories. It was neat that Leodegrance (the future queen’s father) gave it to Arthur because his father made it. I didn’t know it could fit 150 people. That is huge! I wonder what blessings were put on the knights. Why would Arthur allow his sister’s son to be a knight in his court when he knows the prophecy?

The Passing of Merlin

Excalibur and the scabbard will be taken by a woman Arthur trusts? I hate Vivien, or whatever her name is. I thought he meant he would be buried alive, not crushed by a stone.

King Arthur and Morgan le Fay

Is Morgan Le Fay the woman who betrays and kills Arthur? She takes Arthur’s scabbard? Morgan had 40 horses with her? Were there men on them? Does she have a small army? She turned her and her men into marble. Holy cow, the messenger was killed by the mantle? I’m glad the lady of the lake was honest and saved Arthur.

The Quest of the Holy Grail

This section was really short and didn’t really give me much to write notes on.

The King's Pilgrimage

I think it is fun that the holy chapel of St. Augustine can only be found by adventure. I wonder if Arthur ever got his scabbard back. I wonder if the dream of Chaus is a warning or vision. The items from his dream were found with him? I am confused. Chaus’s death makes me sad.

The Coming of the Holy Grail

I thought this section would include a more detailed account of how King Arthur obtained the Holy Grail. I wish it would have talked about it in more detail. I am touched by the sincerity and loyalty of the knights. 

Storytelling Week 11: Jack and Jill

This boy’s name is Jack

He’s a plain looking lad

He is not very good,

Nor yet very bad.

He had a large goose

That laid eggs of pure gold

And he thought in his head, “this is very obtuse”

For his benefit, he left this story untold.

He had a friend that he liked a lot,

She was very beautiful and her name was Jill,

So he gathered the courage and gave it a shot,

They are still together much to his thrill.

They went to bed early one summer’s night,

They had to get sleep to do all their chores.

But before they went to bed, their prayers they recite

Very early the next morning, they would have to rise.

Jack and Jill were pretty great adults,

But they laid in bed until the clock struck ten.

Then Jack sat up from bed in a way so abrupt

And said, “oh lovely Jill, the day’s almost spent”.

They ran so quick Jill hit a wall and fell,

Little did she know she knocked over humpty dumpty,

Since she didn’t know, an apology she could not tell,

This made him kind of mad and very very grumpy.

Jack and Jill went up the Hill to fetch a pail of water,

On their way, they ran into Little Mary Bo Peep

Bo Peep was using the herder Jack bought her

One of her critters stood out, for he was the only black sheep.

Bo peep was talking to the little sheep,

While Jack and Jill didn’t say a peep.

Mary said “Bah bah black sheep, have you any wool?”

“Yes Mary, Yes Mary. Three bags full.

One for my master and one for my dame,

But none for the little boy who cries in the lane”.

Later Jack and Jill returned to fetch another pail,

They found Mary sleeping all on her own,

No sign of her sheep, not even a tail.

Suddenly, she awoke with a whine and a moan.

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep,
And can't tell where to find them;
Jack said “Leave them alone, and they'll come home,
And bring their tails behind them.”

Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep,
And dreamt she heard them bleating;
But when she awoke, she found it a joke,
For they were still a-fleeting.

Then up she took her little crook,
Determin'd for to find them;
She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
For they'd left all their tails behind 'em.

Jack and Jill went shortly to bed

Late on a beautiful Sunday

They both must pray then rest their head

For tomorrow is a rather busy Monday.

Months passed before they heard the story,

By this time, the weather was cold and snow began to flurry

The story has an end that is rather sad

It’s about a fall that an unlucky egg had.

IN marble walls as white as milk,
Lined with a skin as soft as silk;
Within a fountain crystal clear,
A golden apple doth appear.
No doors there are to this stronghold.
Yet things break in and steal the gold.

(This previous rhyme describes an egg)

HUMPTY DUMPTY sate on a wall;
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
Three score men and three score more
Cannot place Humpty Dumpty as he was before.

Storytelling week 6: The Envious Neighbor

The Envious Neighbor

one point in my life, I had everything. I lived with an old couple in a nice village in a small cottage. Our cottage had a very large garden, and I was happy. And then, everything changed…

I sit and watch as my master tends to his garden. I love him and his wife more than life itself. I can’t forget when they brought me in from the cold in the dead of winter and made me a warm bed by the fire in their room. Ever since that day, I do everything I can to make them happy. Last night, I saw a man bury a box of coins under our tree. So, I alert my owner. I begin to scratch and sniff at the spot where the coins are buried. I go back over to my owner and get his attention. I pace back and forth until he finally gets up to investigate.

He digs and digs until, finally, I see him pull the box from the ground. The box was too heavy for him alone, so his wife helps him carry it inside! He is so grateful that he gives me all of the food they have in the house for dinner! I fall asleep with a full stomach in my bed by the fire.

I wake up the next day to find that the neighbor is over and he seems to be wanting to take me from my home. I growl in contest. He leaves, but he continues to come back and demand my companionship for several more days until finally, my owner hands him my leash and he leads me out the door.

I smell something by a tree next to his house, so I lead him to it. He isn't happy that it is just bones, but I do not know where any more treasure is buried. Suddenly, I turn to see him swinging a pickax at my head and everything goes dark.

Now, I watch over my owner’s home as a spirit. The neighbor lies and tells my owners that I just fell over dead. For the next three days, I am tortured to watch my beloved owners mourn my loss by weeping uncontrollably without stopping, and I know I must somehow help them.

That night, I was able to appear in my owner’s dream. I was told by spirits in the area that if he made a mortar out of the wood of the tree by his garden, good things would happen. So, I tell my master this news and encourage him to follow his heart and know that I am always with him. I also tell him I am happy so that he does not fret too much over my departure.

I watched for months as the crops were prepared. Finally, the crops are ready and my master uses the mortar to grind the rice. To my astonishment, the rice turns into gold pieces before our very eyes and they were once again happy.

The neighbor, however, soon comes when he hears the news of the magical mortar. He takes it from my master, who does not object because he is a kind man. He carries the mortar back to his house and attempts to use the mortar. However, I blessed the mortar, I was told by the other spirits, and so I also cursed it to those who had done me wrong in life. So, as he tries to make gold coins with the mortar, poisonous rotten smelling berries take place instead and the smell is so terrible that he has to run from the house. He, of course, breaks the mortar in a blind rage and goes to tell my owner that this, too, 

was an accident.

This time, I appear in my master’s dream and tell him to get the ashes of the mortar broken by our crooked neighbor, and scatter them over a procession that would soon pass close by.  I watched as he did this two days later, and the Daimio rejoiced when flowers began lining the trees in the most glamorous bloom yet. As a reward, the Daimio gave many gifts to my owner and his wife. They remained happy for the rest of their lives.

As for our neighbor, he attempted to do as my master had done and spread the ashes. However, the ashes blew into the faces of the Daimio and he was ordered to become a prisoner, where he remained for months. When he returned to the village, everyone knew him for the man he truly was and he remained miserable for the rest of his life, as he well deserved. 

Author's note: You can find the original story here: The Envious Neighbor. I didn't change many of the original details. However, I did tell the story from the point of view of the dog. I love animals, and thought this would expand my writing skills a bit because it is different than anything I have ever done. 

The picture was taken by me and is a picture of my puppy Milo. 

Week 3 Storytelling: Famine

Famine Memorial in Dublin

As I sat at the top of the mountains looking for what little food I could find, I finally found some grass. I pulled the grass out with my teeth and hands, desperately trying to get what nutrients I could find. Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me and turned around to see an unfamiliar nymph. She stared at me for some time, seeming uncomfortable, so I knew I looked fierce and inhuman. I turned away to look at my reflection in the creek and saw that my eyes were sunken, my hair looked like a rat’s nest, and my bones were sticking out. Needless to say, I understand the blank stares and timidness around me. I always forget just how terrible I look, but never feeling fulfilled is tiresome when there is never anything to eat. I went back to the nymph to hear her request, as people never come up here unless they need my services. She refused to be near me, and backed away when we got close. She believed I would hurt her, which just increases the crushing loneliness that befalls me atop this mountain.

Cere has requested I take my place in the stomach of a blasphemous man named Erysichthon as punishment for cutting down her beloved tree and harming her. I only agreed because when I get to perform my services, I not only get to eat, but I also get to spend time with other people. So, I travelled to this man’s house and entered his stomach while he was sleeping. All I have to do is breath onto him and my curse is spread to his body, as well. Now, I just sit and wait. After he awakens, he tries to fill his stomach and intense hunger. If his hunger is anything like mine, nothing will fill it, and eating makes you want more. I watch him stuff his face with anything and everything he can find. As he finished eating the last thing he owned, all that remained was his daughter.

To my disbelief, he goes out to sell his daughter to get more food. Out of curiosity, I follow them, hoping he will back out of the transaction. I watched as they spoke of selling a human being, and his daughter just stares at the ground solemnly. To my distress, he went through with the transaction and walked away with money for food while a stranger walked away with his daughter. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do to help her, so I sent a prayer up for her and followed her father back to his home. Before I left, I breathed my curse into him one more time so that the hunger would never cease, and I made my way back to the mountaintop.

Author’s Note:

I chose this story because I thought it was really interesting. As with my other storytelling posts, I try to stay close to the original story. The main thing I changed was the viewpoint. This story is from the viewpoint of Famine. I finished my story before the original story ended, however. In the original story, Neptune took Mestra’s (Erysichthon’s daughter) virginity, and Mestra begs for his help when she is sold. Jupiter gives her the ability to change genders from a woman to a man, and she uses this to get out of being sold. When her father finds out, he sells her repeatedly for food and money so that she may turn into a man and get out of the sale.

Bibliography:

The Famine

Storytelling week 2: The Day the Earth Washed Away

As I sat in the sun one afternoon, I felt the Earth tremble and shake, and a loud rumbling noise. I was so confused. I looked at my husband, Deucalion, in confusion, and that same confused look was returned to me. Suddenly, we noticed the water levels rising drastically. Immediately, we got into our fishing boat and waited to see what would happen. We watched as the water levels raised to a point that not even the trees were visible. We are still uncertain how high the waters became, but we know they reached the top of Mount Parnassus, where we eventually landed.

No matter where we looked, nothing was the same as before. Dolphins swam around tree branches, seals played alongside our boat, and fish could be seen jumping from the water. The fate of the land animals was perhaps the saddest. We watched many animals float past us, desperately trying to swim, just to disappear beneath the water to their doom. Birds flew as long as they could before they succumbed to their exhaustion and plummeted into the water, giving up. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Deucalion and I landed atop Mount Parnassus, the only piece of land in sight.

As we sat, awestruck, unsure of what was to come, we began praying together.

          

“Please, Gods of the mountains, nymphs both far and wide, Themis, spare us” I said.

“Gods, who are all-knowing, see our loyalty and struggle, and guide us to do what is right and to    help in your mysterious plan!” proclaimed Deucalion.

We prayed for what seemed like hours. Finally, the Gods heard our cries and we hear a musical sound, followed by the water levels dropping. Finally, we can see the ground again. Deucalion turns to me and says,

“What would you have done if only you had been spared? I could not live my life without you, and would have followed you into the sea. Thank the Gods, we were both spared and neither of us was forced to deal with the fear and isolation by ourselves.”

I could feel his love for me in that moment. However, this feeling was quickly replaced with fear when I came to the realization that we were the only humans left on Earth. We made our way to the temple of Themis. Upon arriving, we saw the damage left from the flood. Her temple was covered in slime and debris, and her altar had no fire. We were overcome with our love of the Gods, and Deucalion and I fell to the ground, kissing it from happiness, and prayed to Themis.

Together, we begged,

“Themis, gentle, caring, and understanding Goddess, please tell us how we may repair our home and our race. Please, bring help to us, Themis, in the hardest of times!”

A voice from above gently told us to,

“Leave the temple and with veiled heads and loosened clothes, throw behind you the bones of your great mother!”

My husband looked at me in disbelief, and I looked back at him. We were in shock for quite some time, but eventually, I broke the silence.

“Deucalion, I cannot scatter my mother’s bones because I do not want to offend or disturb her spirit.”

After a while, Deucalion comforted me,

“Either this ides is wrong, or, since oracles are godly and never urge evil, our grate mother must be the earth: I think the bones she spoke about are stones in the body of earth. It is these we are told to throw behind us.”

Although completely unsure of our mission, my husband and I descend from the temple with our heads covered and loosened clothes, just as Themis told us to do. Finally, staring hopefully at one another, Deucalion and I threw stones behind us.

Unbelievably, we watched as the rocks became soft, grew in size, and reformed themselves into human beings. The rocks which I threw were transformed into women, while the rocks my husband threw transformed into men. If I had not seen it myself, I would not believe this to be possible. That day will be forever etched in my memory.

Author’s note:

I chose to tell the story of Deucalion and Pyrrha, from Pyrrha’s point of view. This story is the one that hit me the hardest when I read it, and I thought it would be interesting told from Pyrrha’s point of view. I actually followed the original story as I wrote this, but added some details of my own to relate it to Pyrrha. I did use some of the exact quotes from the story, You can find the original story at the link below.

Bibliography:

Deucalion and Pyrrha

Ovid’s Metamorphoses translated by Tony Kline (2000).

"Deucalion and Pyrrha Praying
before the Statue of the Goddess Themis"
by Jacopo Tinteretto
Wikimedia

"The Flood" by Leon Comerre
Wikipedia

"The Flood" by Paul Merwart.
Wikimedia

"The Deluge" by John Martin, 1834.
Wikipedia

"Flood" by Gustave Dore
Wikipedia

Week 1 Storytelling: The Haunted Castle

Once Upon a Time.....

Rachel decided to go on vacation one day, and decided she wanted to rent a cabin in the middle of the woods in order to get away from all of the stresses surrounding her everyday life. As she sat in front of the fire minding her own business, she heard a noise off in the distance. At first, she hesitated, but she soon looked out the window to investigate. She saw nothing, but still heard noises, so she grabbed her binoculars and looked out the window once more. She then saw the crazy axe man that she had heard about in the news coming towards her cabin!

She threw her shoes on and ran out the door as fast as she could. She ran northeast toward the closest town. She probably ran for miles before stopping to take a rest in a group of trees, where she was decently protected. She had finally caught her breath when she turned around to keep heading to town, and spotted an escaped convict about 30 feet away from her. The escaped convict hadn’t seen her until she stood up and leaves crunched underneath her feet. As soon as he saw her, he froze and stared at her for what felt like a lifetime. Suddenly, he ran towards her, like he was going to attack, but instead her ran immediately past her and continued running towards the axe man.

 Shaken, Rachel returned to her journey and began heading for the closest town. She kept walking until it was almost nightfall. Panicking, she began running to find shelter. She came upon an empty field where there was nothing except a very plain building in the center. She entered the building and sat on a bench inside. She finally had a moment to sit down and relax. She sat, breathing and listening to the silence. She sat like that for quite some time before finally leaning her head back onto the wall. However, when her head fell against the wall, she felt something next to her head. When she moved away, something fell on top of her. It was a skeleton! She realized she was in an unmarked graveyard. As soon as she realized what had happened, she fled faster than she ever had before and kept running toward town.

 It was about 20 minutes from nightfall when she finally reached a house. This house was old looking and very ornate. It had ivy framing the outside edges and gorgeous bay windows. There was a faint light coming from inside. Rachel knocked on the door, but no one answered. She peered in the windows, but the house appeared to be abandoned. She went back to the front door in hopes that it would be unlocked and pushed the door open. The inside of the house was even more beautiful, but in an eerie way. She looked around for someone in the house and even yelled asking if anyone was there. She received no answer, but felt as if she was being watched. She decided to find a bedroom to sleep in for the night, feeling assured that the axe man had not followed her this far. As she was laying down waiting to fall asleep, she heard footsteps outside of her door, but when she went to look, there was no one there. She laid back down and had almost closed her eyes when a shadow flashed past her door. Again, she saw no one outside in the hallway.

As she lay back down, she saw the glow of eyes in the corner and heard breathing…..

To be continued….

Author’s Note:

For the purposes of this story, I used the following motifs: Haunted castle, graveyard, axe man, and escaped convict. I thought this story would be fun because it is completely made up by me, rather than recreated from another story. I chose these items because they are in line with the character going northeast toward town and I felt they fit into my story really well. I chose the name Rachel because I have a long-time friend named Rachel who loves to tell stories.

Bibliography:

Map  Tom Gauld

Axe Man  Clipart

Convicts  Wikimedia

Mausoleum  Wikimedia

Haunted house  Deviant Art

Scary eyes  Flickr