Reading Notes: Robin Hood part B

I will continue reading Robin Hood for this week's reading notes.

The story where Little John went begging had me somewhat confused. It sounded like he went and begged and then robbed from other beggars which sounds totally uncharacteristic for Robin Hood and his band of merry men. I've been having some trouble understanding these stories and occasionally have to re-read some of them. But then other passages within this story I understand completely. Hopefully soon I'll be able to understand this type of writing well enough to only read the stories once and maybe even write in that fashion for upcoming stories.

As much as Robin Hood can be a scoundrel when he outsmarts other officials, I like that he helped that poor widow woman and in return she hid him from the Bishop. This idea that all of the underdogs in the series of stories all look out for one another is more in line with the Robin Hood cartoon and movies that I am used to watching.

I thought it was very funny and in common Robin Hood fashion that when he and Little John captured the Bishop, they not only took his money but bound him and his horse to a tree in the woods. To Robin, it is not just enough to steal from him but he wants to embarrass him too.

By far my favorite story out of this section was Robin Hood's Golden Prize. I thought it was sad and ironic that Robin had to make the friars promise things that they should already be following. Things such as not sleeping with men's wives or even just being generous to the poor. I do side with the fryers though when they lied to Robin about having money. For all they know, Robin could have been a thief dressed as a friar and they didn't want to give him their money. I do believe Robin was right in how he judged their character since they likely were planning to keep the money for themselves. This is one of those stories that shows the decent side of Robin compared to other stories where he just seems to be a petty thief who wants to fight and cause mischief.

Robin Hood and the Friar

Bibliography: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child (1882-1898).

Reading Notes: Robin Hood Part A

For week 11, I chose to read the ballads of Robin Hood.

The structure of the storytelling is much different than what I am used to reading because it is all in ballad form. I chose this because I like the challenge and I am hoping that by reading it, I will be able to use that form later on when it comes time for me to do my story telling assignment. The first story took me aback because I am used to the more modern portrayal of Robin Hood as a hero to the poor and destitute. In the first story, he is portrayed more as a gangster than as some nobel hero.

The Robin Hood I am more used to comes out more in the story about him and the The Ranger. I like how at first the ranger was against Robin and even stated that he was in the forest to protect it for the king, but in the end he sided with Robin and even joined his following. The quality I like best here is that Robin doesn't just try to kill him but instead battles him and admiring his strength and loyalty, Robin invites him to join the group instead of just killing him. Robin is a very inclusive character and I respect that greatly.

One of my favorite stories from this reading section is how the Shepard beat not just Robin Hood in battle, but went on to defeat Little John when Robin called in for back up. I talked about, in my past reading notes, how much I love reading about the underdog winning a fight. In this case, an underdog beat and underdog since Robin is an outlaw as is Little John. Unlike the other stories where Robin concedes the battle, the Shepard actually beat him in this one!

Lastly, I like how the battle between Robin, Little John and will against the three strange men was depicted almost as lighthearted fighting. They continued the battle and witty banter for three days and all drank together and bonded. It reminds me of little boys who fight and play games on the playground but in the end are all just friends having a fun time. I may take one of these tales and retell it with children as the characters and they are all just playing a game of make believe at recess. It would be fun and light hearted like a kids bedtime story.

Robin Hood and Little John

Bibliography: 

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child (1882-1898).

Storytelling: A Game of Cat and Mouse

Once there lived a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. All the other mice would talk about how intimidating Tom was and whenever he was in the house, all the other mice would run into their hole and stay there until he went back upstairs with his owner. Jerry, however, was never intimidated by Tom and made sure all the other mice knew that he was not scared of some big furry bully.

As it got colder, Tom began to hang out more downstairs by the fire in the living room with his owner. The mice knew this meant they would have to spend more time tucked away in their holes. Jerry refused to stay hidden for almost all of winter and came up with a plan.

"I'm doing to show that nasty old Tom that he isn't the boss of me!" Jerry exclaimed to the rest of the mice.

They all shook their littles heads in dismay, fairly sure that Tom would eat Jerry if he had the chance. Jerry began plotting how he was going to outsmart Tom and make it safe for him and the other mice to roam freely during the winter. Suddenly, he had an idea.

He went up to the attic and searched for a few hours until he found enough metal and rope. After gathering all the materials he needed he ventured back downstairs to his hole to start working on his contraption. On his way, he crossed paths with Tom. As Tom approached him, he chuckled under his breath.

"And just what do you plan to do with all that junk, little mouse?" Tom questioned

"Oh, you'll see, Tom. You think you're so wise and can intimidate all the other mice into hiding. But not me!" Jerry replied.

With one last laugh, Tom pranced off upstairs without another thought or care as to what Jerry was up to. Jerry knew he had the upper hand now that Tom did not see him as a threat. He set to work building the contraption that Tom would not see coming: a bear trap.

A few days later, Tom was curled up near the fire sleeping. Jerry decided this was the perfect time and set the bear trap right outside his hole. He made his way near the fire and within seconds, Tom could smell him.

"Oh how nice," Tom said. "My dinner has delivered itself to me"

Just like that Jerry started to scurry back to his hole with Tom close on his tail. When he got close to the trap, he swerved around it to avoid getting stuck himself. Tom was too preoccupied with catching Jerry and did not notice the bear trap until it was to late. With a loud clamp, the trap shut around Tom's paw and he yelped in pain. Jerry was safe in his house and Tom had no way to reach him. All the other mice peered their heads out of their hole to see what was the commotion and saw that Jerry had outsmarted Tom just as he had said he would. Tom learned to never mess with Jerry and the other mice again and mainly stayed upstairs in his owner's room where he was safe.

Tom and Jerry 

Author's Note:
I wanted to try a different story telling technique this week, so I chose to re-write Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind as a child's story. I've never used this style before so I decided to write is as a story from the hit cartoon Tom and Jerry. In the original story, Shin-ge-bis, also known as the diver, tells all the fishermen who are scared of Ka-bib-on-okk, the North Wind, that he is not scared of him. Shin-ge-bis tells all the fishermen that he will outsmart the North wind. None of the other patrons believed this and they all retreated just like the mice in my story doubted Jerry and stayed away in their holes. Shin-ge-bis ends up taunting Ka-bib-on-okka enough to where the North Wind enters Shin-ge-bis's home and ends up thawing and nearly melting away. I wrote in my story that Jerry taunted Tom enough that he lured him into the bear trap. In both cases, the antagonist go too sure of himself and his ego lead him right into the hands of the protagonist. I chose to re-write this story because I like the moral that the underdog or good guy can outsmart the bad guy even if nobody else believes that he can. This style of writing was interesting and a lot of fun to try out. I may try to use this style again late in another story I do.   



Bibliography:
American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921). Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind

Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tails Part B

I will be continuing with my reading of American Indian Fairy Tails.

One thing I found interesting in the story of The Boy Who Snared the Sun was that even when he did a few things on his own, he still resorted to asking his sister to do things for him instead of doing them for himself. She was the one who stitch the skins of the birds together to make him  coat after he had killed them all. If she had not done that for him, he would have dead birds but would have been cold. The sister had started out worried that when she left, her brother would not be able to defend or take care of himself. By the end, he was demanding her services and she was compliant! I did not like that she started out as a strong, independent female lead and once again fell into the role of the compliant, quiet female being ordered around by men. I'd like to retell this story with her give him hell and telling him to solve his problems on his own. That would have been a fun plot twist.

Something that is really interesting is that each animal is known for some specific trait whether it is the bear for his strength, the beaver for his laugh, or the coyote for his wit. It explains why we associate those stereotypes with each animal with a fun background story. Background stories are always something fun to play with because you can make up whatever reasoning you want to explain why things are the way they are.

I was shocked in the story "How the Summer Came" with how dedicated the father, O-jeeg, was willing to do whatever he could to make his son happy. This just exemplifies the way parents love their children and it really touched my heart. It would be fun to do a storytelling where the parent maybe goes out of their way or even puts themselves in danger to create a better life for his/her child. Something to consider for later on when I need ideas.

Storytelling from Native Americans

Bibliography:
American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921). 

Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy tails Part A

This week I chose to read American Indian Fairy Tails.

I like the cockiness of Shin-ge-bis and how confident he is that he can outsmart the North Wind. He is very clever and knowing how to fish in the winter and being bundled up but I had a feeling from the start that his confidence could be his downfall if he wasn't humble enough. This story had the moral that positive, happy energy can over come even the coldest and darkest of times (i.e., the North wind). This was a cute telling of it because it was not straight away obvious that the lesson would be about positivity winning out over darkness. It made an even great impact that the other fishermen left Shin-ge-bis because they did not believe they or even he could over come to North wind. It goes to show that even when others doubt themselves and you, there is still hope.

Iagoo is such an interesting character. He is old and wise and a story teller and would make for a fun narrator for one of my story telling assignments. One thing that had me curious though is why he seemed so spaced out before Morning Glory came over to snap him out of it so he would tell the children a bed time story. It would have been interesting to hear what his thoughts were at that moment; if they were something deep or if he was pondering what story he wanted to share with the children next.

Honestly, one of the reasons I chose this section to read for the week was because in my portfolio review group from this past weekend I read a storytelling based on The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds. The story peaked my interest enough that I decided to go through and read the original story for myself. I guess you could say that student did a top notch job of engaging the readers. I think it was funny how the Coyote won't answer the parents question of how their son and daughter got up on the rock since he doesn't know the answer. Very political, he changes the question to be more about how to get them down, which I can't argue is a very important question in their circumstance.

Native American Storytelling

Bibliography:
American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921). 

Reading Notes: Southwestern and California Legends Part B

I am continuing in my reading of the Southwestern and California Legends for this week's Native American readings.

Coyote and the Hare

The story about the measuring worm Legend of Tu-Tok-A-Nu'-La (El Capitan) was a really interesting story. It had one of my favorite qualities about these folklores in that it had a lesson to learn in the end. The small creature ended up being the one who was able to do the difficult task and save the two young boys on the top of the mountain. Those plot twists at the end of the story is one of my favorite things. I may try to integrate the concept of the unlikely hero into my next story that I write (although I feel like this some what applies to the story of the fish, the hunter and the fisherman that I continued writing this week).

I already read the two stories about the Coyote being fooled by both the Hare and the deer. The Coyote seems to be a common factor in a vast majority of Native American stories, however, these stories are different than the first few that I read. Instead of the Coyote being portrayed as clever or even the creator of the earth, in these two stories he is portrayed as foolish and overly self-confident. In the story about the Coyote trying to kill the Hare ( Coyote and the Hare ) I thought the story was going to follow more along the lines of the big bad wolf trying to blow the house down on the three little pigs; I prefer the way the stories plot line actually went. This makes me think of the way that the Coyote is portrayed in the cartoon of Roadrunner and Willy Coyote. I like the idea of reversing the roles of the hunter and its prey to the prey winning out over the hunter. It is similar to the other story about the measuring worm where the unlikely character ends up doing something incredible or saving the day. After all, everyone loves and underdog. 

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912).

Reading Notes: California and the Old Southwest Part A

This weeks readings are based on Native American Folklore and I have chosen to read California and the Old Southwest.

What really stood out to me was that all the stories were from different tribes from the same region. It was interesting to get to read all the different version of the story of how the earth was created. The tribes included similar factors such as the Coyote playing a big role in a lot of the stories. Across all the stories, all the main characters are animals. This explains why Native Americans have such a big respect for nature and animals. Some of the creation stories sound similar to stories found in other religions like Christianity. There were multiple stories about a flood, which was also a big event in the Bible.

Bear climbing the mountain

Something that was cool was that all the stories gave explanations for why things are the way they are today. Such as the frog spitting fire into the drift wood explaining why driftwood would start a fire when two logs were rubbed together. Also, the squirrels being burned by the fire explained why his tail was curled as it is and why squirrels in that region have the black (ash) marks down their backs. I usually prefer stories to have some sort of moral to them or a lesson to take away. However, these stories, in a sense, did having something to learn from the stories but instead of being value based they were explanations of the world around us. This might be something fun to try in my stories. I compare it to the musical 'Wicked' which went back and went back to explain what events led up to the movie "The Wizard of Oz."

One thing that confused me in all the stories was that whoever it was creating the world, whether it was Coyote or the Spider, they kept destroying the world over and over. It seemed to be a reoccurring theme that there was always an initial disappointment with how the earth was created and that it needed to be scrapped and done from scratch. One a few of the stories did something to save some of the humans who were already on the earth. What if the story was that the creator was initially pleased with his creation and he didn't destroy it and start over? It would likely be a boring story but maybe another plot twist could occur that would be less drastic but still interesting.

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912).

Storytelling: The recovery of the magical fish hook

I could not believe that hunter was brave enough to go after that fish hook as it spiraled away into the depths of the sea. The odds of him finding the fish hook were slim to none, but nevertheless, I admired his courage and persistence in the circumstances. I continued about my own business swimming around exploring the rest of the sea but I soon became too consumed by curiosity.  The feeling overtook me and soon enough, I swam back in the direction of the palace of Watatsumi, god of the sea, to see if hunter had recovered his lost fish hook or if he had been discovered by the guards surround the palace.

I made a few laps around the outskirts of the palace and could not find him anywhere. It occurred to me that  maybe he had not found the magical hook and decided to cut his losses and return home. As I was beginning to turn away from the palace I saw movement in a near by cassia-tree. The movement was too large to be a fish like me so I took cover in a reef nearby to get a better look at what anomaly was hidden in the tree. Once I looked harder, I saw that indeed it was the hunter hiding in the tree! He was peering over the wall and staring at something with great concentration but yet he maintained a soft smile. I could hear the princess just on the other side of the wall humming softly, then all of a sudden, she gasped.

A little fish on a BIG adventure

After a few minutes, I saw the hunter go over the wall into the palace courtyard. He began to talk excitedly with the princess but I could barely make out what they were saying. I swam up and hid in the tree where the hunter had been, just in time to see the king come out to the courtyard to greet the young hunter. They shook hands and went inside the palace leaving me and my curiosity hanging up in that tree. I decided to wait a while and see if they came back out to the palace courtyard but after a few hours, I decided it was a waste of time and was getting ready to leave, until I heard the town crier trout start yelling. He said that the king was ordering all fish to come to the palace for he had a mission that required their knowledge of the land.  I had a hunch this had something to do with the hunter so I headed through the front gates as fast as I could.

I was one of the first few fish in there so I was near the front of the pack when the king came out to address us all and disclose just what our mission was to be. He explained quickly that his new son-in-law had lost his brother's magical fish hook and that whichever fish found it first would be greatly rewarded. I began racking my brain, trying to think if I remembered specifically what direction I had seen the hook float. After the king released us, I began to think back on what I had seen over the past few days. I recalled seeing the hook float to the right of the kingdom towards the reef where the Red Woman dwelt. I visited her and saw she had the hook lodged in her gills. She said she had been sleeping outside when she felt a sharp pain and woke up to this strange object lodged in her gills.

Quickly, I took her to the king who removed it and gave it back to the young hunter. The hunter, king and princess were all so thankful and as a reward, the king declared that I and my family could live in the west wing of his castle since I had done a great service for him! I could not wait to tell my mother, father and brothers of my good fortune. As I headed back to my village, all I could think about was rubbing it in my friends' faces for them undermining my great story.


Author's Note:

This is a continuation of the last story "The Brothers, The Fish and the Lost Fishhook." In this continuation, the little fish follows the hunter as he explores the palace in search of his brother's lost fish hook. I kept the story I told as close to the original as I could. All I wanted was to tell it from a 'fly on the way perspective' so I kept with the narrator being the fish from the other retelling. I was not able to keep the timeline the same as the original though because that one required years. This story I wanted to keep a little faster of a pace so I have it happening all within a few hours. Since the fish had helped the king and the hunter I thought it was only fair that he should be rewarded for his good deeds and living in a royal palace seemed like a good reward. In the first story, all his friends thought what he had told them about seeing the brothers and the fish hook was silly and unimportant. So I can imagine he would want to rush home and tell them what had happened. Boy were they wrong!

Bibliography: Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917).

Week 8 Growth Mindset

Something I still struggle with as a growth mindset is my tendency to compare myself to others and devalue my accomplishments. I look at the best of the best and compare myself to them. Either I look at their success and wish I was as good as they are at that specific thing or I tell myself there is no way I can compete or will ever be nearly as good as someone else at something.

Instead I need to value my strength and believe people when they tell me that I am good at something instead of just discrediting their compliment. Acknowledging there are things I'm good at will give me more confidence to try new things or push myself in certain things I'm somewhat good at but have room to improve on. That is another thing; I should start allowing myself the idea that I CAN improve on something I am maybe not the best at instead of writing it off as something I cannot improve on or will never be able to do.

A few things I am good at is being organized and working ahead. I am a notorious planner because I hate feeling stressed and dislike feeling like I don't have time to slow down and do my best work. This has lead to me being addicted to my planner both my physical agenda and google calendar. I set alarms to remind me of events or due dates so that I never feel rushed or like I have forgotten something.

I have improved on my perfectionist tendency a lot in the past year. It used to be that I had to get something 100% right the first time and even the smallest flaw would give me huge anxiety or just crush my enthusiasm. I have realized that I am not perfect but I am smart and dedicated. So if at first you don't succeed, try and try again. This mindset was a hard one to adopt but it has helped me relax and even excel further in my day-to-day life as well as in my academic career. The drive to keep improving until I am the best I can be at something has soothed my nervous tendencies and has helped build my confidence as a student.

Confidence level: Over 9,000

Week 8 Reflections

After looking over my reading notes, I realized that some stories I have a harder time analyzing than others. If I get lost in the story or if I'm just genuinely uninterested I have a harder time brainstorming ways that I can use some of the writing strategies and styles in my own post. Most of the time if I am having issues following a story, I try to read slower and just get through it. This method has obviously not been beneficial to me in my reading notes. A better choice would be if I get a few sections in to the story and am still uninterested, I may be better off just cutting it short and picking a different story to read. Otherwise, I'm really not getting anything out of the story and I'm just wasting my time.

As far as my stories, I think they reflect the same as my reading notes. If the stories are hard to read or if I find them uninteresting, then my story telling suffers. By not understanding the story I read, I have less to go off of when it comes time for me to write my own story. Additionally, I need to get better at detailing out more of my thoughts as I progress through my stories. I tend to know how I want the story to go but I fail to add transitions in my thoughts. The storyline will make sense to me, but my audience will not understand why I am making the connections that I am or they will become lost as I jump through time in my stories. Slowing down and making sure I add in the necessary transitions and details will make the stories I write easier for my audience to read.

Reading other people's stories, I've noticed that I like when they use language and tone similar to the original story. There are a few modern re-tellings that I like more than the original because they are easier to read and make more sense. Overall, I like when the language sounds more ancient and formal compared to the modern way we talk in this century. I also really pay attention to the stories people write where it seems like they are following the story verbatim but then they change a detail or two which consequentially changes the plot of the story. This peaks my interest and throws me for a loop which in turn makes me want to read on. I pay more attention in these types of stories because I can't be sure what minor detail the author may change and how the overall story will change because of that.

I call this my writing fuel

Story telling: Kin the sheep herder

High in the Altai Mountains of Central Asia, there was a young boy named Kin. He was raised by his single father, a sheep herder and had lived his entire life in the mountains among the sheep. His father taught his everything he knew about sheep herding and shared with his son all the secrets of mountains; where to go, what paths were safe and ever where some secret tunnels were located. Kin appreciated his father sharing this knowledge with him as it helped him be the best herder he could be. Even though he was good at his work and highly skilled, Kin had aspirations for much more. He knew his life had a greater purpose, but he was unsure how he would ever discover it since leaving the mountains would be near to impossible.

Kin occupied his time run all around the mountain ranges with the sheep and goats. He would scale walls, climbing as high as he possibly could until his ears would pop under the pressure. The goats and him would race to see who could run along the mountain sides the fastest without falling off the edge. It did not take long for Kin to become the most knowledgable and skilled sheep herder in the region. He was grieved by this because he knew that no one would ever know of his skills and he would never get to use them for a great cause besides sheep herding.

Altai Mountain Range

One afternoon while Kin was basking in the sunlight as it lay its warmth across the side of the mountain, he heard some strange commotion. He popped his head up from where he lay and craned his neck towards the noise. Kin was accustomed to hearing the sounds of the sheep playing or even the cry of a lamb who had gotten separated from his mother. This noise was something he had not heard in a long time though. It sounded like the heavy breathing of a man and as it grew louder Kin realized someone was approaching. Around the edge of the mountain side a head became visible and then a whole man. He was adorned in warrior regalia and Kin became curious as to why the man came to be there.

After catching his breath, the warrior introduced himself and told Kin that he was on a mission from the emperor to scout the mountain out for the best passage ways and trails for their army to use. They had a mission to get past the mountain for on the other side, there was a great village of Huns who lay waiting to attack the kingdom on the other side. Kin began to tell the warrior all about his knowledge of the mountain and its secrets explaining that he had grown up on the mountain and knew it very well. The warrior heard this and realized what a great asset Kin would be the the mission of the emperor. He invited Kin to return to the kingdom with him and go visit the emperor to explain his knowledge so that the emperor would want him to accompany the army through the mountain range as well.

Kin immediate took the warrior to his father to explain this great opportunity and, with a heavy heart, the father agreed it was a chance Kin could not pass up. He congratulated his son and reminded him how proud he was of all that he had done as a herder and would do as a great warrior. Then, with a tight hug and big smile, Kin was off with the warrior. Over the edge of the mountain they went, down to the kingdom and forward to Kin's bright future.


Author's Note: I chose to re-write the story of Kintaro because I was inspired that he came from such a humble place both environmentally and spiritually and ended up being rewarded for his skills and kindness. I kept the main character as a young boy with not much money because I liked the vulnerability. Changing up the setting to the Altai Mountains was a fun change and I even looked them up to make sure they were in Asia because I wanted to keep that cultural factor the same in my retelling of the story. Just like in the original story, Kin's dad was proud of his son but sad to see him go because he knew that meant he would be alone on the mountain with just the sheep and goats to keep him company. Like any real parent will tell you, seeing your child go off on a great adventure is a moment of pride, fear and sadness. You are happy they are successful, scared they will encounter danger and heartbroken to see them go. But Kin's skills were meant for this and that is why his father let him leave with the warrior. 

Bibliography: 
Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales Part B

I will continue on with reading Japanese Fairy Tales.

The story of the Ogre of Rashoman is the classic playground example of "I double dog dare you". It is one warrior calling another warrior a liar and then is goaded into proving his point by doing whatever dangerous thing the other warrior warned him about. These types of stories usually end the same way with the warning of the first person being true and being foolishly denied by the other person. This reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas movies growing up called "A Christmas Story" where Flick gets his tongue stuck to a flag pole because he doesn't believe that it will stick. Of course in this instance he is sadly mistaken and he has to wait for the fire department to come and unstick his tongue from the flag pole. One parallel between this story and the story previous about the priest and the goblin cannibal is that both incorporated a deceitful old woman. Both were able to trick the men in the stories into believing they were old and innocent and meant them no harm. Just like in all the old Disney movies where the old woman or witch is the villain, you can't underestimate someone just based on their appearance. This could make for a fun story to write but maybe instead of the villain being an old woman whom everyone believes is fragile and innocent maybe the villain could be another type of unsuspecting person.

Ogre of Rashomon

In the story of Hase-Hime, it very much mirrors that of Snow White and a majority of other princess movie produced by Disney. The wicked stepmother is jealous of or does not like the step daughter for her beauty, success and the adoration of the people so she sets forth a plan to destroy her. What I like about this story that makes it different though is that the stepmother is struck down by karma with either her plans failing or her son dying. It is a more justified story that those other Disney ones where the step mother gets away with her evil plan right off the bat. This would be a fun concept to play with.

Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairytales Part A

For my week 7 reading I chose to read Japanese Fairy Tales

I found it strange in the first story that the mighty dragon god could be so scared about a centipede. Normally, those types of creatures would have reversed roles whether it is in the real world or a story. I liked the change up though and it made the story a little more originally. The unlikely creature being the most powerful was a good change of pace from what would normally be expected from classic story telling. I wonder if this has anything to do with how the Japanese viewed the creatures culturally; maybe the viewed insects as powerful creatures and dragons more common?

The story of Kintaro, AKA "The Golden Boy" starts off so sad. It makes me think of Jungle Book and how Mobley ends up making friends with the animals in place of humans. The choice of animals with whom he surrounds himself with makes sense. The bear, deer, monkey and hare are all animals that are used often in old wise tales. I like how throughout the story the author used Japanese words but put the english translation into parentheses. It made the dialogue between the characters more realistic sounding and helped set the scene as truly taking place in Japan. The story of Kintaro becoming a great warrior makes me think of Hercules. Some differences is in the story of Hercules, he sought out his mentor Philoctetes while Kinatro was sought out by the general of the emperor.

In the story of the Man Who Never Wanted to Die, I liked that they talked about the blow fish and how the people on the island ate it to try and poison themselves to die. In Japan, the blow fish is a delicacy but it also posts a health risk if not cooked correctly. This is interesting that such a tradition is in a story as old as this one. The overall story is a classic case of "you don't know what you've got till it's gone."

One over all thing I really liked about this section of reading was that each story was about two or three parts and then a different story started. This reading set was like a book of short stories. Majority of the stories I've read for this class have been long, ongoing stories about one individual and all the trials and tribulations they go through. This was a nice change of pace and I found it much easier to keep up with what was going on in these shorter stories compared to the longer ones.

Bibliography: 
Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).