Storybook Project Number One

Hey Guys,

I just finished up my first storybook project story. If you are interested you can check it out here.

Let me know what you think!

Essay Week 6: Asia Mythology and Folklore

This week I read Tibetan Folk Tales for the Asia Unit in the Mythology and Folklore Un-Textbook. I found this reading to be very fun to read. In fact, it may be one of my favorite things I have read this semester! I can definitely see the appeal to Asian Mythology. I imagine one could spend a whole semester talking only on Asian Mythology and Folklore! In the Tibetan Folk tales Unit I most definitely had some favorite stories which you can see here. I really choose this reading because I initially saw that in this Unit was some magic and I just could not resist. Looking back on my decision I could not be happier about the decision! I especially loved that at the beginning of each story was a Tibetan Proverb. It was very interesting to here these proverbs, even though some of the did not make a lot of sense until I read the story with it. My favorite story and the one I choose to do my storytelling post over was The Man and the Monkey. I found this story to be incredibly interesting. At first I was perplexed by the story and why the man would want to kill the monkeys after they had saved him. It seemed like many of the Tibetan stories were focused on the “ingratitude” of man. This is definitely a Unit that I would recommend to anyone who is interested in animals, magic, and folklore!

Tibetan Family Attending Horse Festival

Week 6 Storytelling: The Man and the Bear

              Once there live a man and his family who lived in a small city on the west coast of North America. The man was about middle aged, probably mid forties. He was tall for an American, standing over most of his peers, his hair showed signs of turning grey from stress and he had hideous large framed bifocals that outlined his eyes. He did not speak much, but his presence spoke much about him. His face was scarred with ancient war injuries and his facial expression gave a sense of emptiness. Still he was always protective of his family and his heritage. The man was in northern Oklahoma on his way meet with a realtor who was showing him some properties in a very desirable neighborhood. The man was moving to Norman, OK from the West coast for his new job in the oil fields to better support his family. 
              While he was on his way to the third property the man stopped by a pristine lake and decided this is where he would like to live! He went over to an old picnic area to take a nap in his tent. While he was sleeping the ground beneath him shook; the earth melted beneath him and he slid into the lake. Unable to swim he called for help!

Brown Bear, Ursus arctos in Norway

              Nearby the water with his family was a large and strong bear. He had the strength of twenty men, but was shorter then the average bear. Unable to swim himself the bear said, “Hold on I will use my wits to save you." The bear thought and thought about how to save this drowning man, when it suddenly became clear. He stood behind a tall  and ancient tree and roared back on his two back feet. Using all of his might the bear slammed against the tree until it fell into the water next to the drowning man. the Bear clamored out onto the fallen tree’s gargantuan trunk and rescued the man from his sure demise. 
             Grateful the man thanked the large bear. Saved from drowning the man found himself quite tired and decided that before he continued he was going to rest for a while. The man was severely tired from his struggle to survive, but could not get to sleep because the bear's family was making too much noise as they were playing Frisbee. Angry at the bear's family and with his desire to live in this beautiful area, he devised a plan to rid the place of the bears and move his family from the west coast to this new location.
            Once the Bears fell asleep for the night the man decided to capture the bears and use them as bait and food for the winter. He also though of how wonderful the bears warm skins
would feel as they kept his family warm throughout the winter!

The Man and the Monkeys & The Ingratitude of Man: 
For this story I decided to combine two of the stories I read in the Unit Tibetan Folk Tales. This story of The  Man and the Monkeys which I really based the storytelling on is describe below. You can see other descriptions from this story here. This story starts out with a man entering into the Garden of Eden. A beautiful place he eats some food and decides to take a nap in a tree. While sleeping he turns over and falls into the lake below. A monkey nearby sees the man struggling and tries to rescue him. Unable to do so he say if only I were taller and stronger I could help you. For many days the Money lifted stones to become strong until he was strong enough to help the man. He helps the man, but it was not soon after until the man begins to think the monkeys are too loud and decides they should all die so he can live in a peaceful place. So he shakes the trees they are sleeping in and they all fall to their death. The End. 

Week 6 Reading Diary: Tibetan Folk Tales

For this weeks reading I choose to read from the Asia Unit: Tibetan Folk Tales. List below are some of my favorite sections from this reading and a brief description about the readings.

Reading Part A:

The Ingratitude of Man:
A man traveling along saved a mouse, a snake, a crow and a man. All of the animals he saved were grateful except for the man. The crow to repay the man who saved him found so fine jewelry and gave it to the savior. The other man, who had been rescued, reported the theft to the king and the savior was sent to prison. Starving to death the mouse gave the man food to repay his debt to the man and the snake found a way to set him free. The man who was saved was ungrateful, but the other animals were obviously much more grateful to their savior.

Tibetan Proverb - Whatever you have promised make it not as

 changeable as a loop in a string, but as firm as a line on a rock.

The Two Devils:
Really great, but somewhat long story. In a kingdom seven sons of the king met a woman and a yak, who were actually two devils in disguise. The seven sons asked the woman to marry them and she agreed. Each year one of the brothers would die starting with the oldest. When it came to the last son the town decided to ask a fortune-teller what to do. The fortune-teller found out the woman and the yak were the devils and said this is your problem. The town killed the woman by stone and set both of them on fire.

Reading Part B:

The Three Hunters:

The Man and The Monkey

In a village lived three brothers and a sister. All of the brothers were married to a wife. The wives of the two oldest brother became angry at the sister for an "unknown" reason. They decided to plan to kill the brothers' sister. The men went on a hunt and the Two oldest brothers wives decided now was the time to kill her. The men on their way home stopped to rest. A songbird sang the same tune over and over and one of the brothers said that sounds like our sister. He said to the bird if you are my sister hop onto my hand and it did. the men cried for they knew that their sister was dead. When they returned home the youngest wife told the men what had happened and they killed the two big wives and partnered the youngest.

The Man and the Monkeys:
This story was very interesting! It starts out with a man entering into the Garden of Eden. A beautiful place he eats some food and decides to take a nap in a tree. While sleeping he turns over and falls into the lake below. A monkey nearby sees the man struggling and tries to rescue him. Unable to do so he say if only I were taller and stronger I could help you. For many days the Money lifted stones to become strong until he was strong enough to help the man. He helps the man, but it was soon after until the man decides the monkey are too loud and decides they should all die so he can live in a peaceful place. So he shakes the trees they are sleeping in and they all fall to their death. Lovely.