Week 11: Bidpai Fables (Reading Diary A)

For this week I chose to read the Fables of  Bidpai reading unit from the un-textbook. From the first half of the readings, my favorite story was the Two Travelers. There were many great stories from this unit, but this one was the one that I liked the most.

The Tale of Two Traveler's story I really liked because I had never read anything like it before. I know for sure, that if I was in a situation like these two friends came across have responded exactly like Salem. Ganem was so excited for a chance to do something that was brave and exciting, but Salem thought much more practically about the situation. I was convinced that Ganem was going to die in his trials and his feast would have been in some type of an afterlife.

The tasks of swimming across a strong stream then carrying a stone lion quickly up a hill would not be something that I would ever attempt because it seems reckless and stupid. There's the old saying that there's a thin line between stupidity and bravery, and I think that was shown in this story. In the end Salem misses out because of his realistic view and Ganem becomes a wealthy king because of his bravery in completing the tasks.

I personally would love a version of this where he moral is changed from "be stupidly brave and you could become a king" to "be practical and don't die in a river or crushed by a stone lion". That may be my storytelling assignment this week.

stone lion statue. Pixabay.