Week 14: Jataka Tales: Babbitt (Reading Diary A)

This week I read Babbitt's Jataka Tales unit from the Un-Textbook. The stories I'm going to talk about from the first half of the reading are The Foolish Timid Rabbit, The Princes and the Water-Sprite, and The King's White Elephant. (Story source: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt, illustrated by Ellsworth Young (1912).)

The story of the Foolish Timid Rabbit reminded me a lot of Chicken Little. I think that this is a great lesson for a story though because so many people do react immediately to things and are mistaken about what is actually happening. Nevertheless they go and spread the word and soon everyone believes the misinformation. I also think stories like this that have the chains of animals talking that just keeps getting longer and bigger are fun to read.

I also liked the story of the Princes and the Water-Sprite. This story was like a cross between Rama and Lakshmana's exile from Ramayana and the story of the Pandavas at the pond in Mahabharata. I liked that the youngest brother went with his two older brothers after his mom had the older two exiled. It reminded me a lot of Rama when Bharata, I think it was, who tried to stop his mother from exiling Rama and didn't want to be king. I liked the fairy question that the sprite asked and I was glad when he gave the Prince both of his brothers back.

The last story I'm going to talk about is the King's White Elephant. The entire story I was expecting the humans to start mistreating the animals. So many I have read are about how bad humans are to other animals so I guess I was just thinking that would happen again. I was very glad that it didn't happen. I was glad that the carpenters helped the first hurt elephant and continued to treat the animal well when it helped them get trees for their work. I was also worried that the king would hurt the young white elephant but I was so happy when he took the elephant back to his palace to live a long good life. 

Portfolio Guide

Threatening the Sea

The story of the sea god's encounter with the legendary hero Rama.

A Ghost Took Over My Life

The story about a man pleading for justice after his identity is stolen by a ghost.

Maricha's Choice

Ravana disrupts Maricha's peaceful life with a terrible ultimatum. 

Two Travelers and a Dare

Two friends traveling come across an inscription telling them to attempt a seemingly impossible task.

Racing Monsters

A mother tells a bedtime story about creatures who used to capture humans.

Week 13: Santal Readings Review (Essay)

I read the Santal Folktales reading unit of the Un-textbook this week, and I thought it had a lot of great stories. My favorite units are ones that have people and animal stories mixed together and this one was perfect in that regards. Almost all of the stories had animals and humans interacting, or at least both playing a large role in the story.

I love how in so many of the Indian epics, fairy tales, and folktales, the animals are nearly human, with the ability to talk, reason, and decide their own fate. They also often have similar flaws as humans as well, such as distraction or fear. One story that this was seen in from this unit was the story of the Brave Jackal. In this story a goat goes and hides in a leopards cave to keep from getting killed by humans. The goat makes such a horrible noise, that the leopard thinks a fearsome beast is in it's home and runs away terrified.

Some stories where humans and animals are nearly equal are a bit more disturbing, like the story of the Tiger's Bride. In this story, a mother gives a tiger her daughter in marriage after the tiger helps her finish some work. I did like this story though, because the girl is very clever and tricks the tiger to escape, but also won't return to her mother after the betrayal. The girl just runs away to the treetops where she has a decent life singing about her ordeal.

There was nothing in this unit that wasn't clear in the reading. That can sometimes be an issue with Indian stories because the language is so different, but this one was very clear and the stories were extremely easy and enjoyable to read. I would definitely recommend this reading unit.

Bengal Tiger. Wikimedia

Week 13: Racing Monsters (Storytelling)

The mother sat down at the edge of her oldest son’s bed. After an hour of trying to wrangle the two boys, Rico and Ari were finally tucked into bed.

“It’s time for a story, mommy,” Rico said. Ari, who had only just started talking, nodded enthusiastically while arranging his stuffed animals around him.

“Okay,” the boys’ mother said. “What story would you like tonight?”

“The one with the scary one-legged men,” Rico said excitedly and his mother laughed.

“You only want to scare your brother, don’t you?”

“No! Well… not only… it’s my favorite!” Rico shouted. He had nuzzled under his covers, watching and waiting for his mother to start the story.

“Alright.” The mother looked between her two boys; both were watching her expectantly.

“Once, a long, long time ago,” the mother began, “there were creatures called ghormuhas. Now the ghormuhas were fierce and terrifying creatures. They had a human body, except only one leg, and the head of a horse. And what’s worse, they liked to eat people…”

Ari gasped and pulled his stuffed animals closer. Rico smiled and waited for his mother to continue.

“But don’t worry,” the mother reassured her younger son. “The ghormuhas all disappeared a very long time ago. Anyway, one day a young hunter was chasing a deer through the woods. Little did he know, the ghormuhas were following him.”

“To eat him?” Ari asked in a quiet, shrill voice.

“Well, they wanted to,” his mother answered, “but this hunter was clever. So when the ghormuhas caught him, the hunter watched how the monsters treated other humans and planned his escape.”

“You see,” continued the mother, “the monsters liked the humans they ate to be strong. So every day they would run with their human captives. The ghormuhas were fast runners. And they wouldn’t eat the humans until the humans could beat them in a race. Then they knew the humans were big and strong enough.”

“I could beat those monsters,” Rico said. “I’d be so fast. The hunter was fast too, huh?”

The mother nodded. “The hunter was very fast. But he was also smart. When he saw that the ghormuhas only ate the people who won the race, he made sure that he always ran slow enough for the ghormuhas to beat him. He did this for a few days. He would almost beat the monsters, then fall back and let them win.”

“So he didn’t get eaten?” Ari asked. He was hiding behind his stuffed animals, only his face sticking out.

“No.” The mother smiled. “Then, after doing this for a couple days, he knew that he was fast enough to get away from the ghormuhas, so he planned his escape. You see, usually the monsters would race with the humans in an open field, but the hunter had a different plan.”

“This is the best part,” Rico whispered, looking at his little brother.

“The hunter asked if they could race on the mountains the next day. He said that the ghormuhas could have a much prettier view while they ran because there were flowers all around. The monsters thought that was a good idea, so they agreed.”

“And he didn’t get eaten?” Ari whispered again.

“No, he escaped!” Rico shouted impatiently and then nodded to his mother to continue.

The mother said, “The hunter took off as fast as he could through the mountain forest. The monsters tried to catch up, but they tripped over roots and rocks. The hunter didn’t stop running until he reached his village.”

“And then he told everyone about the monsters,” Rico said.

“He did,” the mother said. “And after that, everyone knew how to beat the ghormuhas and not get eaten. Soon after, the monsters disappeared. And now, we can all safely travel through the forests and the fields without having to worry about being eaten by the ghormuhas.”

“The end,” Rico said, nodding in approval.

“The end,” the mother echoed. “Now both of you boys get some sleep.” She kissed both of her children on the forehead. Rico smiled and buried his face in the blankets. Ari looked a little worried but his eyelids were already drooping.

“And he didn’t get eaten,” Ari whispered one more time.

“No, he didn’t get eaten,” the mother confirmed before shutting off the light and leaving her sons to their slumber.

Gorumara National Park in India. Wikimedia

Author's Note: the original story was called The Ghormuhas from the Santal Folktales unit of the Un-Textbook. The original story was about a group of monsters who ate humans and looked the same as described in my story, and a hunter who outsmarted them to escape.

These monsters did many horrible things, including smoking, fattening, and eating humans, but they would also arrange their parents' deaths and eat them once they died as well. This hunter understands what the monsters are doing by feeding them a lot and constantly making them run, so he always stays slow enough to not get eaten. Finally, when he hears they are about to eat him anyway, he runs so fast that the monsters can't keep up and he goes back through the forest to his village where he tells everyone about the ghormuhas. 

I decided to tell this story as a bedtime story to a couple of boys. I changed a couple of things in the story. I didn't include any of the more gory details about the ghormuhas preparing or how they eat the humans and their parents. I included more about the races, because the story didn't go into much detail, but I thought it was weird that while the monsters could catch other people that beat them, they couldn't catch the hunter, so I had him change the setting of the race. I also changed the ending so that the monsters disappear because the hunter warns everyone about the ghormuhas and the monsters can no longer survive.

Story source:Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909).

Week 13: Santal Folktales (Reading Diary B)

Once again, I read the Santal Folktales unit from the Un-Textbook for this week.

The stories that I will talk about in the second half of this reading diary are The Jackal and the Hare and the Fox and His Wife.

The Jackal and the Hare story was fun to read because of all the tricks the Jackal and Hare play on both the humans and each other. It was really creative at the beginning when the Jackal and Hare worked together to steal the food from the humans by using the Hare as a distraction while the Jackal swiped their meal. However, the Jackal was too mischievous and self-centered for his own good. He spoiled the meal of both the old woman and the Hare even though they were both helping him and friendly. In this unit, as well as some stories from others in the Indian Un-Textbook readings, the Jackal fills the spot of the fox in many European folk and fairy tales.

Engraving of Indian Jackal by J. G. Keulemans. Wikimedia

I thought the Fox and his Wife story was good because of how the fox's wife tricked the tiger who was so set on eating them and their children. Especially because she is so modest about her cleverness at the beginning when the husband was so boastful, it was great to see that flipped when they were actually faced with a life or death situation.

Week 13: Santal Folktales (Reading Diary A)

For this week, I read the Santal Folktales unit of the Un-Textbook.

The stories I'm going to talk about from the first half of this reading unit are the story of the Ghormuhas and the Tiger's Bride.

The story of the Ghormuhas was very different from other stories I've read and I thought it was really interesting. The description of how the ghormuhas lived was just disgusting. The part that shocked me the most was when it talked about how when the ghormuhas parents became old, they would be put on the roof to die. When the parents fell of the roof, the ghormuhas would invite all their friends over and feast on the bodies.

 It was also gross how they described the creatures eating humans. They were very specific about how the ghormuhas prepared and ate the humans. One thing I didn't understand was how the ghormuhas were so fast. I would have thought that since they have only one leg and the huge head like a horse, that they would be much slower than the humans. 

The Tiger's bride was probably my favorite of this half of the unit, although I'm not completely sure why. Once again, it's a story that I don't think I've heard anything like before. When the mother promises her daughter in marriage to anyone who helped her, I expected her to try to back out when the tiger approached but then relent.

Instead she happily gave her daughter to the animal. I also thought that the tiger was going to eat the girl. I was surprised when he instead wanted her to make food and cakes for him and his friend. I liked that the girl tricked the tiger, ultimately leading to the tiger being ostracized by his friends. And finally, I thought the outcome of the story for the girl was interesting. I thought she would go back to her mother but instead she just forever lived in the trees singing the songs about her mother's betrayal. I thought this was a really intriguing and unique story.

Panthera Tigris. Wikimedia.

Week 12: Khasi Folktales B (Extra Reading Diary)

For the extra reading diary assignment this week, I read the second half of the Khasi Folktales unit. 

The two stories that I liked the most from this half of the reading unit are the one's I'll talk about here. The first is the story of What Caused the Shadows in the Moon and the second is the story of How Cats Came to Live with Man.

One of the main reasons I liked the moon story is because earlier this week in the Indian Fairy Tales Unit, I read a different version of why the moon has a softer, more shadowy light and the two stories couldn't have been more different. 

In this story, the moon used to be as bright and brilliant as the sun, but because he didn't listen to his mother and disrespected his sister, the sun, he was burned, leaving him dimmer and scarred than he was before.  This is a much more depressing story than the one in the Indian Fairy Tales unit, where the moon was the only child to help her mother, so she was blessed with soft, beautiful light, where the sun was cursed to be harsh blinding. I personally like the Indian Fairy Tale version more, but I did like how this version also explained the shadows and markings that we can see on the moon.

Full Moon by Gregory H. Revera. Wikimedia.

I also thought that the story about how the cat came to live with humans was really cute and different from many of the other similar folktales. First I thought it was cool that they talked about how the cats were related to the tigers, and how the cats began hunting small animals because the tiger wouldn't share his food. I thought the story was really cute how the cat had been so abused by her family, especially the tiger, but when she went to the humans, she was welcomed and loved and played with. After that, she didn't take any more abuse from her brother and she began living with the humans permanently.

By Payman Sazesh. Wikimedia