Reading Diary Week 13, Continued: La Fontaine

I really enjoyed the first half of this unit, so my hopes are high for the second half. I will do this in the same format, picking a favorite from each page to write about. These stories are all from The Fables of La Fontaine.

The Mouse Metamorphosed into a Maid: I first thought when I read the title of this story that it would be similar to the cat story of similar name, but it was not! I was caught off guard, but pleasantly so.

The Council Held by the Rats: I adored this story when I first read it in the Aesop unit and I loved it again in poetic form. The author did a great job transposing it into verse!

The Tortoise and the Two Ducks: Though I am not so sure of the ending, I liked the majority of this story.

The Frogs Asking a King: I honestly do not know why I enjoyed this story so much, but I really did! I think it was the juxtaposition of the rhyming verse with the harsh god that tickled me.

The Swallow and the Little Birds: Though I did not necessarily think this story was fantastic, I chose it because it reminds me of the birds in the Sower passage of the Bible. I love that passage and therefore any reminder makes me happy.

The Bear and the Amateur Gardner: I think I have a love hate relationship with this story. On the one hand there is the sad ending, but on the other there is a funny picture of a man and bear as friends and a stupid bear at that. I love and hate this as I said.

The Astrologer Who Stumbled Into a Well: I found the purposeful irony in this story hilarious and that is why I chose this story from the page. It really made me smile.

The Carter in the Mire: This story makes me think of the saying of "God helps those who learn to help themselves" which is I think sometimes true and sometimes God just has to do the thing for you (once you ask him to, so I suppose asking is helping yourself). But I digress, in short I appreciate that Hercules helped him figure out how to do the task himself.

Poebus and Boreas: I have heard a version of this story before as a riddle, but never just as a story I do not think. I enjoyed how it played out.

Illustration by Barlow

Reading Diary Week 13: La Fontaine

Here are my thoughts on some of the rhymes from the first half of the La Fontaine unit. I am picking my favorites from each page to discuss here. These stories come from either Fables in Rhyme for Little Folks or The Fables of La Fontaine.

The Hare and the Tortoise: For a story that I know so well, this story was surprisingly refreshing and I really loved it! There were some funny quips throughout that added to the rhythm of the rhyme for an extremely pleasant read of a classic tale.

The Monkey and the Cat: This story caught my attention because I do not believe I have heard it before but it was a good one. I like the play between the two creatures and how the monkey strokes the cat's pride to get his way.

The Fox and the Stork: The trickery in this story amuses me greatly. I loved this story when I first read the Aesop version early in the semester and I love it even more now in verse. Such a funny story and fitting for a rhyme.

The Heron who was Hard to Please: This story reminded me of trying new foods growing up. My mom would always say "either eat what I made or don't eat at all," and I thank her for that because my palate became much more accepting and adventurous than the average child's. It seems like the Heron is learning this the hard way.

The Dove and the Ant: I just really love all of the good deeds in this story. That an ant and dove should both save the life of the other is a sweet concept and one that is made sweeter through rhyme.

The Acorn and the Pumpkin: This story spread a smile across my face. I love the innocence of the bumpkin and his realization that maybe things are the way they are for a reason. Very lovable character and story.

The Wolf and the Fox: I love that the beginning of this rhyme notes on a trend in Aesop's tales. It is a fun nod to where the stories came from. I also just really loved the flow of this story.

The Horse Wishing to be Revenged on the Stag: What I enjoyed about this story was the moral behind it. The rhyme itself was a little hard to understand at first, but once it became clear it was like I was the horse coming to realize what had taken place.

The Ass and the Dog: I do not really know what drew me to this story. I did not particularly enjoy or despise it. It simply drew me in.

The Cat Metamorphosed Into a Woman: The absurdness of this story amuses me greatly.

Illustration by Rackham

Storytelling Week 12: The girl white as milk

This is the girl white as milk

This is the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

This is the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

This is the bird
That dropped the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

This is the miller
That loved the song of the bird
That dropped the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

This is the bird
That went to the miller
That loved the song of the bird
That dropped the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

This is the girl with life so brief
That reborn as a bird
That went to the miller
That loved the song of the bird
That dropped the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

This is the brother struck with grief
That so loved the girl with life so brief
That reborn as a bird
That flew to the miller
That loved the songbird
That dropped the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

These are the bones

That lay buried by the brother so struck with grief

That so loved the girl with life so brief
That reborn as a bird
That flew to the miller
That loved the songbird
That dropped the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

This is the tree
That grew above the bones

That lay buried by the brother so struck with grief

That so loved the girl with life so brief
That reborn as a bird
That flew to the miller
That loved the songbird
That dropped the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

This is the rose

That bloomed on the tree

That grew above the bones

That lay buried by the brother so struck with grief

That so loved the girl with life so brief
That reborn as a bird
That flew to the miller
That loved the songbird
That dropped the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

This is the bird
That sat by the rose

That bloomed on the tree

That grew above the bones

That lay buried by the brother so struck with grief

That so loved the girl with life so brief
That reborn as a bird
That flew to the miller
That loved the songbird
That dropped the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

This is the girl white as milk
That transformed to a bird
That sat by the rose

That bloomed on the tree

That grew above the bones

That lay buried by the brother so struck with grief

That so loved the girl with life so brief
That reborn as a bird
That flew to the miller
That loved the songbird
That dropped the millstone
That crushed the stepmother
That slayed the girl white as milk

(John D. Batten)

Author's Note: For this story, I took the story line of "The Rose Tree" and combined it with the cumulative storytelling style of "The Old Woman and Her Pig". In the original story of "The Rose Tree", there are two children with the same father but different mothers. The daughter from the first wife and the son from the second. The stepmother despised the girl and one day after the girl had messed up a task three times in a row the stepmother devised a plan. She then slayed the girl with an ax. Later, she cooked the girl and fed her to the family. The father unknowingly ate some but the boy refused. He then buried the bones of the girl under the rose tree and cried there so often it watered the tree which grew. Later a white bird appeared in the tree and she sang the song of her story. She used this song to get items from people around town. The first two were gifts for the father and brother and the last was a millstone. She then ran the millstone across the roof of her house to sound like thunder. One by one each came out to check. The brother and father were first and their gifts dropped from the sky. When the stepmother went out to see if she would get a gift, the bird drooped the millstone on her head. I was unsure how this story would work in the cumulative style, but I am satisfied with how it turned out.

Bibliography: Both The Rose Tree and The Old Woman and Her Pig are from English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs (1890)

Week 12 Reading Diary: English Fairy Tales

Here are my thoughts on the stories from the English Fairy Tales Unit. These tales are from English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs.

Tom Tit Tot: I must admit that the title of this story made me giggle. Overall, the story was extremely similar to Rumpelstiltskin. The similarity did not bother me, though I did feel like I was reading something I already knew and part of what I love about this class is learning new stories. All in all the story was good though and I liked some of the vernacular that was used.

The Rose Tree: Wow, this story was way more violent than I was expecting. I thought the stepmom was just going to cut the hair off, but she killed the girl! Though it did make the song make more sense within the story. I thought the song might have been tangential, but no it was definitely how the story went. Completely caught me off guard. I liked it though, the story.

The Old Woman and Her Pig: I love stories like this. It is passover soon and at the end of every passover we sing a song that is cumulative like this about a father buying a kid (as in goat, not child) for two zuzim. I have fond memories of that song and so seeing stories like this make me happy. It even has extremely similar elements like the stick and fire and butcher.

Binnorie: Though this was not my favorite story of the unit I still enjoyed it pretty well. I liked a lot of the alliteration at the beginning of the story.

Mouse and Mouser: I enjoyed the rhythm of this story quite a bit. It made it quick and fun to read. The mouse was pretty stupid to accuse the cat though, he should have seen the ending coming.

Cap O' Rushes: I liked that this story was similar to Cinderella without being an exact copy of it. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

The Story of the Three Little Pigs: I have always absolutely loved this story so it was so great to read it for class! There were also some bits included that I did not remember so that was fun to read as well.

The Master and His Pupil: I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would. Normally stories in this theme annoy me, but this one is well done and fun.

The Pupil

Reading Diary Week 10: Alaskan Legends

Here are my thoughts on the first half of the Alaskan Legends reading. I am really looking forward to reading about Raven. The readings in this unit are from Myths and Legends of Alaska by Katharine Berry Judson.

The Raven's Myth: Raven Creation: I am enjoying the Raven story thus far. It bears some striking resemblance to Christian creation which is interesting.

The Raven's Myth: Raven Creates People: I like that the story has Raven explain everything to Man. I also like that Raven cares about both Man and his creations. It is interesting that people only took three days to grow up. I wonder how they will explain why that is not true anymore.

The Raven's Myth: The Skyland and Sea: This was a weirder part of the story, but not unlikable. It was just harder to follow.

The Raven's Myth: Raven-Boy and the Sun: These creation stories are quite enjoyable to read. They are fun little explanations of how everything got to the way it is today.

The Flood: This story was also rather hard to follow. It is interesting that they have a flood story though.

The Origin of the Tides: I really enjoyed the simplicity of this story. Just a hole in the ocean that is opened and closed. It makes for a scary but good story for Tael.

Raven's Feast: This was another short but to the point story. I appreciate the depth of story developed in such a short time.

Raven's Marriage: I was confused why Raven was having such trouble keeping up. Is it just that he is not used to long distances? And why did he lie about the arrowhead? This story left me with many questions.

Raven and the Seals: I was not such a fan of this story. Why was Raven so hungry? Talk about ravenous. And why did he have to kill the man? This story's shortness was annoying as it made the story not make sense.

Raven and Pitch: I do not like how cruel Raven is in this story and the last. He went from a lovable creature to a deadly nuisance.

Raven and Marmot: Okay, this story was pretty entertaining. Saved by dancing is a great way to be saved. It was great to imagine Raven dancing clumsily with his eyes closed and Marmot darting beneath him.

The Bringing of the Light by Raven: This story is not bad. I like the explanation of why the nights are sometimes so long in Alaska and sometimes so short. It is a cute story.

The Naming of the Birds: This was just a nice way of explaining why all of the birds are the way that they are. Nothing fancy or detailed story-wise, but nice nonetheless. I liked the explanation of the Eagle.

Eagle

How Raven Stole the Lake: This was an interesting story in how Raven just rolled up the lake and flew away with it. I find it interesting the this story makes beavers out to be gamblers. It rather funny actually. 

Reading Diary Week 9, Continued: American Indian Fairy Tales

Here are my thoughts on the second half of the American Indian Fairy Tales unit from the book by W.T. Larned. I really enjoyed the first half so I hope this half is just as entertaining!

The Boy Who Snared the Sun: I love how long the story took to actually become about a mouse. I could feel the impatience of Morning Glory as the story continued to be about the siblings and the sun with no giant mouse in sight. When the story did reach the mouse part, I was slightly alarmed that he was burning alive. Then again this was obviously not a normal burn as he just became a smaller version of himself. I am still really enjoying the style of these stories.

How the Summer Came: It is really sweet that the father sacrificed himself just so that everyone else could experience summer, spring, and fall. I cannot imagine enduring a world where there is only winter and this story almost had me shivering at times! These stories are so well written that I can really see them in my mind. I am glad the summer finally came!

By John Rae

The Fairy Bride: I did not dislike this story, but it was my least favorite out of all the stories I read this week. I appreciated the loving, nature-driven spirit of the girl and the idea of the fairies was fun, but the story just did not capture me like the others in this unit have. Overall it was a fine story though.

Reading Diary Week 9: American Indian Fairy Tales

These are my thoughts on the first half of the American Indian Fairy Tales from the book of the same name by W.T. Larned.

Iagoo the Storyteller: I am very much looking forward to reading the story coming up after reading this introduction. Iagoo sounds like a really interesting man and great speaker.

By John Rae

Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind: I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I love that the creature wins because he is so cheerful. What a happy story to get you through the winter!

The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds: This story was really quite adorable. I love the way it was similar to the tortoise and the hare with the slow and steady wins the race type moral. The descriptions of the land were beautifully done.

The Child of the Evening Star: This story has so many beautiful layers to it that I hardly know what to say about it. I love the characters in this story. They really came to life and it was like I knew them. I am really enjoying the storytelling style of all of these stories. The story made me wish I could see the kingdom of the evening star! I really cannot wait for the second half of this unit.