Week 6 Storytelling: A Mother's Instinct

Jack and Charlie met a few years ago at a mutual friend's birthday party. They immediately hit it off and became the best of friends. Even though Charlie was twelve years old and Jack was ten, they didn't mind the age difference. Jack really looked up to Charlie since he was an only child. They became inseparable. All seemed perfect, except for the fact that Jack's mother was skeptical of the friendship. One day Jack couldn't take it anymore and decided to ask his mother why she didn't like Charlie.

Jack: "Mom, why don't you like Charlie?"

Mother: "It's not that I don't like Charlie honey, I just don't think he's a very good influence on you."

Jack: "What do you mean by that?"

Mother: "I'm not sure how to explain this to you, but I just don't get a good vibe from him. I just get a feeling that he's not a good person, and that he's going to end up hurting you."

Jack: "Don't worry about me mom. I know Charlie, and I know he would never do that to me."

Mother: "Whatever you say, just don't say I didn't warn you."

A few months passed by and everything was fine. Charlie's sixteenth birthday was coming up and the two of them had big plans to go car shopping. They went on the day he turned sixteen and found the perfect car and drove it around all weekend laughing and blaring music. They were still the best of friends.

A couple weeks went by and it was time for school to start again. Charlie was a freshman this year and Jack was in eighth grade. They were at two different schools, Charlie was at the high school and Jack was at the middle school. After a few weeks into the semester, Jack hadn't seen or even heard from Charlie very much. Charlie said he was busy with schoolwork and football, and claimed that high school was a lot harder than middle school. One Friday night Jack and Charlie had plans to go see the new X-Men movie and Jack could hardly wait! Jack had his mom drop him off at Charlie's and told her that Charlie would bring him home after the movie. When Charlie answered the door Jack was surprised to see a small group of friends in Charlie's living room. Jack was bummed that it wasn't going to just be the two of them, but he also didn't mind making a few older friends.

Jack: "Are you ready to see the movie?! I can't wait! You didn't tell me you we're going to invite some of your friends to go with us."

Charlie: "Actually Jack, they invited me to go with them and I told them I would. I asked if you could come with us, but they said they don't hangout with middle schoolers. I'm really sorry, I can go with you tomorrow if you want to see it still?"

Jack: "Don't worry about it. Have a good time with your new friends."

Jack turned around and started walking home. He knew it was a long walk, but he forgot his cell phone at home so he couldn't call his mom. He was so mad at Charlie there was no way he was going to ask him for a ride either. By the time he got home the anger had passed and he burst into tears. His mother answered the door surprised to see him home so early.

Mother: "Honey, what's wrong?!"

Jack: (sobbing) "Charlie ditched me for his new high school friends."

Mother: "I'm so sorry Jack. Why don't you ask one of your other friends to go see the movie with you?"

Jack: "None of my friends except Charlie like X-Men. That was our thing."

The next day Jack walked into the kitchen while his mom was cooking lunch.

Jack: "Well aren't you going to say it?"

Mother: "Say what?"

Jack: "I told you so."

Mother: "Jack, I'm not going to be cruel. I'm sorry that Charlie treated you that way and I hope it never happens again. I love you and I would never want anyone to mistreat you. That's why I tried to warn you, so you would have your guard up."

Jack: "Thanks mom. Next time you tell me something like that I will. I love you too."

(Mother & Son)

Author's note: This week I read some South African Folk-Tales. There was one in particular that really caught my attention. It was about a lion that thought he was smarter than his mother. In the story the mother told the lion to beware of the man. The lion thought to himself, I know the man so why should I be afraid of him. He did what his mother warned him not to and went to the field where the man was. The man and his dogs attacked the lion and the man speared him. The man let him go and he went back to his mother. His mother told him again what she had said before. I decided to make my story about a childhood friendship. Growing up my mom would always tell me if she didn't have a good feeling towards one of my friends, and sometimes she would be right about them. No mother wants to see their children hurting, and no child wants their mother to tell them what to do. It's an on going battle, but I think most people can relate to this story.

Bibliography: This story is based on readings from South African Folktales by James Honey (1910).

Week 6 Reading Diary, continued: South African Folktales

South African Folktales by James Honey (1910)

The Dance for Water

• There was a drought
• All of the animals came together and decided to dance in the riverbed to stomp the water out
• Rabbit refused to dance
• They danced until there was water and told rabbit he could have none
• Rabbit snuck down at night and drank from the riverbed
• He bragged the next day so the others decided to trap him
• Turtle acted as a stone by the river and rabbit stuck to him
• He took rabbit back to others and they decided he should be killed
• The lion swung him by his tail and the fur fell out and rabbit was free

Jackal and Monkey

• Jackal would steal lambs from the farmer's corral
• One day the farmer set a trap and caught the jackal
• Monkey saw the jackal and went down to mock him
• Jackal convinced the monkey he was not in a trap and that he was just hanging for his enjoyment
• He convinced monkey to trade him places
• Monkey was caught and the farmer came
• The farmer killed monkey

The Story of Hare

• Five animals were appointed to guard the animals food one at a time, each one failed and each one was killed
• The sixth time the hare was appointed to guard the food
• He killed the animal that was stealing the food
• He then ate its tail
• The others told the chief the hare ate the tail and the chief wanted him dead
• They chased the hare into a hole
• They set a trap but he escaped
• The hare found another animal cooking meat
• He stole his meat and killed him
• He went into the forest and monkeys threw leaves on him while he was building weapons
• He called the monkeys down and killed them

The White Man and Snake

• The white man came across snake who was stuck under a stone
• White man lifted the stone off of her and she wanted to bite him
• They went to wise men to see if she should bite him
• Jackal wanted to see how she was stuck with his own eyes
• They reset the scene
• Jackal told white man to leave her under the stone because she wanted to bite him

Jackal, Dove, and Heron

• Jackal tricked dove into thinking he could fly so she would give up her young ones
• Heron told dove that jackal could not fly
• Jackal came back for another child and dove told him what heron had said
• Jackal went and beat heron's neck and broke it in the middle
• Since that day heron's neck is bent

Elephant and Tortoise

• Elephant told rain he didn't need him so rain went away
• There was only one lagoon left and elephant told tortoise to guard it for him
• All the animals came and asked for water but tortoise told them it was elephants
• The lion beat tortoise and then all the animals drank the water
• The elephant returned and learned of the news and so he swallowed tortoise
• Tortoise tore off elephant's liver, heart, and kidneys
• Elephant died and tortoise lived

The Judgement of Baboon

• Baboon assembled the animals to figure out who did the crime
• He was foolish and couldn't figure out who did
• Today he walks on all fours

When Lion Could Fly

• Lion could fly
• Lion kept bones in a corral that he didn't want broken
• Frog went and broke the bones
• Lion could no longer fly and went to find frog
• Frog was too quick and lion couldn't catch him

Lion Who Thought Himself Wiser Than His Mother

• Lion's mother warned him to beware of the man
• Lion thought that was foolish since he knew the man
• Lion went where his mother told him not to and man and dogs attacked lion
• Lion returned home
• Lion's mother told him again

Lion Who Took a Woman's Shape

• Women went to gather food
• A woman and lion hunt each other
• The lion eats the woman but saves her skin
• He wears her skin and returns home
• Her family retrieves her heart
• Puts her heart in milk
• Her heart grows into the daughter

(lion)

Week 6 Reading Diary: South African Folktales

South African Folktales by James Honey (1910)

The Lost Message

• Each of the different species of ants come together
• They all want to find a way to better protect themselves from their enemies
• In the end they all disagree on how to solve their issues and end up no better off than before
• Each species tries to solve their problems their own way and none of them are successful
• The insect king sent them the secret of unity to solve their problems, but he sent the beetle as his messenger and they have yet to receive the message

The Monkey's Fiddle

• The monkey was given a bow and arrow, and a fiddle by his uncle
• The monkey met a wolf who was trying to catch a deer
• The monkey killed the deer with his bow and arrow
• The wolf became jealous of the monkey and threatened the monkey to give him his bow and arrow
• The jackal came by and the wolf claimed to the jackal that the monkey stole his now and arrow
• They decided to settle the matter in the court of the lion, tiger and other animals
• The monkey lost and was sentenced to hanging for his crime
• The monkey asked to play his fiddle one last time
• Everyone began dancing uncontrollably
• They begged the monkey to stop
• He requested to be set free and be given his bow and arrow back
• They did as asked and then they all fled to different parts of the world

The Tiger, The Ram, and The Jackal

• The tiger came across the ram, whom he had never met
• He ran home to the jackal in fear
• The jackal told him not to fear and that they would go back tomorrow to slay the ram
• The ram saw them coming and asked his wife what to do
• His wife said to take their child out, pinch him to make him cry so the tiger and jackal will think he's hungry
• The ram did so and then yelled to the jackal thanking him for bringing the tiger to feed his child
• The tiger took off in fear again and drug the jackal behind him all the way home

The Lion, The Jackal, and The Man

• The lion and the jackal were discussing business when the lion began boasting about how strong he was
• The jackal told him he wasn't the strongest
• The jackal took him to a man
• The lion tried to attack the man
• The man stabbed him a few times and shot at him
• The lion retreated and told the jackal he was not the strongest

The World's Reward

• A dog was getting old and his owner wanted to get rid of him
• So he decided to set off on his own
• He met a bull, ram, donkey, cat, cock, and goose
• They all came upon a house of robbers eating dinner
• They were all hungry so they decided to scare off the robbers
• When the robbers fled the animals ate and then decided to stay the night
• One robber came back to see if the coast was clear and the animals attacked
• The robber ran back terrified to the others and said the coast was not clear

(South African veldt, Mpumalanga)

Thoughts about Comments

Reading through the comments I've received so far I've noticed that almost everyone has gotten better at writing comments as the semester has progressed. I think starting out no one really knew what to say, but with the practice and prompts we've been given I think it has helped all of us to leave comments with more substance.

I personally enjoy the comments on my introduction the most. I also enjoy reading others introductions a lot. I feel like the introductions give everyone a good background into each others lives. When people can relate to things in my introduction or vice versa it automatically creates a bond. I love reading about others interests and lives!

The comments that are the most helpful are the ones that pose questions or that give advice on how to expand a story or how to better explain certain parts of a story. Those definitely help with edits I need to make or how to expand if I wanted to use my story for something else.

The comments that really speak to me are the ones when people tell me they really relate to my story. I love writing stories that touch other people in some way and make them realize things they may not have realized before.

So far I think I've been doing a good job on the commenting. I'm learning more as I go and I plan to continue to get better. Practice makes perfect, and the prompts for writing comments are a good base to start with.

Week 5 Reading Diary, continued: Twenty-Two Goblins

Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur W. Ryder

The Snake's Poison

• A man's wife was kidnapped in the night
• He went to search for her
• He became hungry and a charitable woman gave him food
• He sat this food under a tree near a pond
• As he was washing his hands in the pond a hawk in the tree had a snake in his mouth
• The snake died and a stream of poison fell into the food
• He did not see the poison, ate the food, and then ran to the woman for help
• He blamed her for poisoning him and told her to get a doctor
• Before she could get a doctor he died
• The goblin asked the king who was responsible
• The king said the snake wasn't responsible, he couldn't help himself because he was being eaten, the hawk wasn't responsible because he was hungry and saw nothing, and the woman nor her husband were responsible because they were charitable and gave food to a guest, it was the man's fault, he dared to blame one of the others
• The goblin returned to the tree

The Girl and the Thief

• There was a merchant who had a daughter, she did not want to marry any men, no matter how powerful or rich they were
• The citizens of the city were being plundered by thieves
• They asked the king for help and when his watchmen failed to bring justice he went himself to protect the citizens
• He found a thief and ordered his soldiers to kill him
• The thief killed the soldiers so the king had to fight
• The king captured him and set him to be executed
• The girl saw the thief and told her father she had to marry him or she would kill herself also
• The king refused to release him and then executed him
• As he died tears rolled down his cheeks and he had a smile on his face
• The girl was about to kill herself when a god asked her what she wanted 
• She asked that her father have a hundred sons since she was about to die, the god told her to ask for something else as well
• She asked for the thief to be alive and a good man
• So he was and the king was pleased and made him general
• The goblin asked the king if the thief was laughing or weeping when the girl approached with her father
• The king said that he wept from grief because he could make no return to the merchant for his friendship and he laughed from astonishment because the girl wanted to marry him and not kings, women are strange
• The goblin returned to the tree

The General's Wife

• There was a girl that was so beautiful that every man that saw her fell in love and went mad with passion
• Her father went to the king when she was of age and asked him to marry her
• The king sent his Brahmans to examine her qualities, they saw her lovely qualities and thought if the king married her then he would only think of her and neglect his kingdom so they reported her qualities as bad to the king
• The king had a general marry her instead
• The king got a glimpse of her at the spring festival and stricken with love he fainted
• He refused to take her though, even the general offered her to the king and he refused
• He slowly shriveled away and died, the general burned himself alive after the kings death
• The goblin asked the king who deserved her more
• The king said the king was more deserving
• The goblin asked why not the general, he was faithful and gave his life for the king
• The king said the general was a gentleman and acted as anyone would devoted to their superior but kings are like mad elephants with no obedience to anyone, and this king died rather than giving into his desires, he was a hero
• The goblin returned to the tree

The Four Brothers

• Four brothers who's lives had been rather unfortunate because of their father untimely death have to figure out what to do with their lives to be happy
• The first brothers learns to take any animal and put the proper flesh on it
• The second brother learns to put hair and skin on the flesh covered skeleton
• The third brother learns to put the eyes and other organs of sense after the skin, hair, and flesh are there
• The fourth brother learns to give the creature life after the organs are there
• They found a skeleton in the forest and tested their skills
• The skeleton ended up being that of a lion and killed the four brothers after the fourth gave it life
• The goblin asked the king which brother was to blame
• The king said the one that gave the animal life was the one to blame, the others were ignorant of the type of animal but the fourth brother knew what animal it was and brought it to life anyway
• The goblin returned to the tree

The Old Hermit

• There was a boy who died and his family grieved
• In the cemetery there was a hermit
• The hermit heard the grieving of the family and went to see what it was about
• He saw the dead boy and decided to exchange his body for the boys by magic
• He wept and danced and then entered the boys body
• He told the family he had to perform a vow in order to live and sent them away
• The goblin asked the king why the hermit cried and danced before entering the boys body
• The king answered that he cried from grief because he was leaving his body which he learned powers in and that his parents gave him, but he danced because of the joy of getting a new youthful body in which he could learn more magic
• The goblin returned to the tree

Father and Son, Daughter and Mother

• A king, his wife, and his daughter had to flee their city
• The king was killed by robbers in the forest
• The mother and daughter hid in the forest
• Two hunters, a father and a son, see the footprints of two ladies in the forest
• They make a promise the father gets the woman with the bigger feet and the son gets the woman with the smaller feet
• They find the women and the mother has smaller feet than the daughter
• The son marries the mother and the father marries the daughter
• Each couple has children
• The goblin asks the king what the relationships between the children were
• The king didn't say a work
• The goblin was amused that the king couldn't answer
• He told the king that the monk he was bringing the body to was rogue, and that he was going to use the king as a sacrifice to gain power over the fairies
• The goblin told the king to kill the monk and take the power or the monk would kill him
• The goblin left the body and the king took the body to the monk

Conclusion

• The monk did as the goblin promised
• The king killed the monk
• The goblin made the king, king of the fairies
• The king asked for the puzzle stores to be known all over the world
• The goblin promised and said that anytime any part of the stories were told elves, goblins, witches, and imps would have no power
• Shiva, a god, appeared and gave him a sword that would make anything he desired come true and promised him that he would eventually be united with him

(Shiva, by Arumugam Manivelu)

Week 5 Reading Diary: Twenty-Two Goblins

Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur W. Ryder

• A king promises to help a monk
• The monk asks the king to bring a body possessed with a goblin hanging from a tree to the cemetery
• The goblin tells the king stories and then asks him a question
• If the king gets it wrong the goblin will tell another story, if he knows the answer but doesn't tell his head will explode, and if he answers correctly the goblin will jump back into the tree

The Three Lovers

• There is a beautiful girl
• Three men want to marry her
• She refuses to marry one because the other two will be sad
• She gets sick and dies
• One sleeps on her ashes in the cemetery, the other takes her bones to dip in the Ganges River, and the the third becomes a monk and travels away
• The monk comes across a man that has a spell to bring people back to life
• He steals the spell book and brings the girl back to life
• She is more beautiful than ever and they all fight over her
• The goblin asks the king which one deserves to be her husband
• The king says the monk did as a father by bringing her back to life, the second one did as a son by taking her bones to the Ganges, and the first one did as a lover by living a hard life in the cemetery
• The goblin returned to the tree

Brave, Wise, Clever

• There was a beautiful girl
• She said she would only marry either a clever man, a wise man, or a brave man
• Her father came across a clever man and promised her hand in marriage on the seventh day
• Her brother came across a brave man and promised her hand in marriage on the seventh day
• Her mother came across a wise man and promised her hand in marriage on the seventh day
• All three men came on the seventh day, but the girl disappeared
• The wise man said that a giant had taken her to his den
• The clever man made a flying chariot to take them to the den
• The brave man then fought the giant and slew him
• The goblin asks which one deserves to be her husband
• The king says the brave man deserves her because he killed the giant and saved her, the other two were only helpers whom fate gave him
• The goblin returned to the tree

The Girl, Her Husband and Her Brother

• The girl, her husband, and her brother are heading to the girl's father's house
• The husband decides to stop at a temple and worship a goddess
• While there, he decides to sacrifice himself to the goddess since most people sacrifice many living things to this goddess
• The brother of the wife finds the husband dead and in grief kills himself as well
• The girl finds them both dead and asks the goddess to reunite them in another life and prepares to hang herself
• The goddess tells her to put the heads back on the bodies and they will rise
• She does as told, but accidentally switches the heads on the bodies
• The goblin asks which one should be her husband
• The king says the one with the husband's head should be her husband because the head is the most important member, it is how we recognize people
• The goblin returned to the tree

Food, Women, Cotton

• Three men claimed to be experts in food, women, and cotton respectively
• They decided to have the king examine them
• The expert in food refused to eat the food at dinner, he said it smelt of smoke from a burning corpse
• Everyone else thought it was sweet and good, the king later found out it came from rice grown near a crematory
• The expert in women turned down a woman sent to him by the king, he said she smelt like goats
• The king said that she was anointed in perfumes, he later found out that she was raised on goat milk
• The expert in cotton went to sleep on a bed covered in seven quilts, he jumped up in pain and the guards saw a curly red imprint of a hair deeply imprinted on his side
• They uncovered a single hair under the quilts that fit the imprint on the man
• The goblin asks which one was the most clever
• The king answered the expert in cotton because the imprint of hair was visible, the other two could have found out beforehand
• The goblin returned to the tree

The Four Scientific Suitors

• The princess tells her father she cannot choose a husband from so many choices, find her a husband that know one science from beginning to end
• The first man is a working man, he makes five clothes a day
• The second man is a farmer, he can understand the cries of all beasts and birds
• The third is soldier, who has no rival on earth in the science of swordsmanship
• The fourth man is a Brahman, who can bring the dead back to life
• The goblin asks the king which one deserves the girl
• The king says she should obviously be given to the soldier who at least has some manhood to his science. A warrior's daughter should not be given to a working man or a farmer and the Brahman neglects his own affairs, lacking courage
• The goblin returned to the tree

The Three Delicate Wives

• A king had three wives
• One was injured from a lotus petal that fell from her hair into her lap
• The second was burned from the moonbeams that fell on her
• The last was injured from hearing pestles grinding grain, her hands bruised
• The goblin asks which one was the most delicate
• The king responded that the wife that was bruised just by hearing the pestles was the most delicate, nothing touched her and the other two had actual contact
• The goblin returned to the tree

(the goblin in the tree)

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

When flying weather is very important. I'm constantly checking the weather on many different sites so I decided to add the weather widget to my blog as well. It's really simple to add, just click here for instructions and add it to your blog!

Tech Tip: Theme

The theme I chose for my storybook is "notebook". I think it's fitting since my storybook is about school. I might end up changing it later, but I think this one fits for now.

Tech Tip: Google Site Title

On my storybook site I decided to suppress the sitemap link and the search box. I think it looks better without them, so it's not so cluttered. I also suppressed the page title on the first page because I didn't really see the need for one. I left the site title to the left because it didn't look good when I centered it.

Tech Tip: Website

Here is my newly created storybook website. My storybook is going to be a over a flight university where all mythological creatures come to learn about their abilities and how to manage them.

Storybook

Week 4 Storytelling: Brothers

Minister: "We are gathered here today to pay our respects to our friend, our brother, Blake. Blake was a bright young man, taken from us too soon. He is survived by his brother, Adam."

Adam: "I never thought I would be attending my younger brother's funeral. He was so young. He had so much life to live."

Sam: "I know cousin, it's not right. Who would've thought the youngest of eight cousins would be the first to pass on."

Adam: "There were so many things I needed to say. The last time we talked I accused him of something terrible and told him I never wanted to see him again. How can I move on knowing the last thing I said to him was that I hated him and I never wanted to see him again."

Sam: "I'm sure he knew you didn't mean what you said. We all get angry and say things just to spite. Your brother knew how much you care about him."

Adam: "Normally I would agree Sam, but this time was different."

Sam: "What do you mean?"

Adam: "I accused him of something so awful. I can't believe it ever crossed my mind that he would do something like that, I know better."

Sam: "Well, what did you claim he did?"

Adam: "It all started when I came home from work one night and I found Jillian laying in the kitchen floor unconscious. Her clothes were ripped and torn, and she was covered in bruises and blood. It looked like a pack of wolves had trampled her. I immediately began shaking her, trying to wake her up. When she finally came to she told me that Blake, my baby brother, had raped her and beat her. She begged me not to say anything to him. She said he promised that if she spoke a word he would come back, and next time she wouldn't live to tell the tale. I was enraged! Of course I was going to say something, I was going to kill him for doing such a terrible thing to my wife. All I could see was red, and all I could think about were all of the ways I was going to abuse him. The more I pondered the events that had taken place, the more irate I became. I couldn't believe that my own flesh and blood, that I had so graciously accepted into my home would do something so atrocious. He was still living with us at the time because he was in between jobs and couldn't afford a place of his own. I waited until he got home and then I lit into him. We argued, threw punches and I even threatened to kill him. No matter what I said though, he wouldn't admit to what he had done. I finally told him I never wanted to see him again and if I did he'd wish I hadn't. It wasn't until a few years later that I caught Jillian with another man, and finally learned the web of lies she had spun. She admitted to fabricating the story about Blake raping and beating her. She said that she tempted him, but he rejected her. That angered her so she self inflicted her injuries and blamed them on Blake so that I would get rid of him."

Sam: "I cannot believe someone that claims to love you would do something so low."

Adam: "At that point my feelings towards her were numb. All I could think about was how terrible I was to my baby brother, and by now he would probably never forgive me. I tried looking for him, but he had fallen of the map. I never imagined the next time I would see him would be in a casket."

Sam: "I know it's hard, but you have to forgive yourself and trust that he knows you love him. We aren't promised tomorrow. That's why you have to live everyday like its your last. You have to say and do the things you want while you still can. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff!"

(Brothers)

Author's Note: This week I read about Ancient Egypt. One of the stories I read was about two brothers. In the story the younger brother lives with his older brother and his older brother's wife. One day she comes on to him, but he rejects her. She then fabricates a story claiming that the younger brother raped and beat her. The older brother tries to kill the younger brother until her learns the truth. I switched up the ending and made it where the younger brother died before the older brother could make amends. I also made the story more modern, made the setting his funeral, and ended the story with a life lesson. I chose the picture not because it was apart of the original story, but because I thought it was a good representation of brotherly love. When I first started writing my story for this week, I didn't know where I was going to go with it. When I got to the end of my story I decided to give some advice that I think we all need to hear every now and then. Sometimes the best stories are the ones that you don't have a plan for, you can let your imagination write the story. 

Bibliography: This story is based on readings from Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).

Week 4 Reading Diary, continued: Ancient Egypt

Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie

The Two Brothers

• There were two brothers
• The older brother was married and had a house
• The younger brother lived with him and plowed the land, drove the oxen and harvested the grain
• The wife tempted the younger brother but he declined and was angered by her attempt
• The wife told the older brother that the younger brother beat her and forced himself on her
• The older brother plotted to kill his younger brother
• The younger brother revealed the truth
• The older brother returned home and cast his wife to the dogs
• The younger brother lived in solitude and eventually found a wife
• The king sent for the younger brothers wife
• She reveled his secrets and he was killed
• The older brother found his soul and returned it to his body
• They travel to find his wife, he is a bull
• His wife asks to kill the bull
• Two drops of blood from the bull make two trees
• The wife wants the trees cut down
• A wood chip from the trees enters her mouth and she becomes pregnant with a son
• When the pharaoh dies the son takes over (the younger brother)
• When he died his older brother stood in his place

The Book of Thoth

• N wants the Book of Thoth, if he reads it he can do anything
• He pays the priest 100 pieces of silver to know where it is
• The priest tells him and he goes to find it
• He found the book and read from it and everything the priest said was true
• His wife also read from it
• On their journey home they all three were killed, Thoth's vengeance
• N was buried with the Book of Thoth

The Tale of King Rhampsinitus

• The king built a chamber to hold his riches
• When the builder died he told his sons of a secret entrance into the chamber
• The sons began stealing riches from the chamber
• One was finally caught in a trap and he made the other cut off his head to hide his identity
• His body was hung for all to see and his mother begged him to steal it back
• He tricked the guards and stole the body
• The kings daughter tricked him into revealing his secrets
• The king offered a pardon and reward if the robber would reveal himself
• He went before the king and the king gave him his daughter in marriage

(Thoth, from Luxor)

Week 4 Reading Diary: Ancient Egypt

Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie

• In the beginning there was nothing but water, Nu
• Nu created Ra, the sun god
• Ra was ruler of the gods, divine father, creator
• Ra created the heaven and earth and all its creatures
• Ra took the form of a man and became the first king upon earth
• Ra had a secret name which gave him his divine power
• The goddess Isis created a serpent to poison Ra, so he would reveal his name
• When Ra finally reveled his secret name to her she cast away the venom
• Ra became aware of men speaking against him
• He called the other gods for advice
• He sent Hathor to slay those against him
• His anger passed and he sent to flood the Nile to stop Hathor
• Hathor ended her slaying and anytime the Nile flooded men and women would become drunk
• Ra became weary
• Nu sent Nut and Shu to aide Ra and mankind cried unto Ra as he left them
• They followed him until he returned and slaughtered his enemies in battle
• When Ra grew old and ascended into heaven Osiris took his place
• Osiris created laws and brought peace to Egypt, before him men were savages
• Osiris left to share his ways with the world, Isis took over until he returned
• His brother was jealous and evil and sought to stir up rebellion
• His brother killed him and took over his throne
• Tyranny and disorder prevailed
• Isis mourned her husbands death and took refuge in the swamps and deep jungle
• Isis gave birth to a son
• The brother learned of this and wanted to kill his nephew
• Isis hid the child and went to find Osiris's body
• She brought it back to Egypt where Set cut it into many pieces and threw it in the Nile
• Isis retrieved them all and buried them
• Horus went to take his rightful throne

(Osiris, Anubis, Horus)

Stories of Flight: Styles Brainstorm

Topic: My storybook will be over the different stories of flight. Each culture has stories about flying whether it be with wings, or with objects that help get a person airborne. I know there are TONS of stories out there and I haven't even scratched the surface, but I've included a few that I thought would be good options to start with. Obviously the first story I thought of was one of the more notable ones, Icarus. A few others include Pegasus, Perseus's flying sandals, and Vimãna. These are just a few I've read that seemed interesting. I plan on doing more research and finding others that may fit a storyline better or I might mash a few of them together.

Bibliography: Icarus. Website: Wikipedia.
Pegasus. Website: Wikipedia.
Perseus's flying sandals. Website: Wikipedia.
Vimãna, flying chariot cities. Website: Wikipedia.

Possible Styles:

School for Flying. One idea I've come up with is to have three or four "students" all come to a school centered around flying. They could each tell their stories of how they've accomplished flight. I guess you could say it has a "Hogwarts" feel to it. They would all have their different stories and also they would all learn how to perfect and grow with their abilities. They could also hold matches to see who has perfected their ability to fly the most.

Bedtime Story. Another possibility would be for parents to share with their children multiple stories of early flight right before bed. Then the child's imagination could run wild as they drift off into sleep. The parents could tell the main points of each story and then the child could continue the story and dream new endings in their sleep.

Breaking News/Immortals. In this one I mashed together the breaking news and immortals among us styles. I thought the news could break with stories of each characters flight. Especially in a world where flying was not the norm, and even considered taboo to some. I also thought to maybe have the characters running from the law. Flying could be considered "witchcraft" or something along those lines.

Courtroom Drama: Last, but not least, I thought it would be interesting to have all of the characters in a legal battle. They all claim to have been the first to "fly". Why not have them battle it out in court? Everybody loves a good court trial, so why not have all of the characters on trial.

(Pegasus by Mary Frye)

Week 3 Storytelling: Jack's Confession

Jack: "Let me start off by letting you know that I have no desire to be here today. I'm only here because I promised my wife I would attend ,and hopefully this will help save our marriage."

Therapist: "Why don't we start from the beginning..... Tell me about some issues you are struggling with."

Jack: "Well it all started when I flooded our entire town. I work for the water department in Olympia and I'm in charge of the floodgates at the local dam. One slow evening I was sort of drinking on the job because of a fight I had with my wife earlier that day. We've been having marriage problems for awhile now. So I was having a few beers, when out of nowhere one of my coworkers snuck up and scared me. I jumped out of my seat and since my balance was off from the alcohol I accidentally knocked a lever for one of the floodgates. You would think that I could just turn the lever back off, but unfortunately that's not how these work. When you pull one of our floodgate levers the floodgate has to cycle all the way open before you can close it. I sounded the city alarm system as soon as I realized what had happened, but not everyone had enough time to clear the area. In a town of 14,000 people, almost 800 perished. I never admitted to anyone that I had been drinking, and my coworker luckily didn't see the bottles so it was deemed an accident. My wife had her suspicions though, and she would never let me forget."

Therapist: "That is tragic. What an awful event for everyone involved, including yourself. Why don't you tell me more about your relationship with your wife..."

Jack: "After that, things only got worse. I took what happened really hard, and I held myself fully responsible. My alcohol abuse only worsened and I started looking for love elsewhere because my wife was disgusted with the person I had become. I ended up having relations with three other women, all of which bore a child of mine. When I found out each of these women were pregnant I tried to cover my tracks as best I could. The first woman I sent away to a farm and threatened that if she ever tried to seek me out I would have her and her child killed. As this child grew older he made a friend, a friend who also did not have a father. One day his friend started snooping around his mother's belongings and found the identity of his biological father. This just so happened to be one of my best friends. My best friend was unfaithful one time and the girl ended up pregnant. The child kept trying to reach out to his father, my friend, but my friend wanted nothing to do with him. I knew there was only one way to keep his secret as well as mine safe, and that was to get rid of his son.

Therapist: "So you sent him away as well?"

Jack: "If that's what you want to call it."

Therapist: "Oh, I see. Continue....."

Jack: "The second woman I sent into the mountains. I never saw or heard from her or her child ever again. The third woman was the real tragedy. She ended up falling in love with me, and wouldn't take no for an answer. She began stalking me and threatened to reveal the truth and ruin my life. I couldn't have that, so I did what I thought was my only option at the time. I "sent her away"."

Therapist: "Is there anything else you would like to talk to me about?"

Jack: "I just wish that none of this had ever happened. I'm truly sorry and I'll do whatever it takes to make things right. I just hope that my wife, the love of my life, can find it in her heart to forgive me. As well as all of the other families and people I've hurt over the years."

(Jupiter and Juno, by Annibale Carracci)

Author's Note: This week I read Ovid's Metamorphoses I. I was really thinking hard of a way to retell this story that was completely different. If you've read the story you'll see in my retelling that I didn't stick to the storyline at all hardly. In my story, Jack (Jupiter) ends up flooding his town and then having affairs with three women and getting them all pregnant. Also, he murdered a couple of people as well. In the original, Jupiter floods the earth, rapes three women, gets them all pregnant, and murders a few people. I thought the idea of Jack (Jupiter) confessing to a therapist his mistakes would make for an interesting read. I also wanted to put the story into more modern day terms. I hope you enjoy.

Bibliography: This story is based on readings from Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline.