Reading Notes: Persian Tales Part A

A wolf and a lamb are standing in a wooded landscape with a goat behind them

By Wellcome Images found on Wiki

There was once a goat with four children. The mother goat left to collect grass and instructed the children not to open the door for the wolf. The mother said to only open the door for the mother who had a red hand. The wolf overheard this and dyed his hand red. The wolf took 3 of the children and the mother and the fourth child followed. The goat challenged the wolf to a fight. The wolf went to the dentist to sharpen his teeth; however, the dentist pulled them out instead and replaced them with cotton teeth. The goat went to the knife-sharpener and got his horns sharpened. The goat defeated the wolf and everyone went home.

There was a girl who scraped her leg. She needed ointment but did not have any, so she took two eggs to trade for ointment. When she returned she told her story to her aunt. She lost her eggs on the way to town and decided to look for them. One turned into a hen and the other into a cock. When he got to the cock, he asked for the cock and his share of the work the cock had been doing. She received the cock and a share of rice. The cock was carrying the rice and got a sore back. She rubbed a burnt walnut kernel on the cock’s back. This caused a tree to grow out of the cock’s back. She then planted melons underneath the tree. She grew a watermelon, and when she went to cut it, she lost her knife. She then bought a little halim to eat. At the bottom of the bowl was a hair. She pulled the hair out which was actually the leading rope for camels. There were seven camels attached with her knife on the last camel’s tail.

Bibliography:

 Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919). Link

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales Part B

The Red Woman

By LeskaArt found on Deviant Art

There was a pregnant woman and her husband. Her husband went hunting one day when a wicked woman killed her. The wicked woman cut open her body and found two twins. She threw one into a spring and the other behind the tipi curtain. She then positioned the wife’s body to look as though it was alive. When the husband returned he discovered the wife to be dead, and he knew it was the Red Woman. The boy behind the curtain would ask the father for food, although the father did not realize it was his son. He gave the boy food and a bow with arrows. He later followed the boy to discover him playing with another boy of the same age. The other boy is the boy from the spring. The father tries to get him to come live in their tipi. The first boy grabbed the boy from the spring to capture him and take him home. The boys then went and woke up their dead mother so that they could be a family again. The boys then snuck into the Red Woman’s hut and killed her by using her own magic kettle to boil her. They then killed the giant alligator that was killing other people by cutting out its heart. Next, the boys killed the three trees that would crush anyone who went under them. The boys then killed the evil snakes that would kill people in their sleep. Next, the boys killed the man who would push people over a cliff by dropping to the ground when the man ran at them. The boys then killed the man who burned anything he wanted. Lastly, the boys killed a large otter that would eat children. This was the last bad thing they killed before living happily with their family.

Bibliography:

Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). Link

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales Part A

There was a man who lived in a village and was known to all as the Unnatural Uncle. He would kill all of his nephews when they became two years old. The wife of the uncle went to the mother of the children and planned to keep the next child alive. They decided when another child was born, they would lie to the uncle and say it was a girl. The next child was a boy and the wife to the uncle lied about the child’s gender. They dressed the child as a girl and told the child to act like a girl. The uncle was suspicious of the child’s boyish looks. One day the uncle discovered the boy to be a boy. He asked to see the boy so that he could kill him like the others. The boy knew the uncle would try to murder him. They went into the woods together to gather wood. The uncle left the boy to die trapped in a log but the boy escaped. The uncle failed attempt one to kill him. The next day the boy again was summoned by the Uncle. Next the uncle tried to push the child off a cliff but the child survived by using a contraption he had. He returned with the ducks and eggs and the uncle was upset. The next attempt was to go collect clams and have a giant one swallow the child. The plan went as wanted but the child escaped by cutting the clam’s tendon. He returned to home and the uncle was angry. Next the uncle built a box and put the child in the box and floated him out to see. He washed up on some shore. The box was opened by two girls and he was in Eagle Land with the Eagle people. The chief let the child put on the eagle skin and fly home to get his parents. He did but his parents weren’t home. He realized the torture his uncle was putting his parents through so he swooped down and grabbed his uncle. He told the uncle if he could swim to shore he would be spared but the uncle could not swim. The boy then gathered his parents and flew them back to eagle land to live happily.

Fledging Eagle

By KetaDesign found on Wiki

Bibliography:

Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). Link