Reading Notes: Robin Hood, Part B

· I wish we knew more about the people that Robin steals from. Are they all corrupt and wicked? Because if so that would make me feel much better. I’m sad that the Bishop was unwilling to show mercy. I also wish I knew more about the laws concerning the king’s deer. I assume they’re unjust? I’ve always assumed that… I hope they are, at any rate, because I want to like Robin and for him to be a hero.

· I want to know if those beggars were actually disabled, or if they were just faking. Also, shoot dang. That’s a lot of money.

· What a horrible response. “We just got a lot of money, so we’ll drink nothing but alcohol until it’s all gone.”

· Ahhh so he’s helped the old woman before? Like the giving to the poor thing?

· Why on earth does the Bishop travel through the Green Wood with large sums of money? It seems to prove itself a dangerous idea over and over.

· I wonder how the Bishop felt this whole time? I could write this story from his perspective. Or I could write a story in which it was a young maid instead of an old woman, and she fell in love with Little John or something. That would be fun.

· I fell like making other people swear an oath not to lie and such while you rob them seems hypocritical, but that’s just me.

· Lol he cast in lines without hooks. Why on earth does Robin want to do this? He has no idea what he’s up to.

· Haha I love the use of the word “lubber”.

· Ohhh yay he’s giving to the poor! That’s the good part about Robin Hood.

· I can’t believe he injured her!

· I don’t quite understand why Robin remains so loyal to the king. Also, he says there was never anything wrong with the Sheriff! I’m indignant!

(Passing Of Robin Hood by N. C. Wyeth)

Bibliography: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, collected by Francis James Child

Reading Notes: Robin Hood, Part A

· I love that this is a ballad. You can tell that it must be old, and far more true to the original.

· He’s so young. 15 is tiny.

· Wow, the forresters were obnoxious, but this is quite the dark start nonetheless. Was he by rights an outlaw, and not just because Prince John was corrupt?

· I like that the ballad directly addresses the audience. I can just picture a minstrel singing it.

· Guys are weird.

· I really enjoy that Robin isn’t a sore loser.

· So, do they steal from the rich and give to the poor because the rich steal first from the poor, or do they start by just stealing from the rich for the heck of it, and then later it becomes a justice thing?

· Oooh I like the bible reference. Also, why on earth is Robin trying to be a butcher?

· Ahh now I understand. Dang it! I never wanted to favor the Sheriff of Nottingham, but in this case I feel sorry for him. He may be horrid, though…

· I feel like he’s corrupting people… L.

· This is making me really want to go for a hike in a green wood.

· “Gamble Gold of the gay green woods”… I love that.

· Does Robin ever win fights?

· I love this Shepherd. There’s so much bravery in all of these stories, and so much refusing to yield. (Which maybe is dumb, but makes for a good story).

· The shepherd-swain is my favorite so far for sure. He was only defending his lunch and his honor, but he fought for hours, and I’m glad that he didn’t join them (or at least hasn’t yet).

· I want it to get to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.

· It seems to be a common refrain, “We will fight before we will fly.”

(Nottingham Castle Statue)

Bibliography:  The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, collected by Francis James Child

Reading Notes: Dante's Inferno, Part B

· I could write about the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur, and have it continue telling of the minotaur’s descent into hell. That sounds horrid, though. I’m not sure I want to write anything about hell, actually, so perhaps this was a poor choice of reading.

· I want to know why Chiron had his head bowed to his chest. Could I write a backstory about that?

· I didn’t know the thing about Alexander and his troops encountering raining fire.

· It stands out to me that Capaneus is proud and spiteful even in death, so that I doubt he would accept paradise were he offered it.

· He talks about spirits purifying themselves by absolving their guilt with penance. What if there was a world where that was accurate, and you really had to be penitent enough to be absolved of guilt? What a horrifying thought. What if I wrote about that? Any mess up would have to be paid for, and there would be no grace.

· I love that thought: shame that makes the servant brave in the presence of a worthy master.

· I want to know why it’s called Malebolge.

· I could write about Jason. I feel like him abandoning Medea is well known, but I know next to nothing about Hypsipyle, and I could invent.

· Ouch Alessio was a contemporary of his? So, was he alive when Dante wrote this? Cause if so, that’s rough, man.

· Wow, I want to weep for evil.

· I don’t even really know how to talk about what stands out to me, because the things that stand out to me are not things I want to write about. Caiaphas stood out to me.

· Oooh it could be really cool to write about the last journey of Ulysses, and when they sailed through the strait of Hercules.

(Illustration by di Fruosino)

Bibliography:  Dante's Inferno, by Dante Alighieri, translated by Tony Kline.

Reading Notes: Dante's Inferno, Part A

· So is the narrator dead, or is there some other weird thing going on? It’s really interesting how he’s mixing Christian themes with Greek mythology. I like how Virgil described the paradise, “the origin and cause of all joy.” It’s compelling, isn’t it? Also, I wonder what or whom the she-wolf is meant to be.

· So he’s “a living spirit.” I wonder how he got there.

· I just realized how depressing this is going to be. It’s interesting that those in the in-between are said to have lived without blame (in addition to being without praise), but they are clearly guilty and treated as such.

· The language is intense: “the weeping earth gave vent”

· This misunderstanding of guilt, innocence, and justice makes me sad.

· It seems to me that an eternity of hopelessness and nothing would be hell enough, even if there was no explicit torment.

· That’s so backwards. They have heaven’s grace because they were famous in life? Uhh, no.

· I wonder which famous people of our age would have been chosen for this favored section of Hell? Perhaps it would surprise us. It seems to me that history picks different heroes than those we exalt in the moment, and that sometimes great evil is overlooked when it is far removed from the present.

· Why are some sins considered worse than others? How would it be if it was flipped, and I was to write of a Hell where cold indifference to God was the worst crime of all?

· Wow, it’s strange how polite all of the people in Hell are. I wouldn’t be gracious for very long in there.

· The place with angry men sounds horrible.

· I could write about the conversation between Virgil and the fallen angels, when he tries to get them to let Dante enter deeper into hell.

· Wow, that would be scary. “If you see her, you’re stuck in this deep pit of Hell.”

(Illustration by William Blake)

Bibliography:  Dante's Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, translated by Tony Kline.

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Crane), Part B

· Hmmm this story starts off so sad:(. What if the king had refused the old woman? What if his wife wasn’t dead? Also, how on earth did he conceal from his wife that he had children? That can’t exactly have been a secret beforehand? What if I tweaked this story so that she turned them into a different type of animal?

· I fell like there are rather a lot of tales that involve evil stepmothers turning some or all of their stepchildren into swans.

· How do they already know how the swan curse works when they’ve been under it for like a day?

· I hate that she gets absolutely no say in marrying the king. Also, why can’t she write to people? Isn’t that an easy way to communicate without breaking the deal?

· Wow, it’s really gross that she smeared blood on her mouth.

· I don’t understand why she didn’t somehow mess things up when she cried out in excitement when she saw her brothers flying towards her when she was about to be killed. What if that had ruined everything? I could write about that.

· Although I suppose that if crying out was against the rules, giving birth would have been particularly difficult.

· I enjoy the fact that this was written with some rhyming. That would be a fun thing to incorporate.

· I feel bad for the beggar man. What if he didn’t want to marry her? She doesn’t seem like a pleasant person to be married to.

· Wait why on earth did he still want to marry her? Literally her only good quality was that she was beautiful. I’m annoyed. What if I changed this story so that she learned her lesson, and then lived happily ever after as a beggar, content? She still didn’t seem content, even if she was humbled.

· Why would he say that she would never again touch a spinning wheel if one of the things that he liked about her was her industry?

(Illustration by Walter Crane)

Bibliography:  Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm, by Lucy and Walter Crane

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Crane), Part A

· So I feel like the main theme so far in The Fisherman and His Wife has had to do with the idea of someone convincing someone else to do something that they really ought not to. For some reason, a detail that really stood out to me was the fact that the fish bled, and that the sea turned a different color. That may be significant enough that I can use it in some way.

· The other theme is the consuming nature of greed. It’s never satisfied; it wants a little more, and a little more, and a little more. That’s something I could easily use in a story about a small child (or anyone I suppose).

· I don’t yet know how this story will end, but it all seems so foreboding that perhaps I could have the man wake up at some point and discover that it was only a bad dream, then he goes and catches fish and none of them talk and he is relieved.

· Great quote: “she was as far as ever form being contented.”

· So it ends with them being in the exact same position, except that she is less content than ever (I assume).

· I like that the story starts off with giving her mother personality.

· Why lentils in ashes? Like, why is that a theme?

· I like the fact that this is like one of the original heroine singing to small animals for help tales.

· Wow, the prince is a tad creepy. What if she didn’t want quite such undivided attention? Maybe I could rewrite this so she gets kind of annoyed and freaked out.

· Also, I’m super annoyed that the prince didn’t recognize her when she put her rags back on. Maybe if she had been wearing a mask or something…

· Eww I wouldn’t ever want to touch that shoe again.

· Wait so does the father not really love Aschenputtel in this (the original) version?

· Wow, man. These stories are vindictive.

(Illustration by Walter Crane)

Bibliography:  Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm, by Lucy and Walter Crane.

Reading Notes: King Arthur, Part B

· Wow, a lot happens in this first bit of story. So, Galahad is the only man who can bear the special shield, he expels the fiend from the graveyard, he knights the squire but the squire is eventually wounded, he frees the maidens, and he fights Lancelot and Percivale. I think that it stands out to me that people are saying that he’s the only one worthy of various honors, and that he’s the best knight in the world. It seems like it could lead to some tension amongst the knights of the table.

· Lancelot is Galahad’s father?!?

· I’m confused. If the Knight that Lancelot saw in his dreams was so righteous, why did he steal from Lancelot? That’s not cool. I could write about him getting in trouble for that eventually . . .

· The poor yeomanL. Now his hackney is gone too. I could write about his perspective, but it would be sad and not well resolved, and he might die in the end. Percivale didn’t really help at all, and then he was gone.

· I could take the tale of Sir Lancelot being beaten in battle when he takes the side of the black knights against the white ones, but change it to another situation where someone is usually the champion at something, but is bested because of their wrongdoing.

· Once again, I could write about someone who is foiled in their pursuit of something they want because of their own wrongdoing.

· So how long has Sir Bors gone without eating? Did I misunderstand that? And, I could write a tale about how he and his brother came to be in danger of unknowingly slaying one another.

· I want to know more about how and why Sir Percivale’s sister died! I suppose I could write that story.

(Sir Mordred, by H. J. Ford)

Bibliography:  King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table, by Andrew Lang

Reading Notes: King Arthur, Part A

· I love that Arthur didn’t know the significance of what he was doing. I also don’t particularly trust Kay, and am not sure how I feel about him having a high position within Arthur’s court. I could write about how Ector and his wife reacted and how odd it was when Merlin brought them Arthur. I could tell the tale of that night, almost like the opening chapter of Harry Potter.

· Wow, that is a super ominous prophecy thing. The hero is going to go about already knowing the source of his own defeat, and that things will eventually go poorly with him.

· It’s strange that it isn’t shameful for Arthur to be rescued in battle by Merlin, while Merlin casts his opponent into deep sleep. It simply isn’t what I would have expected.

· So the sword in the stone wasn’t Excalibur?

· Wow Arthur liked Guenevere because she’s beautiful but not necessarily good and Merlin says as much but then is like “Oh well. You like her, so it’s not to be helped and you have to marry her.” That’s so foolish.

· Haha I could write a satire where there are 150 knights at the round table (which is how many it fits) and they try to have conversations but can’t hear each other, because come one. One circular table seating 150 people is a bad idea acoustically.

· This isn’t an original idea (I know C. S. Lewis did it, and maybe Ursula LeGuin or whatever her name is), but I could write about someone finding Merlin. It seems as though he wouldn’t die, but merely go on, buried.

· Wow, maybe it’s the music I’m listening to, but the story of the dream of the young man who was to accompany Arthur was very eerie. I kind of like all the creepy imagery, with the church in the graveyard.

(The Drawing of the Sword, by H. J. Ford)

Bibliography:  King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table, by Andrew Lang

Reading Notes: Welsh Fairy Tales, Part B

· I like that the title of that tale was “Owen goes a-wooing” when that’s actually a very little part of the story. I think this story was cute, and I liked his loyalty, but I’m not sure how to do much with it.

· I don’t understand what’s wrong with getting money from fairies. Are they like demons, basically? Maybe I could write some sort of backstory as to why one ought not to take money from fairies. Also, why do they stop coming when the wife knows? Once again, could there be a back story in that?

· I like that leprechauns (or whatever they are. Fairies?) are willing to accept apologies and move on. I would like that to be a thing in my stories. Vindictive characters are no fun.

· Nooooo you can’t just grab her and not let her go!

· Hmmm I think that there seems often to be a theme of happiness and love disturbed by silly or arbitrary rules. He accidentally tossed some dirt at her, so their happy marriage had to end. Like, that’s so sad.

· Wow, I really don’t like stories that have to do with the devil or witchcraft, and I certainly won’t be writing one.

· I really like that this story involved someone coming across a beautiful maiden in the woods without being enchanted by her or wanting to marry her, but rather simply with blessing her. Maybe I should write a story about something like that.

· I could write this from the perspective of one of the women being fought over. How horrible…

· I do like stories that are basically overcoming monsters, pure and simple. I could write something rather similar to the story of Hu Gadarn, where basically they capture and chain a huge, dangerous beast.

· Ahhh I’m sad for the little dog :(

(Why Deunant has the Front Door in the Back, by Willy Pogány)

Bibliography:  The Welsh Fairy Book, by W. Jenkyn Thomas

Reading Notes: Welsh Fairy Tales, Part A

· Wow! I really liked that. Perhaps I could write a tale wherein it really is time for Arthur and his warriors to come back, and destroy the enemies of the Cymry. I suppose that if I were to do that, I would need to read all the Arthur stories so I would have a solid base from which to start.

· “You must find a child born without a father, put him to death, and sprinkle with his blood the ground . . .”. It sounds like a Christ figure.

· Woah it was Merlin!! This also reminded me of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. I really like the element of justice, when the youth is spared and the guilty magicians are the ones who end up being killed (although the king is rather guilty too). I could write some about the lesser-known Arthur stories, where all kinds of cool things end up pulling everything together.

· Are you serious? “I’ll follow you, oh beautiful woman, to the ends of the earth, but first let me say goodbye to my wife.”

· Does Angharad want an explanation or anything?

· Wow, he was gone for a long time.

· I’m glad this story ended happily.

· I’m glad that the barber isn’t punished in this one. Also, I feel like one of the main ideas of this tale is that if a secret is let out, it spreads. I could write a tale with that theme. It could be turned into a warning against either vanity or gossip, or both.

· Folk tales feel so random sometimes. I don’t think I want to use the one with the cow.

· I kind of like how much of this is left a mystery. We know that the harper was saved, but not really how the devastation came about, or why he was spared, or if anyone else got away.

· “to return to the lowlands with his woolly charge.” I love that.

(Einion and the Lady of the Greenwood, by Willy Pogány)

Bibliography:  The Welsh Fairy Book, by W. Jenkyn Thomas.

Reading Notes: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Part B

· I should practice using all caps for emphasis. That’s a nice touch.

· This is a lot of dialogue: that’s all this part of the story consists of. I should try to incorporate more dialogue. I should also try to include how my characters react to dialogue, like “Alice felt dreadfully puzzled.”

· I love this use of characters. It would be fun to write a story where anyone and everything can be a character. (The Mad Hatter and Time used to be friends, but they quarreled last March.)

· “ . . . said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking.” I should qualify my characters that way.

· Alice is rude.

· Ohhh I’m not sure I’ve ever before realized that the White Rabbit and the March Hare are different.

· I also like the idea of tricking someone horrid while still being truthful. “Are their heads off?” “Their heads are gone.” I should try to do something like that in one of my stories.

· I’m sad for the hedgehogs and flamingos. I suppose I could write something from their point of view.

· Also, there’s the idea of a silly dilemma: how does one behead the Cheshire Cat when only its head is visible? I could have Jack confound a villain with a problem like that, if I feel like coming up with my own story.

· Boy, Alice really is kind of bratty.

· Everything about this trial is falling to pieces. If I were to rewrite it somehow, everything would have to fall to pieces.

(Illustration by Arthur Rackham)

Bibliography: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

Reading Notes: Celtic Fairy Tales, Part B

· I feel like this is dialect done well.

· I’m feeling as though I should have heard of saint Kavin (Kevin?) before now . . .

· One possible theme: honesty is rewarded.

· Ahhh I’m so sad that the goose died shortly after! Also, why couldn’t Saint Kavin just restore the king, instead of (or in addition to) the goose?

· I don’t understand the part about the giant at the beginning. What did he have to do with anything?

· So, if I write a story based on a Celtic fairy tale, death need not be permanent. Also, wow. I’m struck by how cruel Yellow Face is. Like, the bad guy is really bad.

· AHHH OH MY GOSH I’M SO UPSET.

· Basically, I could write a story about anyone or anything being falsely accused and punished for something, when they have actually done a good deed.

· I kind of like this story as it is, and wouldn’t really want to modernize it or anything. Maybe I won’t use it, because I already like (/hate because it makes me so upset) it so much.

· I like how this story took proverbs and adages (I assume these would all have been well known) and had the protagonist use them in real situations, and be rewarded for it. I wonder if I could choose three more maxims to have come up in an adventure? That could be fun.

· Once again, stating the obvious is wonderful. “Well, it was odd that here he should be in a thick wood he had never set eyes upon, turning Patrick Rooney upon a spit.”

· I like that twist: the tale just ended with him having been asleep.

· It seems as though these tales may be ending happily more often than some others.

(Illustration by John D. Batten)

Bibliography:  Celtic Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Celtic Fairy Tales, Part A

· I like the relationship between the father’s name and the son’s name: Conn and Connla.

· The first story (Connla and the Fairy Maiden) pits different sorts of longings against one another. I feel like the overall theme has to do with the joy and closeness of home and family, versus unknown, bright and promising splendors far off.

· This has a lot of dialogue. I should work on incorporating more dialogue.

· It doesn’t seem right to steal the leprechaun’s gold L.

· What if I told a tale that made everyone feel bad for the leprechauns?

· What if instead he got back and the garter was still there, but the leprechaun had dug up the gold?

· The tale of the witches was strange, and I didn’t particularly like it. What if instead they were playground bullies? The principle thing seems to be wicked people who are bested.

· The next tale was about the maiden from the lake. It’s quite sad. I could make it about a dating relationship. I could switch it so he would kick her out if she hit him three times. I could also switch it up and tell it from the perspective of one of her sons. Ooh! I could make it into a bedtime story, where she’s tucking in one of her kids and telling the story to one of her kids, after two blows have been struck. The kid could be super confused, or not realize that it’s about his own parents.

· I like this story of him completing such a frightening task! I think my favorite elements were his courage and his sass (“I see those, but I’ll sew this!”), so I would love to write up heroes that possess similar qualities.

· I love the quips! “If they were alive now, they would not be alive then.”

· I don’t understand the logic behind all of these.

· The idea of filling a sieve with water seems to come up a lot. It reminds me of the Celtic song “Scarborough Fair”.

· Wow. What a twist.

· I feel bad for the second wife… she’s doomed to always be second favorite.

(illustration by John D. Batten)

Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Alice in Wonderland, Part A

· I love how fantastical this all is.

· I think that one of the skillful things about his writing is the specificity. I’m thinking of the orange marmalade specifically. I should try to emulate that.

· I love this dialogue, and the interjections by the narrator appealing to the reader to consider what he is saying. Once again, I’d love to write like that.

· I also like his repetition of ideas. “either the locks were too large, or the key was too small”

· I also like how he states the obvious. She’s a little girl who know that if you hold a red-hot poker too long it will burn you, and things of that sort.

· He also states the obvious in very subdued terms. Things marked ‘poison’ are almost certain to disagree with you.

· Ooh I also enjoy how she talks to herself. It adds character to the whole thing.

· Once again, humor in the obvious: “there’s no sort of use in knocking . . . because I’m on the same side of the door as you are.”

· I didn’t know that there was also a Duchess who was bad, in addition to the Queen.

· I like the idea of incorporating rhymes into my story. He does that well.

(Illustration by Arthur Rackham)

Bibliography:  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

Reading Notes: Eskimo Folk Tales, Part 1

(Inuit Seal Hunting)

· It seems as though every creation story contains a great flood. Like, everywhere.

· It’s interesting to me how there seems to be this idea in the creation story of men kind of knowing what had to come next: women sewed clothes before there were children to dress in them, they desired dogs, they knew to progress from eating of the earth to hunting.

· What an unpleasant story! I like how the guy plotting murder gets his comeuppance, but it’s still sad. I’m also glad that Nukúnguasik didn’t get accused of murdering him.

· Once again, I’m very glad that the innocent bear didn’t get falsely accused of murdering the man when in fact the man attacked him first.

· What if the bear had been unhappy about the fact that the people eat bears?

· Awww I feel so bad for Qalagánguasê L. Why on earth did he tell all the people about the ghosts a minute after the ghosts told him not to?

· I could tell that story from the perspective of a villager. It might be unpleasant, though, because I would have to justify being mean.

· Wow I wish I could get married that easily.

· Wait so what happened to the girl?

· How does the girl feel about this? One day she’s married then the next someone’s like “no, you’re not his wife” and then you’re not? Why can that happen? (Yes, I know it’s a different culture.)

· “[It] always happened that he shamefully overslept himself every time he had made up his mind to go out hunting.” Same.

· I like that he’s willing to say that sheer luck caused him to save the man, not merit.

· This reminds me a bit of Samson and Delilah.

· So, did he end up living in the hills alone?

· But… the dude is married.

· Wow! He destroyed their sledges and took their stuff. I don’t like him.

Bibliography:  Eskimo Folk Tales, by Knud Rasmussen.

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales, Part A

· The first story is the one about the unnatural uncle and the boy who becomes an eagle. I’m left very confused as to a couple of things. First, how can the uncle murder people and everyone know about it, and nothing be done? That’s so weird. Also, if the boy and his parents and everyone know that the uncle is trying to kill the nephew, why on earth does he still go off alone with him? Can’t he just be like, “No, you’re not trustworthy.”? I guess I could take some of those confusing elements and amplify them in a story to show why they’re kind of absurd? But, I suppose that it just shows a greater respect for authority than our culture, so I could emphasize that too.

· The second story is about the men who are pulled far away on their canoe while sealing. It stood out to me that there is no mention of whether anyone did anything right or wrong, but Bluejay, who had teased Grouse and persuaded the others to be stingy with him, seems to have to endure the most trials. Maybe I could write about these incidents from the point of view of village people? Why do they feel compelled to challenge outsiders like that, especially when it’s bad for themselves too?

· I don’t understand Dug-From-Ground at all. It seemed pretty random. What if I changed it so that instead of there being an unaccepting mother there was an unaccepting young woman that he wanted to marry?

· I love that the parting curse of the baby eagles is rheumatism.

· So Jonayaíyin kills the eagle and the elk. My favorite part about the first adventure is how he gets so much help, and it’s obvious that that’s necessary. I could incorporate that element. I also like how the bat is willing to resign herself to the fact that she lost her right to her feathers.

(eagle nest)

Bibliography:  Stith Thompson's anthology, Tales of the North American Indians.

Reading Notes: Nigerian Folk Stories, Part B

· Could I do something other than thunder and lightning? What about rain and a rainbow, or something cheesy like that?

· I love the small details. “[H]e caught and ate a spider.” In fact, I loved all the details about the monkey. He seems like a delightful, distractible fellow, and I would enjoy seeming more of him. What if I were to write a story about him, and mischief he gets into?

· I feel like the solution to this wasn’t to say that no one could have a tame animal, but whatever.

· What if the mother moderated between the brothers, so that when they were about to fight each other she made them talk it out first, and bloodshed was avoided?

· There’s the one where the tortoise figures out the hippo’s name. I want to somehow mix that with the story of Rumpelstiltskin. Could I meld the two? I could have something where the hippo does the tortoise a favor, but requires his firstborn unless he guesses his name, or something along those lines…

· I don’t really like the story about the dog and the sheep. It’s too sad.

· Ugh that’s horrible. What if when a man behaves badly as a husband he gets thrown into slavery and she gets a new husband? I wish there had been grace. Actually, what I really wish is that he had stuck to one wife. I wonder how I could rework this…

· There are a lot of fat women in these tales.

· Wow, I’m so sad about the old woman.

· I don’t know if I think the tortoise cheated or not. He didn’t tell the whole tale, certainly.

· I could tell a story that revolves around the custom of killing twins. Maybe, there could be a Romulus and Remus type situation happening.

· I don’t like the stories that pit friends against each other.

(red-headed weaver bird/Nsasak)

Bibliography:  Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, by Elphinstone Dayrell.

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part B

· Ok, so the first story is about the priest who stays at the old woman (cannibal goblin)’s house. He looks into the back room, and it’s full of bones, so he runs away. Even though it ended up being very good that he looked, I’m kind of annoyed that he broke his promise to the old woman. What if I changed the story to where she only ate people who disobeyed her, so if he’s honest and doesn’t look in the room, he’s safe?

· An arm is such a strange thing to have taken. What about a bracelet or something? Also, I feel like he should ask this woman a question she would only know the answer to if she actually is his old nurse.

· What if I rewrite the story so that Watanabe successfully keeps the arm from the ogre, but then because of that the ogre keeps bothering him and everyone, because he doesn’t want to leave the area until he has his arm back?

· The next story is just like Cinderella.

· What if I focus on the stepbrother’s point of view? Maybe he is good and kind, and loves his sister, and wants his mother to be kind to her?

· Ahhh I’m so sad the little boy diedL. Is there something else, less extreme, that I could have happen to him?

· What if I moved the setting of this tale, so that instead of saving the emperor by praying in verse, she had to petition a principal to make recess longer by asking him in free-style rap, or something more modern like that?

· So he finds her and learns the truth and takes her home… This story reminds me a bit of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. What if I mix the two, and have the servant be friend with seven dwarves out in the woods, and she befriends them and charms the animals and such?

(Tatsuta River)

Bibliography:  Japanese Fairy Tales, retold by Yei Theodora Ozaki

Reading Notes: Nigerian Folk Stories, Part A

· This reminds me of the story of Samson and Delilah. I wonder if I can take the same concept but transpose it to a modern, less dark tale? Similarly, I could take the moral (“never marry a stranger, no matter how pretty she may be”) and write a different story to match it.

· The second story was the sad one about the rat and the bat. I guess I could do something about a friend betraying his friend…

· The moral of this story is also not to marry strangers. Once again, I could take that theme and run with it. Maybe they could end up marrying someone with one extremely eccentric and unforeseen habit or something.

· What if instead they passed a law that you could only have one wife at a time?

· Wow, I’m sad for all of the wives and mad at the king.

· What if I made the king into a little boy with toys instead, or something like that?

· I’m a bit confused about what Okun Archibong had thought, and what he was trying to accomplish. I guess I could write a story about a meddlesome person who gets his comeuppance (like Effiong Edem). Also, the theme about who you marry came up again.

· Wasn’t the leopard’s wife also in the wrong?

· The elephant and worm story about their eyes makes me very sad L.

· I think the hawk and hen story could be seen as yet another variation of why to not marry a story. Once again I could do a variation of that story. Or I could just pick some trait or interaction of animals and explain it through story.

· I’m saddened by the cat and rat story. Could I rewrite it where the king feels sorry for the rat and his girl, so he pays for them to be wed, or some other happy ending like that? Like, one that involves mercy instead of punishment?

(Oguta Lake, Nigeria)

Bibliography: Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, by Elphinstone Dayrell.

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part A

· His name is “My Lord Bag of Rice.” What if I told a story where he has a very similarly strange name, with some different back-story?

· For some reason, it stands out to me that the Dragon King is more concerned that he may eventually be carried off than that his children are being carried off.

· He said he would grant the King’s request if he could before he heard what it was. That’s a big no-no in quests.

· What if actually the Dragon King is evil and the centipede is good, but Hidesato blindly trusts the King? Could I write a story to that effect?

· I liked how well described the centipede was. He sounded genuinely terrifying and awful.

· I also like how he needed to find a trick (the human saliva thing) rather than just being able to kill it by brute force.

· What if I write a story where Hidesato doesn’t like fish? That would make everything less pleasant.

· So the way I would change his name would be by, I suppose, giving him different gifts. What if I wrote about the aftermath of his deeds, except he got super weird and inconvenient gifts and now he’s not sure what to do with them? Like a pot that always turned out desserts, but only totally gross desserts, like garlic ice cream or something?

· Or again, what if I told stories about Kintaro, but with very different animal friends?

· Also, it doesn’t seem fair for a bear to wrestle a hare.

· I feel like the wrestling matches sound like they would potentially leave hard feelings between various members of the group.

· It’s weird that the man just went into the cottage, and I want him to be Kintaro’s dad, even though Kintaro’s dad is dead.

· What if I change the animals and have them pit against each other at a game of chess or something, instead of wrestling?

(illustration from the book)

Bibliography:  Japanese Fairy Tales, retold by Yei Theodora Ozaki