Week 11 Story: Sun and Star

Once long ago there were a pair of siblings named Sun and Star. They watched over their friends and family from the sky to ensure that love was always flourishing through villages and everyone was able to find a partner to spend their life with. As you would suspect, sometimes the duo ran into trouble with picky bachelors/bachelorettes or a judgmental parent. They would always fix this by descending onto earth in the form of an animal or in a human disguise. One time they disguised themselves as a dirty, sick boy and his grandmother to see if the women up for marriage were kind at heart.

Their current target is an Eagle Princess who's father is so strict and does not believe any man is good enough for his little girl.

"She wants to find a husband so badly but her father never lets her out of his sight to meet people. We have to go help her." said Star.

"How should we go about this case?" asked Sun. "The father has already turned down a brave lion and a wise elephant. What is he possible looking for?"

"We can disguise ourselves as hummingbirds so we can sneak around her father and speak to the princess. Once she trusts us maybe we can convince her to leave the palace and come with us to find a suitor." suggested Star. 

"Let's go tomorrow because her father should be out hunting." said Sun.

The siblings were up all night gathering the ingredients to make a drink that allows them to take any form their heart desires. Before dawn arrived they took the potion and made their way to the Eagle Princess.

She was in her room sobbing when the two hummingbirds entered.

"I will never find a man to spend my life with as long as my father is around." cried the Princess.

"Maybe we can help you with that!" exclaimed Star.

The Princess spun around startled. "Who are you?!" she questioned.

Star and Sun had recognizable tattoos that remained on their body no matter what form they took. They both spread out their small wings to show a tiny crescent moon. The Princess knew who they were immediately after seeing these marks.

"We want to sneak you out of the palace so you can meet potential partners and tell your father who you want to marry!" exclaimed Sun.

"I already know who I want to meet! The loyal wolf seems like a great catch. Will you take me to him?" asked the Princess.

Sun and Star guided the Princess through the kingdom, carefully to not be seen, until they reached the wolf's place. The Eagle Princess introduced herself, but the wolf knew exactly who she was. They talked for hours before the siblings reminded her that they had to leave soon before the father returned.

The Princess knew what she had to do. She found her father in the woods still hunting and he was appalled to see her out of the palace.

"Sweetheart what are you doing here? This is no place for you. Go back to the palace where it is safe." demanded the King.

"Father, I am not a child anymore. I have been out all day and no harm has come to me. I want to marry the wolf and I will follow through with or without your blessing." said the Princess confidently.

The Eagle King thought this over for what seemed like eternity. "I just want you to be happy. I know the wolf will be good to you. You have my blessing."

The wedding ceremony was planned the next day with Sun and Star's assistance and the wolf and Eagle Princess lived happily together for the rest of their life.

Author's Note: The Dirty-Boy is about two daughters who do not want to marry anyone their father shows them. A brother and sister, Sun and Star, come down from the sky and disguise themselves as a sick boy who can't take care of himself and a grandmother. The sick boy wins the father's challenges and is promised both of his daughter for marriage. Only one daughter follows through with the arrangement and takes care of the boy. I thought Sun and Star had the potential for more stories, so I took the characters from the original tale and created another time where they helped two people get married.
Image Information: Two Hummingbirds Flying, Web Source: Max Pixel
Bibliography: Dirty-Boy from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. Web Source: Native American Hero Tales Unit

Week 9 Story: The Unhappy Wife

There once was a wife who was so sick of her husband she would rather die than stay married to him. She could not marry another man or run off because that was against her morals, so the only true way out of her commitment was death. The husband was awful to her and never allowed her to do anything without him. However, she knew how to get under his skin and thought of a plan to make him so mad that he would take her to the forest and kill her himself. The husband had an extreme dislike for palm-nuts. The nuts were extremely hard to prepare and even more difficult to find. The wife started asking for the food more consistently and assured the husband his family members were the ones requesting all of these nuts. The day approached where the husband broke down and asked why she needed so many nuts.

"What is the use of all of these palm-nuts? I know people are not eating this many every day!" insisted the husband.

"I told you it is your family who wants them! Now please, go gather some more!" said the wife.

The husband insisted that the wife join him on the next journey to find these nuts. When she refused, he forced her into the woods, cut off her limbs and left her there for death to find her. Although this was what the wife wanted, she began to think how evil it was for the husband to actually kill her.  When the next morning came she began singing loudly so someone would hear her. A man walking towards the woods for his daily hunt heard the beautiful voice and followed it. He approached the awful scene and immediately ran back to tell his wife what he saw. The gossip spread around town faster than you could imagine and the man was brought to justice by being placed above his wfie while they were both set to fire.

No one else could hear the wife as she whispered, "I suppose this means our marriage is over."

Author's Note: The Wicked Husband tells the story of a husband who takes his wife out to the forest and cuts off her arms and legs because she will not accompany him to find palm-nuts. Someone sees her after the disaster happens and word of it gets back to the prince. The husband was accused and set below a grill his wife was placed on. The burning of his body was his punishment. I wanted to expand on this tale and give more of a reason for why the husband would do such a thing to his wife. I also wanted the wife to have a bigger role in my story.
Bibliography: The Wicked Husband by Richard Edward Dennett, Web Source: Congo Unit
Image Information: Fire Pit, Web Source: Flickr

Week 7: A Deceiving Lake

After hunting all day to find a meal for his family, Drew had no luck capturing any meat to return home with. He stumbled upon a clear, tempting lake at the bottom of the hill he was on and could not help himself from starting down towards it. A black, glistening raven swooped down and 'cawed' right in is ear when he was about halfway down from his starting point.

"Hey! Leave me be or I will shoot you down!" shouted Drew. He took off his backpack to make sure he had his canteen. After searching through the traveling bag for a few minutes, he finally found what he was looking for. He starts his journey again but does not make it very far before the raven swoops down again, this time wrapping it's claws around the canteen and making off with it.

"What have you done! Now how shall I drink from the beautiful lake?!" questioned Drew. He became upset because he would not be able to bring food home for his children and now he had to worry about dehydration.

Suddenly, an idea struck Drew. He thought if he could spare some fish from the lake, he would have a meal for his wife and kids! The hunter emptied his backpack's contents out on the ground in front of him and was surprised to see a bowl. His wife must have placed that in  his backpack without Drew realizing. He picked up a knife to spare a fish and the bowl to drink some water. He held both items tightly close to him while hurrying towards the moving water, so the bird would not be able to take anything this time.

As Drew approached the edge of the lake, the raven zoomed down and flapped her wings around Drew's face and shoulders. He tried to swat the bird away, but forgot that he was holding a knife. A handful of feathers fell to the ground and a cry of pain followed. The raven tried to fly off but her wing was too damaged.   

Drew felt horrible because he did not mean to hurt the bird. He ran to the water and filled his bowl. As he returned to the raven he tried to give her some, but she cried out even louder than when she was cut.

"Why won't you take the water? It is so cold and it will make you feel better!" exclaimed Drew. The raven had a sad look in her eyes and Drew knew something was not right. "I'm going to spare some fish and I will give you the first one I kill!"

He rolled up his pants and walked in the stream ready to strike at the first sign of movement. He finally saw something red under a rock. As he lifted up the stone, he saw five small fish already dead. He thought this was so strange because they were small and looked healthy. He investigated more areas of the lake. He found many remains of fish and other animals. "The bird was trying to save me" Drew came to realize.

Drew returned to the raven once again and apologized. "I will take you home to my family and my wife will heal you." said the Hunter. On their trip home, Drew spotted some deer and began his hunt. He was able to feed his family after all and gained a lifelong companionship from the raven.

Author's Notes: In How the Raven Saved the Hunter, a man sees a stream and makes a cup leaf so he can drink from it. A raven comes down and knocks the leaf out of his hand to stop him from drinking. He gets upset with the raven and eventually shoots it and kills it. He feels guilty at the end because he makes the realization that the raven was just trying to save him. I did not like the heroic bird dying, so I had the raven survive in my version and the hunter still did not drink from the deadly lake. My plot was very similar to the original story, but I added some details of my own to this short tale.

Image Information: A Raven Flying Down with it's Claws Out, Web Source: Max Pixel
Bibliography: How the Raven Saved the Hunter from the Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton, Web Source: Tibetan Folktales

Week 5 Story: The Fairy's Favors

Once long ago there was a married couple who wanted to start a family of their own, but they were unsuccessful for many years.

Eventually, they journeyed to a land far away to find a fairy to grant them high fertility. They brought with them all the wealth they possessed, which was not much but they were very desperate to have a child. The fairy's castle they stumbled upon was surrounded by a beautiful forest. As they approached the castle the giant doors opened and the fairy flew out quickly.

"Who dare approach my castle in the midst of lunchtime?" demanded the fairy.

"We are sorry to bother you, but my wife and I would like to make a deal with you. We want to be given the gift of at least five children and in exchange we will give you all the gold and gems we have to offer" suggested the husband as he reached in his bag to present the gifts.

The fairy laughed at the sight of two gold goblets and three necklaces. "I have items of more value in one drawer than you have to give. I am feeling generous, so for a different price I will grant you your wish. I get to choose the names of your children and every time you want to conceive a new child, you must give the fairy community a favor." said the fairy with a smile.

The couple agreed without hesitation and continued inside to sign a magically binding contract. The first favor from the fairy was to fill three baskets full of fruit from the surrounding forest. The couple completed this task with ease and discovered nine months later the fairy held up her end of the bargain as well.

The fairy decided on the name Roman for the first child and he was born a beautiful baby. He never gave his parents trouble and they were a very happy family. However, they still earned for more children so they set off to ask the next favor from the fairy. She wanted them to find her sister and bring her to the castle. They had not spoken in a while, but she knew the town the sister was living in so the task was not impossible. The journey took the couple four days to get to the sister fairy and return back an extra day to convince the sister to come. Nine more months pass and the second born arrives.

The couple was very happy with their son, Ryan, but they really wanted a daughter. After waiting a few more years they ventured out to receive the fairy's next favor.

The fairy was in a foul mood when they arrived because her sister had just left after an awful fight. She wanted the couple to convince the fairy counsel to kick her sister off of the committee. They couple went to the next meeting and attempted a case for the sister to be voted off, but they did not know any bad cases against the fairy and she was well liked in the community. A few fairies voted for her to leave, but the majority vote was against the couple.

They returned to the fairy with bad news and she said for their attempt she will hold up half of her deal. Nine months proceeds and a girl is born, but with only half of her body. The fairy chose the name Reeve and wished the parents the best because she would not be assisting them with any more children because they failed her previous task.

The other children were scared of Reeve so the family was forced to move away. They secluded themselves from anyone else, but they lived a very happy life together. 

Author's Notes: The story begins with a King who does not have any children and asks a derwish for help. He is given four apples to feed his wives so they will become pregnant with children for him. One wife only eats half of the apple and births a son with a half-body. The King is furious and sends the wife and son away. I used the same introduction of wanting a child, but I used a couple instead of just a man or woman. I also included a child with a half-body being born, but my plot was very different and I included a fairy character instead of a derwish.
Bibliography: Nim Tanak from the Persian Tales by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer, Web Source

Image Information:  Castle in the Woods, Web Source: Pxhere

Week 3 Story: Cursed Friends

Author's Notes: I started my story with the author's second paragraph. The story consists of Narcissus being born very desirable and introduces Echo as only being able to reply with the end of what someone says to her. Juno cursed her with this because she helped nymphs escape from her. She saw Narcissus walking through the forest and was very interested in him, but he denied her and she spent the rest of her days hiding in the forest. I held onto the characteristics of Narcissus and Echo in my story, but I exaggerated them. My introduction is similar to the original story, but my plot and ending take a different path.




One humid summer night, a beautiful boy was born. A nymph told the boy's mother in order to live a long, happy life he needed to be humble by age twenty or that is when his life will change completely. This cursed boy's name was Narcissus.

While growing up he did not pay attention to other people fawning over him. He was kind to his family, but very conceited and almost arrogant. A girl named Echo lived next to him for seventeen years before Narcissus even spoke to her. Echo was also a bit conceited and very charming with her words. She could convince anyone to pay her a favor. The same nymph that cursed Narcissus was tricked into an unfair trade by Echo. As payback, Echo could only speak when spoken to and was only allowed to use three words per response. This situation could be reversed if she could create a true friendship with her condition. 

Echo attempted to speak with all of her old companions, but without the ability to carry an in-depth conversation she lost her charm. After a long day of trying to form connections, she gave up and went home. She saw Narcissus just upon arriving at her house.

"How are you?" asked Echo. "I have had a long day, but I can handle a little stress. I can handle anything." replied Narcissus. "Funny and Brave" said Echo as she thought of a plan to break the Nymph's curse. She knew Narcissus enjoyed talking about himself and having others listen to him talk about himself. Since she was no longer able to talk much anyways, maybe she could form a friendship with Narcissus.

As the next two years passed, Echo would go over and ask Narcissus how his day was and let him talk about himself for hours. She learned so much about him, but he knew nothing of her.

"Tomorrow is my twentieth birthday, I hope you come. There will be so many gifts and people are coming from everywhere to celebrate me." stated Narcissus. "Of course." replied Echo with an an eye roll. It is a shame that neither of them were aware of the other's curse because they could have helped stop the consequences of both.

The birthday party consisted of everyone dancing, singing and eating from a buffet of food. Narcissus sat in a huge chair, one fit for a king, overlooking his guests. He was sitting right by the gifts making sure everyone brought one. A woman comes in empty-handed and begins talking to other guests. Narcissus scowls at her for not bringing a present, and when she notices she approached him with a smirk.

"I see you are the complete opposite of humble. I know you talk about yourself far more than you speak of others." said the nymph.

Echo enters the party and sees Narcissus. She gives him his gift immediately and says "open". He unwraps the present to reveal a turtle, his favorite animal. He thanked her and returned to the nymph. "I'm sorry, but I think you should go. You are offending me at my own birthday party!" exclaimed Narcissus.

"I offered you twenty years to find humbleness. You are conceited and incapable of loving anyone else." the nymph replied to Narcissus. She turns to Echo and says, "You may have thought you found a true friendship with him, but a connection comes from both people. If he can tell me your favorite animal, I will break your curse. If he can't, you will receive the same punishment as him for wasting years with listening to his stories."

Echo looks at Narcissus with hope in her eyes. No words come from his mouth and he cannot look at her. The nymph laughs while lifting their curses, only to set a new one. Narcissus and Echo were to live the rest of their lives as turtles. The change would start at midnight, so after the party they both went into the forest to find a safe place by a river. They decided to help each other to make the transition easier. Finally, they showed signs of a true friendship, but it was too late to reverse any curse. 

Bibliography: 'Echo' from Ovid's Metamorphoses by John William Waterhouse. Web Source. 
Image Information: Two Turtles on a Fallen Tree, Web Source: Max Pixel

Week 2 Story: The Lion and the Man

A sneaky tiger had been stuck in his cage for days and there seemed to be no escape. He was starving but no one dared to approach him out of fear, until one foolish man arrived him. The tiger spotted him and immediately started plotting ways to get him close enough to the cage to eat, or even better, to release him.

"Hello good sir, would you be kind enough to free me? I would owe you my life!" exclaimed the tiger.

"I hate to see any animal suffer! I shall let you out at once!" He hurried towards the beast. "My name is Jack, by the way." Said the man as he forced the gate open.

The tiger smiled and replied, "Jack sounds like a tasty name!' He jumped towards the man, but was knocked back. He lifted his head to see what had happened and noticed Jack holding a shotgun.

"I knew you were faking that nice act! I wanted to give you a shot to be good, but I am a hunter. Now I need to do my job properly." said Jack with a grin.

"Wait!" exclaimed the tiger, "Give me a chance to prove that I do not deserve to die! There is a village nearby, if I can bring you three people that will say I have a good heart, will you spare my life?"

Jack thought this proposition over for a few minutes. "You have until sundown to come through with your deal. If you hurt anyone or cannot provide three people, your life is mine." promised Jack.

The tiger ran towards the village. He was spotted by three young girls who started shouting and ran back towards their families. He tried to ask people to listen to him, but everyone was in a panic and just ran away from him. For hours the tiger wandered around the village before he realized no one would come back with him. With his head hung low, he returned to the Hunter.

"Everyone was afraid of me. They wouldn't give me the time of day to show them I meant no harm." said the tiger sadly.

"Well I have an alternative option for you, get back in the cage and I will leave." requested Jack.

The tiger looked at Jack, and without much of a choice, slowly walked into the cage.

"Maybe next time someone frees you, you will not try and eat them." said Jack.

Jack returned one week later to check on the tiger. The village people had brought him food as an apology for not listening to his story. Jack, once again, let the tiger out and now he lives happily amongst the villagers.

Author's Notes: Jacob's story included a man who freed the tiger and then had to make a deal to save his life. I reversed this situation in my version. I made changes to the ending of the original story and added the village setting. The tiger's character was the same, but the man's character was a bit different in my tale.

Bibliography: "The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal" from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. Web Source.

Image Information: Lion Walking out of Woods. Web Source: Wikimedia Commons.