Week 6 Storytelling: A Different Spirit-Guarded Cave

The day before the Mycenaean boats met the shores of Crete, the island was in a flurry. This time, the people had time to prepare for the event that would change everything about their lives. Hundreds of years before, when an earthquake rumbled the growing city, the Minoans were taken by surprise. All of their houses, art work, and alters were decimated. Their most valuable possessions, the ones that defined their city itself, were lost in an instant to history.

Over time, the Minoans rebuilt the city to be ever grander than before. More than ever, they valued each construction as a testament to their very identity. The sprawling palace dominated the rolling landscape. Light flooded in from the sea and through the columns to illuminate rooms for courtiers and common people alike.  Paint bathed the walls in colors that could only be created by the gods. The frescoes awed every onlooker with their depictions of flowers from every season living harmoniously on the island.  Pottery of every shape and purpose lined the rooms, its marine designs symbolizing the sea to the frescoes’ shore.

Life by the sea was rich, until the white sailed appeared on the horizon.

The Mycenaean people had heard about the Minoans’ expansive palace and beautiful art. They longed for it, so they set out to take it. When the Minoans saw the boats approaching, they knew that, instead of living in continuous fear for their fates, they had to act.  At first, the people fled away from the shore and into the hills. However, as the sails grew closer, the Minoans grew more afraid that the Mycenaean warriors could still overtake them. After days of fearful retreat, the queen said, “Our lives are spent in trying to escape from our enemies and no joy can be ours.” Looking over their former city, the people knew that she was right. However, before they boarded their boats to seek refuge on another island, the Minoans did what their ancestors could not do before the earthquake – they saved their culture.

Hurriedly, they gathered their most valuable possessions and stored them in huge underground magazines where they could not be disturbed by the invading forces. Then, they placed their sacred carvings in front of the stalactites in the nearby caves.  As they left their figurines, each person prayed for protection from the gods for their families going forward and the possessions left behind in hopes that, one day, they could return to their city.

Minoan Marine Style pottery that could have been buried in the story
Image Source

Author's Note:

This story is based on the Lao's Folklore story The Spirit-Guarded Cave. In the original story, the people are also fleeing an enemy that is approaching their land. However, instead of leaving their possessions behind hidden, the people tried to take all of their money and jewels with them as they escape. As their situation became more dire, the riches caused a rift among the refugees. An old wise man knew that the people could survive being divided, so he proposes storing the items in a cave guarded by spirits. He stated that once they were safe again, they could send someone to retrieve the treasure, but until then, the treasure would be protected by the cave spirits. Sadly, the people were never able to return to the cave. However, the wise man was right in that no one who ever attempted to steal the treasure succeeded. While reading this story, I was reminded of a recent lesson about the end of the Neopalatial period of the ancient Minoans. They too had to flee from their city because of invaders. However, instead of taking their things with them, they decided to hide them from the start to prevent their enemies from taking their valuable possessions. I wondered what it would look like to merge elements of both of these stories!

Bibliography:

"The Spirit-Guarded Cave", Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson,(1899).

Week 6 Reading Diary: Folklore of Laos

This week, I am reading Folklore of Laos originally from Katherine Fleeson's Laos Folk-Lore.  Laos is a small country, but it is full of exciting history and culture.  This section has stories that seem like they could be in many Asian reading units like the Buddhist stories but also tales that are totally unique to Laos culture like the "how it's made" stories! Here are a few of my favorites!


A Child of the Woods:
I was really intrigued by this story initially because the storyteller is an old woman! First of all, it has been rare to see a female narrator who is not a bride or in danger. Second, she is lauded, not for her beauty or charms, but for her experiences! Cool! As I read about her experience in the jungle, I couldn't help but think of The Jungle Book. I wonder if these stories are connected at all or if it is one of those plot lines that spans cultures.  I'd also like to know more about her back story. What angered her so much? Why was she unafraid of the animals in the jungle when the other people were?

The Enchanted Mountain:
This story talks about a Garden of Eden of sorts. My favorite part was the flower that instantly gives you renewed energy-- I could use that quite frequently! The story mainly details all of the splendor of the enchanted place. However, it warns that it's goods cannot be taken away from it. I was most intrigue by this one though because of the final sentence. It states that only the young people believe the story. So, are the hunters telling the truth and only the kids believe it, or is this just a fairy tale to teach a lesson about faith?

The Spirit-Guarded Cave:
This story made me think of what I'm currently learning about in my ancient art and archaeology class. When the Mycenaeans encroached on the Minoan city of Knossos, the city's inhabitants strategically buried their most valued possessions deep in the earth near the palace. It is unknown of course whether they thought they could return to get these items after the attack or if they were just preventing the Mycenaeans for procuring them. In the case of this story, it seems the people intended to return. Unfortunately, unlike the people of this story, the Minoans' treasures were uncovered and taken by later excavators.

The Origin of Lightning:
This story was interesting because of its heavy focus on reincarnation. I did not think about that being a part of the belief system in Laos! It followed what little I know about reincarnation in that the favorite wife kept being reincarnated until her heart/character was pure and good. However, I am curious about how this worked with the king's motivations. While he did good acts, he did them for their reward not for the goodness of doing them. How does that fit in the puzzle?

Home near the jungle in Laos
Image Source

Thoughts about Comments

Through out the semester, I have really enjoyed both getting to know my classmates and learning about my own writing through the commenting exercises. 

My favorite kind of comment to receive includes a personal connection to the story. I feel like I have succeeded in my writing when it makes the reader think about things they've learned either in their own readings or outside of this class! With this in mind, one of my favorite things to include in a comment is that the storytelling made me want to go back and read their source story! On the technical side, it is always helpful to get tips on style, grammar, and content; however, I am often hesitant to leave these comments on other peoples' stories until I know how they write and interpret feedback. 

But of course, my favorite comment exercise is getting to meet everyone through their introductions! We have a diverse and intelligent class, and it's fascinating to read about their lives ns what influences their creative process. 

Week 5 Reading Diary, Continued: 22 Goblins

Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder concludes in both surprising and suspected ways. However, before learning the eventual fate of the goblin, King, and monk, the story twists and turns with more complex riddles! Like in the first section, each riddle is based on a story. Each correct answer can thus be found by reasoning out each element of the tale! The king is extremely clever and resilient, so even though the goblin continues to escape with every correct answer, the king continues to return and get him. However, the plot twist came when the king could not solve the final riddle about how the children from the strange marriages would be related. (Simultaneous grandchildren and half-siblings?)  What would happen now that the goblin had to go along with the king?

I was right! The monk was suspicious! He intended to sacrifice the king for the sake of magic and power. Luckily, the goblin warns the king who in turn kills the monk and saves the day. The goblin then promises that anyone who reads his stories from then on will be deemed sin free (hooray!). Then, in an unexpected appearance, Shiva appears, applauds the king's bravery, and rewards him with an enchanted sword and longevity! 

Shiva, who rewards the brave king with a sword of truth!
Image Source

Week 5 Reading Diary: Twenty-Two Goblins

After reading a classmate's storytelling post based on this section last week, I was excited to get the chance to read Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder! Plus, this was a fun chance to read more about India, which I got the chance to learn a lot about last semester!

Twenty-Two Goblins is a story about a brave king who agrees to assist a devoted monk. The monk asks that the king meet him in a graveyard at night to fulfill the promise. Spooky! Then, once in the graveyard, the monk instructs the king to remove a dead body that is hanging from a tree to bring back to the monk. The monk has also prepared some form of ritual display. Now this is just eery! What does the monk intend to do?

Of course, fetching the dead body is no easy task. It has been inhabited by a goblin! I had no idea that this is what goblins did! No wonder they're such a scary part of folklore! The king relents on, though, and carries the goblin within the corpse toward the monk. However, the goblin then begins telling stories with riddles. If the king solves the riddle, the goblin returns to hang in the tree. If he does not know the riddle, nothing happens. However, if the king knows the answer but says a wrong answer, then the king's head will explode.

Luckily, the king is extremely clever and reasons out each riddle. Then, he dutifully returns to the tree to get the goblin down again. Why does the goblin play this game? What is the backstory of the monk and the goblin? Finally, what would happen if the riddle was something that couldn't be reasoned out? Could the king still solve it?

The king carries the goblin while he recounts his riddles
Image Source

Growth Mindset: Meme

These past few weeks have come with a lot of challenges! However, I'm choosing to take a cue from my rescue dog, Baxter, and keep a positive attitude regardless of the circumstances! You would never know it, but just before this photo was taken, Baxter was diagnosed with Glaucoma and an Ear Infection. He just keeps smiling, though!

I made this meme using Canva!

Week 4 Review

As I started on a paper for Ancient Art and Archaeology, I couldn't help but laugh at this cartoon! Of course, ancient peoples really did abbreviate a lot of things when it came to carving into stone -- maybe just not pictures of cell phones! :)

Friday's Announcements Cartoon! 

Aboriginal Myth: Style Brainstorm

Topic:
My storybook will be based on Aboriginal myths from Australia! I hope to find 4 different stories from different part of Australia that can be tied together in a storytelling style. So far, it seems that stories from different regions have common themes and elements, so it will be interesting to bring them all together in one storybook! So far, I think that I would like to use the Southern Australian story of Wayungare and His Wives and the more Western story How Fire Was Stolen From the Red-Crested Cockatoo. There are many stories to choose from on the Internet Sacred Texts Archive and maybeI will find some more sources during my travels too!

Bibliography:
1. Animal and Miscellaneous Tales (Part V, Chapter II), from Oceanic Mythology, by Roland B. Dixon, 1916
2. How Fire Was Stolen From the Red-Crested Cockatoo, from Some Myths and Legends of the Australian Aborigines, by W. J. Thomas, 1923

Possible Styles:

Frame Tale Storyteller:
Because indigenous cultures value oral traditions so deeply, I think it would be really interesting to construct this story book as a wise elder telling the stories to a younger generation or a friend. With this style, I could carry the same narrator throughout the entire storybook in order to better connect the diverse subject matter.  Maybe it could begin with the narrator and the listener arriving at an old house or important area that brings back memories of these stories!

Traveler:
Since I will be traveling to Australia myself in less than a month, I think that it could be interesting to collect these stories in a traveler's journal format. In this style, I could incorporate creative elements in story in the third person and in the traveler's reactions in the first-person! This style would also work well with including lots of images to enhance the feel of a notebook and scrapbook.

Animals as Storytellers:
So many of these stories involve animals that it would be really interesting to take a fresh look at the stories from their perspective! I think that this style would work well as an anthology with a different animal narrating the story from their region. If the original story was predominantly about humans, I could invent an animal character to act as a witness to the events!

How It's Made:
Many of the stories that I read through explained the origins of natural monuments and phenomena or why animals looked the way that they did. It's a perfect starting point for a story of a name style book! I think that this could work well as either a frame tale or an anthology. If it was a frame tale, it could maybe be about a child balancing what they're learning in school with what they've learned through stories.

Illustration of a great warrior featured in many of the myths I read through!
Image Information

Week 4 Storytelling: Genie in the Jar

Yellow is my least favorite color.

That wasn’t always the case though! Years ago, I would watch the sun shoot little yellow sparks of light onto the rocks by the shore. The waves were too concerned with their work of gently polishing the rocks to notice how they bounced the glow back out towards the deep. I traveled to places where yellow and brown specks of sand stretched on endlessly toward the horizon. If I wanted, I could chase the yellow of the sun around the globe, but, the way the stars sparkled yellow on a hazy night were always just as endearing.  

Now, yellow just means prison.

The marks on the jar wall tell the story as well as I could. At first, they were neat, delicate, and well-aligned. Each one signified a day. After around a thousand days, the lines became deeper and longer – months.  Soon, another thousand or so marks dotted the room around me. The new ones were haphazard — years.

Each day was the same. The gentle sway of the ocean that I once admired became my daily torment. While, as a captive of the yellow jar, I was free from the assault of the water around me, I didn’t escape the overwhelming pressure of the sea weighing down upon the small container. Before being placed there, I would yearn at times for a moment of silent solitude. How wonderful would it be just to sit and think without interruption or obligation? Such luxury is difficult to appreciate in a state of desperation.

Regardless, I did occupy my mind.

I told myself story after story and imagined each one as vividly as if it were right there in front of me. Sometimes, those stories included how I ended up sealed in this jar, but I usually tried to think about the future instead.  My favorite story, predictably, involved being released from the jar. I thought, “if anyone should free me before a hundred years were passed, I would make him rich even after his death.” I told myself this tale, and I held on to hope.

I counted and recounted the etchings on the wall. 100 years.

I was feeling more despondent than ever.  Surely I haven’t been rescued because I just haven’t promised enough! “I would give all the treasures in the world to my deliverer!” I declared to the lid of the jar.

Another hundred lines joined the already crowded ranks.

I had tired of my own stories, quit believing in my fabricated hope, and stopped carving the mocking lines into the wall. In my anger, I swore that if anyone let me free, I would only give them the option of how they wanted to die. 

As it turns out, hundreds of years of solitude is no help to combatting cunning! After brief glimpses of freedom that was anything but yellow, I was back in the jar. This time; however,  I sent myself there.

Yellow Chinese Pottery 

Author's Note:

When reading the unit on Arabian Nights, I was particularly intrigued by the story of The Fisherman. The namesake character is severely impoverished and needs to get a good catch in order to provide for his family. However, after three tries, he has caught nothing. Then, on his final cast of the day, the fisherman pulls up a yellow jar in his net. He assumes that it must be valuable, so he decides to take it back to sell. Suddenly though, thick smoke pours out of the jar and a genie emerges! The genie proceeds to tell the fisherman about what he resolved to do for whomever freed him over the course of his hundreds of years in the jar. The fisherman is quick witted, though, and in avoiding his own death, asks for the genie to verify that he really can fit in the tiny jar. Once the genie returns to the jar to prove a point, the fisherman quickly replaces the lid, trapping the genie once more. Throughout all of 1001 Arabian Nights, I wished that there was more insight into the genies' personalities and backstories. So, I was excited to take the time to explore what the fisherman's genie could have been thinking during his many years of imprisonment.

Bibliography:

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).