Week 7 Reading Diary: More Brer Rabbit

This week I chose to continue the Brer Rabbit story with More Brer Rabbit.

Like the last Brer Rabbit unit, the language is still difficult to understand. I did, however, learn an new word from Brother Bear's Big House. The word was sagaciate, but was spelled sagashuate in the reading. It is nice to learn be learning new words even with the language how it is.

In Brer Rabbit's Flying Trip, I found it to be kind of similar to Mr. Rabbit Meets His Match Again. Only this time Mr. Rabbit was ridding Mr. Buzzard and enjoying every second of it instead of being all "weak in de knees" like he was in the latter story. Mr. Rabbit always seems to know what is happening before any other character even thinks about it.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that all of the creatures can never seem to see that Mr. Rabbit is always setting pranks on them. In Brer Rabbit Finds the Moon in the Mill Pond, he has everyone believing that they wouldn't be able to see at night anymore if they didn't pull the moon out of the pond.

I like the addition of the Jack Sparrow character. In The Fate of Mr. Jack Sparrow, it throws a kink into Mr. Rabbits kink free plans. I liked it because it made Mr. Rabbit work a little harder than he normally has to in order to pull fast ones on the different characters.

I enjoyed it when there were stories that didn't include Mr. Rabbit, it allows me to see how clever some of the other characters are. In Mr. Bear Catches Old Mr. Bull Frog, we are able to see Mr. Bull Frog for the first time and how clever he is to trick Mr. Bear in order to get away. Who knows, maybe Mr. Bull Frog is smarter than Mr. Rabbit. I guess we will never know.

It is nice to hear stories that explain some of the natural phenomenons of the world. In How Mr. Rabbit Lost His Fine Bushy Tail and Why Mr. Possum Has No Hair on His Tail, we learn why rabbits tails are short, and why possums have no hair on their tail. These stories give an interesting account as to why these things occur in real life. 

Week 6 Essay: Assessing Brer Rabbit

This week I read the Brer Rabbit unit, it was very interesting unit, especially with the language that it was written in.

I would say that I both liked, and disliked the language that was used in the reading unit. It was difficult to get used to what exactly was being said, even while listening to the Librovox audio. While listening to the audio, it was easier to understand, but it was still a little confusing at times. The reason I did like the language was how it made the stories feel authentic in a way. The Librovox audios also included the interaction between Uncle Remus and Sally's son, which frames each story. That reminds me of being a kid and hearing stories from a family member much like what Uncle Remus is doing. Listening to the audio also allows you to really get a feel of how the language should truly be pronounced.

I really loved how each story is a game of wits between one character or another. Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Fox consistently have showdowns between each other. Another positive I liked, was the broad amount of characters which allows the many different interaction other than just Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Fox. Each character has their different assets as well. Like I have said a couple of times, this reading reminds me of the Tom and Jerry, Roadrunner, of course Bugs Bunny cartoons from when I was a child. Those shows will share a special place in my heart on Saturday mornings!

(Looney Tunes Cartoon: Wikipedia)

I really have no complaints over this reading. Like I said earlier, the language was a bit difficult to get used to but was did not take overly long to get comfortable with. I did struggle with the proverbs though, mainly because some of the definitions of the words that was used were unknown to me.

Overall it was an excellent reading unit.

Storytelling Week 6: Mr. Rabbit and the New Shortcut

One time when Brer Rabbit was hopping along the road. As he was bouncing along, Mr. Fox, who could see Brer Rabbit up the road, thought to himself, "Today is the day that I finally catch Brer Rabbit!"

What Mr. Fox had planned was a pretty smart idea. He had come across some extra paint cans the other day and figured he could use them to catch Brer Rabbit. Earlier that morning, Mr. Fox found a part of the road that had a large section of rock right next to it, and get to work with his plan. Mr. Fox painted what looked like a tunnel and a road going through the rock. Apparently Mr. Fox was a great painter, as the tunnel he painted looked as though it was the real thing.

(Tunnel Painted Over Rock: Animation Backgrounds - Rob Richards)

Anyways, back to Brer Rabbit coming up the road. As Brer Rabbit came up to Mr. Fox, he asked, "Where you going there Mr. Rabbit?"

A little startled, Mr. Rabbit replied, "Well I'm just hopping down to the gardens looking to score me some carrots for dinner."

Eager to get his plan in motion, Mr. Fox quickly replied, "Don't cha have to go through the briar patch in order to get there?"

"It's not too bad, I only get a couple cuts and scrapes each time I go through there." responded Mr. Rabbit.

"It sounds to me that if you had a shortcut it would make life a lot easier for you." said Mr. Fox in a sly voice.

Curious, Mr. Rabbit asked, "You wouldn't happen to know about a new shortcut now would ya?"

"I reckon I stumbled across one this morning just up the road. Some people made a new road through the rock. I bet it will save you a lot of time!" said Mr. Fox.

"Alright, I will go check it out then!" responded Mr. Rabbit.

So Mr. Rabbit went down the road and took a look at this new shortcut that Mr. Fox had told him about. As he hopped up to the "tunnel" he noticed the paint cans that Mr. Fox had lazily tried to hide behind a bush. Thinking quickly on his feet, while Mr. Fox wasn't looking, Mr. Rabbit drew a small version of himself on the tunnel so it looked like he had passed through. After he finished he hid behind the bush that the paint cans were hidden.

Mr. Rabbit then yelled out, "Thanks for telling me about the shortcut Mr. Fox! It will help me out a lot!"

Confused, Mr. Fox quickly looked over, and sure enough there was Mr. Rabbit at the end of the tunnel. So in a quick lapse of judgement, Mr. Fox ran after the Mr. Rabbit that was on the tunnel and POW... Mr. Fox ran right into the rock.

After Mr. Rabbit heard the loud bang from Mr. Fox running into the rock, he jumped out from behind the bush with his face beaming with a wry grin.

"Better luck next time Mr. Fox!!!!" yelled Mr. Rabbit as he hopped back home.

Authors Note:
When I first read The Wonderful Tar-Baby from the Brer Rabbit reading unit, it reminded me of when I used to watch the Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons. This story was a combination of those cartoons and the Brer Rabbit stories. In the original story, Mr. Rabbit comes across a "Tar-Baby," mistaking it for a person he starts talking to it. When the "Tar-Baby" doesn't respond Mr. Rabbit gets angry and hits it. When this happens his hand gets stuck to the "Tar-Baby." Eventually all of Mr. Rabbit's limbs get stuck to the "Tar-Baby."

Bibliography:

Story Title: The Wonderful Tar-Baby
Story Author: Joel Chandler Harris
Year: 1881
Source: The Wonderful Tar-Baby

Week 6 Reading Diary: Brer Rabbit

The language was very difficult to get used to in the Brer Rabbit unit.

I found myself either, speaking the stories out loud, or listening to the Librovox audio accompanied with the unit. The Librovox audio makes it much easier to understand what Uncle Remus is saying.

When I read The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story, the first thing that came to my mind, was me waking up on Saturday mornings and sitting in front of the television to watch the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons. It brought back a significant urge to watch some of those cartoons again.

I was a little shocked about how much detail of the death of Mr. Wolf was shown in The Awful Fate of Mr. Wolf. Needless to say he got his just desserts though. I like how pretty much every story is a battle of the wits between the characters.

I really enjoyed Old Mr. Rabbit, He's a Good Fisherman. It is one of those perfect cons that Mr. Rabbit thinks up when he gets himself in a crappy situation from being lazy. Mr. Fox, is still just as gullible as ever.

Another great one was Mr. Terrapin Shows His Strength. He pulls one over on everyone, including Mr. Rabbit, and makes them believe that he is stronger than Mr. Bear and Mr. Fox combined. Which is a pretty big feat! So this Mr. Terrapin showed that he is stronger than a bear and quicker than a rabbit. That is one pretty talented turtle.

I was actually surprised that this unit mentioned the Legend of Noah, in The Story of the Deluge. This story has a different description as to how the earth was flooded. I thought it was funny that it was the crawfish that ended up creating the great flood.

The Plantation Proverbs were both interesting and confusing. I thought it was a cool little reading but some of them were difficult to understand. When I listened to the Librovox Audio it was a little confusing because part of it didn't match up to the text.

Week 5 Reading Dairy: Jatakas (Shedlock)

The reading unit I chose this week was the Jatakas (Shedlock).

When I read The Parrot That Fed His Parents, it caught my eye. It caused me to reflect back on all the things that my parents have provided me throughout my life. Like that parrot, I will definitely take care of my parents in their old age.

I also enjoyed reading The Bull That Proved His Gratitude. In ways I can relate that to The Parrot That Fed His Parents. The parrot in that reading is also proving his gratitude to his parents by feeding them, like the bull is proving his gratitude to the old women by obtaining money.

The Monkey that Saved the Hero made me a bit curious. There didn't seem to be a hero in the reading that was saved. The monkey king saved his entire 80,000 troupe from the water ogre. So I was a little confused at to why the title of the reading says that the monkey was saving a hero.

Grandmother's Golden Dish reminds me of a term that called "sharking' in the serving business. "Sharking" is where a waiter waits a the front of the restaurant to sit a table in their own section, breaking the certain rotation that is in place for all the servers. I one had a coworker who did this; that table of four people ended up spending 20 dollars in the entirety of their meal, and the waitress got around 3 dollars for a tip. Needless to say she was not excited about that table.

How the Antelope Was Caught reminds me of my parents dog. Every time they eat some sherbet ice cream, and are at the end of the bowl, they scrape the bottom of the bowl to get the last of it. When this happens, if their dog is in another room, he will immediately come to their side. They normally let him lick the bowl clean. It has turned into a Pavlovian response for him.

In The River Fish and the Monkey, I was surprised that the fisherman were asking such a high price for the fish when they knew not that there was a package full of money inside of it. The river spirit must have powers beyond that of just stuff within the river.

I was really confused after reading The Poisonous Trees, the stanza that the Bodhisatta says at the end of didn't make sense to me. After a while I realized that because the tree is not hard to climb, and there are plenty of fruit on its branches, then it must be bad fruit that grows. It's a clever way to realize what kind of tree that is.

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Week 4 Storytelling:Siddhartha's First Sees Suffering

It was time for winter to begin throughout the land. However, due to Prince Siddhartha's radiance and glory, the land still looked and felt like it was spring. Flowers continued to bloom in all the gardens of the palace. The sun shone brilliantly through the corridors bathing all of the rooms in a bright and warming light.

As Prince Siddhartha walked through these glorious halls to the garden, he had a sudden urge to leave the palace. The prince's father heard word of him wanting to leave the palace. The king knew that if he tried to keep his son from leaving the palace, it would only make his desire stronger.

So the king sent for his charioteer. When he came, the king told him that the prince was going to take a trip to see the cities' marvels. However, "The prince shall not see any beggar nor sickly people lining the street that he will be traveling," said the king. So the king had all the people who suffered removed from the side of the street that the prince would be viewing.

When the prince reached the royal stables the king's charioteer was already waiting for him with the chariot ready. So the prince and the charioteer set off on their trip to the city. As they left the palace the prince saw a vast amount of people roaming the street. The street was ornately decorated with streamers and lanterns covered in precious stones and lined with gold. As the chariot passed through the street the people were enamored with the prince's unearthly presence. The entire city flocked to the sight of the prince.
Only words of praise could be heard about him.

As the God's watched this spectacle they became jealous of the warmth that was in Prince Siddhartha's soul. In their jealousy, the God's created an old man and stuck him next to the street that the prince was traveling on. This old man was extremely frail, having to troublesomely lean on a walking stick, and was wrinkled to no end.

When the prince laid eyes upon this man, it stirred up some curiosity in him. He questioned his charioteer, "Who is this man so frail and feeble? He struggles to stand and walk, is it by nature that he does this so?"

(Frail Old Man: WikiMedia)

His charioteer tried his best to not answer the prince's question. However, the God's confused his mind and before he realized he said, "Old age has seized this man, he was once small and cute, nursing on his mothers food. Yet time has ravaged his soul and his twilight years have reached him."

The realization that old age takes away any and every persons youth made him shudder. He could not stop thinking about the terrors of old age. How could one enjoy the beauties of the world with old age looming over each persons soul. Saddened the prince returned to the palace, however, he could not find peace in the beauty of the castle.

Authors Note: This story is based off of The First Encounter. I didn't want to change much of the story since it was such a prominent part of Prince Siddhartha's life. It was the first time the prince had seen something less than glorious. It was the first time that he had seen suffering. It began to change the way the thought of the world.

Bibliography:
Book Title: The Life of Buddha
Story Title: The First Encounter
Author: Andre Ferdinand Herold
Year: 1922

Week 4 Reading Dairy: The Life of Buddha

This week I chose to read The Life of Buddha.

The first three stories of this unit (Maya's Dream, Birth of Siddhartha, Asita's Prediction) talk about how glorious the prince is and will become. I was surprised about how radiant the second two stories describe prince Siddhartha to be. There is so much joy in the world after he is born, and everything, ever the trees and rivers, become more beautiful from his birth.

The ones I enjoy most are the units about his encounters with the evils of the world. In his First Encounter he learns about old age. In the Two More Encounters, he learns about sickness and death. The prince talks about how mankind is able to seek pleasure knowing what death is. These two readings are definitely a reality check for the prince, who has seen nothing but joy his life. It also comes as a reality check for the reader.

In The Great Truths prince Siddhartha is finally starting to unravel. He cannot get the idea of death out of his mind until the Gods send him a monk that talks about his life of solitude. He finally understands what he wants to do with his life, and decides to become a monk. His mind had now become enveloped with the idea of "supreme blessedness, of beatitude, of nirvana."

Even I was saddened when I read about prince Siddhartha's exit from the palace. There is a great amount of sadness in Gopa and Suddhodana Grieve. It is hard not to feel like the prince is making a mistake. However, so many supernatural things happen for him to leave that one can't help but wonder that it is the right thing to do. I was very saddened to hear that his horse Kanthaka died from sorrow.

In the Arata Kalama the prince makes perfect sense in his reasoning for not preaching or following Arata Kalama's word. The prince asked what the difference is between indulging in desire and indulging in suffering. In each situation mankind was indulging in something, which in part is the root of old age and death.

Finally the true law comes to Prince Siddhartha's mind, in Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha. He realizes that it is an endless circle of birth to suffering to death and back to birth again. Beyond the religious implications, this reading makes a good point about cause and effect throughout the real world. Actions always have consequences, whether good or bad.

Week 3 Essay: Assessing the Jewish Fairy Tales

I have really enjoyed the readings that I have chosen for the last two weeks. This unit is different because it is mainly fairy tales, where as the Legend of Noah is more of a history of the major events that came about in Noah's life.

One of my favorite movies from this reading was The Rabbi's Bogey Man. I have an Aunt named Carol and her daughter, my cousin, named Amber that lives in Shreveport, Louisiana. Amber is a couple years older than me and my brother. My mother, my brother, and myself have been in an argument with Aunt Carol and Amber for years and years. That argument happens to be about which of our mothers is the "Bogey Momma." It was interesting to read that the first contraption that the Rabbi made was in fact a "Bogey Momma." Plus, I never really knew the story behind the Bogey Man.

Since the unit about Noah didn't contain any notes I was happy to see that the Jewish Fairy Tales unit did. The notes at the beginning of each story were very helpful. I actually did some more research into the Wikipedia page about the golem creature from other Jewish stories. The notes are a nice way to bet some background information about a certain aspect of the story.

The only thing I didn't like about this unit was the fact that it did not have the Librovox Audio. I used that for the Legend of Noah unit and really enjoyed it. In some of the stories it helped to pronounce the names right, and was nice to not have to look at a screen the whole time.

Overall It was a good unit. I was glad that I chose to match the legend of Noah unit and not do another completely random one. Like I said above, the only thing that I would change would be to add audio to it.

Week 3 Storytelling: The 50 Year Food Coma

It was the time just after the Pilgrims had landed on North American soil. Many families were toiling as they built their log cabins, using one large tree after another. The Onais family's construction went a lot quicker than the other families. The father of the family, Charlie, was a strong and burly man nearly twice the size of every other father in the town. Charlie was so big that his appetite was rarely ever truly satisfied. He would hunt from dusk to dawn trying to get as much food as possible.

When winter came, food continually became harder and harder to find for the people of the new town. People began to get sick and morale began to drop, which made things worse. A nearby Native American tribe, who new the laws of the land, saw the withering town. There was a long debate as to whether they should help the starving people out. Finally, the tribe decided that it was the right thing to do, and that their God's would be pleased by their good deeds.

One morning as the sun shone brightly, reflecting beautifully off of the fresh snow and icicles, the Pilgrims of the town saw a caravan of Native Americans coming down from a trail that led into the forest. At first the townspeople were wary about their intentions; however, once the people smelled the wonderful aroma produced from the massive amounts of slow cooked meats, and husk after husk of corn they had in their arms, there was no longer anxious feelings towards these new guests. As the chief of the tribe came into the town square, he was welcomed with open arms by everyone.

Charlie, who was the strongest of the town, was asked to help gather all the tables in the town and put them together like one large table. He made quick work of this job, and soon the entire town square was filled with a long and windy table that would be filled with the mounds of food.

Charlie had never seen so much food in his life. His face lit up, and a smile similar to that of a child's first taste of ice cream came upon his face. As soon as he understood that it was acceptable for him to start eating, he did so quite vigorously. He ate more food in a shorter time than any winner of Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest could ever have dreamed of. By the end of the grand meal, his belly had swollen to such an enormous size that he resembled a pot-bellied pig.

(Two Pot-Bellied Pigs Sleeping: Wikipedia)

He struggled to get up, and told his wife that it was a perfect time for a nap. So he wondered about the town looking for a comfortable heap of hay to lie upon. Eventually, he came across a house that had been long abandoned due to the death of the family that once lived there. This house had a large bail of hay and he knew this would be a wonderful spot to stop and nap. He was soon asleep dreaming of the wondrous food he had just engorged, just like younger kids who dream of sugar-plums the night before Christmas.

Unfortunately for his family, Charlie had not told his wife or kids where he would be taking his nap. After Charlie did not come home for an entire week, she became frantic with worries of where he might be (his hunting trips often took multiple days). She was worried he was lost in the woods somewhere and rustled up a search party that only thought to search the woods, and not the town itself. After multiple weeks went by Charlie's wife gave up hope on ever finding her wonderful husband. Each year on Thanksgiving, Charlie's wife would mourn her husband instead of joining in the festivities celebrating the first grand feast.

After 50 years had passed, the abandoned house that held the sleeping charlie was scheduled to be torn down because of the damage the years had done to it. Charlie was awoken by a team of people that were checking the place out to make sure there was no one in it before it was torn down. These men were astounded to find a man fast asleep on top of the hay.

Awoken from his deep slumber Charlie was startled to find that his massive belly had withered away into a flat stomach. Still groggy he began to walk towards his house, not realizing all of the changes around him. He eventually reached his house expecting to find his wife and kids playing in the living room; However, what he saw as he walked through the door confused him. He saw an old  women lying in bed with two middle aged people tending to her. As the rust on the gears in his mind began to clear, he realized that this was his family. His kids were as old as he was, and his wife....his beloved wife had become so frail. Tears came to his eyes immediately at the thought about the trouble he must have caused his family, and the memories that had missed.

He took off running, his mind not knowing what else to do. After miles of running he came to realize how cold it was and decided to stop in to take a breather. As he was in the cave, he decided that he did not want to see a reminder of the life he had missed out every day. He thought to himself, if I go back to sleep, maybe more time will pass and I can start another life for my own. As he drifted off to sleep peace came over him; however, he would not wake up in this world ever again.

Author's Note: I decided to write about the The Sleep of One Hundred Years. I changed up the the story from being about the destruction of Jerusalem to being about Thanksgiving. The main reason for this decision was that I started writing this story just after have a large lunch. About fifteen minutes into writing it I became really sleepy and thought that a "food coma" would be a perfect explanation for sleeping for fifty years. In the original story Rabbi Onais, so worried about the destruction of Jerusalem, decided to rest and for 100 years he slept. Upon awakening he realized he was an old man in a very strange place that he did not know. He decided that the only way he could find peace again would be to sleep again, so his prayers were answered and that is what he did.

Bibliography:
Story Title: The Sleep of 100 Years
Book Title: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends
Book Author: Gertrude Landa
Year: 1919
Websource: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/jewish-fairy-tales-sleep-of-one-hundred.html

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Week 3 Reading Diary: Jewish Fairy Tales

This week I chose to complement the Legends of Noah unit I read last week and read the Jewish Fairy Tales unit.

I found The Beggar King to be an interesting story. I love stories that hit home with good themes. I felt like King Hagar learned his lesson quite well. In the end of the story it talks about how wise and kind of a king he was for the rest of his days.

(Singing Beggars by Ivan Yermenyov: Wikipedia)

I was a big fan of The quarrel of the Cat and the Dog. I enjoy these kind of miscellaneous knowledge stories. I can just picture a small child asking why a cat and a dog always fight, and now I can tell a story like this one to enlighten them.

Another favorite was The Magic Palace this definitely peaked my interest as to who Elijah the prophet is. I have a feeling that this Elijah character could be mirrored with Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus was a carpenter and in the story this disguised Arab makes this marvelous structure in a single night.

The King for Three Days reminds me of a time in my high school English class. We were discussing Greek mythology, in particular oracles. I think the story was about Oedipus. Anyways, the power of oracles or prophets, and any other similar characters are so great. Yet, people in these stories consistently disbelieve what they say.

I have to say, a big reason that I liked The Higgeledy-Piggledy Palace so much was the name itself. It kind of reminds me of Alice in Wonderland and the Cheshire Cat. So much "weird" stuff kept happening to the Pharaoh because of the spirit.

(Cheshire Cat: Deviant Art)

The Fairy Frog is another story, after reading it, that you come away with a lesson learned. The main character show patience and respect for their elders even though they went through tough times. These are definitely the kind of stories I enjoy.