Extra Reading: Italian Tales of a Man Who Can Speak to the Animals

Here is a summary of the story of the young man who can speak to the animals:

• A father sent his son to school for ten years
• After that time, the son came home to a big feast with many noble men
• They asked him to share one thing he had learned and he shared that he learned the language of animals
• The men laughed and mocked, and his father ordered for him to be killed
• The slaves would not follow through as they knew it was wrong. 
• The young man traveled far and came to a treasurer.
• Upon arriving, one hundred dogs arrived to the castle of the treasurer as well. 
• The treasurer was confused, but the boy informed him that one hundred assassins were going to attack the castle that night.
• His warning saved the treasurer, and he was forever grateful.
• The young man traveled again and came to a King. 
• The King's daughter was sick because the frogs croaked all night and refused her sleep. 
• The man resolved the issues with the frogs and the King was forever grateful. 
• He traveled again and met a couple companions.
• One day some birds were flying overhead and his companion asked why they were singing so joyfully. 
• The man informed them that they were celebrating being in the presence of one who was about to become the Pope. 
• A bird landed on the young man's head and soon thereafter he was made the Pope.
• He asked for his father, the treasurer, and the King. They all arrived and were fearful.
• He showed his father that others had valued his skills, and his father begged for forgiveness. 
• He was granted forgiveness and they lived happily together. 

A kind quote - azquotes

Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Fredrick Crane

Week 15 Lab Story: TvTropes - (Clock Towers)

I decided to try a new type of story in honor of the last week of my undergrad. This week I decided to look through the Tvtropes for my last story assignment. The trope is stumbled upon was Clockwork situations. I didn’t like any of the other options nearly as much. This one is particularly funny. So the trope says that characters in tv and movies have a nasty tendency to find themselves in the tops of clock towers. Just think of the countless movies that end up in a clock tower. There are usually tons of huge gears, somebody about to fall off the clock tower, or somebody shooting at people below from the top of the tower. I can personally think of several movies and shows with these scenarios.

Here are a couple of the most common scenarios:

• -          A character sits on the edge of the clock tower. Oftentimes the character will end up falling.
• -          The character falls and grabs the hands of the clock. Time works against the character as the clock ticks along to the point where they can almost not hold on any longer. At this point, someone or something will save the hero just in the nick of time.
• -          Another scenario happens inside the clock tower: the characters fall or have a battle within the inner workings of the tower. The gears inside are seriously oversized to the point that the characters hop along them. Sometimes the gears will be just about to crush one of the characters when some device catches in the gears and prevents the clock from ticking any further.

I really loved reading about the trope, which was a unique twist for me as far as the story posts go. My creativity lacks when it comes to writing stories, but this was a cool alternative.

A person hanging from a clock - silentlocations blog

Reading Notes: Dante's Inferno (Part 2)

A cool picture of the different levels of hell - fineartamerica.com

A summary of part 2 of Dante's Inferno:

• Dante and Virgil encounter a Minotaur above the seventh circle of hell. 
• The first ring of the seventh circle was home to the centaurs. 
• Virgil asked Chiron to send one of the centaurs with them to help Dante make a pass that he could not make because he is not a spirit and cannot fly. 
• Nessus helped Dante cross the river of blood, which boils everyone who shed blood in their lives. 
• The second ring of the seventh circle was home to the harpies. 
• The third ring of the seventh circle was for those who were violent against God. They lie moaning on the ground while others walk around in sadness. 
• Dante and Virgil descent toward the eighth circle of hell on a giant flying beast called Geryon.
• In the first ring of the eighth circle are the pimps and seducers like Jason who deceived a woman, got her pregnant, and left. 
• Dante and Virgil continue to a place where demons reside. As soon as they entered, the demons rushed at them. Virgil spoke to the leader and arranged for safe passage to the other side of their domain. 
• The next ring of the eighth circle contained a group of people confined by heavy lead cloaks. 
• The last two rings were home to people like Ulysses and "sowers of discord" like Muhammad. 
• As they approached the last circle of hell, they saw giants like Nimrod, Ephialtes, and Antaeus. Antaeus placed Dante and Virgil in the abyss so they can continue their journey. 
• They encountered Count Ugolito, who told them the sad story of how his children died. 
• They approach satan, who has three faces. In each mouth, he is chewing on a soul. The souls were of Judas, Brutus, and Cassius. 
• Dante and Virgil then have to climb up satan's body to exit hell. 

Dante's Divine Comedy translated by Tony Kline

Reading Notes: Dante's Inferno (part 1)

A summary of the reading for part A of Dante's Inferno:

• Dante wakes up and he exits a wooded forest that terrified him. 
• He encounters a leopard, lion, and wolf.
• Virgil appears at the edge of the wood when Dante thought he was going to die.
• Virgil escorts him to the circles of hell, starting with Limbo. 
• Limbo is for good people who didn't have any sort of faith. Many noble kings, princesses, wise men, and others existed here. 
• The second circle is for the Carnal Sinners. The people here are full of lust. Love drove many people to this circle. For example, Achilles and Helen. 
• The third circle is for the gluttonous. Cerberus lives in this circle. The rain was viciously loud here and sounded like the howling of wolves.
• The fourth circle is for the greedy. That is why Plutus, the god of wealth lived here along with many popes and cardinals who had stolen from their church members. 
• Dante and Virgil cross the river Styx in view of the fifth circle. 
• The fifth circle is called Dis. It is for the wrathful and is home to many fallen angels. They opposed Virgil's entrance along with Dante. 
• Medusa speaks to the duo, but a messenger from Heaven comes down to clear things up allowing Dante and Virgil to pass. 

The Circles of Hell - Bloodydisgusting. 

Dante: The Divine Comedy translated by Tony Kline

Reading Notes: Hans Christian Andersen (Part B)

So for this reading notes assignment I have decided to try a new style that I noticed from a classmate's reading notes. 

The little mermaid was an interesting read, though quite different from the movie. In summary: 

• The little mermaid knew from the time she was young that she was meant to live on land. 
• When she was finally allowed to rise to the top of the ocean she saved the prince's life and took him to shore.
• The prince didn't know it was the little mermaid who saved him, but perceived it to be a young girl at the religious school where he woke up. 
• The little mermaid watched the prince for a long time before inquiring about how to live on land.
• She ends up visiting a witch in the sea who agrees to give her a potion to grow legs if she will trade her voice.
• The little mermaid makes the deal and swims to the house of the prince where he finds her in human form. 
• They live together for some time where they both grow fond of each other, but the prince doesn't see her as a wife. He longs for the young girl who he though saved his life. 
• The prince's parents arrange for him to marry a young woman from an island a bit away. It is the girl who he thought saved his life.
• The little mermaid fears for her life because one of the contingencies of her deal with the witch is that if the prince ever marries another she will turn into sea foam. 
• They wind up getting married and her sisters make a deal with the witch to keep the mermaid alive if she will kill the prince with a knife. She starts to do it but remembers her love for him and instead throws herself into the sea. 
• To her surprise, she turns into sea foam but starts to float into the air. Because she tried so hard to do right, she had earned herself an immortal soul so she could enjoy the world of mankind forever. 

The Little Mermaid - DeviantAr

Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen

Reading Notes: Hans Christian Andersen (Part A)

My favorite of all of the part A readings for Hans Christian Andersen was the story about the Brave Tin Soldier. At first, the little soldier is taken out of his box along with his twenty-four identical brothers. All of them have two legs except for the brave little soldier who is the main character in the story. When he is taken out of his box he lays eyes on a beautiful castle. All of the soldiers marveled at the castle which had a spectacular lake with swans swimming around on it. The brave little soldier saw something even more beautiful – the dancer standing in the door of the castle holding a cute little dance pose. His breath was taken away, and he couldn’t help but stare. When night came, the little boy who played with all the toys left, and the toys had their own fun. Sometime in the night, a goblin told the brave little soldier not to wish for what wasn’t his. The soldier dismissed the goblin because he wanted the girl! The next morning, the boy put the brave soldier in the window sill. Somehow the window opened and the soldier fell out. After a few days, the boys found the soldier and made him a paper boat. They sent him down a stream in their yard with his little boat. He was terrified because the waves were huge. Somehow he ended up in the sewer, and a mean rat was chasing him. Fortunately, he escaped, but it was all in vain. He came to a dead end and the water started flooding in. His boat was sinking, and so was he. Eventually it became too much and he started to drown when a fish came and gobbled him up! It was dark inside the fish, and it sure did move a lot, but one day it stopped. Another day later, the fish was cut open and the soldier could see the sun again! The lady who fileted the fish said, “Hey it’s the little tin soldier!” Next thing he knew, he was back on the table that where he first saw the dancer, and she was still there holding her cute little pose. In a sudden change of events, the soldier was snatched from the table and thrown onto the stove. The poor soldier was starting to melt, but he didn’t care because he could see the little dancer. Then the door to the home flew open and a gust of air came inside. The little paper dancer fluttered up with the wind and landed on the stove next to the soldier and they melted happily ever after. 

The Brave Tin Soldier - Wikimedia

Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen

Alice in Wonderland: Part B

Alice found herself in a court room, but this wasn’t an unfamiliar space. She knew who most of the figures were from the jury, the judge, and others. She noticed that before the trial had even started, the jury were already scribbling things on their note sheets. “Stupid things” was written on each of the jury members’ notes for some weird reason. Eventually the white rabbit blew in his horn three times and the trail started. The Rabbit read a little poem about the Queen of Hearts making some tarts, and then they proceeded further. In came the first – the mad hatter. The King really didn’t like the hatter, He questioned the hatter on if his hat was stolen, but the hatter explained that he sold hats for a living.

Alice was looking on as the hatter was interrogated, and as she did when she first fell down the rabbit hole, she began to grow enormously tall. The dormouse sitting next to her complained that she was taking up too much space.

The hatter went on, explaining that he was a poor man. He argued with the rabbit about what was said, and the king kept threatening to have him executed. The hatter told him everything he knew, and the judge ordered him to leave the court afterward. On his way out, the Queen ordered the guards, “Off with his head,” but the hatter had already dashed away. He knew that the Queen was likely to make this order, so he made a quick break for the exit. Fortunately, he was fast enough to make it away. The trail continued with the Duchess’s cook. The King ordered her to give evidence but she refused. She eventually provided a little bit of information.

Again the court moved on to the next witness, which came as a big surprise when the next witnessed was called…. “Alice”.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carol (1865)

Alice in Wonderland - Ejumpcat