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

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

Reading Notes: Alice in Wonderland part A

Alice in Wonderland - Wikipedia

One day Alice was sitting on the river bank, bored as could be, when a curious rabbit hopped by her. In a panicked fashion, the rabbit reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a watch and said he was going to be late. Alice had never seen anything of the sort, so she got to her feet and ran after the rabbit because she was curious as to what it would do. As she was running after the talking, and well dressed, rabbit, she was just in time to see him hop down a large rabbit hole. Instantly, Alice knew she had to run after it, so she hopped into the rabbit hole as well. After entering the hole, Alice found herself falling, but she was falling so slowly. She remembered having so long to look around as she fell. The walls of what appeared to actually be a well, seemed to have bookshelves and cupboards lining the walls. It was the most curious well she had ever seen. After a while Alice questioned whether she would ever find the bottom of the because she felt like she had been falling for ages. Eventually she became very sleepy and when she woke up she had finally found the bottom. She wasn't hurt, but she didn't know where she was. She saw the rabbit and chased after him again, but he disappeared into one of the rooms in the building she was in. To her surprise, every room in there was locked. Alice found a golden key lying around, and it unlocked a tiny door with a little hole on the other side that wasn't even big enough to fit her head through. Still, she could see the most fabulous garden on the other side, and she longed to be there. She went back to the main room and found a bottle with a liquid that she presumed to be poison. After inspection, she decided to give it a shot, but then she began to shrink so small she couldn't have been a foot tall. Another problem arose, though, because she couldn't reach the key which she had sat on the little table. She was terribly sad because she thought she would never get out, but then her eye caught a little box under the table that said "eat me". She ate the cake inside and grew to the ceiling of the room she was in. She was now nine feet tall, and again sad because she didn't know how to get out...

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

Reading Notes: King Arthur Part A

After Uther Pendragon passed away, Britain was without a King. In looking for a King, all of the knights of Britain tried to make a claim for the throne. Word was spread from Merlin and the Archbishop that all the knights in the kingdom ought to meet in London on Christmas Day.

Many knights came to London as requested. After meeting at the Great Church, many of the knights saw a sword stuck in a stone in the courtyard. Inscribed in the stone were the words "Whoso pulleth out this sword is by right the King of England."

For days the men tugged on the sword, but nobody had any luck. Each holiday different men from across England tried to pull the sword out of the stone. Each time they failed. The Archbishop watched as each man pulled at the sword, and eventually he had enough of the foolishness and called it off. He declared that two knights should stand guard at the foot of the sword. 

There was to be a tourney to decide who would be the king. Each man should bring his sword and combat would determine the leader. In the group that assembled, there was a man named Sir Ector, his son, Sir Kay, and Kay's foster brother, Arthur. In preparation for the tourney, Sir Kay realized he had forgotten his sword at home and asked Arthur to go retrieve it. Arthur did so and hurried home to grab the sword, but nobody was home to let him inside. Arthur then thought about the sword at the Church and immediately set out to take it. He arrived at the Church and removed the sword from the stone. Arthur then hurried back to his brother Sir Kay and presented the sword to him. 

Sir Kay immediately realized it was not his sword and showed his father. Sir Ector inquired about how Sir Kay acquired the sword. Sir Kay informed him that Arthur gave it to him. Sir Ector was curious and asked Arthur the same questions. Arthur told him the story of going to retrieve a sword for Sir Kay, and Sir Ector was amazed. He proclaimed that Arthur must be the King of England. 

King Arthur showed the Archbishop that he had retrieved the sword from the stone, and he was then crowned King of England.

King Arthur and Excalibur - SterlingsOp blog

King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang (1902)

Week 11 Reading Notes: Tejas - Bonus reading

From the second segment of the Tejas tales, I particularly enjoyed the story of how sickness came into the world. It is an interesting tale, and to me it is really cool learning about how the natives of East Texas believed different things to have occurred.

So in the story, there was an old medicine man and a Great Spirit. The old medicine man was dying, and the Great Spirit wanted him to share his wisdom with his tribesman. In order to do so, the medicine man was supposed to meet a messenger under a certain tree in the woods. Unfortunately, the medicine man could not make the appointment as he was getting much more sick. He decided to send two of his tribe folk to meet the messenger. So the two young men went out into the woods to meet whoever this messenger was. The young men ventured out into the forest to the designated tree. They waited a short time when a snake arrived slowly to the tree. In fear, the men took to sticks in order to beat the snake to death. What they didn’t know was that snake was the messenger sent by the Great Spirit. The men waited a long time for a person to arrive, but nobody came to see them. They then traveled back to the medicine man to update him on their travels. When they told them medicine man that nobody came to see them, but they killed a snake, the medicine man was deeply saddened. He said that the snake was the messenger and the tribe was in trouble because the Great Spirit would be angry.

That night, another snake came to the tribe and laid eggs all over the village. Each egg hatched a new illness or disease, and that is how sickness came to mankind.

Texas map - Wikipedia

When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends by Florrence Stratton (1936)

Week 11 Reading Notes: Tejas

The reading for this week had some really cool individual stories. For example, my favorite was the story about how the woodpecker came to have a short, jagged tail. It is said that a flood was coming in the night, but only the frog could tell it was coming. He somehow learned the native language and ran to tell the Indians that the flood was coming. He croaked in their language and warned "a flood is coming, run away!" The Indians laughed, and so too did the woodpecker. All of the other birds in the land flew away to taller trees, but the woodpecker didn't. 

As predicted, the flood came with furious storms. The water rose quickly and the natives ran for their lives as the water flooded their homes. The woodpecker couldn't see to fly away because it was night, so he was forced to stay put. The water rose so high that his tail was in the water, and a fish decided it looked tasty. With a flash, the woodpecker had lost part of his tail, and that is why it looks so rough and ugly now. 

My next favorite story was the story of when the storm god rides. He has a mighty bird which he rides around the Gulf Coast in Texas. The bird is called Hurakan. The people can tell when the storm god is coming because Hurakan makes the sky dark with clouds, and winds come to and fro with reckless abandon.

The storm god did not always wreak havoc on the natives’ homeland. There was a time when the natives were peaceful and did not harm the birds of the skies. One day, ruthless, killing tribes from the North drove out the peaceful natives. The killing tribes shot the birds and robbed their nests, and in response the birds cried out for the storm god to help them. He did, and he brought a wave of fury with him. The oceans flooded the land, and the wind knocked the Indians to the ground. The storm god laughed in their demise, and the birds were thankful for relief.

When the oceans receded, little islands appeared along the coast. The storm god had created these as a peaceful home for the birds who had been afflicted by the ruthless natives.

A hurricane - pixaby

When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and other Indian Legends by Florence Stratton (1936)

Reading Notes: Week 10 (part 1)

This unit I am trying things a little differently. Because the Eskimo stories were very short and similar, I've decided to look at the reading on a macro scale. In the past, I have always written about every story in the unit.

Each of the sub-stories within the Eskimo Folk Tales unit had the same sort of plot. One of the stories even said the same thing. The main trend is a single man and his efforts to find love, his failed love, and his hunting abilities. Often times these were strongly correlated. For example, many of the characters in the stories were unable to find love because they were poor hunters. The women in the stories sought a man who could provide and held prestige in the community. Most of the men in these stories were not noble people. They were generally poor hunters without the help of others, and they struggled to provide.

In a couple of the stories, animals played significant roles. One elderly woman had a pet bear who was more like a child. In another, a community relied on a large dog to bring back food.

When looking back on this unit, I will remember the themes of pity and misery associated with the characters. It seems odd to me that the Inuit people have a tradition of miserable men in their folklore. After considering their situation for some time, I thought it may be because women are not as prevalent in the society. So it is possible that there were more eligible men than women, which led to a trend of sad, lonely men. It is entirely possible that I am way off base, but I think there may be some truth to it.

I am hopeful that the second half of this unit will be a bit unique compared to the first half.

A happy eskimo dog - flickr

Eskimo Folk Tales by Knud Rasmussen (1921)

Reading Notes: The Monkey King

Two complaints were filed to the Lord of the Heavens against Sun Wu Kong. The Lord of the Heavens sent for Sun Wu Kong to punish him, but he was convinced to have lenience toward Wu Kong. He was given a job as a stablemaster in heaven. One day Sun Wu Kong was informed that stablemaster is a lowly role, and it isn't even officially recognized. He became furious and went back to his mountain. The Lord of the Heavens was angry at this and sent to punish him. He ordered Li Dsing and his third son to hunt down Sun Wu Kong and bring him to be punished. Li Dsing and his son were no match for Sun Wu Kong and he had mercy on them in battle. 

After the battle, the Lord of the Heavens was convinced to give Sun Wu Kong the title of Saint. Wu Kong was pleased, and he received a castle in the heavens from the Lord of the Heavens. He was charged with tending to the garden of life-giving peaches. He did so very well for a short while, but he eventually started to consume the fruits for himself. One day some fairies came to collect the peaches for the feast, but so few were left because Wu Kong had eaten them. Later he drank a ton of the wine for the banquet, and then he broke into Loatze's inner chamber and consumed his life giving pills. Wu Kong realized he had done wrong, so he returned to his mountain home. 

Guan Yin, the goddess of compassion, suggested the Lord of the Heavens send Yang Oerlang after Sun Wu Kong. Yang Oerlang had trained in the transformations and was well equipped to fight Wu Kong. They battled for ages. Wu Kong would transform to one being and Oerlang would make a transformation to counter Wu Kong's. This went on and on until Wu Kong vanished and turned himself into Oerlang. He marched into Yang Oerlang's castle and lived as if he wasn't even Sun Wu Kong. Yang Oerlang used a mirror to find Wu Kong and attacked. The fought again and ended up near Wu Kong's island. Loatze and Guan Yin were checking on the fight and Loatze tossed a diamon necklace in Wu Kong's direction. It had the power to contain any living creature. Wu Kong was captured and taken to the heavens where they tried to kill him, but he was immune to their attacks because of all the life giving fruit he had eaten. 

The Lord of the Heavens called for Buddha to handle the situation. He arrived and started speaking with Sun Wu Kong. They made a deal that if Sun Wu Kong could escape Buddha's hand, then Buddha would ask the Lord of the Heavens to leave his throne for Sun Wu Kong. Wu Kong was not able to escape Buddha's hand, so he agreed to behave as Buddha wished. 

The Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhelm

Sun Wu Kong - Smite

Reading Notes: The Monkey King

In the middle of the Great Sea there is an island by the name of "the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits." On it, there was a giant rock which had absorbed energy from the sun and moon. One day, a handsome monkey hatched from the rock like a baby bird from an egg. The monkey learned to be a monkey and played about the island. One day, all of the monkeys came to a waterfall on the island and declared that whichever monkey could make it through the waterfall alive would be their king. The handsome monkey made the leap and he was declared king of the monkeys. 

One day the Monkey King became sad because he realized that one day he would die and be gone forever. He sought eternal life and was directed to find a Buddha. He made a raft sand sailed across the Great Sea to a place full of people. He learned manners and human traits from the people, and one day he stumbled upon a man who knew where to find a teacher. The Monkey King followed the path and became a disciple of the teacher. Upon his arrival, the master named him Sun Wu Kong. From there, Wu Kong began his training. Sun Wu Kong learned many things like how to levitate on the clouds and to travel around the Earth in an instant. The master taught him many things, but one day Sun Wu Kong used his power to make a joke for his friends. Once the master saw this, he banished him and told Sun Wu Kong to return to where he came from. 

Wu Kong was happy to return home because he had missed his home island and monkeys. When he arrived, all of the monkeys came to listen to his stories. They told him of a demon lord that had come and taken many of their young. Sun Wu Kong was outraged and immediately went to the home of the demon lord and slayed him. He then gathered the young and traveled home. Sun Wu Kong loved the mighty sword he had taken from the demon lord, but he desired something nicer. He then traveled to the Sea King, Ao Kuang. On his arrival, Ao Kuang treated him well. Sun Wu Kong tried many of the weapons Ao Kuang offered him, but none of them were satisfactory. He ended up taking a stick with gold clamps on the side that could grow or shrink to his preferred size. Ao Kuang did not want to give it to him, but Wu Kong sort of forced it. 

Sun Wu Kong then returned home and showed off his new weapon to all of his monkeys. 

Sun Wu Kong - Deviantart

The Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhelm