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

Reading Notes: Voyages of Sinbad

For Sinbad's fifth voyage, he decided to make his own ship so he could take his own time and go where he wanted to go. His crew set sail and arrived on an uninhabited island. The men went exploring and found another Roc egg. The men decided to kill the baby bird inside and cook it for something to eat against Sinbad's advice. Soon after, the parents of the Roc egg arrived and were obviously upset about their baby. The men scrambled to the ship and set sail, but the Rocs traveled after them with huge rocks in their talons. They crushed the ship with their rocks and Sinbad grabbed onto another piece of driftwood. He made his way to the rocky shoreline of a nearby island. On the island he found an old man who needed help getting around. Sinbad helped him travel the island by way of piggy back rides. After a few days of doing this, Sinbad made some wine and they both shared a good bit. Sinbad took this opportunity to get the old man off of his back and left for the coastline where he met some mariners. The crew sailed to a rich city and suggested Sinbad go with an interesting group of merchants. It turned out they were going to fetch some coconuts, but the trees were huge and slick. The men began to throw rocks at monkeys in the tree because the monkeys would grab the coconuts and hurl them back at the merchants. Sinbad went on to trade his coconuts for other valuables on his way back to Bagdad. 

On Sinbad's 6th trip, he traveled to India before setting out on the seas. His ship was caught in a storm that directed them to the deadliest sea current in all the ocean. It led them to the base of a mountain where their ship was torn to shreds. The men made it away with their most valuable possessions, but they appeared stranded for the time coming. Sinbad found a flowing river that went underground, and just as he was about to run out of food he determined he would build a raft and float the river because there was a chance it would lead him to safety. He fell asleep and woke up to a group of friendly black men. They had pulled his raft from the river. The men were amazed by Sinbad's story and brought him to their king. The king was also amazed and treated Sinbad very, very well. Eventually Sinbad asked to leave, and the king sent him on his way with many gifts. He also commissioned him to deliver a letter to "the commander of the faithful". Sinbad set out to do as the king asked. The package contained a vase carved from a single ruby with pearls and other goods inside it. There were a number of other goods including a beautiful slave girl. The Caliph who received the goods asked Sinbad of the king's wealth. Sinbad confirmed the king's wealth and significance, to which the Caliph was pleased. After this delivery, Sinbad returned home. 

Sinbad's 7th, and final, trip was commissioned by the Caliph. He requested Sinbad travel back to the king who had sent the gifts because the Caliph wanted to return the favor. Sinbad asked to be removed from the mission, but the Caliph wouldn't allow it. When he arrived at the king's palace, the king was pleased to see him. Sinbad presented the gifts from the Caliph to the. After a short while, the king allowed Sinbad to leave. Sinbad was ready to return home and enjoy peaceful life, so he left quickly. On his return trip home, he was captured by pirates who sold him in a foreign land as a slave. He was sold to a rich merchant. His owner commissioned him to hunt for elephants in the forest. He killed an elephant and it was buried so that after it deteriorated it would provide beautiful tusks. For months he killed elephants each day. One day the elephants caught wind of him and surrounded his tree. Then the biggest of them all put his trunk around the tree and pulled it from the ground. He flew to the ground and the giant beast picked him up, again with his trunk, and placed Sinbad on his back. The elephants went stampeding into the forest with Sinbad. The elephants brought Sinbad to their burial ground where there were piles of elephant bones in an effort to convince him to stop shooting the elephants with his bow. Sinbad told his owner the story and brought him to the bone pile. There they collected tusks and the master set Sinbad free because he had enriched him so well. His master sent him on his way home with plenty of ivory and other gifts because he had been such a good slave. 

When Sinbad returned home, the Caliph was surprises, but happy, to see him. Sinbad told him all of his stories and the Caliph was amazed. This was the end of Sinbad's voyages.

Sinbad the Sailor - Wikipedia

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang

Reading Notes: Voyages of Sinbad

As it turns out, I really like Hero stories. Today I read The Voyages of Sinbad, and it was so entertaining. To start with, he was given great sums of money from his parents. He lived a lavish lifestyle by spending much of his inheritance until one day he decided he wanted to be responsible with it. He decided to become a merchant and set out for the seas to begin trading. The ship landed on an "island" which turned out to be the back of a whale. When they lit their fire, the whale plunged into the ocean and many of the men drowned as they had left the boat. Sinbad clung only to a piece of floating wood from the fire to keep from drowning. He floated and floated until the morning came and he realized he had arrived at an island. The island he landed on had a king who treated Sinbad well. One day while at the port, he ran into the crew from his old ship. One of them spoke of a man named Sinbad, whose possessions he had because Sinbad "drowned". The sailor did not recognize Sinbad, but eventually was convinced it was him. He then sailed home with his crew.

His second voyage was similarly adventurous. He got bored sitting in his luxurious home with piles of riches, so he set back out for sea. His group of merchants arrived at an island and they got out to explore. He decided to take a nap, but he slept too long and his crew group forgot about him! As he explored his new island, he discovered an enormous egg. It belonged to an even bigger bird called a roc. Sinbad tied himself to the foot of the bird and it flew him to another island. This island had massive snakes on it that came out only at night. He decided to sleep in a cave and put a big rock over the entrance to keep the snakes out. He found a valley of diamonds on this island. They were so big he had never even fathomed diamonds so large. Then huge chunks of meat started to fall off of a cliff into the valley. He remembered that this was done to attract large eagles, so he grabbed onto a piece of meat and an eagle came down and swooped it up. He was flown to ANOTHER island. The eagle flew him to some merchants that had been using the eagle to retrieve diamonds. He accompanied the merchants on their trip home, and he returned home as well.

On his third trip, his ship encountered a mighty storm that set them off their path. They arrived on an island of savages. They crowded the ship in hundreds within seconds and took command of the ship. The minions took the ship to another island and kicked the original passengers off. Then men were so sad because their only means of travel was gone and they deemed themselves stuck forever. They saw a large castle on the island and determined to check it out. Inside, they encountered a cyclops. The cyclops terrified them and he proceeded to eat the fattest of them all. Eventually, they devised a plan to get out. They took a scorching hot stick from the fire and jabbed it into the cyclops' eye while he was sleeping. Afterward, they prepared rafts for groups of three. As they were escaping, the cyclops and his friends started to hurl rocks after the rafts and sunk all of them except Sinbad's. They drifted to another island and decided to rest there. In the night, a massive snake ate his companions, but Sinbad got away. He was terrified, though. The next morning he caught the eye of a passing ship and joined them aboard. He eventually returned home with the ship after making a ton of money... again.

On his last voyage, his ship hit another hurricane and was decimated. He, again, clung to pieces of the wreckage in order to stay afloat. As he washed ashore, he met a friendly people with a kind king. The people liked him, and the king eventually asked him to stay and take a wife. He did, and enjoyed it. One day his neighbor's wife got ill and died. He went to visit him afterward and the man was sad. He informed Sinbad of the tradition where if one of the spouses passed away, the other was to be buried alive with them. Sinbad was horrified and became worried his wife would die. As he feared, she too passed away soon thereafter. He was buried in the cave with her and mourned his death. He began killing the living that were buried in order to take their food, and one day a critter got inside the tomb and he scared it away. He chased after the critter and it eventually led him out of the cave. He was at the bottom of a cliff on the ocean and caught the eye of a passing ship. They let him come aboard and eventually took him home.

Sinbad the Sailor by Edmund Dulac

The Roc - E. Dulac

Week 5 Story: Envy in Egypt

In ancient Egypt there was a fair bit of jealousy. The odd thing is a lot of it was in the family? Isis was jealous of Ra. Set was jealous of Osiris. These gods would not be content to be gods alone; they thirsted for more power.

Isis was a tricky one; very sharp in the mind. In Ra's old age, she sought to steal some of his power. As the ancient Ra spoke in his old age, some spittle fell from his mouth to the ground. Quickly, Isis gathered some of the spittle and formed it into a powerful serpent. She knew of Ra's plans to travel through a certain path, and placed the serpent along the path. In Ra's old age and poor sight, he traveled happily. The last thing he thought of was his own descendant, Isis, trying to leach some of his power through a snake derived from his own spit. Eventually he stumbled upon the serpent and it struck him with a powerful bite. He sat there writhing in pain and called out to the gods and goddesses. Many came to his aid, including Isis. She offered her assistance, but required that Ra reveal his secret name of power to her. He tried to get out of it, but he eventually relented because the pain was too strong. After she learned his secret name she became much more powerful as she had planned.

Ra eventually died of his old age and Osiris claimed the throne. Under Osiris rule the people were very happy. He made fair laws, and he treated the people well. You could say things in Egypt were running very smoothly until Set decided he wanted to come screw everything up. Osiris usually had Isis by his side as she was his wife - I'm just going to avoid the fact that they were also brother and sister. Isis was very skilled at thwarting the threats from Set. One day she was not around, and there was a big feast in which Set brought a large chest that caught the eye of everyone at the party. Many people were interested in the chest, and Set proclaimed whoever fit into it best could have it. One by one the people tried getting in it, and eventually it was Osiris' turn to try it. He fit perfectly, and as soon as he got in, Set and his minions trapped him inside and quickly carried him to the Nile river. They sat the chest in the river and assumed they would never see Osiris again.

When Isis returned she was distraught. She couldn't believe what had happened. She eventually tracked down the casket and returned it to Egypt. Set caught wind of this and "set" out in search of the casket and Osiris' body. He found it, and he proceeded to chop Osiris into bits and throw him back into the river.

In the end it turns out that Osiris and Isis had a child - again please just forget that they were brother and sister. Their child, Horus, was trained to defeat Set. He eventually grew up and defeated Set in battle to avenge his father.

**Author's Note**: At first I sought to really change the story up quite a bit, but after writing a few lines I thought I would just write an easier to read summary for those who didn't read this passage this week. The story line is very, very similar to the original. I added a few funny lines and a bit of brevity to some of the topics that went on a bit longer than I had hoped while reading it. I look forward to the comments on this story, and if you have any questions please let me know!

Horus and Set in battle - historiabruno blog

Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie

Reading Notes: Ancient Egypt

In the beginning, Nu bore Ra. Despite being his father, Nu was not as powerful as Ra. As such, Ra became the preeminent ruler of Egypt, and it is said that he created all that their is in the Earth, and all the gods and goddesses that followed him. Ra was a good ruler, and liked by most. However, Isis envied his power and desired to be equal with him, so she devised a plan to get him to conceal his secret name of power in order that she might have equal power. 

Her plan was to gather some of his spit from the ground and form it into a serpent. She then placed it along the path he was soon traveling along, and the serpent struck him. Writhing in pain, he eventually conceded to disclose his name in order for Isis to heal him. 

Over time, Ra become old and eventually ascended to heaven. At this point Osiris took control of power. He was a great ruler who made many just decrees. He was celebrated by the people and respected by everyone. There was one exception, though, and that was his brother Set. He was jealous of Osiris' power and desired to kill him. Osiris wife, Isis, usually thwarted these plans, but one time when she was away Set made his move. 

Set formed a casket to the perfect dimensions of Osiris. It was beautiful and coveted by many. One time at a feast, he proclaimed that whoever fit in it best would receive it. As planned, Osiris fit it perfectly. As soon as he entered the casket, Set and his minions closed the casket and sent it down the Nile with Osiris inside. 

At this point, Set became the ruler of Egypt and there was much less organization. 

Still, Isis and Osiris had a son named Horus. As it was destined, he grew up and eventually battled Set for the throne and won.

Ra - Deviantart

Egyptian Myth and Legend by David MacKenzie

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Cu Chulainn - Smite