Reading A and More Readings: Twenty-Two Goblins, Parts A and F

For my final reading of the semester, I chose Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder.  I read a portion of it when I was in the Myth and Folklore class and really enjoyed it, so I returned for some more.  I’m honestly not sure if I’m just rereading the same riddles or not, but I enjoyed them regardless.  They’re so fun and relatively lighthearted.  It’s also kind of fun to try to solve the riddles, although I have yet to get one right.  They’re very twisted and seem to focus more on the moral side of things than the logical side. 

For example, there was one riddle that was trying to determine which brother of three had earned the right to marry the woman that they had resurrected. In the end, the brother who had slept on the ashes of the woman was the one who had earned the right to marry her, which by the way is a little creepy to be doing.  He slept on her ashes in a hut in the cemetery.  That’s some kind of crazy.  Anyway, the other two brothers were acting as a husband and a son, not a lover, so they didn’t get to marry her.  I never would have reasoned it out to that conclusion. 

I would really like to come back to this particular reading after the semester is over to read the rest of the riddles.  I also might us them in some form or another in the future.  It definitely would have been interesting to incorporate these into my Storybook, but unfortunately it’s a little late for that! I’m glad I chose it for my final reading though! End the semester with a bang!

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder (1917), Sacred Texts. 

Image Info: Old Cemetery. Source: Wikimedia Commons. 

Story: The Best Riddler of Them All

ONCE UPON A TIME, I was a goblin named Riddle.  I lived in a sissoo tree within a vast cemetery, which was perfect since I relish my peace and quiet.  Unfortunately, people would occasionally interfere with my business, so I would disguise myself as a dead body hanging from the tree (It was a cemetery after all!).  I lived this way for many years, doing deals with the occasional passerby who could solve one of my riddles.  No one ever solved more than one of my tricky riddles! That is, until HE came along…

I’d been living in my tree for maybe 50 years when a man came by in the dead of night.  Instead of simply walking by, however, he cut me down from the tree! And then he slung me over his back like a sack of potatoes! The humiliation! I kicked and screamed for a few moments before I remembered that if he answered on of my riddles, I would return to my tree.  I could go back and finish my dinner and forget about this embarrassing situation.

And so I told him a riddle, and being the smart king that he was, he answered it and I returned to my tree.  But the bastard followed me back! Again and again I told him one of my riddles, and again and again he answered them true.  I thought that eventually he would give up and leave me in peace. But noooooo.  The man was incessant, constantly cutting me down and ferrying me back down the cemetery road in the middle of the night.  I suppose I should be glad it wasn’t day time or someone might have seen me being lugged around on the back of this brute!

After 20 riddles, 20 trips back to the tree, and 20 trips back down the cemetery road carried upon his shoulders, I decided to give him my masterpiece of a riddle.  No one had ever answered it correctly.  Not the wizards or witches, not the princes or knights, not even the farseeing oracles of old.  No one had ever figured this riddle out. 

As I told the story, I saw his brow get more and more furrowed.  I could practically see the wheels turning in his head!  I had him! I finally had him! He would answer wrong, his head would burst and I could return to my tree! Unfortunately, that isn’t how this case turned out.  All the wizards, witches, princes, knights and oracles had tried to answer this riddle and their end had come.  But this king was smarter than the others. 

Since he didn’t know the answer, he actually kept his mouth shut! Have you ever heard of a man doing that?!  They at least try on the off chance that they might be right! But not this man.  He kept silent, which impressed me beyond measure. 

I decided to help this impressive, tenacious man.  I knew that the monk would try to harness my power to become the king of the fairies.  I also knew that this man would be a beneficent ruler to both his human kingdom and that of the fairies.  He was honorable, strong, kind, and smart. 

I warned him of the monk’s plan and told him how to circumvent it.  When we arrived to the meeting place, the king followed my instructions to the letter.  The monk was dead and he was the soon to be king.  But he didn’t want the job or the power.  What he told me next was more impressive than all the riddles he had solved. 

“O magic creature, if you are pleased with me, I have nothing more to wish for. Yet I ask you to make me one promise, that these twenty-two different, charming puzzle-stories shall be known all over the world and be received with honor."

While I was loath to leave my tree, I felt an obligation to fulfill this great man’s wishes.  And so I travelled, for one year telling my riddles to every man, woman, and child that I encountered.  For that year, I even left out the side effects!  After that, I continued to travel, telling my riddles.

I thought that I would miss my old life and the peace and quiet of my tree in the cemetery.  And for a time I did.  However, the farther I travelled, the more I began to enjoy myself.  I enjoyed the new sights and foods, sharing my stories with new people who would never have heard them otherwise. 

To this day, I’m still not sure if the king planned this all along.  Did he know I would enjoy travelling and telling my stories? Or did he just want to share them with the world? 

Author’s Note:

I chose not to do any individual story from the Twenty Two Goblins unit, but to instead do a sort of overview story from the goblin’s (who I called Riddle) point of view.  I kept the story the same, but left out a few details that I didn’t think were entirely necessary.  The original story more follows the king, setting up in his court and revolving around his determination to fulfill his promise to the monk. 

I thought it would be intriguing to write this as if Riddle was telling the story from the present.  She’s looking back on her life and how this moment changed it so drastically.  Few had ever solved her riddles with such confidence and ease, and no one had ever chosen to say nothing when they didn’t know the answer.  I thought it would be fun to show how humiliating it would be for a goblin to be carted around on the shoulders of a man, especially a man as tenacious as the king of these stories.  I also carried it a bit further by telling how she reacted to her travels, coming to enjoy them and the opportunities they afforded her!

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder (1917), Sacred Texts. 
Image Info: Sissoo Tree. Source: Wikipedia. 

Story: Bodisat News

This just in.  The kingdom of Benares was just sold for a single measure of rice.

According to our covert sources, the king of Benares made an error in judgement when appointing the royal valuer this past year.  He was unhappy with the man formerly in this position and fired him on the spot.  The king then chose a random citizen off the streets to fill the vacancy, a man with no experience and no morals.  Apparently, the new valuer assigned values at random, depending on his mood, the weather, and the phases of the moon.  Sources conflict on whether or not this was part of the king’s plan or simply great hubris in believing that he knew what was best for his treasury.

Early this week, a working man approached the valuer to inquire what his herd of horses would be worth to the king.  An arbitrary decision resulted in the value of a single measure of rice in exchange for five hundred horses.  That is correct.  Five hundred horses are now worth a single measure of rice in the eyes of the royal valuer and the eyes of the king himself.  However, the horse-dealer was not satisfied with this deal and came up with a cunning plan.

Yesterday evening, the horse-dealer put his plan into action.  He approached the royal valuer and offered him a bribe, as we are told is custom in this country.  He then asked the valuer to assess the single measure of rice which he had been given for his herd of horses earlier in the week. They then requested an audience with the king of Benares. The horse-dealer told the king that a herd of five hundred horses was worth a measure of rice and requested to know what the value of that measure of rice was. 

Our sources say that the king was unaware of the events that had been transpiring in his kingdom and he foolishly asked his valuer what a single measure of rice was worth in the kingdom of Benares.  Recall now, that the valuer was not a particularly bright individual and he had been bribed by the horse dealer.  As such, his answer to the king was very surprising. 

The valuer judged a single measure of rice to be worth all of Benares, both within and without the walls.  For those unfamiliar with their global geography, the city of Benares spans 12 leagues from wall to wall and the suburbs and lands belonging to the city span a further 300 leagues.  And all of this was only worth a single measure of rice. 

Information is still trickling in about the aftermath of this earth-shattering event.  The entire court was shut down for the duration of a trial and to discuss whether or not the king would be forced to forfeit his kingdom to the horse dealer. 

We will continue to provide you with details regarding Benares throughout the morning.  Stay tuned with News Channel 6. I am Bodisat and I will keep you updated. 

Author's Note:

I chose to rewrite the story The Rice Measure.  I kept the general storyline the same, although I left out the Bodisat’s role in the original story to make him the news announcer. In the story, a peasant is made the royal valuer when the king thinks the Bodisat is costing him too much money with his fair and accurate assessment of the goods that people bring him.  The king appoints a random peasant to be the valuer and he just puts random costs on the goods brought to him, including the herd of 500 horses.  The horse dealer goes to the Bodisat, the former valuer, who helps him come up with a plan to fool the valuer and the king.  In the end, the Bodisat is returned to his position.  There is no mention as to what happens to the horse dealer who only received a measure of rice for his horses, although I assume that the Bodisat reevaluated the herd for him.  I wanted to stretch my writing skills a little this week, which is why I tried to rewrite the story as a news broadcast.  I’m not sure it worked quite as well as I hoped, but well enough for me I guess. 

Bibliography: Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie Shedlock (1920), Baldwin Project.

Image Info: Breaking News. Source: Wikimedia Commons; Brown Rice. Source: Wikimedia Commons. 

Reading Notes: Eastern Stories Parts C and D

I finished reading Marie Shedlock’s Eastern Stories and Legends this week.  The stories continued along the same style, telling of the many incarnations of Buddha and the various deeds that he did throughout his lives.  However, this half was not as interesting to read as the first half.  I do not know if I was just not as attentive to the stories or if they just weren’t as entertaining as the stories from last week.  I’m still trying to figure out which story I will retell for the week, which has not happened to me this entire semester.  There has always been one story that I really want to retell or have some great ideas for, but not this week. 

Anyway, I really enjoyed learning about Buddha in such an intriguing way.  The idea of Buddha being reborn again and again in a different societal/natural position is so contrary to the religions that I am more familiar with.  I like that Buddhism is a little more flexible and fluid than religions like Christianity.  It’s more attune to my sensibilities I guess.  It is such a fascinating religion and I am looking forward to learning more about it over these last couple of weeks of the semester. 

Now I just have to figure out a story-retelling to get me through the week so I can move on to the next big thing!

Bibliography: Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie Shedlock (1920), The Baldwin Project.

Image Info: Fo Guang Buddha. Source: Wikipedia. 

Storytelling: Old, Not Obsolete

Tall, curvy, busty, blonde, and drop-dead gorgeous.  That was the woman that my husband wanted.  Well, ex-husband.  But that used to be me.  You see, when my husband and I first met I was a young 20-something with luscious golden locks, smooth skin, straight white teeth, and legs for days.  I was beautiful and I knew it.  I always wore short skirts and tight, low-cut tops and dresses that showed off my body to perfection. I'm still beautiful, but not in the same way.

I was the proverbial trophy wife.  Whenever my husband was pursuing a deal or trying to impress some hoot-snooty business man, he would bring me along.  And I loved it.  I loved being admired, feeling men’s eyes on me and knowing that they could look but not touch. I loved getting dressed up in gorgeous designer clothes, slipping on those sky high heels, and attaching a string of diamonds and pearls around my neck to draw attention to my cleavage.  All of it was exactly what I wanted in life and my husband used my looks to his advantage, not that I was complaining at the time.

The men that my husband made deals with would be so distracted by my looks that my husband would get exactly what he wanted, from a lucrative business deal to a new jet for the company at no cost.  He could manipulate those men like none other, with my looks to aid him.  That is, until I became too old for his tastes.

Unfortunately, the men in my husband’s circles only liked the young women that they really had no business being with or laying hands on.  As we aged, the men’s eyes would quickly turn to the next batch of twenty-somethings looking to take our place and we would be essentially put out to pasture.  We were no longer pretty enough to be paraded around at dinner parties, so we were sent away to the summer homes to be out of sight and out of mind.  We were also expected to suddenly start popping out children to further our husband’s lineage as was expected. 

However, unlike most of the women in these circles, I actually learned a thing or two about my husband’s business while I was playing show pony. Little did he know that I was responsible for many of his business deals throughout our marriage and I had no intentions of becoming his broodmare.  He thought that our pre-nup would stop me from filing divorce papers because I could not survive on my own.  Luckily for me, I was smart enough to build up a pretty sizable nest-egg for myself and a files worth of blackmail on not only my husband, but most of his business partners and associates as well.  Sometimes it pays to be looked at as a show pony.  No man expects the trophy wife to actually have anything going on upstairs besides thinking about the next shopping spree they’re going on. 

The second that my husband sent me away to have children, I filed for divorce.  It was time to show my husband that I was no simple-minded trophy wife to be used and discarded once I was no longer of the ‘appropriate’ age.  He was going to learn that I would not go quietly.  I could ruin his life in the blink of an eye.  I didn’t actually want a divorce.  I had a good life and had no problem with finding a lover since our sex life had been dead for a while anyway.  Not that it had ever really been alive.  He would continue to provide me with the life that I was accustomed to and I would not share the dirty little secrets that I had collected over the years.  Win-win, right?

Author's Note:

I decided to revamp the tale of The Elephant That Was Honored in Old Age.  In the original story, the elephant was strong and smart, carrying messages and defeating enemies for her king.  However, when she started to grow weak in her old age, the King discarded her.  He took away all of her honors and ornaments and let her fend for herself in the forest.  That is until one day, when a Potter needed an animal strong enough to pull his carts and the kind offered up the elephant, despite the fact that this was a grave dishonor to the elephant. She went to the Buddha to be and told him what had happened and told the king what had happened and rebuked him for dishonoring the elephant in such a way.  Her honor and place in the palace was restored.

In my version of the story, I put it in modern day and changed the state-elephant into a trophy-wife.  Honestly, the first thought that came to mind was Donald and Melania Trump.  They’re still married, but he’s constantly dishonoring her and looking at other women and possibly sleeping with them.  I just thought that it would be appropriate to have the woman take charge of the situation and not let her husband send her away because she was no longer the young and brainless beauty that he wanted to show off.  

Bibliography: Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie Shedlock (1920), Baldwin Project.

Image Info: Peridot and Diamond Necklace. Source: Wikimedia Commons; Black Dress. Source: Pixabay; Country Estate. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Eastern Stories Part A and B

For this week’s reading, I chose Marie Shedlock’s Eastern Stories and Legends.  The readings detail the various incarnations of Buddha, particularly in regards to his many animal incarnations.  I really like these stories.  They are easy to read and remind me of the Aesop Fables that I read in the Myth and Folklore Class.  They have little morals in them, like being kind to those who help you, even if it takes a little creative thinking to discover those morals.  I think they are a really fun and easy-to-read way of learning about the tales of Buddha, which is always great! Buddha’s incarnations are always helpful and kind, even if his companions do not reciprocate the kindness!

I’m trying to push myself as a writer this week.  I almost always retell the story from the perspective of a different character, so I don’t want to do that.  I’m thinking I might try putting one of these stories into the modern day, which will be a bit of a stretch since it’s all about animals.  I’m hoping that it will get me to be more creative and flexible with my writing, since I have to be so rigid and proper with most of my college writing.  I think I might try retelling The Horse that Held Out to the End.  Maybe make the horse into a person? I dunno.  I’ll figure something out!

Bibliography: Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie Shedlock (1920), Baldwin Project

Image Info: Destrier. Source: Wikipedia

Storytelling: Just Desserts

“No! Let me go! I want to stay with mommy and daddy! Daddy, help me!” I screamed

“It’s okay sweetheart.  Just go with them.  You’ll be okay.  We’ll see you again soon.”

-----------------------------

Unfortunately, I was still too young to recognize that for the lie it was.  It’s been 15 years since I last saw my parents. Fifteen years since I was stolen from my family to become the plaything of the Princess Savitri.  Fifteen years of torment at the hands of the stuck-up princess of Abanti.  Fifteen years of doing everything I was told to keep the dear little Savitri happy because she would one day inherit the kingdom and probably marry a god.  However, I had a different destiny in mind for her highness. 

You see, Savitri had met a man.  And he was not a man that her father would approve of.  His parents were exiled royalty and lived in poverty.  They had nothing.  However, none of this mattered to Savitri because she liked his appearance.   The man had jet black hair, eyes of deep chocolate, and skin like caramel.  His muscles rippled under supple skin and his smile could bring a woman to her knees, if she was pathetic enough.  This was all I heard from Savitri, regardless of the fact that I thought he looked like a rugged hog.  I could see the real man, which was simply one angry at the lot he was given in life and willing to take it out on the nearest royalty whom he blamed for his problems.  He tricked Savitri into falling in love with him and she fell like a tree. 

Instead of doing what us playthings were trained to do and protect Savitri from negative influences, we pushed her towards this man.  We constantly fawned over his gorgeous smile, the dimples as deep as the ocean and eyes that you could drown in.  Yuck.  But it worked. 

Within days, Savitri announced that she would marry the penniless beggar.  It was a beautiful ceremony, full of tears and blah blah blah.  Anyway, afterwards, the man was determined to return to his parents in poverty and Savitri declared that she would follow him. Of course, her parents objected and she rebelled and did what she wanted anyway.  Only later did we find out that her new husband was destined to die within the year.  Us playthings knew Savitri all too well and we knew that she would decide to die alongside him.  Poetic justice and what not. 

The whole point of this adventure was that we would finally be returned to our families.  Fifteen years apart to be the forced friend of a pain-in-the-ass princess and we were finally going home.  It was a joyous reunion all around.  However, I did not know that there would be an especially exciting result of this madness.  Since Savitri left and died as far as everyone knew and her father had no heir, the kingdom went to the next person in line for the throne.  And guess who received that honor.  ME! I’m the queen now, I’m married to an amazing man, and my family is with me.  And who says the little woman can’t win in the end?! 

Author's Note:

I chose to rewrite the story of Savitri from the point of view of the girls that her father chose to be Savitri’s constant companions.  I just imagined that these girls were taken from their families against their will and told that they had to be nice and play with this snotty little princess because she was special.  I don’t think any child would take being forced to be friends happily, especially after being taken from their parents.  I kind of summarized the original story in my rewrite, although it goes a little further and talks about Savitri after she leaves with her husband.  Like most women in fairytales, she chooses to die with her husband, which I think is a little melodramatic to be honest.  Anyway, I thought it would be great to have someone else win in the end!

Bibliography: Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee (1919), Internet Archive.

Image Info: Savitri and Satyavan. Source: Wikimedia Commons. 

Reading Notes: Nine Ideal Indian Women, Part B

Well, it turns out that this was not the wife of Siva (Shiva) that I was wanting to write my storybook about.  This was about Sati, who was mortal born and prayed to Shiva from childhood to become his wife.  She lived in poverty alongside him and died due to her father’s pig-headedness.  Or goat-headedness as the case may be. 

Clearly I need to do a little more research into the relationship between Shiva and Kali, since I assumed consort meant wife, which does not appear to be the case.  I know I’ve read about Kali and Shiva earlier in the semester, but I’ll have to find the particular reading now.  Wish me luck!

Bibliography: Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee (1919), Internet Archive.

Image Info: Sati and Shiva. Source: Wikimedia Commons 

Reading Notes: Nine Ideal Indian Women, Part A

Week 11 already! I chose to read Sunity Devee’s Nine Ideal Indian Women this week, trying to get an idea of how to wrap up my storybook this semester.  The second half of this reading talks about Sati, the first wife of Shiva, which I’m hoping will help me write my last story.  However, I decided to go ahead and read the entire unit, which starts with Savitri and Damayanti. 

I really enjoyed the stories of these two Indian women.  They are women of strength and keen intelligence, which is often lacking in modern literature, at least without coming off as some sort of cliché or appeasement.  I really like that the stories focus on them and their power over their fates.  If I were still writing a storybook about Charlotte Grimm, I would probably incorporate one of these, but they don’t quite work with John’s storyline.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the readings this week so I can hopefully find something to use in my storybook!

Bibliography: Nine Ideal Indian Womeno by Sunity Devee (1919), Internet Archive.

Image Info: Savitri. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Story Planning: The Final Two

I came up with ideas for my last two stories in my storybook while doing my readings this week. My first idea involves inserting John into the story of Ganesh. Obviously, there are countless renditions of who Ganesh is exactly and how he came to be.  According to the story that I read this week, he is the son of Shiva and is considered the remover of obstacles.  In the story, Ganesh loses his head due to a curse placed on a man, who destroyed anything that he gazed upon.  As a result, Ganesh’s head was chopped off and he died.  Obviously.  However, Shiva told his messengers to go forth and bring back the head of the first living creature they came across, which was an elephant.  I thought it would be great to somehow get John in on this.  I think it would be fun to have Shiva send him out with the other messengers in search of a head to place on Ganesh’s shoulders, and John decides that an elephant head will do fine.  They like elephants in India, right? (John’s logic, not mine, I promise).  Somewhere along here, I’m going to find a logical place for Charlotte to show up, probably towards the end.

Okay, and my second idea for the very last story in my storybook is use the story of Parvati/Kali, the wife of Shiva.  My idea is for her and John to have their awesome reunion, but then have Parvati go and do battle with Raktabija.  I’ve still got time to figure this particular story out, but I want to somehow have Kali go do battle with Raktabija and then use Charlotte in the battle as well while John and Shiva sit on the sidelines and watch, talking about how scary their wives are.  It’ll take some more research and planning, but since it’s my last story, I’ve got plenty of time for that later. 

Bibliography: Tales of Ancient India by Edmund Cox (1887), Hathi Trust. 

Image Info: Kali. Source: Wikipedia. 

Reading Notes: Cox's Tales of Ancient India, Section B

I didn’t exactly love the second half of this week’s reading.  It was rather slow and a little dull, although the content itself was interesting.  This half of Cox’s Tales of Ancient India discussed the gods and their beginnings, more or less.  I was relatively unamused with most of it, although I did think of an interesting way to work one of the gods into my storybook.  I kind of wanted to work Kali into my storybook and have her and Charlotte work together in some way.  I think it could be very entertaining to see those two together with John and Shiva watching from the sidelines.  Maybe I can have Charlotte aid Kali in her battle, although in this reading she goes by the name Uma.

I think I might also work John into the story of how Ganesh ends up with the head of an elephant.  It seems like the type of solution that he would come up with, considering he probably wouldn’t believe that just replacing the head would bring a being back to life, so who cares what head they bring back!

Bibliography: Tales of Ancient India by Edmund Cox (1887), Hathi Trust

Image Info: Ganesh. Source: Wikipedia.

Reading Notes: Cox's Tales of Ancient India, Section A

This week, I chose to read another version of the story of Krishna, the reincarnation of Vishnu that we met in the Mahabharata. 

I thought it might be fun to write part of this story from the eyes of one of the villagers.  Constant struggle and destruction is brought to their village because of the young Krishna, which results in the deaths of some of their children and the destruction of their homes.  Who wouldn’t be frustrated and want to banish the family that hosts this child?

I’m hoping to try to work this week’s reading into my storybook.  I’m trying to think of a way to use Krishna, but he seems so much stronger and independent than my other characters so it may be a little more difficult to fit John into the story.  And possibly Charlotte.   I could also write about how Krishna and Rukmini became wed. 

Bibliography: Tales of Ancient India by Edmund Cox (1887), Hathi Trust. 

Image Info: Krishna eating butter. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Storytelling: Tempted by Darkness

I really wish I wasn’t married to this buffoon. Brihaspati is nice and all, but he’s a little old and incredibly boring.  All he ever does is come up with lessons to teach the gods.  I mean, it IS his job, but come on! Can’t we go on an adventure or vacation every once and a while?! All the other celestial beings do…

This was my running mental tirade almost every single day until a Dánava named Shoma waltzed into my life.  I honestly think it was the best day of my life, even though I’m sure my husband didn’t exactly have the same view on the matter.  You see, Shoma was a demon.  A handsome, charming, chivalrous, and exciting demon, but a demon nonetheless. The gods had been at war with the demons for as long as any of them can remember, although they don’t exactly know why or how the war started.  The reasons have been lost to memory. 

I’m sure my husband and the other gods and celestial beings believe that I was enticed away to the kingdom of darkness, but that wasn’t exactly what happened.  Shoma approached me one day while I was sitting in one of the many groves of trees that are found around the heavens.  It was a beautiful grove, with big, shady trees to block the heat of the sun, brightly colored flowers perfuming the cool air, and a broad, cushioned bench to recline on.  Usually, no one comes near the grove when I’m in there, or anywhere else for that reason.  I have a bit of a bitchy resting face, which is part of the problem. The rest comes from the fact that I’m not like everyone else up there, content to sit around every day and just enjoy the life that we have in the heavens.  It’s boring!

Shoma was different.  He came up to me and started to talk, asking why I was alone and why I seemed so sad.  Honestly, he was the first person to really show an interest in me.  I was a little starved for attention up here, since my husband was always teaching and everyone else avoided me.  It was nice to just have a conversation with someone.  Of course, I knew he was a demon, but I didn’t really care.  You see, no one knew it, but I had the ability to see people’s true nature.  Yes, Shoma was a demon on a mission to sway me, but he became truly interested in me as a person while we talked.  It was amazing!

To be completely honest, when he asked me to go with him to the darkness (which is really just the world outside of the heavens) I didn’t even hesitate to say yes.  I was just so excited to get away from the people who shunned me and to meet new people and have some adventures!

Since that day, I’ve been living with Shoma in the darkness, fighting the people I’d once lived among and generally just having fun! It was fun being with the demons. They didn’t really care what others thought and were always willing to try some new adventure.  From their viewpoint, the gods were selfish, keeping the heavens and immortality and all the good of the world for themselves.  They wouldn’t even give the demons the opportunity to work their way into the heavens.  The demons fought for every bit of clean water, hot food, and the smallest bits of happiness that they could find.

 

I helped them with a lot of that, showing them places to find clean water outside of the heavens.  I honestly think that I can help them make a life worth living outside of heaven, provided the gods let them.  Every time I make a little headway, the gods ruin everything that I’ve built up.  Clean water system, blown apart.  Warming ovens, brought to ruins. Hunting equipment, stolen.  Good hunting grounds, all the animals disappear.  I’m hoping that Shoma and I can work out some sort of peace treaty between the gods and demons.  It’s the only way that everyone will actually be able to live in peace, once and for all.

Author’s Note:

I decided to write a part of Dutt’s Tales of India that was only alluded to with a single sentence.  The sentence is: “The wicked Danava tempted her to the path of sin; she fell; and she was enticed away to the kingdom of darkness” (p.8).  ‘She’ is the wife of Brihaspati, the Perceptor or teacher to the gods.  It is really the only time that she is mentioned and I was very curious as to how and why she would be tempted to ‘the darkside.’  Persephone and Hades were the first thing that came to mind and I kind of derived my story from that idea.  While she doesn’t exactly become the Queen of the Underworld, she still has a significant effect on it.  I also thought that it would be interesting to see the life on the other side of the curtain.  We always get to read about how the demons are evil and the gods are in a constant war against them because they are so evil, but what do the demons think? Anyway, that’s where my idea came from. It’s not much to go on since I derived it from one sentence in the entire story!

Bibliography: Gleanings from Indian Classics, Volume 1: Tales of India by Manmatha Nath Dutt (1893), Internet Archive. 

Image Info: Brihaspati. Source: Wikimedia Commons; Tree Grove. Source: Wikipedia. 

Reading Notes: Dutt's Tales of India, Section A

I chose to read Manmatha Nath Dutt’s Tales of India for my week 9 readings.  It tells the story of Hindu legends and religious beliefs, more or less, and makes many connections between the Hindu story and the story of Christ.  I always think it is interesting how similar many religions are to one another, if you boil them down to a basic story.  Both Hindu and Christianity tell the story of god’s son ridding the world of evil.  And both stories tell of the battle between heaven and hell, in one way or another. 

There were several parts of this reading that I could use for a story.  One idea came from a simple sentence: “The wicked Danava tempted her to the path of sin; she fell; and she was enticed away to the kingdom of darkness” (p.8). 

My other idea was to expand on the story of Sati/Kali and her battle with the demon kings.  I’ve heard of Kali for years, but it was really interesting to see her story told in a more original format.

Another thought was thought was to try to expand on the description of Sati’s beauty in some way.  It simply says that she was too beautiful to describe, but they didn’t even try!

Yet another idea was to write about the “thousand and one means to kill the young prince” Prahlada. I think it would be fun (and funny) to write increasingly unbelievable attempts to kill Prahlada.  It would be a fun mental and creative challenge, I think.

I have also considered using the tale of Shiva and Sita as part of my storybook.  I think it would be interesting to include a female hero in the story.  I could write about her attempts to defeat the demon kings, or something along those lines. 

Bibliography: Gleanings from Indian Classics, Volume 1: Tales of India by Manmatha Nath Dutt (1893), Internet Archive. 

Image Info: Kali. Source: Wikipedia. 

Week 8 Growth Mindset

Even though I know about growth/fixed minset and have made the decision to follow the growth mindset, I still have problems with thinking I am predisposed to not being able to do certain things.  I don’t really face it during school, at least not yet, but I do face it during my job.  I am a sales associate and one of our jobs is to essentially fill a customer’s room with clothes that I think they will like.  This includes pants, shirts, foundations, and jewelry.  We’re supposed to do this regardless of what the customer came in looking for and I find it incredibly difficult to do.  I know I’ve said that I’m not that kind of person before, but I am trying very hard to learn to be.  Unfortunately, I do have a bit of a mental block when it comes to learning it, so it’s taking some serious time and effort.

Growth mindset is one of those things that you need to constantly keep at the forefront of your mind, which is extremely difficult. I managed to do it once before when I was swimming, but it took a lot of mental effort and a ton of practice.  I know I can do it, but I need to set my mind to it. I’m trying to use this class to figure out what I want to do with my life and where I want it to go.  It’s allowing me to explore some of my artistic talents, like writing, which I left behind a long time ago.  It’s not something that I necessarily want to turn into a career, but it may be something that I keep going to help me relax and get out some creative juices. 

Motivational Poster. Source: Wikipedia

Week 8 Reflections

I have been making sensible choices for my readings so far, I think.  Since I don’t live on or near campus, reading the hardcopies of the books in the Bizzell library isn’t exactly a practical decision.  I have enjoyed all of the readings, although they do start to ramble on at some point.  With the Ramayana it was the dragged out ending and the Mahabharata had the seriously dragged out war description.  I think my favorite was the first half of the reading about Krishna and his life.

My reading notes are not exactly like they are supposed to be, mostly because I start writing my story as I’m reading.  I get a good idea and I want to act on it immediately.  Taking little notes doesn’t work for me because I forget the guts of my idea and just remember a brief overview.  However, my style works for me because it helped me remember which sections I wanted to return to for my storybook writings.

I have been proud of my stories so far and have really enjoyed writing them.  It lets me get some creativity out during the week, which I really appreciate.  Even though it is an assigned ‘art’ project, it still forces me to get the creative juices flowing. It gives my brain a bit of a break during the week.  I love writing my stories, and I really love writing my storybook. I’m looking forward to the rest of the semester and to discovering some more stories to read and turn around into a new creation. 

Highland Coo. Personal Photo, March 2016

This image may not seem like it relates to the writing process, but it's the background on my computer desktop, so obviously it does.  I write on my computer. He's on my computer.  It's related!!!

Reading Notes: Kincaid's Krishna of Dwarka, Section B

I really enjoyed the second half of Kincaid’s version of Krishna’s life.  It held my interest and even started me thinking that parts of it could be retold in my storybook.  I really liked getting a better idea of who Krishna was supposed to be and to read about his adventures. It does seem reminiscent of the Ramayana and Mahabharata in many ways, but I suppose it is another retelling of the incarnation of Vishnu on earth.  I’m really looking forward to getting into some fun new stories now.  I enjoyed these, but I’m excited to start something new next week.  I need to find another juicy story to retell in my storybook!  

I actually wrote my story while reading this week so I didn't really see any reason to do real reading notes.  Kind of defeats the purpose if you have already written the story!

Image Info: Krishna marries Jambavati. Source: Indian Epics

Bibliography: Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories by C. A. Kincaid (1920), Indian Epics. 

Story: Twenty-One Days

Twenty-one days, fourteen hours, and twenty-three minutes. That is how long our husbands had been fighting.  I honestly don’t even know why they were fighting.  It’s not like there was any real reason for it.

You see, we were a rich family.  My husband wasn’t a king or anything, but he was a bear of a man who had amassed a fortune working for a variety of uppity-ups in the world.  He got paid the big bucks because he was good at his job and his clients always felt safe in his care.  However, his most important client and job was always that of the protector and father of our child.  On one of his recent jobs, he found a fun little toy to bring back to our son.  It sort of resembled a big jewel, but it emitted a little light that I’m sure will eventually run out battery. 

Anyway, our son loved his new toy and was playing with it constantly.  Our nanny had even come up with a fun little rhyme to sing while playing: "Baby Bear! Baby Bear! The jewel is yours to keep and wear. For he who would take the lovely thing must first fight Daddy, the great Bear King!" Our son always called my husband the Bear King instead of Daddy because we told him that the Bear King could scare away the monsters in his closet.  Unfortunately, the name stuck. However, twenty-one days ago, our son was playing with his new toy while the nanny kept an eye on him when some man came bursting into the house and demanded that we hand the toy over.  What would a grown man want with a child’s toy?

The scream of our nanny sent my husband running out of the kitchen where we had been preparing dinner and I was hot on his heels.  He went bursting into the living room and immediately rushed the other man.  The other man swung his fist and struck my husband across the jaw, but he merely shrugged it off and tackled the man. The two men locked together in an intense struggle, both wrestling to get the upper hand.  My husband beat the other man senseless, but apparently that wasn’t the end of it.  After he threw the man (I have since learned that his name was Kris) out of our house, they began a sort of street war, constantly attacking each other to actually win the ‘war’. 

I recently met Kris’s girlfriend, who is actually a very lovely young lady.  We have gotten to know one another over the past twenty-one days while our husbands have been fighting.  Thankfully, there haven’t been any casualties so far.  Anyway, she told me that the jewel was a sort of obsession of her boyfriends, although she didn’t know why.  Something about a sun god or something?

We’re working on trying to end this war ourselves, so we can get back to our normal lives.  We’re both tired of the bodyguards following us everywhere and the various kidnapping attempts.  I mean really, who has the time for it anymore?  I’m thinking some sort of intervention could work.  Or I just give the stupid toy to Kris and we forget any of this ever happened.  Honestly, my husband can find him another toy. Hopefully not one that has anything to do with a sun god. 

Author's Note:

I decided to go a different direction with this story and tried to put it in a more modern context and tell it from a different perspective at the same time.  I rewrote the story of Krishna trying to find the Syamantaka Jewel, which belonged to the Sun God.  In the original story, the jewel trades hands (by the death of its possessor) several times before ending up in the hands of Jambavat, the Bear King.  When Krishna goes in search of the jewel, he finds it with the son of Jambavat and the nurse alerts the king of Krishna's presence.  Anyway, all you get is that they fight for twenty-one days, Jambavat surrenders from exhaustion, and Krishna gets the jewel.  I like my version better!

Bibliography: Chapter Eight. Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories by C. A. Kincaid (1920), Indian Epics.

Image Information: Beryl. Source: Wikipedia. 

Reading Notes: Kincaid's Krishna of Dwarka Section A

I was really excited to learn about the Mahabharata’s incarnation of Vishnu.  I think it is really interesting that there are always multiple incarnations of him at the same time, such as the four in the Ramayana and the two with Krishna.  I also find it interesting that the gods always have such fantastic and adventurous childhoods.  You’d think that the parents would be pulling their hair out during the entire childhood of the god’s incarnations.  I definitely couldn’t imagine being the mother of Krishna, dealing with him eating all the milk and butter, destroying the cart, and dragging a mortar into the woods because he was bored.  Each to their own, I suppose.

 I enjoyed the first part of this retelling, although I did start to lose interest in the storytelling style towards the end of the section. I just started to get distracted and wasn’t paying as close of attention to the story as I was in the beginning.

Bibliography: Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories by CA Kincaid (1920), link to source. 

Image Info: Krishna. Source: Indian Epics. 

Story: Just Another Day, Lake Edition

It was just another day in the lake.  I was just swimming along, looking for some little froggy things to eat.  I had just been bubbled by one of my friends who knew a relative of mine in the ocean.  My cousin-fish had an interesting story to bubble.  He had just been swimming around, looking for some ocean-froggies to eat when these silver fish started swimming by, and hurting some of the other fish.  After a few of these fish went by, he claims that the ocean god rose up out of the darkness below him and went up to the light.  After a little while, the god went swimming back by.  I’m not sure if I believe him.  Admittedly, there isn’t much of a darkness here in the lake that a giant fish-god could swim out of.  I’ve been bubbled that the ocean is a lot bigger, but I just don’t know.

Anyway, it was just another day in the lake.  I was just swimming along, looking for some little froggy things to eat. After my friend finished bubbling me the story, he went swimming off to look for some of his own little froggy frogs to eat.  I had just found a really tasty little grouping of the froggy frogs and was getting ready to nibble on them when a giant fish-thing landed right next to me and swept all the froggy frogs away! How rude!

Now, we had some interesting looking fishies that came into the lake from time to time.  There were several fish that always seemed to come in sets of four.  Big gray ones that came with a long skinny grey one, brown and black skinny ones that had a round, hard head, and other skinny ones of different colors that had four little heads.  They all seemed to swim straight down with their heads buried in the sand, would squirm around a bit, and then disappear.  Strange little fishies. 

However, this fishie was really big, with two odd shaped fins and two tails! I had never seen a fishie with two tails before! They still didn’t look really helpful for swimming, especially with how many chunky scales the fishie had.  Then again, it didn’t really do much swimming.  It just kind of settled on the bottom and didn’t move.  Occasionally it would twitch a little bit, but that was it.  It was there for a full turn of light and dark, but it still didn’t move.  I thought that maybe it was dead.  That was the only time I had ever seen a fishie not moving like that.  I tried bubbling at it, trying to figure out where it had come from and why it wasn’t moving, but the fishie just ignored me.  When I tried to swim up to it, it finally moved enough to push me away, which I thought was rude. 

After a while, it finally swam upwards with a great crashing and splashing.  It scared all the froggies in the lake away with all the waves that it was making. How inconsiderate! It stuck its two tails down into the sand and just stayed there for a bit.  I could have caught several froggies in the time it was sticking its head out of the water, if there had been any froggie frogs nearby.  It finally hopped towards the shallow area of the lake and then just disappeared altogether. 

It kind of reminded me of that story my friend had bubbled to me about my ocean-cousin.  Did I tell you about the time that he met the ocean-god? It had just been another day in the ocean.  My cousin-fish was just swimming along, looking for some ocean-froggies to eat…

Author’s Note:

I chose to expand on the story of Duryodhana in the Lake, at least in regards to the time that he spent in the lake.  It reminded me of the story that I had written about Rama when he shot arrows into the ocean and how a certain fish had experienced that particular part of the story.  As I was reading this story, I immediately thought of how this would look to a different fish.  I really enjoyed writing the original story and thought it would be fun to put a little different twist on it.  It allowed me to kind of channel my inner child and just write a light hearted, easy-to-read story. 

In the original, Duryodhana is hiding from the Pandava army and he could remain underwater for as long as he desired. Clearly the lake was the only place to hide! He stayed under the water until Bhima found him and then they fought on the land.

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). PDE Mahabharata.

Image Info: Northern Pike. Source: Wikipedia;