Extra Reading Diary: Aesop's Fables

The Gods (Davies)- This fable plays on the word "herm" in Greek. Herms were statues of Hermes (called Mercury by the Romans) which served various purposes, honoring the dead sometimes, and sometimes in honor of the god Mercury himself. In this fable, the god Mercury contemplates his fate in the form of a statue!
More Gods (Smart)- This is an allegory that explains why we are so quick to see the faults of others and so slow to see our own!
Fables about People (Boothby)- A Housewife once a Hen possessed That every morning in her nest
Left a fine egg. Twice in the day the beldame wanted her to lay, And so her nourishment increas'd. Grown fat, to lay at all she ceas'd.
More Fables about People (L'Estrange)- There was a Stingy Narrow-Hearted Fellow, that had a Great deal of Choice Fruit in his Ground, but had not the Heart to touch any of it 'till it began to be Rotten.
Apes (L'Estrange)- Governours should be Men of Business, rather than Pleasure. There’s one great Folly in making an ill Choice of a Ruler, and another in the Acceptance of it; for it exposes Authority to Scorn.
Foxes (Smart)- "Ev'n so the fates decree." — "Then, sir, Have patience, whilst I do aver That he who like affections knows Is born with all the gods his foes. Since to that place you needs must speed,
Where all your ancestors precede, Why in the blindness of your heart Do you torment your noble part?"
More Foxes (L'Estrange)- The Fox finding 'twas all but Banter: "Well," says he, "'tis no Great Matter then; for the more Physicians, the more Danger, they say."
Lions (Boothby)- But weary, nature to restrain, Yet show of justice to maintain, He with this plot his courtiers snar'd: That he was sick, the King declar'd, That sleep and appetite he wanted, And he believ'd his breath was tainted.
A Lion and a Man (L'Estrange)- The Lion presently put his Claws into the Gaping of the Wood, and with one Lusty Pluck, made it give way, and out drops the Wedge, the Wood immediately Closing upon't; and there was the Lion caught by the Toes. The Woodman presently upon this, Raises the Country; and the Lion finding what a Streight he was in, gave one Hearty Twitch, and got his Feet out of the Trap, but left his Claws Behind him.
Lions and Asses (Smart)- Once on a time it came to pass, The Lion hunted with the Ass, Whom hiding in the thickest shade He there proposed should lend him aid, By trumpeting so strange a bray,
That all the beasts he should dismay And drive them o'er the desert heath Into the lurking Lion's teeth.
Asses (Boothby)- An Ass with envying eye surveyed A Courser in his war-parade, Curvetting to the trumpet's sound, With steps that scarcely touch'd the ground.
More Asses (L'Estrange)- While they were Jogging on thus upon the Way, out comes a Band of Highway-Men from the next Wood, and falls upon the Ass that carried the Treasure. They Beat, Wound and Rifle him, and so leave him, without so much as taking the least Notice of his Fellow.

Illustration by Billinghurst. 

Storytelling Week 13: Russian Folktales

There was once a couple that was so in love and seemed to have the perfect marriage. Other couples envied them. They were both so happy with one another. They never fought or disagreed. Everyone always told them they were so meant to be. 

Mother with Child. 

They had built such a loving home and wanted to add more love, a child. They tried and tried, but had no luck. One day the wife felt something and knew that they had been blessed with a child.

They waited and waited. So excited for the day they could rest their eyes on their son or daughter. The day finally came and their beautiful baby son came out healthy. But, something went very wrong with the wife. She turned red and was bleeding and bleeding. The husband didn’t know what to do. He watched his wife take her last breath. She had gone. And just as the baby was crying so was the husband. Weeping for his beloved wife.

The man stopped his crying and began wondering. Wondering how he was going to take care of his infant child. How was he going to nourish it? How was he going to care for it all by himself?

The next day, after a long night, looked for an old maid to take care of his child. He found a nice, sweet old lady who had raised 5 children of her own who were all grown now. She loved the little boy like her own. It pleased the husband to see his boy taken care of and loved by a mother figure, but he couldn’t help but wonder how not having a mother would affect the boy.

A few weeks later the old maid told the husband that the baby cries all day long but stop his crying and is silent at night. She wasn’t sure why and neither was the father. One night the old maid stayed up to see what made the boy stop crying.

One night she was up and heard a creek in the floor and what sounded like steps. She creped up to the boy’s room. What she saw was unbelievable. She saw his mother bent over in her ghost like state feeding the boy from her bosom. The old maid couldn’t believe what she saw. The mother saw the old maid and rushed up and out of the window.

The boy was still silent so the old maid went over to his crib and noticed the boy was not moving. He was dead just as his mother was.

Author’s Note: This week I read stories from the Russian Folktale section. I found these stories interesting and easy to read. These stories were separated by story and were not a continuous story. So for my story this week I focused on only one story, The Dead Mother. I kept my story very close to the original, not steering away at all really except how I told it and a few minor details. In the original story, the couple is very much in love and have a child. The mother dies right away. The father hires an old lady who notices the baby doesn’t make noise at night. She finds that the dead mother is nursing the baby who also ends up dying. I wasn’t sure how the baby died in the original story so I didn’t add how he died in mine.  

Reading Diary B: Russian Folktales

A Witch Girl

The Witch Girl- “If you like,” says the Cossack, “I’ll show you Death! Call together all the Sotniks and Desyatniks as quickly as possible, and let’s go through the village and look for her.”



The Headless Princess- “It will be still more horrible this time. Here’s a hammer for you and four nails. Knock them into the four corners of the coffin, and when you begin reading the psalter, stick up the hammer in front of you.”

The Warlock- But the third was sharper than the other two. She declared she had taken off her cross, but in reality she kept it on. She took her seat and spun, but said prayers to herself all the while.

The Fox Physician- “Beginning to stir!” replied the fox, who then ate up the old woman, collected her bones and piled them up in a corner, and set to work to knead a hasty pudding.

The Fiddler in Hell- “It was money! I had much money: I gave none to the poor, two pots of it did I bury underground. See now, they are going to torment me, to beat me with sticks, to tear me with nails.”

The Two Friends- The bridegroom looked around. Where the graveyard had been, was now a piece of waste ground. No road was to be seen, no kinsmen, no horses. All around grew nettles and tall grass.

The Shroud- But after they had supped and lain down to sleep, all of a sudden the corpse tapped at the window and said: “Give me my shroud! Give me my shroud!”

The Coffin-Lid- “Do bring them to life, kinsman,” say their relatives. “We’ll give you half of all we possess.”

The Two Corpses- Presently up ran the first corpse—the one that had chased the soldier—and dashed into the chapel. Thereupon the one that was lying on the table jumped up, and cried to it: “What hast thou come here for?”

The Dog and the Corpse- “A bad piece of work, my son!” said the old woman. “The dog was disgusted at your not helping it. There it was fighting with the corpse—and you deserted it, and thought only of saving yourself! Now it will owe you a grudge for ever so long.”

The Soilder and the Vampire- “Why, in order that the bride and bridegroom might die. Tomorrow morning no one will be able to wake them. I alone know how to bring them back to life.”

Ready Diary A: Russian Folktales

The Dead Mother- A dead mother feed her baby even after she died but then the baby died as well. I am not sure how they baby died. They didn't really make it clear in the story.

The Treasure- She took a knife, and was beginning to cut the thread at the seam, when forth flowed blood, and the pope began to howl: “Oh! it hurts, mother, it hurts! Don’t cut mother, don’t cut!”

The Bad Wife- The Demon rushed to the window, stared with all his eyes, and heard everyone shouting at the top of his voice the words, “The Bad Wife!”

The Three Copecks- “A mere trifle. I’ll make the beastie stand on his hind legs while I hold him up by his forelegs, and you shall pile gold pieces around him, so as just to hide him—I shall be content with that!”

The Miser- Out jumped the poor man, crying: “What’s the good of disputing that way? Let the sabre belong to him who will cut this corpse’s head off!”

The Water Snake- They took the girl down to the pond, and dived right into the water with her. And there they all turned into men and women. The mother remained for some time on the dike, wailed a little, and then went home.

Friday- Well, what do you think? During the night, back came Mother Friday and took the dust out of that woman’s eyes, so that she was able to get about again.

Wednesday- Well, the young woman ran home, beat the pails together, and cried out beneath the window: “Wednesday’s children have been burnt at sea!”

The Leshy- Up came the priest, and cried, “Why, that’s my daughter.” Up came running the priest’s wife, and cried: “O thou dear child! Where hast thou been so long? I had no hope of ever seeing thee again.”

Dnieper, Volga, Dvina- Therefore is it that his flow is swifter than that of the Volga and the Dvina; therefore also is it that he has many rapids and many mouths.

Emilian the Fool- As soon as the fool had said this, the pails immediately went home of their own accord and became set in their places. The sisters-in-law looked and wondered.

Russian Building.