Reading Notes: Folklore of Laos, Reading B

(Laos Rice Fields: Wiki Commons)

Notes. I like the two jewels and what it does. I think it is magical to have items that can grant things or actions. It was unfortunate that the man was ungrateful to the wizard’s help. Fortunately, the wizard did not die, but the man should have kept his words.

In the Legend of Rice, I would love rice to roll to me when they’re ready. Perhaps, they could even plant themselves, and people would just wait for them to do everything. Yet, I just noticed that they are basically committing suicide.

I read a few stories that included food being stored in bamboo sticks. I have heard of that before. I may use it for my story if can fit in my story. Some people, back then, even stored food in banana leaves.

It was messed up how the main characters in The Fortunes of Ai Powlo and One Woman got away with so many bad deeds. The Fortunes of Ai Powlo was quite cynical and dark.

In To Aid a Beast, I liked how the snake came to his aid when he thought of the snake. It is unbelievable, but it is something that I would like to happen. Aside from this, I like how they fulfilled their debts of gratitude.

In The Boys Who Were Not Appreciated, I felt very sorry for the kids. If I were to write about this, I would go in to depth about the conversation where the mother talks to the stepfather about neglecting the children. In the end, she agreed to kick the kids out. However, I would write the story and make it so the mother would at least have some compassion for the children that she carried for nine months. I just don’t know how parents could do that to their children. I’m not saying that she should neglect her new husband, but there should be some moderation.

Bibliography. Folklore of Laos by by Katherine Neville Fleeson; link to reading online.

Reading Notes: Folklore of Laos, Reading A

Notes. In the stories about the Folklore of Laos, there were several stories that interested me. A few were interesting, while there were a few that I would be interested in writing for my story this week. I liked the Man in the Moon and the Faithful Husband. In the Man in the Moon, I learned that people should be satisfied with who they are originally. They should not want to be other people because, in the end, they would have felt better being themselves. In the Faithful Husband, I liked the twists and different aspects of the story. It included an ape who died from sorrow, a helpful fly, and an enchanted, far away land.

Three stories that I would be interested to write about are A Child of the Woods, The Enchanted Mountain, and The Lover's Leap. The braveness of the child intrigued me. After being overcome with anger, she ran away unafraid of beasts and darkness. Additionally, a tiger and wild beasts did no harm to her. In my story, I would write that she ran into the forest because she was afraid to hurt humans. Then, as she slowly assimilated into the jungle world, she would slowly have features of a tiger. When she is close to the brink of fully becoming a tiger, she would wish to return being a human, but it would be too late. It would be unfortunate, but I want to write a story that does not have a good ending like the few stories I have written so far.

 (Mountain: Web Source)

I like to story about the Enchanted Mountain's lake. If I wrote this story, I would write it from a nymph's point-of-view. She would pity the tired hunter and show him to the lake. However, when he returns, he became greedy. He returned every week to find the lake, but never could. The nymph will fell pity for him once again, but would not appear in front of him or show him the lake again.

In the Lover's Leap, instead of leaving with him, she would have refused him because she had a fortune teller tell her about her unfortunate ending. She would tell him to prepare two horses for them to leave the next day. However, her father found both of them out, and the father killed her lover.

Bibliography. Folklore of Laos by by Katherine Neville Fleeson; link to reading online.

Tech Tip: Google Site Page

Last week, I made a Google site for my storybook. This week, I made an introduction to it. In the introduction, I began with the setting. Then, I started writing dialogues from an ancient apple's point of view. There are with some responses about the apple who the ancient apple is talking to. Lastly, I briefly wrote about what I will be discussing in the next pages.

(Tree with glowing balls of light: Web source)

Story: The Wishing Ring

 

(A ring: Web source)

Story. “Where did my son go? Why isn’t he back yet?” said the King of Snakes.

The ring thought, “Your son? You know where your son went. Why do you keep asking? He always likes to run out to the human world because he doesn’t like being holed up in here like me.”

The King had all his servants search for his son in his favorite places, but his son could not be found. Several days passed until he heard that his son was back with a stranger.

The King said to a servant, “Tell my son and the stranger to appear before me.” The servant told the son the King’s message, but the son couldn’t come.

The son said, “I cannot do that unless I am freed from this stranger’s debt of gratitude.”

After hearing this, the King walked to his son and embraced him. The King asked the stranger what he could do to repay him for saving his son’s life.

“The ring on your hand, and the famous pot and spoon which you keep,” replied the stranger.

The ring repeated those words in his mind, “The ring on your right hand, and the famous pot and spoon which you keep.” Then, he realized that it was him! He was surprised, but he couldn’t protest because he was just an inanimate object who couldn’t communicate with others. He tried to think positively. He thought in his mind, “I guess I will finally get out of this hole and experience new things. But what if I get mistreated? No, I’m sure that he’ll be nice. But what if I get pawned?”

When the King heard the stranger’s reply, he contemplated whether to give him the items or kill him. However, he was reminded of the stranger’s heroic act. The King invited the stranger to a few days of hospitality and gave him the items.

When the stranger left with the ring, the ring closed its eyes shut until he felt he was in the human world. When he opened his eyes, he saw a cat and dog run up to the stranger calling him “the merchant’s son” and “master.”

The Master greeted them. They asked him to try wishing something. The Master wished to the ring, “I want a big mansion and a beautiful woman.”

When the ring heard his cue, he conjured a beautiful mansion and a golden-haired princess. He praised, “My creations are always great.”

In the possession of his new master, the ring was very happy to visit forests and be his new master’s aide. On his Master's hand, he had a great view of everything. He went on hunting trips and markets. He saw different kinds of trees, animals, and goods. His trips with his new master were better than what he experienced in his old Master’s home.

One day, the golden-haired princess, now his Master’s wife, said, “Dear, you always go hunting and shooting. Let me hold your ring for you in case you lose it.”

Trusting his wife, the Master gave her his ring. His wife put him on the table near their bed. The ring, again, couldn’t protest, but he complained about not being able to see the rare animal the Master said he would kill. The next day, his Master left early to go hunting. Then, several hours later, the ring saw his Master’s wife leave and return to get him. He wondered what he would be doing that day. It turns out that his Master’s wife was deceived by an ogress who wanted to steal him. The ogress stole him from the master's wife, transformed into a bee, and carried him off.

“Wait! Wait! Where are you taking me?! Madam! Help! Help!” said the ring. The ring saw groups of animals, lots of tress, and a big pond. The ogress took an unfamiliar path.

The ring tried to move around without success. The ogress took him to a man dressed in silk and gold threads. The ogress said, “Here, my prince. Wish upon this ring, and you will get what you want.”

The ring protested, “What?! How dare you just order me around? I will not permit to this. Return me to my owner now.”

“I hope to see my golden-haired maiden whose hair was enclosed in a reed that flowed to me,” wished the prince.

Nothing happened. The prince repeated his wish, but nothing happened again. The ogress and prince wondered what went wrong. The ogress asked the prince to look at the ring.

Snatch! A cat snatched the ring when the prince almost put it in her hands. It was the Master’s cat! The ring was overjoyed, and thanked the cat.

The cat brought the ring back home with the dog. While on the way back, the cat and dog wondered why the ring wouldn’t work on the prince.

The ring thought, “I am not sure either. I can think of two reasons. Either I am beginning to be able to control my powers, or I can only be used by my rightful master.”

Having been with only two masters, the ring did not know of his own capabilities. The master returned, his wife told him everything, and the ring was able to travel around with his master again. Occasionally, the ring thought about his abduction, remembering the amazing view. However, he did not want to part from his master again.

Author's Note. This story is based on The Charmed Ring, a story from the Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. I decided it create the story from the ring's perspective, but it was somewhat difficult to do because I wanted to maintain the story from The Charmed Ring. Most of it was similar to original, but in the end, the other prince's wish came true. Also, there were more details between the cat and dog when they were on their way back from getting the ring.

Bibliography. The Charmed Ring from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs; link to reading online.

Reading Notes: Indian Fairy Tales, Reading B

Notes. In the Pride Goeth Before a Fall, the cloth merchants were very clever in tricking the robbers right in front of them. I would love to have a code word in times of danger and distress. However, it seems so difficult to do in front of a bad guy. The only thing I currently can use is talking in another language.

Luckily, the robbers were dumb and distracted from the cloth merchants’ singing and dancing. There was something I questioned. It was their coordination. How did they know who to get? Either way, they successfully took care of the robbers.

In the Prince and Fakir, I wondered how the Fakir accumulated so many things. He may have done the same thing with others before. Additionally, does he have any powers? He was able to help the King have children by giving him the food for his two chosen wives. Additionally, if the Fakir came one year later, the child would be a one-year old child or younger. However, when I read, it seemed like the boy was much older. Even later, he married a princess of a kingdom.

In Why The Fish Laughed, the writing was very clever. All of it was very clever with the analogies and references. I like reading hidden meanings that I will later understand. I especially liked the part when the farmer’s daughter sent the vizier’s son food and a message. I was also glad that the vizier’s son and the farmer’s daughter got together. I had a feeling that they were meant to be together. The story went off tangent, but it came right back when the son found out about the fish’s laugh from the farmer’s daughter.

 (Man and Woman Holding Hands: Web Source)

I liked these stories, but I feel that I will write a story about the Charmed Ring from Part A. With the long story, I could expand and write more about it.

Bibliography.  Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs; link to reading online.

Reading Notes: Indian Fairy Tales, Reading A

Notes. The stories I liked the most in the Indian Fairy Tales were The Broken Pot and The Charmed Ring. I am thinking of writing from an inanimate object's point-of-view. It is unfortunate that in The Broken Pot, the man's pot broke in the end, even though he was not able to accomplish what he imagined. However, it makes sense because he was over-thinking. Talking too much about what could happen led to his disaster. He could have been more humble instead of imagining things.

In The Charmed Ring, the ring went through quite a journey. It has been in the hands of a snake king, a merchant's son, the merchant's wife, an ogress, a prince, and the merchant's cat and dog. With this much content, it would not be difficult to write from the ring's perspective. What surprised me about the story was the merchant wife's gullibility. She did not know that she was unrelated to the cunning ogress. Therefore, she fell into the ogress' plan. She should have known that she was conjured. What was peculiar was that the merchant left for many days to hunt for fun. He had mostly everything, but he still left, leaving his wife with the cat and dog.

Aside from this, the pot and spoon, which was also given with the ring, were unimportant towards the end of the story. I can also write a story based on their perspectives as well. For example, I could write how they only have each other and are shunned by everyone else except when others can use them.

Another story I liked was The Magic Fiddle. I liked how the main girl was able to exit her fiddle. It was quite magical. However, it was unfortunate that her sister-in-laws got scot-free with what they did. She told her brothers what they did to her, and that was the end. There was no revenge plan. Anyway, I suppose that all was well. She did end up with a prince.

(Ring: Wiki Commons)

Bibliography. Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs; link to reading online.

Feedback Focus: Three Methods

I did not like reading out loud. I had to re-read several sentences again so I can understand it. I was more focused on reading out loud than understanding what I read. However, reading out loud required me to not skip any details. As a result, I would have a good awareness of the story, and it would let me write some details comments about it. The biggest advantage to this is not skipping out on any details. The biggest disadvantage, to me, was that it made me re-read the sentences a few times to understand the sentence.

I liked the copy-and-delete method. It made me write things that interested me. After looking at what I wrote, I felt like I did a good job in accomplishing writing down notes. I find that this method is better than reading out loud. I feel like when I read at my own pace, I can understand the story better. However, it takes some time because I have to delete paragraphs as I go. The biggest advantage would be that I would have notes prepared without me needing to read it again.

(Hourglass: Web Source)

In the use a timer method, I finished in about four minutes. I read Beauty and the Car. During the remaining time, I re-read the story. Then, I looked at the structure and the dates that the author included. The biggest disadvantage would be the time. I could use the remaining time to construct a comment.

I would rank the methods as copy-and-delete, reading out loud, and use a timer. I have heard of reading out loud before, but the other methods were new to me. Another technique I have heard about is somewhat like the copy-and-delete method. It is where readers would write a one sentence summary of what happened for each paragraph.

I already use the reading out loud method when I feel like I can’t focus on reading. I may use the timer method in the future, because it will require me to go back and perhaps read something that I did not catch when I read the first time.