Week 13 Storytelling: An Incident in Norman

Some claim that this story takes place in Norman:

A student was walking across campus in the rain when his shoe got stuck in the mud.  He tried to pull his foot out of the mud, but his shoe was stuck fast.  He couldn’t even get his foot out of the shoe! Finally, some of his friends came along and helped pull him out, but there remained a large hole where his foot had been.  This hole opened into a dark room underground.

“Who wants to go on an adventure?”

“I will!” said the student whose foot had been stuck in the mud. They found a rope which they tied around the student and he was soon lowered into the hole.  Let’s call the student Kevin. 

Once Kevin touched down, he looked around and saw a door.  He tried to open the door, but it was locked.  He turned around, trying to see if there was anything else in the darkness, but there was not.  When he turned back, there was a key in the lock.  He turned the lock and opened the door to reveal a young man seated at a table.  The small room greatly resembled a dorm room, albeit a very small and dingy one.

“Who are you?” asked Kevin, but the man was silent.

Three times Kevin asked and on the third, the man said “Turn around, take out your notebook and I will write who I am inside.  When you leave this hole, go to President Boren and make him read who I am, but Boren alone must read this.”

Kevin turned around, took out his notebook, and handed it to the man. The man wrote on the notebook, handed it back, and resumed his seat.

While Kevin was an adventurous and courageous student, he was not made of stone.  He was terrified and wanted to know who this man was and why he would not just tell him.  He looked like a student, but Kevin couldn’t be sure. “How long have you been here?” Kevin asked in a quavering voice.

The man did not respond and Kevin soon grew tired of the dingy place.  He returned to the whole and was pulled up. 

“What was down there? Was there anything good?” they all shouted as he reached the surface.

“There wasn’t anything down there.  I need to go see President Boren to tell him about the hole.  He needs to know,” Kevin replied.

As soon as he arrived, Boren’s secretary escorted Kevin into the office.  When they were alone, Kevin told President Boren what had happened.  Kevin told him of the hole, the door, the man, everything.  Then he took out his notebook and said to him, “Read, Mr. President!”

Mr. Boren read “I AM PLAGION!”

As he declared these words, the poor student became a statue.  

“Damn it, not another one,” Mr. Boren muttered.  “Louise, I have another statue for the campus! We need to find a free space!”

And it is said that that man was Plagion, who was condemned to stay in a dorm room, always reading the essay that he had plagiarized in English, never taking his eyes from the paper.

This is the story of Plagion, who is neither graduated nor student.

Author’s Note:

I chose to rewrite the story An Incident in Rome.  I kept close to the original story, although the original had a little more significance.  The original is the story of Pilate, who believed that Jesus Christ was innocent but acquiesced to the public's will. 

I made the student’s name Kevin because one of the members on my group project was being incredibly annoying as I tried to work on this before class.  He’s a great guy, he was just hyper, so I thought that it would be hilarious if this happened to him… at least the shoe part.

Plagion is the root word for plagiarism.  It was a Greek word, which translates to the Latin word for a kidnapping.  I thought that it was appropriate and was the only thing that I could come up with that would link it to what the student had done wrong.

I also wanted to inject a little humor in the story, which is why I added the little quip from President Boren.  It explains all the statues on campus too!

“An Incident in Rome” from Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Frederick Crane (1885). Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook. 

Image Source: University of Oklahoma. Source: Wikipedia.  Dorm Room. Source: Wikipedia. President Boren. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Diary B: Italian Popular Tales

The second half of the Italian Popular Tales unit definitely took a turn.  The first few stories were definitely of a religious nature, compared to the other stories that I had been reading.   

An Incident in Rome was a very interesting story.  The story itself was rather simple and basic, but I loved the way in which it was written.  I wish that I had read this earlier in the semester as it would have been a lot of fun to incorporate into my storybook.

Feast Day was another simple story, but I loved the way it ended.  It listed all the things that came unfast and fell into the mouth of the next person, which ended with the reader, whom the narrator called blockheads!

Most of these stories reminded me of Grimm fairytales in one way or another.  The themes were similar and the writing styles were almost identical!

The Vatican. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Diary A: Italian Popular Tales

Italy. Source: Wikimedia Commons

For this week (really two weeks, but who’s counting) readings, I chose the Italian Popular Tales unit.  Since I am travelling to Italy in the spring, I thought that it would be fun to read their fairy tales.  Maybe it will give a bit of insight into their culture, maybe not. 

The unit was very interesting, although slightly repetitive.  Zelindaand the Monster was a lot like Beauty and the Beast.  The woman met a dragon whom she was forced to live with and when she finally agreed to marry him, he became a handsome young man.  The Fair Angiola was very similar to Rapunzel… but with a dog’s face.  The hair and tower were the same, but the witch cursed her with a dog’s face when she ran.  Howthe Devil Married Three Sisters started out like the story of Cupid and Psyche.  He told the women to not do something, which of course he did. 

I really enjoyed reading this unit.  It reminded me a lot of the Grimm fairy tales that I have been reading all semester, so of course I loved them!

Week 12 Storytelling: I am Excalibur

There I was, perfectly happy on the hip of one of the most valiant knights in all the land.    I was a beautiful sword.  In my hilt was a perfect blood red ruby surrounded by intricate, well-polished scroll work.  My scabbard was also red and heavily encrusted with gold and jewels.  My knight and I had been in countless wars, slaying the evils that plagued our lands.  My knight was aging, but he was still a strong man who thought that he could take on the world with me at his side, and rightly so. 

Then poof!  My knight and scabbard were gone and I was encased in freaking rock!  The rough stone grated against my smooth blade, scratching up the steel.  How the hell did I go from being at my knight’s side to being in a freaking rock?!  I couldn’t see where I was, I couldn’t hear any voices, nothing! 

I waited there forever sitting in a rock, chaffing against the sides, seeing nothing, hearing nothing. I’m pretty sure I went insane.  Then, all of a sudden, I felt a hand on my hilt trying to tug me out of the stone!  Finally, I was going to be free of this stupid rock!  But as much as that hand, and many others, pulled, I never came free.  So yet again, I was trapped. 

What I think was a few days later, the hands returned, although I was sure that I was stuck there forever.  These hands seemed smaller and smoother than the others, so they must belong to a young boy.  Surprisingly, I was pulled free!  The light was blinding, the sounds deafening!  I was free of that blasted stone!  The boy took off with me and in the distance I could see a tournament being prepared. 

The boy delivered me to a knight and what was said next was lost on me.  The knight took me to another and said “Sir, this is the sword of the stone, therefore I am the rightful King." The other knight appeared doubtful and took us to another man. 

Now this is where I began to drift off.  I was so excited and happy to be free of the stone that I did not care what these men were prattling on about.  Maybe I could find my knight now! I could go back to fighting wars and slaying evils.  I was free after all! 

However, the men began to walk back to where the boy had pulled me from the stone.  I could not go back into that darkness! I would lose my sanity!  Try as I might, however, I was returned to the stone and four more times, with long periods in between, I was pulled from the stone. 

On the fourth time that I was drawn from the stone, I saw a great crowd of common people around the boy, the stone and me.  The second that I was free from the stone, the crowd began to scream and cheer, chanting the young man’s name.  Everyone around us fell to their knees with tears on their faces: young and old, rich and poor. 

The young man was declared king, and with me at his side!  While I may not find my knight again, I was now at the hip of a man who was chosen by the people, a man with the natural ability to lead and rule. 

The young man’s name was Arthur and he was now king of Camelot.  I protected him for many years, slaying those that threatened his life and the life of the kingdom.  Although my former knight had never named me, this boy called me Excalibur and we ruled Camelot with a firm hand and a loving heart. 

That is, until we were separated and I never saw the young man again.  I heard that he was given another sword by a lady of the lake, one that, while not as good as myself, still helped him rule his kingdom. 

Author’s Note:

For this week’s story, I chose to rewrite the King Arthur story, The Drawing of the Sword.  I kept the same story line, but rewrote it from the viewpoint of Excalibur.  I thought it would be an interesting viewpoint since the sword is so central to the tale of King Arthur.  I wanted to show how it would feel to be encased in stone, waiting for the One True King to come along and draw you from the stone.  And once you’re finally free of the stone, you are placed back into it again and again because the knights would not accept your bearer as the one true king. 

Bibliography: "The Drawing of the Sword" from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang (1902).  Web Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook

Image Source: Excalibur in the Stone. Source: Flickr

Reading Diary B: King Arthur

As I continued to read the King Arthur unit, I realized something that was very entertaining.  The Knights of the Round Table whine about everything!  When things do not go their way, they bemoan their situation and whine to whoever they meet next about their misfortunes.  You would think that such brave, strong knights would have better character than that! They kind of remind me of the way that I have been writing the Grimm Brothers.  They appear to be strong and brave men, but once you break the surface, they’re rather pretentious

Not to mention, they almost all find their way with the help of a woman.  A woman appears who shows them the way that they must follow after they fall into misfortune. 

The more I read of the unit, the more connections I made to other television shows and books that I have read.  The show Merlin, which is what I titled my blog after, is somewhat similar to the tales.  A series of books by Angela Knight has all the right names, but the Knights and their ladies are vampires and witches.  Regardless, all of the renditions of these stories are amazing and I love that I finally know what is, more or less, the original story.  

Merlin Television Show. Source: Ultra Publications

Reading Diary A: King Arthur

I chose to read the King Arthur unit this week.  To be honest, I mainly chose it because King Arthur and Camelot are the focus of this season of Once Upon a Time.  I wanted to see how much of the original stories the show is drawing upon and how they are reinterpreting the old tales.  They seem to follow the same tale, more or less, but with a much darker twist. 

Excalibur was broken and so Arthur has become a broken and twisted ruler.  We recently learned the role that Nimue plays in the show as well, which somewhat reflects the old tales. In The Passing of Merlin, we learned that Nimue was playing Merlin the entire time and was using him to learn magic.  This is vaguely reflected in the show, but not entirely.  She started out loving him but was corrupted by power, like most people seem to be. 

I really enjoyed reading this half of the unit and comparing it to the show and cannot wait to finish it. 

Image Source: Once Upon a Time Logo. Source: Wikimedia Commons. 

Week 11 Storytelling: The Cows of Mooville

Once upon a time, in the town of Mooville, there was a crowd of wild young Cows.  They rampaged the fields, ravaged the food supply, and drained the winery on a nightly basis.  The farmer was just about fed up when he came up with a plan to make the Cows calm down.  If the Cows realized where their selfishness could lead, maybe they wouldn’t destroy Mooville.

One night, as the Cows were celebrating as usual, they heard the clanging of a cowbell.  Since they had all removed theirs before the celebrations commenced, they were curious where it was coming from.  Three Cows in particular began to tipsily follow the sound of the bell.  They stumbled and bumbled until they encountered the farmer on his tractor, dragging a Cow along behind him. 

“What are you doing?” one cow slurred.

“Oh, this Cow went a celebratin’ a couple towns over in Moomania,” the farmer calmly replied.  “Unfortunately, he met that sly old thief Death came along and killed him.  He kills lots a people thereabouts.  Takes a rather keen Cow to trick old Death.  Unfortunately, this Cow could not.”

The three Cows rallied their spirits and decided that they were more than smart enough to defeat Death.  They set off towards Moomania and along the way, they encountered a poor, withered old Cow.  This Cow wove them a tale about his own encounters with Death.  By the end of the tale, the three reveling Cows were enthralled and demanded to know where they could meet Death. The old Cow simply pointed down the road, where it split in two. 

The three Cows raced, as well as tipsy Cows can race, towards the fork in the road that was the home of Death.  When they reached it, they found a pile of golden cowbells! They turned to see the old Cow, but he had disappeared.  In their drunkenness, the tipsy Cows did not even question his disappearance. 

Of course, the golden cowbells needed to be split between the three of them but they also needed a way to carry it back to Mooville. Clearly they could not travel during the day, since someone might see them and want to take their cowbells. 

They came up with a plan.  The fastest of the three, who also happened to be the least drunk, was to go to Moomania and fetch some satchels as well as some food and drink for the three of them.  Then they would spend the day with the golden cowbells before traveling back to Mooville. 

The one Cow set off for Moomania and the remaining two sat down to rest.  As they were sitting, they began to think.  Why should they split the gold between three, when they could easily split it between two? The two sitting Cows came up with a plan.  When the runner returned, they would overpower him and take the gold for themselves. 

Of course, what the running Cow had the same idea.  Why should he share the gold when he could take it all for himself? He decided that he would poison two of the wine bottles and take the golden cowbells back to Mooville himself. 

Now, you know what they say about the best laid plans.  And remember that this is a story about Cows that went in search of Death. 

So, when the running Cow returned, the two sitting Cows immediately jumped him.  One pinned him down while the other knocked him over the head with a rock and he never moved again.  The two remaining Cows sat down to celebrate their success, cracking open the food and wine that the runner had brought back.  As soon as the wine touched their lips, they fell down dead alongside their comrade. 

These Cows had gone in search of Death and Death had found them first!

Author’s Note:

For this week’s storytelling, I rewrote The Pardoner’s Tale:The Revelers.  I followed the original story for the most part, although I did cut out quite a few details.  The general story line is the same though.  I have no idea where my idea of replacing the revelers with Cows came from.  There were no cows in sight, I wasn’t drinking milk, I really don’t know!  But it sounded like a great idea at the time.  Now that I’m done with it, I’m not so sure, but who really cares!

Bibliography: “The Pardoner’s Tale: The Revelers” from The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappen (1908). 

Image Source: Cows. Source: Flickr. Three Cows. Source: Flickr. Sleeping Cow. Source: Wikipedia.  

Reading Diary B: Canterbury Tales

Well, the second half of the Canterbury Tales unit definitely started off with a bang.  The Prioress’s Tale: Little Hugh seemed a little extra dramatic, especially in their treatment of the Jews!  Definitely seemed a little overboard for what I assume is a children’s story.  Definitely gives an insight into the general feelings towards the Jewish people of the time!

The second story, The Cock The Hen and The Fox, was odd.  Several times I thought that I had moved on to a new story, only to realize that I was still in the same one! It was an interesting read, but rather confusing at times!  I was especially confused by the two tales of the men, the one murdered and the other drowned.  I’m not entirely sure why they were included in the story!

Overall, it was an interesting unit, but definitely not one of my favorites.  They just didn’t seem to quite work for me!

 

The Canterbury Tales. Source: Simple English Wikipedia

Reading Diary A: Canterbury Tales

For my reading this week, I chose the Canterbury Tales unit.  I was not sure what the unit was about, but the brief description intrigued me.  I thought that maybe it would be reminiscent of the Grimm fairy tales, which it vaguely is.  I did not expect that Greek mythology would be incorporated into the stories, however.  Ovid and Apollo were mentioned in the first few stories, which I thought was very interesting for a British unit!

I really liked that these stories were longer, as it was great to have some continuity to them.  However, I was not particularly impressed with any of the tales in the first half of the unit.  None of them stood out to me or caught my eye.  I liked the general storyline, but they seemed all too familiar to me.  I hope that the other half of the unit contains better stories!

Canterbury Tales Illustration. Source: Wikipedia