Reading Diary - Italian Tales

Italian Tales by Thomas Frederick Crane

Water and Salt - This was an interesting story. The king needs to kill one of his three children and he kills his daughter because she said she loved him as much as salt and water. The king thinks she is killed but instead she ends up in a magic forest and marries a prince. When they got married they invited 3 kings, one being her dad. She then shows him how bad it is to eat a meal without water and salt. I still don’t know if the king dies or not. 

The Man, the Serpent, and the Fox - I really liked this story. A hunter reluctantly frees a serpent because he promised to not eat him. The serpent tries to eat the hunter once he saves him, and the hunter is mad. They go through the forest asking other animals if the serpent has a right to eat the hunter. Finally they come to the fox. The fox tricks the serpent to go back to where he was stuck before the hunter let him out, and this time no one saves him. 

Melinda and the Monster - This was a great story. I read a story from last week that someone wrote about this story and I really like that I got to read the original. A father picks a rose for his youngest daughter and a monster comes and demands he die from picking his rose bush. The father has to bring his daughter to the monster or he will die. The father brings his daughter to the monster and she is treated well but scared of the monster. She eventually consents to marry the monster so her dad doesn't die. The monster turns into a handsome prince and explains that he was cursed by a witch. 

(The girl and the prince - Pixabay)

Reading Diary Continued - Russian Folktales

Russian Folktales - By. W.R.S. Ralston

The Soldier and the Vampire - I liked this story a lot. It was very interesting and exciting. A soldier goes to a warlocks house after he gets back from the army. They both go to a wedding and the warlock drinks the wife and husbands blood and kills them. He then boasts to the soldier to their way back home about how to bring them back to life and the only way to kill a warlock. The soldier listens carefully but doesn’t say anything. He then kills the warlock, saves the husband and wife and gets the towns people to help him burn the warlock so he stays dead. It ends happy.

The Witch Girl : This was an interesting story, I found it a bit confusing. Death was suppose to come to a family in the night and place them all in coffins. Cossack came and wanted to stay with the family but they told him about how death was coming. He stayed up all night and when the witch came to kill the family he cut off her arm and threw her out the window. The next morning one of the girls of the family had a wounded arm and they drowned this girl because she was the witch. 

(The Witch of Death - Wikipedia)

The Two Friends: I thought this story was very cleaver. Two best friends promise to invite the other to their wedding even if they are dead. One friend died and the groom goes to the friends grave stone on the day of his wedding. The dead friend comes out of his grave and insists on having a drink with the groom. They have 3 drinks and for each drink 100 years passes. The groom wakes up in a world he is unfamiliar with and no wife.

Reading Diary - Russian Folktales

Russian Folktales - By. W.R.S. Ralston

Dead Mother - This was a very very sad story. A mother dies while giving birth and the husband is so very sad. The baby cries all the time and no one can get her to stop. The king worries that the baby will not have milk to drink because she no longer has a mother. They find out someone has been coming in the middle of the night and calming the baby. The guards stay up and see the dead mother come in and feed the baby. One night the mother comes in but then immediately leaves, the next morning thh baby is dead. 

Friday - A lady dis-honored mother Friday. So Mother Friday came and put dust in the lady's eyes so she could not see. The lady begged mother Friday for forgiveness and promised to never dishonor her again. 

Wednesday - This story was interesting. Wednesday comes to help a women do her daily chores. But the women is very frightened that Wednesday came to help her and she runs to her neighbors to get advice. The lady is able to get Wednesday out of her house and puts a cross over is so Wednesday cannot come back in. 

(The cottage Mother Wednesday came into - Pixabay)

The Metamorphosis of the Dnieper, the Volga, and the Dvina - I found this story to be confusing. I'm honestly not sure what was going on. These three people go out for three years in search for good luck. The two girls get swept up by the river and the boy goes down the river to try and find them. 

Storytelling - Fairy Ointment

Dear Diary,

Today I was going about my own business while wandering through the land of gumdrops and giant mushrooms. I came across one mushroom that had a thick goopy syrup at the base of it. This goop has the most amazing smell so I couldn’t not take a closer look. The smell was so wonderful, it was something that I had never experienced before. The goop also had a shimmery gleam about itself that almost seemed to glow. I bent down and put my face right up next to it so i could bask in the smell. But right when i was doing that a group of scurrying chipmunks ran behind me and I fell into the goop. It got it all in my face and hair. But after that, the most magical thing happened….

(The mushroom forest - 2k1.info)

When I finally got all the goop out of my eyes and was able to see again the land had totally changed. Or at least how I saw it. The once grey brown mushrooms were now brightly colored polka-doted mushrooms. There were thousands of light pastel colored butterflies all over the land, on the gumdrops, in the air and on the mushrooms. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Yeah, it did freak me out a little in the beginning, but everything in the land was so happy and peaceful.

 I spent nearly four hours dancing under the shade of the giant and beautiful mushrooms. I made friends with a pod of butterflies and they traveled with me, resting on my shoulder. When I realized it was time for me to head home I went back to the mushroom where I had fallen in the goop. I gather a jar full of the goop to see if I could make these magical thing appear anywhere else besides the land of the gum drops and mushrooms. 

I am now back home in my willow tree writing to you diary. I am excited to see if the goop will still be magical back at home. Do I have little magical butterflies fluttering around here too? Or maybe I have pixie fairy’s who will grant me wishes! Hopefully mom doesn’t find out about what happened, she wouldn’t be to happy if she heard about all my adventures. Mom often thinks I’m careless and don’t have enough fear because I’m always wandering off from land to land. 

Well here goes nothing. Stay tuned for next time diary and I’ll let you what happens!

- XOXO Daisy D Dwarf 

Author's Note: This story is based on the story Fairy Ointment from the English Fairy Tale unit. In the original story the fairy ointment is used by bad fairies so that they can become invisible to other and steal. I wanted my story to have the same concept of this magical fairy ointment, but instead to be used as a good thing. This ointment can make magical things come to life, and allows ordinary creatures to see these magical things. 

Bibliography: English Fairy Tale, Fairy Ointment, By. Joseph Jacobs (1890)

Reading Diary Cont - English Fairy Tales

English Fairy Tales - By. Joseph Jacobs

Fairy Ointment: This was a cute story. I found it a bit confusing in the beginning, but I really liked the end. I like the idea of a fairly ointment that you can put on someones eyes and make them see something different. In this case the ointment made people not see or be able to see the stealing fairy. I would consider writing a story where the ointment allows people to see something good, instead of it being a bad thing. I think of fairy's as good creatures and not bad. 

(The Fairy Spreading the Ointment - Wikimedia)

Mr.Fox: I really liked this story also. I like that there was suspense and drama, but that the bad guy dies in the end. Lady Mary is a great character, she is so strong and I love how she waits till the breakfast to sign their marriage contract to tell everyone how horrible Mr.Fox is so that he can really suffer. Mr.Fox’s house seems like a terrible place! It was described really well and I had such a vivid picture of the scene. 

Johnny Cake: This is another one of those stories where a little part of it gets added on and on as the story goes. I still don’t really like this story style, I tend to get bored and stark skimming. I just don’t find it very exciting of a story. I liked the beginning of the story though when the little boy lets the Johnny cake out of the oven and he ran away.

Reading Diary - English Fairy Tales

English Fairy Tales By Joseph Jacobs

Tom Tit Tot: This was an odd story. I didn’t fully understand it all to be honest. It had a lot of things going on though which made it interesting. The pictures were really creepy, I would have never pictured the characters to look like that unless I saw those pictures of them. I thought it was kinda a depressing story, the whole story is about a girl trying to make these things so her head doesn’t get cut off by her husband. 

The Three Little Pigs: This was a very cute story. I remember the first part of the story very well from my childhood, but the sending half of the story was really fun for me to read. I like that the third smart little pig continues to trick the bad wolf when he still tries to kill the pig. The pig wins in the end and out smarts the wolf each time. When the wolf tries to boil the pig the water actually boils him and the pig eats the wolf. 

(The Three Little Pigs - YouTube)

The Old Woman and Her Pig: This story was very comical. It made me laugh. I have to admit that I sometimes get bored with these stories though, they drag on for too long sometimes. It is an interesting story style repeating and adding to the story each paragraph. I like the end the best when each part finally comes together and ties back to the beginning. 

Storytelling Week 11 - Dorthy and Caterpillar

There once was a girl named Dorothy who was on her way to the Emerald City. Dorothy was a long way from home and hoped that the Wizard at the Emerald City could help her find her way back. After Dorothy's long journey she finally arrived at this magical city, only to be disappointed to find out that the Wizard was a fake. She was now no closer to getting back home then she was at the beginning of her journey. She had made three great friends along the way who were determined to help Dorothy get back home too. There is the kind Tin Man, the cowardly Lion, and the smart Scarecrow.

Her friend the Scarecrow asked all the ladies of the Emerald City barber shop if they knew anyone who could help Dorothy get home. These lady's talked to everyone in the city and so the Scarecrow though they could help them out. After talking to over thirty hairdressers they were still no closer. The Tin Man went to the factory where all the things in the Emerald City were made to ask for help. The workers in the shop didn't know of anyone who could help Dorothy either.

Finally the cowardly Lion asked all the animals if they knew any way or anyone who could help, and they did know someone. There was a rumor that a wise Caterpillar lived in the red sunflower fields to the east of the Emerald City.  Dorothy didn't want to have to go on another journey to just be disappointed again, but without any other options the four of them headed off to the red sunflower field.

(Red Sunflower Field - Public Domain Pictures)

This was only a two-day trip, but once they reached the field they were very tired. They had been traveling for many days now and all missed home. Now that they were in this field they had no idea where to find the Caterpillar or if he would even show up. They walked around the entire field row by row for nearly two hours, and found nothing. They had given up and were now in the same place where they had started. Dorothy began to cry and feared that she would never make it back home again.

Suddenly a large caterpillar smoking a hookah popped up from the tall sunflowers. The Brave Lion jumped back in fear from his sudden presence. Dorothy introduced them all and told the Caterpillar her story. While Dorothy was telling her story Caterpillar didn't say anything and continued to smoke his hookah. Once she was done explaining her story Dorothy again got choked up and started to cry. The Caterpillar spoke very few words, but did finally speak, "Dorothy you had the power to go back home this whole time. You just have to want it enough. Your red ruby slippers are magical and all you have to do is tap them together and think about home."

Dorothy told all her new friends goodbye and how happy she was to have met them. She thanked the wise caterpillar and was eternally grateful for him. She then clicked her heels together and woke up back home.

Author's Note: I based this story off of the story 'Advice from Caterpillar' from Alice in Wonderland. The Caterpillar helped Alice get back to her normal size after eating and drinking things that had made her grow and then shrink. She was now needing help getting back to her normal size. The Caterpillar was not straightforward with Alice about what she needs to do and is famously quoted saying "Who are you" over and over again. He eventually tells Alice that eating certain parts of the mushroom will make her grow and other parts will make her shrink. After a lot of trial and error Alice is finally able to get back to her normal size again.  I thought it would be interesting to combine this story with the Wizard of Oz. I used the wise Caterpillar as the person who helps Dorothy get home similar to how he helps Alice. I love both of these stories and like combining stories together so I thought it might be fun to do that with these two. I wanted to keep the characters from these two stories true to themselves but just have a different storyline.

Bibliography:
Alice in Wonderland, Advice from Caterpillar, Lewis Caroll (1865)
The Wizard of Oz, produced by Metro-Golwyn-Mayer, (1939)

Reading Diary - Alice In Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland, By. Lewis Carroll (1865)

Down the Rabbit-Hole: This was great story. I remember this scene of the movie very well from my childhood. I like the detail that I got to read about in the book though. I like how Alice while going down the hole try’s to think about what she had learned in school that might possible help her measure how far she had fallen. I also like her inner struggle with listening to herself and thinking about what she has learned and what others might advise her to do. I love the concept of this liquid making her small, and the cake making her really tall. This could be an interesting concept to apply in my own stories. I could also write about her getting into he garden finally and what happened while she is in there.

(Alice Grows - Wikipedia)

Advice from a Caterpillar: I also remember the slightly annoying Caterpillar from the movie, I can picture him smoking his hooka. Its fun for me to read these stories because I can picture them in my mind so vividly. I also remember the “who are you” question that caterpillar always asks Alice. She finally gets back to her normal height in this story, after getting even more distorted. She learns that she has to eat tiny tiny bits of the mushroom to balance out her size perfectly. She gets mistaken for a serpent because she grows too much and her nick gets very long. The illustration for this part of the story is great.