Story: The Awful Wife

Story source: Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887) The Bad Wife

Robber by Pixabay

There once lived a couple who were not in a very happy marriage. The wife would never listen to her husband, in fact, if he said to do (or not to do) something she would do the exact opposite. For example, if the husband cooked dinner and asked her to come eat, she would refuse to eat. If he asked her to come to bed, she would refuse sleep. Even if he told her not to do something dangerous, she would do it anyways. The husband lived a rough life, and would often have to leave the house in order to clear his mind.

One day, the husband went to the store in order to get some groceries. He went to the back of the store to get some ice cream, and saw that there was a man who was about to rob the store and take customers for ransom. So, the husband left the store and told his wife to stay away from the ice cream aisle, and even better to not go grocery shopping at all. Of course, he knew that his wife would do exactly this. So, like he thought, she left for the store and headed straight for the ice cream section. The robber was just starting to pull his gun out when she arrived.

The husband decided to drive back to the store a few hours later in order to see what had happened to the wife. As soon as he pulled up, the robber was running out of the store. He explained to the husband that an absolute crazy woman was in there and that he just couldn't stand her any longer. She wouldn't cooperate with police, doing exactly the opposite of what they told her to do, and she was actually the one take to jail.

So the robber and the husband made a deal. The robber would steal, and the man would get half of the money as long as he never told anyone who was doing the robbing. The two were able to get a lot of money, but the robber soon decided to rob a government building. The robber told the husband that if he turned him in, then he would kill him.. as this was going to be the greatest and final heist. The husband knew that what was happening was wrong, and that it had to end.

So the husband told the robber that the crazy woman worked in the government building, and the robber didn't know what to do. He was already in the building, so he could try to rob the bank and face the woman, or he could follow the husbands advice and get caught on purpose in order to avoid the woman. He decided jail was the better option.

The husband was smart, knowing that the robber would go to jail where he belonged, and that his former wife would still be in jail as well... thus tormenting the robber for many years to come. The mayor repaid the husband for tipping off the police and he lived happily as a single man.

Author's Note: I thought that the original story was fascinating because the husband used the wife's evilness to his advantage. In the original story, the robber is actually a demon who possesses people, and the final heist was the ultimate possession of a princess. The demon ended up back in hell with the wife, and the husband was repaid by the king with many riches. 

Reading: Russian Folktales-Part B

Story source: Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887)

Gravestone by Pixnio

The Witch Girl: There was once a militia man who came across a cottage that was really sketchy. The village was supposed to be plagued by death that evening, but the man said that he would keep guard. At midnight a ghost appeared in the window. The militia man drew his sword and cut off her arm, causing her to leave the village. Everyone was alive in the morning, but one of the villagers daughters was sick.... with a cut off arm. The determined she was a witch and killed her.

The Headless Princess: There once was a king with an enchantress daughter. In the same village was a priest with his son. He would go to learn from an old woman, and one day was walking home late. While on his walk, he saw the girl take her head off to wash it. Soon the princess fell ill, asking that the boy say a prayer above her three times in death. The boy was scared to do so, but was warned that it would all be okay if he just didn't look behind him. He did just this, despite the princess rising from the dead and threatening him. Next he was to hold up a hammer to the coffin and four nails. He did this and was able to show everyone that she was a witch.

The Warlock: There once was a peasant with three married sons. When he was dying, he asked the wives to look over him for three days, asking them to make wool caftans. However, the wives didn't pray, and so he strangled them. Except for the third, who wore a cross and was able to kill the father with it's presence.

The Fox Physician: There once was on old couple that grew cabbage in the basement and ash-hole. The basement grew much better, so much that it grew past the roof. At the top was a mill of pie, cake, and even stew. The man slid back down to earth and went to get his wife who wanted to go, but he accidentally dropped her and she fell in a heap. The man came across a fox who said he could save her, but really he just cooked her in a bath and ate her.

The Fiddler in Hell: There once was a peasant man with three sons. He hid money, but never told anyone where. One day, a fiddler fell into hell and saw the peasant man there. the peasant told the fiddler to go home and not be greedy like him, or he too would end up in hell. But before the fiddler could, some demons saw him. The fiddler played for three years until being able to go back to earth. He told the sons of the money and they shared it with peasants... it only grew the more they gave away! Eventually the peasant man was released from hell because of this.

The Two Friends: There were two friends who were like brothers. They made a pact to invite one another to their wedding even if they were dead. One of course died and the other was going to be married. On the way to his ceremony, the live one went to the grave and invited his friend. But the dead friend invited the live one to come have a drink with him in the grave, not knowing that three hundred years of time would pass. When he went back to the surface, nothing was the same.

The Shroud: There was once a lazy, gossip girl who invited friends over to spin. She fed them and they chatted. She was dared to go and take a picture from the church if they all spun her work for her. She did this, and on her way back home from returning it, she was a corpse at the graveyard. She stole a shroud from the corpse, which came back to the girl's house to get it back. She would not give it to the corpse at the graveyard, and so the girl was taken down to the earth, only leaving her hair behind.

The Coffin-Lid: There once was a peasant whose horse grew tired at a graveyard. While there, he saw a corpse come out from the ground, put it's coffin lid at the church, and headed for the village. The man took the lid, and waited. the corpse came back after killing two villagers. The man asked how he could save them, if he gave back the lid. The man was able to save them and the village was told the story.. and thus able to stake the corpse so it would kill no longer.

The Two Corpses: There was once a soldier on his way home. He passed a graveyard and was called to by a corpse that was chasing him. He fled to a chapel where another corpse was laying down. He hid, and when the first corpse arrived, the two corpses debated on who would eat the man. But they argued until sunrise and so they died. The man was saved and thanked God.

The Dog and the Corpse: There was once a peasant who went with his dog to find game. He passed a graveyard and saw a corpse. It chased them and the dog began to fight with it. The owner ran off and the dog fought until sunrise. Then the dog came home and bit at the master for not helping it. They had to chain the dog up and eventually kill it because of the grudge.

The Soldier and the Vampire: A soldier was going home one day and decided to see an old miller friend. They chatted until dark, and the soldier left for home, despite his friends warning about a warlock that was terrorizing the village. He came across the warlock who invited him to a wedding. The warlock killed all of the guests after drinking too much, but could bring them back to life if he pleased. The two then fought until daylight and then the warlock fell dead. The soldier was able to bring the wedding party back to life and the village burned the warlocks body, bringing peace to the village.

Reading: Russian Folktales- Part A

Story source: Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887)

Russian Copecks

The Dead Mother: There was once a lovely couple who had a little boy. Sadly, the mother died in childbirth, leaving the father to care for him alone. He hired an old woman to care for the baby, who cried all day, yet slept all night. Soon they began to realize that someone was coming in to suckle the baby at night, this calming him. They decided to spy out all night and see who was doing this. Finally, they saw the mother's ghost, feeding the child from her breast. They were terror stricken, and soon saw that the baby was dead.

The Treasure: There was once an old couple that were very poor. Sadly, winter came and the woman passed away. But the husband had no money to pay for a funeral. No one would help him dig a grave for free, so he went to digging himself. Luckily, he came across a pot of gold, going back to the pope. After paying the pope, they had a proper funeral for the woman. They feasted, and the pop couldn't help but ask where the gold came from. He became jealous of the man, and decided to dress up as the devil in order to get the gold for himself. But when his wife tried to cut the goatskin costume off, the skin had became one with his body. God had punished his greed.

The Bad Wife: There was once an awful wife who never listened to her husband. One day, to escape the grief, the husband went to pick berries and found a large pit. He went home and told the wife to not go pick berries, knowing she would now. She fell into the pit and the husband joyfully went home. He went to see how things were going, and he pulled a demon out of the pit who begged not to be sent back in the pit with the awful woman. The demon would go around possessing people, and when the man would appear, he would leave. Thus the man was now rich, and the demon would go posses the princess. But the man tricked the demon into going back to the pit, and he lived happily with half of the kings riches.

The Three Copecks: There was once a poor little orphan who decided to sell himself as a slave to the king. He was paid, but would throw the payment into the well, only claiming it until it floated three years later. He bought a kitten that he saved from torment, and then went to sit on a merchants ship. The merchant wanted the cat to chase the mice, and the boy made a deal with him. But when the merchant was offered gold for him, he sold the cat with no intentions of giving the boy any of the payment. The seas began to torment him, and after paying, the storm stopped and he gave all the gold to the boy. The boy then was granted a single wish when he spent the gold on incense. He wished for a wife and did get one.

The Miser: There was once a very stingy merchant. He saw a man give to a beggar that he had just passed by and felt bad, and so he borrowed from the man in order to give to the beggar. When the man came to get his money back, the merchant claimed over and over again that he had no change. The merchant decided to act like he was dead, but when the man took him to be prayed upon in a coffin, he was not able to keep the act up. However, it scared the men who were robbers of the church, and they were able to split the loot amongst themselves.

The Water Snake: One a girl went to bathe in the river when a snake decided to lay on her clothes, only to move if she married him. She had to agree but went home for a week and acted as if nothing had changed... that is until an army of snakes showed up at her home. They stole her and her mother, and took them to the river where they turned into people. The mother left and the girl lived in the water and had three kids. One day, she went to visit her mother and took her kids with her. But the mother tricked the girl into sleeping and went to kill the husband. The girl found out and turned her kids and herself into birds.

Friday: There once was a woman who did not respect Mother Friday, and so she was punished with flax powder in her eyes. She realized what she was being punished for and was very mad at herself for doing so. She prayed for Mother Friday to forgive her and to let her free of her sins. So Mother Friday came back and took the powder out of her eyes.

Wednesday: A woman was spinning until the very early morning, and she prayed to Mother Wednesday to allow her to wake in the morning after a nap to continue spinning. She fell asleep only to wake up to an old woman setting a fire on her stove. She was told to fetch water by Wednesday, but the woman was frightened, and went to her neighbors house instead. the neighbor gave her advice on how to get Wednesday to leave. She did just this and it was successful.

The Leshy: One day a priests daughter went wandering about, and was gone for three years. A huntsman was with his dog in the woods when he came across a peasant. But it was really a forest creature. He chased him to a hut, where the daughter was. The hunter took the girl with him back to town and the priest was very happy. He let the two be married, and the creature was never to be seen again.

Dnieper, Volga, and Dvina: There once was these three orphans. They worked like slaves and were very unlucky souls. They searched far and wide for places to live and settle. The sisters were smarter than their brother, and they left him in a less than desirable place. He woke and chased them into the sea, where they all dispersed.

Emilian the Fool: There was once three brothers; two smart and one dumb. The older two smart ones left and had the younger one look after their wives like a mother. The wives sent him to get water, but while doing so he caught a fish to eat. The fish begged to be put back in the water for good luck. The man did this and by magic, was able to tell things and people to do things for him and it would happen. He ended up at the palace and even married the princess. The two built a castle bigger than the kings himself, and lived happily ever after.

Story: The Queen of Hearts' Diary

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)

The Queen of Hearts Maze at Disneyland Paris

Dear Diary,

I was walking along with my loyal soldiers when I saw the sight that I never wanted to see. Some little thing was wandering about my garden. Oh and what is this.... three subjects faced down on the ground. I asked the thing (it was a little girl) what her name was and she simply stated that it was Alice. What a strange name... I decided to ask her what my subjects were doing and she claimed to have no mind in the matter. Who was she to say this!? My face got hot and I wanted her head to roll! My dear King cooled my temper and I moved on to see what the gardener subjects were doing. As it turns out, they were painting my flowers. My beautiful red roses were actually white! My face became hot yet again and I needed their heads off, no its ands or buts about it.

When I heard that their heads were off, I felt so much better. Then I wanted to play a round of croquette. I was even nice enough to invite this little Alice. I yelled at everyone to get to their places, and they did just as I was told... thankfully, or I would have had to take their heads off so prematurely. I played wonderfully, as usual! And I only had to chop off a few heads in the process. But then some idiot cat came along, and I did not appreciate him one bit. His floating head made my mind spin. At least I could hear Alice mumble something about my winning to the toothy creature... maybe I shall keep her around longer.

Anyways, it was taking way too long to behead the cat. I grew impatient and so I sort of told everyone that if it wasn't done soon, all would see the blade. But then Alice squeaked out that the cat belonged to my prisoner, the duchess. I decided to have some guards fetch her. She obviously needed to be questioned.


Author's Note: The story of Alice in Wonderland always fascinated me, and I have always loved the croquette scene due to the hedgehogs (used as the balls). The queen is the ultimate crazy person, and so I decided to write the story in her point of view. I saw it as a diary entry, as if she could show it to her therapist... which she obviously needs in order to get a handle on her anger issues!

Reading Notes: Alice in Wonderland-Part B

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)

The White Rabbit

A Mad Tea-Party: Alice approached and saw the hare, the hatter, and a door-mouse squeezed together at a table, despite there being plenty of other chairs. The hatter was inquisitive and asked Alice why a raven was like a writing desk. The bunch was very difficult to understand, and they were very questioning of each other. Even Alice declared out loud that she had no idea what they were saying.

A Mad Tea-Party (cont.): The mouse fell asleep and they poured tea on his nose. No one had an answer for the hatters riddle, including the hatter. They then argued over time, as if it were a him. They talked about taking with him as well as how time could change just by asking. Then they wanted to hear a story from the mouse. The story was about sisters who lived in a well, and the mouse insisted that Alice drink some more tea, despite her not even drinking any yet.

A Mad Tea-Party (end): Alice decided to get some tea and bread with butter while the mouse continued to tell the story of the well. It didn't quite make any sense either and the bunch decided to switch chairs around the table. The mouse's story began to make even less sense and Alice decided to leave. She soon found her way back to the glass table and went through the door with the garden.

The Queen's Croquet-Ground: She saw white roses that were being painted red by life-sized playing cards. She caught their attention just as the queen was approaching. There was a large precession that Alice watched until the Queen came up to her. The Queen didn't like Alice's attitude, and she wanted to chop her head off. Luckily, the king persuaded her otherwise. Instead she wanted the heads of the gardeners, but Alice protected them secretly. Then the queen asked her to play croquette.

The Queen's Croquet-Ground (cont.): Soon everyone was lined up to play, meaning the cards as arches, hedgehogs as balls, and flamingoes as sticks. The game was obviously extremely difficult to play, as things were constantly moving and the queen kept shouting. She began to get scared, and wanted to try and escape, but then the smile of the cheshire cat appeared.

The Queen's Croquet-Ground (end): She told the cat how the game was quite unfair. Then the queen and king came along and didn't like the cat, wanting him dead. While they were away, Alice tried to play a little more, but it was still difficult. She then came across the king, queen, and executioner who were in argument about the killing of the cat, since he was just a floating head after all.

Who Stole the Tarts?: There was a trial to be started, but Alice was too busy longing for the wonderful tarts in her sight. She saw the king as the judge, the random bunch of animals as the jurors, and the white rabbit the herald. A witness was called first and it was the hatter. He was quite nervous, and even bit a tea cup instead of bread.

Who Stole the Tarts? (cont.): Just then, Alice began to grow and grow, all while the hatter was questioned. He just kept saying that he was a poor man, and hadn't known of what the judge was asking. Soon the hatter was out of the door before the queen could even have him beheaded. The next witness was the cook, who simply claimed that the tarts were made of mostly pepper. Then Alice was called to the stand.

Alice's Evidence: When Alice was called, she accidentally knocked over most of the jurors, trying to fix them as best she could. She simply stated that she knew nothing of the matter. Alice continued to grow, and they questioned it. She tried to blow it off, and just then the rabbit came with a paper written by the prisoner. The king claimed that the knave had to have written it, despite his claims otherwise.

Alice's Evidence (cont.): In the paper was what seemed to be entirely meaningless words. By this time, Alice was full grown, and this gave her reason to talk back to the queen. Of course the queen grew upset, and wanted Alice to be beheaded. Alice claimed that all the cards were simply cards, why should she fear them? But they stated to attack her just as she woke up from this dream. Her sister woke her up and offered her tea... what a curious dream!

Reading Notes: Alice in Wonderland-Part A

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)

John Tenniel - Illustration from The Nursery Alice (1890)

Down the Rabbit-Hole: Alice saw a little white rabbit with a waistcoat and decided to follow him down a very long and dark hole. She thought to herself the entire way down. The sides of the hole were stocked with shelves of books and pictures along with even a marmalade jam. She wondered where she might end up at the end of her fall, perhaps Australia. 

Down the Rabbit-Hole (cont.): She thought of how much she missed her cat, and wished that it was there in the hole with her. After a while she grew sleepy and kept repeating things over and over again until she finally landed in a heap of leaves. She could still see the rabbit and decided to keep chasing him, only to find herself in a room with a table of three legs. Sitting on this glass table was a little key. It had to go to one of the doors in the hall, but when she saw a curtain and decided to look behind it, the key fit in that small little door that could only fit a rat. She peered in to see a wonderful garden. She decided to go back to the table, and this time she saw a little bottle that was labeled, "drink me."

Down the Rabbit-Hole (end): Upon drinking the funny liquid in the bottle, Alice began to shrink to a size even smaller than the tiny door. Unfortunately, she had left the key on the top of the table, which was now impossibly out of reach. She tried to give herself a nice little pep talk, which usually worked but this time it didn't. She then caught sight of a small little cake that said "eat me." Of course she did exactly this. She grew and grew until she wasn't even able to speak proper English.

Advice from a Caterpillar: Alice found her way to a caterpillar who stared at her for a very long time until finally asking who she was. Alice was quite confused by the recent series of events that had just happened to her, and in fact had no idea who she was anymore. After some argument, Alice stormed away from him until he shouted for her to come back. She did and he gave her some short advice which made her even more mad (in both ways).

Advice from a Caterpillar (cont.):  Just then Alice told the caterpillar a story that he declared what entirely wrong. he then asked what size she wished to be, to which she replied no particular size but just one that is consistent. After much debate and deliberation, the caterpillar took one final smoke from his hookah before telling her that one side of a mushroom would make her grow and the other side would make her shrink. Of course Alice had to experiment with the mushroom until she was extremely tall.

Advice from a Caterpillar (end): Soon, very tall Alice was run into by a pigeon who was sure that she was a serpent due to the length of her neck. The poor thing had not slept in many days while keeping a lookout for serpents (due to having eggs). After trying to convince the pigeon that she was in fact a girl and wasn't looking for eggs, the pigeon flew off. Alice was finally able to nibble at the mushroom again until she reached her proper height. She continued on until she came across a tiny little house, and so she was forced to eat more of the mushroom to shrink back down again.

Pig and Pepper: Soon she saw a couple of footman who had the faces of fish have an exchange at the door of the house. She head one say to the other that he was invited to play croquette with the Duchess. After this, Alice decided to go ahead and knock on the door, to which one of the footman told her that there was no use of doing. She wanted to know how to get in and after arguing with this creature as well, Alice grew more and more frustrated. So she decided to just march in the door only to find a cook with some overly peppered soup and a duchess nursing a baby. She also saw a cat who smiled much too large to be normal, and so she asked the duchess about the cat. The duchess told her that he was the cheshire cat and called her a pig!

Pig and Pepper (cont.): Alice then realized the duchess was referring to the baby as a pig when they continued conversation about the smiling cat. Suddenly the cook started to throw everything at the duchess and baby. This completely shocked Alice! They seemed to pay absolutely no mind to this, and the duchess even began to sing a rather violent lullaby to the baby as she threw him up in the air and then at Alice. She caught the little pig baby hybrid and tried to tell it how to be a proper baby, but it paid no mind to her.

Pig and Pepper (end): Soon Alice decided that the baby would make a much better pig than child and let it wander off in the forest. She then saw the cheshire cat again in a nearby tree. She and the cat spoke about going places (meaning the act of simply going somewhere other than where you are presently). He then pointed her in the direction of some people in the area who were mad, as he thought everyone there was, including Alice. He asked her to come play croquette with him and the queen before disappearing and reappearing again. He kept doing so until only his large grin remained. She decided to follow along a path until she came to the house of the march hare. She had to use the mushroom to grow a bit, and readied herself to go. 

Story: Pa the Storyteller

Story source: American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921)
Based off of Iagoo, the Story-Teller and Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind

My personal picture of my Pa: Over 80 years old and still building cars!

There was once an amazing grandfather who was simply called Pa. He was loving to all of his grandchildren and would tell them stories in order to teach them life lessons. He would also tell these stories to help his grandchildren face their fears of the world, and to know that courage and intelligence can get you anywhere.

One day, one of his granddaughters asked him to tell her about tornadoes. As a young girl growing up in Oklahoma, she was very afraid of tornadoes. So, Pa told her about the invention of storm shelters. He told her that long ago, man and nature had a quarrel.....

Man was the new ruler of the world, afraid of nothing. This was something that the wind did not take lightly. The wind used to be feared by all, but man make a mockery of the wind. Man would show no fear when wind blew fiercely across the land, even when animals would tremble in fear. The wind decided to gather as much strength as possible, and soon a tornado was up and roaring. It headed straight for the man, chasing him for many miles. Soon, they reached a large hole in the ground. The wind found this as a perfect chance to trap the man. However, when the man jumped in the hole, the tornado couldn't reach him. Therefore, something that the wind thought would be the downfall of man, actually ended up saving him.

Author's Note: I decided to write this story because Iagoo reminded me of my Pa immediately. He is someone who is always teaching me something and telling me stories, both silly and serious. I wanted to keep the wind and man as the main characters, but I also decided to put my own personal twist into the story as well. Growing up in Moore, OK has been a challenge, but it has also made me stronger as a person as well. I hope that this story was relatable and still was close to the original as well.

Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales- Part A

Story source: American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921)

The Beautiful Stars by Maxpixel

Iagoo, the Story-Teller: He was the great Indian who knew all and would teach his children all. Most of all, he knew all the stories of the world. Winter is the time for story telling. For example, when a little girl is afraid of the wind, he said he will tell a story of how it won't hurt her.

Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind: The story goes that the North wind wishes that the world would essentially be frozen over. The South wind was the opposite, bringing green grass to the land. When fisherman wanted to fish, a layer of frost would cover the water. One fisherman was not afraid of the wind, as he would just cut a hole in the ice. His friends laughed and warned him that he would need to be a bear or something to last.

Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind (cont.): The fisherman was left alone and he decided to make a fire to keep warm. He even thought of a song that completely challenged the north wind. Of course the north wind felt challenged and paid a visit to the man. However, the man was still happily cooking his fish, making fun of his friends for leaving. The north wind tried to prove the man wrong, but actually ended up helping the man out even more. The two quarreled, as the north wind was weakened by the fire. This proved that happiness and courage can overcome even the wind.

The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds: A little girl then asked Iagoo if the mountains were always there, and he answered with a story. Essentially there was once a wonderful land of no worries or ear. Animals ran free and were happy, along with the children of the and who would love them too. The jack rabbit and antelope were of the favorites. Children would splash around with beavers in shallow pools.

The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds (cont.): They stayed in the pool so long that when they got out, they needed to nap. They slept on a rock that grew and grew. Soon, the parents tried to look for their children. The got help from a coyote, who told them that he smelled them on top of the rock. The animals gathered to try and find a way to help the children down. They decided to try jumping, but none of them could make it. Then a little worm said that they would crawl to the children, and he did. Then he had the children follow down a safe path. It doesn't matter now big you are, but how brave.

The Child of the Evening Star: There once was a hunter with 10 beautiful daughters. Many came to bring presents and show the girls of their skills as suitors. Soon, 9 were married and started a little village. The 10th girl was difficult, as she was not easily impressed. She revealed that she was able to see the true nature of a man's heart, and soon married an ugly poor man.

The Child of the Evening Star (cont.): In reality, he had been cursed and was actually beautiful on the outside as well. He was a descendant of a star as well. A feast was called in the village of the family, but while walking they made fun of the poor man when they had to step over a log. But at this time the curse was lifted, and he turned beautiful yet again. Sadly, as his beauty and youth returned, the girl's vanished. the man claimed he did not care, as they were in love with each others hearts, not looks.

The Child of the Evening Star (cont. again): The sisters became jealous of the now gorgeous husband, but did not pity their poor sister at all. Soon the voice of the star was heard, and spoke of the curse being completely lifted. soon, the sisters and their husbands turned into birds. The girl was afraid that she soon was going to be turned into a bird too, but in reality her beauty and age was restored and the two were sent to the evening star.

The Child of the Evening Star (end): And so the two lived in the kingdom of the stars. They soon had a little boy who grew up to be curious of where his parents were from. He longed to play with some of the children down on Earth. He was envious of the swans on the Earth even. Soon the boy was wanting to release some birds from cages, but he accidentally shot one with an arrow. By causing bloodshed, he and his family could no longer live in the stars. But all was well anyways, because they lived happily on Earth.

Story: The Ungrateful Man

Based off of the story of The Fox-Woman from  Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929)

A Penthouse Suite by Roderick Eime

There once was a businessman who never married. He was always very busy working and he was never able to go on dates. He lived in a large penthouse loft that seemed to become dusty very easily... yet when he came home it was always dusted. In fact, not only was his house always dust free, but his bed was also made, the carpet always vacuumed, and dinner was always hot and ready for him when he came home. Since he was so busy, he never bothered to find out who did all of this, until one day when his curiosity go the best of him. Instead of going to work, he got all dressed and ready one day only to hide behind his penthouse door. After waiting a while, the door opened and in walked the beggar who would stand in front of his loft building every evening. He decided to follow her into the kitchen where there were some cleaning supplies stored away, only to see that she was a beautiful woman underneath the rags of clothes. He decided to talk to her and ask why she would come clean and cook for him every day. She told him that she saw that he kept a spare key above the door frame, and that since he always gave her his spare change, she wanted to repay him. In fact, over the years she had fallen in live with him. They dated for a while, and had a happy relationship... that is until he decided to make comments about catching whiffs of body odor every so often. The girl told him that the odor was her, because she had no home to shower at, and he never offered her use of his. After all she had done for him, and the endless great treatment she gave him, he would still judge her on her smell. So she marched right out of the penthouse, never to trust a man again.

Author's Note: In the original story, the woman is actually a fox who smells like it. Despite looking like a beautiful woman and doing all of these things for her man, she still judges her for her odor. I wanted to try and make the story a little more believable as opposed to keeping an animal-human hybrid. Homeless people are judged on things such as their smell or lack of hygiene, even if they are extremely kind and loving. I wanted to highlight this sad truth in my story instead, and give some power to the homeless woman as she has the courage to walk out on the man despite his financial status. I hope I was able to portray the lesson that some people will think that you owe them something because they are better than you, but they are not better than you, and you have the power to leave them!

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales-Part B

Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929)

A Girl and her Turkeys by George Fuller

The Dog-Husband: There once was a girl who had a dog best friend who would turn into a human at night. Soon she became pregnant, and when word spread people wanted to burn down her house with her in it. A crow warned her and she was able to survive and give birth to five pups, although she would be alone as her father killed her dog. They grew very fast, and eventually she caught them in the act of shape shifting into their human forms. She shamed them into staying in their human forms from then on, and taught the boys how to hunt whales. The crow again is in the story, telling the girl that the original people of her village were all evacuating. But soon the boys became the chiefs of the land, and fed all the people with whales.

The Youth Who Joined the Deer: There once was a hunter who had two wives. One of them had no kids with him, and the other a son. But one day while hunting he came across a woman and her child asking them if they had seen a deer. The woman claimed to have loved the man forever, and persisted that he should follow her. He did just that and was declared by her tribe to be her husband. However, there were only a few times in which he could "sleep" with her. Soon they asked the hunter to hunt for meat, and he actually killed his deer brother in laws. This was a system of killing the tribe, and reviving them by keeping all of the bones.

The Youth Who Joined the Deer (cont.): This method worked, and the couple lived very happily. But the wife thought it was unfair just to live with the deer people, so they went back to his village to start another life. His old human life was gone, as many thought he was dead. He taught the people his ways, including his son. Then when they decided to go back to the deer life, he asked humans to join. They decided to, as they were always able to eat. They continued to teach others how to hunt like this, and the humans and deer would forever live in harmony.

The Girl and the Turkeys: There once was a girl who was so poor that she herd turkeys for a living. The girl was unknowingly beautiful, and very kind to all, including the turkey. One day, she heard of a dance that was to be held soon, but she felt too poor and ugly to attend, despite wanting so badly to go. She would talk to her turkey friends about all of the people prepping for the event. They felt for their friend, and decided to do as their elders did and speak back to the girl. They told her how deserving she was and how they would help her go to the dance.

The Girl and the Turkeys (cont.): They warned the girl however, to never forget her turkey friends despite any good fortune that follows her. She of course agreed, and the turkeys began their work. They made her look as clean and beautiful as any wealthy person, and they even made her a beautiful white dress to wear. They then brought her jewelry that they found over the years, and she was very thankful. She then left to the dance, and of course was one of the most sought after girls for all of the chief suitors present. She was so very happy and danced all night.

The Girl and the Turkeys (end): The girl was having such a great time that she overstayed her welcome. The turkeys figured that for sure the girl had forgotten them. They were sad, and decided to run away, despite the fact that the girl was running home to them. They had gone too far ahead of her and she was unable to catch them before they left. She looked down to see that now she had gone back to looking like the turkey girl, and sadly went back to the town only to be the poor peasant girl again.

The True Bride: There once was a man with a daughter. The mother had died and he remarried, having another daughter with her. The stepmom accused her stepdaughter of being lazy. She would send the poor girl to pick berries in the winter, and girl would go anyways just to wander around and die. She in reality came across a lodge of relatives and they fed her. They gave her many fine clothes, the ability to spit gold, and a basket of strawberries for the stepmother. Of course the stepmother sent her own daughter to go get the same things, but since she was vain, they gave her nothing but the ability to spit toenails.

The True Bride (cont.): One day the prince came across the older sister, and he thought she was beautiful. When he told his dad of her spitting gold, he knew she was a worthy woman. At their wedding, she was liked by all. She soon became pregnant, but the husband was away on business. SO he trusted the stepmom to help her deliver the baby. Instead she let the baby fall into a hole and made the girl think she gave birth to a cat, who she raised up. Again she became pregnant, and the step mother did the same thing but with a snake. Now she could convince the prince to kill her and marry her daughter. After a meeting, they decided to throw the girl overboard a ship.

The True Bride (cont. again): Luckily, the relatives knew what was going on, and they saved her from death, telling her that her actual children were alive. They then turned her into a goose. Her dog had found them in the holes under the house and raised them, until the step mother found out and poisoned them. The poor dog wanted so badly to bring the boys back to life, and so he asked for help of the old woman of the sun. It took him many days to reach her, and when he did she gave him a cure as well as answers to some questions that friends of the dog wanted answers to.

The True Bride (end): The dog made it back to the boys and gave them the cure. They came back to life with symbols of the sun and moon on their heads. Soon a bird came to the dog and told him warnings of the future. Then the boys son found them, and the dog told him the truth of the real story. He was very sad that he was tricked, and imprisoned the lying stepmother and daughter. He then went to the goose and shook her to shed her goose skin and turn her back into herself. They then lived happily together as a family and hung the two step women.

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales-Part A

Story source: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929)

Buffalo Mama and Baby by Jim Bowen 

The Piqued Buffalo-Wife: There once was a man who fathered a buffalo boy. The boy wished to find out who his father was and so he went to the tribe to find him. When he did, they went off together to find the mother. Just as the boy warned, she charged at the father... but then turned into a woman! They lived happily, but she warned him to never strike her with fire. Of course the time came where the man grew angry at her and did strike fire at her, and the child and wife turned back into buffalos. The man was sad and went to get his family back, but not without a challenge from the buffalo chief. He passed three of the four tests, but when he was failed, he was trampled. The family mourned him, and decided to look for a leftover bone in order to bring the man back. They did, and they too turned back into humans.

Bear-Woman and Deer-Woman: These two women were married to a chickenhawk and had children. But one day the bear ate the head off of the doe and cooked it in a fire in front of all of the children. As payback, the deer children killed the bear cubs and gave them to the bear mom to eat. The children accidentally let it slip that she was doing so, and she began to chase them. But when they came across a river, a crane let them across by way of his neck. But when the mom came, the crane twisted its neck and made the bear fall into the river.

Splinter-Foot-Girl: There once was a large amount of warriors that dwindled down to seven. One of them was so exhausted that they had to stop for camp and hunt buffalo for food. But one of the hunters got caught up in thorns, and out of his wound came a child. They all loved her and made her many clothes. Soon a bull tribe heard of her birth and sent out for her hand in marriage, but her "fathers" were not willing to let her go. After much asking from other creatures, they finally agreed to let the girl go.

Splinter-Foot-Girl (cont.): The men became sad about the loss of their daughter, as they missed her very much. Now they were the ones who used animals to try and get the girl. They "hired" a mole and a badger to be the ones to do the job. They got the girl to agree to flee with them, but after a while she grew tired. Eventually they had to carry her. Soon, the bull realized that his wife was gone, and he angrily went after her. Soon the tree that was helping the girl, was realized by the bull. He and his bull tribe began to charge at the tree, but it was no use. Some bulls would parish and others would retreat with their now short horns.

Splinter-Foot-Girl (end): The people and girl were able to flee the tree, but then they came across a rock who wished to marry her. But the rock was awful to his wives. Unfortunately the girl was to be married to him now, and so she went. Yet again the mole and the badger were sent to rescue the girl. So they were able to trick the rock into a trap while they helped the girl flee. But the rock persisted when he got out of the trap. Overall, the girl grew tired of having to constantly run, so she and her fathers ascended to the stars.

The Eagle and Whale Husbands: There once were two girls who decided they were going to marry and eagle and a whale. The eagle carried his bride away to a steep cliff, but she was able to escape by making a string of feathers. She was able to get a boat to rescue her. When the eagle saw that she was gone, he flew over all of the houses and screamed for her to come back. But when he opened his wings people shot at him. The other girl was held hostage under the sea. Luckily, she had two persistent brothers who set out to rescue her. They were able to, but not without being chased by the whale. However, the whale chased them all the way up to the shore where he turned into bone.

The Fox-Woman: There once was a hunter who was wifeless, yet after a long day of work his house was as if he had a wife. He decided to one day pretend to leave for work but to see who did the wonderful things. Soon he saw a fox, and decided to get a closer look only to see that it was really a woman. She and him lived some part of a happy life but soon he began to smell something foul. The wife told him that it was her, and since he was so rude about it, she left him!

The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales: There once was a fishing couple who caught a killer whale. The husband got it to shore, and the wife killed it. But when she went to wash her hands in the sea, she was pulled in my whales who wanted revenge. The man was desperate to get his now enslaved wife back, and so he got help from the shark. He was able to make a large distraction with underwater fire, and place the woman back into the hands of her husband. As they fled, the shark continued to violently fight against the whales.

The Rolling Head: There once was a small family of a hunter, his wife, and two kids. The wife would go to the river to bathe and there she would meet a large snake. The husband had no idea that she did this, but she did tell him that her paint would come off when she bathed. The husband grew suspicious, and decided to follow the wife in the morning. He saw her unclothe and allow the snake to wrap around her, and so he killed them both and fed them to his children. The father left again to hunt, but the mothers head came to haunt them. Animals saw what was happening and took in the children. They had an abundance of food and even shared it with a starving tribe. the father then came, but knowing what happened he was killed by the lions.

The Bear-Woman: A very sought after woman had 7 brothers and 1 sister. He father and brothers would go hunting and she would gather wood, leaving the little sister alone. The little sister grew suspicious of her sister and saw that while gathering wood, she would go to her bear lover. She told the father who had others go and kill the bear. The older sister was livid, and now held this against the younger sister forever. But one day when they were playing, she told the little sister to not touch her in a certain place. Of course she did and the older sister turned into a bear, killing many people.

The Bear-Woman (cont.): The girl eventually came back to the little sister as a human again. The little one tried to play it cool, in order to eventually sneak off and meet the rest of the family. But the older girl caught on to the trick and chased her as a bear. They ran up a tree, but the bear followed and killed 4 of the brothers. Birds warned to shoot the bear in the head, and when they did she died. The youngest brother then shot an arrow in the sky and revived the other four. They decided it was best to now live in the sky as stars.

Story: The Man Who Wished to Die

Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908)
Based on the story: The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die

Paper Crane by Andreas Bauer

There once was a man who was bored of life and took pleasure in the thought of death. He had heard stories of people who were very happy and wealthy but lived short lives. He decided to try and find the life of these people he so longed to be. He first sent someone else along to find these people, but when they didn't return, he decided to look for them himself. Soon, he stumbled across a shrine and prayed for seven days. He then was approached by someone who told him that the people he was searching for lived in solitude in a far off land. The person gave him a little paper crane, which grew and grew until it was big enough to carry him and fly over to this land. When they arrived, the crane folded back up and placed itself in his pocket. The land was nothing like the man's home land. Everyone there was very welcoming, but sadly all of them dreaded the inevitability of death. They were all unable to enjoy their lives luxury because they felt that death followed them everywhere they went. They thought that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence so to speak, just as the man did. They tried all sorts of medications, teas, and exercises in order to attempt living longer, but still people would die at young ages. The healthier they tried to be, the earlier their deaths would come! After a while, the man was able to fit in comfortably with the new people, and even had a growing business. He was basically the only happy man in all of the land. But after a while, life became monotonous, and he was curious about his home land. He was tired of living a so called perfect life, but still being surrounded by the sadness of death. He decided to pray, until he felt the little crane begin to unfold in his pocket. Soon, the crane was back to its large size and the man was able to get back on it's back. But while crossing the sea on the way back to his homeland, the weather began to turn sour. The paper crane was unable to fly in the heavy rain and wind. They both began to dive bomb towards the water, until they both came crashing into a large wave. The man was frightened and his fear was heightened even more when he saw the fin of a shark heading right for him. Just when he was about to be face to face with the shark, the man woke up! He had been dreaming in the shrine the entire time! Then, an angel appeared before him and told him to remember this life lesson. He went back home and lived out the rest of his long life happily and without envy.

Author's Note: I really liked the overall theme of this story. It is common to envy other people, and this was a great example of how we should be thankful for what we have. The original story was actually the opposite, in which the man did not want to die. The people of the new land tried many ways to die because they were sick of living long lives of unhappiness. The ending of the story essentially remained the same in which an angel came to warn the man of heeding the lesson, and the man returned home.

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)-Part A

Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908)

Tree Bridge

My Lord Bag of Rice: One day a warrior was on the search for adventure when he came across a bridge on a beautiful lake. A huge, sleeping serpent dragon was blocking the bridges path. The brave man simply stepped over its coils and continued on. That is, until a man appeared behind him in the place of the dragon. This was the dragon king and he had asked the warrior to kill his mortal centipede enemy who keeps stealing the king's family members. 

My Lord Bag of Rice (cont.): The warrior felt sorry for the king, and agreed to help. The king led him to his beautiful palace under the sea. They feasted and watched dancers, until a sudden noise appeared. The two rose to their feet and looked to see the centipede in the distance. The king was afraid, but the warrior was not. He drew is bow and arrow firing at the monster. The first two arrows hit perfectly, but did nothing to the monster. Then he remembered that human saliva was deadly to centipedes. So with his last arrow, he put it in his mouth before shooting and killing the beast.  

My Lord Bag of Rice (end): The king and his family were all safe, and greatly appreciated the warrior. Again they feasted and this time begged him to stay longer with them. They let him leave, but not before giving him two bells, a bag of rice, roll of silk, and a cooking pot. All of the gifts were magic, and were used to help many people of the warrior's village. The rice was always replenished, silk never ending, and cooking pot always making delicious food. 

The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy: There once was a warrior who married a beautiful woman. He unfortunately gained many enemies before his death, so his wife had to flee. She ended up having a child, who was remarkably strong. He never made human friends, but used the animals as servants and messengers. One day, they decided to play around and have a little friendly competition. 

The Adventures of Kintaro (cont.): The monkey and hare were the first to wrestle around. The monkey lost due to some back pain, and the boy rewarded the hare a rice dumpling. The monkey was a sore loser, and wanted to try to win. The monkey pulled on the hare's ears and won that round, getting the prize. Then the deer lost a round to the hare. They decided to take a break and came across a river. So the boy uprooted a tree to make a bridge for all of them 

The Adventures of Kintaro (cont. again): A woodcutter had seen what had happened and was amazed. The boy returned to his mother's cottage for the evening. He told her of the games they played and they debated who was the strongest. Then the woodcutter approached, asking to join the boy in a game of strength. The two arm-wrestled for a long while until a draw was declared. 

The Adventures of Kintaro (end): The man was impressed with the boy, and asked the mother why he had not decided to become a great Japanese warrior. The mother claimed the boy as wild and dangerous to those humans around him. The woodcutter then declared that he was really a general disguised as a woodcutter to find strong young men. The mom and his animal friends were sad to see the boy go off to become a great warrior, but they were proud of him as well. they boy grew to be one of the greatest warriors of all time and provided for his mother in her old age. 

The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die: There once was a man in his thirties who was not poor nor rich. One day, the thought of death crossed his mind and he was upset about it. he had heard of people living long lives, but also heard of those who were very happy and wealthy but lived short lives. For example a great king, who wanted to find the elixir of life. He sent off a man to find it, but he never returned from Mount Fuji. So the king decided to go for himself, looking for the hermits who live forever. He came across a hunter, who wouldn't tell of the hermits. So he decided to go to the shrine. 

The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die (cont.): He finally got to the shrine and prayed for seven days. Finally he was told that hermits did not live a long life of luxury, but off the wilderness. And now the king would go off and do just this. A crane flew him to a new land, that was very unfamiliar to his own. The people there were inviting and nice, but actually were unhappy to be burdened with immortality. They thought the grass was greener on the other side. They even tried to poison themselves to death, but they were actually restored to health. 

The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die (end): In this place, there was a man who could make a potion that could turn your hair a little grey and upset your stomach. The king was the only happy person in the land as his business grew. But after a while, life became monotonous, and he was curious about his home land. He prayed to go back, and then the crane came back to take him home. Unfortunately, the weather made the crane fall into the sea. The man fell off and was about to be eaten by a shark.... when he woke up! He had fell asleep while praying at the shrine. An angel appeared before him. and told him that he needed to remember this lesson on life. He went back home and lived out the rest of his life meaningfully and gave up being vain.