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.