Week 9: Final Famous Last Words

I have completed all of the assignments for this class and it has been a great time. I feel that I have been able to learn different ways to express myself through my writing and I learned so much about the different types of mythology across the world. I feel that I can now go and have interesting facts of knowledge that relates to ancient myths. I really liked being able to see all of the creativity from other students in this class. I feel like this class has done a fantastic job in allowing all of us to express ourselves in our own way and our grades weren't based on a biased opinion in what should have been the "right" way to tell a story.

(Neurobiology at 1am)

As far as my other classes are going it has been interesting. I have my neurobiology test this week on Tuesday, and next week I have a Spanish literature and cell biology exam on Tuesday and Thursday. In other words I have the most exciting and nerve-wracking two weeks of my life now. This Thursday I have my first medical school interview with OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine and next week I have an interview with Rocky Vista College of Osteopathic Medicine.

This weekend was great. I was able to volunteer with the first Mr. Hispanic OU at his Vive Mas 5K focused on promoting preventative medicine in Hispanic populations. By the way, that white blog is my brother in the morning as we drove to volunteering.

(Volunteer shenanigans)

As for what is happening on campus this weekend. I would like to invite everyone to this year's Day of the Dead festival. It will be on Sunday, November 4 from 4-10:30pm and it is free entry! There will be rides, food, and some great entertainment. Hopefully you will come out and experience a wonderful part of the Hispanic culture.

Portfolio Guide

The Untold Story of Pyro- This tale focuses on the story of Phoebus the sun god, his son Phaethon, and the horses that pull the chariot of the son across the sky.

Ammon: The Wax Crocodile- This tale is centered around the story of an Egyptian scribe that brings a wax crocodile to life to exact revenge on a man that was sleeping with his wife.

Observations of Mr. Yamato- This tale focuses on the Tales of Yamato, but portrays the myth as if it was all a part of a patients imagination.

The Tale of Chen Zihan- This tale involves an emperor's pug and his quest to find the emperor's stolen crown.

The Destruction of Man- This tale focuses on a Giant Elk of North America that gives his side of a tale with his dying breath. The Giant Elk is clarifying his actions based upon the destruction brought by mankind.

Week 11 Extra Reading

For the extra reading I read from the Russian Folktales

The Witch Girl

• There was once a man traveling through a town and he wen tup to a town home and asked for a place to stay. 
• They replied that he could stay as long as he was not afraid of death. When he walked in they explained that every night an entire household would be taken by death and no one knew why.
• The man slept that night and saw a white witch walk into the room and he pulled out his blade and cut off an arm of the witch. 
• The family came to the town home and saw that no one had died. He then told them the story and they looked for the girl in the town who had her arm cut off and they drowned the witch. 

The Warlock

• There was once a man who was a warlock. When he was close to death he told his three daughter-in-laws to watch his dead body for three days and to not let a cross be placed upon his body. 
• In the night his corpse would ask his daughter-in-law if she was spinning her wool and she would reply yes and he would strangle her. This happened to the first two women.
• However, the third woman was wearing a cross and when he tried to strangle her she put the cross onto the corpse and he died. She then looked in his coffin and saw that there was mountains of money!

Week 11 Reading Diary B

This week is the Brothers Grimm (LibriVox) unit

The Twelve Huntsmen

• The was once a prince who had to go and see his father on his deathbed. He left his wife at home and gave her a ring to remember him by.
• When the prince arrived his father asked him to marry another king's daughter and the prince said yes. His wife found out and nearly died of sadness. 
• Her father asked what he could do to help her and she asked for him to find 11 girls just like her and he did. 
• She then dressed them all as hunstmen and they rode off to the castle of the man she once loved so much. 
• She asked the king if they could be his huntsmen and he said yes, but he didn't recognize her.
• The king had a lion that told him they were women, but a servant that liked the hunstmen went and told them of the test they would face to prove they are men. 
• Then one day they were out hunting and the king was told his wife was coming to the palace. However, his disguised first wife fainted and when the king went to help her he took of her glove and saw the ring he gave her. He then recognized her, kissed her, and told the new wife to return from where she came from. 

The Queen Bee

• There was once three princes that set out into the world to find their destiny, but one happened to be a dwarf and was underestimated often. 
• The brothers went out and the dwarf brother stopped the two crueler brothers from destroying an ant's nest, roasting a family of ducks, and burning a bee hive. 
• They then arrived at a beautiful palace and were told that they could have riches if they could complete tasks carved on stone tablets, but if they could not they would turn to stone. 
• The first brother's task was to collect 1000 pearls scattered across the land and he only found 100 before sunset and was turned to stone. The second brother could only find 200 before sunset and he too was turned to stone.
• The dwarf brother tried his best but he knew he could not do it. He sat down and cried, but then the king of the ants he had saved with the help of thousands of ants gathered them for him. 
• The next task was to find a key located at the bottom of the lake and the ducks fetched it for him. 
• The final task was to discern which of the kings 3 daughters was the youngest and he could only tell, because she had just eaten honey. The queen bee that he had saved came and pointed out which daughter it was. He then broke the enchantment on his brothers and married the youngest princess and inherited the kingdom. 

Week 11 Reading Diary A

For this week I will be reading Grimm (LibriVox) unit

The Frog Prince

• One night a princess took a walk in the woods. She was carrying her favorite golden ball, but she dropped it while waking and it fell into a spring of water. She was so sad when she lost her ball and said she would do anything to 
• A frog came out of the water and asked why she cried and if he could help her. She said if he could get her ball she would do anything for him and he fetched her ball. As soon as she saw her ball she got so excited that she grabbed it and ran off leaving the frog behind. 
• The frog made his way to the castle of the princess and asked her to open the door. She opened it and was frightened by the frog and shut it immediately. 
• The princess went to her father, but he told her that if she gave him her word that he could live with them then she must honor it.
• He slept in the same bed with her and she did not like it, but he did this for three nights.
• When she woke up she saw a handsome prince lying next to her and he told her that he had been transformed to a frog until he could stay in the bed of a princess for 3 continuous nights.  

Rapunzel

• A man and woman lived next to a witches house, but she had a fantastic garden and his wife wanted a rampion (rapunzel). He snuck into the garden to steal one in the night and did it multiple nights until the witch caught him.
• She forced him to give them their child that would be born. 
• The witch raised her and when the girl, Rapunzel, turned 12 she was locked into a tower deep in the forest. 
• Her hair grew very long and the witch would climb it to enter the tower. 
• One day a prince heard her beautiful singing and saw how the witch entered tower and he called to her as well. 
• Rapunzel was scared at first when she saw him, but let him in.  They tried to hide their relationship, but Rapunzel let it slip out when she was talking to the witch one day. 
• Rapunzel had her hair cut off and was placed in a dessert to live out the rest of her days. However, she was pregnant with the prince's twins and cared for them alone. 
• The witch then waited for the prince in Rapunzel's tower and left her hair tied as a ladder. The prince came and found the witch and she told him that he would never see him again. The prince jumped from the tower and landed on thorns, which blinded him.
• He wandered the desert for years and finally found Rapunzel with his children. When she cried into his eyes he was able to see and they lived happily. 

Week 10 Storytelling

                                                           The Princess and the “Pea”

My name is Queen Damiana and I have been queen of the lands of Catalán for over a decade. I am here today to tell you how I became queen of this beautiful land. It all began with my husband who was then known as Prince Roberto Gonzalez-Cabello and he had been longing for a wife for many years. He searched far and wide to find the perfect princess bride, but he could not be certain of whether or not the women he was visiting were truly princesses.

I was raised in a rural, impoverished region of Catalán, but I have a remarkable wit and intelligence if I must say so myself. One day, I was walking from our farm with this years harvest to the capital’s market and while I reached the city gates it began to torrentially downpour with rain. I walked up to the closest door I could see through the thick veil of rain and I knocked on it until someone opened the door. However, when the door opened and I saw Prince Roberto open the door I was in shock and awe. The prince looked at me as if he had never laid eyes on another woman, and I instantly felt a fire alight inside. However, Queen Adele asked me who I was and I don’t know what happened, but the first thing that I could think of was to tell the queen that I was a princess. The queen looked at me and I could tell by her look of disgust that she did not believe a single word from my mouth and from that moment on I wanted to prove her wrong. I knew that if I could convince the queen that I was a princess then I could marry her strikingly handsome son. The queen invited me to stay the night and left with a smirk that showed me she would find a way to test me.

I walked into the room they allowed me to sleep in and when I looked up I saw a bed with twenty-five mattresses and fifteen down comforters placed upon the bed frame. I knew the moment that I saw it this was the test of the queen and when they shut the door I immediately searched the bed and found a small stone that looked like a pea in the middle of the bed. I had always heard tales of how a princess could feel even a misplaced feather on her bed and that they would not be able to sleep due to all of the pampering they received. So I knew this was the queen’s way of testing to see whether or not I was a phony. I stayed awake all night and kept rolling off the bed so that I could receive a few bruises.

With a smile on her face the queen opened the door and was shocked to see I was wide-awake.  She asked how I slept and I showed her the bruises that had formed on my body and I could see the disbelief in her eyes. The queen went and told the prince that I was in fact a true princess and he rushed into the hall, as I was about to leave. He grabbed me by the hand and from that moment on it all seemed to be a dream. We were soon married and had a beautiful son named Julian and a daughter named Eleana. I may have tricked the prince and queen into believing I was a princess, but I have been able to use all of my experiences from my upbringing to help and make Catalán a happy place for all. Now make sure you never tell my story or I risk the chance of being accused of treason and exiled from my homeland.

(Princess and Pea)

Author’s Note:

For this story I used the story The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen. In the original story the prince was looking for a bride, but could not find one. However, one rainy night a woman arrived at their castle and claimed to be a princess. The queen did have a pea placed under a large amount of mattresses and comforters in order to test if the woman was truly a princess. That night the woman could not sleep due to the pea under all of the mattresses showing that she was truly a princess. However, I decided to change the story to show how the woman tricked the queen into thinking she was a princess.

Bibliography: Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by H.P. Paull (1872).

Week 7: Storytelling

  The Tale of Chen Zihan

Gather around, children. Let me tell you the story of why we dogs have an innate dislike of all felines. It all began in the lands of China with one of your greatest ancestors called Chen Zihan. He was one of the emperor’s most loyal companions of the most noble pug breed. His face was as flat as stone, his fur as black and sleek as shined metal, and you knew he was of royalty when you saw the excess weight he had accumulated from a life of riches. Chen Zihan watched over the kingdom’s dog and cat population for many years alongside Emperor Wu. However, the emperor’s wife had a pet cat, named Lanying, that envied everything that Chen Zihan had dominion over.

(Pug & Kitten)

One day, Lanying went into the emperor's treasure room while Chen Zihan was walking throughout the city to see how his people were. Now, nothing was more important and held more power throughout the entire kingdom than the emperor’s crown. This was the most beautiful crown made throughout all the ages. It was embellished with every type of precious stone and gem, crafted of the finest gold, and with this crown came the luck of every previous Chinese emperor. Now, security measures had been taken to ensure that if the crown ever were stolen, the suspect found an irremovable gold residue fell and covered the thief. Lanying knew this would happen, but her hair was so fine that when she grabbed the crown the gold residue simply fell to the ground. Lanying collected all of the gold dust in a bag and took the crown. She gave the crown to her henchman, the squirrel Gen, and he took the crown far from the empire and hid it within a tree.

(Crown)

That day the emperor discovered the crown had been stolen and a search began for it. Chen Zihan was making his way back to the palace when he saw Lanying lying on a windowsill outside of the palace gates crying. He stood beneath her and asked her what was wrong. She told him that a horrible thief had stolen the crown and when Chen Zihan looked at the ground to process the information he felt something fall upon his back like snow. He looked up saw gold dust falling from the sky and then saw that his entire body was covered in gold. He immediately realized that Lanying had deceived him and was framing him for the theft. He attempted to rub off the gold powder, but his thicker hair would not allow the dust to be removed. At that moment, the emperor walked out of the palace grieving his loss and saw Chen Zihan covered in gold powder. The emperor was furious and called to his guards to capture the traitorous Chen Zihan, and he knew he had no other choice but to run for his life.

(Stealing Squirrel)

Luckily, he was able to escape the city without being captured, but he knew that he had no hope of ever returning to the palace unless he could find the crown. Chen Zihan had lost hope and felt he could never find such a small object without any direction. While lying next to a stream he met a Labrador, known as Biyu. She told him that she had seen a squirrel dragging a large object in a bag into the woods to the north. Chen Zihan knew that this was none other than Gen and he immediately began to head to the north woods. Biyu volunteered to help Chen Zihan in his quest for the crown and used her powerful sense of smell to track the exact route of Gen through the woods. They made their way to a large oak tree and could see that Gen was polishing the crown high in the tree. They immediately began calling him and told him to give the crown back to its rightful owner. It took a lot of convincing and many threats, but Gen finally realized that dogs were more loyal and useful allies than the cats.

(Barking Pug)

With the crown they made their way back to the palace and the emperor’s army captured them and brought them to the palace. In the presence of the emperor, Chen Zihan walked forward and removed the crown from the bag he was carrying. The emperor was in shock and realized that no thief would be foolish enough to steal his crown, be covered in gold dust, and then return the gold crown to him knowing the consequences of such treachery. The emperor asked Chen Zihan whom had framed him for such a heinous crime and he pointed to Linyang whom was lying in the empress’ lap. The emperor seized Linyang and executed her instantly. Chen Zihan earned back his position alongside the emperor, now shining as bright as all the treasures of the emperor. 

(Emperor & Pugs)

Children, we can never forget the treachery of Linyang and as a result we will never be friends with felines again. This is also the reason we constantly talk with the squirrels in the trees for an excessive period of time so that they may be reminded who their true allies are.

(Gold Pug)

Author's Note: This story was based off of the tale Why Dogs and Cats are Enemies from the Chinese Fairytale unit. The original story revolves around a family in China that is wealthy due to a lucky ring, but the humans do not know that is the source of their success. One day they sell the ring and they immediately begin to lose their wealth until they have nothing left. The dog and cat of the story work together to go to the jeweler's store and the cat threatens a mouse to make a tunnel through the jewelry box and to retrieve the ring. They make their way back to their owners and the dog carries the cat across a stream. However, when they are close to the house the cat uses the buildings as shortcuts and makes it to the house much quicker than the dog can. The cat presents the ring to the family and their luck is returned. The family praises the cat for bringing back their good fortune, but they beat the dog for not helping aide the cat in her journey. Ever since then the dog and cat have lost their friendship. I took this tale and made it into a tale of my own. I kept the overall theme of the cat and dog with this power struggle, but instead I made it so that the dogs were shown as the loyal companions. I also included a little extra bit that explains why dogs always bark at squirrels. 

Bibliography: The Chinese Fairybook, ed. by R. Wilhelm and Frederick H. Martens (1921).