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 Extra Reading Diary

This section is the Italian Popular Tales

Zelinda and the Monster

• A poor man had three daughters and went to town. His youngest and favorite daughter asked simply for a rose and he could not find one at this time of year.
• He walked past a beautiful garden and saw a nice rosebush, but no one was in sight. He plucked one and immediately a dragon monster arose from flames in the earth and told him that he must die.
• He begged for his life, but the dragon said he could only live if he brought the daughter that asked for the rose so that she died in his place. 
• He told his daughters and the daughter accepted her fate without arguing. 
• The poor man left his daughter with the beast sadly, but the dragon wanted to win her love and asked her to marry him. She refused him every time and he kept trying harder. 
• The dragon then told her that her father was going to die soon, but he could save him if she married him. She immediately said yes.
• The dragon then changed into a handsome young prince and told her that he was bewitched to be in the form of a dragon until someone married him.

How the Devil Married Three Sisters

• The devil wanted to get married.
• He went to a family that had three daughters and married the first. However, in his house he told her to never open a certain door and she promised. As soon as he left she opened it and saw the flames of hell and the devil pushed her in for breaking her promise. This happened again when he married the second sister.
• She opened the door but her flowers had been put in water and were not burned by the flames like her sisters. She pulled her sisters out of the flames and made the devil carry them in a chest back to her parents after promising not to open the chest. He did so. 
• He realized he was tricked by three women and has never wanted to marry again.

Week 10 Reading Diary B

I am reading the the Andersen Fairy Tales unit

Little Mermaid

• The Sea King lives in the darkest depths of the ocean and has six daughters. 
• The youngest was the prettiest. She had the best skin and darkest blue eyes, but had a tail.
• She planted a garden in the shape of the sun and loved to hear of the outside world. 
• She was not allowed to go to the surface until she was fifteen, but longed to be able to see it.
• Each of the sisters would go when they turned 15 and then come back and describe their experience. 
• She finally turned 15 and was able to go to the surface as she had dreamt. 
• She swam up to a ship and saw a beautiful prince that was 16 years old. He was celebrating his birthday, but a storm was on its way to the ship. 
• The ship was destroyed and she found the prince and saved him. 
• The prince was left on a beach and found by people. The little mermaid checked that beach everyday for the prince, but he never returned. Luckily another mermaid knew who he was. 
• She basically stalked the prince for a little while and fell for him more and more. 
• She was curious if humans died and was told that unlike mermaids which turn to foam when they die, that humans have a soul that lives forever that can ascend to the heavens. 
• She learned she could only gain an immortal soul if a human married her and loved her with all his heart, but it wouldn't happen because she has a tail. 
• She decided to talk with the sea witch for counsel.
• The sea witch had sea snakes crawling all over her as her pets. 
• The witch told her that she would feel like thousands of knives are stabbing her legs, but she approved. If she cannot earn his love before he marries another she will turn into sea foam. 
• She had to give her tongue and she did. She then went to the palace and was found by the prince, but couldn't speak. 
• He cared for her as a young child, but did not love her more than the woman who found him when he was shipwrecked. (a woman of the temple)
• The prince was to meet with a king and meet his princess. Wouldn't you know it the princess was the woman from the temple. So he married her. 
• The little mermaid was destined to die the next day, but her family brought her a knife they had cut their hair off for from the witch and if she stabbed the prince in the heart she would return to being a mermaid. 
• She could not kill the prince and turned to foam. 
• However, she joined the daughters of the air due to her good deeds and has a chance of earning an immortal soul. 

Week 10 Reading Diary A

This week I am skipping ahead to the Hans Christian Andersen unit

The Princess and the Pea

• A prince had been searching for a princess, but he knew there were a lot of phonies out there. He couldn't find a true princess.
• One stormy night a woman came to the city gates and claimed to be a princess. 
• The queen wanted to test this and placed a pea under twenty mattresses and covers on top of it. The next day the queen asked how she slept and she complained about how much her back ached and how she was covered in bruises. The queen then knew she was a true princess and her son the prince married her. 

The Wicked Prince

• There was a prince who wanted to conquer the world and frighten everyone on earth into obeying him. 
• He pillaged and burned all the countries that he invaded and his soldiers destroyed any crops they came across. 
• They did horrible things to the men and women of these countries that not even the lowest creatures on earth could fathom. 
• The prince felt that he was doing the right thing to succeed and people everywhere feared his name. 
• He brought back riches and goods from these countries and his people praised how wonderful he was, but they did not know what he was doing to accrue this wealth. 
• The prince conquered so much and had statues made to honor him and he wanted them placed in the church. However, the priests told him that he was not more powerful than god and the prince decided to conquer god. 
• The prince then had a ship built that could flow through the air. It was carried by eagles and shot thousands of bullets. He was carried so high into the heavens that god sent one of his angels against the ship. 
• The prince fired bullets at the angel and they all bounced off the wings of the angel. However, only a single drop of blood fell from the angel onto the ship and was so heavy that it dragged the boat back to earth. 
• The princes ship crashed to earth and the prince promised that he would conquer god again. 
• He made a fleet of ships and gathered all his toughest warriors. Before he left god sent a swarm of gnats to bite the prince and the prince then began dancing around when one bit him in the ear due to the pain. His men laughed at him and referred to him as the prince who wanted to go to war with god, but could not defeat a gnat. 

Week 9: Extra Reading

For my extra reading I chose the Sioux Legends unit.

The Rabbit and the Bear

• A rabbit was with his grandmother were looking for materials to make arrowheads to kill game. This is confusing because aren't rabbits considered to be game? 
• He was told he could only get flint from the old bear chief. 
• The rabbit traveled to the village of the bear chief and smoked with him. He asked for flint and the bear chief removed his robe and half of his body was made of flint and the other half flesh. 
• The chief told the rabbit to strike off some flint from his body, but not too hard. As a result, rabbit was careful and the struck the flint lightly. The bear chief kept telling him to get a bigger piece and then the rabbit hit him so hard that the bear chief split in half and died. 
• This upset the bear village and they chased the rabbit, but he called for more snow and the bears could not move as swiftly through it. The rabbit then turned around and killed them all with his club and that was how they explained so few bears in the forests. 

(The face of a true killer found on Pinterest)

The Boy and the Turtles

• A boy went looking for turtles and believed he could only find them at the lake his tribe always found them. 
• The boy hide from the view of the turtles so that they would not see him and run into the water. He was taking off his shirt and his hand was just high enough that the turtles saw it and hid in the water. 
• The boy ran to the lake to try and catch a turtle, but he saw nothing. Then all of a sudden hundreds of little men rose from the lake and began to splash the water. This was terrifying of course and the boy ran home and left his clothes. 
• He told his grandmother and they sent warriors to see if it was true and they saw little men splashing in the lake. From that moment on they called the lake, Man lake. 

Week 9: Reading Diary B

I read the Native American Hero Tales

The Son-in-Law Tests

• Wemicus (the animal trickster) had a son-in-law that always outwitted Wemicus. 
• One day they were in camp and Wemicus told the man that they called the lake burnt moccasins lake. The man knew that Wemicus would try to burn his moccasins in his sleep, so he switched their moccasins. Wemicus then had to walk in the snow without moccasins. 
• Wemicus told the man to come sliding with him, but his wife warned him the hill was covered with poisonous snakes. She gave him a stick with a magic tobacco that would prevent the snakes from hurting him. 
• His wife then told him that Wemicus would ask him to pick the lice from his head, but they would be poisonous lizards. He fooled him by cracking cranberries instead of the lice. 
• Wemicus then wanted to race him on a canoe and Wemicus went to fast and flipped in the lake. The man went up to where he landed and saw that Wemicus had been transformed into a pike and this is where they come from. 

The Jealous Father

• Aioswé had two wives and he became jealous of one his sons. One day he came home and found that his other wife had been intimate with the son.
• One day they went to an island to gather eggs together and the father left him on the island. 
• A walrus found him on the island and said he would take him back to the mainland. The walrus asked if the sky was clear, but the boy lied and they headed to sea. The walrus then said to warn him if he heard thunder and when it came the boy lied again. The walrus left him in a shallow part of the sea, but was killed by lightning. 
• An old woman found him on the shore and instructed him how to arrive home safely and gave him the stuffed skin of a weasel. 
• Then two blind women tried to kill him with dagger elbows, but he tricked them into killing each other. 
• When the boy made it home he sang at a fire how he would make the world burn and cause the water to boil. He shot an arrow and the forest began to blaze and the water boiling. He told his father to hide in his bear grease and he drew a line around him and his mother. They were the only survivors and his mother transformed into a robin and he a Canada jay. 

Robin found on Pinterest

Week 9: Reading Diary A

This week I read The Native American Hero Tales

The Jealous Uncle

• There was a woman whose brother was known as "Unnatural Uncle."
• He was called this because he killed two of his nephews. One day the sister was pregnant and Unnatural Uncle's wife came to warn her. They decided that if she was to give birth to a son the wife would lie and tell him that she gave birth to a daughter. 
• She raised her son to act like the girls so that the uncle would never know. However, one day the uncle found out he was a boy and took him to gather wood. 
• He took him to a large log, cut out a piece and then trapped the boy in the tree and left him to die, but the boy escaped. He brought wood to the uncle and went home. The uncle only wanted to kill him even more. 

The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle

• Giant animals preyed upon people including the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle.
• One day, Jonayaíyin the deliverer was sent to them. 
• He was told the Elk lived in a great desert far to the south and gave him arrows to kill the elk. 
• He found the elk lying in an open plain with no trees he could hide behind. Then the lizard came and asked what he was doing and told him to where the garments of the lizard. Then the gopher told him to burrow his way to the Elk. 
• The gopher made a burrow to him and began to gnaw the hair of the Elk. The Elk asked what he was doing and the gopher said that he needed that hair for his children to sleep on. 
• The gopher then told the boy to go through the hole and shoot the Elk in his exposed heart. 
• He ran through the earth and plowed the land leaving use the current mountains. 
• The Elk then died and he made a coat from the elk hide. 
• He then wanted to kill the eagle, I-tsa, and was told it could be found in the West. 
• He made it to the Eagle's nest and was carried to the nest by the eagle. 
• He then killed the mother and father eagle and took away the young eagles power. 

(Elk found on Pinterest)

Week 7: Extra Reading Diary

For this extra reading I chose to read Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

The Two Frogs

• There were two tree frogs. One was from Osaka and the other from Kioto. They both wanted to explore their country and wanted to visit Kioto or Osaka. 
• They made their way on the road to the other town and had to climb a mountain. When they arrived to the top they met each other and had the idea of standing up together to see if the town they travelled to was worth the journey.
• They did this, but with their eyes being in the back of their head they actually just looked back at their hometowns. They believed the two cities were mirror images of each other and decided to go back home. 

The Stone Cutter

• There was once a poor stone cutter that worked every day. He heard of a mountain spirit that made men wealthy, but never believed in it. 
• One day he became envious of another mans wealth and wished he was wealthy and the mountain spirit came to him and gave him his wish.
• However, he felt the desire for more and was transformed into a prince, then the sun, then the clouds, and finally the mountain which he felt was the most powerful.
• He then felt a piece of himself being taken by a stone cutter and wished that he could be human again. From then on he learned that he would not long for things he did not have.

Week 7: Reading Diary B

The Little Hunting Dog

• A man had been sleeping in a buddhist temple and was always being attacked by fleas and gnats. One night he looked at the floor and saw an army of tiny 2 inch soldiers with hawks and dogs the size of flies. They attacked and killed all of the fleas in the room that night.
• After they had left he searched for any that had stayed behind and found a small dog. 
• He cared for the dog and the dog would sleep with him at night. This dog would kill any gnats or fleas that tried to enter the bed and the man loved this dog. One morning he woke up and rolled to one side and looked down and found his prized dog squashed on the bed. 

The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away

• A woman was taken away by a cyclone and placed on top of a pagoda. There a young man was and he said that fate brought them together and they should marry. She said no and he said that she would have to stay in the pagoda until she changed her mind.
• One day he forgot to lock the window and she spied on him. He turned into an ogre and flew to earth and then turned back into a man. 
• A man had passed by and she threw her clothes to get his attention. The man brought it to his neighbor whose daughter was taken by a storm and her brother went to find her.
• He waited by the pagoda until he saw the ogre and he attacked it, but it escaped. He then had his friends help him get his sister out.

The Sorcerer of the White Lotus Lodge

• A sorcerer left his house one day with his pupils in it and commanded them not to look in a bowl. They did and they saw a miniature boat which they accidentally capsized and then uprighted. The sorcerer returned mad at them.
• He then left again and told them not to let a candle in his room go out. Of course, they fell asleep and it went out, but they re-lit it and the sorcerer was mad.
• Then a student insulted the sorcerer, was turned into a pig and sold, and then the father had him arrested. 
• While being taken to the prison with his wife and child a giant stood in the road. The sorcerer said that his wife could drive it off. The giant ate the wife, the son, and then the sorcerer and left. Then the soldiers realized they were tricked. 

Follow Justin Robbins's board Mythology Portfolio on Pinterest.

Week 7: Reading A

This week I read the Chinese Fairy Tales unit

The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck

• There was a prince that had a daughter, but she had the worst luck. One day they he was going to marry her off and she had to throw a ball of silk and whoever caught it would be her husband. 
• She saw a beggar and noticed a dragon crawling into his ear and out of his mouth (symbolizing he was very lucky) and she threw it to him with the hope of sharing his luck. 
• The prince was mad and forced her out of the kingdom to live with the man and they lived in poverty for a time. Then the man left to search for his fortune for 18 years and left her alone.
• He found his fortune and became emperor and then returned to see if his wife was still faithful to him and she was. He then made her his empress. However, she had bad luck so she only lived as empress for 18 days before she died. 

The Cave of the Beasts

• One day a man found seven duck eggs that he intended to eat himself. However, that night his seven daughters ate the eggs and when he woke up he was mad.
• He took the two youngest daughters to the woods and left them there to be eaten by wolves. They wandered and found a cave full of treasures and golden beds and went to sleep.
• A wolf and fox returned to their cave and instead of sleeping in the bed they slept in two kettles that were warm from a fire earlier. 
• When the girls woke up they saw the wolf and fox and trapped them in the kettles and burnt them alive. Their father then found them and the treasure in the cave and the family lived happily ever after.

Why Dog and Cat are Enemies

• There was once a family that had wealth due to a lucky ring. However, they did not know the reason and sold the ring. They immediately began to become poor and their dog and cat began t starve.
• The dog and cat worked together to find a solution and the dog decided that they had to get the ring back. He told the cat that they must catch a mouse to steal the ring out of a box where the vender kept it. 
• They made their way to the vender with the mouse and they came upon a stream. The dog carried the cat across the river since she couldn't swim. They then got the ring and made their way back to the house. 
• However, after crossing the river the cat made it to the house more quickly since she could climb buildings and the dog had to go around. 
• The cat gave the ring to the family and they thanked her and promised to take care of her. The dog then arrived and was beaten by the family for not helping retrieve their ring. Since then they have been enemies!

Extra Reading Diary: Filipino Tales

I chose to read from the Filipino Popular Tales


The Iguana and the Turtle

• One day an iguana and turtle went fishing together.
• An old man that owns the pond came and caught the turtle. The iguana searched for his friend and he found him. The old man wanted the turtle to marry his daughter. 
• The iguana wanted to be married and took his place. He then screamed he wanted to marry the man's daughter and the man came out and hit him. The iguana escaped and then saw his friend. He asked what he was doing and he said he was listening to his grandfather and the iguana fell for the lie. 
• The overall moral was that people who believe foolish things will be injured. 

Why Mosquitoes Hum

• Crab king, Mangla, called his followers and told them to watch his house while he slept and not make a noise. 
• His followers laughed while he slept and the next day he asked why. They told him that their old friend, Hu-man, was carrying his house on his shoulders. He asked Hu-man why he was moving and he said hew as avoiding a fire of Aninipot. 
• The king brought in Aninipot and asked why he was carrying fire and he told him that Lamoc was always trying to bite him. He then brought in Lamoc and Lamoc bit Mangla. 
• The king killed Lamoc and his friends chased him to his house, but could not get into his house. 
• It is said we can still hear them humming outside of our ears, because they mistake our ears for the hole to Mangla's home. 

The Greedy Crow

• A crow eating a piece of meat saw a small bird fly by with a dead rat. He asked the small bird to give him a piece but he was ignored. The crow then left his meat and chased the bird.
• A hawk then came and ate his meat. The crow could not catch up to the small bird. The crow came back and found his meat was taken. The hawk then told him he took it and was sorry. 
• Lesson of this story was to not be greedy and to be content with what you have. 

Follow Justin Robbins's board Mythology Portfolio on Pinterest.

Week 6: Reading Diary B

This week is Japanese Mythology.

The Labors of Yamato- The Grotto of Love

• Yamato was bored and left his wife a long time. 
• Yamato searched for a mermaid he longed for and saw a grotto in the ocean with emerald light. He swam to the cave as a voice called his name. 
• He found his siren deep within the cave. He begged for her love and she said that he must face death to be with her. She told him to go and get the golden apple of immortality and they could be together forever. Of course, he agreed. 

The Labors of Yamato- The Golden Apple

• A man named Jofuku went to the tree of youth and lived there in paradise. 
• He returned home and now the siren asked Yamato to bring her the apple. 

The Labors of Yamato- The Demon Boar

• Yamato returned home asking if anyone knew where this island was and no one knew. 
• He was then informed of a giant raging boar destroying the land. 
• He brought a band of warriors that were slain. 
• Yamato cut of the boar's tail (it's only weakness) and it ran off the cliff blinded by pain and was killed. 

The Labors of Yamato- The Grass-Cleaving Sword

• Yamato joined a group of warriors and they invited them on a deer hunt. 
• While Yamato was sleeping he heard the crackle of fire and got up and saw that the field he was sleeping in was ablaze. 
• Thousands of scared dear were rushing through the field trampling his men. 
• His wife Tacibana ran through the flames and gave him a fire-drill and he created a counter-fire to create a path out of the field. This fire then consumed the treacherous warrirors. 

The Labors of Yamato- The Sacred Sword

• He was headed home with his wife and he heard the song of the siren again. 
• He looked at wife burnt from the flame and told her to go home and heal because she looked hideous. (typical jerk)
• He went to the grotto and cut the siren's guardian dragon with the sacred sword (Susa-wo-no). She then fed him and gave him a sleep potion. She stole the sacred sword for her father Susa-wo-no. Plot twist!!
• While roaming the forest he encountered the Goddess of Mercy and Love, Kwannon, and she told him he would find the sacred sword on a magic stag.
• He found the stag, followed it into a lake, and killed it with the sword in the lake.

The Labors of Yamato- The Dragon

• Yamato realized he had been tricked and missed his wife. 
•  He decided he had to visit the sorceress to kill her. 
• He was captured, but Tacibana's love saved him.
• He awoke and realized she was gone. Went to a town and found it was attacked by a dragon and found his castle pillaged by the dragon. He could not find her.
• He found her and was then attacked by the dragon form of Susa-no-wo.
• He stabbed the dragon in the throat and killed it. They lived happily after that.
• One day they went to sea to go to war. Yamato said that Susa-wo-no was no threat since he defeated him on land. That angered the god of the ocean and he sent them into a terrible storm. 
• Tacibana sacrificed herself to the siren Benten and Yamato jumped in after her, but she was dead.

Week 6: Reading Diary A

This week I read the Japanese Mythology Unit.

Izanagi and Izanami

• Izanagi was king of heavens and Izanami the goddess of love.
• Izanami gave birth to everything on the earth.
• The sun and moon blossomed from a flower.
• Inzanagi and Izanami gave birth to the eight islands of Japan. (Yamato, Iyo, Tsukushi, Tsushima, Ahaji, Shikoku, Oki, and Lado)
• They then had a daughter (the Bright-Shining-Amaterasu) and a son (Susa-no-wo-no-mikoto)
• Amaterasu was put in charge of the High Plain of Heaven and Susa-no-wo was given power over the Moon and the sea. 
• Humans were given godlike powers of wisdom, valor, justice, mercy, and love. The things that make us human!
• Other gods were jealous of how much Izanami loved the mortals and she gave birth to the god of fire (Kagu-tsuchi) who was evil and the god of water to control his brother.  Izanami then died and went to the spirit world of Yomi.

The Miraculous Mirror

• Amaterasu was sitting at the summit of Heaven when the Dragon of Hell, her brother Susa-no-wo appeared.
• She fled her brother and his rage. Stayed in a cave for long time.
• A mirror of gold was brought to Amaterasu and she believed it was a rival. As a result she left the cave and a stone was placed preventing her to return to the cave. 

The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi

• Susa-no-wo met a grieving parent and their child and asked why they were crying. They told him that they had lost eight daughters to an eight-forked serpent with many heads. They didn't want their daughter to die.
• He turned their daughter into a comb and put her in his hair. 
• He placed bats in the path of the serpent which it drank and became drunk upon. It then fell asleep. 
• He cut the serpent into thousands of pieces and then retransformed the daughter (Kushinada-hime) into a woman and wedded her. 

The Labors of Yamato: The Rescue of the Princess

• Yamato was the great-great-great-great grandson of Amaterasu.
• He wanted to marry the princess Tacibana and she was kidnapped by a bandit. 
• He awakened in the temple of Ise and was given the sacred sword of Susa-no-wo to defeat the bandit. Yamato then dressed like a woman to enter the bandit's castle.
• Yamato was with the bandit lord (Takeru) while he was drunk. He then killed him. 
•  He saved the princess and then they married. 

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Extra Reading Diary: Week 5

For the extra reading this week I chose to read Indian Fairy Tales

The Lion and the Crane

• There was a lion and a bone was lodged in his throat. This prevented him from eating and caused him a lot of pain. 
• A crane was nearby and offered to help the lion. He stuck his head inside of the mouth of the lion and dislodged the bone. The crane then went back to his branch.
• One day the crane ran into the lion and asked what he would give to the crane for saving his life and the lion said that his payment would be not eating him. 
• The crane then realized that he could not have a friendship with this traitor and flew away.

The Broken Pot

• A poor man was lying in his home staring at a pot that was full of rice he had earned by begging. 
• He thought of what he could buy with the money he earned from the rice if there were a famine and all of the subsequent things he could buy as he continued selling the new items such as: goats, cows, buffaloes. 
• He then imagined the wife he would have and their child running to close to a stable of horses. He then kicked at his wife and in reality he kicked the pot and it fell to the ground and broke. 

The Cruel Crane Outwitted

• This story involved a crane that wanted to eat more fish and a pond that was experiencing severe water loss. 
• The crane was pondering how he could catch the fish and the fish asked him what he was doing. He then said that he would take them to a bigger pond, because he felt bad for them.
• They believed him and he ate all the fish.
• He then tried to do the same with a crab, but the crab only agreed if he could wrap his claws around his neck. 
• When the crab saw that he wanted to eat him the crab slit the cranes throat and lived happily in the pond. 

Reading Diary B: Week 5

Continuing from Persian Tales.

Fayiz and the Peri Wife

• Fayiz was a handsome married man. One day in the woods he met a beautiful maiden in the woods and they fell in love. She then took him to a magical house in the woods and they married.
• Years passed by and they had two boys, but he eventually felt homesick.
• His wife told him not to tell his other wife that she was a Peri, and when he visited his other wife and children they kept asking questions. He pushed it off at first, but then the other wife threatened to leave his two sons to fend for themselves and he told her everything.
• The Peri wife saw this happen and told him that he would never see him or their children again. Fayiz left his other wife and went to the woods every day singing for his Peri wife, but she never came back.

The Hemp-Smoker's Dream

• A man smoked hemp and went to the bath house. He was with the barber and when the barber held up the mirror he believed that he was the most handsome man on the planet. 
• As a result, he wanted to travel to China to marry the Chinese king's daughter. 
• He arrived with a group of men to the kingdom and made a wager with the king that if they could eat seventy pots of ash they could marry his daughter. 
• They ate all of it and when they made their way back home they began arguing who would have her. 
• The man then wondered who he was in this story and awoke in the barber shop.

Tortoise Bowl-on-the-back and the Fox

• A tortoise was planting seeds for his crop and a fox came by at various times that year and said, "God give you strength." 
• When the tortoise harvested the crops the fox came for his share in the crops because of his support. 
• The tortoise said no and the fox said they should race and the winner takes all of the crop.
• The tortoise had his brother who looked identical to him wait at the finish line and tricked the fox into thinking that he had been beaten. The fox was then sent away.
• This showed how the greedy are put to shame. 

Reading Diary A: Week 5

For this weeks reading I chose the Persian Tales.

The Wolf and the Goat

• Goat had four children and had to gather food. She told them to wait in the house and only open the door if a red hand was stuck through a crack in the door. 
• Wolf heard these directions and dyed it's hands red with henna The kids opened the door for the wolf and ran off with three of them, but luckily one hid and told the mom what happened.
• The mom found the wolf and had a competition with the wolf. The goat brought a gift with all types of foods to the knife sharpener and he sharpened her horns. However, the wolf only brought a bag filled with hot air to the dentist and the dentist as a result pulled all of his teeth and replaced them with cotton teeth. 
• They then became drunk and she stabbed him in the stomach with her horns and took her kids back home

The City of Nothing-in-the-World

• Girl scraped knee and needed ointment.
• Had to travel to market to find it. She then skinned a flea and earned wages from hatched eggs.
• A tree grew from the back of a chicken and she travelled inside of a watermelon. 
• The knife she lost was in a town located inside the watermelon.
• I am as confused with this story as you are reading my notes.

Susku and Mushu

• Susku, a beetle, was on her way to get married when Mushu, a mouse, stopped her. 
• He asked if she would marry him and she asked what she would sleep on. He said a basket of dates which she called sticky-wicky, then he said butter which was greasy-weasy, a sack of walnuts which were nobbly-wobbly, and finally he said she could sleep in his arms which she liked.
• She then asked what he would beat her with (-_-) if they fought and at first he said a pole, but then he agreed to beat her with his tail.
• Susku went to bathe and then fell in a stream. Mushu saved her and they got married. 
• Susku was making dinner one day and the wind picked her up and put her in the pot where she drowned. 
• As a result, everyone mourns her death and starts to cut off body parts and whatnot. 

Extra Reading Diary: Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

For the extra reading I chose to read Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

Part 1:

• In China, Aladdin was a young boy whose father died of agony, because Aladdin had no trade.
• His uncle was a famous african magician and he offered to help him find his trade.
• Uncle brought him to a valley and made the earth open to reveal a door. 
• He was told to find a lamp and bring it back. He did so and before he made it to the door the magician told him to give him the lamp. Aladdin wanted to wait until he had left the tomb, but the magician got mad and closed the door. Shocker: he wasn't his uncle.
• The magician had given him a ring and when he rubbed the ring a genie appeared and saved him.

Part 2:

• Aladdin's mom rubbed the lamp and he had the genie bring him food.
• He sold the silver plates and lived for many years off this. 
• Sultan told everyone to stay in the house while his daughter went tot and from the boathouse. Aladdin saw her face and instantly fell in love. 
• He asked mom to ask the sultan to wed them. She gave him jewels and he said yes, but she must wit three months. 
• Grand-vizir's son married the princess, the genie transported them while in bed, and Aladdin sleep next to the princess while she was freaking out.

Part 3:

• He did this again and again until they divorced.
• The sultan said he could wed his daughter if he brought forty basins of gold with forty black slaves and forty white slaves.
• Slaves made way to palace and sultan said he could marry his daughter.
• Aladdin had a palace built for the princess and they married. 
• Aladdin was captain of sultan's armies and won many battles. However, he stayed modest and courteous.

Part 4:

• African magician found out about Aladdin living and wanted to ruin him.
• He offered new lamps for old lamps and the princess offered him the old lamp (with genie inside).
• Magician made genie take palace and princess to Africa while Aladdin was hunting.
• Sultan had Aladdin arrested for enchantments and Aladdin didn't know why.
• Aladdin asked the ring genie to take him to his palace and he found himself in Africa.

Part 5:

• Princess saw Aladdin and told him what happened.
• Princess planned with Aladdin and ricked the magician by saying she wanted to be with him. She put something in her drink and poisoned his drink.
• The African magician died.

Part 6:

• Aladdin grabbed the lamp and brought the palace back to China.
• The younger brother of the African magician came for revenge of his brother's death. 
• He disguised as a holy woman and convinced the princess to tell her husband to ask to have roc's egg hang from the ceiling. (Hang master of genie form ceiling)
• The genie told him that he did not know what he was asking and that it was the brother in disguise. Aladdin then killed the brother and Aladdin and the princess lived happily ever after.

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Reading Diary B: Week 4

I am reading the Ancient Egypt unit.

The Two Brothers Part 1:

• Anpu (older brother) and Bata (younger brother)
• Anpu had wife and house, Bata lived with him like a son.
• Bata drove oxen to field, did harvesting, and could speak with oxen.
• They were sewing fields and Bata went to get seed. Anpu's wife was in the house and lusted after him. He then denied her and left saying he wouldn't say word of it to anyone.
• She then faked a rape and Anpu wanted to kill Bata, and Anpu was waiting with a knife behind a door in the barn.

Part 2:

• Luckily he could speak to the oxen and they warned him. 
• He was running while being chased and Ra put a river between them full of crocodiles.
• Bata left and Anpu killed his wife.
• Ra made Bata a wife when he moved to the valley of the acacia. She was extremely beautiful.
• Part of Bata's soul was in the top of an acacia tree in the valley.

Part 3:

• A lock of the wife's hair made its way to the king of Egypt.
• He took the wife and she told him of Bata's secret.
• They then cut down the tree and Bata died.
• Apnea found him dead and searched for the flowering acacia that could bring Bata back to life.
• He found a seed with his should and Bata cam back to life.

Part 4:

• Bata turned into a bull, Anpu rode on his back, and they went to see the king of Egypt.
• He was taken as a gift and became the sacred bull. He then spoke to the wife when he was alone with her and this scared her to death. 
• She then asked the king to eat the bull's liver and they killed the bull, but where his blood fell rose two Persea trees.
• She wanted the tree cut down and when they did a wood chip fell in her mouth. She then became pregnant with a son.
• Bata was that son and when he became king they sentenced the queen for her crimes.
• Anpu was appointed as royal heir and became king when Bata died 30 years later.

The Book of Thoth Part 1:

• King Nefer-ka-ptah loved to read ancient records and one day a priest told him of a book written by Thoth containing all magic in the world.
• He was told it was in an iron box at Kaptos in the middle of a river. However, it was surrounded by snakes, scorpions, and a snake no man can kill. 
• The king then let him take a royal barge with his wife (Ahura) and son (Merab).

Part 2:

• He found the box and saw it was guarded by the creatures.

(Anaconda by Alejandro Arteaga)

• He used a spell to paralyze all the creatures, but the invincible snake. He cut off its head, but it always reattached. He put sand on its neck after cutting it off and it wasn't able to reconnect.
• He found the book and both he and his wife read it and gained magical powers.
• He wrote all the spells on papyrus, rinsed it in his beer, drank the beer, and knew all the spells.

Part 3:

• Thoth was mad that his book was stolen and Ra told him to do whatever he wanted to punish Nefer-ka-ptah.
• Thoth caused his son and wife to drown on the way back to their home. He then caused Nefer-ka-ptah to drown himself, but he tied the book to himself.
• Funny thing was that he was buried with the book that he wanted so dearly.