The Drop of Honey

The king and his prime minister were eating outside on the palace balcony one day. "Be so kind as to pass the honey," said the king to his prime minister.

"Of course, Your Majesty," replied the prime minister.

As the king reached out to take the honey, something happened: did the king's hand tremble? or the prime minister's? However it happened, it happened: a single drop of honey fell down to the ground below.

A fly buzzed by and landed on the honey, gobbling it up.

Then a spider scurried up and gobbled the fly.

Next, a lizard darted forward and gobbled the spider.

A cat saw the lizard and ran to grab it, but a dog, also seeing the lizard, intercepted her.

The cat and the dog began fighting.

Hearing the cat yowling and the dog barking, the owner of the cat and the owner of the dog ran out into the street, and they began fighting.

Then the relatives of the owner of the cat and the relatives of the owner of the dog joined the fray.

Then their friends and neighbors.

As the riot spread from street to street, the prime minister advised the king, "You must send out the palace guards to quell this violence, Your Majesty."

But it turned out that some of the palace guards were allied to the cat faction while others were allied to the dog faction, and so the fighting grew even worse.

The conflict spread to the suburbs of the capital.

Then civil war raged throughout the kingdom.

Rival kings to the north, south, east, and west seized the opportunity; they invaded from all directions and divided the kingdom amongst themselves.

And that is how a kingdom was lost, all because of a drop of honey. 

---

Inspired by: "A Kingdom Lost for a Drop of Honey" in A kingdom lost for a drop of honey and other Burmese folktales by Maung Htin Aung and Helen G. Trager, 1968.
Notes: You can read the original story online. I also did my own 100-word version of the story too!

The illustrations by Paw Oo Thet are marvelous!

Anansi and the Pea

Anansi found a pea lying in the road. Just one little pea. 

"I wish I had more," said Anansi sadly, but he planted his pea, and then he waited to see what would happen.

The pea-plant grew and grew.

Then one day Goat wandered by, and he ate Anansi's pea-plant.

"Hey!" shouted Anansi. "That was my pea-plant. You must give me something in exchange."

"Okay," said Goat, and he gave Anansi one of his horns.

Anansi took the horn down to the river to wash it, but the River grabbed the horn and took it away from Anansi.

"Hey!" shouted Anansi. "That was my horn. You must give me something in exchange."

"Okay," said River, and she gave Anansi a fish.

Walking home, Anansi met a woman. "I'm hungry!" the woman said, and she grabbed Anansi's fish.

"Hey!" shouted Anansi. "That was my fish. You must give me something in exchange."

"Okay," said the woman, and she gave Anansi a shirt.

Next, Anansi met a little boy who had no clothes on. "I need clothes!" he said, and he grabbed Anansi's shirt.

"Hey!" shouted Anansi. "That was my shirt. You must give me something in exchange."

"Okay," said the boy, and he gave Anansi his whip.

Then Anansi met a cowherd. "I need that whip to herd my cows!" said the cowherd, and he grabbed Anansi's whip.

"Hey!" shouted Anansi. "That was my whip. I want something in exchange. Give me one of your cows!"

So the cowherd gave Anansi one of his cows.

From the cow, Anansi got milk, and from the milk Anansi got cheese.

Anansi sold the cheese and bought more cows.

Soon Anansi had a herd of cows all his own.

And he started with just one pea!

---

Inspired by: "The Pea That Made a Fortune" in Anansi and Company: Retold Jamaican Tales by Bish Denham, 2013.
Notes: You can read a very short version of the story here: Anansi and the Pea.

(from pxfuel)

Baboon's Foolish Judgment

Someone had chewed the tailor's clothes.

The tailor thought Mouse looked guilty. "Did you chew my clothes, Mouse?" asked the angry tailor.

"I did not!" protested Mouse. "Cat is the guilty one."

Cat blamed Dog, Dog blamed Wood, Wood blamed Fire, who blamed Water, who blamed Elephant, who blamed Ant. 

The tailor wasn't sure what to do, so he went to Baboon. "Someone has chewed my clothes! I blamed Mouse, but Mouse blamed Cat who blamed Dog who blamed Wood who blamed Fire, and Fire blamed Water, Water blamed Elephant, and Elephant blamed Ant. You, Baboon, must be the judge. Summon all the suspects here and find the criminal. I demand satisfaction!"

Baboon called all the suspects to come to court for the trial. 

After hearing all the evidence, Baboon didn't know which suspect to punish, so he decided that they should all punish each other.

"Cat, bite Mouse!" Baboon shouted.

Cat bit Mouse, and then Baboon shouted, "Dog, chase Cat!" 

Dog chased Cat, and then Baboon shouted, "Wood, beat Dog!" 

Wood beat Dog, and then Baboon shouted, "Fire, burn Wood!" 

Fire burnt Wood, and then Baboon shouted, "Water, extinguish Fire!" 

Water extinguished Fire, and then Baboon shouted,  "Elephant, drink Water!" Elephant drank Water, and then Baboon shouted, "Ant, sting Elephant!" 

Ant stung Elephant.

There was no one left to shout at, so Baboon squashed Ant under his foot.

Then he turned to the tailor and asked. "Are you satisfied now?"

"I suppose so," said tailor. "You've punished every single suspect, so, yes: I'm satisfied."
But there's been trouble ever since Baboon's foolish judgment: Ant keeps stinging Elephant, Elephant keeps drinking Water, Water keeps extinguishing Fire, Fire keeps burning Wood, Wood keeps beating Dog, Dog keeps chasing Cat, and Cat keeps biting Mouse... and everybody keeps squashing Ant.

As for Baboon, he used to walk on two legs like a person, but now he walks on four legs like the other animals, all because of his foolish judgment.

---

Inspired by: "The Judgment of the Baboon" in Reynard the fox in South Africa; or, Hottentot fables and tales by Wilhelm Bleek, 1864.
Notes: You can read the original story online. Bleek got the story from the missionary J. G. Kroenlein, who recorded it in Namaqualand in southern Africa; more about Kroenlein at Wikipedia. I expanded on the story to bring out the chain of accusations in detail, and I added the part about squashing Ant; that was not part of the original chain. The story said they were going to "punish each other," so I figured someone needed to punish Ant too.

baboon

October 21. Story of the Day: The Two Cats

Today's story is one that I wrote, inspired by The Two Little Cats, from Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton. I first published the story in my class blog for Fall 2018, and I've copied it here.

This type of story is classified as ATU 210 Rooster, Hen, Duck, Pin, and Needle. It is a folktale type that you can find in Europe (Brothers Grimm) and also in Asia. For an example from India, see The Sparrow's Revenge. For additional information, see the notes at the bottom of the page.

Looking for more stories? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day.

Once upon a time, there were two cats who lived in the forest. The cats enjoyed milk in their tea, but one day they were out of milk.

And so they went to visit the cow.

Along the way, they saw the Beast! He was a horrible monster who liked to eat little cats, chomping them with his big yellow teeth and smacking his fat orange lips.

And so the two cats ran as fast as they could to get away from the Beast.

“Run if you want, little cats!” shouted the Beast. “But I see you. I’m going to go to your house and wait for you there. Then I will eat you for my supper.”

The cats kept running until they reached the cow’s house.

“Greetings to you both,” said the cow. “Have you come for some milk?”

“Yes and no,” gasped the cats. “We were coming for milk, but we ran into the Beast, and now he’s gone to our house and he’s waiting for us there.”

“Have no fear,” said the cow. “I will go with you, and we’ll fight the Beast together. Come on!”

And so the cow and the two cats traveled through the forest together.

Along the path, they met a dog. “Greetings to you all!” said the dog. “Where are you going in such a hurry today?”

The cow said, “I am going with these cats to fight the Beast!”

“I will go with you,” said the dog. “Maybe I can help!”

And so the dog, the cow, and the two cats traveled through the forest together.

Along the path, they met a crow. “Greetings to you all!” said the crow. “Where are you going in such a hurry today?”

The dog said, “I am going with this cow and these cats to fight the Beast!”

“I will go with you,” said the crow. “Maybe I can help!”

And so the crow, the dog, the cow, and the two cats traveled through the forest together.

Along the path, they met a big heap of ashes. “Greetings to you all!” said the ashes. “Where are you going in such a hurry today?”

The crow said, “I am going with this dog and this cow and these cats to fight the Beast!”

“We will go with you,” said the ashes. “Maybe we can help!”

And so the ashes, the crow, the dog, the cow, and the two cats traveled through the forest together.

Along the path, they met a packet of needles. “Greetings to you all!” said the needles. “Where are you going in such a hurry today?”

The ashes said, “We are going with this crow and this dog and this cow and these cats to fight the Beast!”

“We will go with you,” said the needles. “Maybe we can help!”

And so the needles, the ashes, the crow, the dog, the cow, and the two cats traveled through the forest together.

Along the path, they met a snake. “Greetings to you all!” said the snake. “Where are you going in such a hurry today?”

The needles said, “We are going with these ashes and this crow and this dog and this cow and these cats to fight the Beast!”

“I will go with you,” said the snake. “Maybe I can help!”

And so the snake, the needles, the ashes, the crow, the dog, the cow, and the two cats traveled through the forest together.

Along the path, they met a bowl full of dried beans. “Greetings to you all!” said the beans. “Where are you going in such a hurry today?”

The snake said, “I am going with these needles and these ashes and this crow and this dog and this cow and these cats to fight the Beast!”

“We will go with you,” said the beans. “Maybe we can help!”

And so the beans, the snake, the needles, the ashes, the crow, the dog, the cow, and the two cats traveled through the forest together.

When they reached the cats’ house, the cow told them all what to do. “Dog, you wait in the yard. Crow, you hide in the water pitcher. Ashes, you climb up on the cupboard. Needles, you slide into the bed. Snake, you get into the breadbox. Beans, you wait at the top of the stairs, and I’ll wait at the bottom. Now go to your stations, quietly, so the Beast does not hear you come in.” Then the cow told the cats what to do.

When everyone was in place, the cats jumped up in the window. “Oh Beast!” shouted the cats. “Aren’t you thirsty?”

The Beast realized he was very thirsty, so he ran to grab the water jug, and the crow bit him.

“Oh Beast!” shouted the cats. “Aren’t you hungry?”

The Beast realized he was very hungry, so he ran to get some bread from the breadbox, and the snake stung him.

“Oh Beast!” shouted the cats. “Aren’t you sleepy?”

The Beast realized he was very sleepy, so he ran to lie down on the bed, and the needles stabbed him.

“Oh Beast!” shouted the cats. “Can’t you see us on the cupboard?”

The Beast ran to look up at the cupboard, and the ashes fell down into his eyes.

“Oh Beast!” shouted the cats. “Can’t you see us at the top of the stairs?”

The Beast ran to the top of the stairs, and the beans made his stumble and fall.

“Oh no!” shouted the Beast.

Then he landed on the horns of the cow.

“Oh no!” shouted the Beast.

Then the cow tossed the Beast over to the dog.

“Oh no!” shouted the Beast.

Then the dog pounced on the Beast and ate him all up.

And that was the end of the Beast.

After the excitement was over, the cats and their friends then enjoyed a nice cup of tea, and they all lived happily ever after.


Author's Notes. I have kept all the characters the same as in the original, and the plot is exactly the same too. What I tried to do with my story was to bring out the repetition and cumulative chain-tale quality, showing how the collection of characters grows one by one by one, and how they each have their role to play in defeating the monster. The original story had a chain of characters, but it was not told in a cumulative way, listing the whole chain every time a new item is added.

In the original version, the cats need butter for their tea. You can read about yak-butter tea from Tibet at Wikipedia. Also, the monster was called "Handre" in the original version, but I have not been able to find any other information about this Tibetan monster beyond this story.

Image Information. Cat figurine at Etsy.

October 14. Story of the Day: Brer Anansi Borrows Money

Today's story is one that I wrote, inspired by Beckwith's Chain of Victims story from Jamaica. I first published the story in my class blog for Fall 2018, and I've copied it here.

The story is classified as ATU 2024. Rabbit Borrows Money. See my notes at the bottom of the story for changes that I made.

Looking for more stories? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day.

BRER ANANSI BORROWS MONEY

This is a story about ANANSI, the trickster spider:

Anasi was broke and needed some money. So he made a plan. A very sneaky plan.

First he went to Hog and said, "Brer Hog, lend me a dollar! I'll pay you back! Just come to my house tomorrow, twelve o'clock sharp."

Brer Hog said okay, and he gave Anansi a dollar.

Next he went to Dog and said, "Brer Dog, lend me a dollar! I'll pay you back! Just come to my house tomorrow, three minutes after twelve."

Brer Dog said okay, and he gave Anansi a dollar. That made two dollars.

Then he went to Monkey and said, "Brer Monkey, lend me a dollar! I'll pay you back! Just come to my house tomorrow, six minutes after twelve."

Brer Monkey said okay, and he gave Anansi a dollar. That made three dollars.

Next he went to Tiger and said, "Brer Tiger, lend me a dollar! I'll pay you back! Just come to my house tomorrow, nine minutes after twelve."

Brer Tiger said okay, and he gave Anansi a dollar. That made four dollars.

Finally he went to Lion and said, "Brer Lion, lend me a dollar! I'll pay you back! Just come to my house tomorrow, twelve minutes after twelve."

Brer Lion said okay, and he gave Anansi a dollar. That made five dollars.

Anansi took the money and had himself a big feast that night.

The next day, precisely at noon, Hog came knocking.

"Who's there?" Anansi said.

"It's me, Brer Hog!"

Anansi said, "Come on in!"

While he and Hog stood there talking, someone knocked at the door. It was three minutes after twelve o'clock. Anansi said, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Brer Dog!"

Anansi looked worried. "Brer Hog," he said, "you better go run in the other room there and hide under the bed. Brer Dog is a bad man. He told he wants to catch you and eat you up!"

Brer Hog ran into the other room, and Anansi opened the door. Brer Dog came in. While he and Dog stood there talking, someone knocked at the door. It was six minutes after twelve o'clock. Anansi said, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Brer Monkey!"

Anansi looked worried. "Brer Dog," he said, "you better go run in the other room there and hide under the bed. Brer Monkey is a bad man. He told he wants to catch you and eat you up! If you find Brer Hog in there already, you better kill him to keep him from squealing. That Brer Hog is a squealing fool! He'll give you away for sure."

Brer Dog ran into the other room, and Anansi sang to himself:

Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na bom,
Eb-ry-bod-y
Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na bom,
Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na.
Po' Hog dead and gone.

Then Anansi opened the door. Brer Monkey came in. While he and Monkey stood there talking, someone knocked at the door. It was nine minutes after twelve o'clock. Anansi said, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Brer Tiger!"

Anansi looked worried. "Brer Monkey," he said, "you better go run in the other room there and hide under the bed. Brer Tiger is a bad man. He told he wants to catch you and eat you up! If you find Brer Dog in there already, you better kill him to keep him from barking. That Brer Dog is a barking fool! He'll give you away for sure."

Brer Monkey ran into the other room, and Anansi sang to himself:

Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na bom,
Eb-ry-bod-y
Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na bom,
Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na.
Po' Dog dead and gone.

Then Anansi opened the door. Brer Tiger came in. While he and Tiger stood there talking, someone knocked at the door. It was twelve minutes after twelve o'clock. Anansi said, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Brer Lion!"

Anansi looked worried. "Brer Tiger," he said, "you better go run in the other room there and hide under the bed. Brer Lion is a bad man. He told he wants to catch you and eat you up! If you find Brer Monkey in there already, you better kill him to keep him from chattering. That Brer Monkey is a chattering fool! He'll give you away for sure."

Brer Tiger ran into the other room, and Anansi sang to himself:

Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na bom,
Eb-ry-bod-y
Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na bom,
Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na.
Po' Monkey dead and gone.

Then Anansi opened the door. Brer Lion came in. As soon as Brer Lion came in, Anansi told him, "You came at just the right time: I've got something good for you! Brer Tiger is in the other room there: if you hurry, you can kill him and eat him!"

Brer Lion went running into the other room, and Anansi sang to himself:

Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na bom,
Eb-ry-bod-y
Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na bom,
Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na.
Po' Tiger dead and gone.

As he was singing, Anansi went and dug a big hole outside the back door and shouted, "Brer Lion, come on out here! I've got a big stew pot where we can cook up all that meat! Grab Tiger and Monkey and Dog and Hog and put them in the pot so we can have a feast!"

Lion grabbed Tiger in one paw and Monkey in another paw and Dog in his mouth and then he picked up Hog with his tail, and he came hopping as quick as he could.

"I'm here out back," Anansi shouted.

Hop, hop, hop, Lion came on out back and fell right into that hole and broke his neck.

Anansi cackled and danced around the hole singing:

Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na bom,
Eb-ry-bod-y
Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na bom,
Si-lay-na, Si-lay-na.
Po' Hog dead and gone.
Po' Dog dead and gone.
Po' Monkey dead and gone.
Po' Tiger dead and gone.
Po' Lion dead and gone.

"I picked your pockets clean, and now I'll pick your bones clean too!

Anansi had himself another big feast that night.

So you better watch out if Anansi ever asks you to loan him a dollar.

Author's Note

I started out with the "chain of victims" story about Anansi and it has the basic plot, where Anansi borrows money from the five victims and then has the victims kill each other so that when he kills Lion himself in the end, they are all dead. That story was written in dialect, so I wrote it out in more standard English, and I also fixed a gap in the story; in the version Beckwith collected, Anansi didn't actually tell Monkey to kill Dog. I made sure my story didn't have any gaps.

Then I started filling things up with more details until I hit 999 words. I added the little song, based on a song that Anansi sang in another story about Tiger (Tiger as Riding-Horse). I added the parts where Anansi tells each animal why they should kill the animal before them; that is a typical chain-tale detail where the sounds that animals make are often how you create the chain (like in Old MacDonald Had a Farm). I spread out the animals coming at noon so there was a three-minute gap in-between each one. I also added the part where Anansi tells Lion to bring the other animals with him when he comes outside; it was fun imagining the Lion trying to carry them all, kind of like in a cartoon.

Bibliography

Chain of Victims, in Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith (1924). For this story, her informant was: Richard Morgan, Santa Cruz Mountains.

For my own future reference, I am copying out Beckwith's comparative notes here: Common as is the story of the "chain of victims" in Africa, Falconer gave me the only version I heard in Jamaica. Compare Koelle, 158-161; Dayrell, 6-10; Nassau, 245-247; Tremearne, 373-374; FL 21:211-212; Lenz, 39-40; Boas, JAFL 25:207-209; Rattray, 2:58-72.

Also for future reference, the ATU Tale Type is 2024: Rabbit Borrows Money. A rabbit borrows money from a beetle, a hen, a fox, a dog, a tiger, and a hunter. When the beetle asks for the money back, the rabbit tells him to wait behind to count the money. Instead, the hen eats the beetle, then the fox eats the hen, etc.

Images

SVGSilh Hog.
SVGSilh Dog.

Wikimedia Monkey.

Wikimedia Tiger.

Lion Coloring Pages.

How to Draw a Cartoon Spider. I made the animation by turning the spider into a circle gif using LunaPic and then rotating it with GIMP.

September 12. Story of the Day: Psyche Lives

Today's story is one that I wrote, inspired by the story of Cupid and Psyche in Apuleius's Golden Ass (see details in the author's note below). I first published the story in my class blog for Fall 2018, and I've copied it here.

What I did was to insert a cumulative chain of mourners when Psyche dies, or seems to die.

Looking for more stories? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day.

Psyche Lives

Psyche knew she had to sit down and catch her breath before making her way back up Mount Olympus to Venus's home. The alabaster box had been heavy even when empty, and after Proserpine filled it as Venus commanded, Psyche could barely lift it: who would have thought that beauty would be something so heavy to carry?

Taking pity on the girl, Proserpine had made a kind of sling and strapped the box to Psyche's back. Psyche now untied the sling while reaching behind her back to catch hold of the box, careful not to drop it. She placed the box on the grass, and then she sank to the ground, leaning against a tree, grateful for the shade it provided.

As Psyche felt the cool of the breeze, she thought of the Zephyr who had carried her back and forth to her husband's magical palace. She pressed her hands against her belly, and she felt the life stirring inside her. She sighed deeply and said out loud, though there was no one there to listen, "I swear by the life of my unborn child that I will bring this box of beauty back to Venus as she commanded."

That was when she heard it.

The humming. No, not a humming, but instead a kind of whisper. Calling to her. Commanding her.

"Open the box, Psyche."

"Open the box."

"Open it."

What harm could it do, Psyche thought. So she leaned forward and lifted the lid of the box, meaning to just take a quick peek inside to see the beauty that Proserpine had placed there.

But alas, it was not beauty in the box at all! It was sleep, the sleep of death. Psyche did not even have time to realize what she had done; as soon as she opened the box, she collapsed. Psyche was dead.

The tree, who had been watching all along, dropped its leaves in grief.

A bird flew by and when she saw the tree had dropped all its leaves, she asked, "What is wrong with you, Tree?"

"Poor Psyche opened the box, and now she is dead," said the tree, "so I have now dropped all my leaves."

The bird then shed all her feathers and flew sadly away.

When the goatherd saw the featherless bird, he called out, "What is wrong with you, Bird?"

"Poor Psyche opened the box, and now she is dead," said the bird, "and the tree dropped its leaves, so I have now shed my feathers."

The goatherd broke his staff and sat down on the ground.

When the goat saw the shepherd's broken staff, he asked, "What is wrong with you, Shepherd?"

"Poor Psyche opened the box, and now she is dead," said the goatherd, "and the tree dropped its leaves, and the bird shed her feathers, so I have now broken my staff."

The goat threw away his horns and ran to the stream.

When the stream saw the goat without his horns, he asked, "What is wrong with you, Goat?"

"Poor Psyche opened the box, and now she is dead," said the goat, "and the tree dropped its leaves, and the bird shed her feathers, and the shepherd broke his staff, so I have now thrown away my horns."

Hearing this news, the waters of the stream all dried up.

When the cook came to the stream to wash out her soup pot and saw there was no water, she asked, "What is wrong with you, Stream?"

"Poor Psyche opened the box, and now she is dead," said the stream, "and the tree dropped its leaves, and the bird shed her feathers, and the shepherd broke his staff, and the goat threw away his horns, so now my waters have all dried up."

The cook broke her soup pot and shouted, "Heaven help us, O gods and goddesses! Poor Psyche opened the box, and now she is dead, and the tree dropped its leaves, and the bird shed her feathers, and the shepherd broke his staff, and the goat threw away his horns, and the stream's waters dried up, and now I have broken my soup pot."

The cook's words made their way up to heaven, and Venus cackled out loud, rejoicing at the news. Her plan had succeeded!

But her son Cupid was distraught. In his grief, he burst through the door of the room where his mother had confined him and rushed down to the earth. There he found Psyche lying on the grass, the wicked box by her side.

"Psyche," he moaned, as he gathered her up in his arms. "What have you done, my poor girl? Why did you have to open the box?"

And as Cupid wept over her lifeless body, his tears fell on her face. Cupid had never wept before (though he had made many others weep), and he did not know the power of his tears. As those tears wet her face, Psyche's eyes opened, and she gazed upon him with wonder and love. She was alive!

As soon as the tree saw what had happened, it regained its leaves and shouted, "O Bird, Psyche lives!"

The bird grew back her feathers and shouted, "O Shepherd, Psyche lives!"

The shepherd's staff was restored and he shouted, "O Goat, Psyche lives!"

The goat got back his horns and shouted, "O Stream, Psyche lives!"

The stream's waters began to flow, and it shouted, "O Cook, Psyche lives!"

Then the soup pot was made whole again, whereupon the cook ran back home to begin preparing a wedding feast for Cupid and his darling Psyche.

And that is how Cupid and Psyche were married, and had a child named Joy, and then another named Harmony, and another, and another, I don't remember all the names, and so lived happily ever after.

Author's Notes

I based this story on the final task that Venus gave to Psyche, sending her down into the Underworld to get a jar of beauty form the goddess Proserpine (Persephone). But what Venus really instructed Proserpine to do was to put a fatal sleep into that jar, so Psyche falls into a "Stygian sleep" when she opens it to take a look; I added the part about a mysterious voice (Venus? the box itself? who knows) commanding her to open it. In the original version, Cupid comes down and just wipes the sleep away and puts it back into the jar.

I also added the part about Cupid's tears just because I thought that was more dramatic. In the original version, he doesn't grieve over Psyche; he just wakes her up. In my story, he really thought she was dead, like all the other mourners in the chain. In Apuleius, they had one child named Pleasure; I gave them more children. Also, I made the jar into a box because Waterhouse's painting used a box.

Bibliography



Image Credit

Psyche Opening the Golden Box by John William Waterhouse.

September 3. Story of the Day: Garden of Eden

Today's story is one that I wrote, inspired by legends you can find in Louis Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews (see details in the author's note below). I first published the story in my class blog for Fall 2018, and I've copied it here.

Looking for more stories? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day.

Who's to Blame in the Garden of Eden?

God went looking in the Garden for Adam and Eve, but he did not see them because they were hiding. God knew what this meant: they had eaten the figs from the Tree of Knowledge in the midst of the Garden. So now they were hiding, ashamed to face him.

God had expected this might happen, and he knew he would have to punish them. He had told the man Adam that he would die if he ate the figs that came from that tree. But he wanted to give Adam and Eve a chance to confess what they had done; he would forgive them if they admitted to eating the figs. If not, well... so be it.

God called out to Adam, "Adam, where are you?"

Adam heard God's voice from where he and Eve were hiding in the trees, awkwardly pressing fig leaves against their bodies, trying to hide their nakedness.

"I am hiding here in the trees," Adam shouted. Eve stared at him, dumbfounded. Why would Adam say that? Now God was going to find them for sure.

"Why are you hiding?" God asked him. "Tell me what happened."

Adam said, "That woman, the one you gave me, she gave me fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and I ate it." Eve was furious: Adam was going to try to blame it all on her!

"Eve," said God, "what have you done?"

Eve shouted, "The serpent tricked me; he made me eat the figs."

Then God called out to the serpent. "Serpent, explain yourself!"

The serpent hissed, "It was all that other female'sssssssss fault; I wasssssss jussssssst following ordersssssss."

As the snake was still hissing, Adam's first wife burst forth in a flash of light and stood there staring God face to face.

"Okay, I did it," Lilith said defiantly. "I told the serpent to trick Eve into eating the figs. But it wasn't my idea: Samael put me up to it."

God had suspected Samael might be involved. He was one of the worst troublemakers among the ranks of the angels.

"Samael!" God shouted.

Thus summoned, Samael came swooping down from the heavens, alighting on the ground next to Lilith.

"That's right," he said. "I asked Lilith to help me get revenge on Adam because he cooked and ate my child!" The angel was still carrying the empty stewpot in which Adam had cooked the little boy's corpse.

Adam then burst forth out of the trees, dropping his fig leaves as he ran. "It's not my fault!" he shouted. "Eve told Samael she would take care of the baby, but then she just went off and left him lying there, and that's why he wouldn't stop crying, and that's why I killed him. But it's all Eve's fault, not mine!"

So Eve also came rushing out from behind the trees. "You're always blaming me for everything," she screamed, "but it wasn't my fault. I was trying to get supper ready before you came home, and I had to go get more wood to put on the fire."

Looking up angrily at God, she added, "This all happened because the fire is so greedy for wood; it's the fire's fault, not mine."

"Fire," God said patiently, "what do you have to say about all this?"

A flicker of flame rose up from the ground and whispered, "It's not my fault that I am greedy for wood. That is how you made me, God. This is really all your fault."

God had not expected this. What it really his fault? God thought about what the fire had said, and he realized that it might indeed be his fault after all. He should have been more careful when he created the fire, but what's done is done; God could not unmake what he had made.

"I'm sorry, fire," he said. "It is in your nature to eat the wood. You are not to blame."

"It's okay, God," said the fire. And then he added, "And I'm sorry you had to go get more wood to feed me, Eve."

Eve said, "I accept your apology, fire."

And so the fire vanished.

Then Eve looked pointedly at Adam.

"Well," Adam said, "I shouldn't have blamed you for leaving the baby alone. And I'm sorry I went and killed him, Samael. That was wrong of me."

Samael was still angry, but he nodded at Adam and said, "Lilith was only doing what I told her. I shouldn't have used her to get my revenge like that." He then took flight, vanishing into the sky as dark storm clouds gathered in his wake. Samael would visit the humans again in his own time.

Next it was Lilith's turn. "I admit I had a grudge against Adam and Eve, but that doesn't mean I should just do whatever Samael tells me." She turned to the serpent and added, "Serpent, I am sorry I got you involved in all of this."

The serpent waved his head slowly up and down in acknowledgment of Lilith's words as he hissed an apology to Eve. "Sssssso sssssssorry for what I did."

Then Lilith and the serpent both vanished; only God, Adam, and Eve were left.

And that's how Eve found herself apologizing to Adam. "I didn't want to be the only one in trouble, so I made you eat the figs too. I'm sorry."

Adam hugged Eve and said, "I'm sorry, too."

Then they both looked up at God, wondering what would happen next.

God smiled and said, "I think we all learned something from the Tree of Knowledge today. Things will be different from now on, but we'll figure something out to make it all work. Let me go write down some notes about all of this and get back to you."

God eventually returned with the Torah, which he gave to Adam and Eve. But that's the beginning of another story, and the end of this one.

Author's Notes

I always thought that the scene in Genesis with God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent was like a chain-of-blame, so I wanted to extend that chain. To do that, I used Lilith (Adam's first wife before Eve), and I also used the legend of how Adam killed Samael's infant son. In that legend, Samael left the baby in Eve's care, but Adam killed the baby because he wouldn't stop crying. But the corpse kept crying, so Adam chopped up the corpse, and still it kept crying, so he cooked the pieces in a stew, and then he and Eve ate the stew. Yet the baby still kept crying from inside their hearts, so God made the Torah to comfort them.

I took the idea of Samael and the baby, and also the Torah, so that in my story, instead of expelling Adam and Eve from Eden, God is going to give them the Torah, like in the Samael legend (and afterwards the book passes to Noah and then to Enoch and eventually to King Solomon). I also reversed the chain-of-blame into a chain-of-apology. I was inspired to do that from the Jewish legends that say God really did want Adam to just honestly admit what he had done, and it was only when Adam refused to admit what he had done that God resolved to punish him.

The detail that the fruit of the tree was a fig comes from Ginzberg's book of Jewish legends; that's why they used fig leaves to cover themselves. The Wikipedia article about Forbidden Fruit discusses various traditions about just what the fruit was: quice, apple, grape, fig, or pomegranate (plus two pretty weird ideas about wheat and mushrooms).

Bibliography.

The Holy Book -- Lilith -- The Punishment which all come from The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg.

Images

Sculpture of Adam and Eve from MaxPixel.
Eve and the Serpent by Henri Rousseau.
A vision by William Blake. This is not a depiction of Samael, but I liked the idea that this could be Samael looking into the pot which held the remains of his son. I cropped and flipped the image.
Medieval illustration by Cunradus Schlapperitzi at the New York Public Library.

August 30. Story of the Day: Metamorphoses of a Flower

Today's story is one that I wrote, inspired by this story: The Man in the Moon from Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India by Katherine Neville Fleeson. I first published the story in my class blog for Fall 2018, and I've copied it here.

Looking for more stories? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day.

Metamorphoses of a Flower

There was once a field of flowers that grew tall on strong stalks, their bright yellow petals surrounding a whorl of seeds. As the wind blew, the flowers swayed with the wind, and so they were called "windflowers," because they followed the wind.

But there was one flower who was unhappy because she had to sway whichever way the wind was blowing. She watched the bumblebees and butterflies and birds in the sky, and she saw that they went their own way. Instead of petals, they had wings, and the flower wished that she had wings too.

"O Goddess," she prayed, "I do not want to be a flower anymore. I want to be the bumblebee who goes her own way."

Hearing her prayer, the Goddess turned the flower into a bumblebee.

The bumblebee's wings buzzed as she zoomed up and down, left and right, racing back and forth over the field of flowers. Then she visited other fields with other flowers, drinking nectar and gathering pollen to take back to the hive. The next day was much the same, and the day after that, and the day after that, as the bee flew back and forth from the hive to the different fields of flowers, loaded down with pollen in her pollen baskets.

And so the bee grew tired. She grew very tired. She had never known what it was to be tired when she was a flower, standing tall on her stalk. The bee no longer felt the joy of freedom as she zoomed up and down, buzzing high and low, endlessly looking for pollen to take back to the hive.

Then one day, as she zoomed through a farmyard on her way from one field of flowers to another, she looked down and saw a cat sleeping contentedly in the sunshine. When she zoomed through the farmyard on her way back to the hive, she saw that the cat was still lying there, fast asleep. "What a life!" thought the bee.

Returning to the field of flowers later that day, she buzzed through the farmyard and saw the cat drinking from a bowl of milk. The bee zoomed in closer and watched as the cat lapped up all the milk and then, again, lay down to sleep.

"O Goddess," prayed the bumblebee, "I do not want to be a bumblebee anymore. I want to be the cat who eats and sleeps and does not have to work!"

Hearing her prayer, the Goddess turned the bumblebee into a cat.

The cat spent her days happily sleeping and eating. Occasionally she chased a mouse in the barn, and sometimes she taunted the chickens. Mostly, though, she slept. All day long.

But at night, the cat roamed, making her way through the darkness by the light of the moon in the sky. At first the light of the moon was very faint, only a sliver among the stars. But as each night passed, the moon grew larger and larger, and its light grew brighter and brighter. The cat was in awe of this change in the moon. "I stay the same size all the time," she thought. "But the moon grows bigger and bigger."

Thus, staring longingly up at the full moon in the sky, the cat prayed, "O Goddess, I do not want to be a cat anymore who must stay the same size. I want to be the moon!"

Hearing her prayer, the Goddess turned the cat into the moon.

The moon then stared with her great eye over half the world, and she felt the eyes of all the night creatures staring back at her. "I am the great light of the night," thought the moon. "What grandeur! What power!"

But then the moon realized that she was very cold. Very cold indeed. "How can this be?" she wondered. "I am the light of the night, but there is no fire in me at all."

Shivering in the cold of space, the moon sadly realized the truth of things: the moonlight was not her light at all. It was the light of the sun, made weak and pale as it bounced off her surface on its way down to the earth.

As the moon gazed at the sun off in the distance, burning bright with its own inner fire, she realized she had made a great mistake. "O Goddess," cried the moon, "I do not want to be the moon anymore, with no light or fire of my own. I want to be the sun!"

Hearing her prayer, the Goddess turned the moon into the sun.

And now she had her own light and fire, flames rising up through her entire being, twisting and exploding in bursts of heat, radiating waves of explosive energy, never stopping.

It was all too much. She screamed, "Help me, Goddess, please! I do not want to be the sun!"

And so the Goddess took pity on the sun, and turned her back into a flower, a flower in a field of flowers that grew tall on strong stalks, their bright yellow petals surrounding a whorl of seeds.

But this flower no longer blew with the wind as before. Instead, as the sun moved across the sky each day, this flower turned her face to gaze upon the sun. And so we call her "sunflower," because she follows the sun in the sky.

Author's Note. The original story from Laos is about an unhappy blacksmith who becomes a stone, who becomes a stonecutter, who becomes the sun and finally becomes the moon, which is how we get the "man in the moon." To come up with my own story, I kept the same theme of dissatisfaction and transformation, but I wanted to not have any human characters in the chain, and I wanted it to be a circle-chain that goes all the way back to where it starts. I also wanted it to be an origin story, so I made it the origin of the sunflower: at first the flower is a "windflower" (which I made up, but then I learned at Wikipedia there really are flowers called windflowers!), and then at the end it is a sunflower. I used some repetition in the story in the formulaic prayers and the Goddess's actions to give it something like a "folktale" style. I was also thinking of having a cow there (the bee wants to be a cow, and then the cow wants to be a cat), but I could tell the story was becoming too long already, so: no cow.

Image sources: Bee and sunflower at Pexels. Cat and moon at Pixabay. Solar flares at Pixabay. Sunflower at Pxhere.