Week 13 Storytelling: The Onion, The Rose, and The Squirrel

Red Squirrel
Source: Wikipedia

There once was an onion, a rose and a squirrel that all lived together. Now while this might seem like a very odd group of friends to be living together, they actually fit together quite nicely. Each one had a special job to do everyday.

 The onion was in charge of the cooking, for he could add wonderful flavor to the meat and vegetables that he prepared. The rose was in charge of the cleaning, for she could make everything look and smell beautiful by leaving some of her petals around the house. The squirrel was in charge of gathering sticks for the fire, for he could scamper up the trees with ease. He was also in charge of collecting acorns and pecans so that they would have plenty of food to last them through the winter. When they all worked together, things in their house ran very smoothly. However, one day this well-oiled machine of a system came crashing down.

The squirrel had been out since early in the morning gathering sticks and nuts to take back home, when he ran into a field mouse. The field mouse told the squirrel that he thought it was absolutely absurd that he lived with an onion and a rose. The squirrel explained to the field mouse that it was actually quite nice, and explained their system to him. Nevertheless, the field mouse came to the conclusion that it was not fair that the squirrel had to leave the house every morning to come gather sticks and nuts, especially when it was so cold outside, while the onion and the rose worked in the warmth and comfort of their home.

After thinking about this for a few moments, the squirrel decided that the field mouse was right, and he was going to go home and tell the onion and the rose that the arrangement they had was not fair. When the squirrel told this to the onion and the rose, they agreed to rotate tasks with him. From now on, the rose would go out to gather sticks and nuts, the onion would do the cleaning, and the squirrel would do the cooking.

So the next morning, the rose got up early to gather the sticks and the nuts. However, much to her dismay, just as she was almost to the top of an oak tree to gather some acorns, a bird swiped her up and flew off with her.

Meanwhile back at home, the onion began the cleaning. The squirrel came out of his room and asked the onion what that awful smell was. Turned out, the onion had been leaving pieces of his skin around the house. He figured since the rose left her petals around the house, that he should do the same.

The squirrel was very much disgusted by this and fled to the kitchen to try to escape the smell as well as get started on the cooking. He had a nice fire going, got the meat and vegetables in the pot, so things seemed to be going well. However, when he hopped up onto the rim of the pot to stir the meat and vegetables, he accidentally slipped in and burned to death.

The onion went into the kitchen to see what was going on. He was so frightened when he saw what happened to the squirrel that he ran out of the house. Just then, a farmer was walking by and saw him. The farmer scooped up the onion, took him home, and cooked him with his other vegetables for lunch.

Moral of the story: if things are working well, don’t change them.

Author’s Note

This story is based on The Mouse, The Bird, and The Sausage from the Grimm (LibriVox) unit. The plot of the story is basically the same in that each of the characters has a special role; the bird gathers wood, the mouse fetched the water, and the sausage did the cooking. In the original story the bird meets another bird that convinces him that he is doing too much work. So much like in my story, the characters switch roles and it leads to their demise.

I switched up the characters and their roles just a little bit to make it my own. Also, I wanted the moral of the story, as I interpreted it, to be more explicit. I hope you enjoyed!

Bibliography

Book: Grimms’ Fairy Tales

Author: Brothers Grimm

Year: 2008

Web Source: Un-Textbook 

Week 12 Storytelling: Like Paula Deen Loves Butter

Paula Deen
Source: Wikipedia

There was a man who had three young daughters, and one day he decided to ask each of his daughters how much they loved him. He said to his first daughter, who was the youngest, “Lauren, how much do you love Daddy?”

Lauren replied, “I love you as much as I love Christmas.”

Knowing his youngest daughter really loved Christmas, the man was very satisfied with this answer. Then he said to his middle daughter, “Paige, how much do you love Daddy?”

Paige answered, “I love you as much as a fish loves water.”

Knowing water was obviously very important to fish, the man was also very satisfied with this answer. Then he said to his oldest daughter, “Sara, how much do you love Daddy?”

Sara replied, “I love you as much as Paula Deen loves butter.”

This answer perplexed the man. He did not watch much television, so he did not know who Paula Deen was, or how much she loved butter. Very upset with this answer, the man replied, “After all I have done for you, you only love me as much as some woman loves butter?! For that, I want you to go out for three weeks and try to make it on your own. At the end of the three weeks, we will see if you still only love me as much as Paula Deen loves butter!”

Before Sara could try to make her argument and explain whom Paula Deen was, she was out on the front porch with nothing but the clothes on her back. Realizing there was no way she was going to convince her father to let her back in the house, she set out to look for work.

After walking a few miles she came across a watermelon farm with a “Help Wanted” sign hanging on the fence. She walked up to the front door of the house and knocked. An old man answered the door and said, “Can I help you?”

“Yes,” Sara replied. “I have been kicked out of my house need a job. I noticed your sign on your fence and wondered if you could help me out?”

“Well, as it turns out,” said the old man, “there is some work that you could do. Come inside and we will discuss the details.”

Sara went inside, and the old man informed her of all the tasks she would be doing. He had just hired a young man to help him around the farm, so it would be Sara’s job to help his wife around the house. The two agreed that Sara would work for the old man’s wife in exchange for room and board, and she began work the next day.

Two weeks had passed, and back at home the man and his two daughters were really beginning to miss Sara. As a way to take his mind off of things, the man turned on the television. There was a cooking show airing, hosted by none other than Paula Deen. After watching for just a few minutes, he realized that he had made a mistake.

Early the next morning, the man set out to find his daughter. He was walking past the watermelon farm when he saw Sara and a young man out working in the yard. Excited that he had found his daughter, the man ran up to Sara and wrapped her in his arms.

He apologized for being so hard on her and admitted that he made a mistake, and begged her to come back home. As it turned out, Sara and the young man that had been working for the old farmer had grown quite fond of each other. Sara told her father that the only way she would come back was if Danny could come back with them.

Sara’s father agreed to this, and the three of them returned home. The next week Sara and Danny were married, and they all lived happily ever after.

Author’s Note

This story was based on the English Fairy Tale, Cap O' Rushes. In the original story, there is a king who has three daughters. He asks each of his daughters how much they love him. Two of the daughters give satisfying answers, but one does not. As a result, she is kicked out of the house. She disguises herself, begins to search for work, and ends up working as a servant in a house. However, in the original story, there is a “Cinderella element.” There were dances held for all of the servants. The girl would take off her disguise and go to the dances. After attending the dances three times, there was a wealthy young man who fell in love with her. However, she would never reveal her identity to him. Despite her mysterious ways, the young man gave her a ring. It was not until the girl made a meal, which she had slipped the ring into, that the young man figured out who she was. Shortly after, they were married. The girl’s father was at the wedding and realized the mistake he made, and then they all lived happily ever after.

Sorry for such a long summary, but there was a lot that happened in that story! In an effort to make my story shorter, I cut out the “Cinderella element,” and just cut right to the chase of my love story.

Bibliography

Book: English Fairy Tales

Author: Joseph Jacobs

Year: 1890

Web Source: Un-Textbook 

Week 11 Storytelling: How the Leprechaun and the Man Came to Live Together

Laughing Leprechaun
Source: openclipart

There once was a man and his wife who had two darling twins. The man and his wife absolutely adored their children, but then one day, something very peculiar happened. While the man was away at work, the wife was home alone with their two children. The wife was in the nursery singing a lullaby to her two precious babies, when all of sudden, there was an abrupt knock on the door.

The knock sounded very urgent, so the wife quickly scurried to the door to see what was the matter. She opened the door and looked out onto the porch, but saw no one there. Then she heard a voice, “Hey, down here.”

She looked down to see a leprechaun standing on her porch! The wife was very much taken aback by the small man standing on her porch. She had always heard the neighbors gossiping about the leprechauns that lurked in the shadows of their quite suburban neighborhood, but had never seen one herself.

Keeping in mind all of the horrible things she had heard about these devilish little pests she hesitantly said, “Is there something I can do for you?”

“Actually, yes there is,” replied the leprechaun. “I was wondering if I could come in and use your restroom?”

“Uhhh…sure,” replied the wife. “Come on in. It is the second door on your right.”

The wife was torn. She had heard so many awful things about the leprechauns, yet she felt it was the wrong to turn away someone based only on the gossip she had heard from other people.

A few minutes had gone by, and the leprechaun still had not come out of the bathroom, so the wife went to check on him. The bathroom door was wide open, but the leprechaun was not in there; panic immediately set in. The wife rushed down the hall to the nursery, and what she saw stunned her.

The leprechaun was standing on the rocking chair whispering something over the twins. The wife screamed. This startled the leprechaun, and he immediately jumped off the chair and ran out of the house.

Just about the time the leprechaun was running out the front door, the man was coming in. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

Hysterically the wife replied, “That thing! He’s done something to my babies!”

“Now, now, calm down. I’m sure it’s nothing. The babies look fine.”

The wife calmed down. After all, her children did look fine. And as time went on, things were fine, for a little while at least… It had been about six months since the leprechaun had been in their house, when the wife noticed that the children were not growing out of their clothes. She thought this was very peculiar for such young children to not be growing, so she took them to the pediatrician. The pediatrician ruled that the babies had contracted a rare growth-stunting virus.

Knowing exactly how her children had contracted the virus, the wife vowed to herself that she would find that leprechaun, and make him reverse the curse he had put on the babies.

After tirelessly searching for three weeks, the wife was finally able to track down the leprechaun. Turned out, the leprechaun was a very lonely man who desperately desired a family. He hoped that by putting the spell on the babies that the man and his wife would give up the babies and he could raise them as his own.

After a nice long talk, the wife and the leprechaun came to an agreement. She would allow the leprechaun to move in and join their family, so long as he reversed the spell he put on the babies and vowed to never do anything like that ever again. And it was from that day forward that leprechaun and man lived together in harmony.

Author’s Note

In the original story, Brewery of Eggshells, the plot is basically the same. A man and his wife have twins. However, in the original story, the wife gets called over to the neighbor’s house and just sees the leprechaun when she is coming back. Much like in my story, the twins do not grow, so the wife goes to the Wise Man to ask what she should do. The Wise Man tells her what to do, which involved throwing the children into a lake if they spoke of things beyond their knowledge. Of course, this is what happened. The wife threw the children into the lake and the leprechaun in turn rescued the dwarf children, and in return, gave the wife back her children.

I decided to change the intentions of the leprechaun and therefore change the ending of the story. I thought it made it more original and it gave me the opportunity to create my own Celtic Tale.

Bibliography

Book: Celtic Fair Tales

Author: Joseph Jacobs

Year: 1892

Web Source: Un-Textbook

Week 10 Storytelling: Bobcat Tales

Bobcat kittens
Source: Wikipedia

Hello, friends. My name is Lauren. I am bobcat. You probably have an image in your head of what I look like: bobbed tail; flat face; long, slender body. But I am here to tell you that I have not always looked this way. You see, I used to have a long bushy tail, much like the fox’s. I also used to have a long snout, much like the wolf’s, and a round, sturdy body, like the tiger’s.

You may be wondering how I obtained the appearance I have now. It all comes down to Old Man, the toughest Blackfoot Indian I have ever met. Old Man had spent many hours roasting prairie dogs. I knew he had put much effort into preparing his feast because I had watched him toil over the fire pit all afternoon and evening. After he finally finished his work, he laid down to take a nap.

I knew I had to be patient and wait for him to fall into a deep sleep before I tried to steal some of his prairie dogs. He woke up once when a raven was flying over. But after he realized it was just a raven that posed no threat, he dozed back off. He then woke up a second time when there was a coyote lurking in the distance. However, he was not concerned with the coyote either, so he fell back asleep.

I realized that this was my chance. After waking up two times and dismissing the nearby creatures, I knew he would not wake up again when I crept over to steal some of the prairie dogs.

So, I snuck over to the campsite Old Man was sleeping at. Carefully and quietly, I began eating the prairie dogs. I ate until I had my fill but I decided to grab up a few extra to take back to my cave. Just as I thought I had made it away safely, I heard Old Man yelling from behind me. Next thing I knew he was chasing after me, but I was too full from eating all those prairie dogs to run away from him.

Before I knew what had happened, I found myself laying on a rock. My tail had been ripped off; my snout had been smashed in and was bleeding, and my body felt like it had been stretched out like a rubber band that had lost its elasticity. And that my friends, is how other bobcats like myself came to look the way we do.

Author's Note

In the original story, Bobcat and Birch Tree, the story is told by a third person narrator. The plot is basically the same, but includes an additional component that tells how the birch tree obtained its striped appearance. I decided to tell this story from the bobcat's point of view, just to change things up a little bit! Although the bobcat maintains the same basic story as to how it gained its appearance, I thought it would be more personal to hear it from the bobcat's perspective.

Bibliography

Book: Blackfeet Indian Stories
Author: George Bird Grinnell
Year: 1915
Web Source: Un-Textbook