Tibetan Folk Tales Unit
The Story of the Donkey and the Rock
I really enjoyed reading this story. It seemed typical of a folktale at the beginning when the king decided that it was neither man's fault that the jar of oil had been broken, but rather it was either the rock's or the donkey's fault. However, it really took me by surprise when the king forced all the people who came to such a foolish trial to pay a price to leave so that the man who lost the oil would have the money he needed to take care of himself and his mother.
The Ingratitude of Man
The moral of this story was dead on with how some people can be in today's society! I thought it was very interesting that at first the man who saved everyone from the pit scorned the animals because he thought there was no way that they could ever pay him back, but was then forced to put his foot in his mouth when they were the only ones who did anything to help him. It teaches the valuable lesson of be cautious with who you trust, as well as you cannot judge a book by it's cover.
The Wise Carpenter
I truly love stories of tricksters! I find them especially entertaining when it is two tricksters competing against one another but one does not know that the other is a trickster himself. Since the painter in the story had bad intentions, I felt it was only right that he die by the way that he tried to kill the carpenter!
How the Raven Saved the Hunter
I thought it was very interesting to see the Raven play the part of a helper. After reading so many stories about animals being tricksters or being foolish, it is nice to see this change up! However, it was sad that the hunter was so foolish and killed the Raven.
The Man with Five Friends
This story proved to be very intriguing. I had never, in my own culture or any other culture, heard anything about choosing friends based on their eye color. I really enjoyed getting a glimpse into the Tibetan beliefs through this story!
The Man and the Monkeys
I liked that this was another story about animals serving as helpers. Much like the Raven mentioned above, the monkeys played the role of helping out a man. And much like the hunter mentioned above, this man was not grateful for the help the monkeys provided him and killed them. However, this story was a little sadder because the man did not feel any remorse and therefore was killed by a giant snake. It was a very deserving death!
No comments:
Post a Comment