Week 11 Essay: Not Your Typical Leprechaun Story

Leprechaun
Source: optionmillionaires

This week I read the Celtic Fairy Tales. I am going to take my first stab at Option Two for this essay assignment: “Assessing the Reading Unit”. So first off, did I enjoy the reading unit? The simple answer to this question would be “yes.” However, it is my duty to elaborate, so hear goes nothing.

I did enjoy reading through the Celtic Fairy Tales, mainly because I have realized that I kind of like reading literature from cultures other than my own. It is always very interesting to me to get a glimpse of what types of things are important and highlighted in the literature of other cultures. Also, it was refreshing to read stories about the notorious leprechauns that did not involve a pot of gold or Saint Patrick’s Day, which is typically what I think about when hear the word “leprechaun.”

Secondly, how did this reading choice fit my overall goals for this class? Well, as I mentioned earlier, I have enjoyed reading stories from various cultures. When I originally enrolled in this class, I did not have any particular “goals” in mind. However, as the semester has progressed, and the reading units have diversified, I have found myself wanting to gain as much knowledge about other cultures as I can while I am in this class. I feel like this class has given me the opportunity to virtually study abroad, which is great—this route saves me money, and my family does not have to worry about me getting kidnapped while in a foreign country! Ha!

Lastly, how did this reading unit fit my expectations? I have often found that I approach the reading assignments without any specific expectations. Of course I expect that I am going to be exposed to stories that I have probably never read before, but other than that, there is not too much that I am looking for. However, this “no expectation” system has worked out quite well for me, because each week I have been quite satisfied with all of the reading units! 

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 11 Reading Diary: Celtic Fairy Tales

Celtic Fairy Tales 

The Horned Women

I thought this story was very interesting. It sort of reminded me of the Disney movie "Hocus Pocus". Although in that movie there were only three witches versus the twelve in this story, for some reason that was the first thing that came to my mind. I thought it was a really convenient time to read it since Halloween is right around the corner!

The Sprightly Tailor

Another spooky story! I feel like this one would be a story that could easily be transformed into a scary story that would be told around a camp fire. The tailor was so courageous in this story, so I was glad that it all paid off for him in the end!

Munachar and Manachar

This story was very entertaining to read since it was a "cumulative tale." I liked how everything continued to build up; it reminded me of other children's stories or songs that I was familiar with growing up, so it was nice to be able to connect these foreign stories to my own culture!

Beth Gellert

Such as sad story! It was interesting to see how pets, dogs in particular, are viewed in the Celtic culture. Much like the American culture, they are used in hunting activities, but are also expected to act as watch dogs. It just made me so sad that the prince did not fully investigate the situation before he killed his dog!

The Tale of Ivan

I really enjoyed this story. It reminded me of an extended Aesop fable since it had so many morals. I also liked that it had a little murder mystery; it gave the story a nice twist! Additionally, it made me happy that Ivan not only followed all the advice that the master had given him, but also was rewarded for it.

Brewery of Eggshells 

This story was rather short compared to the majority of the other stories in this unit. However, it did not lack in plot or detail. It was also very interesting to finally see leprechauns incorporated into the stories! This would be a fun story to retell with some modern twists.