Week 4 Famous Last Words

This week has been one of the more stressful ones since school has started. It was a busy week at work. I have exams coming up. I have family obligations. It just seemed like this week was packed full of things to do. As soon as I crossed one thing off my to-do list, four more appeared. The most stressful aspect of the week by far though was filling out my applications for physical therapy school. The programs are very competitive and require many qualifications to be accepted. For this reason I have kept my options open and have decided to apply to five different schools, most of which are in my hometown of Dallas. But of course, I will still be applying to OU. The application process is long and each one requires different essays and requirements. Some require a letter of recommendation from multiple certified physical therapists, while some one letters from professors or more specifically core- science professors. My week was spent inputting prerequisite course numbers into spread sheets, requesting transcripts, requesting GRE scores, answering about my accomplishments and volunteer opportunities. The list goes on and on.

As I reflect back, I have worked over 1,000 hours at a PT clinic, taken tough science courses, and now have locked myself in my room to finish these applications all in hopes that these past 3.5 years of school will be worth it. It is scary to think I have come this far and may not get accepted into a physical therapy program. I am thankful for the reading this week from the Persian Tales unit entitled The Story of the Wolf-Bride. In the tale, the boy’s horoscope designates that he will die a young tragic, death by a wolf. The boy’s father locks him in a cave to protect him from this awful tragedy, but in the end, a wolf eats him anyways. The last line reads: "Whatever is willed by fate, that verily comes to pass." This message was especially great to be reminded of this week as I was working so hard on my applications and thinking there was a chance it could all be for nothing if I did not get accepted. I have to remember that God has a plan for me and whatever he has willed will happen and that is my fate. 

The concept of Fate, image source

Essay Week 4: Humans to Animals

This week when reading the Arabian Nights unit, I noticed a common theme with many of the stories Scheherazade was telling in order to save her life: people being turned into animals as punishment for their wrongdoings.

In the Story of the First Old Man and of the Hind, the husband has an even wicked wife who despised his mother and son. He had to leave for a year, and in this time, the wife practiced witchcraft in order to turn their son and slave into a calf and cow. Luckily, when it came time to slaughter the calf and cow, the man was stricken by the tears of the cow and the loyalty of the calf to lay by his feet. The man spared their lives. A fairy living on the land told the man of his son and slave being turned into the calf and cow by his wife and requested that if she turn them back into their human form that the wife be punished equally. The wife was then turned into a hind (deer). The story explains that a hind was chosen as the animal to take form because it was not as dreadful looking or misbehaved, and therefore the the family could still keep her close by. 

First Old man with his wife the Hind, source: blogspot

The next story in the unit, The Story of the Two Black Dogs, also included two brothers being turned into dogs after they betrayed their brother. Their brother had been nothing but kind to them and once he married a lovely woman and was very happy with his life the brothers became jealous. They tried to drown him and his wife by pushing them overboard a ship. To the man’s surprise, his wife was a fairy who rescued them and requested the two brothers be killed. The man said he did not want them killed, but the fairy wanted them to be punished so she transformed them into two black dogs where they would remain in that shape for ten years. It does not say why dogs were chosen as the animal as it does in the story of the hind, but I believe it was for much of the same reason. In the two brothers being dogs, they were allowed to remain by heir brother’s side but still had their punishment of living their next ten years as animals.

In the story of the Young King of the Black Isles, a young king was betrayed by his wife whom did not love him. She was a wicked enchantress that hated her husband for requesting she stop mourning the loss of one of their slaves who she truly loved. In her rage, she destroyed the land of the Black Isles and turned the people of the town into fish. “The fish of four colours which are in it are the different races who lived in the town.”  In this story, the people did not do anything to deserve being turned into animals, but the people suffered the punishment the wife wished to bring on the King of destroying the land he governed. 

Week 4 Storytelling: Witchcraft Revealed

 

Jesabell and her husband Theo had been married for twenty years. Theo’s love for his beautiful wife never hindered. His love for his wife was pure, and he adored her. He hated any time he had to leave her side, so he rarely left his wife in their home alone.

When Theo’s uncle died and he was called away to the funeral, he was devastated at his family’s loss but also by the fact that he would have to leave his loving wife alone in their home for five nights.

The distraught Theo traveled into town to purchase some food and supplies for his journey across the country to where his uncle had lived. After wandering around the stalls in the market and picking out some fresh bread and meat that would last him the long journey, he began to wander aimlessly. As he was turning to walk home, he saw a booth with a blob of bright colors and heard a loud commotion. 

Theo walked over and admired the parrots’ beauty. The old bearded man at the booth selling the birds walked over to Theo.

“My good man,” began the seller. “I see you admiring my birds and I think one of these truth telling birds is exactly what you need.”

“Truth telling bird?” questioned Theo.

“Why, yes! This bird has the gift of telling all that had been done before it. It tells you the truth you cannot see!” exclaimed the old man.

Theo took this as a sign of fate. He was worried about leaving his wife alone for five days. He trusted his wife to be faithful, and that was not the reason he thought the bird a good idea. If something was to happen, or someone comes in the middle of the night while she was alone, the parrot would be able to tell of the incident upon his return.

“I’ll take one,” said Theo as he handed the old man the last of his money. He grabbed the bird’s cage and went home with a smile on his face.

That night before Theo left, he told Jesabell to put the parrot in her room and Jesabell obeyed. The bird was beautiful, and she thought she might like to have the company while her husband was gone.

As soon as Theo had disappeared over the mountainside, there was a knock on the door. Jesabell excitedly ran to open it and jumped through the doorway into the arms of her two loving sisters. They all squealed with excitement to see each other again and for their upcoming plans while Theo was away. For you see, the three sisters were witches. And when Theo was gone was their only time to practice their witchcraft. Theo was blind to his wife’s abilities, for Jesabell feared he would not love her if he knew her true identity.

The witches went into the bedroom where they began mixing potions, brewing concoctions and chanting words from a leather bound book. This all happened while the parrot watched quietly in the corner. 

 

Sisters performing witchcraft, Source: wikipedia

Four days later, before Theo was expected to arrive, the two sisters departed and Jesabell cleaned the house spotless so her husband would not know of the witchcraft that had occurred while he was gone.

After returning late that night, Theo embraced Jesabell and told her of his journey and the sorrow of the family at his uncle’s funeral. Jesabell listened intently and then told Theo of her uneventful few days spent cleaning the house and going into town to wander around the market and visit with a few friends.

“Well that sounds pleasant,” replied Theo. “Now if you will excuse me I am going to go check on the parrot. How was it having him here to keep you company while I was gone? Was he a bother?” questioned Theo.

“Oh my, I forgot he was even there. He was quiet and a joy to have. We must keep him for a pet,” replied Jesabell.

Theo wandered into the bedroom and asked the parrot to reveal his special gift of being able to say what had been done before it. The parrot began telling of the sisters, the potions, the leather book, the chanting, and all the wicked witchcraft that had happened in the room that weekend. Theo almost fell to the floor in horror of finding out the true identity of his wife.

“How could she be a witch and I did not even know,” thought Theo as his head was spinning with the new dreadful reality.

Theo walked out of the room and stared at his wife. Or who he thought was his wife. He felt like he did not even know her anymore. He could not look at her the same way ever again.

“So the parrot has just told me of what happened this weekend. He told me of your sisters and your witchcraft,” began Theo. “I can not believe this. I do not know what to say to you so I need to walk to clear my head. Do not follow me,” finished Theo as he walked out the door into the night.

Jesabell stood speechless with mouth open as tears began to roll down her cheek. She was hurt. She felt betrayed by that stupid little parrot who revealed her darkest secret. For that, the parrot would suffer.

            As she began to think of the proper punishment for the parrot, she also realized how furious she was with her husband. Her husband was the one who used to parrot’s ability to spy on her while he was gone.

            Both would soon get the punishment they deserved.

Author's Note: This week I decided to retell The Story of the Parrot from the Arabian Nights unit. The original story is quite short and I decided this would give me a lot of room to expand the story. The original story includes the wife getting caught by the parrot who told told the man "some things which made him scold his wife" but it does not specficy what that entailed. I took this opportunity to create my own idea that she was a witch and was performing witchcraft while the husband was away. I left the story with a kind of "cliff-hanger" ending but the original story ends with the wife tricking the parrot, and the husband ends up thinking the parrot is telling lies. I thought leaving the ending open created suspense and would leave the reader wanting more.

Bibliography: The Story of the Parrot. The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898)

Reading Diary Week 4: Arabian Nights

Scheherazade: This story serves somewhat as an intro to the unit and does a great job of setting the stage for stories to follow. I could tell from the beginning when Scheherazade asked her father to let her marry the King, knowing her fate to be killed, that she was a clever girl with tricks up her sleeve. I was interested in why she would make such a big deal about having her sister there to tell a story. Originally I thought the sister would help her to escape. The intro did a great job of leading into the telling of the story of the merchant and the Genius.

The Merchant and the Genius: I enjoyed the back and forth between the telling of the story of the merchant and the genie and the story of Scheherazade trying to stay alive. I began to see how Scheherazade drags on story with new characters to stay alive. It also ends with the old man beginning his tale: the first story within a story.

The First Old Man and of the Hind: This story told by the old man to save his life from the genie shows one of the ultimate portrayals of: you get what you give. His wife was an evil woman who turned his son and slave into a cow and calf. A fairy was able to tell the man that these were his son and slave and helped turn them back in exchange for his son’s hand in marriage and that the wife be punished. Her punishment was to be turned into a hind (deer) and therefore she “got what she gave.”

The Second Old Man and twoBlack Dogs: This story begins with the second man inside the story begins and tries to say his story is more magnificent than the first old man’s. One quote I do not agree with as the one brother reprimands his brothers for having no money states: “you traveled and what did you gain?” I think you gain so much when you travel and experience new things even if you may be poor and not gain money. This man’s story ended with  his fairy wife turning his evil brothers to dogs as punishment for betraying him; much like the first man’s story.

The Fisherman: This story begins with a new story entirely because Scheherazade  could not remember the third old man’s story. I liked the description of the story and how the genie emerges from black smoke out of lamp on the shore. It is what I envision in my mind when I think of a typical genie story. I was surprised by the twist in the story that the wish granted to the fisherman is his choice to choose how to die.

Greek King and the Physician Douban: This story within a story within a story is to teach the genie about trust. I knew from the beginning there would be trouble when the king promised the physician he would make rich if he could cure him. As the King begins to get better from the regiment of the Physician, his vizir becomes jealous and tries to convince the King the physician must be evil. It brings out a good point that jealousy causes us not to trust.

The Husband and the Parrot: I thought the use of the parrot was interesting because parrots only tell the truth. He used parrot as a way to check on his wife. The vizir becomes even more unlikeable in this story as he says “when comes to the life of a King it is better to sacrifice the innocent than save the guilty.”  This statement really made me think about how we do protect the high and mighty, but at what cost?

The Physician’s Revenge: The King is actually being persuaded by the vizir that the Physician is a bad person just trying to betray him. It made me think of the idea that we always assume the worst in people. The King is so easily swayed that the physician must be evil even though he has no reason to. The Physician then made a point by killing king with poison to “see how cruelty and injustice are punished.” At this point the genie starts sharing the story about Imma and Ateca to save his life (just as all the others have).

****At this point in the reading I really understood the importance of storytelling. Telling stories saved these people’s lives. The intrigue of wanting to know what the story entailed kept the storytellers alive. It shows just how important the gift of storytelling is and how captivating a great story can be.

The Sultan and the Fish: I was honesty surprised the fisherman did not cast his net for a second time after receiving such a good net of fish the first time. It seems unlike our selfish nature to always want more and never be pleased. The description of the palace the man who is half human and half black marble stone was magnificent. The imagery allowed me to see a clear picture of how majestic the palace was, even to the Sultan. And so another story begins….

The Young King of the Black Isles: The wife of the young king turned him to stone after he asked his wife to stop mourning the loss of another man, who she seemingly loved instead of the king. She turned him into the half man and half stone that he is now. It is another story where the wives are inherently evil. She does get what she has coming for her and is split it two. The young king becomes heir to the sultan and the fisherman gets much money. Everyone seems to get what they deserve in the end which has been a theme throughout the entire stories so far. 

Young King of Black Isles, Source: Blogpsot

Aladdin and the WonderfulLamp 1: Aladdin is exactly as how I remembered in the story of the Disney movie: a young, foolish boy. I do feel bad that he was tricked by the evil man who claimed to be his uncle in order to find the lamp. Although in the beginning I did not like Aladdin because he would not live up to his father’s potential even after he passed, I did end up having pity on him as he was trapped in the cave for being fooled by the magician.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 2: I understand Aladdin’s first wish to escape from being trapped underground, but his second wish for food somewhat surprised me. I believed that he would ask for more than just something to eat. When the mother said that she wanted Aladdin to sell the lamp because she wanted “nothing to do with devils,” I knew that this was foreshadowing to something awful happening in the future. You begin to see Aladdin’s selfishness as he demands the princess be his by sabotaging the marriage to the Vizir’s son even though the princess is frightened beyond belief. We see in this story how Aladdin begins to abuse the power of the genie, even though it is in the name of love.

Aladdin and the WonderfulLamp 3: I felt bad for the princess that no one would believe her of the terrible events happening in the night, and that her future-groom wanted nothing to do with her because of the horrible events. I love the detail of how the princess “set out on a carpet” because it reminded me of the magic carpet ride in the Disney movie Aladdin. One of the last lines really struck me: “Aladdin had won the hearts of the people by his genie bearing.” It shows that he had won the hearts of the people through deception, laziness, and material things.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 4: I was pleased to see at the beginning that the magician was making his way back into the story and there would be trouble for Aladdin in the future. The magician took away everything Aladdin had gotten from the genie: his wife, the palace, and his money. Now the people of the town pitied him, when just days before they had worshiped him and asked the Sultan to spare his life. “He saw plainly that all his misfortunes were owing to the loss of the lamp”- it is sad to see that everything he had in life came from the luck of the lamp and not his own doings or character.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 5: I was happy to see that the princess and Aladdin actually were lovers, even if he won her hand in deception. Aladdin and the princess begin devising a plan and I got hooked into the story. The poisoning of the magician by sipping his wine also reminded me of a typical Disney movie storyline.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 6: I am honestly happy there was more to the story than just the magician dying and everything being okay. The twist of having a younger brother equally evil added interest to the story- and for the sake of Scheherazade- extends the story even longer. I was appalled that the genie was so distraught by the request for the Roc’s egg and he finally puts an end to granting the wishes of Aladdin and tells him of the disguised magician. Aladdin kills the magician and they live “happily ever after” just like a fairy tale should end.