Diving into Mythology

One upon a time there was an old man who was very sick. He went to sleep one night and had a very vivid dream, almost as if the spirits were talking to him. He dreamed that a spirit came and got him from his bed and took him on an adventure. The spirit lead him to a boat which he got in and paddled down a river and ended up at the foot of a mountain. Then the spirit lead him all the way up the mountain without going on one single path. When he reached the top of the mountain there were two huge walls made of rocks which what seemed to be a gate in the middle. The gate looked like it could lead to something very important. From here it was his decision to walk through the gate or go back down the mountain. The old man decided to walk through the gate and was surprised as to what he found on the other side. On the other side of the gate was a large well that was very hard to get to. He tied a cup onto a stick and dipped it into the well and retrieved water from the well. After the long j...

The Legend of Rice Source:  Laos Folk-Lore  by Katherine Neville Fleeson, with photographs by W.A. Briggs (1899). Back in the day when the earth was young and all things were great and when rice was a very large grain. One man was only able to eat one grain of rice because it was so large. The people of the village never had to toil gathering the rice because when it was ripe it just fell from the stalks and rolled into the villages. One widow decided that they should build bigger granaries so that they would collect more rice when it was ripe. The old granaries were taken down and the new ones were not yet put up and the rice was ripe and began to fall. The rice came rolling down into the village but there were no granaries to collect the rice. The rice broke into a thousand pieces and said "From this time forth, we will wait in the fields until we are wanted." And form that time and for the rest of eternity, rice has been a very small grain and must be harvested from...

Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops Source: Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson, with photographs by W.A. Briggs (1899). This story is very interesting to me because it is another "why" story. I really enjoy these stories because the imagination you can have with these stories are endless. There was a family that consisted of a husband, wife, and their twelve daughters. The family was very poor and the parents no longer desired their children. One day, the dad called his daughters to go into the jungle and hunt for game with him. While out hunting, the father ordered each of the daughters to retrieve water with a bamboo joint in which he gave them. The bamboo joints were made so that they would not hold water and the daughters continued to try and retrieve the water. During this time, the father left the girls in the jungle and headed home. However, he left only a basket filled with mashed and rice in the jungle. The daughters returned to where they had left thei...

Once upon a time there was this town that had a large river in the middle of it. Around this river, the soil was very fertile and the people of the village planted a bunch of crops near the river. The crops grew abundantly year after year. Across the river there was a jungle full of monkeys who really wanted to eat the crops. Every time the monkeys crossed the river and entered the crop field they were scared off by the children of the village. One monkey named Henry decided he was going to come up with a plan to become friends with the children so that he could eat the crops and not get scared away. Henry spent a week making a long garland of flowers filled with all different kinds of flowers that were a variety of colors. The garland of flowers smelt so good and began to spread across  the village. Henry crossed the river with the garland and went into the field of crops. As the children began to approach him to scare him off he showed them the flowers. The children soon became a...

The Elephant and the Ants Story source:  Folklore of the Santal Parganas  by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909). Way back when there was a lot more jungle than there is in today's time. There were also a lot of wild elephants that roamed the jungle. Once upon a time there was a black ant and a red ant that were making their home in the ground and an elephant approached them. The elephant asked why they were working so hard to burrow there when he was just going to destroy it. The ants answered back to him by saying just because you are bigger than us does not mean you are better than us. The elephant replied "Do not talk nonsense: there is nothing at which you could beat me; I am in all ways the largest and most powerful animal on the face of the earth." The ants replied that they should run a race and see who will win. They will not admit he is supreme unless he wins. The elephant became angry and began to run the race. He ran until he was tired and looked down ...

This unit of stories sparked my interest because of the animals that are involved in most of them. Santal: The Monkey and the Girl Story source:  Folklore of the Santal Parganas  by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909). This story is centered around a monkey and a girl. Once upon a time there was a village that had a large river. Near this river, an abundance of crops would grow every year. There was a monkey who wished and tried to eat the crops but the children of the village drove him away. The monkey decided he was going to make a plan in order to get the crops. The monkey went into the field with a garland of flowers and when the children tried to chase him away, he began to drop the flowers and the children became amused and did not drive him away. The children and the monkey became friends because of the flowers. One of the girls was very fascinated by the monkey and promised to marry him. This spread around the village and the girls parents soon found out about this promise....

Sindbad inherited a great wealth from his parents at a young age. At the time of inheritance Sindbad was very young and foolish and did not know what to do with the money. As he grew older, Sindbad decided to sell his house and all of his home goods and join a group of merchants who traveled around to other countries by sailing on a boat. They set out on their first journey to the East Indies through the Persian Gulf. After sailing for quite a few days the ship came across what appeared to be an island that had a huge green meadow on it. The captain told the merchants that they could get off the ship and explore the island for a little bit if they wanted to. Several of the merchants got of the ship including Sindbad. Before they knew if the island began to move and rumble and Sindbad was thrown into the ocean. The island was not an island, it was actually a huge whale! Sindbad found a piece of wood to float on in the ocean and held on for dear life through all the waves and chaos. He f...

Sindbad: The Seventh and Last Voyage Story Source:  The Arabian Nights' Entertainments  by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H.J. Ford (1898). After Sindbad's sixth voyage he was almost positive he would not go out to sea anymore but that was not the case. One day, Sindbad was told that an officer needed to speak to him. The officer said that he needed Sindbad's services to bear a letter and a gift to the King of Serdib in return for his message of friendship. This was a surprise for Sindbad because he did not want to leave Bagdad again because of the sufferings he had encountered at sea. The officer would not budge and demanded that Sindbad take the voyage, so Sindbad accepted. Sindbad gathered all of the gift and layed them out and soon became anxious to depart. In no time, they had already seen sailing for four days and all was well. On the fifth day, they encountered pirates who seized their vessel killing people and making people prisoners. From there Sindbad and his ...

Sindbad: First Voyage Story Source: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H.J. Ford (1898). My first thought of this story is the fact the it is written in first person which is very different than what I have been reading in the past. A little background information is that the sailor Sindbad is telling all of these stories to another guy named Sindbad that he has no relation to or does not have anything in common. The First Voyage is about the sailor Sindbad's first voyage. Sindbad inherited his wealth from his parents even thought he was very foolish as a child. At first, the riches made him find reckless pleasure and he handled the money poorly. However, he began to think on what he could really do with the riches and he decided to sell all of his household goods. He joined a company of merchants who were traders by sea and embarked on a ship with them. They set sail out towards the East Indies through the Persian Gulf. At first, Sindba...

Dog Meme Here is a link to my portfolio page, Mythology Stories: Telling the Untold

Updated Version: The Turtles Who Helped Saint Gudwall Saint Gudwall lived on the Welsh coast in a cave. The coast is known for it's beautiful scenery and awful storms in the winter. Saint Gudwall and his people had made themselves at home in a nice cave where they felt they would be safe from anything that came their way. The cave had furniture, books, beds, and other essential things. One winter, a big storm rolled into the Welsh coast and the waves and surge started to get larger and larger. Saint Gudwall was aware that the waves were beginning to come into their cave more and more as the storm rolled in. Before they knew it a huge have came in and wiped everything out of the cave and let Saint Gudwall full of sand and sea water. He knew that climbing out of the cave was one of the only ways to stay alive. As they reached the top of the cave they realized they were on a cliff. Saint Gudwall and his pupils were scared, cold, and had no where to go or live; they had lost everyt...

The Fish Who Helped Saint Gudwall Source:  The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts  by Abbie Farwell Brown (1900). Saint Gudwall lived on the Welsh coast which is known for its beautiful scenery in the summer and the terrible storms in the winter. Saint Gudwall and his pupils were looking for a place to live that would be safe for them and somewhere where Gudwall could live in peace. Finally, Gudwall found a cave to live in. The cave soon became homey with beds, furniture, books, and housekeeping. When winter rolled around a strong storm approached and before Gudwall knew it a huge wave rushed into his cave and tossed everything around. The waves did not stop and Gudwall and his pupils needed to get out of the gave to they started climbing to the top. When at the top of the cave, they were on a cliff. The cliff was safe but it was freezing and there was no way they could live on top of the cliff. Before they knew it they saw a brown thing rising out of the water. The fish ha...

Saint Comgall and the Mice Source: The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown (1900). Although the title of this article is Saint Comgall and the Mice, it is actually about Saint Comgall and the Swans. I found this to be very interesting and I am sure there is a reason as to why it is titled this way. In the town of Bangor where the Irish Sea is at its thinnest, Saint Comgall built a monastery over thirteen hundred years ago. Saint Comgall had many pupils including friends and neighbors. One day Comgall and some of his pupils came across six swans that were swimming in the water. The pupils asked Comgall if they could coax the swans ashore and thinking that the swans would not come, Saint Comgall said yes. The pupils found crumbs of bread and threw them near the swans trying to get them to come ashore. The swans were smarter than that and did not come ashore because they did not know these beings who were messing with them. After watching this commotion for awh...

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