My Blog for Myth and Folklore

After becoming a captain of my own ship, I took off from earth and quickly left the atmosphere, piloting my ship on a well-known trading route to various planets which were friendly toward earth and toward exchange. We carried with us all sorts of things, that though common to us, were novelties where we were going. Everything was fine until the ship stalled. The maintenance workers were sure they could fix it but in the meantime, as we were passing a small planet which appeared to be uninhabited, I gave permission to send a small ship down so the crew could look about.  I joined them and fairly soon we were down on the rocky surface of the planet. We hadn't gotten far when the ground beneath us jolted and we were thrown off our feet. There was another shudder and I realized we were not standing on a planet but on a giant monster! I even glimpsed its head before it lurched again.  Several of the crew members were launched off the monster's back; the rest ...

Here is a photo of a fox, which appeared in several of the stories, photo credit:  pixnio Here are my second notes from my favorite parts of the  Chinese Fairy Book  by R. Wilhelm, translated by Frederick H. Martens. The Little Hunting Dog A man lived by himself but was plagued with fleas and gnats. One day a swarm of tiny hunters, no more than two inches tall, arrived with hunting dogs and falcons. They killed all the fleas and gnats and then went away again. However, they left behind one hunting dog. The man made it a home in a box and every day the dog searched his bed and killed all the fleas. One night, the dog climbed into his bed to sleep with him but the man rolled over and squished it. Fox-Fire A poor man saw a fox breathing out an elixir of life. He crept up and stole it and ate it. For years, he could interact with the spirit world. He helped people with illnesses and became rich from the gifts of the grateful. One night he felt someone patting his b...

For this week, I read the readings from China, parts of the Chinese Fairy Book  by R. Wilhelm, translated by Frederick H. Martens. This unit is a bunch of individual stories. I have separated them out and written notes on my favorites below: The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck The daughter of an emperor who was born with bad luck marries a beggar because she believes he has good luck, which will change her own. Her father banishes her for this and she lives in poverty for eighteen years, while her husband leaves to find his fortunes. When he returns, he has become an emperor himself. He takes her to his palace and rewards her for waiting faithfully, however, because of her bad luck, she dies after eighteen days. Her luck never changes. The Cave of Beasts A father with seven daughters finds seven duck eggs which he wants to share with his wife, however, his wife gives them to the girls. The father is angered and takes two of the girls to leave in the mountai...