Storytelling for Week 12: The Swan Princess

Once upon a time there was a king of the North land, King David, whose daughter had become of age to marry.  There was also a king of the South land, King Stephen, who was getting old and sick and needed his son to marry a princess, so he could make sure his kingdom would be taken care of and protected after he passed on to the next life.  The two kings decided to meet one day to discuss their children getting married in the near future.  The princess entertained the prince while their fathers discussed the marriage arrangements.  They became instantly smitten with each other and knew that they would be happy with getting married to each other.  This arrangement would bring forth peace between the two lands.

Well, the king of the West land, King Joshua, heard about this meeting and adamantly disagreed with the arrangement because he wanted his daughter to marry the prince of the South land.  King Joshua was very well known around the lands as a vengeful and hated man.  He did not want peace between the lands, but wanted to rule the land of the South as well.  So King Stephen told King Joshua that he would never allow his son to marry a daughter of such a wicked man.  This news enraged King Joshua, so he decided to kidnap the princess and have a witch cast an evil spell on her as well.

A couple days later, King Joshua sent out his best fighters to kidnap the princess of the North.  No one in the North kingdom realized what had happened until the next morning when King David found his daughter missing.   There was much grieving and sorrow that day in the land of the North!  Search parties were sent out to find the lost princess, but no one could find her.

Once King Joshua had the princess hidden in the darkest of places in the forest, he had a witch cast a horrible spell on her.  The princess was turned into a swan and was confined to the lake in the middle of the forest.  She could still speak with a human voice, but had to live her life as a swan.  If she attempted to leave the lake, she would die.  The only way for her to break the spell would be to promise to NEVER marry King Stephen's son, the prince of the South.  She could not make that promise because she loved the prince with all her heart.  The prince loved her with all his heart too, so he set off on a journey to find his beloved princess.

Swan Princess

The prince finally found his beloved princess after many months of searching and she told him of the witch's evil spell and of King Joshua's plan to have his daughter marry him instead of her.  The prince decided that there might be another way to save the princess and that way was to kill the witch.  So, the prince set off on another journey to find the witch.  Once he found the witch, she begged for her life and promised to reverse the spell that she had cast on the princess.

The witch and the prince rode back to where the princess had been held captive for many months.  The witch did as she promised and reversed the spell so that she would not be killed.  Once the spell was lifted, the princess was turned back into her human form and rode off with the prince to the land of the South to be married as quickly as possible.  They were married later that evening before word had spread to the land of the West where King Joshua lived.

King Joshua was enraged that the witch broke her promise to him, but by then there was nothing he could do about it.  In the end, the prince of the South land and the princess of the North land lived happily ever after for the rest of their days.

Editor's Note: I retold the story named The Fate of the Children of Lir.  I changed the story quite a bit.  Lir is a man who wanted to become king of the land.  When he was not chosen as the new king, he became angry and went back to his home.  To keep peace in the land, the chosen king sent a messenger to Lir telling him that he would let him chose a wife from one of his three daughters.  He was pleased and chose the eldest daughter.  They had several children together, but she died after having their last child.  So the new king sent another one of his daughters to become his wife to keep Lir appeased.  His new wife became jealous of Lir's children and took them to a lake where she cast a spell of them to turn them into swans with human voices for five hundred years.  Lir went out and searched for his children, but could never find them.  It wasn't until after the five hundred years had passed that the spell was broken and they returned to human form.  However, they did not return as human children, but as old people.  They ended up dying a couple days later after they were returned to human form.

I chose to change the story to fit more along the lines of the movie The Swan Princess.  That is where I got all my inspiration for the changes I made to the original story.  Even though I decided to use many ideas from the Disney movie, I didn't follow the storyline from beginning to end.  The original story was about the children of Lir turning into swans for five hundred years, but in my version I turned the princess into a swan until the witch reversed the spell after being threatened with death if she didn't reverse it.  Another similarity between the original version and my version of this story was that there was great sorrow when the characters went missing and that search parties were sent out to find them.  I kept that idea in my version of the story as well.  I also changed the ending to where the prince and princess lived happily ever after.  In the original story, Lir's children never saw their father again and ended up dying within a few days of turning back into human form.  The ending in my version of this story is also different from the movie's ending.  The Swan Princess dies in the movie, but is brought back to life by the prince's kiss.  In my version, the princess doesn't die and the spell is broken by getting the witch to reverse the spell instead of by a lover's kiss.  Another difference between my story and the Disney film is that I used a female witch to cast a spell on the princess.  In the Disney movie, the character was a male sorcerer who turned into a magical beast and the prince defeated the beast by killing it with his sword.  The last idea that I used from the original story, The Children of Lir, was that the king wanted to keep peace among the lands, so he sent Lir two of his daughters to marry.  I used the same idea of keeping peace in the land by using having the prince and princess vowing to be married and then getting married in the end.

Bibliography:

This story is part of the Celtic Fairy Tales (2) unit. Story source: More Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1895).

Disney movie: The Swan Princess, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swan_Princess.

Storytelling for Week 11: The Man Who Lost His Wife

There once was a man and woman who lived in a small, provincial town where work was very scarce.  They did everything they could to put food on the table and clothes on their backs, but their effort was still not enough.  The couple was slowly starving to death.

One day, the husband decided to talk to his wife about leaving the town to find better work elsewhere.    He said, "Dear wife...we have very little food and no way to make a better life for ourselves.  I must leave this town to find better work."  

"My dearest husband, you must leave at once so that we might be saved from starving," she said.

So he began his journey that very afternoon with what little food they had left for the day in search of someone who would give him a job to support his faithful wife.  Her husband came upon a farmer who took in the man and gave him plenty of work and advise as well.  The farmer warned the man that when he finally returned home that unless his wife was truly faithful and loyal, the man might find that his life might be completely different than before.

After her husband had departed, the woman became very depressed but decided to continue plowing the fields and tending to her animals like she always had in the past.  After a few days had passed, a prince was on his way to see the king of the land.  His carriage had to pass through the area where the poor were tending the fields and animals.  The prince happened to glance out at the people and laid his eyes upon one very hard-working, beautiful woman.  He told the carriage driver to stop and he beckoned to the lonely, beautiful woman tending to the local animals and crops.

The prince said, "Oh most beautiful woman, why are you in the fields performing such harsh duties when you are as beautiful as you?  Why don't you come live with me and receive anything and everything your heart could ever wish or dream of?"  The woman was surprised and excited all at the same time because the prince had chosen to speak to her.

"I will come with you, my dear prince, and take you up on your offer," said the woman.  Even though she knew her husband was off working hard trying to provide a better life for them, she couldn't resist the charms and promises from the prince.  The prince lived up to his end of the bargain and gave the woman anything she asked of him.  She now had the life she had always wanted even though it was at the husband's expense.

The woman ended up marrying the prince and forgetting about the man who left to provide a better life for her.  When the man came back to surprise his wife with all that he had accomplished, he was shocked to see that his wife had left him and married another man.  He begged and pleaded with her to come back to him, but after a while his attempts fell upon deaf ears.  After the initial shock had worn off and numerous attempts of trying to win back her affections had failed, he realized that the farmer was telling him the truth when he warned him about his life possibly changing upon his return home.  The man could no longer take the rejection and fell sick from being heartbroken.  Less than a week later, the man died of a broken heart.

The End

Prince and the Beautiful Commoner

Author's Notes:  I retold the following story, The Tale of Ivan, from the Celtic Fairy Tales unit.  The story was about a husband and wife who were so poor that the husband decided to leave his home in search of work that could support his family better.  He did find work and after three years returned to his loving wife and they ended up living a very happy, blessed life.  While working abroad for those three years, the farmer that took him in gave him advice in place of wages, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Because he listened to the farmer's advice, he was blessed with riches and a wonderful life in the end.

I changed the story quite a lot.  I chose to focus my writing on the wife and what she did after her husband left in search of work.  In the original story, she was faithful and waited those three long years for her husband to return.  In my version, she fell for a prince and they ended up being together while her former husband was working elsewhere.  Also in the original version, there was a happy ending for the man and wife.  In my version, the man returns and find his wife living with another man, a prince, and has forgotten all about him.  He ends up dying in the end.

This story is part of the Celtic Fairy Tales (1) unit. Story source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

Storytelling Week 5: The Psychic and the Magical Leopard

One day, a magical leopard decided to go to a psychic to find out what his future held for him.  The leopard's power was being able to speak in whatever languages the people around him were speaking.  So, the leopard traveled far and wide to find a psychic who would not be afraid of him and would tell him about his future.  He was a fierce-looking leopard with bright colored spots, large muscular body, huge paws, and long, sharp fangs.  Many people were afraid of him, so finding a psychic proved to be a difficult task for him.  This magical leopard dreamed of one day marrying a princess who was as beautiful in personality as she was beautiful in appearance.  After traveling quite a long distance, he finally found a fortune teller who would tell him about his future. 

Fortune Teller

The fortune teller was slightly afraid as first, but then realized this was a great opportunity to make some money off of the magical leopard.  As the leopard approached the fortune teller, he said, "Be not afraid...I will not hurt you IF you tell me about my future."  The psychic said, "I'm not afraid and I will be glad to tell you your future if you provide food for my family for one year."  The leopard agreed for he was desperate to know about his future.  

The fortune teller said, "Very soon, you will come across a river that is very wide and deep.  You will go to take a drink and will be swept away by the current."  Looking horrified, the leopard tried to sit still while listening to the rest of the story.  The psychic continued on by saying, "At the point when you think you are about to die, you will be rescued by a sweet, loving princess whom you shall marry."  The relief on the leopard's face was quite obvious by now even though he was still afraid of the thought of nearing death.  

So, the leopard thanked the psychic and promised that once he found the princess and married her, he would bring the psychic food every day for the next year.  The leopard began his journey, but it took him almost two weeks before he came across a flowing river.  He wondered if this would be the river the fortune teller told him about in his vision.  The leopard bent down to get a drink and lost his footing on the river's bank.  He fell into the river and thrashed about while trying to gasp for air.  He knew he must be nearing his end.  Right when the leopard was about to draw his last breath, a beautiful princess scooped him up out of the river with the greatest of ease.  She caressed his face and fell instantly in love with the leopard.  The princess vowed to stay with the leopard until he regained consciousness.

Once the leopard regained consciousness, he gazed into the eyes of the most beautiful princess he had ever seen and whispered, "Thank you for saving me.  How can I ever repay you?"  The princess said, "Marry me and I will love you until the day I die."  The leopard hurriedly agreed and they were wed the next day.  From that day forward until one year had passed, the leopard provided the fortune teller's family with food just as he had promised.  The psychic, leopard, and the princess smiled because each of them had gotten their wishes fulfilled.

Leopard

Author's Note: The story,The Raibar and the Leopard, is part of the Santal Folklore unit. Story source: Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909).  This story is about a raibar, which is also known as a matchmaker, who meets a leopard while traveling to arrange some marriages between several families.  He doesn't want to be eaten, so he basically promises to find the leopard a mate.  The raibar ends up tricking the leopard into getting into a sack and he beats up the leopard in the sack and throws him in the river.  The raibar goes about his business of arranging marriages and forgets all about the leopard.  The leopard gets rescued by a leopardess and they end up together.  In the end of the story, the raibar runs into the leopard again and the leopard spares his life because he had found his mate.  
My story is quite different from the original storyline.  I decided to keep the leopard as one of my main characters, but chose to change the rest of the story to be more modernized.  However, I did use the part of the story where the leopard is rescued by a leopardess and the fact that they end up together.  The picture I chose is of a beautiful, regal-looking leopard.  He just looks so majestic that I thought it would be perfect for my storyline.  It also looks like to me that he is sitting near the water's edge.  The second picture is of a fortune teller.  It is a picture of a beautiful woman who looks like someone the rabiar might meet during his travels.  I also decided to use the words psychic and fortune teller interchangeably throughout the story, so I wasn't using the same word repeatedly.

Week 2 Storytelling: Christine the Faithful

Saint Christine was born into a royal family.  The King and Queen had a total of three children, but she was the only girl child born to them.  Of all the girls in the kingdom, her beauty surpassed them all.  Her father knew that princes from all around the world would want to marry his daughter when she became of age.  He decided to keep her hidden away in her room so that no man would ever desire her because of her beauty.  Their castle was the largest in the land and Christine's room was on the highest level of the castle.  She hardly ever got to venture out of her own room much less out of the castle.  Her brothers were able to come and go as they pleased and that irritated her beyond belief.  One of her greatest desires was to be independent and not be dictated to by her father.

Christine's family also believed in pagan gods.  As she grew up, her family forced her to kneel down and worship these pagan gods too.  But her feelings started to drastically change as she grew closer to adulthood. When she became a teenager, she rebelled against her father's beliefs.  Christine was forming her own opinions and beliefs while she was growing up, but she kept them a secret from her parents.  While wandering through the vast castle one day, she happened upon a room she had never ventured into before.  The room was a library full of books.  Hidden behind a stack of novels, she found a book about a christian God and was intrigued by its title.  She read this book incessantly for days and days.  Christine became obsessed with reading about this wonderful, forgiving God.  

A few days later, her father told her to come downstairs from her room so they could pray and give offerings of gold and silver to the pagan gods.  She refused to leave her room.  Her father became angry and yelled at her.  Christine finally worked up the nerve to tell her father that she no longer believed in his gods and that she had converted to Christianity.  Her father became enraged and ordered his daughter to be tortured for her newfound beliefs.  In her father's eyes, Christine became a traitor to the pagan gods and his family.

She endured many forms of torture, but never relented in her Christian beliefs.  Christine was tortured for many weeks.  The mighty Christine suffered through the burning of her flesh and extended periods of imprisonment.  Her torturer also ripped the flesh off of her body thinking that Christine would recant her beliefs.  She became numb to the pain and claimed it was because God was giving her the strength to survive.  Christine’s mother visited her while she was imprisoned in the dungeon, but Christine sent her away when she realized that her mother was not there to save her.  Her mother's ulterior motive was to get her to renounce her faith in Christianity.  Her mother never returned to the prison to see her again.

She finally succumbed to her death when her torturer shot her with an arrow through the heart. Christine became a martyr for her Christian beliefs. Her father buried her lifeless body behind the castle where she lived her whole life. After burying her body, her father never spoke of his daughter ever again.

painting by Francesco Cairo

Author's note: This story is part of the Women Saints unit. Story source: The Golden Legend edited by F. S. Ellis (1900). This is a story about a woman named Christine who became overcome by the Holy Spirit and decided to believe in Christianity instead of the pagan gods that her family believed in. Her father disowned her and had her tortured until she died from her numerous injuries. She became a martyr for her faith in Christianity.

I did not make any major changes to the storyline, but I did make some minor changes.  In addition, I did pull some ideas from the Disney movie "Tangled." In the original story, Christine's father kept her in a tower in Italy.  I changed the setting a little bit by putting Christine in a castle in the highest room. The setting is one of the parts of the story that resembles the "Tangled" movie storyline.  The other part of the story that somewhat resembles the movie is that the King and Queen had a beautiful daughter together.  Also in the original story, there was no mention of how many children were born to the King and Queen.  Therefore, I added that detail into my version of the story.

In the original scene between Christine and her mother, the story really didn't expound very much about her mother's intentions when she came to visit her in the prison.  Therefore, I decided to change the storyline a bit, so that there was more interaction between them.  Her mother must have been very sad to see her daughter imprisoned and hoped that she would come home with her.  

I chose this picture of Saint Christine because it shows her natural beauty and innocence. The other reason I chose this picture is because it was included in the original story from the unit I read.  I chose to read and write about this story because I have an affinity toward princess and heroine story lines. Women who are powerful are an inspiration to me. Saint Christine is a perfect example of a woman who is powerful by standing by her beliefs.  She also survived numerous forms of torture and in my opinion, you have to be a tough, strong and determined woman to survive all of that.  In addition, it didn't matter to her what the cost was for believing in a Christian God instead of the pagan gods.

Week 1 Storytelling: Pat-A-Cake

PAT-A-CAKE, pat-a-cake, baker's man!


(So I will, master), as fast as I can:

Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with T,

Put in the oven for Tommy and me.


(traditional nursery ryhme)

At the tender age of 5, a little girl named Mary decided she wanted to become a famous baker.  Her favorite shows of all time were "Cupcake Wars" and "Chopped".  She watched these shows faithfully every chance she could.  One day, she walked up to her mommy and said, "Please teach me how to bake.  I want to be a famous baker".  Every day she would ask her mother the same questions and impatiently wait for her mother to help her.  Mary wanted to learn how to bake right now and as fast as she possibly could.  Once her mother started to teach her, Mary picked up the skills quickly.  She learned how to measure the ingredients, crack eggs and mix them all together.  When the ingredients were mixed well, Mary learned how to knead, pat and prick the bread so that it would rise correctly in the oven.  Mary's mom put the bread in the oven for her.  Mary watched with eager eyes as her dough began to rise and look more and more like bread with each passing moment.  When the bread was done, her mother took it out of the oven.  Mary wanted to taste her creation immediately, but she was told she had to wait until it cooled down before cutting it.  Mary couldn't contain her excitement, so she ran into her big brother's room to exclaim her achievements!  Her brother, Tom, was not amused by his sister bursting into his room to tell him about the bread.  He was busy playing video games on his computer.  Mary didn't care; she wanted her brother to be one of the first people to taste her new creation.  So, she ran back into the kitchen and begged her mom to cut the first slice of bread for Tom.  She then got the squeeze bottle of margarine from the refrigerator and wrote a big letter "T" across that freshly sliced bread.  Mary ran back to Tom and presented him with her creation.  He belted out a jolly laugh when he noticed the letter "T" written in margarine on the bread.  Tom thanked Mary for giving him the bread.  She wasn't about to leave his room until he tasted it, so Tom took a big bite.  It was the most delicious bread he had ever tasted, he said.  From that day forward, Tom was Mary's number one taste tester every time Mary and her mom decided to bake anything new.

(Image information: Pat-a-Cake by Mary Brigid Barrett and Illustrated by LeUyen Pham.

   

(Image information: Personal photo of my daughter & avid baker, Mary...who was my inspiration for this story)

Author's Note: This story is based on the nursery rhyme "Pat-A-Cake" which is quoted there in the story; you can find the rhyme in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L, Leslie Brooke (1897). 

The reason I chose this story was because this nurse rhyme was one of my daughter's favorite nursery rhymes as a toddler.  We would do the hand motions to this rhyme repeatedly everyday.  I changed the story quite a bit.  I rewrote the story to reflect my daughter's love of baking.  I put a modern twist on the storyline by including her favorite cooking shows and including her brother into the story as well.  Even though her brother's real name is not Tom, I changed his name in my story to follow along with the original storyline.  I also embellished the story with details about her brother and the setting itself.  The story implies that the baker is an adult, so I decided to change the baker's age to my daughter's age and I added myself in as her "helper" or baker's assistant.

The photos I chose represented both the Pat-A-Cake nursery rhyme written by Mary Barrett and one of Mary's baking lessons with me.  We were baking chocolate chip cookies and were decorating them for the holidays.  When we bake together, it is always fun and makes both of us extremely happy.