Week 6: Storytelling

The Sun Goddess

(The Sun goddess emerging out of a cave, bringing sunlight back to the universe)

Up in the heavens, lived the beautiful Sun Goddess. She sat day and night, in a beautiful palace in the sky, with her maids, deciding the fates of the world below. They were in charge of the joys, as well as the misfortunes. Everything was weaved together in one giant mess.

One day the Goddess and her maids were sitting in silence while working away when they heard a loud roar in the distance. The Sun Goddess knew only one creature could make a sound so frightening, the fire demon. Not long after they heard this, sharp nails started to scrape the roof of the palace. Fire would be inevitable. The palace was doomed to go up in flames, and of course its occupants would go with it. Scared for her life, and what might become of it from the fiery flames, the Goddess fled. While chaos surrounded the eight of them, they quickly made their way out of the palace. A secret passage way took them outside the gates of heaven.

The Goddess of course did not stop here, for once the dragon realized that she was not in the rubble, the dragon would not stop until it took her life. The Sun Goddess flew down to the deepest dark parts of the earth, where she retreated to a cave hidden within the vast blue ocean. Too afraid to face the world, for her death would be soon to follow, the Goddess hid there for a great period of time.

After some time, the Goddess of Laughter soon came looking for her. The Sun Goddess was still hesitant to leave her place of comfort. The Goddess of Laughter thought for a moment. After a pause, she began to tell the Sun Goddess of a beautiful new princess that would soon grace everyone with her presence. She began to add that she was fairer than anyone that anyone had laid his or her eyes on before. The Sun Goddess began to fill with rage. She would let no one take her place in heaven. She stormed out of her shelter and fled back up to the sky, the fire demon awaiting her arrival. With all the rage she contained, she defeated the dragon with one stroke of a sword. Victorious in the fight, she returned to her throne to continue things as they left off.

Author’s Note: I decided to write my story based on the the Miraculous Mirror the Japanese Mythology unit. The original story was included in the "Romance of Old Japan" by E.W. Champney and F. Champney in 1917. I don’t believe I changed too much of the story line. I did want to keep the idea of the Sun Goddess and the dragon, but sort of wanted to elaborate and change some items. I wanted to build up a little more on the dragon that scared the Sun Goddess from her post, as well as her retreat from danger. I decided against including the mirror, but instead kept the rage that fueled her to return to her throne.

Storytelling Week 2: In Awe of Psyche's Beauty

As the young girl stepped out of her house, the world around her had changed. She was no ordinary girl anymore. She was something else, something from a fairy tale. Her skin was a pale porcelain, much like the moonlight that shown down on the city every single night. Her cheeks a fair pink, brought just the right amount of color to her face. Her hair was a golden brown, mixed with hints of red here and there. Just by looking at her, the people could feel the softness of her soul. She was not only beautiful on the outside, but also from within. No one had witnessed anything quite like her before.

As the townspeople flocked to her side, they glanced up at her beauty and became frozen. They stood in awe of this beautiful creature, not knowing reality from a dream. How could it be that this girl, beautiful as she was, really be in their midst? Was she a Goddess or a cruel trick played on the people of this fair city? It was as if she was a reincarnation of the great Goddess Venus. Dumbfounded by her beauty, some townspeople continued to stare at beautiful Psyche, while others presented her with bouquets of flowers and showered her with other gifts.

Throughout this day, there was another audience, one watching from above the city. It was the great Goddess Venus. She was not pleased to be seeing the events that unfolded before her eyes. How could a mere mortal be getting more praise and love than her? How could this young girl be mistaken for her? How was that Psyche was able to steal all the love and attention from her? She was an imposter, one that needed to be stopped right away. She was no Goddess, and would therefore not be able to bathe in the luxuries of one.

Venus became infuriated and green with jealousy. There would no other that would take the place of her. She called upon her younger son Cupid to help put this Psyche to a stop. Cupid was notorious for ruining marriages and causing mischief wherever he went, among other things. She asked her dear son to put a wretched spell on Psyche, a spell that would cause this beautiful young imposter to fall in love with the most worthless of men. This would be Psyche’s eternal downfall. She would fall miserably in love, and Venus would finally be rid of her.

(Psyché Abandonnée, 1795, Jacques-Louis David)

Author's Note: I chose to rewrite a chapter from the unit Cupid & Psyche. The chapter that really captured my attention was Psyche's Beauty and the Anger of Venus. I chose to mostly go with the original story already in place. I really just wanted to add more to portrayed beauty of Psyche. There wasn't really a vast description on what the people saw of Psyche's beauty, just that she was very beautiful. I decided to add more of a description of what the people might of seen, and to try and make the audience depict this as well. In all honesty, if you are beautiful enough to anger a Goddess, then there must be a lot to describe about you.

Bibliography

     Book: The Golden Ass
     Author: Apuleius and translated by Tony Kline
     Year Published: Unknown
     Web Source: Apuleius: The Golden Ass

Week 1 Storytelling: The Tormentor Known As Cat

(Abandoned Pet 26. Source: Deviantart)

Week 1 Story: The Tormenter Known As Cat

A young cat lived on 22^nd floor of an apartment complex with its owner. The cat kept to itself for the most part, but did not like intruders in its space. One day, the cat went to the kitchen for a drink, and saw a mouse creeping around on the floor. The young cat hesitated for a moment, then decided confront the mouse. He chased the mouse until it was trapped in a corner of the room. The cat contained its desire to eat the mouse, but instead tried to validate his desires. “Little one, you have come in to my house and offended me every day for the last week.” “I do not believe so sir, I just started my journey to this apartment last week from the first level of the complex,” squeaked the tiny mouse, “I just arrived in these apartment’s walls two days ago.” “You nibbled on the cheese in my owner’s fridge, and I will not take lightly to such senseless actions.” “I am unable to eat cheese sir, I am lactose intolerant,” the mouse said in his defense. Then, the cat stated, “you drank all the water from my bowl. I am certain it was you!” “That is inaccurate. I am not capable of drinking that much water in two days,” stated the mouse, "If I were capable, I would not be this tiny.” “All you speak is of lies,” argued the cat. The mouse saw the look of death in the cat’s eyes, and attempted to run towards the hole in the wall. The cat caught the mouse by the tip of its tail. “I am correct in my accusations, and I will not listen to your insignificant rebuttals,” said the cat, “I am right in my desires to consume you, and you will be one scrumptious snack!”

     Author's Note:

     The original story was about a wolf (cat) and a lamb (mouse). The wolf comes across the lamb, and accused the lamb of wrongdoing him under three different accounts. In the end, the wolf is just trying to justify why he should be able to consume the lamb. It doesn't matter what the lamb says in rebuttal, because it doesn't matter to the wolf. I decided to change the characters of the story, and to also add a few more characteristics of the environment as well as add to what the characters have to say. The moral of the story continues to be the same: the tormentor will always find reasons to back what he wants to do.

     You can find the orgininal story of The Wolf and the Lamb here.