Week 5: Extra Reading Diary

For my extra reading this week, I decided to look into the first half of Twenty-two Goblins. The name was what first intrigued me. The readings from the units this week haven't exactly been what I was expecting, so I was very interested to start this unit. Overall, the first half of this unit was extremely interesting and very entertaining. Since it is close to Valentine's Day, I did very much like reading the Three Lovers. The name itself seemed pretty straight forward. The story was a little more in depth, and it was great! I was not thinking of that exact outcome for the third youth to get her as his wife. Once I actually thought about it, it definitely made more sense. It was crazy that this girl had three worshipers, and was very sad that she died. Luckily, her death did decide who would ultimately be her husband. I did very much enjoy the King's decision on who treated her like a lover.

(the goblin in the tree)

The second story that I really enjoyed was Food, Women, and Cotton. This was a very interesting story and somewhat complicated, as well as confusing. It was a little hard to read. In all, the reader was suppose to declare who was the most clever out of the specialist of food, women, and cotton. I was thoroughly confused by the end of this story. After reading it the second time, it definitely made more sense. All the sons forgot about their duty to their father, and were instead arguing about why they couldn't carry a turtle. In the end, they all forget about the turtle and ruin their father's sacrifice.

Week 5: Reading Diary B

It was really nice to finish up reading Folktales of Bengal. I really enjoyed the first story I read. As I mentioned in the first reading diary this week, I really like stories about ghosts. Folktales of Bengal has definitely been introducing me to different kinds of stories this week. A Ghostly Wife was definitely one of those stories. It seems like a lot of the ghost stories I've read this week involve a ghost impersonating someone else. Luckily this time, someone noticed the change, and that the ghost was in fact not the brahman's wife. In the end, they did get the woman back, and the ghost back to her tree. I liked the ending of this story the best I think.

The second story that really interested me was the Ghost who was Afraid of being Bagged. The barber's wife was very upset that she lived a widow's life. She thought that they should have way more money than what they did. The barber went out one night and came across a ghost. This was a very interesting event, especially since the ghost was wanting to kill the barber, but the barber was very clever. He told a fib to the ghost to save himself. It's crazy to think that the ghost was taken back so much by the barber's story. The ghost really believed that the barber would bag him. Luckily, for the barber, he was very good at telling a lie. This definitely saved him in the long run. This also, in turn, made him a very rich man. I think it's safe to say that he now has a very happy wife.

(Ghost. Unkown.)

Week 5: Reading Diary A

For this weeks reading diary, I decided to read into one of the India units. Reading the first part of Folktales of Bengal was very interesting. The first story that really caught my attention this week was the Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled. After starting this story, it really seemed kind of familiar to another story I believe I read last week in the Indian fairy tales. Both were about a king who had a number a wives that were trying to get pregnant. In this particular story, the king was told if he plucked seven mangoes, and fed them to his seven wives, they would soon bear children. I did really enjoy the change in the story when the king decided to marry a Rakshasi. After reading about these indian demons in Epics of India, I was intrigued to move on. After this change in the story, it got somewhat morbid. The Rakshasi of course wanted the king to prove his love for her in the most terrible of ways.

The second story that captured my attention was the Ghost-Brahman. Of course I always enjoy a good ghost story. In all honesty, I didn't know if this story would be like the ghost stories I like or something entirely different. It was a pretty crazy story, and one I did not picture when starting the story. It was a good change of pace though. The ghost actually came in and took over everything that the Brahman had called his own. Luckily in the end, the Brahman did get his wife, his mother, and his house back. It might have taken a lot of time, but he got it back.

(Mango tree. Robert Mclean)