A2Z 2020 Accomplished

READ A2Z BLOGS

Using the 2Z Blog Challenge and NaNoWriCAMP,  to write twenty-two folktales and legends about maidens and matrons, I framed the stories into a sequence to answer the question,  'Why I like the story?' 

I corrected that question to 'DO I LIKE THIS TALE?'  after realizing my chosen folktales preached a code, a norm --> that 'women are servants', and sadly, she went along - norms, horrors. 

I titled my selection of tales to Damsels in Distress. Revisiting these tales from the 14th to 20th centuries, I recognized the narratives are from the male point of view that upheld the notion that woman, female, her, she are to act as a server. The male carrying the sword and pen, he owned the norms. And worst, I thought only men were professional authors. 

 My girl child and youth smothered by this norm; males wrote the narratives.

After twelve years as a storyteller, telling at the Asian Art Museum, and the hundred-plus books of folktales, legends, and myths I studied from across the world ---> I shaped another vision and opinion.

Value, worth, and hope do exist in these tales; women survived by the various powers she possessed. After re-imaged the stories into a female point of view and narrative,  I realized the males did not understand the norms set upon themselves. The freer the female, the freer the male, and powers exist to establish this balance within each.

#21 Thomas and the Dragon, UTILIZE

uproar vs understand --> useful.
U for the emotional feeling, UTILIZE!

Thomas and the Dragon
 
I like this folktale from Greece. A balance exists between Thoas saving an earth dragon (her), and later, the dragon saving Thoas, a boy.

I fall in love with the stories of Chinese dragons and their history and what they meant. I told © 'How Dragons Shaped China.’ from my storytelling days at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, 2002 - 2012.  A quick minimal history of dragons through many eons and why each type of dragon is vital for creating China. As you know, Chinese dragons fly without wings.

Dragons are ancient creatures, born in China, the first dragon is Pa’gue. The sky, water, and land dragons float across the heavens, swim through the water, and travel by land into our stories. Only the European dragon has wings, most likely the sails seen on traveling ships from China and possibly the Vikings’ ships. Cultural Dragons do mix and mingle, and this has gone on for egos and egos, we do not know how long.

Dragon stories are told by many other authors with various and different intrigues.

My favorite books by Anne McCaffrey who, wrote a set of young adult novels set on the planet Pern — first is Dragonsong, a female protagonist, Dragonsinger, and the Dragondrums, which I loved as an adult. Then another set called Dragon Keepers of Pern. 

#20 - Little Wren, TRIUMPH!

tyrant vs tactics ---> tools.
T the emotional feeling, TRIUMPH!


 
Little Wren, Irish folktale        

I like this tale. The flight of birds is the envy of people because of a bird's power to see the earth from high.

Today’s story is about a flying contest to pick a qualified Ruler of the Birds. The winner is not the biggest, strongest, or most powerful, the winner is the smallest and clever. What if this was a little female bird instead of a male as portrayed in the male-dominated literature of the 12th and 18th centuries, (just a thought), or, no gender.

Do we really know the gender of the Wren? The female lays the eggs. Both build and sit on the nest, both look for food to feed the chicks, The male and female Wrens look alike.


Wren Day, “The origin may be a Samhain or midwinter sacrifice and/or celebration, as Celtic mythology considered the wren a symbol of the past year (the European wren is known for its habit of singing even in mid-winter."  Wikipedia

“Wrann, Wrann, the Ruler of Birds” is the ballad.

#19 Fanciest of Tails, SATISFIED

scared vs sensible ---> solution
S is for the emotional feeling, SATISFIED.

Fanciest of Tails  

I wrote this story Fanciest of Tails,  WHY?
A great analogy, metaphor, allegory, Peacock loves his tail and then his feathers fall out. So I used his tail for my writings saga when all my stories destroyed.

My computer had a horror glitch in 1998 and wiped off all my stories. Twenty years of writing my inspirations on a computer all gone even the save disc warped. Mine other saved disc too old to translate.

Luckily, I printed most of the stories during the years and put inside paper folders. No recent edits, bumbles! I cried tons of fears, took the horrid computer into my backyard, beat the devouring monster with a hammer, and buried the mess deep into the ground. Fearing my writing life over, however, a voice in my mind said, "You will recover the stories." After recovering from my horrible sickness in 1999, I studied storytelling. Transcripts of stories I told at swaps and at the Asian Art Museum, I handwrote on charts and saved in paper folders with paper backups. I wrote these in a new computer with multi backups, really too many. And, each good edit saved to wattpad.com or Bublish.com.

I have the Elfin Letters, which came after the monster ate my other stories for my granddaughter. Fortunately, Rhyonna's Fright I started in 1986 as a poem. I had the pieced here and there I put together from the saved manuscripts. This book published in 2016. SUCCESS!  

Now having Damsel in Distress; Sita's Narrative; Fire, the Hunger; Dragons Shape China; Tiger's Saga; Vasilisa, the Frog Princess; possibly Vishnu's Lives; Spooky Tales; and Nature Tales with sequential frames ready for my series, Telling Timeless Tales to be published soon in ebook stores on the internet. Join my email, EVENTING . .  for updates.

Next are my originals tales to write for a collection called Bryce Farm. Sodie, a goose, is the collector of forty narratives from the animals and what they do and their fears; allegories, metaphors, analogies, and similes of problems solved. The farmyard and woods are the frame for the original tales. 

Today, I have recovered most of my stories and will go on to publishing. Plus, today, we have the internet with blogs, videos, podcasts, e-publishing, for written and verbal avenues with exciting platforms for telling or writing our tales.

#18 Farmer Feast, RESIST

rage vs rouse --> resent.
R is for the emotional feeling of RESIST!

Farmer's Feast        

Do I like the story? Yes! Raven does know she wants to be free. By the way, I changed from a little boy (really)  to Raven as the narrator now a raven as she. Raven is concerned about the captivity of her friends. My license as a storyteller to change within my timeline and my motivation. Hard to tell the sex of a bird most are the same colors need the pronouns to know who is male or female.

A farmer’s feast to invite the animals into his barn and use them for services. A rooster does the bidding for the farmer, possible for territory reasons! And Raven does the warning. A one of a kind folktale in Andrew Lang collection in The Brown Fairy Book, once the stories thought too violent for children. I read all his books when in the 6th and 7th grades. I biked to the West Side Library in Colorado City with my best friend, Marilyn. My reading scores went from a non-reader to excellent, and I learned about the cultures of Europe and the Middle East. I had no idea at that time about the male point of view, how the female (male) was is in service to this ideology, and how this affected me as a youth; men wrote and published books.
~~~~~~ 

Andrew Lang (March 31, 1844 - July 20, 1912) was a prolific Scots poet, novelist, and literary critic but is best known as the collector of folk and fairy tales.

Read all of his fairytales/folktales twelve books downloads for Kindle, epub, or PDF files from the University of Adelaide, https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/l/lang/andrew/l26pf/contents.html, eBooks@Adelaide, The University of Adelaide Library, South Australia 5005. last updated March 2016 (What a find and all these classic folktales for FREE!)  Closed the free downloads April 2020, can only borrow the books.

#17 Hare and Tortoise, QUALIFIED

quest vs quit --> quietly.
Q is for the emotional feeling, QUALIFIED!

Hare and TORTOISE

I like this story.  
First, one of my favorites fables because I think of myself as a turtle, slow and steady, and somehow, at the end of winning to steadily achieving my goal as a writer. The turtle in Eastern mythology holds up the four directions of this earth. P'ngue, the first dragon of China, stood on turtle's back and listened to all the stories turtle told. Unfortunately, we assume P'ngue was a male and he gave turtle's tales to us. What if turtle was female, and the narrator did in the male voice, as the tales were.
 
When I was a child in Colorado, turtles still walked on the prairies, and sometimes we would catch one, of course, the snapping turtle bit. The turtles were old and about a foot across. I hope the slow, careful reptiles still live on those vast plains of the Midwest and races with the long-legged hare. Hard to tell which is a male or female, so suits both sexes.

The coastal Indians of American have a story for the 13 sections on turtle's back for the 13 moons of the year.

Secondly, why Iike this fable. The storyteller also has for centuries, forever, told traditional stories that have a simple plot: a quest. We enhance and re-image a place, time, characters, events to solve and push the adventure forward to the solution, then a conclusion. These are standard guidelines that create our novels. “Once upon a time, there lived so-and-so in a land far away . . .

This ancient fable, which I call, Rabbit and the Turtle, is an uncomplicated plot: a quest:
set-up – the careful turtle slower that the over-confident rabbit; CLIMAX - slow, plodding turtle wins; rabbit can’t believe the turtle won, and neither can the turtle.

I have discovered because stories are traditional, the basic plots speak to our genetic bodies. The bones of our stories and our bodies' bones connect through hearing and telling. We re-image scenes, place, characters and events, everything but the plot. Look at all the Hare and Tortoise stories in the library. Writers and storytellers link the simple plot to us inbred into our spirits, souls, physic for centuries before there was writing or photos or films or DVDs. A simple scheme satisfies, verbal stories are remembered.

This fable is from Aesop, a Greek slave, who came from India.

A HARE one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing: "Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race." The Hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal; and they agreed that the Fox should choose the course and fix the goal. On the day appointed for the race, the two started together. The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, she went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare, lying down by the wayside, fell asleep. At last, waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue.
Slow but steady wins the race.

#16 Durga helps of the Gods. POWER

provoke vs protect --> prepare. 
P is the emotional feeling, POWER. 

Durga Helps the Gods.

     

  I LIKE THIS STORY. I learned that woman has a lot of control over the men, (Gods, kings, and demons) while the men think they are in control. Durga is one, powerful Goddess called to help Gods. Her duty to drive a demon for the Hindi lands of India. She has all the emotional characteristics of a warrior: fearless, disciplined, determined, and physical powers.

I met Durga when I was a child running across a field playing "Ya, ya, Ya, you can't get me," teasing a monster.

Years later, in a creative writing class, I wrote a short story of my childhood running through the fields enticing a monster. “Ya, ya, ya, you can’t catch us.” I fell; I knew the beast would suffocate me. When I stopped yelling and screaming, I saw this wonderful magical woman, not my mom, not an angel, not a faery, and not a saint. From then on, I knew I was protected. I actually forgot about the story knowing always knowing was safe. I even told this story for the primary challenge for America Has Talent. My telling was not convincing.

Read on wattpad.com

Finally, Durga, herself, spoke to me. "I am the field goddess. I am of the Shakti energies of the earth, the Devi, the goddess of protection created by all the Gods. Durga comes as a mere woman to help the innocent. You were a child, who thought a monster lived in the field. Durga helps conquer dangers, helps overcome foes, offers courage to stand and fight if slicing off the head of the evil demon."

I had her voice. Come read her story on wattpad.com, DURGA HELPS THE GODS.  

 Why is this story unique? The major male Gods and the minor gods create a superwoman to conquer a demon because of his request, death only by a woman. I think the buffalo-demon came from the Mesopotamia trade cultures many, many centuries ago to conquer India?  The demon is part of the good/bad fights between the GODS as KINGS. Masiha thinks he knows the Hindi view of women, 'curves to serve'.

What is cultural awareness?  The gifts the Gods give to the woman tell how much the Gods battled with other outsiders to create immortality and realms for themselves. All the Hindi Gods are one huge verbal ‘soap opera’ then to written mythologies. The bonus being Gods reborn again and again is to play out dramas. I thought the Greek mythology was confusing.

#11 - Naga Princes, KINDLE

kill vs know —> keep.
K is for the emotional feeling - KINDLE!

The Snake Princess, NAGA
  Do I like this story? NO! Maybe, yes. I understand why this story sang to me. A young girl child gets to go to college, the University of Colorado, to learn the morays of the educated male world. I took classes to understand the way of social structure; the male and I was a female allowed to be a teacher, nurse, or wife. Feminists were not outspoken in the Rocky Mountains, which was about 100 years behind time, even if Colorado was one of the first stated to allow women to vote. I figured voting rights were to have women come and live in the state.

The Princess Naga does get prestige after schooled by conversations with BoShin: notice the male has a name because humans are the supreme beings. The snakes, Nagas, in the Eastern part of our globe, are a symbol of emotions, although honored must be kept in hand, under control.

The man again is the teacher, the honor supremed being. I'm getting a bit disturbed by all the honor and how much service he receives from women in these old tales. I read these as a child, what did this do to my enthusiasm for life.

Well, I could not be a writer because I was and girl. Worst writing was not taught in public schools, only filling the blanks. Even with my first story published in the Colorado Springs newspaper in 8th grade. Fifty years I am secure with write. Now, I fiddling with folktales, I read as a girl child and know why I liked them; the girl had hope.

I have changed the title of the series to 'Damsels in Distress.' These women knew or went along with the norms of society.

#10 - Julnar of the Sea, JUSTIFIED

Read Character Insight,

 junction vs judge --> journey.
J is for the emotional feeling, JUSTIFIED!

Julnar of the Sea 

I like this story!  A young maiden, shunned by her family, sits on an island in a sea. She convinces the merchant to sell her to a Sultan. Though her powers of manipulations of silence and enticing sex, she becomes wealthy. Julnar has the power of seduction and uses it to manipulate.

~~~~~~
 This ancient tale involves a story within a story. The teller Sacheherazade had her motives for telling Julnar of the Sea in 1001 Arabian Nights. This story offers how Sacheherazade saved herself.

After finding out that his first wife, Sultana, deceived Sultan Shahrayar has her strangled. He swears to marry a different woman each night before killing her the following morning to prevent another betrayal. Scheherazade. The Vizier’s, oldest daughter, concocts a plan to end his pattern of killings. When King Shahrayar asks for the younger daughter, Dinarzada, the oldest daughter Sacheherazade too wise in philosophy, medicines, fine arts, and history is one of the most exquisite beauty, goes with her younger sister to spend the night. When King Shahrayar enters, Sacheherazade begins a story. She stops in the middle, so King Shahrayar begs to hear the rest. Sacheherazade tells the Sultan he must wait for next night, thus saving both sister and her. The next evening, Sacheherazade finishes the story and begins another, following the same pattern for 1,001 nights.

Sacheherazade, the witty storyteller, makes her point to King Shahrayar in Julnar of the Sea. Julnar is similar to Sacheherazade, a woman who must save herself and still have respect. By the time, Sacheherazade finishes telling all her stories 1,001 nights pass, she has 3 children by King Shahrayar and becomes the first Queen.

Part 8 - FIRE eats everything.

The Hunters stole their FIRE. The one who stole FIRE showed the other hunters how to hold their sticks, far enough away so the flames wouldn't devour the flesh, close enough so FIRE feasted only on the juices that dripped from the yams, squash, and fish.

With each drop of juice that fell into FIRE, the hunters watched flames flare and heard the sizzling greed of FIRE's appetite.

The children placed their emptied cooking sticks into FIRE and the ends burnt into a glowing embers. They danced turning around swinging the sticks back-and-forth. The gleaming ends burst into flames. Seeing the dancing and hearing laughter, Lord Wind thought he might help with the fun.

Read 'Fire eats Everything' on Wattpad.

Part 5 - Beaver shares FIRE.

FIRE was stolen by Hummingbird Quinde from the hearth of the great man, Taquea, and carried to the Pine trees by his tail feathers. Only the people were warm and could see in the darkness while the animals trembled in feared of the night darkness and did not have the warmth so complained about the darkness and cold at night. Plus, the other trees wanted to be holders of FIRE. Bearer watched the Pines enjoying FIRE and wanted to give to all the trees for warmth. 

Beaver helps realizing none of the horrors of FIRE.

 

 Read Beaver Shares FIRE on Wattpad.

Part 4 - Hummingbird steals FIRE.

The animals watched how the gods kept FIRE in their volcanoes. Their desire for warmth and comfort from the darkness of night was overbearing. Hummingbird Quinde decided to find out about FIRE. He wanted to know and why Humans and animals wanted FIRE. There was a man of the eastern Ecuadorian people, the great Taquea, who had FIRE.
 

 Read Humming Bird steals FIRE on wattpad.

Part 2 - Goddess Pele's Anger

Pele is the creator of many gods.

Whenever Pele was angered, upset, scared or had any emotion like jealousy, she wrapped with fire and lava flowed from her. This scared her brothers and sisters.

Since that ancient time, the gods lived in volcanoes and protected FiIRE. God Kaang warned, "When humans get FIRE there would distrust and no harmony between humans and animals."

 
READ Goddess Pele's Anger.

Part 1 - Humans desire FIRE.

Read 'FIRE the Hunger'.

Humans knew the gods controlled FIRE and lived in the volcanoes. The gods used the glowing lava to created jewels, silver, and golden ores. These forged as gifts for service to their brothers and sisters. Man craved FIRE and its vast offering of treasures and warmth.

However, FIRE came with danger, because FIRE eats everything; FIRE has a ferocious appetite.

Dancing Tiger - #AtoZChallenge

ZEALOUS

READ on wattpad.

#8 Korean Stories
The Taming of TIGER

Tiger hears drumming as in the court of the Heavenly Prince, and see a young man that resembles the Prince. Tiger leaves the cave and dances behind the man. He dances from city to city for celebrations. Tiger goes to “the old man of the mountain” ten year celebration. Here the Heavenly Prince comes for Tiger; together they visit mountain celebrations in Korea.

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge: #AtoZChallenge - 4-30-2017 - Letter Z

The Healing - #AtoZChallenge

READ on wattpad.

YONDER

#7 Korean Stories
The Taming of TIGER

Tiger injured, starving, and hides in a cave, humiliated.  Finding the Tiger, the woman approaches, “My husband is emotionally injured by the wars. A shaman told me to bring him a whisker from a live tiger to heal him.” The young woman looks like Bear Maiden. Tiger allows the woman to feed him. After, his paw heals; he gives her a whisker. She brings her husband to meet Tiger, who is gratified and stays in the cave until he hears a drum play.

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge: #AtoZChallenge 4-29-2017 - Letter Y

Tiger and the Pit, #AtoZChallenge

WISE

READ the STORY!

#5 Korean Stories
The Taming of TIGER

Tricked by the small Cousin Rabbit, Tiger is more humble and carefully crawls through the woods, which are now filled with hunters. Tiger falls into a pit dug for catching pigs. The totem carver (Shamanism) is a son of the First Earthly Emperor. Dan-Gum. The carver helps Tiger out of the pit, as Tiger is the Guard of the West and King of the Beasts. To Tiger the carver resembles the Heavenly Prince only does not smell like him and too long and thin. When tiger wants to eat the carver, Cousin Rabbit who tricked Tiger before tricks Tiger back into the pit.

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge: #AtoZChallenge - 4-27-2016 - Letter W

GENEROUS - Li Chi, the Serpent Slayer, #AtoZChallenge

Read on Wattpad

GENEROUS

When the Silk Road opened, trading brought outside beliefs, warriors, and conquerors into China because the Emperors at that time were many and bidding war against each other. With helped from heroes, worms and serpents who threatened the protective wise Celestial Dragons and earthy Dynasty Dragons, were displace. 

Li Chi, the Serpent Slayer, is such a heroine who helped start the Golden Dynasty with mighty Golden Dragon Emperors, who gain control of China's prosperity; harmony that lasted for generations.

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge: #AtoZChallenge - 4-8-2017 - Letter G

Distinguish - MIN, the River Dragon, #AtoZchallenge

DISTINGUISH

READ ON WATTPAD

Many centuries from ancient time, the shard of pearl laid buried in the ground in the mountains. In a village near by lived a poor boy by the name of Min. By cutting grasses in the valley, he brought rice and tea for his blind mother. This year was exceedingly hot and extremely dry; the grasses died. Min had to travel up the West Mountains to find grass and where he recovers a magic pearl shards from the Pearl of Jade Dragon and Golden Phoenix.

For centuries River Kingdoms were in power and by use of the DRAGONS and fought for the control over China. Such is the story of Dragon Min, a boy who became a river dragon and helped the villagers. While becoming a dragon and looking back at his mother, Min made mud banks around the river to hold shrimps, crabs, eel and fish, and the river irrigated the crops and vegetables. Thus, Dragon Min, like many other, is honored and respected for bringing change, good fortune, and wealth to the river, the villagers, and the farmers.

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge: #AtoZChallenge - 4-5-2017 - Letter D

X-ing a STORY? Cock and Hen

Read why X'ed on wattpad.com

A to B Blog Challenge

COCK and HEN

 X-ING the act of crossing out something not liked, not good, not understood, not useful, or just -->  X


Some stories just don't fit the storyteller- and the Cock and the Hen is one for me.

 
A cock and the hen go to nut mountain with the agreement
each will divide the nut with the other.
Hen eats hers, and the big kernel sticks in her throat.
She asks the cock to get water.
The brook says it needs red silk before he will give the cock the water.
Cock gets the red silk after he fetches the bride’s garland from the tree.
By the time he takes the water to the hen she has died.
The cock grieves.

Six mice build a cart and pull the hen.
A fox talks to the cock and asks to follow.
Wolf, bear, stag, lion and all the beasts followed from the woods.
They come to a brook.
A straw lays itself across the stream but slips and the mice tumble and drown.
Coal lays across the stream but hisses and dies.
Stone touch by pity lays across the stream. Cock drew the dead hen across.
When drawing the others across, the cart turns over and all drown.
Cock builds a mound for the hen.
Then he lamented so sore that at last he dies.
And so they are all dead together.

Do you have any ideal what this story means or is talking about, or just guess, leave your comments below. Check my musing on wattpad for my take on the story.