Reading Notes B: The End of Beowulf

• Beowulf fought with his best friend Wiglaf against a dragon
• Dragon's tail hit Beowulf and injured him, but Wiglaf killed it by finding his weak spot and it fell beside Beowulf
• As he was dying, everyone cried out but they didn't deserve to as they were not as courageous as he
• Beowulf was grateful to die by his friend and asked for one last treasure to be left with him 
• Wiglaf found a crown amongst jewels and set it on him
• He was made a barrow at Whale's Headland and carried there by Wiglaf.  They burned the treasure with him per Wiglaf's orders. No one refuted him.
• Many came to mourn his death and they threw the dragon into the gray sea as they laid Beowulf on the pyre created
• So they lit the pyre and there the King of Geatsland went back up to the Gods

(Beowulf.  Flickr.)

I chose the end of the story to possibly fuse this with King Arthur's beginning. 

I would create a beginning involving how they each became King.  Rather than Beowulf's beginning, it would start with Arthur's and lead into a newer start with Beowulf.

He could already be a King? And Arthur learning that he will become King because of pulling out the sword.  

They will be frenemies of some sort because they come from different 'realms' or to be basic, towns.

So they become enemies to battle and after so many righteous battles, especially one duel between each other, they become friends.  Friends that will team up with each other to fight the biggest dragon.  So rather than Wiglaf, Arthur will take his place.  

Rather than Beowulf dying, Arthur will?  Or they both will?  Or stick with Beowulf dying?

Or rather than having a duel, they try to come to their last battle and a dragon comes in and they decide to team together to defeat him.  So not exactly friends but honoring each other as great warriors, gaining respect for one another?  

Can't decide which point of view to tell, though a narrative seems like a way to go about this.  

I can incorporate powers that each have, because it is a realm of magic or crossing between a mortal realm and a magical realm?  That would give a OUAT vibe. 

Bibliography:  The Story of Beowulf:  The End of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs.

Reading Notes A: The Drawing of the Sword

• King of Britain - Uther Pendragon, died leaving no King to reign
• Caused uproar and many to battle for the crown - the town was not at its best
• Merlin the Magician met Archbishop of Canterbury & others at their home to request a meeting on Christmas Day in London @ the Great Church 
• Leaving the Church they saw a stone & left a sword within the stone engraved a spell in gold. 
• Many knights tried taking out the sword but failed so Archbishop had two of his best knights guard it at night
• It wasn't fair they wait for the 'King' to show & that every man had a right to try it out so a tourney was to be held New Years Day
• That day came and many people decided to prep for the drawing of the sword and arrived a brave knight - Sir Ector, his son Sir Kay and Arthur, Kay's foster-brother
• Sir Kay had left a sword back home & asked Arthur to get it for him so he went but no one was home (went to watch the tourney) so he went to the churchyard & decided to take the sword from the stone because he didn't want Sir Kay without a sword
• He pulled it out easily and brought it to them. Arthur had to explain his story and they realized he was to be King but they had to prove it and it was proven
• Arthur found out Sir Ector wasn't his father but who his real father was - Uther Pendragon and felt sad; the debt he paid was to make Sir Kay the seneschal of all his land and he did.
• Before becoming King, he had to leave the sword to prove to the Archbishop and he did thus he became King to all - a good and humble King

(Excalibur.  Pixabay.)

The overall story reminds me of Once Upon a Time which gave a different take to King Arthur, not a very good one at that.

I could change this story up as a way to create a noble man.  A man who was meant for great things but did not know this until he had to prove himself that he was.

A story still set in this era, keep a similar take but of a poor man who grew up not knowing a life of riches.

Sort of tough to consider what I can manipulate and change.

He comes across the stone, not knowing what it was - much like the original.  Rather than his foster-father knowing who his father is in the end, he has a different family.

He's traveling alone and something calls him to the sword - like a fairy or just hearing a voice?

He takes the sword out and keeps it with him while everyone else is looking for the sword he's playing with it as if it's a new found toy.

He still has to prove himself that he pulled it out and does.  He could go through trials? Of having to prove himself that he should be king.

This can be a flashback story told by his son??  That's a different way of doing things.

Bibliography:  King Arthur:  The Drawing of the Sword by Andrew Lang.

Reading Notes, Part B: Gold-Tree & Silver-Tree cont.

To elaborate on the story: an outline from beginning to end

Gold-Tree = Goldie

Silver-Tree = Sylvia

The King = Harold

Prince = Parker

2nd wife = Amelia? (I may take her out of the story completely - though it would've made for great revenge in killing the mother)

• Goldie is an only child raised her whole life by her father who is a single dad.  
• She is a good daughter that listens and he is a father that understands.  The perfect duo.
• Her mother died when she was born so it's foreign for her, for her father (Harold) to be with someone as he never really kept up with dating.  

• Parents were teen parents.  
• Goldie is only 18 and going off to college.  
• The college is nearby, but Goldie is still worried about Harold being alone because she will be super busy with work and school, hardly being home.  
• Few years pass and she is 21; she will graduate with her Bachelor's the next year.
• Harold meets someone (Sylvia) while Goldie is in school and a romance blossoms.  
• Goldie is unsure of her, but approves of her.

• Sylvia notices how Harold is always spoiling Goldie and taking pride in her.
• Harold is saddened that she may be going away and doesn't know how to let her go.  (Maybe keep this in the story or not)
• He doesn't want to let her go so he tries to keep her around but Sylvia is beginning to get jealous and outraged.

Rather than beauty being the envy, she will be envious of her charm and good nature towards her father.

• Harold & Sylvia have been together for 2 years and then get married.
• Goldie, 22, has already graduated and is working, but still deciding on Graduate school.
• Sylvia grows impatient with Goldie and tries to convince her to leave....(not sure how this will play out?)
• All the while, Goldie met someone (Parker) & they had been dating since she was 20?

(Silver/Icy tree.  Flickr.)

• Unsure whether to utilize her going to Grad school as an escape or her marriage to Parker, maybe even the revenge portion.
• (I may just keep the 2nd woman) Sylvia tries to ruin her relationship with Parker and make her seem like a bad girl to her father by having a woman (Amelia) interfere with the relationship.

Still VERY unsure about how this could play out by the time Goldie and Amelia find out Sylvia's plan.  Also unsure about the plan that could come into play - or rather than Amelia and rather than ruining the relationship, Sylvia will pay Parker to take Goldie away.  Goldie could get upset and try to tell her father and just take him away with her. 

Somehow Harold needs to find out what has been happening - but when, where and how...

Maybe involves Harold dying so Goldie can avenge him by killing Sylvia...with a gun?  There's a lot to fill in...

Bibliography:  Celtic Fairy Tales:  Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree by Joseph Jacobs.

Reading Notes, Part A: Gold-Tree & Silver-Tree

(Golden tree.  Pixabay.)

• Silver-Tree is Gold-Tree's mother
• Silver-Tree goes to a well and asks a trout if she is the most beautiful
• He denies and says it is her daughter, Gold-Tree, that is more beautiful
• Silver-Tree wants her heart and liver to be the most beautiful
• She vowed that she would be ill if she couldn't have the heart and liver
• Her husband came home to her being ill 
• She told him of the heart and liver, but the husband doesn't give her that because a nice Prince from another village wants to marry Gold-Tree
• The husband/father lets them marry and takes a goat's heart and liver to feed Silver-Tree instead
• After a year, Silver-Tree asks the trout again but Gold-Tree is still alive
• She board's the king's long-ship to see her yet Gold-Tree knows she wants her to die so she hides
• Silver-Tree convinces her to stick her finger out of the key-hole and instead of giving her a kiss on the finger, she pricks her w/a poisoned needle
• The Prince went to hunt all the while and came back to Gold-Tree dead
• Because she is so beautiful he keeps her locked in that room & never throws away the key
• He remarries and one day forgets to take the key w/him so his 2nd-wife goes into that room only to find Gold-Tree
• She finds the needle stuck to Gold-tree's finger and pulls it out - later surprising the Prince, that she is alive, when he comes home
• He wants to stay married to both & does so
• It's been a year and Silver-tree goes to the well to ask again but finds that Gold-tree is still alive
• She goes to visit again but w/a glass of potion - she tries to give it to Gold-tree but the 2nd-wife hits the cup, when Silver-tree proves to drink with them, letting her drink some
• Silver-tree dies and they live on, leaving her be.

This story is similar take to Snow White - much darker take involving death in the end.

My take will be more modern.  Gold-Tree will be an only daughter that grew up alone and her father remarries when she is off to college.  She gains a vicious step-mother that knows of her beauty (because she is still the most beautiful and of pride to her father).  The mother is jealous of how much he spoils his daughter.  

I may keep an eerie death in this story as well.  Different from my usual.  I will stick with a first person narrative, though not sure about who - the mother? the daughter? the father even? 

The daughter goes off to college, meets someone and wants to get married.  The father is willing to give anything but the mother being so jealous she wants to stop the marriage, to ruin the daughter's life.  

She wants nothing but unhappiness and a hard life for the daughter.

Though I even thought to add a twist to the story of the guy being torn between two women (that would add effect but be too long?)

Maybe the mistress can be a woman that the mother hires to get in the way of their relationship! But the girl finds out of how cruel she is (the mother doesn't pay the girl, just uses her) and decides to help plan their revenge on the mother.

Who's death could be at the end? - Mother.  Daughter.  Father (like Snow White).  Prince.  Maybe more than two deaths in the end or middle and end?

Bibliography:  Celtic Fairy Tales: Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree by Joseph Jacobs.

Reading Notes B: The Rolling Head

(A Head.  Flickr.)

This should be a narrative - first person? (would give for very intriguing insight on what the man is thinking about his wife); third person would suit well, though could be typical.

• A hardworking man - artist/carpenter/lawyer/businessman|CEO
• wife - stay at home mom/part-time teacher (substitute)/maybe a simple cashier just to make some $$
• two children - both girls, early to mid-teens (13+)
• Rather painting her body/face before going to work, he simply just helps her get ready in the mornings with the kids as a good husband, kisses her on the forehead before leaving.  Does a typical routine/ritual and does something to 'mark' her so he's sure she doesn't lie.  He may come off as a clingy/overprotective husband
• After taking the kids to school, she would go to 'work' or shopping for groceries or simply just shopping
• In fact she was cheating, so the snake is her affair (metaphor for 'lover' other than husband)
• He noticed a sent on her clothes one night? Or something else is different about her - attitude? jewelry? Sees a text/missed call on her phone?
• He follows her to wherever she states she is going, because at this point he doesn't trust her.  It's unlike her to act the way she acts.
• He catches them in the act - how?  Through the window of her 'lover's' place.  Possibly they go to the grocery store or a cafe to meet and they kiss!
• Not sure I want to keep the killing to give suspense and drama/thriller; maybe he won't confront them about anything.  Most likely NO killing.
• I don't think I'll keep cannibalism in the story...a bit much.  But after he talks with his wife about what has happened, they discuss divorce and sit the kids down to talk (that could've been the metaphor of feeding his wife to them)?
• Rather than them eating her and a talking head, her parents are having a discussion in front of the kids, arguing and talking about the divorce; OR she sits down with the kids to talk about it and apologize because they understand what's going on since they're old enough.
• The kids decide to run away together from what their mother has done - to the park?  Or they don't run away as that could add for a longer story...
• They run away to grandma and grandpa? Somewhere safe.
• Rather than killing him, they learn what happens and that they will be living with their father and they are unhappy with it because they didn't get to decide who they wanted to be with. Well, maybe one kid will be upset, but the other will be okay.

Bilbiography:  Tales of the North American Indians:  The Rolling Head by Stith Thompson.

Reading Notes A: The Rolling Head

• A man, wife and 2 children
• This will stay for the main of my story; the children will be early to mid-teens
• Man goes hunting and paints wife's face and body before hunting
• Rather than hunting, set in modern day and he is leaving for work - possibly a businessman or some other occupation
• Wife fetches water from the lake
• She takes the children to work and heads off to 'work' as well
• She always went to the lake and took off her clothes to 'bathe'
• She would always mention going to work, but had interesting hours that she would go in, telling her husband that is
• She would meet a snake and do this every time her husband went to hunt
• In fact she was cheating, so the snake will be her affair
• Her husband noticed that her paint was smudged and wondered why/how.
• He noticed a sent on her clothes one night? Or something else...
• He followed her to the lake one day with her thinking that he went to hunt
• He followed her to her 'work'
• He caught the snake wrap itself around her naked body
• He catches them in the act
• After seeing this, he jumps the snake, killing it and killing his wife.
• Not sure I want to keep the killing to give suspense and drama/thriller
• He takes his wife's meat and feeds her to the children, unknowingly to them
• I don't think I'll keep cannibalism in the story...a bit much
• He leaves her head alone and it comes rolling to the children, telling them that they ate her (talking head)
• Rather than them eating her and a talking head, her parents are having a discussion in front of the kids, arguing and talking about a divorce or not talking about it
• They try to flee from it and one child draws a line, digging a hole for it to stop rolling to them
• If they talk about it in front of the kids, the kids decide to run away together from what their mother has done or they don't know what she did, they just know that they'll get a divorce
• They save themselves from the head by meeting someone who could help them and had panthers and bears to protect them from all things
• They run away to grandma and grandpa?
• A camp of people were starving and heard that these kids had bountiful food and decided to camp with them/live with them.
• I will take this out of the story...
• Their father came to live with them, but they despised what he did so they had a lion jump him and kill him.
• Rather than killing him, they learn what happens and that they will be living with their father and they are unhappy with it because they didn't to decide who they wanted to be with. Well, maybe one kid will be upset, but the other will be okay.

(Snake in a lake.  Flickr.)

Bibliography:  Tales of the North American Indians: The Rolling Head by Stith Thompson.

Reading Notes B: The Man in the Moon

• Eskimo goes to the moon - faces away from lamps he turned on to let guardian spirit take him
• Moon's house:
• All white - bc of white deerskin drying
• upper body of walrus on both sides of entrance - dangerous bc long teeth to bite
• has only 1 dog - Red/white dapple living in the passage
• Moon lives in outer room
• Inside room lives Sun, Moon's wife
• She lit up & hid behind her fire so Eskimo couldn't see her
• Mood had piles of deer meat - didn't offer to Eskimo until a strange dance he & Sun did.
• On Moon Land:
• many herds of deer
• anything can fall through the hole to Earth 
• Moon let Eskimo choose 1 animal to drop to Earth
• house with many seals swimming
• Eskimo chose a seal & it dropped to the ocean - therefore Eskimos have deer and seal.

(Eskimo dolls with Seals.  Flickr.)

Another version of the Man in the Moon, except different concept.

Maybe combine the Raven's feast with this story?  Rather than Raven scavenging for food at a local farmer's market, he can travel to the Moon with the Eskimo.  The Eskimo and Raven run into each other and become friends.  They go on a journey to find 'food' to feed their family and friend. 

They both come across the 'Moon' - which can be a local market/shop/farm that has many things.  

There can be someone that works in the 'Moon'.  Possibly with powers that can provide the Eskimo with seals and deer as well as the Raven with enough food to feed plenty people.  Before giving them food and items to survive, they must give up one important thing - what is the important thing?

Much like making a deal/sacrifice for something more.  Will it be worth it?  Will both give in or just one?  This can cause the reason for why the Eskimos have what they have and why there are feasts during times of mourning.

They're both going through times of hardship - so food feeds the soul. BAHA! 

These are what bring people together.  Eskimo and Raven invite each other to their events before parting ways.  Or maybe one will die along the way?

Bibliography:  Myths and Legends of British North America:  The Man in the Moon by Katharine Berry Judson.

Reading Notes A: Raven's Feast

• Raven went to get food from Groundhogs to throw a feast because his mother died.
• Groundhogs throw winter food out when there is a snowslide from the mountains.
• Raven wanted the food they throw out.
• No one knew about the snowslide, though Raven says there will be a great big one.
• It happens during the Spring and the Groundhogs throw their herbs out of their burrows.
• He then decided a great feast, inviting everyone in the world
• The Gonaqadet - because they had a Chilkat Hat and a Chilkat Blanket
• All the rest of the chiefs of the tribes
• They came at the right time
• With the Gonaqadet, the Chilkat hat had many crowns and with it, his blanket.
• He was surrounded by fog, but not inside the Raven's house
• Because of the feast, especially a burial feast, everyone must have a feast now and during burial feasts, there will be a many-crowned hat carved into the grave post. 

(Raven eating.  Flickr.) 

I can utilize this story as a way to showcase funerals.  The Raven will standstill as the creator of feasts during funerals.  Or it can be a simple man back in the 1800s.

Rather than the Groundhogs, there will be farms/crops of food that will grow and be put out when ripe at the Farmer's Market.

The Raven/Man will go and pick and buy the food at the market and he will invite everyone in the town because he has no more family.  He is all alone in this.

He meets someone at the market, a woman, and invites her to the feast.  She happens to be a jeweler and comes bearing gifts to the feast in honor of the man's mother.

All of these come together in the end, to provide offerings/gifts to the person who is in mourning, feast when someone passes, and through all of this, gain people that can become family.

Bibliography:  Myths and Legends of Alaska:  Raven's Feast by Katharine Berry Judson.

Reading Notes: Fox-Fire, Part B

(Fire Fox.  Flickr.)

• Farmer left late evening
• Stays a man/human
• Came across wealthy man's gardens with tall buildings around
• can be park, not a person's garden
• Saw 'crystal ball floating' in the garden, went in & saw no one around
• Appeared to be like dog looking at the moon
• Breathes out, ball of fire comes out & floats to the moon
• Breathes in, ball came down to its jaws; kept going back & forth
• Farmer realized it was Elixir of Life
• all of those elements can be kept (wondering how I should entail the 'fire ball')
• Because Elixir of Life I can meld the Laotze story with this one
• He waited til the ball dropped to about his height & out of hiding, reached out to grab it 
• He swallowed it & could feel the glow pass his throat to his stomach
• The Fox saw him, grew angry but was afraid of his strength & didn't attack; he walked away
• Fox can be Monkey King in a different form? Or the man can be him...
• Man became invisible
• Saw ghosts & devils
• intercourse with spirit world
• Brought back souls to the sick/unconscious
• Pleaded for sins
• He earned $$ doing this
• Grew old - 50 yrs old; he quit exercising the arts
• He lay in his courtyard enjoying cool air, drinking plenty wine til he fell asleep by midnight
• Woke feeling ill; someone pat his back, the ball came out
• 30 yrs he kept the 'treasure' from the Fox; Poor Farmer became Wealthy, so time for Fox to take it back
• Fox disappeared when he realized who it was.

Since both stories are quite similar I can create the two men and fox as DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder).  Could be for interesting read.  How to intertwine their lives to reach that point, because it still can't be one man.  Must be one man becoming two as punishment for utilizing the Elixir of Life for material things.  It's not something sacred, but punishment.

Bibliography:  The Chinese Fairy Book:  Fox-Fire by R. Wilhelm.

Reading Notes: Laotze, Part A

• The Great Saint = Monkey King
• Heard this story before...so many names to keep up with
• Maybe he will be a different King; King on Earth or a leader in space! 
• One afternoon, turned himself into peach-worm to take a nap
• That's different...maybe I'll keep this in the story
• Or if it is different, he will just be napping
• 7 Fairies interrupted his wake because of Queen-Mother inviting people to feast
• She can actually be his mother or even his wife/ex-wife
• The Fairies will be less in # and more so random people that he hears walking by
• All Gods & Goddesses of Earth & Under were invited, but not him
• I'll keep this as his curiosity will unfold; instead of Gods/Goddesses, maybe leaders of council
• He casts the fairies to stay & then takes his cloud to fly to Queen-Mothers palace
• her palace will be a chamber; he won't fly but he will ride a hover-board
• Runs into Bare-Foot God on the way there - peach banquet
• Runs into a fellow council mate
• He lies to the Bare-Foot God that by the Lord of Heavens all Gods/Goddesses go to Hall of Purity to practice rites.
• Rather than she being the head of council, someone else is & he still lies about something else happening
• He turned himself into Bare-Foot God to enter the palace; He drugged cup-bearers with pulling his hair & turning it into sleep worms, so he can drink all the wine & feast as much as he wants
• Each of them still with magical powers; he can still change into people
• Drunk, he wanted to go home to nap; stumbled upon Laotze's home but Laotze is in God of Light's home, speaking to servants
• He will get drunk and possibly cause a disruption
• The Great Saint enters the empty place & goes in the room where Laotze's brewing the Elixir of Life; finds 5 gourds w/pills of life already rolled; pours out content & takes them in because he had been looking for them forever so it is by fate to find them.
• if he doesn't cause disruption, he will find this place and steal some type of potion, not an elixir of life but something that can have side effects
• He realized he had done wrong, so he decided to take himself back to Earth to be as an Ape King.  He passed all as invisible.
• He won't get away with it though this story shows that he did
• He told all of his stories and even of the peach-nectar/wine
• The story will go around as rumored by others; maybe a witness who wants to learn from him
• The apes wanted eternal life, so he went back for them & stole 4 more barrels.  He brought them back & they lived well, enjoying the nectar together
• the young-in that wants to learn from, he denies; so the young-in will rat him out and he will be sent to prison or worse, exile out of the ship?

(Statue of Laozi/Laotze at Tai Lake. Wikipedia Commons.)

This can be relatable to 'The 100' or another show.  Exiled in a sense that he will die in space or sent to Earth where he knows nothing of.  It will be a mystery....

Bibliography:  The Ape Sun Wu Kung in The Chinese Fairy Book: Laotze by R. Wilhelm.

Reading Notes: Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops, Part B

• Poor man and woman have 12 daughters that they don't love anymore so they try to get away from them
• The father took them out to hunt; they sat down when they got tired
• Asked the girls to get water for him with a bamboo joint; they struggled & came back to realize he was gone
• They figured out their parents didn't want them anymore because the basket they brought was filled with ash & little rice; with no way out, they decided to sleep in the jungle 
• As they woke up, they found a woman nearby; asked her for help & she offered them a place to stay in exchange to keep her daughter company because she is always gone, of which they accepted
• They traveled to her home & found a small garden that they could visit, but could not enter when she was gone to the jungle the entire time
• They didn't enter the garden the first time because she was gone all day, the second time they thought she would be gone all day so they entered the garden and found human bones realizing the woman was a cannibal
• They fled her home and ran into a cow, asking it for help; the cow opened its mouth & they jump in, when the cow came home, it ran into the woman that asked for the maidens, but it replied no
• She threatened to kill it if he lied but he pointed a different direction showing where the maidens went; when the woman left so did the maidens
• As the maidens were fleeing, they ran into an elephant & asked it for help from the cannibal
• The elephant opened it's mouth & the maidens jumped in but 1 maiden left a garment hang out of the elephant's mouth
• They ran into the cannibal woman again & she asked if it saw the maidens head towards the city, but he lied & said no; the maiden saw the garment & cursed the elephant to have a drooping lip much like the garment, forever.

(Smiling Elephant and family.  Pixabay.)

This is a tough story to recreate.  Rather than there being 12 daughters, there can be about 3-5 daughters because the parents tried for a son but couldn't get any.  Set in modern day, the parents are ready to send their kids off to college, not abandoning them.  In a sense, the kids can abandon the parents.

The woman will not be a cannibal, but a woman who is doing research on random strangers.  She owns a zoo, so she tricks some people that she chooses to keep.

The girls happen to go on a zoo trip for class, a couple of them in the same course & the others just meet up with them.  They happen to go searching around the zoo, being nosy & find another girl (supposedly her daughter) but she is trapped.

Maybe they get caught & try to escape...but how to incorporate the elephant's lips drooping.  Quite possibly each animal can talk.  Two sisters can understand animals vs the other sisters having different powers.  That is if we incorporate powers because the elephant must talk.

If the elephant talks and lies then the woman will clamp the lip in order for it to stay drooping.  Much like the face of a dumbfounded elephant.  Punishment for lying, since she doesn't have powers, but only the girls do. 

Bibliography:  Laos Folk-Lore:  Why the Lip of the Elephant Droops by Katherine Neville Fleeson.

Reading Notes: The Man in the Moon, Part A

• Begins with a Blacksmith
• Does not want to be one anymore because it's too warm so he wants to be a stone on a mountain because it is cool & the wind blows
• Powerful man changes him into a stone
• Stone-cutter appears & takes the blacksmith turned stone because it's what he wanted & starts cutting
• It hurts so he doesn't want to be a stone anymore, but a stone-cutter.
• He became a stone-cutter but he got tired & his feet hurt, he whimpered & decided to be a sun instead
• He changed into the sun, but it's warmer than all the previous things he was before so he asked to be the moon, for it looked cool
• He became the moon; because the sun still shined on him he was warmer than the sun & asked to go back to being a blacksmith, since that is the best life.
• The wise-man was tired of him changing so he left him as the moon because that is the last he chose

(Man/mask hidden within the Moon.  Pixabay.)

This was short, but enjoyable.  This is a story of a man who doesn't enjoy what he does and is always changing, not appreciating what he has, so karma reaches it's stopping point where he suffers for the rest of his life.  

I can recreate the jobs for the man and rather than just jobs and objects, he can be animals too. 

There can be more with the wise-man as the wise-man can be God?  Or they can both have powers so he can be his Father or even a homeschool Teacher of all things.  

Rather than leaving him as the moon, there are prices that the wise man offers the young man for changing into each profession or being.  Those prices are such, not being able to speak, not being able to see or even hear.  He will still consider some of the options and learn his lesson through that.

The wise-man reminds me of a dark-one: Rumplestiltskin from "Once Upon A Time."  

Though he is a moon in the end, he can still offer to speak and only show his face whenever he is in the night sky, because the sun is so hot on him, he will sleep in the day.  

He will conjure up magic to try and change him back or cry a song in the night for those to hear him sing.  

He doesn't have to be alone in this, rather than just the wise-man and the blacksmith, he can have a family that he leaves behind.  Or a best friend that tries to talk him out of changing and in the end he helps him go back to being human, but he sacrifices much for his dear friend.  Or it can be a she, because there is an unrequited love as well.

1. There may be too many elements...starting off with him working at the shop with a friend of his who is his coworker.  They work together rather than for another shop.  He complains and complains, the friend offers him someone they know that can help him change.  Though given the consequences by the friend, he decides to go anyway.
2. It takes on from there as he changes and changes, other things unravel with his friend as well, seeing/hearing of the changes. 
3. Battle can ensure for the friend brought him in, he/she will take him out of it...

Bibliography: Laos Folk-Lore: The Man in the Moon by Katherine Neville Fleeson

Reading Notes: The Wolf & the Goat, Part A

• 1 God
• 1 mother goat & 4 goat children: Alil, Balil, Ginger Stick & Black Eyes
• Was leaving for errand, told them not to open the door unless they asked to see her hand
• If it was red, it was her, if it was black then it wasn't her
• Wolf overheard them & painted his paw red
• Came at the door & the children fell for it
• He took all but Black Eyes
• Mother came home, Black Eyes told her what happened & they went to search for them
• Climbed the roof of the wolf's home, seeing him prepare to cook
• They throw earth in his ash (Persian soup) & he asks who it is, they meet & she calls him to go fight
• They each took a skin, filling it with different things: 
• the goat's w/curd & butter for a knife-grinder to sharpen her horns
• the wolf's w/air to a tooth-puller to sharpen his teeth
• The dentist, curious, opened the skin & air puffed out
• instead of sharpening wolf's teeth he pulled each & filled them w/twists of cotton-wool that looked much like sharp white teeth
• Before fighting they stopped at a stream, goat tells to drink before fighting; she doesn't but the wolf does until he's full
• She then tells to jump over the stream, she jumps easily but the wolf so full can't & falls in
• She pokes him in the stomach w/her horn & he dies; she gets to take her children home safely

(Fearless goat.  Pixabay.)

Rather than goats, they can be human children, two sets of twins.  Each with abilities unbeknownst to them, except the mother.  The wolf can remain the same or be another animal/creature.  Reminding me much of the Little Red Riding hood.  A witch can be involved to bewitch the animal into a human in order to trick the mother & her children.  Much like coming into the family as a step-father.

Some people can be mistaken by looks, so he shall be handsome & the mother will fall for him without realizing what kind of 'man' he is. 

Rather than taking the kids, they can be trapped in their own home and rather than involving the dentist or knife-grinder, the knife-grinder an be the mother's best friend while the dentist will be the wolf's accomplice.  There will be a fight to save her children, the witch will be involved.  Maybe she could be a which herself as well.  The kids can become powerful if the mother is hurt.  Thus the kids will save the day, using their powers and their wits rather than the mom. 

Bibliography:  Persian Tales: The Wolf & the Goat.  Link.

Reading Notes: The Tree of Knowledge, Part B

• Siddhartha = Hero
• Has 10 women that cater to him; Sujata (one of the women), one of her slaves died
• She wrapped him red shroud to put him in the cemetery
• Hero needed clothing & saw the shroud & took it.
• The Gods above helped him make it into a piece of clothing.
• Sakra - giving him a pool of water & wash-stone to wash it
• Mara (the Evil One) - steepened the pool so he couldn't get out
• There was a nearby tree & Hero prayed to the Goddess to let down a branch to help him get out, she did so.
• He sat under the tree and began to sew his new shroud
• Night fell & he had 5 dreams:
1. Lying on the whole bed of Earth; Head on Himalaya, right hand on western sea, left on eastern & feet on southern sea.
2. Saw a reed grow out of his navel, so fast that it touched the sky
3. Worms crawled up his leg covering them
4. Birds flew toward him from every horizon, appeared of Gold
5. He saw a mountain of filth & excrement; he climbed to the summit, descended & was not phased by the filth.
• He knew after the dreams that he would obtain supreme knowledge & become Buddha
• Went back to Uruvilva to beg; Sujata made milk w/ rice flour & honey, put into a golden bowl.
• He arrived to their house & received the bowl while Sujata cleansed his feet.
• Unsure of what to do w/the bowl, it's understood that those before him that become Buddha have their last meal in a golden bowl.
• He bathes in the river & finishes his meal; lets the bowl float & states that the bowl will go upstream if he is to become Buddha & float downstream if he is not; so it floats up.
• Night falls & he walks towards the Tree of Knowledge, sees the Reaper Svastika & asks for grass in return to teach him the law, so he hands the Hero 8 handfuls
• Using the grass, he bows to the tree from the east side, 7 times & sprinkles the grass for then a seat appears for him to sit; no matter what happens, he'll obtain the supreme knowledge.

(Buddha experiencing Bodhi (The Awakening). PBS.)

I could tie this story in with The Great Truths, he could still be a lion or even just a poor man struggling in life to understand the world and universe.

Rather than the servants and the Gods catering to help him, on his journey he can run into random strangers that want to help.  Much like the book/movie 'Into the Wild'.

The supreme knowledge that can be obtained in life can be that of life's simple pleasures.  Just being an honest, good person.  Accepting life's faults and enduring pain and suffering when necessary. 

Bibliography:  Life of Buddha: The Tree of Knowledge.  Link to reading.

Reading Notes: The Great Truths, Part A

• Siddhartha's unhappy in his palace (lost like a lion stung by a poisoned dart)
• Leaves the palace in search through the common world. 
• He pitied mankind for they can: get sick, old, weak, ignorant.
• He lost his understanding for everything mankind had to offer.
• Encountered a man, "monk" that only he could see.
• Spoke of solitude, an itinerant monk seeking 'deliverance'
• Seeks highest good, lives freely.
• Siddhartha believes he is 'God' in the form of a monk, because he went back to the sky.
• He then wanted to become a monk, his father saddened & wanted him to be King instead.
• Tried offering his father 4 options to keep him: 
1. His life wouldn't end in death
2. sickness won't impair his health
3. age won't follow his youth
4. misfortune won't destroy his prosperity
• The King couldn't promise him this.
• "Solem as Meru Mountain": Mount Meru = center of universe for Hindu, Jain & Buddhist traditions
• Decides to leave, states w/the True Law that he could bring peace to all men bc the world is corrupt

(Lion rising from the dark.  Pixabay.)

Maybe I could change Siddhartha to a lion cub as he is compared himself to so.  A lion cub seeking peace among the other animals.  He leaves his family for the jungle, an innocent lion knowing nothing of the wild.  It could be a metaphor.

His father could deny this of him or instead of him being a cub, he could be fully grown and leave his wife and cubs.

Rather than the conversation between father and son, could be him talking to a God above.  God offers plenty, but in the end he will learn the the world isn't perfect.  It is perfect in its own way.

He was leaving to find true meaning to life.  Though he's found it realizing that traveling alone, he misses his family.  His family is his true meaning to his life.

There are trials along the way, but those that can be triumphed. 

Bibliography:  Life of Buddha: The Great Truths by Andre Ferdinand Herold.  Link to Reading.

Reading Notes: The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe, Part B

(Man that lives with Wolves.  BoredomTherapy.)

• Abandoned/'forgotten' child found by a wolf.
• She takes him in as her own, he grows up with 4 wolves and the mother.
• He learns the calls/language.
• A 'hunter' finds him and decides to bring him back home.
• Hunter = Prince; wolves chase after until they can't anymore.
• Ailbe becomes Bishop because he is adopted by the Prince.
• Grows older and remembers the wolves' language.
• Wolf-mother finds him, running away from hunters.
• They recognize each other.
• Bishop orders no one to harm them; they come feast with him everyday.

No matter what we look like or what/who we are, family is family.  This will be baseline synopsis for my version:

A pack of wolves try to find food.  They stumble upon a town, dig through rubble to find a boy left in it all.  Mother wolf much confused, decides to take him in; innocent and sweet, naive to the world, she will raise him as her own.

He becomes much like Tarzan or the boy from Junglebook.  Though not quite of age when he gets captured by the rich.  The Prince is a businessman.  Happens to be on a skiing trip and gets lost to only find the boy, about the age of 8-10 years old.  Finds the boy scrounging for food. 

Businessman thinks he's just playing around yet lost and tries to help him find his home, but realizes the boy can't speak so he decides to take him in.  The boy runs, doesn't manage to catch him, but notices he runs for a pack of wolves.  

The man is curious and wonders why wolves.  He heads back up to the mountaintop/ski lodge, still thinking of the boy.  Decides he will go teach the boy.

Bibliography:  Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown.  Link to reading.

Reading Notes: Saint Kentigern and the Robin, Part A

(A Robin.  Flickr.)

• Saint Servan:  'Father'/Teacher of all, highest power
• Saint Kentigern:  praised student, favorite of Saint Servan
• All the other boys want Saint Servan to be angry w/Kentigern
• They bully him.  
• Tried to prove that he was not trustworthy.
• Killed Saint's Robin to show that Kentigern did it and was a bad kid.
• The Robin comes back to life after Kentigern prays.

How should I transform each character and story line?

Rather than being a part of the church, this can be a family household.  Not just a father but there is also a mother.  Three boys that are brothers, one is praised the most for being good, while the others are mischievous. 

Not the fireplace, but laundry and dishes as chores.  The Robin is their pet as well as a cat.  They can surely speak in the end.  The cat is a witness to the boys killing the Robin.

They don't snap his head off, something else happens.....

This can all change as I write.  The cat could even be the one that kills the bird.  The cat may not be theirs, but a stray.

Maybe not a family, but in school.  Grade school, second grade with a teacher and he does not pick favorites but acts as if so.  The occurrences of bullying can happen during recess or in the cafeteria during lunch.

Tie the story into another with flow.

Bibliography:  Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown, link to reading.

Reading Notes: Cupid & Psyche, Psyche's Prayer; Part B

Psyche, desperate for Venus, Cupid's mother, to forgive her for her ‘wrong-doings’ she prays to Ceres (the goddess of harvest) and to Juno (queen of heaven and wife of Jupiter/Zeus).  They will be considered angels or one of her aunt’s and the other Venus’s sister; both of which have grown a bond with Venus through the course of events and/or years prior to Cupid and Psyche together.

(Birth of Venus.  Wikipedia Commons. )

Each lengthy prayers and both willing to help, yet still so close and bonded to Venus, they deny her even though Psyche is with child.  Prayer will be held in a church or in each of their homes.  Offerings will be given as a part of persuasion. 

I will include a specific ritual in honor of the child.  Because the prayer was so intent on specific terms and people, it will be manipulated into a prayer that God will test Psyche for.  Not only will God, but those she sought help from will offer insight on how to get on Cupid’s mother’s good side. 

This story will coincide, immediately after the story of “Her Dream.”  It will carry on from there with a time lapse. 

Bibliography:  Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche translated by Tony Kline.  link to reading online.