Extra Reading Diary B: Japan (Ozaki) Unit

I finished up the latter half of the Japan (Ozaki) unit. The story I liked the best out of the whole unit was the Ogre of Rashomon. The story built everything up so well. The story appealed to the senses extremely well! The dark setting and harsh weather really popped out at me. The warrior was also a badass to the end! The warrior won both times when he faced the ogre. There was no rise and fall of the warrior, which I really enjoyed. I didn’t expect the story to end the way it did.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading that the warrior triumphed over the ogre. It showed how great he was. The old nurse character was great. I knew something was up with her obviously, but I didn’t expect her to be the ogre itself. I thought it was interesting that the ogre sought the return of its arm so baldy. I guess they have healing abilities or something.  That was the only thing that confused me. Why does it needs its dead arm? I did think it was clever for the warrior to use it as bait, even though he missed the second opportunity to kill it. He still won because the ogre fled and never returned. It is someone else’s problem. Moving on though, this was a great story to read.

(Image from monsterwiki)

Storytelling Week 7: The Clash of Power

There once was a woman who lived alone in the woods with her son.  She chose this life of solitude to protect her son from the evil emperor. Her son was very unique, and she knew if the emperor ever found out about him, he would take him for his own purposes. The boy was unique in a couple of ways. He was stronger than two grown men and he could talk with and control animals.

The child was born in a time of war. The emperor sought to rule the world, and would do whatever necessary to complete his conquest. He showed mercy to no one, and if others sought to rebel he would first kill their family and than them.  People feared and hated their dreadful emperor; however, no one could stop him or overthrow him. The king himself had the unique gift as the child in the woods.

When the woman realized her son had the gift similar to the emperor’s, she her son could either be the one to overthrow the emperor or be the tool to help him finally succeed in his conquest.  That is why she fled to the woods.

The woman spent years training her son in the ways of combat. Before she was a wife and mother, the woman was one of the most feared samurais ever to have lived. The child had learned everything thing his mother could teach him by the age of fifteen. The mother always warned the child to never show his true strength or ability, in fear that one of the emperor’s loyal spies would see him and report him to the emperor.

One day the child was out with his animal friends. They were taking turns wrestling to see who was the strongest. The day went on and they continued to fight. A man walked by and saw the child playing with the animals. He was a loyal subject of the emperors and recognized the gift the child and the emperor shared. Seeing the similarities the man immediately fled to the emperor to report what he had seen.

Upon hearing the news, the emperor felt a very unfamiliar chill go down his spine. He had to see the boy himself. Disguised as an old woodcutter, he went in search of this mystery child. He came across the site where the boy and his animal companions where wrestling. He watched the whole time until they were done. Once the boy and animals where finished they returned home for the night. The emperor was amazed at the boy’s skills and strength. He knew he must gain the allegiance of the child if he wanted to succeed in his conquest. He devised a plan on how to win his allegiance. The emperor followed the boy home and went in to meet with him. As soon as he entered, he recognized the mother immediately! At that moment the emperor knew the boy would never join him and must be killed.

The boy and the mother were sitting down when the emperor entered. The mother sprang up ready to fight as soon as she recognized him; however she was too slow. The emperor reacted first by rushing in a breaking her neck. He than turned his attention to the child, who was in complete shock of what had just happened. With a hot rage of sorrow and anger the boy charged at the man.

They tore their way threw the house and forest battling with each other. Neither had fought anybody that was equal in strength and skill. They fought and attacked each other for hours, until they came to a cliff. The boy still hot with anger and sorrow realized what must be done. Grabbing the emperor, the boy lunged over the edge. The emperor screamed in terror, the boy however felt a calm gentle peace. A peace only a mother could provide. He knew this was the right thing to do; neither of them should live with this much power.

Authors Note’s: This story is adopted from the Adventures of Kintaro within the Japan (Ozaki) Unit. The original story had the child joining the ranks in the military. The emperor was not evil as well. I put the conflict twist in my story to spice up the drama. The original was had a happy ending and no antagonist. It is a very heartwarming story and if you have time, I could recommend you read it. The image can be found from Dailymail.

Reading Diary A: Japan (Ozaki)

This week I read the Japan unit Ozaki. The story that stuck out most to me was Kintaro. I found a lot of the highlights pretty random but still vey interesting, especially the wrestling match with the animals. First off I really don’t think a hare could every beat a monkey or a deer. I don’t know how all three tied in the matches. But the character himself was pretty cool. I liked how strong the child was and how he was able to use that to climb the ranks in the emperor’s army so quick. I also liked how he kept his problem to his mother in the end. Having both power and a heart is extremely hard to come by, but Kintaro had is all. The story made him seem like a superhero. He was a child and could cut tree faster that the woodcutters themselves. He could speak to animals (not sea animals like stupid aqua man). His four friends were the bear, deer, monkey, and hare, and he could talk to them all. The dude was literally the whole package and that is what drew me to this story in particular. I am surprised he didn’t beat the general in their competition, which is a huge testament to the general himself. I liked how they stayed with a samurai. That made it so obvious which culture we are in when reading this story. I also really like samurais too. That have such honor, power, and respect, It is no wonder why Kintaro became one in the first palce.

(Image from Wikipedia)

Storytelling for Week 6: The Two Brothers

There once was a small village hidden away in the jungle. Within the village lived a well-known man and his little brother, and the townspeople thought very highly of the older brother. He was the greatest hunter and warrior in the village, and provided food and protection for the entire village. The younger brother was a different story. He was constantly compared to his brother and fell short in the townspeople’s eyes every time.  They never paid any attention to his help if it wasn’t either hunting or fighting. He always cleaned up after the feast and ceremonies, looked after the elderly, and build houses for the widow. The others always overlooked those deeds mostly because they wanted him to be more like the older brother; they only thought highly of hunters or warriors. Even his brother would look down on him.

One day an elder’s chicken got out of its pen. The younger brother immediately went to find it. He followed the tracks deep into the untamed forest for days. He finally found the chicken by a stream only to find that another had killed it. Tired form his journey he fell asleep by the stream only to be awaken by a beautiful women! The women told him the spirits found him to be of a pure heart and wanted to reward him. Anything he grew or killed doubled in quantity. The woman insisted that he take her as his wife, which he did. The younger brother decided not to return to his village and build a home next to the stream where he met his wife.

Years have passed since the younger brother left his village. He had numerous children with his wife and lived a life of abundance and peace. The spirits provided him with plenty of food and the stream never dried up. The younger brother was happy and had a family that cherished and loved him.

One day the younger brother was walking through the forest and ran into his older brother hunting. After catching up, the older brother informed him of the famine that the village. He could see the hunger in his brother’s eyes and could not bear to see him in so much pain. He told his brother to gather the townspeople and come live with him and his new family. He showed him how much food and water he had, which was more than enough for both villages. The older brother thanked him and returned to retrieve the townspeople.

When the older brother brought the townspeople to the younger brother’s village they shouted with rejoice:

“How great is he, the oldest of the two? He led of safely to a place of paradise. Let us build him a statue in his honor next to this stream in!”

Author's Note: This story is adopted from the Vanishing Wife from Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898). The original story is about a brother who fleas home and lives on his own. Later on he has a dream about finding a wife. Once he wakes he repeats what happens in his dream and when he returns home he finds a woman (his wife) and her children. The only thing he must do to keep her is to cut the heads off of the fish he catches. The two he left hears about his fortune and are jealous. His brother who mistreats him goes to see if it is true. On the day his brother goes to see him, he does not cut the heads off of the fish and everything he has vanishes right before his brother arrives. He returned to his miserable state he was originally in. I wanted the main character to be more likable and honorable, as well as keep the happiness he found. I wanted to keep his intentions good to. He never helped others for his benefit, always for their benefit. That is why I kept the townspeople ungrateful towards him. The image is from Mongabay.

Reading Diary B: Congo Unit

The Three Brothers was the most interesting story from the latter half of the Congo unit. It was kind of funny how that worked for me, saving the best for last was true in this circumstance. The story had a happy ending conclusion. Nobody died or vanished, which is a nice change from the bulk of the stories. The three brothers were together since birth and left in a field by their mother. After their mother abandoned them, they stumbled upon a spirit river that guided and provided for the brothers. The river also provided wives for them as well. They went on to build a community with their families and created a very happy and successful life. Their mother later heard of their success and went looking for them; furthermore, when they found out about her looking for them, they took her in and provided for her. I liked the forgiveness theme in the story. Even though their mother left them to die, they still forgave her later in life. They were the bigger person for sure. This may be a stretch, but I think it can show the importance of family. They never split up, and they provided for the ones they care about I like twisted endings for the most part, but it is still nice to have a cool happy ending like this story. I also think it is cool that wives just randomly appear for men in this unit. I am waiting for my trees to give me a wife now.

(Image of three brothers from Brother Bear, I found it from DisneyWiki)