Essay for Week 5: Insanity

Insanity

(Shah Abbas in Persia, Source: Wikipedia)

I am actually really stumped for what to write about for this week's essay. The stories in the Persian Tales unit are very odd. Very hard to follow. They are very entertaining, don't get me wrong, but they did not have any point or logic. It was almost as if the point of the stories got lost in translation from Persian to English. I feel like these stories were meant for children, to an extent. The death aspect of the tales are what prevent me from fully thinking they're for kids.

For example, The Wolf and the Goat, was a good story for kids. It told them to not give up on what they want. It also shows kids that moms are determined to keep them safe. The goat kills the wolf by means of over drinking water in order to get her kids back. She was so determined and not afraid of the big bad wolf because her kids were in harm's way. This was an odd story, but the ideas given are positive ones.

The City of Nothing in the World was ESPECIALLY weird and hard to follow for me. There was absolutely no point! There also was no death, which made this the most kid friendly story of them all! Kids are really good at weaving crazy stories at the drop of a hat and this seemed like a tale straight from the mouth of babes! Eggs magically turning into chickens, making poles out of needles, gigantic watermelons being fallen into, and cities inside fruits. I never would have come up with this.

The one story that made any sense was Shah Abbas and the Poor Mother. This ine was a story for kids on how to be good to others no matter the circumstances. The weird part of this one was that when the Shah was nice to the mother, it backfired and she was arrested for stealing something she didn't steal. He was nice and honorable a second time around and everything turned out really well for the mother and the kids! The bad guys were arrested and everyone lived happily ever after. This one probably made sense because bringing a bad name to the King of Iran would have been punishable by death. Either they think very highly of their king or they made a nice story about him to keep their lives. It makes sense! Raising children on the idea that they should love their rulers. It's very good.

Storytelling for Week 5- Inception: Persian Style

Inception: Persian Style

There once was a time where only God existed.

But there also was a young girl that was very accident prone and who lived in Norman, Oklahoma. One day she fell from her tree-house and cut her arm pretty badly. After a few days of healing, she went to her grandmother's house to use some antibiotic ointment.

The girl skipped her way to grandma's house only to be told that her grandma was all out of ointment! "Here my child," said Gran as she handed the girl two balloons, "Take these to the CVS on Asp and see if the pharmacist doesn't have any ointment you can trade him for."

(The Two Balloons Source: Balloons)

When the girl returned to her grandmother's house, this is the tale she told:

"I went to CVS, and on the way there I lost the two balloons. I was so upset, but I put my hands in my pocket and I found a penny. I wanted to get my balloons back, so I gave the penny to the pharmacist and he made a crow's nest out of a string.

"I climbed all the way up to the top of that crow's nest and looked all around Campus Corner to see if I couldn't spot the balloons. I saw one of my balloons had turned into one of the red telephone booths in front of Cafe Plaid, and the other was making donuts way far over in Hurts.

"So I told myself: "First, I'll go and get the donut worker balloon," and I went over to Hurts and said to the owner, "Give me back my balloon and his salary too, because he's been working unfairly for you." We discussed the situation at length and the owner agreed for me to have 200 donuts. I had no bag to hold my donuts, so I borrowed a cup from Chimey's and rode my balloon to Boyd Street because I wanted to sell my donuts.

(Hurts Donuts! Source: Om Nom Nom)

"Half way there, the balloon grew tired and I asked the people there what I should do to fix him. One of the men told me to rub grass on him and let him sleep a night. When I woke up I saw that a grass patch had grown on the balloon and that there was a huge apple also growing from the grass.

"I took my knife and cut the apple in half, only to have it fall into its enormous depths. Naturally, I put on my bathing suit and climbed into the apple to retrieve my knife. I was completely submerged in the apple and saw that there was an entire city there! I decided to grab a bite to eat from the local Pita Pitt and when I was done, I saw a piece of lettuce on my wrapper and I tried to pick it up.

"Upon picking up the lettuce, an entire train of schooner wagons came filling out! There were at least 8, but I didn't see any of the rest for I found my knife in my sun hat!"

And now my story has come to its end, but the chicken never crossed the road.


Author's Note: This week's Storytelling is based off of The City of Nothing In The World form the Persian Tales Unit. I found this story to be so extremely odd that I couldn't pass it up! You think my version is weird? Take the time to read the original!

Bibliography: D.L.R. Lorimer, E.O. Lorimer. Persian Tales: The City of Nothing in the World, 1919.

Week 5 Reading Diary: Persian Tales

Persian Tales

The Wolf and the Goat

What an odd story. The little goat was not scared of the wolf at all and she just out smarted him in a snap! Wolves always seem to be out smarted in the end, though, no mater the culture. Funny the goats means of killing him was to make him drink a lot of water, that was different. Never mess with a mom of any creature, that's for sure. Mom's will kill for their babies.

The City of Nothing In The World

All of these stories start with, "Once upon a time there was a time when there was no one but God." But then these stories all have creatures in them other than God...
Also, what? This story makes no sense. Her eggs turned into a chicken and a rooster? How did she know they were hers? ....there was a town in the watermelon? And traffic? And what's with this sparrow that never goes home?

Susku and Mushu

Again, what the actual heck? These stories are so weird. And there is no point to any of them. A mouse and a beetle get married? And then every creature up to the humans are suicidal over the beetle's death... Odd.

The Boy Who Became A Bulbul

OH MY GAWH WHAT THE HECK IS THIS STORY EVEN SUPPOSED TO TEACH?! Killing children? Revenge? No remorse? No.

The Praying Baker

This tale isn't so bad! It makes sense and shows the importance of continuous prayer. I liked this one the most because it made sense.

The Sad Tale of the Mouse's Tail

Wow. I don't like this one either. Yet again. What the heck. Shouldn't the mouse be dead now since it lost its tail? And didn't the mouse lose her tail because of karma because she was stealing? Seriously? Weird.

The Story of the Wolf-Bride

Yeah...this made no sense. All I'm getting out of this is that one should not marry their cousin. Or try to change fate I guess? SO strange.

Tortoise Bowl on the Back and Fox

I agree that everyone who is greedy should be put to shame, but the turtles cheated. Hard core. That isn't fair either. I don't get these morals at all.

The Shepard Who Found a Treasure

This one was weird too. Dreams are so awesomely wonderful though so I'm not weirded out about this one as much as the others. Yay for the shepard finding the jewels and not having to work ever again!

Shah Abbas and the Poor Mother

Wow the Shah is a wonderful man! This story shows just how people perceived him while he reigned over Iran. I'm learning about him in my Modern Iran class, so it's really cool to hear a story about him not related to a history textbook.