Reading Notes: The Headless Princess, Part B

For the reading this week for Part B, I read the Russian Unit. My favorite story was titled The Headless Princess from Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887). I liked this story because it was something unlike I'd ever heard before. It definitely wasn't what I had expected at first glance.

I don't particularly like the ending of the story, so for my version I would make it a more happy story. I think that even though the Princess is a witch, she still has some good in her. Rather than dying, I think the boy should seek out to help her. I also think the character of the little boy should be a bit older, close to the age of the Princess. He wants to help her because he falls in love with her. He only tells her secret to his teacher, and his teacher helps him get closer to the Princess and gives advice on how to win her over.

Instead of making the story about defeating a witch, I want to make it about a boy who is trying to win over a Princess. He knows she is a witch, but he sees past that flaw. In the end the Princess will fall for the boy, and she gives up her witch ways in order to be with him. Her secret will be revealed at the end to all the other characters, and they praise the boy for saving her.

Princess Witch
Source: Pixabay

Reading Notes: Scrapefoot, Part A

For this week's reading I looked into the second unit of English Fairy Tales. My favorite story from part A was Scrapefoot. I liked this story because it's the familiar story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Except, instead of Goldilocks, the character is a fox named Scrapefoot. The story comes from More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs.

If I were to choose to rewrite this story this week, I would make the main character Goldilocks instead of the fox because I like the original story that I've always known. I would also like to change the different things that she does while she is in the house. I would like to make the story more modern, so when Goldilocks enters the bears' home she will tamper with other things. For example, I had an idea that she would mess with different TVs in the home. The dad has the biggest TV in the living room, the mom has a middle-sized TV, and then the baby bear has the smallest TV. Goldilocks will alter all of their preset favorite channels. She will also tamper with some of their foods. Finally, she will break the baby bear's bed.

When the bear family arrives back home, instead of throwing Goldilocks out, the family will welcome her and accept her apology. They will be understanding and decide to be friends and welcome her as a visitor anytime she wants to come back.

I only wanted to change the ending to a more happy ending because I don't like how they throw her out. Even though it's reasonable to throw an intruder out. It's hard to change such a well-known story too much.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Uraschimataro and the Turtle, Part B

For Part B this week I stuck with the Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang) Unit. My favorite story from this unit was Uraschimataro and the Turtle. It was one of the longer stories, but I enjoyed all of it. I didn't see any of it coming, and it kept me interested the whole time I read it. 

First, I like how his good deed of saving the small, young turtle paid off for him later in life. He was warned by the elders to be careful of the sea swallowing him, but he paid no attention. When that very thing happened, he was rescued by the same, now older turtle. The turtle does not take him home, like I thought he would do. Instead, he takes him deep, down into the sea where he meets the princess and stays there forever.

When I retell this story, there is one key thing I want to change. The princess told him not to open the box, or he would never see her again. When he goes back to visit his parents and 300 years have passed, I thought that was very sad. So, when he opens the box, it will reverse time back to when he left. He will not be able to see the princess again, but he made that decision because he knew that this is the life he is meant to live. He will reunite with his family, and he never sees the turtle or princess again. 

Story Source: Uraschimataro and the Turtle from The Pink Fairy Book by Andrew Lang 

Sea Turtle

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: The Stonecutter, Part A

This week I chose to read the stories from the Japanese Fairytales Unit (Lang). The story that I focused on was titled The Stonecutter. I liked this story because it incorporated a a valuable lesson in the end. I did not think that the man should be turned back into a human after making all of the different wishes and being ungrateful. If I were to rewrite the story I would have the man be forced into staying a rock, because he ran out of wishes. He wished 5 times total because he was never satisfied, so I think the spirit should use his wish of being a cloud as punishment for being ungrateful. He will be forced to be a cloud, all droopy and gloomy, with only the purpose of showering the lands. He is still taught a valuable lesson, but all actions have consequences.

I'm trying to find new ways to tell stories so I may experiment with a different technique this week, but I will for sure change the outcome of the story. I want to try changing the setting of a story, but I don't know how I could do that with this story, without changing some of the important elements.

I would also like to make the spirit a more prominent figure. It is never seen throughout the story, only heard. The man will meet the spirit one day when he is working, and he will be in disbelief as he thought that the mountain spirit was a hoax. The spirit will find him each time he wishes for something and try to grant it.

Story Source: The Stonecutter, from The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

Stonecutter

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: How the Turtle Saved His Own Life, Part A

For extra credit reading, I chose to read some stories from the Jataka Tales Unit. The story that I enjoyed the most was titled How the Turtle Saved His Own Life. I like stories that either have a lesson in them, or have a character outsmarting someone. In this book, the turtle is the genius and outsmarts all of the other characters. He saves his own life by convincing the others to throw him back into the water, which they think will kill him.

They think the turtle is a demon, simply because they have never seen a turtle before. If I were to rewrite this story, I would give them a better reason for wanting to kill the turtle. Maybe the turtle would make the princes angry in a way. They loved to play in the lake with the fish, so maybe the turtle could scare away some fish. The boys would not like that.

When the men suggest a way to kill the turtle, and they decide to throw him into the water, a different man will object to the idea. He will state that he might not die because water was the place that they found him in the first place. No one will listen to him, and they want to go through with this plan because it is by far the easiest of them all.

Another way I would change the story, is to add on to the ending. The turtle lives, but I would like him to come back to the lake to let the princes know that he lived. He wants to rub it in their faces that they were ignorant and let him live, and then he leaves the area forever so that he will not be captured again. He knows that if they were to ever capture him again, they would kill him immediately. All of the men are embarrassed because the man who objected was right.

Bibliography: How the Turtle Saved His Own Life from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Western Pond Turtle

Source: Wikimedia Commons