Author Archives: Miguel Garcia

Remedy for Indigestion

My aunt was helping me learn to drive. During one of our lessons, I remembered what my grandma had done when my younger cousin got sick. I asked my aunt about the remedy and this is what she had to say:

“Do you mean ‘La sobada para el empacho’ (The Remedy for Indigestion)? Your grandma did that on all of us all the time while we were growing up. It really does work, just look at Alex (my younger cousin), he got better didn’t he? What you have to do is… let me think… your grandma will take castor oil and mix it with a spice called ‘brassica nigra’. She place it on a fire and let it sizzle for a while, then she’ll move it onto a pot and let it boil. Then, she’ll add water. Before it begins to boil, she removes the pot from the fire and begins to grind the mixture. She’ll place the pot  back on the fire until the mixture boils, and the water turns as black as coffee. After that’s happened, she’ll add milk to help it cool down. She begins by rubbing castor oil on the hands, elbows, knees, and feet on whoever she’s trying to cure. After she’ll take the mixture and feed the person a spoonful. The rest is used to massage the stomach and intestine area. You let the oils sink in and they should get better. I always did.”

Collector Analysis:

According to my aunt, this is a genuine remedy. She has personally experienced the healing qualities of this remedy. She says that the remedy is for indigestion but also food poisoning, as it helps children release everything they’ve recently eaten. Folk medicine is an interesting category because even modern medicine is based in folklore. I wonder what kind of characteristics the ingredients in this remedy have to offer, or why the remedy even works.  I, personally, have not experienced the remedy because my mother does not believe in it. However, I will say that my younger cousin did get better after my grandma had finished. Coincidence?

Japanese Frog Proverb

My friend and I got to one of our classes early. While we waited I asked her if she knew any folklore. She happily gave me a legend about the Mid-Autumn Festival. She also gave me two proverbs. Here is the second:

“井の中の蛙大海を知らず (I no naka no kawazu taikai wo shirazu)  translates to “A frog in the well doesn’t know the great sea.”

I asked her what the proverb meant, here is what she said:

“I don’t like this one as much as the monkey proverb. I’ve also heard this one less from my dad because I feel like this is a more specific proverb. Like it can only be used in so many different ways. My dad can literally work the Moneky proverb into basically anything. But this proverb is a little harder. I call this one the Frog Proverb, for obvious reasons. Basically, it means you shouldn’t judge because we each have our own narrow experience of the world. The well is the way we see and perceive the world. As much as we like to think we know the great sea because all of our experiences are limited we can’t ever fully perceive and understand the world like others do. Like I said, I’ve only heard it a few times though.”

Collector Analysis:

Firstly, I found it funny that both the proverbs my friend provided for me had to deal with animals. I’m sure Japanese culture is flooded with proverbs, but I find it beyond coincidental that the two Japanese proverbs I collected were animal based. This probably speaks to the emphasis traditional Japanese culture places on nature. Secondly, this proverb has a completely different feel from the monkey proverb. I feel like the monkey proverb is playful, but this proverb sounds more along the lines of sacred knowledge. To me, the frog proverb is depressing. I interpret the frog proverb in the sense that the frog believes he is in the great sea as he only knows the well. He knows no different and he doesn’t know that beyond the horizon lies a vast ocean. So I feel like the frog proverb basically points out everyone’s ignorance by telling us that our idea of the world isn’t close to the actual world at all.

Japanese Monkey Proverb

My friend and I got to one of our classes early. While we waited I asked her if she knew any folklore. She happily gave me a legend about the Mid-Autumn Festival. She also gave me two proverbs. Here is the first:

“さるも　き　から　おちる (saru mo ki kara ochiru).” translates to “Even monkeys fall from trees.”

I asked her what the proverb meant, here is what she said:

“Well, ‘Even monkeys fall from trees’ is a really famous Japanese proverb. I’ve heard it from pretty much every person of my dad’s side of the family… its like basically saying even the best will fail. So like during my family game nights, my mom usually dominates trivia but sometimes if my dad wins, which rarely happens, he’ll say the proverb to my mom just as a reminder that she’s still better than him at trivia, it was probably just an off day. So, yeah… its kind of similar to ‘everyone makes mistakes’ but not quite. I think this proverb is more specific because its like no matter how good you are at something, you can slip, and that’s okay.”

Collector Analysis:

I thought this was a very beautiful proverb. The message of accepting failure is so important and I think it is a beneficial proverb to grow up hearing because it teaches not to fear failure because it is only natural. So many people think that to be successful means to never fail, but success is measured in the amount of times someone failed and got right back up to try again. This proverb really gets the point across about how natural failing is. I really wish I had grown up hearing this proverb because coming from a family member this proverb is endearing and uplifting. I wonder if other cultures have a similar proverb.

The Brother Sun and The Sister Moon

I had lunch with a good friend on Sunday. During the lunch, he told me three legends. Here is the third:

“Once upon a time there was a widow who had a set of twins, a boy and a girl. Everybody mistreated the widow because she had the children out of wedlock with a man nobody knew. Everybody pushed them away into the forest, where the mother made a nest for her and her children. Seldom did the villagers know that the children had gifts. The baby boy had the sun on his forehead and the girl had the moon on her forehead. Every time the mother went back into the village she would be harassed by the villagers until she found someone nice enough to give her what it was she needed, usually food. One day the village’s electricity was destroyed because of a recent storm that had passed through. After three weeks without electricity the villagers realized that they needed light in order to function, during the nighttime. One night somebody from the village realized that there was a bright light shining from the forest, he gathered everyone and together they followed the direction the light was coming from. They realized that the light was coming from the foreheads of the two children and ran into the widow before they could reach them. All the villagers began to apologize for their cruelty towards the mother and begged for her forgiveness, so that they could get the light from her children. The mother forgave them and allowed them to use the light from her children, and the village continued to prosper.”

Collector Analysis:

My friend is not particularly fond of ‘The Brother Sun and The Sister Moon’. He says that it is his older sister’s favorite, so while they were growing up she would often request it before bed. Meanwhile, my friend would often request ‘The Turtle and the Prince’. While the latter legend was told best by his mother, ‘The Brother Sun and The Sister Moon’ is, and remains best told by his grandmother. My friend does not think very much of this legend. In fact, during our lunch he had trouble thinking of a third legend until he finally settled on this one.

I find this legend the hardest to follow of the three Congolese legends my friend told me. The message I take away from this legend is to be forgiving and to help others no matter what. The legend has a strong family oriented message because it is about a village prospering. Additionally, despite her mistreatment by the village, the widow forgives and allows her children to help them. I think this legend delivers an important message to children about forgiveness which is probably why the legend was so relevant during my friend’s childhood.

The Turtle and the Prince

I had lunch with a good friend on Sunday. During the lunch, he told me three legends. Here is the second:

“There was once a turtle that nobody liked. He was ugly and walked so slow, annoying everybody behind him and would take up space because of how large he was. The turtle was yelled, thrown mud and kicked at everyday. In the nighttime the turtle would ask the villagers for a place to spend the night. Thus, the turtle created a mud hut far in the forest to spend the night, no body knew that at night she turned into the most beautiful woman in the village. Nobody in the village knew that she could transform into a beautiful woman and kept the secret her entire life. In the morning, she would return to turtle form and would endure the same mistreatment as before. One day she asked for a place to spend the night and a castle guard felt pity for her and gave her a little room to spend the night. The room that she slept in just happened to be directly across from that of the prince’s. That night the prince decided to get fresh air, he stepped onto the balcony and saw the turtle transform into the beautiful woman. After the prince saw her they fell in love and married one another. Upon their marriage the curse was lifted and they lived happily ever after.”

Collector Analysis:

Before my friend told me the actual legend, he made sure to tell me that this was his favorite. He distinctly remembers how his mother would tuck him and his siblings into bed before she would tell ‘The Turtle and the Prince’. In a way, this legend was a way for my friend’s mother to help integrate Congolese culture with American culture. My friend expressed thinking about this legend whenever he missed home or reminisced about his childhood.

I understood exactly where my friend was coming from because I also hold old bedtime stories close to my heart. Bedtime stories are truly the best way to maintain a connection to the past, especially childhoods. My mom used to tell me a story very similar to Swan Lake. I found interesting parallels between the two legends. For example, both stories include a beautiful woman who transforms into an animal (turtle or swan) at night. In both stories, the curse is broken by a prince and everyone lives happily ever after. In a way, my friend and I grew up in completely different cultures but we were raised hearing very similar stories.