Monthly Archives: May 2015

“Devil Frying Pan”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 18 March 2015
Primary Language: English

Text:

The devil is in hell beating his wife with a frying pan.

Background:

My mom told it to me probably in Louisiana on one of my trips there because she learned it from her family who’s lived in rural southern Louisiana for a long time which I think is important cuz it’s not so much a Cajun thing as a southern Louisiana thing. I like how it doesn’t mean anything, it’s just a funny image that really has no significance when uttered, it’s just something people associate. If I don’t like anything about it, it’s that kinda same thing that this weird nonsensical thing about violence related to rain. I can only imagine that it caught on when one guy was like oh man this is such a weird occurance that there must be something going on in the other world so he just said something super ridiculous and outlandish and it caught on. I think that’s why people remember it, I think that’s why I remember it.

Context:

Whenever you see the sun out while it’s raining, not like behind a cloud or whatever, like it’s shining bright, but it’s raining. And you just know, Satan’s doing his thing.

My Thoughts:

I’m really interested to know if there’s more mythology about the devil’s wife. Is that just the sun in this context? Or could the sun be the frying pan since it’s round? Anyway, I also want to know if there are more sayings like this which have the same context of raining while the sun is out. I suppose that phenomenon is only observable in certain parts of the world, so it wouldn’t happen everywhere. But it is bizarre enough that I would think other cultures would have some sort of saying or ritual to accompany it.

“Three Dead Sisters”

Nationality: Chinese American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 30 April 2015
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Text:

At my high school, we were located right next to a graveyard. There was always like… so right after WWII, right after the British left, they found three bodies of three dead girls. Like my High School was a hospital during WWII, and they found the bodies in a stairwell. People say whenever it rains, the lights flash on and off and people say it’s the girls haunting the school and if you look to the graveyard, you can see three candles being lit in commemoration of them. I went to high school in Hong Kong, it used to be called King George V School. If you go to that back stairwell, the temperature drops – only in the specific area they passed away. I can confirm that it’s cold right in that specific place. There’s a weird chill and it’s eerie – and it’s all artificial light, not natural light. I heard the girls were sisters –  the daughters of a high ranking British officer. When someone else invaded the school/hospital, he put them there to be safe but he never came back for them so they died of starvation. Oh, and they were all under the age of 13.

Background:

Everybody at my high school knew the legend. Students, teachers would joke about it. There’s historical evidence my high school was a war hospital. I don’t believe in the legend, but whenever I go to that staircase no matter what temperature it is outside, it’s chilly despite having no airflow or anything there… and on the day of their anniversary three fires do get lit from the graveyard and I have no idea who does it. I think people tell it because it’s entertaining and gives our school a little history and backstory. It’s kinda spooky and fun and yeah.

Context:

Whenever there’s a typhoon or something like that, and the lights flicker we’ll talk about it. Otherwise it’s just whenever anything generally creepy happens. And you always tell it to incoming freshmen. Seniors always tell it during initiation or whatever, to pass the story on.

My Thoughts:

The most interesting part about this story to me is that the informant personally felt the chill and saw the three lights in the graveyard – I guess my first instinct is to think that some students must go do it every year, but my informant said she never heard of anyone taking on that responsibility, and she felt like she probably would have known. In any case, I think it’s cool that this story gives this school character and it’s fun to think about how the story influence’s people’s physical perception of that hallway, or maybe there’s some weird way to explain the cold feeling with physics?

“Picasso’s Castle”

Nationality: Chinese American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 30 April 2015
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Text:

Where I live in the south of France is kinda remote and there’s this giant castle like 10 minutes away. It’s on this hill and no one can access it except for government people. It’s super off limits. It used to be Picasso’s home during his prime. When he passed away, his daughter took the house and sold it to some people, to a couple actually, and the woman murdered her husband for cheating. And they had to dogs who are said to have witnessed the murder. Anyway, that’s why the castle is closed to the public. But whenever we drive by or see it from afar, you can always hear dogs barking, no matter what. So the story goes that the dogs who witnessed the murder are calling on other dogs to help save their master. I had a summer home there in the south of France, that’s why I know the story. I personally experienced hearing the dogs. If you do drive as close to the house as you can, there are two dog statues in front of the gate that look like domestic, docile dogs – not like guard dogs or anything, they look kinda like golden retrievers. Oh, and before the house belonged to Picasso, it belonged to Cezanne who was an artist in the era of Van Goh, and the locals say the place became haunted because the house wasn’t passed on to another artist after Picasso.

Background:

We were driving past the house one time and we were just like “Why are there so many dogs?” and eventually we ended up talking to this local who’d lived there like his whole life and he told us the story. It’s just this big empty castle with tons of rooms not being used because of this legend. I like the story, it’s kinda funky. Part of me believes it because there are a lot of dogs, but they could just be strays and it’s a big coincidence.

Context:

Everyone in the town already knows. The locals don’t exactly make a point to tell tourists about it. They’ll talk about it if you ask, but they won’t bring it up – I don’t think they want it to be a tourist attraction. It’s kinda there for you to discover I guess.

My Thoughts:

The most interesting part of the story to me is that the origin of the curse is said to come from the fact that Picasso didn’t pass the castle along to another artist. It reinforces this idea of property within communities I think – specifically the artistic community in this case. Like only someone in the same vein of fame would be worthy of the house.

“Torah Kissing Before a Journey”

Nationality: Iranian American
Age: 19
Occupation: Singer
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 30 April 2015
Primary Language: English

Text:

We have a fancy book of Torah from Iran in our house that we keep near the door. Everytime one of us is going on a trip or somewhere particularly important we do this thing where someone holds the book over your head at the doorway and you walk under it, turn around and come back inside under it, kiss the book and then exit the house from under it. You’re not supposed to turn around and look at the house again until you come home. It’s symbolic and about going back to honor your traditions and having the Torah be the last thing you see or do before going somewhere.

Background:

My mom was the one who first taught me about it when I was really little. The first time I remember her teaching it to me was when we were going to the hospital for my little brother to be born. I was three years old. I like the tradition a lot because it makes me feel protected somehow. I don’t think of myself as really superstitious, and I’ve never noticed a correlation of like amazing outcomes for events with this ritual, but it always made me feel better somehow. Especially since the book came from Iran, I think I liked that part best, cuz it made me feel like my ancestors had my back or something.

Context:

We do it whenever something significant is happening. I don’t think there are like specific guidelines – it’s kinda like knocking on wood for good luck right? You just kinda feel it out and decide what you want to do it for. I did this before I took my SAT’s, before leaving for college, and other important events like that. It was also for events like my brothers being born, so it’s not just a personal thing I guess – you can do it to wish luck on someone else if you’re going to an event that you want to go well in general.

My Thoughts:

I think it was cool my informant made the comparison to knocking on wood because while she was telling me the story, I was pretty forcefully reminded of that ritual because my family practices it. I really appreciate that this version creates a strong connection to ancestors and faith in family. By participating in it, my informant both draws upon her personal family history and contributes to it for future generations.

“The Gold Shitting Donkey”

Nationality: Iranian American
Age: 19
Occupation: Singer
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 30 April 2015
Primary Language: English

Text:

This might be a little long but it’s highly entertaining. A lot of the time around dinner we’d request to hear them again and my dad or someone would tell the story in Farsi and they’re all about this fictional character named mullah nasradin. (Mullah is the respectful title for a religious leader) and he’s this buffoonish character who does stupid shit. One of the stories was mullah nasradin is trying to sell a donkey in the market that no one wants and comes up with this idea to shove a gold coin up the donkeys ass, feed it a sugar cube, and wait for the donkey to fart and then try to sell the donkey as a donkey that shits gold coins. So he does this and ends up seeking the donkey to an Iranian prince who locks the donkey in a room full of sugar cubes for a week hoping to come back to a room full of gold coins. The punch line essentially is that he opens the door and there’s a rotting donkey corpse and a bunch of poop in the room a week later. It’s really not that well conceived of a plot in English but somehow it’s a hilarious twist in Farsi. I’m sorry I don’t know how to tell it in Farsi, I can understand the language but not speak it well at all.

Background: Like I said I heard most of these stories from my dad at dinner or at holidays. To me it’s just a funny story – I guess I never thought about it as having so much meaning to it but just as a cute fairytale. I like it because it’s a part of my childhood.

Context: This isn’t exactly a party story, it’s more something that’s told on holidays around closer family and friends. There are these like extended jokes that are told usually to children and they’re just funny stories. My family wasn’t super traditional Persian, so mostly we’d hear these things on Christmas or whatever. But I always remembered them as being a pretty distinctly cultural thing that my other friends didn’t know.

My Thoughts:

I think it’s really interesting that my informant mentioned that her non-Persian friends didn’t know the stories because it creates a separation of cultures and also a similarity that Persians can bond over knowing. I think the piece itself has a meaning of ingenuity – it seems to place blame on the buyer for not adequately researching his purchase beforehand. In this way, it seems to be a cautionary tale for preventing “buyer’s remorse.”