Author Archives: Belal Wang

On Top of Spaghetti

Nationality: Japanese American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese, Spanish

“Folklore? I don’t know man, what about that one song, I think we sang it at summer camp, on top of old smokey? On top of Old Smokey, all covered in snow, I found my true lover blah blah blah, I can’t remember all of it. Also wasn’t there that On top of spaghetti song that was pretty much the same thing. Oh yea! On top of spaghetti that was the one. On top of spaghetti, all covered in cheese, I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed. Yea I remember that one when we ate spaghetti or something. Saying it out loud it sounds pretty dumb. But I’m pretty sure we all did it yeah? I don’t know the details of Old Smokey exactly but I remember singing the spaghetti song.”

 

This collection is a good example of multiplicity and variation within folklore. The informant at first sings On top of Old Smokey, but realizes that this is not the version he meant to tell, although the tune is exactly the same. On top of Spaghetti on the other hand is the version widely known according to the informant.

On top of Spaghetti documents the experience of having a meatball slip off a pile of spaghetti, a horrible thing to happen that many have experienced. It is a humorous song that may also alludes to common discontent at the small number of meatballs that accompany the spaghetti dish. It is almost a joke, and this is reflected in the informant telling us that it was a camp song, sang by children to pass he time.

Ice Cream

Nationality: Korean American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean, German

“Well, everyone’s face is round right, like ice cream, so naturally if you make a fist and put it under another person’s head, then you make an ice cream cone. Same goes for hot dog and corn dog. If you point your index finger and put it under someone’s chin then it’s a corn dog, and if you put both of your arms on either side of their head then it’s a hot dog. I guess those don’t really make sense since most heads aren’t shaped like wieners but whatever. I don’t really know where these came from either; a friend did it to me once and it was really funny. I guess people do it to other people because it’s really random and makes them laugh, so if someone doesn’t look like they are having fun you ice cream them?”

The ice cream performs a socializing function amongst friends during the formative years. Ice cream is something that most children enjoy, a reward for their good behavior, and this would translate to childrens’ development of this action. They enjoy eating ice cream, and so the ice cream action would evoke a similarly happy response. It is simple and easy to perform, while being effective at cheering others up, and this could be the reason why it is spread as folklore.

It is also an indicator of being part of a select group, another social function. Most people will probably only ice cream their friends, and thus it is more or less confined to that group. However, encountering another person who understands this action creates an instant familiarity; in fact it might even be reciprocated as “shit on a stick,” another variation of the ice cream.

Ashland’s Troll

Nationality: Korean Chinese American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese, Korean, Spanish

“There’s a young boy named Ashland who is out hiking in the woods one day. For a snack, he packed some bread and cheese. On the hike, he encounters a troll that demands that he tell who he is, as the troll is the ruler of the forest. Ashland is a brave guy, and identifies himself also telling the troll to take a look at a trick he has. He takes out his block of cheese, but tells the troll, “Look at this rock” and squishes the cheese, making the troll think he is very strong if he is able to crush stone so easily. The troll is impressed, and tells the boy he must come eat dinner with him, because a person who is that strong must eat a lot of food. Ashland agrees, but he has another trick up his sleeve. They begin to eat, but after a couple of minutes, Ashland picks up a knife and stabs his stomach with it. The trick is that he had put his backpack under his sweater so he could trick the troll into thinking he could eat more. The troll is so impressed that a small boy could eat as much as him, he demands Ashland tells him the secret. Ashland tells him its simple just cut open your stomach, and so the troll picks up a knife and stabs himself, and dies. And I guess that’s the story of how Ashland got rid of the troll.”

The informant says he learned of this story reading a book of fairy tales as a child. He remembers it well because he says the Ashland’s cleverness really impressed him and his way of defeating the troll without lifting a finger was unique.

This Norwegian story has all the parts of a rite of passage or initiation. Ashland is a young boy, presumably in his teenage years, and goes off by himself into an unknown part of the countryside. He faces a challenge, but with his wisdom and cunning, defeats it easily, doing the people a service and returning home either a grown man or a hero, inspiring others with his quick thinking and achievements. Seeing the explanation of the informant, it is easy to see how this story could have been written to inspire young people. Furthermore, we can infer that this story was created recently, as opposed to in ancient times, using the terminus post quem of the backpack, which was “invented” in 1920.

Story of Two Hill

Nationality: Vietnamese American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: French

“I can’t remember exactly where it was, but I heard it while studying abroad in England.

There are two hills, one big and one small, and this is the story of how those hills were made. The legend is a giant was going to bury a town that made him mad somehow, but on his way to that town, he meets a shoe maker walking in the other direction and the giant asks him how far the next town is. The shoe maker is clever, and shows the giant his shoe collection, saying, “Just look at how many shoes I’ve worn out on the way here. The town is really far away.” Once he hears how far away it is, the giant gets lazy and doesn’t want to walk that far, and instead dumps the dirt he was going to use on the ground, and that’s where the two hills came from.”

The informant says that she learned this story from a stranger while studying abroad in Europe. It is interesting to wonder why a stranger would tell this particular story. It is possible that the stranger wanted to make her feel welcome, and so told a humorous tale to break the ice and welcome her. The laziness of the giant might also be an embodiment of the positive laidback character of the people the stranger is trying to portray.

The folktale also presents many classic traits, such as the humble shoe maker who cleverly deceives the giant, saving the town in the process. However, it is clearly meant to be humorous in nature, setting up anticipation for the story and then suddenly ending it, similar to an anti-joke.

Tabi Po

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 2012
Primary Language: English

“Another thing Filipinos do is they say Tabi Po when they do something that might disturb earth spirits. Almost all Filipinos believe in, and everyone’s heard of the Dwende, which is miniature little spirits that live in the earth and trees and houses and pretty much everywhere. And Tabi Po is basically the way of saying sorry for disturbing you, Dwende. So if you knock over something that a dwende might live in you have to apologize, Tabi Po. If you think about it, it’s kind of dumb, but it’s a Filipino tradition, and I definitely use it when I’m home and drunk and have to pee outside, like, ‘Sorry Dwende for peeing on your home.’”

This tradition is an interesting perspective of Filipino culture. The informant explains that everyone in the Philippines knows of the dwende and when to say Tabi Po, and he probably began using the phrase “Tabi Po” from an early age. Knowing this, we could possibly classify it as a socializing force in Filipino culture. Tabi Po teaches children from an early age that it is important to respect the Earth and the environment. Dwende seems to be synonymous to a sense of personal space and ownership, in American culture what would translate to not disturbing others’ property and nature.

Similarly, Tabi Po also allows Filipinos to understand when they do something wrong, serving as a standard for acknowledging mistakes and accepting responsibilities for actions. Supposedly, by saying Tabi Po, the Dwende forgive the person and leave them alone, synonymous to apologizing for mistakes to maximize respectfulness and minimizing conflict.