Category Archives: Narrative

Tale of Crab Maga

My informant told me a tale of Crab Maga also known as “Why Mosquitoes Buzz In Our Ears,”. It is a Filipino children’s tale and was read to her my her Filipino grandmother when she was about six years old. The tale goes as follows: The story of “Crab Maga,” evolves around a king crab named Maga who struggles with insomnia. To help him sleep, he calls upon the frogs from the village to sing him a lullaby. However, his loud snoring causes rain, which amuses the frogs. When Maga wakes up and learns that the frogs were laughing at a snail carrying its house, he orders his sheriff, another crab, to arrest the snail.

The snail explains that it was laughing at a firefly, which leads Maga to send the sheriff after the firefly. The firefly, in turn, claims it was trying to find a mosquito that was bothering it. When the mosquito arrives, it is unafraid of Maga and mocks him, leading to a confrontation where Maga kills the mosquito. However, this action provokes a swarm of mosquitoes that attack Maga, targeting his weak spots. In fear, Maga and his sheriff dig a hole to hide and are never seen again. The story concludes with the explanation that the buzzing of mosquitoes in our ears is a reminder of this tale, as they are attracted to holes, similar to the one where Maga and his sheriff took refuge.

This particular children’s tale has a huge colonial undertone as it talks about a ruler in a position of power whose whims and ego dictate what happens to the creatures that do not have in a sense a freedom to express how they feel. The creatures have to lie and blame others for laughing and pointing out the flaws of Maga. Like many folk tales, it uses animals with human characteristics—crabs, frogs, snails, fireflies, and mosquitoes—to create a world where complex social dynamics and consequences play out in a playful yet instructive way.

The story also reinforce the power of people and what resistance to the injustice and standing for one’s truth can lead to. Mosquito is the lesser of all creatures yet it stands in its truth and even sacrifices its life for it. A group of mosquitos however are able to overturn the king to avenge the mosquito, thus teaching the lesson of the power of the group.

The ending of the story is very interesting, offering the tale as an explanation of why mosquitos get close to humans and why we can hear them. Mosquitos in this context are already established as heroes thus offering a different outlook on insects that are usually perceived as as pests and annoyance. This reinforced the idea of preserving nature and treating things humans annoying with respect, as they might not know the full story of why things happen.

Myth of Pandora

My informant told me of the myth about a greek Goddess Pandora. The myth developed from the belief that men came from a woman, but emerged from Earth and that the first woman who was formed by the Gods, particularly God Hephaestus, was Pandora. Hephaestus was instructed by Zeus to create a mortal woman and to punish another God for introducing fire to humans. Pandora was sent as an evil to the world and Gods gave her a box of sufferings, struggle, and wickedness.Zeus instructed Hephaestus to make Pandora naive enough so that she would open the box, however Pandora was still instructed not to open it. Pandora was curious about the box since it was forbidden to open it, and because of her naivety she opened the box and released al of the bad things in the box into the world. That’s why there’s evil in the world like bad people and pain. This is a myth about how the first woman came to the world and how the evil was brought about. The subject highlighted that they do not think this myth has gotten its own theatrical play, however it is mentioned in many other works.

My subject has heard the myth before in their life as it was frequently mentioned in literature, media, and pop culture, but they really learned it in their ancient dramas class in university.

From a folklore perspective, the myth of Pandora works as an origin story explaining how suffering and evil entered the world. These kinds of stories help people make sense of things that feel unexplainable, like pain, injustice, or why life can be difficult. In Pandora’s case, the story suggests that the troubles of the world began because of one act: her decision to open the box she was told not to. This mirrors the story of origin in Judeo-Christian tradition when Eve ate from the forbidden tree of knowledge.

What stands out is how the myth places a woman at the center of this turning point. Pandora wasn’t just created to exist—she was designed, by the gods, to serve a purpose of punishing humanity, yet still given a free will. She’s made to be beautiful and appealing, yet also naive and curious, which ultimately leads her to open the box. This idea—that a woman’s curiosity brings about chaos is a theme that shows up in many cultures. These stories reflect the belief systems about gender, control, and obedience. In that way, Pandora’s myth doesn’t just explain the origin of evil—it also reflects the ancient anxieties and ideas about women and their role in society.

The box also serves as an interesting power symbol. It represent a boundary—between the known and the unknown, safety and danger. The fact that Pandora opens it, even though she’s told not to, speaks to a very human trait of curiosity. The story seems to warn against this kind of questioning, especially when it comes from someone who wasn’t meant to have power in the first place.

When my informant mentioned that they’d mostly encountered this myth through school and popular media, it reminded me how myths like Pandora’s continue to live on, even outside of their original cultural context. They show up in literature, film, art, and even everyday language . Even if people don’t know the full story, they’ve likely absorbed some part of it just by being part of the culture. That’s how folklore works—it adapts, survives, and keeps finding new ways to be relevant. In the end, Pandora’s myth isn’t just about how evil came into the world. It’s also about how humans try to make sense of suffering, how they tell stories to explain the hard parts of life, and how those stories reflect the values and fears of the people who told them.

THE SNOW STORM 

The informant has family from Oklahoma who lived on a ranch. His great-grandfather and great-grand uncle were caught in a snow storm while riding on horseback, and they had to trek forty miles through a blizzard. His great grand uncle was right behind his great-grandfather as he was leading the way, and his great-grandfather did not survive due to the winds. Because his great-grandfather was sitting behind him, it was the only reason that he survived. This story has been shared throughout the family as family lore.

Age: 21

Date: March 3rd 2025

Language: English

Nationality: White

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: California

Analysis: This story falls into the category of family-lore, and this story was shared within the informant’s family and among the siblings. This story has been passed down to younger generations, from Oklahoma to California.

Las Lechuzas

Age: 20

Folk Narrative: Legend

Text: Las Lechuzas (The White Owls)

“In my grandma’s pueblito in Guerrero, she was told that the lechuzas, or the white owls, would swoop up disobedient or unbaptized children who were out at night. The lechuzas would appear with the face of an old woman and were believed to be a witch who sold her soul to the Devil. They always appear outside the home looking in, on the rooftop, or in a tree. It is believed that if you harm or kill a lechuza, it can transform her back into a woman. It is also believed that if you pray for her, she will return to her human form. It is also believed that if it lands on your roof, it means somebody in your family will die”. 

Context: When asked, my informant told me she first heard this narrative from her grandmother, who grew up in a small town in Guerrero, Mexico. She told me this is a prevalent narrative in her grandmother’s village, and all the community knows how to look out for the white owls. My informant’s grandmother still believes in this legend and gets visibly scared when she sees a lechuza outside at night or close to landing on her roof. She believes that there is a rule of three where if the lechuza lands on her roof, three of her family members will die. Because of this belief, she does whatever she can to stop them from landing. My informant mentioned that when she visited her grandmother, she was not allowed outside at night, just as her grandmother had not been allowed outside when she was younger. It is something that the whole town is aware of, and there have been stories of rebellious children who went out at night and never came back. The entire community is superstitious, and because it’s what they’re used to and weren’t told otherwise, they keep believing it. When asked how she interprets this, my informant mentioned that it is a way to keep children inside during nighttime so they stay out of trouble. The place that she grew up in was known for gang violence, kidnapping, and organ harvesting, so if they scare children into staying inside, they protect them from the potential dangers outside. 

Analysis: Looking at this narrative, we can see a typical legend structure. It is set in the real world (Mexico), and its truth value depends on those telling the story and those who choose to be wary or stay inside when they see a white owl. Additionally, legends tend to reflect the concerns of the people, which in this case was the criminality that the town was facing at that time. To protect their children’s health and innocence, they rely on these legends to keep them inside the house. This legend also ties into religious beliefs in the Devil, and it gets translated into a supernatural being– an introduction to Catholic cosmology with ideas of good versus evil, punishment, and redemption by being able to turn humans again. The story’s strength lies in its collective belief and behavioral impact: the grandmother, the informant, and the wider community recognize the lechuza as a dangerous entity. This community-wide buy-in transforms the tale into a functioning legend—it is not merely a scary story. Still, one that guides behavior, reinforces norms, and protects the vulnerable. Here, the supernatural story masks very real and present dangers: gang violence, kidnapping, and organ trafficking. By embedding these concerns within a mystical framework, the legend transforms fear into a tangible creature—something children can understand and avoid. In this way, the legend functions as a form of social control and protection, allowing older generations to encode safety messages into the oral tradition. Also, the multiple interpretations of the legend, such as the rule of three or praying to turn her human, make it continuously evolving and adapting to the person telling it. 

Moisesito

Age: 20

Folk Narrative: Memorate 

Text: Moisesito 

“Growing up, I would visit my grandma’s friend’s house. One day, she handed me a toy teaset, and when I was trying to grab it (she had already let go of it), I felt a force pulling the teaset away from me. I specifically remember pulling it; something invisible was pulling it on the other side. I couldn’t pull it toward me until my grandmother’s friend yelled “aplácate ya” or “calm down now,” I could finally pull it. Then, the lights started flashing, and she again asked it to stop. I looked at her, confused, and she told me not to worry because that was Moisesito. Apparently, when he was two or three years old, he died in a car crash, and now he just stays at her house because she was his caregiver. He doesn’t harm anybody but does like playing tricks”. 

Context: My informant had this experience when she was in elementary school, visiting her grandmother’s friend’s house. She mentioned that the woman had asked her if she remembered Moisesito (implying that she had met him before), but she did not. When I asked her if she knew it was him, she said she had no idea and thought she wasn’t strong enough to pull it. She didn’t realize it was Moisesito until her grandmother’s friend told her not to be scared because it was just him playing tricks. She also mentioned that after this happened, her grandmother told her not to fear if she hears noises or other strange things happening because it’s just him. When asked if the existence of Moisesito was born from the grief of his loss, she told me she wasn’t sure but that her grandmother’s friend dreams of him often and sees him walking around. She believes that people who died in a tragic accident stay here until somebody helps them complete their pending last wishes. Because of this, they believe Moisesito is still active in this world. 

Analysis: Looking at this memorate, we can see how what may have been a simple matter of lack of strength was quickly addressed and named Moisesito. In this case, the story of Moisesito—a ghost child who died tragically and now resides in a caregiver’s home—emerges not from a community-wide legend, but from a deeply personal and intimate encounter that was later explained through familial belief. At the heart of this memorate is a moment of confusion and physical resistance: the informant attempts to take a toy tea set, only to feel an invisible force pulling it away. She initially interprets the situation as a mundane struggle—perhaps a lack of strength or clumsiness—but the caregiver immediately intervenes with a supernatural explanation, identifying the force as Moisesito. This recontextualization of the event is critical to understanding the memorate as a genre: an ordinary experience is interpreted through supernatural terms based on existing belief systems. The story is tied to a specific house, the caregiver, and a specific spiritual entity—Moisesito. The informant does not initially ascribe any supernatural quality to her experience; the narrative only takes on a spiritual dimension after being filtered through the caregiver’s worldview. This moment illustrates how memorates are shaped: the individual experiences something unusual, and cultural or familial frameworks help interpret it. The explanation that Moisesito died tragically and lingers in the house until his final wishes are fulfilled aligns with common folk beliefs across cultures that spirits of the dead, particularly those who died young or suddenly, remain in the liminal space between worlds. The familial responses further reinforce this framework. After the event, the informant’s grandmother validates the experience by telling her not to fear future encounters, solidifying Moisesito’s presence as a known and accepted figure within the household.