Category Archives: Tales /märchen

Stories which are not regarded as possibly true.

Baba Yaga

Main Text

CS: “The myth of Baba Yaga, some people have heard of it, it’s like a Russian folktale. It’s like generally Eastern European, but um, the myth there is, as I’ve read through picture books and stuff, is there’s this like evil baba, baba is the Bulgarian word for grandma. So there’s this evil baba that lives out in the forest, and she lives in this hut that sometimes has chicken legs and sometime doesn’t, you know depends on like the retelling. And she flies around in a pot, like a cauldron, uh, and has a broom, flies around with a broom too. That’s how she, I don’t know, pushes the air or something, whatever. But she’s like really mean and, um, she like beats the kids that she kidnaps, she kidnaps the disobedient children so people always say like, uh, ‘You gotta listen to your baba, because she’s better than Baba Yaga, like, if you don’t listen to your baba then Baba Yaga is gonna come get you.”

Background

CS is a 21 year old Bulgarian American from California and is a third year student studying Computer Science: Games at USC. CS first heard about Baba Yaga from his own baba as a tool to make sure he listened to her when in public. He never really believed in Baba Yaga and suspected, as a child, that his grandmother did not either as she always brought it up very coyly, but he understood what the stories were implying and so would always listen to what his baba said.

Context

This story was told in CS’s household, and in other’s he says usually by a maternal figure to younger more impressionable children in order to keep them in line and listening to their grandmothers. The story supposedly only works as a deterrent if the children believe in and are afraid of Baba Yaga, but it had the same effect on CS even though he did not believe.

Interviewer Analysis

Baba Yaga follows a larger folkloric trend of children’s stories designed to instruct them by preying on their fear of the unknown, or upon instilling that fear. By using a story like Baba Yaga, parents are able to use a terrifying fictional character to make sure their children behave well. This story is told with good intentions by Eastern European parents and grandparents alike and is effective at achieving its goal, but this interviewer wonders if using fear of the unknown to keep children obedient has detrimental consequences in the long run.

For a deeper dive into the Baba Yaga story and story type, read Andreas Johns’ 2004 book Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Mother and Witch of the Russian Folktale.

Taketori Monogatari

It’s about a bamboo cutter. He basically just cuts wood all day. Him and his wife and they don’t have any kids. One day he cuts open a bamboo… and inside there is a female baby. And it is glowing and majestic, so he takes it home and shows his wife. And he tells his wife “oh we gotta take care of it”. And he starts to cut down more bamboo and bits of gold come from it. The baby grows up to be a beautiful young woman and all of Japan finds out about her. A group of noblemen try to get her hand in marriage and she has an impossible task for them. Then the emperor hears about it and the woman just rejects him, without a task. He continues to ask her to marry him and she keeps rejecting him. One night it is a full moon and she is staring at the moon, crying at it, and she can’t tell her father and mother why. Then she tells her parents that she is actually from the moon and one day she will have to return soon. Word spreads and the emperor hears. One night, these … people from the moon just come down from the moon, sometimes they are on horses or clouds, and the emperor has his army to protect the woman but the people from the moon take her. Her father writes a letter to her and burns it at the highest mountain in hopes that she will read it. Some believe the mountain is actually Mount Fuji. 

Context: 

This performance was done when the speaker, a college student who grew up in Japan, was sharing Japanese fairy tales that they knew. When asked how the speaker knew of this, they explained that this tale is thousands of years old and is commonly known in Japan, as there have even been cartoons and adaptations of it. The speaker also makes a point that many Japanese stories are not about virtues or sins, but about contemplating random topics such as death or one’s role in society. 

Personal Thoughts:

This fairytale is quite interesting as it uses a lot of moon imagery throughout the story. One can gather that this story focuses on love as well as the woman’s role in society, just as the speaker mentioned was a theme in some fairy tales. The speaker mentions during their rendition of the story that sometimes the people from the moon ride on horses or clouds, which demonstrates well how this story is passed down with different versions, and even telling it today there can be different versions that are mentioned at the same time. Upon hearing this story, it also sounded quite familiar, which is due to the fact that it was adapted into a Studio Ghibli film, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, giving a prime example of how folklore can enter authored literature and into mainstream media. Because Studio Ghibli is such a well-known film company, this allows for the fairytale to have a much more global audience. That being said, the tale also becomes authored literature rather than a folk tale that is passed down, ultimately changing it from versions that are performed, such as the one here. 

For another version of this fairytale, refer to: 

“Taketori Monogatari”. Ohio State University.

https://cjp.asc.ohio-state.edu/books/taketori-monogatari/about

Urashima Taro

This is a fisherman in old Japan. He is walking on the beach and sees a baby turtle being bullied by some youngsters. So he’s like “Scram scram get out of here”. And the turtle talks to him like “thank you so much. I’ll make sure to pay my gratitude”. And he goes about his day, and forgets about it. And one day he is approached by the baby turtle again, and the turtle says “hey if you want to hang out, you can hang out with my family and I, and we can show you a good time. You can ride on my back”. So the fisherman rides on the turtle’s back and goes deep into the ocean where there is eventually an underwater palace. And, it’s basically a kingdom of sea creatures and I believe their version of a princess. A sea human, basically. Because you can breathe underwater when you are with these people. And so they are having a good ol’ time, feasting it up, drinking, partying. And then he realizes “Oh i should probably head back it’s been way too long”. So he tells the person in charge, basically the queen, “Oh i should head back” and she goes “oh you don’t have to head go!”, but he says “no i have to go”. And she tells him “okay you can go but I have a gift for you” and she gives him a box. She tells him “whatever you do you can’t open this box. It’s a box that will protect you but you can’t open it”. He goes back and realizes that everything is different, the shoreline is different, the stores are different. He asks a kid “where is blah blah blah” and the kid says “What are you talking about”. The man realizes that he has been gone for 100s of years and becomes depressed realizing that everything around him was gone. So he decides to open the box and the woman comes out saying “told you not to open” and all the time that he has stolen catches up to him, and he becomes a mummified corpse. 

Context:

This performance was done when the speaker, a college student who grew up in Japan, was sharing Japanese fairy tales that they knew. When asked how the speaker knew of this, they explained that this tale is thousands of years old and is commonly known in Japan, as there have even been cartoons and adaptations of it. The speaker also makes a point that many Japanese stories are not about virtues or sins, but about contemplating random topics such as death or one’s role in society. 

Personal Thoughts:

This fairytale focuses a lot on the idea of how one should spend their life and the consequences of one’s decisions. The informant made a note that this specific fairytale was about how one should not waste their life away by partying, as they could miss their life. From this specific tale, one can gather that this story is trying to teach a specific lesson, having an ending that is about how not focusing on the life in front of you can ultimately destroy you in the end. Since this is a fairytale that is well-known by the folk community, it can be deduced that this fairytale is not only used to tell a story, but also to teach this specific lesson to youth, as with many fairytales from other folk communities.  

For another version of this fairytale, refer to: 

Ozaki, Yei Theodora. “The Story of Urashima Taro, The Fisher Lad”. Lit2Go. 

https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/72/japanese-fairy-tales/4881/the-story-of-urashima-taro-the-fisher-lad/

TCHANTCHÈS

–Informant Info–

Nationality: American

Age: 53

Occupation: Senior VP for a development company

Residence: Pheonix, Ariozna

Date of Performance/Collection: 2022

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

(Notes-The informant will be referred to as MW and the interviewer as K)

Background info: MW is a father of 2 who grew up and now resides in Pheonix, Arizona. He lived in Belgium for a period of years, which is where he heard this story.

K: Ok! What’s the name of the story, where did you hear it, and what’s the uh…context of the performance?

MW: It’s titled “Tchantches” and I heard it from my friend Fish while I was uh staying in Belgium when I was like 19. I was just told it by Fish, but he said that he uh…was told it when he was like a child, like as an uh…campside or bedtime kinda story like to uh teach kids what they should be I guess. Kind of like a fable? Its hard to equate to an American story.

K: Ok, whenever you’re ready

MW: Ok so uh…this is a bit of a long one. So, the story goes that Tchantches was born way back in like…700 or something like that in Belgium between like 2 paving or uh cobblestones. His first words were demanding a Belgian drink called uh…God, I don’t remember (The informant pulled out his phone and googled it at this point) Peket! A drink called Peket

K: Is that like alcohol?

MW: Oh god yea, it’s the thing every Belgian drinks to get wasted *laughter*. Anyways, so he demanded Peket and his father, who adopted him, gave him like a cookie dipped in it. Then uh..later on at his baptism I think, the person dunking him in the water bumped his nose and it became all like messed up and disfigured and became like…it was used for carnival masks. Because of this, he became avoidant of going outside until a big crowd, because he had become beloved in this area, encouraged him to go outside during uh Saint-Måcrawe’s Day. He would come out smeared in like chimney soot on a chair escorted by a bunch of people, where everyone would get drunk *laughter*. There’s a moral in there somewhere, about how even ugly people can be loved which was kinda an odd thing. There’s a bunch of statues and stuff of him all over Belgium, and he’s famous for being a part of a puppet show! That’s where most kids hear the story for the first time.

K: Very ugly duckling meets Pinocchio

MW: Very. There’s also a part to the story where he meets I think Charlemagne’s nephew but that was added on later and is kinda dumb, I don’t even remember it. But he’s supposed to kinda represent the ideal Liégeois (Belgian). Rebellious, independent and could drink his body weight, but incredibly kind and willing to die for those he loves.

Interpretation:
I really liked this story! I think, and the informant also agreed with me later on, that there’s a large element of Pinocchio In this story or a lot of similarities. A boy who is born in odd circumstances faces some major hardships, and with the help of people he loves and who love him, gets over those hardships and becomes a hero in a sense. I also would like to note how Tchanctes is supposed to be an ideal Liegois. He’s famous for being drunk pretty much all the time, from his first words demanding alcohol to, as the informant would later mention after this story was told, his dying words being for Peket. That obviously speaks volumes about what people idolize as a perfect man. Alcohol is a large part of so many cultures, especially in places like Belgium. In a sense, it’s definitely humorous, but it’s also serious. From the way the story was told to me, it was almost as if Tchantes was kind and good normally and when drinking. He is a character that you’re supposed to aspire to be like, and this is only reinforced by the statues and puppet shows and festivals held every year. It’s interesting to note how young children are told the full story. In American culture at least, many parts deemed inappropriate for children, like alcohol, are left out until they are older. In this story, children are told about alcohol as soon as they can comprehend it. Again, it speaks volumes about the importance of alcohol in Belgian culture.

For another version of this story, see: Sherzer, D. E., & Sherzer, J. E. (1987). Humor and comedy in puppetry: Celebration in popular culture. Popular Press.

Reynard the fox

–Informant Info–

Nationality: French

Age: 39

Occupation: Housewife

Residence: Los Angeles, California

Date of Performance/Collection: 2022

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): French

(Notes-The informant will be referred to as TS and the interviewer as K)

Background info: TS is a mother of 3 who grew up in Nice, France, and moved to Los Angeles when she was in her 20s. She noted that this story was told to her only by her older family members while laughing, never by her mother or other children.

K: Ok, so can you tell me the name of the story, where you heard it, and the context of the performance? Like under what circumstances was it told.

TS: Yes, yes. It is called Reynard the fox, and it is a very very old story. I only ever heard it from my grandparents after they had too much wine *laughter* because it was a dirty story and didn’t teach any uh lessons like so many of uh…I don’t know the word in English…Legende? Uh, fable?

K: Yea, a fable, like a story that teaches you a lesson?

TS: Exactly! It was only really told in the uh house because it was dirty *laughter* it’s not something you tell your child at a dinner.

K: Ok, go ahead, and make sure you even tell the dirty parts *laughter*

TS: Ok ok, it goes that uh Reynard was a fox who had done many many horrible crimes, like robbing and rape and murder, and had done so many that the king lion himself wanted to punish Reynard. But Reynard was tricky. The king sent out his best hunters to bring Reynard in but Reynard had managed to uh…trick all of them and getaway.

K: Can you elaborate on that? Tricking the other characters?

TS: I’d love to! Bruin the bear is tricked because Reynard says there is honey inside a tree and he gets stuck. Tybalt (sometimes goes by a different name) the cat is tricked because Reynard sends him to a chicken coop owned by a priest, and gets locked inside by Reynard. Reynard alerts the priest, who beats Tybalt but Tybalt retaliates by biting one of the priest’s testicles off *laughter*. Eventually, Grimbert, a badger who is also Reynard’s cousin, manages to trap him. But when Reynard is brought before the king, he uh…throws everyone under the bus I think is the phrase?

K: Like sabatoges them?

TS: Yes! So Reynard does that to everyone that tried to capture him by saying they hid a treasure from the kind and only Reynard knows where to find it so the king frees him! But reynard flees. Later, he is found by Cuwart the hare, and Belyn the ram. He murders Cuwart, puts his head in a bag and gives it to Belyn, and tells him to uh bring the bag to the kind.

K: Good god

TS: Told you it was dirty *laughter*. So when Belyn does, she is executed by the king. By the time everyone uh understands they have been tricked again by Reynard, he has already fled and was never caught.

Interpretation:
This was a very interesting story to hear. I think most notably is how the informant said specifically it’s not like a traditional fable, as it doesn’t teach a lesson, but people still regarded it as such. It’s a very satirical story, and it’s meant to be a sort of social commentary mocking the aristocratic people of the time. There are so many different versions of the story, due mainly to its old age, that nearly everyone comments on a different thing in society. Many on the aristocratic people, some on food, some on the crime itself. It’s interesting how many variations there can be of the same story.

For another version of this story, see: Anonymous. (1982). Le Roman de Renart. Champion.