Category Archives: Tales /märchen

Stories which are not regarded as possibly true.

The Maharaja and The Rice–An Indian Tale

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: student
Residence: California
Performance Date: April 22
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The story goes, a maharaja (a king) was bored and commissioned a lowly mathematician to create a new game for him. The mathematician presented the maharaja with the game of chess. The maharaja was impressed with the game and offered the inventor any reward he wanted. The mathematician requested a single grain of rice. The maharaja said that it was too small of a reward, so the mathematician asked that a single grain of rice be placed on the first square of the chessboard. Then, on the next square two grains of rice, on the third square four grains of rice, with each square having double the amount of the previous square. The maharaja, though still believing it to be a too small reward, agreed.

The maharaja ordered his treasurer to pay the agreed upon sum. A week later, the mathematician returned to ask the maharaja why he had not received his reward. The maharaja, outraged that the treasurer had disobeyed him, summoned the treasurer and demanded to know why the mathematician had not been paid. The treasurer explained that by the time you get even halfway through the chessboard, the amount of grain required was more than the entire kingdom possessed. (By the 41st square on the chessboard, the maharaja would owe more than a trillion grains of rice.) There are also multiple endings to this store as well.

  1. The maharaja kills the mathematician to avoid paying the reward.
  2. The mathematician reveals himself to a God and tells the king he does not have to provide the reward. Just remember the lesson.

Background:

This is a summary of what my roommate, B, told me when I asked her if there were any Indian stories that she knew. B think she read about it in a bookstore that was a part of the temple her parents went to when she was younger. Most of the books were about Indian stories, but she remembers this in particular because it is pretty famous not just in India, but in the math and finance world. She says it’s a great illustration of exponential, a concept that is hard to visualize/grasp.

Context:

B said this was a legend about the day before Holi. This was collected from a message exchange with B since we were both busy with assignments and couldn’t coordinate a time that worked for both of us. I asked her questions and she answered them and then I summarized what she told me to make it into a coherent story.

Thoughts:

I think I heard this story somewhere before. I don’t recall if it was the same Indian king, but I remember hearing the concept of the grain of rice expanding exponentially. Maybe it was from some kind of math problem, but just as B said, I think this is a great illustration of the exponential. I think it kind of tells a lesson that you should always think before you answer because the maharaja didn’t think about his options and could have almost starved his entire nation if the treasurer hadn’t caught his mistake.

The Story of Momotaro–A Japanese Tale

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 25
Occupation: Office Worker
Residence: Japan
Performance Date: April 24
Primary Language: English
Language: English

Main Piece: This is a Japanese tale my friend told me about.


Long ago an elderly couple who lived in the mountains were doing their laundry as usual, and the grandmother saw a huge peach floating in the river, the grandmother took the peach home and cut it to eat it. But a baby boy came out from the peach. They named the baby boy Momotaro (momo= peach Taro= a very classic name for boys).

The boy grew so fast and very strong. One day. Momotaro said to the elderly couple he will go to the devils’ island to defeat the devils. The elderly couple gave Momotaro dumplings (きびだんご）so he could eat it on the trip.

On the way to the island, he met a dog and a monkey. Momotaro gave them きびだんご　and they joined him to the island. Later on, he met a pheasant , also gave it a きびだんご　and it also joined the party. The crew grew (like avengers).

They all successfully arrived at the devil’s island and cooperated with animals to get rid of the devils. He went back to his house and lived with the grandpa and grandma happily ever after.

Background:

My informant is a 25-year-old Japanese woman who grew up mostly in Hong Kong and Korea. She currently works in Japan. AI remembers hearing about this story on TV program about Japanese folktales. She isn’t sure if they tell this story in Japanese schools because she didn’t attend school in Japan. She says the story doesn’t mean much to her and it’s a popular tale in Japan. AI is also not sure of the meaning, but she thinks it has to do with working together to fight your devils.

Thoughts:

I don’t know any Japanese tales, but I have always been interested in Japanese culture and language. I think this story about a boy working with other animals to defeat the devil is an important message, if this is something that is told to children in Japanese schools. It tells them that they shouldn’t fight with their friends and that if they ever have problems, they should work together to figure it out. I think the message is common in other cultures as well.

The Story of Princess Kaguya–A Japanese Tale

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 25
Occupation: Office Worker
Residence: Japan
Performance Date: April 24
Primary Language: English

Main Piece

This is a Japanese tale my friend, identified as AI, told me about. I am identified as IC.

AI: There was an old bamboo cutter. One day, when he was gathering bamboo in the mountains, he came across a bamboo stalk that was shining very brightly. Wondering what it was, the old man cut the bamboo, and found a cute little girl inside. He thought it was a gift from the gods and took the little girl home. He showed the girl to his wife and she instantly fell in love with her. They named her Princess Kaguya and raised her with tender loving care. Kaguya grew up to become a very beautiful lady.

However, rumors about Princess Kaguya’s beauty spread throughout the country, and soon, five great young men came to ask her for her hand in marriage. Princess Kaguya just wanted to live a quiet life, so she came up with an idea. She said, “I will marry the one who can find what I want.”

Things she asked for were very difficult to find: a stone pot of Buddha, a cowry shell from the nest of a swallow, leather clothes made from the skins of the legendary mice, a branch from a jewel tree, and the five-colored jewels from the dragon neck. No man could find these things, and they all gave up.

As the day of the full moon approached, Princess Kaguya started crying as she looked at the moon.

“Why are you crying?” asked the old man and woman. “I am not of this land. I am from the moon. Escorts from the moon will come and take me back on the night of the full moon in August. I must return where I am from,” said Princess Kaguya. She told the old man and woman that she would miss them very much.

The old man and woman decided to protect Princess Kaguya from the moon escorts by placing warriors around the house. However, the warriors couldn’t move when they saw the escorts from the moon There was a blinding light and the warriors could not drive them away. Princess Kaguya thanked the old couple for their care and returned to the moon.

IC: What do you think this story means?

AI: I’m not sure but I think it’s more magical and beautiful compared to Momotaro. This story is also more popular to girls.

IC: Why is that?

AI: I’m not really sure but bamboos are always close to temples, which are beautiful places in Japan and that a beautiful girl was born from the bamboo is magical. Also, the story is so old but Princess Kaguya wants to find love of her own, not marriage that is a kind of arranged marriage. I think it shows that people will always look for love, even traditionally and now.

Background:

My informant is a 25-year-old Japanese woman who grew up mostly in Hong Kong and Korea. She currently works in Japan. She remembers hearing about this story when she was in Hong Kong and went to a Japanese cram school and the teachers told her this was crucial story she had to know as a Japanese.

Thoughts:

I think this story talks about how you must always return to where you belong, which can be interpreted as you shouldn’t try to be someone you’re not. Kaguya eventually returns to the moon because that is where she belongs. Even if she wanted to stay, she couldn’t. Although in real life, there aren’t celestial beings from the moon, I think it can be applied to friendships and peer pressure. Growing up, children are often influenced by the opinions of their peers and it can drastically impact their future path. The wrong group of friends will send them down the wrong path. With the right group of friends, you will be on the good path and become someone who will have their own opinions and understand when you should stand up for your own beliefs.

Ilya Muromets

Content:

The informant is a Russian-American-Bulgarian woman who spent the first half of her life in Russia. She currently resides in Boston, MA and the interview took place over zoom in which I interviewed her about the Russian folklore that she grew up with and that she feels represents the Russian people and culture.

Transcribed and translated from an interview held in Russian

“One story is that of Ilya Muromets. He was a bogatyr (a character in older folklore equivalent to medieval knights) who spent the first 33 years of his life just sleeping on this stone oven not doing anything. Then came a moment where he had to help protect the country from invaders and it turned out that he was in fact this strong, brave, capable warrior. This story shows a trope in Russian folklore that the Russian people may not be really useful in everyday, mundane tasks but are very effective in extreme circumstances.”

She then proceeded to go into more detail of the typical bogatyr character in folklore

Bogatyr is a common character in Russian folklore. Like I said, they are often compared to medieval knights, but they do differ in some important ways. First off, the knights always served their king, but a bogatyr is more of an independent folk hero. Usually a very strong one (physically).  It is also important to note: knights were real, bogatyr wasn’t. Just a piece of Russian folklore.

Analysis:

The version of the character of Ilya Muromets can be found in folklore throughout the world. Other notable oicotypes are Lancelot, Heracles, and many more.

This does reflect an actual tendency of the Russian people. Historically, Russians have been very successful when it came to protecting themselves in wars where their land was being attacked. The two most famous examples being when Napoleon and Hitler tried to attack Russia and failed.

Baba Yaga

Context:

The informant is a Russian-American-Bulgarian woman who spent the first half of her life in Russia. She currently resides in Boston, MA and the interview took place over zoom in which I interviewed her about the Russian folklore that she grew up with and that she feels represents the Russian people and culture.

Transcribed and translated from an interview held in Russian

Baba Yaga is this old mean witch that lives on the edge of the forest in a hut that stands on chicken legs. This hut can turn in different directions, so the hero comes to it and says “Hut, hut. turn your back to the forest and your front to me” So it turns and allows the hero to enter and speak with Baba Yaga. She’s evil so she can mess with you, lie to you, send you in the wrong direction. She flies in a mortar, holding a broom. 

Analysis:

The figure of the older, evil woman/witch is one that pops up a lot, especially in European folklore. Be that the evil stepmother or an evil witch, the purpose of this archetype remains largely the same: to impede the hero in their journey or to somehow cause them harm. This probably mirrors society’s general disapproval of an older, unmarried, childless woman by portraying them as “evil hags”. Even in the case of a stepmother, she almost always made out to be malicious, possibly because she is not the hero’s biological mother and usually has hers or her own children’s interest at heart rather than the hero’s.