Category Archives: Tales /märchen

Stories which are not regarded as possibly true.

The King’s Ring

Nationality: African American
Age: 60
Occupation: Part time elementary school supervision aid
Residence: Carson, CA
Performance Date: April 24, 2018
Primary Language: English

What is being performed?
LA: I know a proverb but it comes with a story.
AA: What’s the proverb?
LA: The proverb is this too shall pass, but it comes from a long story.
AA: What’s the story?
LA: I think basically this king is on a journey to find a ring that could make a happy man sad and
a sad man happy. The king eventually finds a ring with the words “this too shall pass” engraved
on the inside. It’s supposed to remind people that bad things come to an end but that also so do
good things.

Why do they know or like this piece? where/who did they learn it from? What does it mean to
them?
AA: Why do you like this story?
LA: It reminds me to not sweat over the small stuff because it all goes away but to also live in
the moment.
AA: Wow. Where did you learn this from?
LA: I heard it from my grandmother when I was in my 20s.
AA: And where is your grandmother from?
LA: Arcadia Louisiana

Context of the performance- where do you perform it? History?
AA: Do you ever share this story?
LA: I try to pass it on to my children and live my life by it.
10

Reflection
My mother told me the story of “this too shall pass” for the first time when I was in middle school.
It is a story that has stuck with me for my whole life. The version I remember had to do with King
Solomon but nevertheless he was searching for a ring that would accomplish two things. I think
it’s one of the most profound stories and I try to live my life by it.

“Yeki bood, yeki nabood”

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student & artist
Residence: Tucson, AZ & Los Angeles, CA (college)
Performance Date: 4/22/2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Farsi (Persian)

My friend Panteha is of Iranian descent on her dad’s side. She recalls a phrase in Farsi that her dad would always use to begin stories or fairy tales he told her as a kid.

The phrase is, in the original Farsi:
یکی بود یکی نبود

It is transliterated as “Yeki bood yeki nabood,” which roughly translates to “once there was one and once there wasn’t one.” This phrase is used in essentially the same manner in which many english speakers use “once upon a time” to begin folk narratives, particularly tales. Although these phrases have different literal translations, they serve the same purpose: to establish the fantastical or fictional nature of a folk narrative.

Valery Zhukova 19: Pass Out Salad

Valery Zhukova 19: Pass Out Salad
“On New Years Eve, Russians put this salad on the table and it includes potato, balogne or meat, egg, pickles, cucumber, boiled carrot, onion and mayonnaise (can be replaced by sour cream) salt and canned peas. It is said that if you get drunk, one of the people will pass out into the salad and its good luck for everyone for a year. “

Context: Vallery is Russian/ Ukrainian- American. I heard this recipe from her in our folklore class. The culture of drinking is really big in Eastern Europe, so it is no surprise that passing out into the food is one of the requirements for this tradition. Valery learned this tradition from holidays.

Analysis: This food reminds me of an Israeli dish or potato salad that has similar ingredients. It makes sense that these dishes will be similar, as there are many immigrants from Eastern Europe in Israel. Drinking is a large part of the celebratory culture there, so passing out in the food means that people had a good time. This probably sets a good example for the rest of the year.

Ben Stout 19: Blue Ghosts

“A friend of mine, his grandma could see ghosts, and he too could see ghosts. He said they were blue see through people. Nigel was his name.”

Context: I collected this folklore from Ben in our Folklore class. Ben is an American with roots in the American midWest. Ghosts are a fairly common belief in America, and is one of the most common supernatural sightings in this country. Everyone has their own rendition of what ghosts look like and how they haunt a place. This description is interesting because in Nigel’s account, the ghosts are blue. This is uncommon for a ghost account, as they are normally depicted as gray.

Analysis: Ghosts are partially peoples way of dealing with the concept of death. They validate the idea of an afterlife, which is central to many people’s belief in America. As majority Christian country, the afterlife is an important element for a lot of people. Ghosts are a supernatural belief that do not directly contradict that idea.

Tok Thompson 51: Dynamite Log

“There was a story my dad told to me, they’re probably somewhat true. My hometown was a Russian Native outpost. My dad moved there slightly after WW2 and he talked to a lot of people. Back then, he had a little cabin and everyone had to cut their own wood for fire. One day he noticed that someone was stealing his wood, so he invited the whole town over for a party. This was a small town so nearly everyone showed up. He was trying to figure out how to catch the thief, so he came up with this idea. They had food drink or whatnot. He casually mentioned it that someone is stealing his wood and he said oh don’t worry I took care of it. All the towns people where like what do you mean you took care of it did you find the guy? And he said no no I took care of it. I hollowed out one of the logs and stuffed it with dynamite so pretty soon we’re going to hear an explosion. Then he waited and a few minutes later one of the men said he had to go and he sees him running as fast as he can home. And that’s how he solved that mystery.

Context: I asked folklore professor Tok Thompson if he could share one of his favorite stories with me and this was one of them. He heard it from his father, who lived in an Alaskan village. This takes place slightly after WW2, before the rise of significant technology.

Analysis: This story is extremely funny, which is probably why it is of interest to share with people. It also has an element of justice: good vs. evil where good triumphs.