The Clown in the Kitchen

Nationality: Persian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: April 20th
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: “ I had a weird experience like two years ago that really scared me. Two years ago my friend and I were in his house playing video games in his living room. It was like almost midnight and we were both getting kinda tired so I wanted to leave. As I was grabbing my stuff from his room I saw a shape of a clown in his window, and it just looked like it was just staring at me. Usually I don’t get freaked out by this stuff so I didn’t care. I went back downstairs and I noticed something was wrong with my friend. He looked white and like he was sick. When I asked him what was wrong he said he saw a figure that looked like a clown in his window in his kitchen and that it stared at him for like three minutes. After that I told him what happened and we both got so worried we each got kitchen knives to defend ourselves in his kitchen (informant starts laughing). I think since I started to believe there actually was a clown I started to hear things too, like girls laughing and stuff. I don’t know if there were actually girls laughing or if that was in my imagination. But after we had our knives we realized we were probably overthinking it and that it was a weird experience. I can’t lie though ever since then I have been scared of clowns.”

Background Information: The informant had this experience when he was nineteen at his friends house in San Diego. He said that this contributed to his fear of clowns and that his friend is also scared of clowns as well.

Context: During a walk with the informant in San Diego

Thoughts: This is different than a typical “ghost story” than I expected the informant to tell. This is because instead of a ghost, there is a clown. There has been a surge in the fear of clowns in the last couple of years, especially with movies like the IT, Clown, and 31. The fear of clowns seems irrational since they are usually linked with happiness and entertainment. It is interesting how clowns are becoming as scary as ghosts and why that is; maybe it is because clowns invoke a sense of uncertainty within us or because their facial expressions don’t make us happy or entertained. It will be interesting to see if there is a increase in clown folklore replacing traditional ghost stories.

 

Heungbu and Nolbu

Nationality: Korean
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 14th
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: “ This is one of the most well known stories in Korea it is about two brothers. Heungbu and Nolbu were brothers. Nolbu, the older brother was super greedy and annoying but his younger brother Heungbu was kind and the opposite. The day that their father died, they learned that he was ordered to split his fortune in half for each of them. Nolbu tricked Heungbu’s family and threw them out in order to keep the entire fortune to himself.  But Heungbu didn’t complain. One day Hengbu helped a bird get away from a snake. The next year the bird  came back and gave Heungbu a seed as a thank you present. Heungbu planted the seed in his backyard and found gold inside. Since gold basically means that you are rich they bought a new house and became very wealthy. Nolbu ended up finding out about this and met Heungbu and asked him how he became so rich so quickly because he was jealous. Nolbu heard the secret and did the same with the bird. The bird brought Nolbu a seed the next spring, and Nolbu planted it. But there were no gold and instead his life sucked because there were only elements of destruction, like no wealth and stuff like that so Nolbu and his wife lost all of their wealth. But they finally realized their mistake and asked Heungbu to forgive them and they all lived together happily ever after.”

Background Information: The informant learned this Korean folktale from her parents and she was also born and raised in South Korea. This story is important to her because it taught her that what goes around comes back around and that people who treat others with kindness will always win.

Context: In the informant’s apartment

Thoughts: This story is interesting because of the dynamic of the two brothers, and that this story is about family compared to other folk stories that I have collected that are about individuals. This might suggest that family is very important in the Korean culture, and values like kindness and being humble are important as well.

 

Chinese Autumn Story

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 14th
Primary Language: Chinese

Main Piece: “ So there’s a story that’s called the Chinese Autumn Story. Basically, a really long time ago in China there were about ten suns in the sky. So, obviously because there were ten suns it was pretty hot and there was a drought. People were running out of water to drink and the crops in the rice fields were withering and in China rice is pretty important. But, a famous archer, his name was Hòu yì, was asked to shoot down 9 of the suns in the sky.  He did it successfully and was rewarded a “pill of the immortality.” Hòu yì went home and gave this pill to his wife, Cháng’é to keep safe. But, a visitor of the archer’s heard about this pill and wanted to steal it from his wife. As the visitor was about to steal the pill from her, the archer’s wife Cháng é swallowed it. After she took the pill she felt super light. Then she started to float and she flew all the way to the moon. When Cháng é got to the moon she coughed up the pill and the pill became a rabbit.  The rabbit was the only companion Cháng é (the Moon Fairy) had on the moon and is named the “Jade Rabbit.””

Background Information: The informant learned this story from his parents who were born and raised in Hong Kong, China. This story talks about how the Autumn festival is what it is today. The festival is time to enjoy rice and wheat with food offerings made in honor of the moon. It is still an occasion for outdoor reunions among friends and relatives to eat mooncakes and watch the moon, a symbol of harmony and unity. The informant describes the event as a massive gathering of friends and family.

Context: In a coffee shop in Los Angeles

Thoughts: The moon in this story seems to be symbolic for women as well. Moons are usually telling in that they correlate with a menstration cycle, so this moon story/goddess might be symbolic of that. It is also interesting that during the festival people eat mooncakes, which again is related to the idea of the moon and how this is important for females. In this story, the wife does not get punished for swallowing the pill which is different from other stories like Adam and Eve where Eve gets into a lot of trouble for trying the apple. This might suggest a difference in culture and also more high regards for women in Chinese culture.

For another version of this story see the book “Mooncakes” by Loretta Seto

Kuldhara

Nationality: Persian/Indian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: April 23
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: “So my mom said when she was a kid, she never use to go to Kuldhara, a abandoned town in India because it was haunted. She told me a story that there use to be, Salim Singh, then minister of state, who fell in love with a pretty girl of the village chief. However, Salim was super irritating so he threatened to steal the villagers money if they didn’t get him married to her. The chief of the village felt like Salim wasn’t the right man for his daughter and saw his request as ludicrous along with those of the nearby 83 villagers. So, they decided to abandon their village of Kuldhara. My mom said people also say that the villagers cursed the village that no one could ever inhabit the land.”

Background Information: The informant learned about this through his mom who lived in India until she was ten years old. The informant describes this story as “freaking him out” when he was young. This story also taught the informant that it is never good to make demands and instead it is always better to negotiate.

Context: In a restaurant in San Diego

Thoughts: This is an interesting type of horror/ghost story, because it does not have traditional elements like a ghost or “evil spirit”. Instead, the village is deserted and the reason why has to do with marriage and asking a girl to get married. It seems like the elements of tradition especially when it comes to marriage are important in the Indian culture, since Salim did not ask the girl to be his wife in a proper way.

 

 

Boto

Nationality: Persian/ Indian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: April 23rd
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: “There’s a story that a young girl lived near a river bank with family. Everyday she would go down to the river to do chores. One day as she went to collect water, she decided to cool off so she swam. As she swam, a young man appeared sitting at the edge of the river. They started to talk and she began to fall in love with him. From then on they hungout almost every day and spent each night together.  Her dad was kinda concerned so he confronted her. But the girl told him that she was in love so she wanted to marry the fisherman. The father surprisingly agreed and invited the guy to stay the night. But it was weird cuz the father noticed that the man would leave every morning coming back only in the evening. But one night, the fisherman he forgot to wake before dawn, and when the young girl woke up she found a pink dolphin in her bed. The dolphin tried to escape but the father shot it. The fisherman never came back since it was the dolphin so the poor girl began to believe that he left her and it was bad cuz she was pregnant. Nine months later, she died of giving birth and the father found that the baby was a pink dolphin. He realized then that the fisherman was the dolphin he killed. From then on all girls were warned to not talk to guys found near the river bank.”

Background Information: The informant learned this story through his cousin who has Brazilian roots when the informant was a young boy. The informant said he was scared to talk to strangers after hearing this story and had a fear of dolphins for a period of time.

Context: During a car ride with the informant

Thoughts: It is interesting that females are being warned, which hints that in the Brazillian culture woman are looked out for and protected. The boto dolphins are actually becoming very extinct and there is a cry from many Brazilians to protect them.  These pink dolphins usually live in the Amazon River
and make up the largest population of river dolphins in existence. It is interesting that an animal that was a legend in Brazilian culture is now becoming extinct, and I wonder if these stories will continue.