Tag Archives: Folk Tale

Sparrow and Crow

Informant: RS

Ethnicity: Indian

Primary Language: Konkani

Age: 53

Text: [RS] One rainy day, a sparrow heard a knock at her door. She opened it to find a crow asking for shelter from the storm. The kind sparrow agreed to let the crow stay for the night, but told the crow that she has no food to spare as the sparrow must feed her babies. The ungrateful crow agreed, but in the darkness of night, he got hungry and began swallowing the sparrow babies one by one. When the sparrow heard the swallowing sound, she asked the crow what he was eating; the crow responded that he was eating garbanzo beans that he was carrying with himself for emergencies. When the sun came up in the morning, the sparrow realized the crow’s misdeeds, and whacked him until he spit the babies out. The crow was then kicked out of the house and never allowed back.

Context: [RS] This is another common story told to Konkani children. Our parents used to warn us to watch out for “crows” and be careful who we let into our home.

Analysis: Sparrow and Crow reflects the importance of hospitality in Indian culture. Treating visitors as sacred guests and providing them with food, shelter, and accommodations is extremely common. These values can be seen in Sparrow and Crow through the sparrow’s willingness to host the crow. However, at the same time, the story also teaches children not to take someone’s kindness for granted, or they will risk social consequences from their community: it is important to be both a good host, and a good guest. Sparrow and Crow can also be interpreted as a cautionary tale, allowing children to understand that there are possible risks associated with interacting with strangers. In particular, given that both the sparrow and crow are gendered in the tale, there may also be an underlying message warning children to be wary of men that they do not know well. 

Punyakoti the Cow and Arbhuta the Tiger

Informant: RS

Ethnicity: Indian

Primary Language: Konkani

Age: 53

Text: [RS] Once upon a time, in a small village in India, there lived a cow named Punyakoti, who was the gentlest and wisest of all the cows. Every day, she would peacefully graze with her herd, until one day Arbhuta the tiger came along. He hid behind a rock until he was able to pounce, catching Punyakoti. Punyakoti begged Arbhuta to allow her to return home to say goodbye to her calf, promising that she would come back and offer herself to be eaten after she had done so. Arbhuta, moved by her pleas, let her go home. Punyakoti dutifully went to say goodbye to the calf, who tearfully begged her not to go. However, Punyakoti said she had made a promise, and so she returned to the tiger to be eaten. Arbhuta was so surprised that she stuck to her word, that he decided he would rather die of hunger than kill such a pure and honest being. After that, Punyakoti joyfully returned home to her calf, and Arbhuta never bothered the herd again.

Context: [RS] This is a popular tale amongst Konkani children. When I was little, my uncle used to tell me and my siblings about Punyakoti all the time, and our parents would remind us of the tale when we got in trouble for lying to them. It used to be one of my favorite stories! 

Analysis: The tale of Punyakoti is a folk narrative meant to serve as a moral compass for children, teaching them the importance of honesty and honoring commitments. Punyakoti represents honesty and selflessness, determined to fulfill her promise even though it will cost her her life; on the other hand, Arbhuta is transformed by Punyakoti’s values. Through the story, children are taught that honesty is always rewarded, and that it is never too late to find redemption through virtue. This reflects common themes within Indian culture and folk narratives, stemming from Dharmic philosophies within Hinduism, which often favor honesty, generosity, compassion, etc as part of the karmic cycle. These overarching moral guidelines within the community trickle down into these folk tales to be made palatable to children, instilling in them the values of the community.

“The Honest Woodsman”: A folk tale

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Head Usher/Resident Advisor
Residence: Colorado
Performance Date: 4/1/23
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Text

My informant was particularly familiar with storytelling. They had this story prepared both in terms of content as well as delivery. Throughout the telling, they made gestures and motions to convey their thoughts.

“One sunny day, there was a woodsman. This woodsman was cutting down trees and collecting lumber so he could sell it to the people in his village. He was usually respected as a really honest man, and a really hardworking man. He was in this forest chopping down wood as per usual until he hit a particularly hard piece of wood. Out of shock, his hands let go and his axe flew back behind him into a river.”

The god Hermes saw this as the woodsman searched the river for his axe. Wanting to mess around for a little bit, Hermes decided to appear to him and say ‘Woodsman, I think I may have found your axe.’ He then showed the woodsman an axe made of solid gold. And Hermes said to him ‘Is this your axe?’ The woodsman said ‘No, that is not my axe.’ Hermes said ‘Oh, this must be a different axe’ and set it aside. Then he pulled out a silver axe, ‘Woodsman, is this your axe?’ And the woodsman said ‘No, that is not my axe.’ Hermes set that one to the side and showed him another one. ‘Is this your axe?’ He holds out a very plain, very battered axe with a wooden handle and iron tip. The woodsman says ‘Yes! That is my axe! I built it myself!’ Hermes, very impressed by his honestly, gave the woodsman all three axes for being such an honest person.”

The woodsman return to his village and shared the news. A competitor of the woodsman, a man who did not work so hard and was not known for being trustworthy, saw this and grew very jealous. The next day, this competitor went to a similar part of the woods and started cutting down trees behind pretending to drop his axe in the river behind him. So Hermes, seeing this again, appears and says ‘Hello, it seems you’ve lost your axe.’ The competitor said ‘Ah yes, I lost my axe! Do you, by any chance, know where it is?’ Hermes pulls out a golden axe and offers it to the competing woodsman. He asks, ‘Is this your axe?’ to which the competitor said ‘Yes, of course it is!'”

Hermes makes the golden axe disappear and actually takes the man’s own axe. The competitor said ‘That’s my own axe! I built it with my own hands and I use it for my livelihood. Hermes responded ‘A man who cannot be honest probably doesn’t make an honest living and should not make one at all.’ With that, Hermes leaves.”

The informant smiled. “The end.”

Context

RELATIONSHIP –
“I don’t know, it’s the story that’s stuck with me the most because when I was younger, I liked to read a lot of tales and fables. This is one that stuck out to me.”

WHERE THEY HEARD IT –
“I had a book of Aesop’s Fables, so it was probably in that book,” they said, a bit unsure. “But seeing as all stories are the same and storytelling is very repetitive in its behavior, I probably heard it– or something like it– in a church setting since I was raised in Catholicism. The first time I heard the story the way I heard it was probably in that book.”

INTERPRETATION –
“It’s a pretty simple story– it’s a story of ‘tell the truth and you’ll get good things out of it.’ It’s mainly giving a moral, but because of the Greeks, it’s probably also used as a way of saying ‘The Gods giveth, the Gods taketh away.'”

Analysis

“The Honest Woodsman”/”The Honest Woodcutter” story is one that I’ve come across in other cultures– specifically Japanese. I thought it was particularly interesting that the version I heard never had a competing woodsman who had an example made of them. In this version, I think it’s not only a lesson on being honest, but also a lesson on being a good person in general. This version makes sure to describe the competing woodsman as being not-hardworking, jealous, and greedy along with being dishonest. It’s this combination of negative traits that suggests there should be a punishment given to him as a moment of comeuppance.

Woman and Rabbit: A folk tale

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Southern California
Performance Date: 4/1/23
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

Text

“One folk tale I know is a Chinese one– about the lady and rabbit on the moon. I don’t remember it that well.” The informant racked their brain for the information. “There was an immortal lady who was in love with a human man. Because of this, they weren’t meant to be together, though. So she was banished to live on the moon with the rabbit to keep her company. There, she waits for the man to come to her, but since he’s mortal, he died on earth. This is why you’re able to see a woman and a rabbit on the moon.”

Context

RELATIONSHIP –
“I don’t have much of a relationship with these pieces. It’s cool, but it was something I had to study. Everyone I knew, knew the story. It’s very much a Chinese folk tale that a lot of people here [in the U.S.] don’t tend to know or study.”

WHERE THEY HEARD IT –
“I had to study a lot of folk tales in Chinese school. They teach it everywhere. I had to read it a bunch then.”

INTERPRETATION –
“It’s just a cute fairy tale that people tell children. I don’t really think there’s a lesson, or says much about morals. It’s just an origin story explaining a part of the world people back then weren’t able to explain. Worldbuilding.”

Analysis

This folk tale seems very similar to one that I know about a woman named Chang’e and the love of her life named Houyi; and I think that they either are the same story, but my informant didn’t remember all the details, or they are different stories that derive from one another. While this story seems to serve primarily as the reasoning for why people can “see” the image of a woman and rabbit on the moon, it also works as a lesson. I think that an important part of this story is the fact that the woman stays, waiting on the moon for the man even though he has died long ago. She seems to be trapped in a denial stage of grief, refusing to move on. Because of this, she’s perpetually stuck, waiting both physically and emotionally.

Scylla and Charybdis: Folk tale monsters

Nationality: American, Iranian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: United States
Performance Date: 3/31/23
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Text

“I really like the story of Scylla and Charybdis– which also relates to the saying of being between a rock and a hard place; and some people alternatively say ‘between Scylla and Charybdis.’ It’s because the whole tale goes, in two stories, people are trying to sail through this narrow path. It’s between this big cliff where this legendary monster known as Scylla resides within. Scylla used to be this normal and beautiful woman, but she was cursed to be a monster with dog heads sprouting from her lower half, and now she’s gained monstrous features like scales. These dog heads constantly hunger, so now she’s just become a monster who hides within the cliffs.”

In the water is Charybdis. Charybdis is a child of Poseidon, I think. She’s a huge monster, and you never actually see her in her entirety. What stays the same among depictions, however, is her gaping maw that summons a whirlpool going down into an unending amount of teeth.”

In the tales, the main character is on the ship, but the problem with sailing through is that sailing away from the whirlpool places you next to Scylla where the wolf heads will begin to pluck crewmates off the boat and eat them whole. But if you sail away from Scylla, you risk your entire boat getting completely destroyed by Charybdis.”

Context

RELATIONSHIP –
“I really like this mythos because– first of all this would be a terrifying situation. As a fan of big monsters, there’s not a lot of big monster situations that would be as dreary as this.”

WHERE THEY HEARD IT –
“Dad showed me cool monster things because he got me into that stuff. So there were Greek mythology books and games and figures that I enjoyed, including sea monsters like this.”

INTERPRETATION –
“This story is very relatable to picking the lesser of two evils. In order to carve your own path forward, you have to show your resolve. This was also probably something used to explain the phenomenon of whirlpools and jagged rocks that probably sunk ships.”

Analysis

The tale of Scylla and Charybdis was certainly heavily referred to as a way for early humans to make sense of the world around them. I think an important piece of this tale is the lesson of making the most of a bad situation. It teaches people that sometimes there just seems to be no good option. The tale ensures and validates the idea that it’s impossible to know what choice is the right one at every given moment, but no matter what, one must resolve to press on, push through, and handle the consequences.