Week 13: Reading Notes, Part B

 The End of Beowulf

The Story of Beowulf by Henry Pitz

(Image Source: Snappy Goat)

Plot Points

• Beowulf is in the middle of the fight with the dragon and is faring poorly
• Suddenly, his friend Wiglaf joins him in the fray
• With his friend's aid the fight turns in their favor
• A unblocked attack takes Beowulf by surprise and fells him
• As his king lay dying, Wiglaf stabs and kills the dragon
• As Beowulf draws his last breaths, Wiglaf brings a treasure for the horde to Beowulf
• Beowulf then dies and is laid upon a pyre with all the dragon's treasure 
• The dragon's body is rolled into the sea as Beowulf burns...

Week 13: Reading Notes, Part A

 Beowulf's Resolve

The Story of Beowulf by Henry Pitz

(Image Source: Flickr)

Plot Points:

• Beowulf is sitting within the drinking-room of the king of Hygelac as the Wanderer gives the tale of Grendel
• Sitting there, a fire is lit within Beowulf and he commits to kill the beast
• As the Wanderer finishes the tale, Beowulf stands up and shouts he will kill the beast
• He says he owes a debt to king Hygelac for his father's sake
• The room agrees with him, that he is the best suited for the job and that he should leave immediately 
• Agreeing, Beowulf packs and leaves to fight the beast

Reading Notes: King Arthur, Part B

 Sir Galahad and the Mysterious Ship

King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang

(Image Source: Snappy Goat)

Plot Points

• In the quest for the Holy Grail, Galahad comes to a hermitage and spends the evening there
• While there he meets a noblewoman who promises to take him on an adventure unlike any a knight had had before
• She leads him to a ship on which Percival and Bors are waiting with Percival's sister 
• He joins them on their ship upon which is a magical sword which only Galahad is worthy to wield
• The sword is really confusing but it has a bone handle which grants special properties to the wielder, including bravery and invulnerability
• From there they went on to have many adventures as a group in search of the Grail, with Galahad and his magic sword

Reading Notes: King Arthur, Part A

 The Passing of Merlin

King Arthur: Knights of the Round Table by Andrew Yang

(Image Source: Flickr)

Plot Points:

• Merlin tells Arthur he knows both his and Arthur's future after Merlin sees the woman who he knows will kill him
• He then tells Arthur a few bits about his future and gives him some advice about the future
• Then, knowing full well this lady is gonna kill him, Merlin follows her as she leaves the castle
• Enamored by her beauty and completely entranced, he tells her anything she wishes to know, including all of his magic
• She, not having any feelings for him in any way, kills him as soon as he tells her the last bit of knowledge he had
• He did this all out of love, even though he knew the outcome and the exact means by which she would kill him

Reading Notes: Great Plains Legends, Part B

 The Spirit Land

Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Judson

(Image Source: Pixibay)

Plot Points

• When the ghost dance was being performed for the first time, the spirits in the Spirit Land wanted to come to the world of the living
• However, they could not for they were separated by the Great Lake between them and the land of the living
• So Crow, the leader of the spirits took himself up in the air to make a way for the spirits
• He took a pebble in his mouth and dropped in in the water, making a mountain in the middle of the lake
• He then took a scoop of dirt in his mouth and dropped it between the water and the mountain, creating dry land for the spirits to walk on
• He then took a blade of grass and dropped it on the dirt, making lush grass for the spirits to tread upon comfortably
• Finally, he took a twig in his mouth and dropped it amongst the grass, making a forest through which the spirits could walk in the shade
• He then called the spirits together at the edge of his new creation and lead them across to the land of the living. He rests there now on the western edge of the land of the living

Reading Notes: Great Plains Legends, Part A

 Sacred Legend

Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Judson

(Image Source: Flickr)

Plot Points

• The first men awoke in the water and came up out of the water
• Once out of the water, they made clothes for themselves from grass and hunting buffalo with clubs
• They then chipped stones and made bows, arrows, and spears for hunting
• They were cold, so they took elm roots and rubbed them together to make themselves warm, making the first fire
• They then grew tired of cooking meat on an open flame and found clay to make pots with, now they were able to boil their meat
• Then, they realized their grass homes were too cold, so they tried many different skins to make new houses for themselves so they could stay warm
• They needed larger pieces of wood, so they made hatchets for themselves to cut wood faster 
• Finally, one day a wandering man found a pile of red, blue, and white stones which he buried in the ground. Several days later he came back and found the first corn plant, providing food for his people.

Reading Notes: Cherokee Myths, Part B

 The Ustû'tlï

Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney

(Image Source: Flickr)

Plot Points

• Describe the Ustû'tlï as a snake-like creature which moves about on feet at its base and neck, like a massive inch-worm
• It is a massive creature which lives on a particular mountain and hunts all sorts of beings for prey
• It lures them in with the bleating of a fawn and then captures them and eats them
• It can outpace anything which runs up or down the mountain, or even across streams or gorges, but it cannot run horizontally along the mountain
• If it does this, it will slip and fall down the steep slopes
• One day a hunter came to the mountain and sought to rid the world of the Ustû'tlï
• He finds the beast and allows it to start chasing him, up the mountain at first before running sideways along the mountainside
• Once the beast begins to slip, the man stops and lights a fire to separate himself from it
• The fire scares the Ustû'tlï and it flees from it until it is trapped on a precipice on the mountain
• In desperation, it tries to climb over the fire but coughs on the smoke and falls to its death

Reading Notes: Cherokee Myths, Part A

 The First Fire

Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney

(Image Source: Pixabay)

Plot Points

• In the beginning of the world, it was cold and there was no fire
• The Thunders sent down fire into a sycamore tree on an island
• The animals knew the fire was there, but they knew not how to get to it
• Three birds volunteered to go and retrieve fire for all animals, but they failed one after another; each suffering deformities which haunt them to this day
• After the birds, two snakes volunteered, yet they suffered the same fate as the birds
• At their failures, no other birds, snake, or four-footed animal would volunteer to retrieve the fire
• When none else would volunteer, the Water Spider did
• She ran across the surface fo the water to the island and, once there, she plucked the smallest of embers and carried it back to the other animals
• From this one ember came all fire which men use to this day

Reading Notes: Chinese Folklore, Part B

 The Three Evils

The Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhelm and Frederick H. Martens

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Plot Points

• A new mandarin came to a district in which lived a man named Dschou Tschu
• Dschou was a young man, gifted in the art of the sword and was a wild, rowdy boy
• The new mandarin came to the district and sought to know what troubles ailed the district
• He asked the elders of the region what ailed them and they told him of three evils which plagued the people
• Upon hearing them, the mandarin came to the house of Dschou one night after the boy had been out drinking
• He confronted Dschou about the evils, of which Dschou claimed there were none
• Then the mandarin told Dschou that the people though he was one of the three evils
• The realization struck Dschou in that moment how he had been living a selfish life and he committed to ridding the region of all three evils
• That very night, Dschou ran into the forest and killed the tiger which had been preying upon the travelers on the roads
• After slaying the monstrous beast, he dove into the river and struck the head from the dragon which caused the river to flood the bridges
• Gathering the two carcasses, he brought them to the mandarin as a gift and then told the mandarin he would be ridding the region of the third evil by leaving in the morning and joining the army
• Dschou left the next morning and committed himself to many years in faithful service to the army
• In one battle with brigands, Dschou was outnumbered severely and lost his life trying to defend his region

Reading Notes: Chinese Folklore, Part A

 Why the Cat and Dog Hate One Another

Stories compiled from The Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhelm & Frederick H. Martens

• A man and wife have a ring which is magic, though they are unaware of this
• This ring never allows the owners to go into poverty, always provides enough for family to sustain itself
• The man and wife sell the ring in an attempt to pull themselves from the brink of poverty
• immediately, they fall destitute
• The Dog and Cat, seeing this, make a plan to find the ring
• The Cat catches a mouse and forces him to join their group
• The group sets out for the house of the man who bought the ring
• The come to a river and the Dog swims across with the Cat on his back
• Once the group s across, the Cat takes the mouse to the house
• The mouse sneaks into the chest and steals the ring out of it for the Cat
• The Cat takes the ring from the mouse and goes back t the Dog waiting at the riverbank
• They swim back across and head back to the man and his wife's home
• As the Cat was able to climb over obstacles, the Cat beat the Dog back by several minutes
• When the Cat returns, it is rewarded well by the man and his wife
• A few minutes later, the Dog arrives but is punished by the owners because they thought he did not help with returning the ring
• The Cat sat idly by and did not tell the owners the truth
• In a rage, the Dog began to chase the Cat, and they have hated one another until this day

(Image Source: Flickr)

Reading Notes: Monkey King, Part B

Sun Wu Kung: Yang Oerlang & Buddha

The Chinese Fairy Book compiled by R. Wilhelm & Frederick H. Martens

(Image Source: Flickr)

Plot Points

• After several days of fighting, Yang's spirits manage to capture many of Sun Wu Kung's apes
• At this, Kung grew uneasy and began to attempt to flee the fight by changing forms repeatedly
• Many times Yang loses track of him and has to ask Li Dsing to use the mirror of heaven to find him
• In one of their final encounters, they are in Yang's temple and Sun is eventually defeated with aid from the Heavens in the fight
• Sun is carried up to Heaven and is tortured for many months in an attempt to rid him of his immortality
• After being in a furnace for 49 days, Sun sees a chance at escape and seizes upon it

Reading Notes: Monkey King, Part A

 Sun Wu Kung: The Nether World

The Chinese Fairy Book compiled by R. Wilhelm & Frederick H. Martens

(Image Source: Pixy)

Plot Points

• Sun Wu Kung, the Handsome Monkey King, falls asleep after a meal and is visited in his dream by two men who fetter him
• They take him down beneath the Earth in his dream to the Nether World
• Once there, he realizes what they are trying to do
• Having achieved immortality, Sun Wu Kung is outraged that they are trying to bring him to his death
• He lashes out with the rod from the  Dragon King and smites the two who are escorting him
• The ten princes of the Nether World come to see what the commotion is at the gates
• Sun Wu Kung confronts them and demands to see the book of life, which sets the limits of the times of men and animals and gods
• Fearful of the Monkey King, they offer the book to him
• Sun Wu Kung takes a pen and scratches out he times of death for he and all of his fellow monkeys from the Island of Flowers and Fruits
• Now protected from the grasp of the Nether World forever, the Monkey King exists the dream and reawakens back in reality
• Once there, he tells his monkey army of what eh has done and they throw a huge party for their King

Reading Notes: Egyptian Mythology, Part B

 The Brother Thieves

Egyptian Tales compiled by David Mackenzie 

(Image Source: Snappy Goat)

Plot Points 

• Pharaoh was exceedingly wealthy and had a large vault built
• One builder put a fake block in wall to come and steal later
• Builder dies but tells sons about block
• Sons rob the pharaoh blind
• Pharaoh gets mad and sets traps in vault
• Trap catches one brother in vault
• Other brother cuts entrapped brother's head off and escapes
• Pharaoh is confused by the scene and has the decapitated body hanged outside
• The living son tells his mother of their deeds and she demands he recover his brother's body, lest she tell the pharaoh 
• He goes and gets the guards of the body very drunk and steals the body back, and also shaves the hair off the right side of the guards was they are passed out drunk
• Infuriated, the pharaoh sends out his daughter to discover the thief
• She finds him and convinces him to confess the crimes
• Once she has found him out, she attempts to drag him off, but he held out the severed arm of his brother and she takes that instead
• Impressed by the thief, pharaoh offers him a pardon and his wife in marriage

Reading Notes: Egyptian Mythology, Part A

 Ra and Hathor

Egyptian Tales compiled by David Mackenzie

(Image Source: Flickr)

Plot Points:

• Man grows discontent with Ra's rule and speaks seditiously against him
• Ra, upon hearing this, is driven to rage and vows to kill mankind
• He calls an assembly of the gods to hear their counsel on how to deal with the human insolence
• He claims he wishes to flood all of man and kill the gods also, except for Osiris and Horus
• The gods, ver much wanting to stay alive, say that Ra should just send Hathor to kill mankind
• Agreeing, Ra activates his weapon and sets her loose on the earth
• Hathor proceeds to kill a vast majority of mankind, causing the earth to flood with their blood
• Taken aback by her destruction, Ra tried to reel Hathor back in and cease her slaughter
• Drunk on the blood, Hathor refused to heel and the other gods feared confronting her
• Instead of direct confrontation, the gods brew some really strong beer and use it to get Hathor literately drunk out of her mind, until the point they were able to contain her
• Once subdued by the beer, Hathor transforms into the Heavenly Cow and is satiated, man having been saved from her wrath

Reading Notes: Sinbad, Part B

 Notes from the Fifth Voyage

Collection of Sinbad's travels By Andrew Lang

(Image Source: Pixibay)

Plot Points 

• After washing ashore on an island after a shipwreck, Sinbad begins exploring the paradise
• He wander around the island for several days, living off the fruits of the trees, until he comes to a stream and sees an old man knelt beside it
• Pitying the old man he stoops down to offer to help him cross the stream
• The old man, surprisingly nimble and wiry, leaps onto Sinbad's shoulders and locks his ankles around Sinbad's throat
• Unable to dislodge the old man and struggling perpetually for breath, he is forced to carry the old man on his back around the island for many days
• The man would eat fruit from trees and even sleep with his ankles around Sinbad, never allowing respite
• One day, in misery Sinbad plucks some grapes and stuffs them in a gourd to ferment
• After many more days of distress, Sinbad returns to where he stashed the gourd and begins to drink deeply
• Seeing Sinbad become drunk on such little wine, the old man swipes the gourd from him and quaffs down the rest
• The old man becomes very drunk very quickly and Sinbad is able to make his escape to the shore again

Reading Notes: Sinbad, Part A

 Notes from the First Voyage

Collection of Sinbad's travels by Andrew Lang

(Image Source: Snappy Goat)

Plot Points

• Sinbad comes into a large sum of wealth by inheritance in the city of Baghdad 
• He lives an affluent life until he decides that he is wasting his prime years on frivolities 
• He plans on leaving for a long trading expedition in order to sell off much of his wealth to give to the poor
• He finds and hires a captain who takes him and a crew into the Persian Gulf where they rest on an island
• When making a fire on the island, it comes to life as they realize it was a sleeping whale
• In the ensuing madness, Sinbad is left behind by the crew and drifts aimlessly on the sea
• He comes ashore a new island where he is taken in by some horse herders
• Once the herders take him back to their capital, Sinbad makes acquaintance with other traders and finds his very own crew!
• Having been reunited, he sells those possessions which were his and gave many gifts to the king of the island
• He also told the king his story and, amazed at the tale, the king gives Sinbad many remarkable gifts in exchange which greatly multiply his wealth.

Reading Notes: Aesop (Winters), Part B

 Mercury and the Woodsman

Collection of Aesop's fables illustrated by Milo Winter

(Image Source: Pixibay) 

Plot points

• A woodcutter goes into the forest to begin the day's work
• He toils all day long to fell many trees and begins working on the last he intends to cut for the day
• Struggling to swing the last few strokes at the tree, he lets his grip relax and the axe fly into a nearby pool
• The woodcutter is distraught, for the axe was his only means at providing for himself
• Suddenly, the god Mercury appears beside the pool and asks why the man wails so loudly
• Upon hearing the woodcutter's story, Mercury dives into the pool and resurfaces with a golden axe
• The woodcutter claims the axe is not his own and Mercury dives again
• This time the god surfaces with an axe of silver, again the woodcutter claims it is not his
• A third time the god dives, but this times returns with the rugged axe of the woodcutter
• The god is impressed by the woodcutter's honesty and awards the man with all three axes for his candor
• Upon hearing this tale, many woodcutters from town attempt to recreate the fortune of the first by hiding their axes in the woods and wailing loudly
• At each instance, the god appears and goes through the same motions
• The woodcutters, however, greedily claim the first, golden axe was their own
• As punishment for their avarice, Mercury promptly beats the living daylights out of them and sends them home bruised and axe-less

Reading Notes: Aesop (Winters), Part A

 Roads Tales

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Ass and His Driver, plot points

• A donkey thinks he knows better than his owner as they move along windy trail in the mountains
• The donkey sees the pair's final destination at the bottom of the mountain
• He tries to get there as soon as possible, by going straight over the cliff
• His owner attempts to stop him
• The owner realizes the supreme foolishness of the donkey and lets him go his own way

The Oxen and the Wheels, plot points

• A pair of oxen drag a cart heavy laden up a mountain path
• They do so without complaint and faithfully
• However, the wheels of ht cart complain loudly and frequently at the weight they hold
• The oxen then accuse the wheels of unduly complaining when they are the ones truly doing all the work

The Gnat and the Bull, plot points

• A bull is going up a mountain trail when a gnat lands on the tip of his horn to catch his breath
• The gnat rests a few minutes and then takes off
• The gnat realizes it was rude to land without the bull's permission and stops to ask his apologies and say his thanks
• The bull proclaims he never even noticed that the gnat had even been there

The Plane Tree, plot points

• Two men walk along a path and see a Plane tree there and move to rest under its shade
• They then begin to proclaim how useless a Plane tree is, as it bears no fruit 
• The tree then speaks to the men about how foolish they are to deride that which gives them their shade in the noonday sun

Reading Notes: Aesop (Jacobs), Part B

 Nature and Inanimate Objects

Assembled fables are from Aesop are compiled by Joseph Jacobs alongside a tale from Shakespeare's Coriolanus.

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Man and the Wood, plot points

• A man walks into the forest with an ax head
• He asks the trees to please supply him with a single branch, which they offer freely out of kindness
• The man attaches the proffered branch to his ax head and proceeds to chop down many trees

The Tree and the Reed, plot points

• A large oak looks down disdainfully at the little reed by his roots
• The oak tells the reed that it must grow deep roots, lest someone pluck him out of the ground
• The reed says he is content with his roots, much to the chagrin of the oak
• A large storm comes through and twists the trunk of the tree, breaking the tree into pieces
• The reed survives because it could bend with the wind

The Wind and the Sun, plot points

• The wind and the sun are arguing who holds more sway over man
• A traveller comes down the road and the two decide he will determine who is right
• The wind blows at the man with all his might, in an attempt to get the man to remove his cloak
• The man tightens his cloak all the more to shield himself from the wind
• The sun's turn comes and he bend all the lights he can muster at the man, also attempting to get the man to shed his cloak
• In the oppressive heat of the sun, the man tears his cloak off

The Two Pots, plot points

• A clay pot and a brass pot sit side-by-side on the banks of a river
• The rain falls and the water rises, carrying the two pots downstream
• In the tumult, the clay pot shouts "Stay away Brass Pot, lest you shatter me!"

The Belly and the Members, plot points

• One certain day the members of the body notice that they do all of the work for the body, but the stomach gets all the food
• Outraged, they determine to go on strike until the stomach gives them what they say as their due portion
• As they strike, the whole of the body goes weak from starvation and the members realize the stomach had been working just as hard as they all along

Reading Notes: Aesop (Jacobs), Part A

 Mice Tales

Assembled fables from Aesop compiled by Joseph Jacobs and Walter Crane

(Image Source: Pixibay)

Belling the Cate, plot points

• Mice gather en masse to discuss their common enemy, the Cat
• Many mice offer many solutions, but none are believed to work
• A young mouse proses tying able to the Cat, so they can hear his coming
• All like this plan but fear putting it into action

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, plot points

• A country mouse hosts his cousin mouse from the city
• Country mouse offers the best he can to his cousin in the peace of the country
• Dissatisfied the city mouse insists the country mouse return with him to the city for fine dining
• Once in the city they feast on delicious foods from the back of a restaurant 
• Several dogs chase off the two mice and the country mouse decides he prefers peaceful contentment to dangerous city life

The Lion and the Mouse, plot points

• A mouse runs up and down the length of a lion, rousing him from sleep
• The lion pins the mouse and contemplates eating him as a snack
• The mouse pleads for his life, offering a favor in exchange
• The lion releases the mouse and they part ways
• After a time, the lion becomes trapped by some hunters and fears his imminent death
• Along comes the same mouse who chews the bindings off the lion, allowing him to escape and repaying his debt

The Married Mouse, plot points

• Mouse marries a lioness
• Mouse gets stomped on by his wife...