Folk Literature Project
by Jacquie Michel
Typs of folk literature
2. Tall Tales - a story with unbelievable events, related as if it where true and factual.
3. Epics - a long poem typically one diverted from an ancient tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures or historic or legendary figures or the history of a nation.
4.Legends - a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as a historical but unauthenticated.
5. Fables - a short story, typically with animals as characters, with a moral.
6. Fairy Tales - a children story about magical and imagery beings, usually involving magic and supernatural beings.
Example 1: The Lion and the Mouse
A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.
"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you."
The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.
Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.
"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."
Example 2: The Tortoise and the Hare
A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow.
"Do you ever get anywhere?" he asked with a mocking laugh.
"Yes," replied the Tortoise, "and I get there sooner than you think. I'll run you a race and prove it."
The Hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the Tortoise, but for the fun of the thing he agreed. So the Fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and started the runners off.
The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the Tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a Hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the Tortoise should catch up.
The Tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the Hare was sleeping. But the Hare slept on very peacefully; and when at last he did wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not overtake the Tortoise in time.
Little bird
Little Bird
Once there was a little bird and a Mama Bird, the mama bird was going to work. The mama bird told little bird not to eat a seed from the food basket, but the little bird didn’t listen to her mother and ate a seed form the basket.
“Little Bird,” said Mama bird, “did you take a seed from the basket?”
“No,” Little Bird replied.
“Ok, I trust you,” said Mama bird.
The next day Mama bird was going to work and told Little Bird not to eat the seed from the food basket, but Little bird didn’t listen to her and ate a seed from the basket. When Mama Bird cme home she asked
“Little bird, did you eat a seed from the basket?”
“No,” replied little bird.
“Ok,” said Mama Bird, “I trust you.”
This went on for a week, and then one day Mama Bird came home and said,
“Ok Little bird you can eat a seed from the basket.” The little bird got concerned.
“Ok,” He said shakily. He opened the basket with Mama Bird right behind him, and there where no more seeds.
“What happened here?” Asked Mama Bird.
Little Bird looked away.
“Did you eat from the food basket?”
He didn’t answer. Mama Bird had a big tantrum and started yelling.
“I’m going to have to take you with me when I go to work until I gain your trust back,” Mama Bird said.
Moral of the story
Don’t Lie
Example 3: Myth of Pandora's Box
Once upon a time in ancient Greece there were two brothers, grandsons of Gaia, Mother Earth: Prometheus (whose name means 'forethought' or 'foresight') and Epimetheus (whose name means 'afterthought' or hindsight').
Zeus, belonging to the next generation, who became king of the gods in Olympus, hid fire from human beings. Prometheus, closer to the source, stole that fire back from the gods, concealing it in a stalk of fennel, and gave it to humans. He also taught humans all the civilising arts, such as writing, mathematics, agriculture, medicine and science.
But Zeus, in revenge for the theft of the fire, played a cruel trick on humans. He ordered the gods - who did not dare refuse him - to create a beautiful woman in the image of a goddess. Hephaestus, the smith god from beneath the Earth, made her from Earth mixed with water; Athena, goddess of wisdom, taught her crafts and weaving; Aphrodite, goddess of love, gave her irresistible charm;Hermes, god of imagination, gave her a deceitful nature, and mischievously called her 'Pandora' ('pan' meaning 'all' and 'dora'meaning 'gifts'), because 'all her gifts' had been given her by the gods, showing her to be a parody of the only true Giver of All Gifts, who was Gaia, Mother Goddess Earth.
Now Prometheus, looking in advance into the nature of things, warned his brother not to accept any gift from Olympian Zeus, the new patriarch, who was reversing the order of life. But when Zeus tempted Epimetheus with Pandora, he forgot his brother's warning, and took the gift from Zeus with great delight. After all, she looked so promising: she was clothed in a silver robe and an embroidered veil; she wore on her head a crown of gold garlanded with flowers and new grown herbs and patterned with the many creatures of land and sea. Gods and mortals were seized with wonder. How could mere humans withstand such temptation?
There was an urn, a mighty jar (only later called a box), which had always been forbidden to be opened, for the sake of the whole world. It contained powers beyond human capacity to understand and control. These are 'all the gifts' of life and death, which Gaiaalone can give, as 'Mother of All.' But Pandora, not knowing what she was doing, seeing it, opened it, and out came all the troubles known to mortals: sicknesses by day and by night, old age, harsh toil and death. Only Hope did not fly out, remaining under the lip of the jar, as Zeus had allowed Pandora to put the lid back just in time. Yet, before this, the people on Earth lived in peace, free from the suffering that now plagues them.
The myth of Pandora's box.
Parable
Confucianism and Taoism
These are 3 things i learned about Confucianism and Taoism
- Confucianism and Taoism are both Ancient Chinese styles of living .
- Confucianism believes in setting good examples for others, and there are five key relationships that you have to follow: ruler and subject, wife and husband, older and younger sibling, friend and friend, and father and son.
- Taoism focuses on living in harmony, and they brought the yin and yang thing: evil in the good, and the good in the bad