Starting Assumptions for
Week 8
|| March 4, 2009 at 8:30am
When I think of Africa, several countries come to mind for different reasons. I think of Chad because it shares my name, but Egypt obviously comes to mind given its wealth of history and its influence upon the world. Of course, there are also the countries that are known for less admirable reasons. The poverty or political turmoil of Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya comes to mind. I am not familiar with all the other countries, but I would like to visit Africa sometime. Naturally, Egypt would make for an obvious tourist destination but I would also like to explore parts of the desert as well as the jungles. As for the Caribbean, I lived in Puerto Rico for 3 years and I spent a little over a week in Panama visiting my wife's family. It's definitely a whole other world or culture down there, but I honestly miss it. As for this week's reading, my plan is to do the African material given that the story titles interest me more.
Storytelling for Week 8:
Maybe
work isn't so bad afterall... || March
7, 2009 at
12:00pm
Look, it's not that I can't work. It's just that I don't want to work. Why fuss with manual labor when you can leave it to others while enjoying the finer things of life? That's simply how I see things. Workers work and players play. So, it is true that I refused to help digging the well deeper, but does this really justify denying me water once it has been completed? Am I not a creature like everyone else? If not there, then where else am I to get water? Surely they won't let me die from thirst!
Well, it turns out that my fellow creatures did not understand or appreciate my carefree approach towards life. They dug the well deeper without me and it was basically the only source of water for miles all around. They then took council together to determine how they might keep me from partaking of their labor, but we jackals are crafty creatures. We can only be outsmarted by ourselves. So, I knew what to do when they assigned a guard to the well.
First, they appointed the rabbit as the well guardian. I tricked the rabbit by enticing him with sweet honeycomb. I then convinced him to have his paws tied behind his back so that I can pour more into his mouth. He foolishly consented, so I took advantage of the situation by having my fill of water. I left him with his hands bounded together as I departed back into the wilderness. The other creatures later discovered the rabbit in his bounded condition and resolved that the hare should assume the responsibility for the next day. After all, the rabbit demonstrated that he could not be entrusted with such an important duty.
On the next day, I fooled the hare in exactly the same manner. This was becoming more of a game to me than anything else.
On the third day, I must admit that I was getting a bit careless. They appointed the tortoise as the well guardian this time and I was fairly certain that he would be even less capable of denying me than either the rabbit or the hare. He did not show any interest in my honeycomb, so I just pushed him aside and bent down to drink from the well. Out of nowhere, the tortoise seized my leg. "Ouch, that really hurts!" I cried out. The tortoise would not let go of me no matter how much I tried to get away. I even offered my honeycomb, bag, and all my belongings but he could not be persuaded.
Then, all of the other creatures came back as the tortoise finally released my leg. I could not bear the humiliation, so I ran away as fast as I could. I fled into the wilderness and I have been thinking about this over the past couple of days. Thirst is beginning to make me really weak with weariness. This is difficult for me to admit, but maybe it is time to do the unthinkable...
Go... Get... A... J.O.B!!!
Original Story: The Jackal and The Spring
Image Information: Jackal. Photograph by Robert Royse. Weblink.
Author's Note: I decided to retell the story from the perspective of the jackal. I summarized some details and added others.
Essay for Week 8:
Antagonists
& Ourselves || March 7, 2009 at
1:00pm
This week, we are given several examples of "bad guys" throughout the African Folk Tales.
In Motikatika, we are introduced to an ogre that initially wants to eat a woman because she fetched water for her husband from his lake. She convinces him to eat her son instead. Not only is the ogre bad for wanting to eat the humans, but the mother is now bad for having offered up her son. The son, however, can also be considered bad given that he not only uses magic to continually outsmart his parents and the ogre, but ultimately he tricks the ogre into eating his father instead. It goes without saying that there is no shortage of badness to be found throughout this one. If you were to ask my wife, she would confirm that I am an expert when it comes to justifying behaviors and defending people's freedom to do stupid things, but even I have some difficulty in finding a redeeming quality inherent to this story. Maybe if I gave it some more thought, it would come to me...
In the Jackal and the Spring, we are introduced to a jackal that is essentially a lazy bum that lives off of other people's labor. This certainly makes him "bad" in the eyes of most people and I am not one to necessarily disagree. I will say, however, that I do partially share his feelings when it comes to the idea of working or getting a job. This partially explains why I choose to retell this story from his perspective. I am not against a professional career by any means at all, for I have one and I continue to work towards a better one. My life, however, is not defined by work. I am much more inclined to "waste" my life in a secluded monastery or to do genuine scholarly activities inside an ancient library somewhere. So, I really do identify with the jackal's perspective. His cunningness or craftiness is a different matter. It can not be readily defended, but for some people the means justify the end. I do not agree with this, but I do understand the sentiment. Even so, work or labor is not necessarily a bad thing.
In the Story of a Gazelle, we are introduced to a man who initially squanders all of his money and then spends his life scraping for food from out of a dust-heap. This immediately gets our sympathy for him, but that will change. The man one day finds a small silver coin and then buys an absolutely amazing Gazelle. This Gazelle will go on to do many wonderful things on behalf of its new master. It helps him acquire a new wife, a new home, and new wealth. Does this man appreciate this? Absolutely not! So ungrateful is the man that he didn't help the Gazelle when it fell into sickness nor did he give it a proper burial once it died. This man is quite simply bad for a number of different reasons, but fundamentally it comes down to greed and bitterness.
All things considered, the antagonists or story bad guys are meant to show us aspects of ourselves that are not as pleasant or flattering as we would want to see, for that's the role that is typically assigned to the heroes. I am not one to defend cruelty, evil, wickedness, and other such things. I am, however, one to say that it is important to recognize the humanity and divinity residing in even the darkest of circumstances. Only then can we recognize ourselves in all things and only this empowers us to truly transform the world around us. So long as we think of ourselves as being better than others, we only demonstrate just how far we have yet to travel along the narrow path leading to age-abiding life. Genuine humility profits us much more than pride.
Image Information: Shark. Margate Backpackers website. Weblink
Famous Last Words for Week
8 || March 7, 2009 at 2:00pm
For this week, I very much enjoyed the
African Folk Tales that I read. The jackal stories were
rather
entertaining, but the Story of a Gazelle particularly held
my
attention. It's amazing to think that a guy could receive
such a
wonderful creature who gives him so many blessings only
for him to show
so little gratitude in return. The Gazelle certainly
deserved much
better treatment than what it received. The first part of
Motikatika
also amused me. The wife initially makes the husband's
life miserable
and then he returns the favor, only this results in what
was to be the
sacrifice of his son. Yet, it ultimately resulted in his
own death.
Sometimes, you just have to wonder if these things really
happen
because some things simply can not be made up. Truth is
said, after
all, to be stranger than fiction.
With respect to my storybook, it continues to give me some headaches, but I think I am finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. These famous last words are for week 8, but I am currently writing this at the end of week 7. I suspect that I will have most of the major problems worked out by next weekend, but we'll see. I have had to significantly revise the introduction on a number of occasions because of the type of storybook I am attempting to put together. On the one hand, I am required to explicitly explain and define many of the things that I take for granted. So, I have to explain terms such as the Trinity, liturgy, biblical canon, and other such things. This adds to the word count and requires my audience to wait longer for the introduction to the stories. On the other hand, I do not want to come across as being preachy or anything. My goal is not to force religion upon my audience, but I have intentionally chosen a spiritual topic. On another hand, I have to explain how my stories are related with one another and this is also a bit tricky on account of my personal objectives. All in all, there's much to balance but I am cautiously optimistic that things will go much more smoothly from here on out.
With respect to my storybook, it continues to give me some headaches, but I think I am finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. These famous last words are for week 8, but I am currently writing this at the end of week 7. I suspect that I will have most of the major problems worked out by next weekend, but we'll see. I have had to significantly revise the introduction on a number of occasions because of the type of storybook I am attempting to put together. On the one hand, I am required to explicitly explain and define many of the things that I take for granted. So, I have to explain terms such as the Trinity, liturgy, biblical canon, and other such things. This adds to the word count and requires my audience to wait longer for the introduction to the stories. On the other hand, I do not want to come across as being preachy or anything. My goal is not to force religion upon my audience, but I have intentionally chosen a spiritual topic. On another hand, I have to explain how my stories are related with one another and this is also a bit tricky on account of my personal objectives. All in all, there's much to balance but I am cautiously optimistic that things will go much more smoothly from here on out.