Reading Diary A: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang) Unit

READING A:
1. The Two Frogs

• There were two frogs that lived in different parts of Japan, Kioto and Osaka.
• They both decided to travel the country to explore the places they have never been before. 
• The went along the same road, one at each end. 
• They met each other and were delighted. 
• Determined to see the world together, they decided to have one stand on top of the other so that they could be "bigger"
• It turns out that one was looking one way and the other was looking the other way towards their homeland and they thought they were looking at the "other side" 
• I thought this was kind of funny and sad at the same time
• They were foolish and missed the chance to see the world because it didn't occur to them that they were looking in the direction they came from

2. The Stonecutter

• there was once a stone cutter who was very good at his job. he had lots of customers
• it just so happens that around the mountain where he cut stone, there was a spirit that helped grant wishes and riches
• he never met the spirit before, but that was only because he never wish for anything
• one day, he saw a rich man's house and wished that he was rich and the spirit granted that to him
• over time, he wished for more and more only to realize that he never felt content
• he then realized there was nothing better than to just be himself
• i feel like this was a good story about greed, but it kind of teaches people they shouldn't try to reach for their dreams and be more than they should be
• i suppose this makes sense because Japan is more of a collectivistic culture and "the nail that sticks out gets hammered back down"

3. The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet

• the story starts out with a family who used to be well off and had a beautiful daughter
• they eventually lost everything and became very poor and moved to the countryside
• out of depression for his loss, the father died
• over time, the mother grew ill as well and feared that her daughter would be taken advantage of due to her beauty
• she told her daughter to wear a wooden helmet over her head to hide her beauty
• the daughter heeded her advice, and even after the mother died, she would still wear the helmet. 
• One day, the young master of the family that she worked for accidentally saw her face and wanted to marry her
• she eventually said yes and they got married.
• I felt like this was just a story to tell a story. There were no morals or lessons to be learned.
• I felt like this story was kind of anticlimactic just because they were building up the mystery of the helmet just to have it end with her marrying the guy who saw her without one, kind of cliche.
• Nonetheless, it was a pleasant read.

4. The Envious Neighbour

• This family had a dog that was very loyal and loved. 
• One day, the dog found a treasure and the neighbor found out and wanted to borrow the dog
• he got to borrow the dog and the dog only found him bones. out of rage, he killed the dog.
• wow anger management problems.
• the family was saddened but the spirit of the dog came back and brought the man more riches
• the neighbor found out and got mad and tried to steal his fortune 
• this happened continually and he eventually got caught and got thrown into jail
• serves him right

5. The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue

• The title is kind of creepy
• So far, I enjoyed this story the most out of all the ones in Diary A
• There was an old couple who lived together. The wife was very mean and the husband was kind. 
• The husband rescued a small sparrow from a hungry raven
• The wife began to feel jealous that all of her husband's attention was being stolen from her (wow, lady, it's just a bird!)
• She caught it and cut a slit in its tongue. The bird flew away and ended up escaping.
• The husband then came home to find his precious bird gone and set out to find it. On his way, he came across a cottage and a little girl claiming to be the little sparrow greeted him.
• She sang and danced for him and eventually gave him two treasure chests full of gold and precious metals to bring home.
• his wife, being the greedy woman she is, saw it and demanded to know where the sparrow girl lived. 
• She ventured to the sparrow girl's house and she also obtained to chests, but instead of treasure, the chest had two snakes who came out and bit her. She died.
• Once again, serves her right.

The Old Woman Opens the Box

Source: UN-Textbook.

6. The Cat's Elopement

Source: Tumblr.

• What a cute and happy story
• This reminded of a cat I saw on Tumblr once. It was gorgeous.
• This was a story of two beautiful cats who fell in love with each other, but they couldn't be with together
• They ended up eloping and were separated for quite a while
• In the end, they were able to be together
• yay!!