Mythology and Folklore Fall 2020

In the beginning, God made the earth and the sea. He inhabited the sea with numerous types of fish and the land with various types of animals, including humans. As you know, Adam was the first human, then there was Eve. What eventually happened to them is a different story, but for now, they were still perfect. One day, God told Adam that He wanted to rank the animals by power to assert man's dominance over the four-legged creatures. Adam agreed and asked God how he wanted to do so. God commanded Adam, with the help of Eve, to give the largest bone to the most powerful animal and the smallest bone to the weakest animal, along with every animal in between.  Adam and Eve did as they were told and fetched bones of all different sizes. God then announced to all the animals that the bone ceremony would take place in the morning. It was a first come, first serve basis, so the first to show up would get the largest bow, and so on. All the animals decided to get a good nights' sleep so...

"Grandma, the cookies are read--AHHH!" the little girl screamed as a loud bang filled the sky, rushing to her grandmother. "It's okay, dear. I'll get the cookies out of the oven and you can stand right by me." replied the grandmother. Jessie spent one weekend every month with her grandmother, but none that she remembered had been this stormy. The rain was pounding on the roof and the sky kept lighting up, soon followed by a loud crashing noise.  Jessie did not like this and would get really scared every time she heard the loud bang. The grandma had baked cookies as a distraction, but it was not working as she had hoped. Jessie turned to her grandmother and asked, "Why does the sky light up and make a loud bang?" The grandmother smiled. "Here, let's get our cookies and milk, sit by the fire and then I'll tell you." They did as so and sat down by the fire. The grandmother began to tell the story: "Well, Jessie, this is what my ...

  A long time ago lived a girl and a boy who were madly in love. But, like Romeo and Juliet, their families did not accept their love and forced them apart. This was due to the ancient family feud between the families (but that is another story). Of course, the lovers tried to sneak out and see each other, but they were always caught. They were miserable without each other! One day, they snuck out again and met in the woods. Just as they ran into each other's embrace, they heard shouting from not far away. They bolted together, trying to have a few more moments together. It was then that they decided to just wait patiently for the right moment. They stopped and kissed just as both fathers yanked them away. Days, months, and years went by as the lovers patiently waited for the right time to escape. It was on day 1982 that the girl's father thought she had forgotten about the boy. In celebration, he decided to throw a feast! He wanted to invite all of the other noble men in the ...

Once upon a time lived a magical forest that was ruled by a great king. The king had three daughters who loved to play in the forest. One day, the daughters were walking to there favorite spot when they noticed an unusual red bird that was as big as the youngest daughter. The girls had seen numerous birds in this forest before, but none so fiery red and large before.  They were terrified! However, t he bird was fast asleep on a branch of the tree, so the eldest daughter quietly led the girls out of the forest and back to the castle. When they got back, the girls ran screaming to their father, the king, "Papa! Papa! There is a bird as red as blood and as big as Ella [the youngest girl]! He was invading our favorite play spot. Oh, Papa, we are so scared! Please do something so that we may return to our play!" The king loved his daughters very much, so he sent his guards after the giant red bird. After a couple days, the guards returned to the castle with the bird held captive. ...

While I have had many success stories, no story tops the very first one: the turning of Adam and Eve. Let me back up. I was cast out of heaven long before Allah created the first man. Then Allah created this botanical garden, so I decided to reside there. One day, Allah stirred up some dust and created a human being. It truly was a strange creature, but it was something new for me to play with, so I was just as happy.  However, I had to wait 40 years and 40 days in order to start with my games, for that is when Allah breathed the life into him. I decided to sit back and observe the creature--who Allah called Adam--for awhile before messing with him. During my observances, Allah had split Adam in half to make another creature, this one smaller and prettier. I decided to push back my plans to observe the both of them some more. Boy, was that an entertaining idea! I had to pop some popcorn for all of the drama. The smaller human would not submit to Adam because they were made from the...

Everyone in the town of Jerusalem was going wild! Apparently, the king decreed a tax on all the people. My master was not very happy since he just had to take in this poor young woman and marry her. I didn't quite get all of the details, I just know that she is about to have a baby and was very lonely. My master is a very nice man! Before I knew it, my master was packing up his bags and loading it on me and we were off. To where, I don't know. All I know is that the young woman is riding me while my master guides me. A few days into our trip, the young woman told my master to stop in this town because she was about to have the baby. We quickly headed to town to find an inn. My master was very angry because there was no room anywhere! So we moved on only to find this stable. My master took us there and that's where the young woman bore the baby. She wrapped him up and put him on my dinner plate! How rude! But it was hard to be mad when the baby was so cute. All of a sudden, ...

As we entered Bethsaida, my master was stopped by a crowd. He hopped off of me to come face-to-face with a blind man. My master took his hand and helped the man up onto my back. He led me and his followers out of town with this blind man to a spot right off the highway. It was then when my master helped the blind man down and faced him. My master spit in his eyes and rubbed it in. The man cried out in surprise and disgust. But when my master removed his hands from the man's eyes, the blind man gasped in disbelief. My master asked, "What is it? What do you see?" The blind man pondered for a second before replying with, "I see trees walking. The men look like trees. They are trees walking!" My master spit in the blind man's eyes once more, rubbing it in again. The blind man was taken aback again, but did not shout this time. When my master removed his hands for the second time, he asked again, "What do you see?" The blind man began to tear up. "...

In a town in the countryside of France lived a mother and her three daughters. They were a poor family with just a one-room cottage and one very scrawny cow. Getting by was tough, but they were happy nonetheless.  This particular day, the mother decided to go to the village to buy her daughters some gifts. The two oldest daughters wanted jewelry and dresses and dolls and so many other things while the youngest daughter stayed quiet. The mother promised them the finest gifts she could find. The mother then asked the youngest, Mary, what she wanted from the village. Quietly, Mary answered with, "three roses please." The mother smiled and declared she would find Mary the three prettiest roses in the whole world! Off she went to the village to buy her daughters some gifts. The mother spent hours searching for jewelry and dolls, only to find two little rag dolls for her oldest daughters. Satisfied with her find, the mother trotted off towards the cottage, taking the scenic route t...