Storytelling for Week 5: The Bus

There once was a man, a very rich man. His name was Mark and he had everything. Literally. He owned the best house in the state, a job everyone wanted, and so much money he would not have to work for thirty years and still live extravagantly. However, the thing he kept closest to his heart was his beautiful wife, Mary. Mary was the most beautiful woman in the world. Her eyes reflected her own soul. They were pure, trusting and happy. Her hair was black as night and her skin was as fair as a porcelain doll. Until one day she disappeared. 

Mark was completely distraught. He could not believe that she was gone. He went into his house and refused to come out. After a full week his best friend, Michael, went to talk to him. He said that instead of moping around his house he should man up and go out and look for his wife. So that was what Mark did. He sold everything he had and gave away all of his money and went to search for his wife. 

A homeless man sleeping in a parking lot by Franco Folini via Wikimedia Commons

A year later Mark was no closer to finding his wife. He found himself in a busy town and resorted to begging on the street. One day a nice woman came and gave him a sandwich and he went to cross the main street to go sit at his favorite bench to eat his dinner.

Meanwhile, there was a bus that was going to a museum down the street. There was a passenger that was crazed and drunk. With an insane look in his eyes he went to the bus driver with a gun in hand and told him to drive and not stop unless he told him to. So the bus driver with not only his life but everyone's life in that bus in mind, did as he was told. As he was speeding down main street the driver noticed a man that did not look either way as he was crossing the street. He was too involved in eating his sandwich. The driver tried to avoid the man, but it was too late. The bus hit Mark and killed him. 

Later in court, they tried to determine who exactly was responsible for the death of Mark. Was it the crazy man on the bus? Was it the bus driver? Or was it the lady who gave Mark the sandwich? After much deliberation, the jury decided that it was Mark's fault. He lacked to look both ways before crossing the street. However, they did all agree that the crazy man on the bus deserved punishment, but not for murder. 

Author's Note: This story is based off of The Snake's Poison riddle from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit. I really liked this story and I liked the answer to the riddle. In the riddle a man dies because he ate food that had snake's poison in it. The question was who killed the man? The lady who gave him the food? The eagle that was killing the snake? Or the snake who, while dying, got some of it's venom into the man's food? The answer was the man himself because he was not paying attention. So I stayed pretty close to the original storyline. 

Bibliography: "The Snake's Poison" from the "Twenty-Two Goblins" translated by Arthur W. Ryder (1917)

Essay for Week 5: How About a Riddle?

Kobold by JNL via Wikimedia Commons

I absolutely loved the Twenty-Two Goblins unit! It was a really great read! I like to try to solve puzzles and this was a lot of different riddles I had never heard before. One of my favorite things throughout this unit was the similes and metaphors. In the Introduction there is great metaphor, "A brave man's heart is harder than a diamond, and nothing makes it tremble." I thought that was beautiful writing. It is saying that nothing can frighten a brave man. One of my favorite stories in this unit was The Snake's Venom. I really liked the king's answer to the goblins riddle. There really was no one to blame for the Brahman's murder than the Brahman himself. The women was just trying to feed him, the hawk was just doing it's job, and the snake was dying and had no control of his actions.  The Brahman was not paying attention to what he was eating so he truly could not blame anyone for his untimely death than himself. One thing I did not like about this unit is we never figure out what exactly happened to the Brahman's wife. She just disappears and you never hear about her again. My guess is that she did end up dying. My least favorite story from this unit would probably be The Old Hermit. I do not like that the hermit took the body of the dead boy that everyone loved. I thought that was really inconsiderate to the family that was in mourning because he basically said "hey I am alive, now I have got to go." I mean if that was one of my family members I would be in complete shock and at first not believe what I was seeing. Then I would probably start crying and hug him and never let him go. Him taking that body also sounds very invasive and selfish. He only took that body so he could be young again and continue learning magic. He should have just let nature take its course and when God was ready for him, He would take him away.

Reading Diary Week 5 - Twenty-Two Goblins

Twenty-two Goblins

Introduction

I wonder why there are gems inside of the fruit the monk gives the king? I liked that the monk's name is Patience. I definitely feel like there is some significant meaning with that name. I was really confused when the goblin was in the dead body. Originally I did not realize that there was a dead body. I just assumed that what the king thought was a dead body was actually a goblin. Nope. I was definitely wrong. The goblin was just inside of the dead body. 

Three Lovers

I definitely would have not guessed the correct answer for this riddle. First of all, I think what all the brothers did after Coral's death was weird. Making a hut on her ashes and begging for food is obsessive and scary. Dipping her bones in a river is also a bit strange. Honestly becoming a monk was not too bad, but seemed a little extreme. When the monk brought her to life, I was a little confused. I thought monks were like nuns and could not marry. So I didn't think that marrying Coral would be an option for him when she came back to life. I was kind of shocked to hear that the answer to the riddle was the brother that built a hut on her ashes. Like I said before, I think that is scary obsessive. However, I couldn't have come up with a better answer.

Brave, Wise, Clever

I think it is interesting that yet again there are three lovers fighting over the love of one girl. I thought the kings response to the riddle was very interesting and I agreed with it. In this story, the Brave man deserves the girl because the other two only assisted in helping the Brave man save her. 

Three Delicate Wives

This goblin really likes to do things in threes. Is delicacy a trait of beauty in this culture? If so then these women must be gorgeous. I am actually pretty proud of myself because I answered this riddle before I read it! The most delicate wife is the one that got bruises from a sound because she was not touched by anything and still got hurt. Both of the other wives were still delicate but they were at least touched by something to give them their injury.

Snake's Poison

I am kind of sad that we never find out what happened to his wife. I think it is interesting that the answer to the riddle is that the man himself is to blame for his death. However, I guess that makes sense. You can't blame the snake because it was dying and had no control. Cannot blame the hawk because it was just doing what it is supposed to do. You most certainly cannot blame the sweet lady that gave the man the food to begin with. There was no malice toward the man in any of their hearts.

The General's Wife

This story briefly reminded me of the story of David and Bathsheba from the Bible. David was also attracted to the wife of his general. However, he did take advantage of Bathsheba. The king in this story would rather die than not be virtuous. I also agree that the king deserved Passion more than the general. The general was just willing to hand over his wife to the king. Obviously he did not care for his wife very much. 

Conclusion

First of all I completely respect the king for going back to get the goblin every time he ran off. That is real dedication. I am also kind of surprised that the monk was evil the whole time. I am glad that the goblin respected the king after all of those riddles and told him the monks plans. I also thought it was weird that what the king wanted was for the whole world to know the riddles the goblin shared with him.