Storytelling Week 6: That One Woman

Lights, Camera, Action by Kreative Essence Motion Pictures via Wikimedia Commons

"Welcome everyone to your favorite TV show That One Woman!"

"I am your host Dale Sky and today we follow our One Woman, Martha, where she finally picks a man. You see folks for the past eight weeks Martha has been getting to know these seven guys. All of them are super hot, wealthy, and sweet, but they do not know about the other guys! They all think that Martha is in love with them. Last week, Martha did not get only one but seven proposals! Isn't that something?? Without knowing about the other men they all proposed in the same week. We ended the show with Martha telling each man that she will marry them if they build her a rocking chair to rock their future children to sleep."

"Let's see what is happening now!"

(goes to camera with one of the men going to the department store)

"I am so excited for me and Martha to get married!" said Brody " I will build her an extravagant chair and whittle little farm animals into it so that our children, boy or girl, can be rocked to sleep in her beautiful arms!" He checked his pockets and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper that read "shopping list" and attempted to straighten it out. "Okay first on the list is: wood!" Brody went over to the wood to a strange sight. There were six men all fighting over the last piece of wood. Brody rushed over to calm the fight, "Woah guys break it up! What's all this about?" One guy looked like he was about to cry and says, "I proposed to my girlfriend and she said she would marry me if I built her a rocking chair, but there is one piece of wood and everyone else seems to think they need it more than I do." Brody, looking like he was just slapped in the face, replies "I am in a very similar situation my friend." Then one after another all the other guys in the group say that they are also doing the same thing. Then Brody asks the question they are all dying to know the answer to, "Is your girlfriend Martha?" Slowly every single man nods his head yes.

(commercial break)

"You know what?" says Brody, "This is not okay. Not okay at all. She should not be allowed to treat us like this!"  The first man that spoke no longer looked sad, he looked very, very mad. He responds to Brody with a crazy look in his eyes, "I say we give her a taste of her own medicine. Make her pay for what she has put us through." A lot of the other men give a rugged yell in agreement.

So they created a plan to make her feel the same pain they did. Or so they thought. Martha was in the security room watching this whole scene unfold on the security tapes.

Brody went up to Martha and says "Hey babe!" with a hug and a smile hoping that Martha wouldn't suspect a thing. He then grabs her and puts her in a choke hold. Martha screams "What are you doing Brody!?" Then all the other men come out and circle around them. One man brings out a chair and Brody sets Martha down in it. "So you found out my secret."says Martha, bowing her head in shame. Brody, clearly the leader of the group, approaches Martha. "What you did to us was vile Martha. So we need an answer. Which one of us will it be?" asks Brody with a steel voice. Martha replies, "Can I talk to you guys separately? I feel like I owe each of you an explanation."  So they each went in to see Martha and she told each of them "You are the one I really love. The others were mean to me so I didn't know how to tell them no. Can you please defend me so we can run off together and get married?" Each of them said that they would.

After they all talked Martha said goodbye and ran home. The men, not knowing they were being deceived again, broke out in a huge fight. This ended badly putting each of them into the hospital. Only later did they discover that Martha had tricked them yet again. Meanwhile, Martha moved to a different city and laughed to herself on how easy it is to manipulate men.

(goes back to Dale Sky)

"Well that was a very unexpected turn! I would hate to be on the other side of that! Martha really had no mercy for those men. Tune in next week to meet our new One Woman Betty. Goodnight everybody!"

Author's Note: This story is based off of The One Woman from the Folktales of Laos. I kept the same idea of the story of the woman outsmarting the man but made my own version of it. Unfortunately I was not able to finish out the original storyline and have the woman kill off the men and then trick another man into burying all of them for her and him killing another man in all of the confusion.

Bibliography: "The One Woman" from "Laos Folk-lore" by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899).

Essay for Week 6: Polly Want a Cracker?

Ara Macao via Wikimedia Commons

The Laos Unit was a pretty good read this week. I love all the separate stories. They were really all so different from one another. One was explaining why there were huge rocks in a plain, another explained why there was a man in the moon, and yet another explained why parrots only repeat what people say and do not say what is on their minds. I think that the diversity of stories of this unit is why I liked it so much. Every story was just so different. My favorite story was most definitely The Fortunes of a Lazy Beggar. Starting off this story I was not sure if it would be one I would like. Then I was able to relate to the beggar with his laziness. His is of course more extreme than my own, however, I definitely have those days where I would be perfectly content to stay in bed and do nothing all day. I could not believe that the chow's daughter ended up marrying him, but I was really impressed when he started working. I could not believe how vain the daughter was. She did not like the man until he looked great. Then she was fine with everything. Looks are not everything. With time they fade. When that is gone, what kind of a marriage will you have? My least favorite story of this unit was by far The Fortunes of Ai Powlo. That kid was creepy. I can not believe that anyone could be that evil to your own parents. To make your parents believe that their other half is dead is just wrong. Ai did many terrible things to a lot of people. I also thought it was creepy weird that when he died his skull would laugh and mock. As you can tell, I am not an Ai Powlo fan.

Reading Diary Week 6: Laos

Laos Unit

Enchanted Mountain

I really enjoyed this little story. The imagery is amazing and it seems truly beautiful. I like that you have to stumble upon this place and that you cannot find it if you search for it. However, what I really love about this story is the ending. I love that it says that the grown ups have to see to believe, but the children do not have to. They believe in the beautiful place on the mountain without ever seeing it. 

The Mountain Spirits and Stone Mortars

I really like that this story is to explain why there are huge random rocks in the Plain of Jars in Laos. I think the people in this story were pretty smart. I have read other stories where the offend the sprits or gods and it does not turn out well for them. It was a lot better to just pay the dues the spirits wanted and to not use the mortars than if they had offended the spirits. I would not like to experience that kind of wrath and I guess they did not either.

Why the Elephant's Lip Droops

I have to say, based off this story, I am terribly happy that the elephant's lip droops. Originally I thought this was going to be kind of like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, however, it took some twists I was not expecting. I was not expecting the girls finding the garden to be a positive thing. Their curiosity saved them which is something I am not used to seeing in these stories. I think it is interesting that the cannibal woman cursed the elephants lips to look like garments. Does she have special powers? Also, what happens after she cursed the elephant? Do the girls escape? Or does the cannibal woman get them?

Parrot and Minor Bird

I feel so bad for the saos bird. It only spoke the truth and was later punished for all eternity because of it. It is so sad that they could corrupt the bird and make the saos bird feel an obligation to warn the parrot and the minor bird. Because of man, the parrot and minor bird now feel like they have to repeat what we teach them and nothing else in order to protect themselves.

One Woman

I love the quote at the beginning of the story. I am sad to say that I do know a few girls who are pretty crafty and might give Chum Paw a run for her money. I do not quite understand why she would not just pick a guy to be with. I also despise girls that play boys.  It is not a good thing to do. I do not know anyone that fooled seven guys at once though. That had to be difficult. I hate that not only did she kill those men, but she had the neighbor kill another man who had nothing to do with the story. The neighbor thought that the woman's husband kept coming back to life so he buried and burned the bodies of her suitors. Then a poor charcoal man was killed because the neighbor thought it was Chum Paw's husband. Meanwhile, Chum Paw is living in her newfound riches.

The Boys Who Were Not Appreciated

These poor boys! I would gladly take them in! I am so glad they found that magic grass not only to cure them but to cure the chow's daughter. This made the older brother able to marry the daughter and for them to live richly. I am really proud that the boys were generous with what they had gained and wanted to share it with their parents even though they were abandoned as children. It's good for the parents that the widow had them cut into the wood to find their gold. Only when they were given riches did those parents learn to appreciate their children.

The Fortunes of a Lazy Beggar

This was a really good story. I have to say sometimes I have my lazy days. My brothers like to accuse me of being one of the laziest people they know, but they are full of it and are just being annoying brothers. Anyway, the laziness of that beggar was flat out ridiculous. I could not believe that he ended up marrying the chow's daughter. It was a good thing for him though because for the first time he started working. His wife and father in law did not love him though until he became a beautiful man. How vain is that? I really love the point that he makes that he is just as lazy as he was before. However, when you are rich and do not work you are not treated the same as you are if you are poor and do not work.