week 7 reading notes: laos folktales - part b

"The Wizard and the Beggar" link to story 

• The beggar turns out to be like the people the wizard mentions at the beginning; "“My son, the people of this day are ever careless and ungrateful. They forget benefits,” replied the wizard." 
• Reading back, the dog and buffalo also kind of foreshadow.  what happens when they tell the beggar of ungrateful people. The beggar himself becomes greedy and ungrateful after the wizard helps him. 
• Possible storytelling:
• Retell the story using a modern setting
• Replace the animals with people or use all animals

"One Woman..." link to story

• I thought this story was entertaining and amusing. I was not expecting some of the things to happen, like the neighbor having to bury each men and then killing a man he mistakenly thought was the "dead husband."
• The woman is clever and slick. The men are clueless and naive. 
• While I understand why the men were angry, I don't think it was enough to warrant murder of the woman. She didn't want to marry any of them and they shouldn't have been pushy about it. 
• Possible storytelling:
• Tell the story from the woman's point of view
• Recreate a story with a princess and possible suitors

"The Boys Who Were Not Appreciated" link to story

• This was kind of a sad, but sweet story. 
• In the end, I didn't want the brothers to give the gold to their mom and her husband because they neglected the boys, but it shows the goodness in their characters. 
• I think this story could be retold in a modern setting. An abandoned child becomes famous/rich one day.

A pile of gold. Web Source

Bibliography: These stories are from Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson.