Happy St. Patrick's Day! I've got an Irish tale today, of course, "The Sprightly Tailor." The version I read was collected in Joseph Jacobs' Celtic Fairy Tales, 1892.
Macdonald, in his castle at Saddell, hired a tailor to make him a pair of trews. According to the story, trews were the vest and breeches united in one piece and ornamented with fringes, apparently very comfortable. Macdonald promised the tailor an extra reward if he would make the trews by night in the church. The old ruined church was supposed to haunted.
The tailor was well aware of the stories, but he was a sprightly man, and when MacDonald dared him to make the trews by night in the church, the tailor was determined to win the prize. So, when night came, he went up the glen about a half mile to the old church. He chose him a nice gravestone for a seat, lit a candle, put on his thimble, and set...
"The Elfin Hill" was written by Hans Christian Andersen and first published in April, 1845. It doesn't have the distinctly Christian viewpoint that many of his fairy tales do, but he does emphasize the importance of manners and politeness . As always, I enjoy his descriptions and, in this one, I like the variety of characters, from the elves to the woodland creatures to the goblins and the will-o’-the-wisps.
Two lizards scramble about a tree near the entrance to the elfin hill, commenting on the hustle and bustle within. They have heard the elf maidens are practicing new dances and both wonder the reason why.
An old maid elf hurries out and summons a raven to deliver invitations to an important event. “All the world may come to the great ball, even human beings, if they can only talk in their sleep, or do something after our fashion. But for the feast the company must be carefully selected; we can only admit persons...
I was thinking about March and the saying that it comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, or the opposite depending on the year. I figured there was probably some kind of folk tale that went along with it. Turns out I was wrong, but I'll share what I found out anyway.
An English proverb, one that became a common Pennsylvania saying is the one we're familiar with:
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
In the 19th century it was used as a prediction contingent on a year's early March weather:
If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.
Often times, early March is marked by biting cold and winter storms. The month begins with a lion's roar. But, by the end of the month, the weather can often be warm, spring-like and docile. Kind of like a gentle lamb. It happens that way a lot, but, not all the time,as...
I was going though our photos from Disney the other day and ran across this tale that I never got around to sharing. David took the photo above of a hippo in the Animal Kingdom. I have never seen a hippo swimming underwater like that; it was so cool. This story was on a plaque near the exhibit.
Long, long ago Kiboko the Hippo did not live in the swift-moving river but in the open savannah among all the other creatures. He had a long. silky coat of fur and a lovely, bushy tail. Hippo was so vain of his fine fur that he would admire his image in the water and boast to all the other animals. "Am I not the handsomest creature of all?"
Kadima the Hare grew very tired of Hippo's boasting and decided to teach him some humility. He piled up a nice soft nest of dry grass and offered it so Hippo, saying "such a handsome animal as...
I love books that expose kids to other cultures, to other ways of looking at this world. Magic Words is a good introduction to the Inuit people.
It's a gorgeous book. I read the eBook, but wish I had the paperback. The illustrations are richly colored and imaginative and invoke the feeling of the Inuit culture. According to the book, the illustrations began as ink drawings that were retraced and softened with 6B extra soft charcoal pencil. You know, before Amber started drawing I think I was pretty sure all pencils were #2 and the directions on standardized tests to use a #2 were silly. Anyway, the finished drawings were scanned and colored digitally. They are vibrant and just gorgeous.
The poem talks of a past time when people could become animals and animals could become people and they all spoke the same language. And the words they were powerful and could have unintended consequences - a good reminder to be mindful...
"The Ash Lad who Made the Princess Say, 'You're a Liar!'" is Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norwegian Folktales. Ash Lad, Askeladden in Norwegian, sometimes also known as Boots, is the main character in many Norwegian stories. In some ways, he represents the small man who succeeds where all others fail. He always wins in the end, often winning the princess and half the kingdom. He is often portrayed as the youngest of three brothers, as in this story. Early in a typical tale, the older brothers appear to have much greater chances of success in life. For example, one brother might be extremely well read, whereas another might be extremely competent in another area. In contrast, the Ash Lad is looked down upon as a seemingly drowsy ne'er do well, perhaps even as a loner or misunderstood eccentric, who spends too much time sitting by the fireplace lost in thought as he is...