Today's tale is another short piece from Margaret Atwood's Good Bones and Simple Murders, "Making a Man. " There are several ways of making a man including the traditional method, using dust and the breath of life. You can also use marzipan or the clothes method. You can even a make a cute lawn ornament with a bit of plaster of Paris.
But my favorite method, and the reason this story fits in on my Thursday is the man you can bake. Yep, a man made of gingerbread of course. Actually any cookie recipe will do, but if you want him lively, you need to add some extra ginger. There is one caveat though. After he comes out of the oven, this type of man is difficult to hold on to. "Men made this way are apt to take off down the roan, on motorcycles or off them, robbing convenience stores, getting themselves tattooed, and hopping up and down and singing, "Run,...
When I was thinking of what tale to feature today and staring at my bookshelf, I saw Good Bone and Simple Murders by Margaret Atwood, one of my favorite books. One of the selections in it is "Unpopular Gals," a look at some of the bad women in fairy tales from their own point of view.
First up is the ugly step-sister, the one who never gets a name. She knows she isn't pretty, that no matter what she did, she would never be the beautiful one who was always adored. She tells us she loved the prince too, so much that she cut off her foot, or disguised herself, or commit murder. "But all [her] love ever came to was a bad end. Red-hot shoes, barrels studded with nails. That's what it feels like, unrequited love."
Next is the witch, who is accused of all sort of things, just because she is old and alone, and maybe ate a child or two. She...
It's cold here today - and I hate the cold. So, I went looking for a folktale from somewhere warm. I found Philippine Folk Tales by Mabel Cook Cole, published in 1916, on Sur La Lune. The Philippines are warm and tropical. Today it's apparently 79 degrees in Manila and 6 here. "How the Tinguian Learned to Plant" explains how the Tinguian people learned two important things - how to plant and how to care for the sick.
Long ago, the Tinguian did not know how to plant and harvest as they now do. For food they had only the things that grew in the forests and fish from the streams. They also did not know how to cure people who became ill or were injured by evil spirits. Then Kadaklan, the Great Spirit who lives in the sky, saw that the people often were hungry and sick, so he sent one of his servants, Kaboniyan, to the earth to teach them.
Dayapan, a woman...
We all know the danger of seeing a movie after reading the book - the movie rarely lives up to its promise. While Into the Woods is based on a musical, not a book, we did see the musical a couple of years ago and it's impossible not to compare the two. But the musical is based on fairy tales, which comes back to being based on books - all a little confusing really. But the plot, while involving lots of folks pulls it all together well.
I liked the movie, even if it didn't quite live up to my expectations when I heard people saying run, don't walk, to see it. It's enjoyable, full of great characters and stories, ones we're familiar with but whose stories don't turn out the way they traditionally do. I think, for me, the live performance is a little better, but the movie is definitely worth seeing.
A couple of things:
I found the Little Red Riding Hood...
I know it's only Wednesday, but this tale is just perfect for today, and with tomorrow being Christmas, I doubt many people will be online, including me. I've mentioned before that when I was kid we had a wonderful book of troll stories, Favorite Tales of Monsters and Trolls written by George Jonson and illustrated by John O’Brien. One of the stories in that books is a retelling of "The Cat on the Doverfjell” from East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon. Jan Brett has down a marvelous retelling of that same story in Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve?
A boy is taking his polar bear to Oslo, but he is cold and hungry so stops at a cabin. Kyri has been left alone in the hut to prepare the Christmas Eve meal while her father has gone up into the mountains to watch for trolls. In past years, the trolls have come down, broke into the house, and devoured...
Usually I share Christmassy tales in December, and most of them are happy, with good winning over evil, or a warm tale connected to the Nativity. Today's is an odd one, but it does take place during Advent.
On the mountain road to Haenlein, but also in the area around Lorsch, people called the ignis fatuous or phosphorescent lights that could be seen there flibbertigibbets. Purportedly they only appeared during Advent and a rhyme was composed about them:
“Flibbertigibbet, ho, ho,
Burn like straw, oh, oh,
Strike me like lightening if you will!
Flibbertigibbet wisp-o-will!”
Many years ago a young girl saw a flibbertigibbet in the evening and recited the old rhyme. But the flibbertigibbet ran after the girl pursuing her into the house of her parents. It followed quick on her heels and entered the room at the very same time that she did. It struck all the people assembled there with its fiery wings so that from that time forward her...