I haven't done a tall tale for a while, but while I was looking for wintry stories, I found this one about Paul Bunyan's ox, Babe. It's from AmericanFolklore.net. I didn't remember that Paul Bunyan found him during the winter, a winter "so cold that all the geese flew backward and all the fish moved south and even the snow turned blue. Late at night, it got so frigid that all spoken words froze solid before they could be heard. People had to wait until sunup to find out what folks were talking about the night before."
Paul Bunyan went out walking in the woods one day during that Winter of the Blue Snow. He was knee-deep in blue snow when he heard a funny sound between a bleat and a snort. Looking down, he saw a teeny-tiny baby blue ox hopping about in the snow and snorting with rage because he was too short to see over the drifts.
Paul Bunyan nursed...
The Corn People, illustraded by José Carlos and translated/edited by Kelly Carlos, is a mix of Aztec and Mayan mythology, and presents a lovely creation story. It's available on Amazon. It's a bilingual book, the Spanish on the top of each page, the English translation on the bottom, which I like, even though I can't pronounce the Spanish at all.
In the beginning there was silence and Heart of Sky was very lonely, so he made planets to keep him company. Heart of Water was his favorite. He asked Heart of Water whatshe thought of their world and she asked that her oceans be opened, allowing land to rise. The land became mountains, valleys and hills covered with tall pines. Heart of Sky made fish, mammals, reptiles, and birds. Both Hearts were happy with so much company, but the creatures couldn't praise them.
Heart of Sky, with Heart of Water, first created mud people and the wooden people, but neither would praise their makers...
"The Story of the Devotee Who Spilt the Jar of Honey and Oil" is from Persia. I found it on D. L. Ashliman's Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts. It was first translated by Edward B. Eastwick in The Anvár-i Suhailí; or, The Lights of Canopus, Being the Persion Version of The Fables of Pilpay, 1854.
A pious man had a house near a merchant, and lived happily thanks to his neighbor's kindness. The merchant sold honey and oil, and made a good living. Since the pious man lived a blameless life, and "ever sowed in the field of his guileless heart the seed of the love of God," the merchant took care of all his needs.
The merchant every day sent some honey and oil to the pious man too. He used some of this and stored up the rest in a corner. In a short time a jar was filled.
One day the pious man looked into that jar, and thought thus to...
Today's story comes from Scotland. It has a happy ending, but it does reference the hostilities between the English and Scottish people. "The Stolen Lady" was retold by Thomas Keightley in The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries, 1850, which is available on-line.
John Roy, who lived in Glenbroun, in the parish of Abernethy, was out one night on the hills in search of his cattle. He met a troop of fairies, who seemed to have a prize of some sort. Remembering that the fairies are obliged to exchange whatever they may have with any one who offers them anything, no matter how low in value, for it, he flung his cap to them, crying Shuis slo slumus sheen (i.e., mine is yours and yours is mine). The fairies dropped their booty, which proved to be a Sassenach (English) lady whom the dwellers of Shian of Coir-laggac had carried away from her own country, leaving a stock in her place...
I was looking for a harvest story for today, and found this one "Sowing Pine Seeds" from Sweden. I found it on-line at The Gold Scales. It made me smile. It's another example of cleverness winning the day, only this time the person in power admires it instead of being angered.
In Kopinge lies Ugerup Estate, also called Urup, famous in the history of Denmark. In the 1500s, when Arild Ugerup was yet a young man he was captured by the Swedes and carried as a prisoner to Stockholm. His friends had little hope that they would ever see him again.
But while Arild was languishing in his prison it occurred to him that he should seek the king's permission to go home on parole to sow and gather his crops. The king readily granted his petition since Arild promised to return to his confinement as soon as his harvest was ripe.
He at once hastened to Skane. And in the fields where...
How about another ghost story? "White Cap" comes from Iceland and was retold by Jón Arnason in Icelandic Legends, translated by George E. J. Powell and Eiríkur Magnússon, 1864.
A boy and girl lived near a church. The boy tended to be mischievous and often tried to frighten the girl in a variety of ways, until she became used to his tricks, and she assumed everything strange that she saw or heard was due to the boy.
One washing day, the girl was sent by her mother to fetch the linen, which had been spread to dry in the churchyard. When she had nearly filled her basket, she happened to look up, and saw sitting on a tomb near her a figure dressed in white from head to foot She wasn't alarmed however, because she assumed it was the boy playing a trick on her as usual. So she ran up to it, and pulling its cap off said, "You shall not...