Monday, September 29, 2014

Week 7- Reading Diary :African Stories from Lang's Fairy Books



Motikatika - It is funny how the tables have turned in this story. She was very difficult to please. Being picky about everything he brought her. So when he fell thirsty he did the exact same thing. Only that she was confronted with a ogre. As a mother how could she trade in her baby’s life so that she may save her own. But again her child is a magician and knows of her promise to the ogre. I found that quite funny.

   Motikatika (cont.) - I think Motikatia is an evil baby. How could he collect babies. My thoughts right now is – what happens to all these babies now? But it was also a smart strategy in preventing the ogre from eating him and confusing him. It is sad that in the end the father gets eaten based on the fact that he was the one that sent the mother in the first place.




   Jackal and Spring - The jackal in this story is rather clever. He managed to trick both the rabbit and the hare into giving them a treat. However he underestimated the least powerful being the tortoise but in fact he was the only one he could not trick. Goes to show to never underestimate even the smallest among us.

Adventures of a Jackal & Adventures of a Jackal (cont.) - The jackel here is very cunning. Why he would make tight shoes for the panther I don’t know. But the fact that he was not apologetic for it means he done it on purpose. So I could understand why the panther wants revenge. He is very qualified in being deceitful that he is always one step ahead of the Panther. But the old mans advice is very clever in helping him distinguish the traitor jackel from the rest. The way he tied all the jacels tails was a even cleverer move making it impossible for the panther to know whose who.

 Adventures of a Jackal (end) - Finally, there was someone who was more cunning than the jackel. And got revenge for all that he wronged. The hedgehog was much smarter than the jackel in that he recognized the difference between the sheep and the greyhound.


  Adventures of Jackal's Eldest Son - I really enjoyed reading this story. It is another example of how cunning the jackel is. Now that the heyena was killed by the lion because of how he said he would divide the prey. The jackel said that he would divide it in a way that pleased the lion. Which in reality means that if the hayena is taken out of the equation it means that the jackel can wear the clock by day and by night.


 Adventures of Jackal's Eldest Son (cont.) - The jackel is a very ungrateful creature. His fathers friend actually did him a favour by telling him where the butter was. Instead he makes the hedgehog steal and then scares him away so that he may have it all. But again the hedgehog came out on top. By crushing him. 

Adventures of Younger Son of Jackal - I don’t quite understand why the jackel being so kind in his offer would not equally share with the sheep. The youngest jackel was not supposed to be like his father and brother. Its funny how due to the jackels fear of the greyhound he shared evenly. Obviously he would not want to end up like his father.

Hassebu &Hassebu (cont.) - When reading this story I had a feeling that Hassebu’s companions was going to play him and become greedy. But Hassebu was a very smart young man. It reminds me of the quranic story of yusuf being left in the well by his brothers, leaving him for dead. The king of snakes was a very humble man as he still helped Hassebu knowing that it was because of him he was going to die. In return Hassebu became very learnt and great physician like his father was.

The Heart of a Monkey - I thought this story was very hilarious in the way that the monkey convinced the shark to turn back around to get his heart although he had his heart the whole time. What a clever monkey.


 The Heart of a Monkey: The Washerman's Donkey & The Heart of a Monkey: The Washerman's Donkey (cont.) -What a clever donkey. She managed to escape the hare and the lions set up. I thought it was quite weird how a donkey and a lion could be married. Very creative. It is quite sad that the lion still wants the same donkey for dinner, whilst she is still recovering. The donkey was rather stupid in the story thinking that he was trying to kiss you. So she goes to the lion again resulting in her death. I think it was a smart concept as to why she came a second time being that she had no heart.

Makoma & Makoma (cont.) - This story reminds me of Hercules but the African version. As Hercules completed the hardest and darkest of obstacles and always remained successful. As Hercules kept souvenirs of all twelve tasks that he had completed, Makoma did the same by placing them in a bag. I think he was sort of like a bully as he felt the need to prove he was the greatest instead of leaving them to do what they did best. Although he kept them as friends in the end.

Makoma (end) - The giant – sakatrina was so huge that even with Makomas hardest hit he felt very little. This was not like Makomas other challenges. They both were equally as strong therefore they became gods. I thought this was a very Greek myth like story.



Source: African tales




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