Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook: Units with Audio

Showing posts with label Units with Audio. Show all posts

Myth-Folklore Unit: Aesop for Children (Winter)

Overview. The story source for this unit is The Aesop for Children, a collection of Aesop's fables with artwork by Milo Winter, a well known book illustrator; the name of the English translator remains a mystery; I have not been able to find out just who prepared the English versions of the fables that appear in this book, although they are very nicely done! While most of the fables contained in this unit come from the Greek and Roman tradition, there are also some fables here that the French fabulist La Fontaine borrowed from India and blended with the Aesopic tradition, such as the story of the tortoise who went flying his friends the ducks or the story of the monkey who became the proverbial "cat's paw." This reading unit also has an audio recording available from LibriVox (the other Aesop unit does not have audio available).

Language. The language used here is very contemporary and intended for a young audience. It should not cause you any trouble at all.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Aesop for Children. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Notes. This unit does not have notes on every page yet, so please feel free to ask questions if something is not clear — and your questions will help me write better notes, too! You can ask your question by leaving a comment, just like at any other blog. You can also rate each page with the star ratings checkbox at the bottom of each post. Your feedback and questions are much appreciated!

Choosing Between Units. As you will see, there are two Aesop units available in the Classical module: this unit with illustrations by Milo Winter and the unit with Aesop's fables by Joseph Jacobs with the illustrations by Walter Crane. If you are really into Aesop's fables, you can do both units if you want; there is not any overlap between the actual fables in the unit! To create this unit, I took the Milo Winters book and simply removed all the fables that appear in Jacobs. So, if you do them both, you will be a real Aesop expert! If you are going to do Aesop for just one week, the most important difference between the two units is that the Jacobs unit does not have a free audiobook version, but this unit does have a free audiobook version available.

Connecting Units. The fables of Aesop have been both popular and influential for over 200 years! In addition to the two Aesop units in the Classical module, you will find a unit of Aesop's Fables in English Poetry and Prose in the British Isles modules, and the Fables of the French Poet La Fontaine in the European module. In addition, there are close connections between Aesop's fables and the "jataka tales" of the Buddhist tradition, and there are two jataka units in the India module: Babbitt's Jataka Tales and Shedlock's Jataka Tales.

Read More. If you enjoyed the stories selected for this unit, you might enjoy reading the whole book, which is freely available online in many convenient formats include an online book view at Hathi Trust (includes pictures) and a free Kindle ebook (fables only; no pictures).

Additional Resources. There is an Aesop Index page for all the fables in the various Aesop units in this course, and you can use this link to see the four different Aesop units listed on a single page. If you would like to see all 600 of the fables that are part of the Greek and Roman Aesop tradition, you can find a listing at Aesopica.net. For an overview of the history of Aesop's fables, see Wikipedia.

There is really no rhyme or reason to the arrangement of the fables in this book, but I have not rearranged them into related groups since that would make it impossible to link to the audio files. The LibriVox recordings are done in sets of four. In some cases, all four of those fables are part of the reading unit, but in other cases you will see that only some of the fables are included from a given audio file:

Free audiobook available!

READING A

READING B

Myth-Folklore Unit: Homer's Iliad (retold by A. J. Church)

Overview. This unit is based on Homer's Iliad, an epic poem about the Trojan War which focuses on the conflict between the Greek hero Achilles and the Trojan hero Hector (so, no Trojan Horse — the fall of Troy is a story we know from sources other than Homer). The reading is taken from a prose version The Iliad by Alfred J. Church, and there is also a free LibriVox audiobook version if you would like to have the story read to you. The unit consists of approximately half of Church's book, focusing on the opposing heroes Achilles, champion of the Greeks, and Hector, prince of Troy. The story begins with the great quarrel between Achilles and the leader of the Greek armies, King Agamemnon, brother of King Menelaus, Helen's unlucky husband. The angry Achilles declares that he will no longer join in the battle, and this refusal to fight will have tragic consequences worse than anything Achilles could have imagined.

Language. This is a retelling of Homer, not a translation, so the language should not be a problem.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Homer's Iliad. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Notes. This unit does not have notes on every page yet, so please feel free to ask questions if something is not clear — and your questions will help me write better notes, too! You can ask your question by leaving a comment, just like at any other blog. You can also rate each page with the star ratings checkbox at the bottom of each post. Your feedback and questions are much appreciated!

Connecting Units. The two Homeric epics — The Iliad and The Odyssey — begin the theme of epics that you can explore in other reading units this semester. If you are interested in epic and want to read both Iliad and Odyssey for Weeks 2 and 3, that's great; make sure you read the Iliad first if you want to read both (The Iliad comes first in terms of the order of events). If you want to look at epics in later weeks of this semester, keep an eye out for: Sindbad in Week 4 (not an epic, but it was influenced by The Odyssey), The Ramayana in Week 5, The Monkey King in Week 6, Hiawatha in Week 9, Beowulf in Week 11, The Faerie Queene in Week 12, Dante's Inferno in Week 13, and The Kalevala in Week 14.

Read More. In this unit, you read only the part of Church's book which is focused on Achilles. If you want to read the whole book, you can find it online in various formats: The Iliad, retold by Alfred J. Church. For a quick glance at the table of contents, see the online book presented at Baldwin Project.

Additional Resources. Wikipedia has good background information about the Homeric epics in general, The Iliad in particular, and also on the larger story of the Trojan War (The Iliad covers only a very small part of the whole story of the war). For learning more about the Greek gods and goddess, Theoi.com is an excellent resource.

Free audiobook available!

READING A

READING B

(book illustration)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Bible Women

Overview. This unit focuses on the stories of Bible women in both the Hebrew Bible and also in the Christian New Testament. The first cycle of stories is about women associated with the Jewish patriarchs of the Book of Genesis: Adam and Eve; Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar; Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob, Rachel, and Leah; and also Joseph and Potiphar's wife. The next series of stories is about remarkable women from later books of the Hebrew Bible: Jephthah's daughter, Delilah, Hannah (mother of Samuel), the witch of Endor, Bathsheba, and Esther. I've also included the famous story of Susanna as told in the apocryphal chapters of the Book of Daniel. Then, the final stories come from the New Testament Gospels, with accounts of Mary, Elizabeth, Anna, Herodias, Martha, and her sister Mary. Some of these stories are very well known, others less so, but when taken all together they show you the great range of roles that women play in the Bible's stories.

Language. The stories here come from the King James Version of the Bible. So, if you find the King James Bible hard to read, this is not a good unit to pick. Because the stories of these women are often scattered in pieces throughout a given chapter of the Bible which I have pulled together in a continuous narrative here, it would not be easy to follow along using a different translation.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Bible Women. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Notes. This unit has notes from me on each page, but please feel free to ask questions, too! You can leave comments here just like at any other blog. You can also rate each page with the star ratings checkbox at the bottom of each post. Your feedback and questions are much appreciated!

Connecting Units. If you are interested in Bible topics, I strongly recommend the Folklore of the Holy Land unit coming up in the Middle East module, which features Jewish, Christian and Islamic folklore, centered on the city of Jerusalem.

Read More. In this unit, you read only about a few of the many women whose stories are found in the Bible. If you want to read more, here is a very long list of Bible women, with links to the Wikipedia articles about them, which in turn provide Bible citations and other references. It's a great topic to explore!

Free audiobook available!

READING A

READING B

(Rebecca at the Well, by Murillo)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Gospel of Mark

Overview. In this unit, you will read to get the Gospel of Mark in its entirety, examining an account of the life of Jesus that begins with his encounter with John the Baptist and ends with the crucifixion and resurrection. While the Gospel of Mark comes second in the traditional arrangement of Biblical books, most scholars agree that it is the first of the gospel narratives to have taken shape in the written form in which we know it. Each of the Gospel narratives has a special character of its own, and the Gospel of Mark is notable for its emphasis on Jesus's deeds as a healer, an exorcist, and a worker of miracles, what the Greeks would have called a "thaumaturge," a wonder-worker. As you will see, I have removed the traditional separation of the Bible story into separate verses (which were not part of the original Greek text), so even if you are familiar with this gospel, I hope you will have a new reading experience as you consider the text in the context of this class.

Language. The translation used here is the King James Version, but you could easily choose to read this in the translation of your choice since the reading consists of the entire Gospel of Mark; nothing has been omitted because the length of this gospel is around 15,000 words, exactly the right length for the reading units in this class. So, if you have a different Bible translation that you prefer to read, feel free to do that!

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Gospel of Mark. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Notes. This unit does not have notes on every page yet, so please feel free to ask questions if something is not clear — and your questions will help me write better notes, too! You can ask your question by leaving a comment, just like at any other blog. You can also rate each page with the star ratings checkbox at the bottom of each post. Your feedback and questions are much appreciated!

Connecting Units. If you are interested in these topics, I strongly recommend the Folklore of the Holy Land unit coming up in the Middle East module, which features Jewish, Christian and Islamic folklore, centered on the city of Jerusalem. You might find it intriguing to compare the Life of the Buddha that is coming up in the India module.

Read More. In this unit, you read only the Gospel of Mark, but of course there are three other Gospels, each quite distinct and different from the other.

Additional Resources. For a commentary on Mark, I can highly recommend the very user-friendly Red Letter edition; it's one of those books you can find super-cheap at Amazon: Gospel of Mark Red Letter Edition.

Free audiobook available!

READING A:

READING B:

(6th-century icon)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Adam and Eve

Overview. This reading unit starts by reviewing the story of Adam and Eve as told in the Biblical book of Genesis, and then you will get to see how different storytellers over the centuries have filled in the gaps and also expanded on that story. In the stories from The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg, you will learn more about Adam and Eve's life in Paradise, including the fall of Satan and also the legend of Adam's first wife, Lilith. Then, in "The First Book of Adam and Eve" (a medieval Christian text, from The Forgotten Books of Eden anthology), you will read about the trials and tribulations that Adam and Eve faced when they left the Garden of Eden and entered into the "Cave of Treasures" which God prepared for them to alleviate their punishment.

Language. This unit consists of three very different types of material, so make sure you check out a few paragraphs from each section to see what you think. The Genesis pages come from the King James Version of the Bible (although you can choose to read a different Bible translation if you want). Next come the Jewish legends collected by Louis Ginzberg and retold in contemporary English; these should not pose any real problem. Finally, there is a modern English translation of the ancient Syriac Book of Adam and Eve.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Adam and Eve. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Notes. This unit does not have notes on every page yet, so please feel free to ask questions if something is not clear — and your questions will help me write better notes, too! You can ask your question by leaving a comment, just like at any other blog. You can also rate each page with the star ratings checkbox at the bottom of each post. Your feedback and questions are much appreciated!

Connecting Units. If you are interested in this topic, I strongly recommend the Folklore of the Holy Land unit coming up in the Middle East module, which features Jewish, Christian and Islamic folklore, centered on the city of Jerusalem.

Read More. In this unit, you read only part of Ginzberg's amazing (and enormous!) study of Jewish folklore and the Bible. If you want to read the whole book, you can find it online in various formats: The Legends of the Jews. There is also much more to read in the "Book of Adam and Eve," which you can read online as part of The Forgotten Books of Eden.

Additional Resources. You can find a good overview of extra-Biblical literature of all kinds at Wikipedia: Biblical Apocrypha.

Table of Contents:

Free audiobooks available:

Genesis - Ginzberg - Adam & Eve

READING A:

The Creation (Genesis)
The Fall (Genesis)
The Ideal Man (Ginzberg)
The Fall of Satan (Ginzberg)
Lilith (Ginzberg)
Eve (Ginzberg)
Paradise (Ginzberg)
The Fall of Man (Ginzberg)
The Punishment (Ginzberg)
The Punishment, cont. (Ginzberg)

READING B

Leaving the Garden (Book of Adam and Eve)
Entering the Cave of Treasures (Book of Adam and Eve)
They Die a First Time (Book of Adam and Eve)
The Beasts of the Creation (Book of Adam and Eve)
Want of Water and Light (Book of Adam and Eve)
The Darkness (Book of Adam and Eve)
The Sunrise and the Serpent (Book of Adam and Eve)
Suicide and Salvation (Book of Adam and Eve)
Worship and Blessing (Book of Adam and Eve)

(The Fall, by Michelangelo)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Noah and the Ark

Overview. In this unit, you will read the story of the Flood and also the story of the Tower of Babel from the Biblical Book of Genesis. Then, you will read a wide variety of legends reported by Louis Ginzberg in his monumental collection, Legends of the Jews. There are stories about the creation of the ark as well as about life on the ark during the flood, including strife and intrigue among the animals. The peculiar relationship between Noah and the crow is especially surprising! You will also find out just how Noah got the details he needed to build the ark (a story that begins with some shocking revelations about Adam and Eve), and you will see just what role Satan played in the Biblical story of Noah's drunkenness.

Language. This unit consists of two types of material. The first part comes from Genesis, King James Version of the Bible, but you can choose to use any Bible translation you want. The rest of the unit consists of Jewish legends collected by Louis Ginzberg and retold in contemporary English; these should not pose any real language problem.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Noah. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Notes. This unit does not have notes on every page yet, so please feel free to ask questions if something is not clear — and your questions will help me write better notes, too! You can ask your question by leaving a comment, just like at any other blog. You can also rate each page with the star ratings checkbox at the bottom of each post. Your feedback and questions are much appreciated!

Connecting Units. If you are interested in Biblical legends, I strongly recommend the Folklore of the Holy Land unit coming up in the Middle East module, which features Jewish, Christian and Islamic folklore, centered on the city of Jerusalem.

Read More. In this unit, you read only part of Ginzberg's remarkable collection of Jewish Biblical legends; it is a book (four volumes!), that I can highly recommend in its entirety! If you want to read more of this book, you can find it online in various formats: Legends of the Jews.

Additional Resources. Wikipedia has a marvelous article on Noah (including a section on the Noah legend in Islam), and you can also find an informative article there about Flood Myths and Legends from around the world, with a long list of links to articles about specific flood myths.

Free audiobooks available!

Genesis - Ginzberg

READING A:

READING B:

(from the Nuremberg Chronicles)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Arabian Nights

Overview. You have probably heard of the storyteller Scheherazade and the "Arabian Nights," known in Arabic as Alf-Layla-wa-Layla, "The 1001 Nights" (Thousand-Nights-plus-Night). In this selection from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments, you will learn why telling these stories is a matter of life-and-death for the lovely Scheherazade, and you will also get to see the "nested" storytelling technique in action, when a character in a story tells a story of their own, and a character in that story in turns tells a story of their own, thus creating stories within stories within stories. You may even be familiar with some of the stories that Scheherazade tells; the tale of "Aladdin and the Lamp," for example, is one of the stories you will find in this unit.

Language. This book consists of a modern retelling of the Nights, rather than a direct translation of the medieval text, so the language should not pose any problems.

Story Length. This unit contains a series of nested single-page stories (stories within stories), along with one very long story, Aladdin.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Arabian Nights. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Free audiobook available!

READING A:

READING B:

Myth-Folklore Unit: The Voyages of Sindbad

Overview. The legend of Sindbad the Sailor is just one of the many delights contained in the book known as The Arabian Nights or the 1001 Nights. This reading unit, drawn from Lang's Arabian Nights' Entertainments, includes all seven voyages of Sindbad the Sailor as told in first-person by Sindbad himself. The first-person storytelling style makes these tales very similar to the stories of Odysseus, whose first-person account of his adventures at sea are found in Homer's Odyssey. It's clear, in fact, that the creator of the Sindbad legend was aware of Odysseus, as you will see Sindbad escaping from a one-eyed cannibal using the same trick that Odysseus used! That's just one of Sindbad's voyages, of course, and he has some unforgettable adventures of his own on the six other voyages.

Connecting Units. If you did the Odyssey unit in the Classical module, you might really enjoy looking at the voyages of Sindbad. The ancient Greek stories of Odysseus had a big influence on the Sindbad stories!

Language. This book consists of a modern retelling of the Nights, rather than a direct translation of the medieval text, so the language should not pose any problems.

Story Length. This unit contains mostly two-page stories, along with a few three-page stories.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: The Voyages of Sindbad. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Free audiobook available!

READING A:

READING B:

Fifth Voyage [The Old Man]
Fifth Voyage (cont.)
Sixth Voyage [The Raft]
Sixth Voyage (cont.)
Sixth Voyage (end)
Seventh and Last Voyage [The Elephants]
Seventh and Last Voyage (cont.)

(illustration by H. J. Ford)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Jataka Tales (Babbitt)

Overview. The jatakas are ancient stories from India, the "birth tales" of the Buddha, stories of his previous incarnations in the form of people and also animals. The Buddha told these stories as teaching parables, much like the way in which Jesus used parables for teaching. Meanwhile, the plots of the jataka stories are often very similar to Aesop's fables, and some of the Aesop's fables from Greece are probably Indian in origin; for example, the story of "The Woodpecker and the Lion" that you will read here is very similar to the Aesopic fable of "The Wolf and the Crane." This particular selection of jataka stories by Ellen Babbit (from her two books, Jataka Tales and More Jataka Tales) emphasizes animal stories, featuring all kinds of creatures: monkeys, elephants, turtles, lions, and even some foolish otters who put their trust in a wolf.

Language. These tales come from a book written for a young audience; the language should not pose any problems.

Story Length. This unit contains only single-page stories.

Choosing Between Units. If you are choosing between the two Jataka Tales unit, Babbitt or Shedlock, here's something to keep in mind: the Babbitt unit presents the stories without the Buddhist framework, in a way that is very similar to Aesop's fables, while the Shedlock unit presents the stories in a more explicitly Buddhist context. So if you are specifically interested in Buddhism, choose the Shedlock unit!

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Jataka Tales (Babbitt). Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Free audiobooks available:

Jatakas - More Jatakas

READING A:

READING B:

Myth-Folklore Unit: Twenty-Two Goblins

Overview. The stories in Twenty-Two Goblins (Arthur Ryder's translation of the Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati) are tales told by a goblin, or vetala in Sanskrit, a supernatural creature that inhabits human corpses. The audience for the goblin's stories is a wise king who is attempting to capture one of these goblin-inhabited corpses; as he is toting the corpse back to his palace, the goblin tells paradoxical stories that each end with a riddling question which the king must answer. I've included twelve of the stories here, along with the dramatic conclusion when you see what finally happens to the king, to the corpse, and to the goblin. You can get a sense of how the stories work from their titles: "The Three Lovers who Brought the Dead Girl to Life: Whose Wife Should She Be?" or "The Girl who Transposed the Heads of her Husband and Brother: Which Combination of Head and Body is Her Husband?" See if you can find the answers as easily as the king does!

Language. This is a wonderful English translation of the Sanskrit original. Ryder also translates the Sanskrit names into their English equivalents, so instead of strange Sanskrit names, you get to learn what the Sanskrit names actually mean!

Story Length. This unit contains only single-page stories, plus a frametale that connects them all together.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on a single page: Twenty-Two Goblins.

Free audiobook available!

READING A:

Introduction.
The Three Lovers. The Three Lovers who brought the Dead Girl to Life. Whose wife should she be?
Brave, Wise, Clever. The Brave Man, the Wise Man, and the Clever Man. To which should the girl be given?
The Girl, Her Husband and Her Brother. The Girl who transposed the Heads of her Husband and Brother. Which combination of head and body is her husband?
Food, Women, Cotton. The Specialist in Food, the Specialist in Women, and the Specialist in Cotton. Which is the cleverest?
The Four Suitors. The Four Scientific Suitors. To which should the girl be given?
The Three Delicate Wives. The Three Delicate Wives of King Virtue-banner. Which is the most delicate?

READING B:

The Snake's Poison. The Brahman who died because Poison from a Snake in the Claws of a Hawk fell into a Dish of Food given him by a Charitable Woman. Who is to blame for his death?
The Girl and the Thief. The Girl who showed Great Devotion to the Thief. Did he weep or laugh?
The General's Wife. The King who died for Love of his General's Wife; the General follows him in Death. Which is the more worthy?
The Four Brothers. The Four Brothers who brought a Dead Lion to Life. Which is to blame when he kills them all?
The Old Hermit. The Old Hermit who exchanged his Body for that of the Dead Boy. Why did he weep and dance?
Father and Son, Daughter and Mother. The Father and Son who married Daughter and Mother. What relation were their children?
Conclusion.

Myth-Folklore Unit: Indian Fairy Tales

Overview. This wide-ranging collection of Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs includes stories from the Buddhist Jataka and Hindu Panchatantra tradition (The Lion and the Crane, The Demon with the Matted Hair, The Cruel Crane Outwitted, The Broken Pot, and more), along with some marvelous fairy tales that contain motifs you will recognize from the European fairy tale tradition, even though the actual stories will probably be new to you. One of my favorites is The Charmed Ring, which features a dog and cat working in partnership as the hero's animal helpers. This unit also contains what I consider to be one of the greatest folktales of all time - The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal - with the jackal as trickster and the tiger as the victim of the trick!

Language. Jacobs draws on various sources for these stories, but they are all modern English sources, so the language used should not be a problem.

Story Length. This unit contains single-page stories, with just one two-page story.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Indian Fairy Tales. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Free audiobook available!

READING A:

The Lion and the Crane
The Broken Pot
The Magic Fiddle
The Cruel Crane Outwitted
The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal
Harisarman
The Charmed Ring
The Charmed Ring (cont.)

READING B:

The Talkative Tortoise
The Gold-Giving Serpent
Pride Goeth Before a Fall
The Prince and the Fakir
Why the Fish Laughed
The Demon With the Matted Hair
How Sun, Moon, and Wind Went Out to Dinner

Myth-Folklore Unit: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang)

Overview. These Japanese fairy tales retold by Andrew Lang focus on the adventures of the tanuki, a shape-shifting trickster sometimes called a "raccoon dog" in English, along with other magical creatures such as a supernatural sparrow (although she is not really a sparrow after all!), and the cat demons who dread the dog named Schippeitaro. There are love stories too, like the Japanese Cinderella-type story of "The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet," along with a very sweet love story about two devoted cats. Finally, you will read about the adventures of Urashimataro who rides on the back of a giant turtle into the depths of the sea and falls in love with the lovely princess Otohime, daughter of Ringu, the god of the sea.

Language. The book is written in contemporary English, so the language used should not pose any problems.

Story Length. These are all single-page stories, but on the long side, so there are only twelve of them.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on a single page: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang).

Free audiobooks available:

Violet - Crimson - Pink

READING A:

READING B:

Myth-Folklore Unit: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki)

Overview. Yei Theodora Ozaki, as you can guess from her name, was of mixed heritage: her mother was English, and her father was Japanese. She grew up in England and later moved back to Japan, making her an ideal person to retell these Japanese Fairy Tales for an English audience. This unit contains such famous stories as Kintaro, the super-strong "golden boy" and future samurai, along with tales of warriors who battle supernatural monsters such as the "Goblin of Adachigahara" or the "Ogre of Rashomon." There is also the lovely story of Princess Hase who endures her stepmother's cruelty with great bravery, along with the tale of the virtuous Tawara Toda and the origin of his name, which means "My Lord Bag of Rice" or "Rice-Bag Toda."

Language. The book is written in contemporary English, so the language used should not pose any problems.

Story Length. These are all multi-page stories, mostly three or four pages in length, for a total of six different stories.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki). Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Free audiobook available!

READING A:

READING B:

(Hase temple)

Myth-Folklore Unit: West African Folktales

Overview. The stories in West African Folktales were collected in the early years of the 20th century from African students at a teacher training center in Accra, the capital of Ghana, a country that is home to over 100 ethnic groups (Ashanti, Fante, Ewe, and more). Many of the stories focus on Anansi, a sly, greedy, dangerous trickster. You will also meet Kweku Tsin, Anansi's good-hearted son who is sometimes able to outwit his father. According to one legend, Anansi became the moon in the sky, but Keweku Tsin became the sun, literally outshining his father. Anansi's tricks also explain the origins of other natural phenomena: why the lizard bobs his head up and down, why termites destroy human houses, and why spiders like to hide under stones. There are other animal stories in this collection also, including tales of tortoises, tigers, chameleons and elephants, and some human adventures too!

Language. These stories are told in modern English prose, so the language used should pose no difficulties.

Story Length. These are all single-page stories.

Navigation. You will find the table of contents below, and you can also use this link to see the story posts displayed on two pages total: West Africa. Click "Older Posts" at the bottom of that page to see the second page.

Table of Contents:

Free audiobook available!

READING A:

READING B:

Pages