Week 14: The Servant and the Thief (Storytelling)

An old servant sat in dining room, polishing the silverware for Lord Nathaniel. He was sitting alone, working slowly. His hands were knobbed and stiff. This mundane task used to take him less than an hour. Now he would be sitting working for a third of the day.

Cutlery by Cocoparisienne. Pixabay

He knew his master hated how long it took the old man to do simple tasks. Lord Nathaniel had not even been born when the old servant began working. He had been childhood friends with Lord Nathaniel’s father, Marcus. Marcus had promised the old servant a place in his house as long as he lived. But three months earlier, Marcus had died, leaving Lord Nathaniel in charge of the household. Nathaniel was still so young but thought he had the wisdom of the world.

Lord Nathaniel quickly began to run the household with a firm and hand, yet he was often shortsighted in his decisions. His young wife, Lady Gwen, on the other hand was kind to everyone she met and added compassion to the household. The lord and lady often argued, but they usually reached a compromise quickly.

Because of this, the old servant wasn’t too worried at first when their angry voices were carried down the hallway to the dining room where he sat. But then he began to listen to their argument.

“Nathaniel,” Lady Gwen said sternly. “You cannot just throw him out onto the street. He would be dead within a month!”

“Well, what am I supposed to do Gwen? Let him stay? Feed him, cloth him, give him a place to live? He isn’t doing us any good. I know he was friends with my father but that doesn’t mean I should have to pay for him now!”

“He’s just a kind old man. I’ve talked to him quite a bit and he has worked for your family for half a century! It would be wrong to not let him stay.”

“I’ve made my decision. Tomorrow I’m going to tell him to leave.” Lord Nathaniel ended the conversation abruptly,  and kept Gwen from arguing further.

The old servant sat in shock, the spoon he had been cleaning fell from his hand. He slowly leaned down to pick it up off the floor when Lord Nathaniel walked by the room. He paused for a second to stare unsympathetically at the old man before continuing on his way.

A minute later, Lady Gwen came rushing down the hall. She saw the old man struggling to get up and return to his seat. She quickly rushed forward to help him. “Thomas, are you alright?” she asked the old servant as she grabbed his elbow to pull him up.

“Uh… Well… Yes… Yes, M’lady. I-I’m  fine,” he stuttered, shaken from what he had just heard.

Lady Gwen sat beside him when he finally made it back to his chair. He slowly went back to work polishing the silver under her watchful gaze. “Did you hear?” she whispered.

He looked up at her, but she wouldn’t make eye contact with him. “Yes,” he said just as quietly. “I did, Lady Gwen. I… I wanted to… uh.. thank you for trying to stop him.”

Lady Gwen finally looked up from the table at the old servant sitting next to her. “I’m just sorry it didn’t work. Do you have anywhere to go?” The old man looked back at the spoon in his hand without answering. “I didn’t think so,” Gwen whispered.

They sat in silence for a while, both absorbed in their own thoughts. Finally the old servant said, “I just wish there was something I could do to prove I was useful to Lord Nathaniel.”

Gwen looked up quickly, her eyes wide as a plan began to form in her head. “That’s it!” she shouted, then lowered her voice. After all, she didn’t want Nathaniel to hear. “You have to do something so he owes you. So you’re too valuable for Nathaniel to force you to leave.”

The old servant looked at Lady Gwen’s excitement hopelessly. “Thank you, M’lady. But what could an old man like me do?”

“We could set something up,” Gwen said. “Nathaniel’s father promised you a place here as long as you lived. If you do something heroic, I can convince Nathaniel to keep that promise.”

“M’lady, you had to help me when I tried to pick up a spoon.”

“It wouldn’t have to be real. I have an old friend who owes me a favor. What if I asked him to steal my jewels. If you caught him and returned the jewels to us. I could convince Nathaniel to let you stay.”

“That seems like trickery.” The old servant looked at the stack of unpolished silverware to his side.

“Thomas,” Gwen said, reaching out and putting her hand on top of his. “You have already earned your place here. Nathaniel is being unreasonable.” After more convincing from Lady Gwen, the old man finally agreed.

Later that night the old servant heard Lady Gwen shrieking for Lord Nathaniel to come quickly. That was the cue. As Lord Nathaniel rushed to his wife’s aid, the servant went outside to the front gate. There, waited the fake thief.

As the old man approached, the thief called out. “Are you Thomas?”

The servant nodded. They exchanged the pouch that held the jewels. Both glanced nervously around.

 After a minute or so they heard shouts coming from the entry way. The fake thief quickly went to stand close by the old servant. The old man grabbed fake thief’s arm, who then pretended to struggle enough to make it look good.

Lord Nathaniel came out with Lady Gwen standing behind him, smiling. The old servant returned the jewels  and turned the fake thief to the police, where Lady Gwen arranged his release.

Lord Nathaniel was so pleased with the old servant that he moved him to the most beautiful room in the house and never talked of making him leave again. 

Jewels by James DeMers . Pixabay.

Author's Note: The original story was called Old Sultan. In the original story a master was about to kill his old dog because he was no longer useful to the household. The dog and a wolf team up to make the master keep the dog around. In the original, the wolf  fake-kidnaps the master's baby and the dog goes after him and saves the baby. Later in the story the wolf asks for the dog's help in stealing a sheep but the dog refuses and they begin fighting until finally they reach a peace. 

For my verison I changed the dog to an old servant and had him and the lord's wife team up to save him from being kicked out onto the street. Instead of bringing back a kidnapped baby I have the servant stop a jewel thief. Besides those big changes, gave/changed names of the characters and moved their roles in the story a little. But overall the message and theme of the story is intact to the original.

Story Source: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).

Personalized OU Library Tech Tip

I use the J-STOR and Project Muse databases a lot for research papers. For my Anthropology classe there are also databases that I use that are specifically for Anthropology journals. 

When doing this tech tip I also added the subjects I look up the most on the website, Journalism and Mass Comm, Anthropology, Religious Studies, and Woman and Gender Studies. 

I had never taken the time to personalize my library homepage, so I'm very glad this was a tech tip option. It will be very helpful for future references and ease of access. 

OU Email Tech Tip

Before this semester I hadn't made folders for different classes. I had made folders for financial aid information, other important University emails, and enrollment activity before, though. This semester I did start making folders for this class and my Intro to Professional Writing class because in both we receive important information that we may need to reference again. I will definitely be continuing making folders for some classes next semester.

Week 14: Brothers Grimm (Ashliman) Reading Diary

This week I read the Ashliman Grimm Brothers Unit. Story source: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).

For Part A, my favorite stories were the story of Seven Ravens and the story of Old Sultan.

I thought the ending of the Seven Ravens story was really sweet. I was shocked when the parents at the beginning decided it was okay that their seven sons turned into ravens, as long as they had their one daughter. Also it seemed so strange to wish your seven sons to turn into ravens, of all things. I understand being upset when you think your daughter is about to die and your sons have disappeared, but deciding to curse them as ravens seems a bit extreme, then to actually be okay with it after they do become birds and just decide to never mention them again was weird. So, while I wasn't very keen on the parents, the daughter was very brave and selfless when she learned that her brothers had been turned into ravens. I loved that she traveled across the earth to try and find her brothers and change them back. When she finally learned about them she could have just decided that they were gone and didn't matter anymore, as her parents had. But instead, she went to save these seven brothers she had never met.

(illustration by Hermann Vogel)

The story old Sultan was also a good story with a nice, happy ending. So many traditional fairy tales end very unhappily so I was so glad that both of these ended well for the characters.  I felt so bad for the dog, Old Sultan, when his master decided to kill him since he was old. This has been the beginning of quite a few folk and fairy tales that involve old dogs that I have read in this class. I thought that Old Sultan handled the dilemma the very cleverly with the wolf. I love that they plotted to have the wolf steal the master's child so Old Sultan could rescue him and be the hero. I was worried that after the master would still decide to kill him, so I'm very glad that didn't happen. I wasn't surprised when the wolf wanted something in return from Old Sultan. Him helping the old dog seemed a bit too good. In the end I'm glad they made their peace. Although I was expecting the wolf to lash out after he showed so much fear. But I'm glad the ending was happy. 

(illustration by Walter Crane)

For Part B my favorite stories were The Peasant and the Devil and Death's Messenger. 

I liked the Peasant and the Devil because of the cleverness of the farmer. I would have thought that after the first time the farmer tricked the devil, I would have thought that the devil would have realized the farmer could change crops and give him nothing again. I thought it was pretty stupid of him to just switch the deal when anything else could be planted. However, the farmer was so smart by making the deal. He got everything. All the crops and the gold and silver of the devil. In so many stories the devil as written as a crafty trickster but he was the complete opposite in this story. I was expecting him to try to get our of the deal to give the gold and silver to the farmer at the end. I was surprised the devil didn't at least try to trick the farmer out of it. 

(illustration by Otto Ubbelohde)

The story of Death's Messenger reminded me a lot of the story of the Deathly Hallows in Harry Potter. I thought this was a very clever story. I love that the messenger ends up being the sickness and disease itself. It is very true to life, especially back when this was written. I also love the idea of death approaching people as he did, which is what reminded me of the Deathly Hallows story, as well as the man going willingly with death at the end. This may have been my favorite story of the unit, although there were quite a few good ones. 

(illustration by Matthaus Schiestl)

Google Timer Tech Tip

I did not know that the Google timer was a thing before clicking on this tech tip. I think this will be incredibly helpful to manage study breaks.

Like many people, I'll decide to take a quick break on YouTube or other websites, and then three hours later I haven't done anything else on my assignment. I had always tried to limit myself by saying "only three videos" or something of that nature but it rarely works.

Because maybe there was a really short video, so I actually could watch a few more. Or sometimes I would decide a full length movie on YouTube should count as one video.

I think this timer will help a lot because it will be a loud beeping reminder that I have work to get done. This will be an extremely useful tool to know about.

Week 13: Leo and the Corpse (Storytelling)

It was dusk as we walked through the woods back to the village. Colors were muted and dull as the sunset faded behind us. The little light we had was filtered through the trees. I could hear Alex, my older brother, trudging behind me, breathing deeply. Up ahead I could hear Alex’s dog, Leo, trotting in front of us. His large shape was barely visible, a smudge of darker grey than the rest of our surroundings.

“I told you we should have left earlier,” I said. We would have to pass through the cemetery to get home. There had been stories told about corpses rising at night from the cemetery.

“Quit being a child,” Alex scoffed. “And anyways, I thought we were close on the trail of the deer. We both wanted meat to bring home to the family. It’s not my fault we didn't find it.”

"Clearing in the Forest" by Ivan Shiskin. Wikimedia.

Silence filled the air again, not even crickets sang. The silence felt eerie. Finally, we made it out of the trees. Only the field and the cemetery stood between home and us now. After we walked a little ways into the field, Leo stopped and darted back to us. The hair on his back was filly raised. He sniffed both Alex and me, as if making sure we were alright, before he turned and growled. I stopped; Alex pulled up short next to me. Leo stood a bit ahead of us, head down, muscles tense, a low rumble coming though his barred teeth.

We were nearly to the cemetery. I could see the dotting of grave stones on the horizon. Leo faced that direction. I squinted looking for what Leo saw or smelled. At first, I didn’t see anything. But Then Alex gasped and pointed. “Marcus…” he whispered to me, “That couldn't be…”

I focused on where Alex pointed. Finally, I made out a splotch of light grey fabric, probably white in normal light. It floated off the ground, unmoving but directly in the path we were set to take. “I don’t know… What do we do?” I whispered to Alex.

He subtly shook his head. “Well we can’t very well go back. There’s no where we can stay in the woods. The only thing we can do is try to go past it.” I nodded, trying to keep calm. We both took a step at the same time. Leo stayed a step or two ahead of us, keeping himself between the floating fabric. As we approached, the thing seemed to turn slowly.

Then it started towards us. My vision cleared as it approached. It was a dead person in their funeral shroud. It glided a foot or so off the ground, much more quickly than I expected it too. “Run!” I shouted as Alex and I both took off. Leo had other ideas. As quickly as we took off running towards town, Leo tore off in the direction of the corpse. “Leo!” I yelled at him as he began attacking the floating figure. “Leo! Come on!”

Alex was a good few dozen feet away now. He left me and Leo behind without a look back, although I hope he thought we were right behind him. I wasn't going to leave our the dog to die because of our stupidity for staying out too late.

I grabbed rocks and began throwing them as hard as I could at the corpse. I knew it wouldn't help much. But maybe at least it would distract it from attacking Leo. I was a little ways away, so if it came after me I would have a bit of head start.

It seemed disoriented. It would begin after me once rocks hit it but then Leo would bite at its feet until it turned back to him. And around and around we went until finally the thing seemed to decide we were being more trouble than we were worth. As quickly as it had come after us, the shrouded figure sailed back towards the cemetery and disappeared.

I was breathing hard, as was Leo. He walked slowly over towards me as I doubled over, trying to catch my breath. Gently, Leo sighed and licked my face. A thank you, I think. I smiled and petted before we began to walk back home again.

We finally arrived back home, exhausted and ready to fall asleep. All of my siblings and parents rushed out to meet us. They were all wide-eyed with worry, no doubt having listened to Alex’s story after he fled. It seemed like he had been home a while.

Alex walked slowly out the door, eyes downcast, not looking directly at me. Before I knew what happened Leo lunged at him. He snapped at Alex only a little gentler than he had bit at the corpse. 

Everyone was shocked but jumped into action, pulling the dog away from Alex. My other brothers and sisters struggled against Leo’s weight as Alex tried to make it inside. I rushed forward, petting Leo and trying to calm him. After a minute or so he finally stopped. After one last growl towards Alex, he turned back towards me.

That night Leo became my dog. Alex complained about it, since he had been the one to take care of Leo as a puppy. But are parents said if Alex really wanted the dog, he wouldn't have left Leo and I to the ghost corpse. Leo has never forgiven Alex. Every time Alex comes into the room Leo growls and walks over to sit at my feet. I like having my own protector dog. And I will never do anything to get on that Leo’s bad side. 

By Caroline Granycome. Wikimedia

Author's Note: The original story was called The Dog and the Corpse from the Russian Folklore Unit. The story was about a man whose dog saved him from a corpse/ghost and then he leaves the dog to fight and die. The dog finally gets away and tries to attack the man for leaving him. After the dog keeps attacking the man the dog is killed.

I changed a few things in this story although the basic concept is the same. The character, Marcus which I made for my point of view character was not in the original story at all. I added him because I wanted there to be one character that did help the dog. Also the Marcus left a way for the dog to not be killed at the end, because I didn't like that part of the story. The only other real change I made besides the addition of a new character was naming the brother and the dog. 

Week 13: Russian Folktales Reading Diary

This week I read the Russian Folktales Unit. Story Source: Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).

For part A my favorite stories were The Treasure and Wednesday. 

All of the stories in the Russian Folktales unit were unique and often morbid. I hadn't heard most of them before and I really enjoyed reading them. I thought the Treasure story was interesting because it was so different and it really pushed the idea that helping others and being kind will reward you in the end. When everyone is refusing to help the poor man bury the old woman, but he persists in his attempts, he is rewarded with the money that he finds. It was so realistic how after he finds the money and becomes rich, everyone wanted to help him and be his friend. I thought it was interesting how the corrupt pope decides the best course of action steal the money is to dress up like the devil. But in the end he also got what he deserved. 

The story of Wednesday reminded me of one of the stories I read a while back. I can't remember what unit it was in but the witch comes into the house and they ask for cakes from the woman and she can't get them to leave. Wednesday's story had the interesting twist that instead of just showing up, the woman accidentally summoned the bad spirit and let it in by not crossing herself before bed. 

For part B my favorite stories were the story of Two Friends and The Headless Princess.

The story of the Two friends was just sort of bizarre and I'm not really sure what the moral to the story was. I thought at first that it was going to be that you always need to keep promises, because of the living friend going to the dead one to invite him to the wedding. But then the whole three hundred years of time passing while he drank with the dead friend kind of kept that from being a reasonable moral. Maybe don't trust dead people? Spend your time with the living? I don't know, but I did love the ending to this story how the living friend went to a priest three hundred years later and found out he had disapeared centuries ago. It was kind of meta and I thought it was an interesting ending.

The story of the Headless Princess was also very strange and unusual. The ending where they staked the princess into her coffin reminded me of the TV show Supernatural a lot. While they said the princess in this story was a witch or sorceress, she seemed much more powerful than many other young witches in stories. Also the fact that she took her head off to clean it and brush her hair was really creepy. While I'm glad the boy didn't get harmed the horrors the princess conjured, I would have liked to have known what happened if he had turned around and stopped reading. Would the circle have been broken? The horrors hurt or kill him? I thought this was a very unique story.