Extra Reading Diary: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs)

"Birds, Part 1":
A fox tricked the crow into dropping a piece of cheese form his mouth so the fox could eat it. Another story a crow talks an eagle into dropping a tortoise on sharp rocks to break his shell.

"Birds, Part 2":
A man captured a bird to sing to him. When the bird refused to sing the man told him he would put the bird on toast. The bird told the man if he let him go he would tell him about something much better to eat. When let go the bird flew away.

"Insects, Snakes, Crabs":
A man's son stepped on a snake's tail so the snake turned and bit him and killed him. The man tok revenge and cut off part of the snake's tail. In turn the snake killed part of the man's cattle. When the man tried to make peace the snake denied.

"Frogs and Fish":
The frogs were living without order but still happy and careless. A few of the frogs when to Jove and asked for a ruler. Jove sent a log to them. When they realized the log wasn't living they asked for a different ruler so Jove sent a start that began eating all of them.

"Nature and Inanimate Objects":
The other organs of the body got mad at the stomach for not doing any of the work. The other organs went on strike and told the stomach he had to start working harder. When the hands stopped bringing food to the mouth the rest of the body got so weak they could not do their jobs. They all agreed they would start working again.

"Human's and Gods":
A man went to a satyr's house and he warmed his hands with his breath as well as cooled his soup with his breath. The Satyr thought of this as unnatural and kicked him out for blowing hot and cold air.

A bust of Aesop

Storytelling: Small and Swift

Hello, My name is Phil and I am known as a hummingbird to most people. From day to day I live my life as perhaps the smallest of the birds. People like to poke fun at me for being so small. Because I am to small I am about to move very quickly. I move so fast that no animal can keeps their eyes on me long enough to track where I am going.

There is one tobacco plant that is shared between all animals. One day the plant was stolen. Each of the biggest strongest animals tried to go and retrieve the plant but were killed one by one. Finally when all hope was lost I went to the other animals and told them I would try to get the plant back for them. I was laughed at for being so small. At first I wasn't even been considered for the job but I kept asking and kept asking until I was given a test. A plant was place in the middle of a field and I was told to retrieve it without being noticed. With all of the animals watching, I flew quickly to the plant and grabbed a few leaves and seeds. The other animals had thought I had ran from being too scared and never saw me actually from to the plant. When I returned with the leaves I was given the job.

On the morning of the great journey I woke up and ate my usual breakfast like I do every other day. On my way to the meeting place for my great journey I thought about my trip I am about to take and what might happen if I were to be killed. When I reached the start all of the other animals were wishing me luck and hoping to see me soon.

When I left it was just a straight easy flight. Once I reached the island of the dreaded monster I had to be very quiet and work quickly. I flew right over the monster and he never even noticed anyone was near. I found the tobacco plant and grabbed as many leaves and seeds as I could handle to carry. I quickly flew back to the other animals with the leaves and seeds. The animals threw me a huge party for saving their tobacco plant and have not looked down on me for being so small ever since.

Hummingbird

Author's Note:

This story is based off of the story "How They Brought Back the Tobacco". I chose to write this story in first person instead of the third person storytelling style. The picture I chose is a hummingbird as in the one like the main character of the story.

Bibliography:

"How They Brought Back the Tobacco" by James Mooney, from Cherokee Myths (1900). Web Source: UNtextbook.

Reading Diary B: Cherokee

"The Terrapin's Escape From the Wolves":
This is a story about how a terrapin tricked the wolves by getting the wolves to trow him into the river. He escaped but broke his back and sowed his back back together but still has the scars.

"The Ball Game of the Birds and the Animals":
A story about the creation of the bat and flying squirrel and how the martin made his home in a gourd.

"The Race Between the Crane and the Hummingbird":
The crane and hummingbird fell in love with a woman. The woman told them to race and the winner would be with her. The crane won but she didn't really want to be with him so she stayed single.

"The Owl Gets Married":
a story of how a man would go off to hunt for his wife and turn into an owl. The wife found out and kicked him out of her house.

"The Huhu Gets Married":
A mother had her daughter marry a man so he could work for them. He went to work for two days and the mother hadn't seen him or any progress so she kicked him out of the house.

"The Red Man and the Uktena":
A hunter stumbles on a man being killed by a snake and kills the snake. The man being killed was the red and man gave him a gift that would always bring him good luck while hunting.

"The Snake Boy":
A story about how a boy turned into a snake because his family was jealous of his relationship with his grandmother.

"The Bullfrog Lover":
A man had the mouth of a tadpole and tricked a woman into marrying him then was kicked out of the family when they discovered what he really is.

Cherokee People in traditional clothing

Reading Diary A: Cherokee Diary

"How the World was Made":
A story about the beginning of the world and how everything became as it is known today. The sun was made seven hand widths high. The owl and panther were given night vision because they stayed awake for seven days.

"The First Fire":
A story about how the animals brought the first fire from a mysterious place onto the land they live on.

"The Journey to the Sunrise":
A story about a few men's unsuccessful journey to meet the sun and question where he is from and what he is like.

"Origin of the Pleiades and the Pine":
The story of how the star pattern "Pleiades" came to be along with the pine tree. Seven boys were punished by their mothers and danced to be sent someplace else. They were put into the heavens while one was put into the ground.

"The Moon and the Thunders":
This story is of multiple forms of what the moon and sun are and it's various characteristics. One tells why the sun is only out at night and why it has dark spots.

"The Deluge":
A version of the Noah's Ark story from the bible.

"How They Brought Back the Tobacco":
The story about the fail of every animal to get the tobacco back. The hummingbird was the only animal swift enough to steal it back.

"The Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting":
A story of how the otter and rabbit were in a competition and the otter tricked the rabbit into roping and goose and ended up in a stump without a door until he tricked a family into letting him out.

"How The Terrapin beat the Rabbit":
A story of how the Terrapin tricked the Rabbit and won the race.

"The Deer and the Rabbit":
The first part tells how the deer was awarded the prize of antlers for a race in which he won becsaue the rabbit was accused of cheating. The second part tells of how the rabbit tricked the deer into letting him shave his teeth flat.

Painting of a Cherokee Family