- Hi, I'm Laura Clavio and welcome tonight to Summer Tales put on by the Bloomington Storytellers Guild and we're delighted that you're coming to spend some time with us this evening. It's a nice hot day outside and it's nice to be in the cooler air conditioning. We have a couple people we would like to thank, organizations we would like to thank before we get started tonight. Of course the Monroe County Public Library for providing this lovely facility.
- and for their sponsorship of our organization. And for CATS, the Community Action Television Service. Is it action or is it access? Access. Access, sorry. Action. Anyway, we are always happy that they're here to record our programs and make it available.
- through the library channels to anyone who would like to watch After the Fact. So if you want to watch it again, you have a way to do so. We would like you to maybe take a few minutes away from your cell phone tonight. Make sure that at least the ringer is off. And it's very nice if we don't have screens shining around the room during the performance. So we appreciate your cooperation with that.
- 50 years of storytelling here in Bloomington. And here to talk a little bit more about the history of the organization is one of the ladies who put it all together. Oh, thank you. Ginny Ritchie. I tell you. I'm just going to tell you a little story that started a long time ago in 1975.
- when two brand new young librarians were filled with enthusiasm for the art of storytelling. They were part of a national renaissance in storytelling. There were people telling stories. Oh, we went down to Jonesboro. We saw storytellers out of the mountains and professional storytellers.
- We went up to Indianapolis, to the Hoosier Storytelling Festival. We saw tellers from all over there. And we went down to Kentucky, to the Corn Island Festival. And there were storytellers there. And we told stories ourselves. It was wonderful. Telling stories did something that nothing else
- in our jobs did, it made connections, instant connections with people. You could tell a story to a class visit with 30 kids, and the next week one of those kids would come in and say, remember when you told me that story? Because they each thought you were telling it just for them. We were so enthusiastic
- about storytelling, we wanted everybody to tell stories. We wanted everybody to get excited about storytelling. And so, in November of 1975, we sent a notice out to the morning paper, the evening paper, and the Ellitsville paper,
- And they all published a notice. Storytelling Guild opens. The newly formed Storytelling Guild will have an open meeting this coming Sunday at 7.30 PM in the Indiana Room of the Monroe County Public Library. You can see that our connection with the library goes way
- Also, that the library was open until 9 o'clock on Sundays then. A little bit of local history. Guild membership is open to anyone in the community interested in the traditional art of storytelling. This is still true. 50 years later, you could be a member of our guild. True. Who did we invite? We started with parents.
- And now, grandparents telling stories to kids. We started with scout leaders, girl scouts, boy scouts. We helped them get badges. We talked to their leaders about how to tell stories. We went out and set around their campfires with stories. Scouts. Ah, teachers. All kinds of teachers, preschool teachers, elementary school teachers.
- Montessori teachers, teachers who were working with high school kids, teachers who wanted something special for their English classes, teachers who taught Sunday school, teachers who taught at the university. We got teachers involved, storytelling works in education. And of course, librarians.
- librarians of all kinds. We, the two of us who started this event, this guild, we were children's librarians. And we told stories to kids from little bitty ones to big ones. And we told them all day.
- We sometimes had four or five groups through the library to whom we told stories. So when we started programming as a guild, one of the things we did was expand our performances to include you adults, because we know you need stories too. So we advertised this meeting.
- And over 30 people came. And that's how the guild started. Dana Burton. She's here. Well, I know. Where is she? Dana Burton and I, believe it or not, had been doing this for about 50 years.
- boy who said when his mother finished the story and she turned the page and said, and they lived happily ever after, and he said, boy, I didn't see that coming. That's how I feel about this. Now that you've taken a little stroll down memory lane with the guild, it's time for a story.
- seems a little low. Can you hear me all right? Okay. Thank you. First of all, I need your imagination. I need you to imagine a time far in the past when my grandmother was a young woman. Now today, the news is everywhere.
- It's in your face, whether you like it or not. You've got the news here. You've got the news there. You've got somebody doing this here. And you've got to use your imagination to think about a time when there was no internet. There weren't even computers.
- There was no Facebook. There was no Instagram. There was no social media. You all turned off your cell phones, but this is a time when there were no cell phones. There were no little cameras in your house taking pictures of the people at your door. There were, in fact, there weren't even landlines back in that day. So you got that picture, and you know that news
- traveled differently. Once there was a certain woman who went away for three months to the mountains to recover and get better from an illness. And when she came back, her friend met her at the train station.
- I'm so appreciative that you came all the way down here to meet me today. That's right. Oh, I'll tell you, I've been away so long. What's the news? News? There's no news. No news? I've been gone for three months.
- There must be something that has happened. I'm anxious for just a little bit of something. Well, now that you mention it, it doesn't amount to much. But while you were gone, your dog died. My dog died? What killed my dog? Oh, it was eating the burnt horse flesh.
- That's what killed the dog. Burnt horse flesh? How did my dog get burnt horse flesh? Well, after the fire cooled off, the dog ran in and ate some of that burnt horse flesh. And that's what killed your dog. My barn burned down? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. It burned all the way down, killed all the cattle and all the horses. And when the fire cooled off, the dog ran in, ate some of that burnt horse flesh. And that's what killed your dog.
- But how did the barn catch on fire? Oh, it was a spark from the house. It flew over, lit on the roof of the thing. It burned the barn down, killed all the cattle and the horses. And then when it cooled down, the dog ran in, ate that burned horse flesh, and that's what killed your dog. My house burnt down? Oh, yeah, it burned all the way down to the ground. Oh, what caught my house on fire? Oh, that was the
- Candles. Yeah, you see, the flame got on the curtains, and it just ran right up the wall, and the house burnt down, and the spark went over to the barn, and the barn burnt down, killed all the horses and the dogs, and... Oh, wait a minute. I don't even allow candles in my house. How did candles get in my house? Oh, well... they were around the coffin. What? The coffin?
- Yes, yes, you know, you put candles around the coffin and they lit the candles and then the fire caught on the curtain and the fire went up and they... Who died? Oh. Well, while you were away, your mother-in-law died. Well, that may not be such a bad thing, but...
- She was in pretty good shape and going strong when I left. What happened? Oh, it was shock. Shock? Yeah, shock. Oh, she just keeled over when she heard the news that her son, your husband, had run off with the choir leader. But other than that, there's been no news.
- Hi, my name is Patti Callison, and I've been a member of the Bloomington Storytellers Guild only since 1984. To tell you the truth, I became a children's librarian here at the Public Library. I'd been a school librarian in Topeka, Kansas, and came here.
- got a job being a children's librarian at the public library. And one of the requirements of the job was that you be a storyteller. So I had to find out what that was. Now, I had been a theater major. And so I knew all about vocal performances and things like that and learning monologues and lines to plays and so forth. But it wasn't until I
- came to Bloomington, Indiana and the Monroe County Public Library and became acquainted with the Bloomington Storytellers Guild that I found the joy and the freedom of telling stories. Part of that freedom is that you can hear somebody else tell a story and you can keep the good parts of the story
- And you can kind of embellish other parts of the story, and then you can tell it as your own story. And if you forget something, which I have on occasion done, you can say, oh yes, and did I tell you that the year before, and you kind of fill in,
- If you're lucky, your audience will never know. Well, the story that I'm going to tell you tonight is one that I heard. And I heard it from some professional storytellers. They were called the folk tellers. And I heard them tell this story. And some of my friends heard them tell this story.
- made an impression. So that's the story that I want to tell you tonight. Now you all know who Jack is, don't you? You've met him lots of times in stories. Somebody name a famous Jack in a story. Jack and the Beanstalk is probably the most famous Jack story. Any other Jacks that you've encountered?
- Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candlestick. Kids don't try this at home. Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. So there are lots of Jacks. Jacks kind of stands in as an everyman. And I have to tell you that in a lot of cases,
- Jack is not too bright. So this story came over from England and it kind of settled into the Appalachian or Appalachian Mountains, however you want to say it. And it became this story about Jack. Now, Jack and his mother lived in a little cabin in the mountains.
- And they were pretty poor. Now Jack's mother was always kind of at him to go out and get a job, make some money, and to help them out. But like I said, Jack, well, he kind of goofed a lot. And so he'd go get a job, and he'd
- do something kind of dumb or not follow directions and he'd get fired. But that didn't stop his mother. Jack, you gotta go out and get a job. We can't go on unless you bring something in. Well, finally, Jack got a job with a farmer and he was determined
- I'm not gonna get fired, I'm gonna work real, real hard and I'm gonna keep this here job. So on the first day, he went to the farmers and he worked really, really hard all day. And at the end of the day, it came time for the farmer to pay Jack. So we kind of stood there and
- his hand and into his hand the farmer placed a dollar bill. Well a dollar bill was a lot of money and you can tell how old this story is because because that was indeed a lot of money and Jack looked at that dollar and his eyes got
- And he had a, oh, thank you, thank you. And he clasped that dollar bill and he said, boy, his mother was going to be so excited to see that. So he started on home. She was going to be so proud of him, walking home with that dollar in his hand. And he'd almost got to the cabin when he crossed this little bridge.
- He knew about that time of the day that underneath that bridge, the fish would kind of gather in the shadow.
- And then he noticed that he didn't have that dollar bill any more. And he looked and he saw that dollar bill kind of floating in the air. And pretty soon he saw that dollar bill land on the top of the water, the stream there. And it was gone. So Jack had to head home, went into the cabin. His mother was waiting for him.
- And Jack had to tell his mother about that dollar bill and how he'd lost it. And his mother looked at him like, I'll bet your mother has never looked at you. And she said, Jack, you ain't got the sense you were born with.
- Son, when somebody gives you a dollar, you don't go walking around with it clutched in your hand. No. No, you take that dollar bill and you fold it down real small. And then you take that dollar bill and you put it in your pocket. You put it way down in the bottom and you bring it on home that way. Do you think you can remember that, Jack?" Jack looked at his mother and he said, yes, ma'am, I remember.
- So the next day, he went to work for the farmer and he kept thinking about what his mother told him. Put it in my pocket. Put it in my pocket. Put it in my pocket. I can do that. I can do that. And he worked really hard for the farmer all day. And at the end of the day, it came time for the farmer to pay Jack. And Jack put out his hand, and on this day,
- The farmer gave Jack a great big jug of fresh milk. And Jack looked at that jug of milk and he thought about what his mother told him. Put it in your pocket. Put it in your pocket. So he kind of pulled on his pocket. I should have worn different pants.
- that milk into his pocket. And with that milk in his pocket he headed on home thinking how proud his mother would be of him. Well finally he walked in the cabin. That milk was kind of squishing around the bottom of his shoes and
- His mother was there, and he had to tell her that the farmer had given him a great big jug of fresh milk, and he'd done what she had told him to do. And she looked at him. She said, Jack, you ain't got the sense you were born with. Now when somebody gives you milk, you don't
- take the jug of milk and you put it up on top of your head and you hold it on that way and you bring it on home. Do you think you can remember that Jack?" And Jack looked at his mother and he said, yes ma'am I'll remember. So the next day Jack went to work for the farmer thinking I'll put it on my
- And he worked really hard for the farmer all day. And at the end of the day, it came time for the farmer to pay Jack. And on this day, the farmer gave Jack a great big hunk of fresh churned butter. And Jack thought about what his mother had said.
- Put it on my head. Put it on my head. So he took that big hunk of butter and he put it on his head. And they got it kind of situated up there. Look, ma, no hands. And with that butter on his head, he started home. Well, it was a hot day.
- And Jack felt something kind of sliding down the back of his neck. Pretty soon, Jack noticed that something was dripping in his ear. Well, by the time he walked in the cabin, his head looked just like the inside of a popcorn box at the movies.
- He's just covered in butter and his mother, of course, jack, jack, jack. You ain't got that since you were born with. Oh, son, when somebody gives you a hunk of butter like that, what you do is you kind of get it all wrapped up and you take it to the well or to a spring or something and you
- dunk it down into the ice cold water, and you let it get good and solid and hard, and then you bring it home that way. Do you think you can remember that, Jack?" Jack looked at his mother and he said, yes, ma'am. I remember, huh? So he went back to work for the farmer the next day.
- dunk it in the well three times, dunk it in the well three times, dunk it in the well. And he worked real hard for the farmer all day. And at the end of the day, the farmer gave jazz.
- thought about what his mother had told him. Dunk it in the well three times. Dunk it in the well. So he went over to the well and he brought up a bucket of water. He set it on the edge there and then he took that sweet little kitty cat by the nape of its neck and he dunked it in the water. But he only got to dunk it once.
- because that sweet little kitty cat, meow, and it went crawling up his arm and scratched him up, took a few slipes at his face, and then got away, and he saw that sweet little kitty cat run away into the forest. So Jack had to go home, all scratched up, and his mother looked at him, and you know what? She said, she said, Jack.
- You ain't got the sense you were born with. When somebody gives you a sweet little kitty cat like that, you don't go and dunk it in water. Everybody knows that. No, you take along a bed of string. You tie it around the kitty cat's neck. Real, not real tight. Then you set the little kitty cat down in the road. And then you pull on the string and you go,
- think you can remember that Jack?" Jack looked at his mother and he said, yes ma'am I'll remember. So the next day he put some string down in his pocket and he went to work for the farmer and he worked really hard all day and at the end of the day it came time for the farmer to pay Jack. Jack stood there and he's
- That bit of string still had it. And on this day, the farmer gave Jack a nice, big, juicy ham. And so he kind of cradled that ham and he got out that string and he tied it around the ham real tight. Well, not too tight.
- And then he set that ham down in the road. Ah, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. Ah, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. And he commenced to dragging that ham down the road. Now, the dogs in the neighborhood were real interested in that ham. And so as he was coaxing that ham down the road,
- the cabin all he had was a string with a ham bone at the end of it. And his mother looked at him and she said, oh, Jack, you ain't got the sense you were born with. When somebody gives you a ham, yeah, it is good to tie it up with a better string, but you don't go and drag it down the road.
- You take it and you fling it over your shoulder and you bring it home that way. Do you think you can remember that, Jack?" And Jack looked at his mother. He said, yes, ma'am, I'll remember. So he went the next day. He had that string in his pocket again. He worked really, really hard and thought about what his mother told him. And at the end of the day, came time for the farmer to pay Jack.
- And because he had worked so hard all week, the farmer gave Jack a donkey. Jack looked at the donkey and the donkey looked at him. And he took that bit of string out and he tied it around the donkey's neck. And the donkey kind of looked at him.
- Well, then Jack, holding on to that string, remembered what his mother told him. Put it on my back. Put it on my back. And it got down real low. And he got that donkey on his back.
- Needless to say, the donkey wasn't real crazy about this either. And with that donkey on his back, Jack started home. Now, Jack had to go through the town, and in the town there lived a young girl.
- Her daddy was rich, he was a banker in the town and they lived in a beautiful house. But this little girl, there was something kind of, something off there. This little girl had never spoken a single word in her entire life. Now her daddy being rich had taken her to all of these fancy doctors who examined her and they said, we can't find anything.
- They went to a doctor who said, I don't know. Seems to me if you could just get this little gal to laugh, that'd kind of uncork everything and she'd be fine. Well, the rich man let it be known that anybody who could make his little girl laugh, why that person would receive half of everything he owned. And that was a lot, because did I mention he was rich?
- So one day that little girl's sitting out on her porch on the swing, swinging back and forth, and she just kind of looks a sad melancholy. And she looked up.
- Well, her father came rushing out of the house, let the screen door slam behind him. His daughter had laughed. She had spoken. She'd called him daddy for the very first time. And he looked up to see who had made his daughter laugh.
- And there he saw Jack coming down the road with a donkey on his back. Well, that man was, he was true to his word and he gave Jack half of everything he owned. And that made Jack and his mother rich. And you know,
- good thing too because old Jack didn't have the sense he was born with. Hello. My name is Clayton Schroeder. I'm a singer songwriter.
- storyteller. I've been with the Guild for three years now, and I've learned that I have a lot to learn about storytelling. And I've also learned how important storytelling is, echoing what Jenny said. Storytelling is important, whether it happens on a stage, around a campfire, or at the end of the day at bedtime.
- storytelling is important. It's that human connection. It's a magical dance with three equally essential parts, the story, the storyteller, and the listener. So I thank you all for being a part of this dance tonight. And when you leave, I hope you're all inspired and encouraged to keep finding those connections and to keep dancing, either as a listener, as a storyteller, or for better or for worse, as a story.
- My first summer job was hard. I worked for a company called Bennett's Custom Curb. We laid concrete curbing around landscaping, so I was shoveling sand, dirt, and cement for 12 hours a day, every day, except when it rained. At the end of my first day, I was one tired whip puppy, and my boss
- He slapped that $100 bill in my hand and asked me if I'd be back the next day. I said, yeah, yeah, yes, I will. Now, another summer, I was a janitor at Indiana State University. That was an easy job, except my boss, he couldn't remember my name to save his life. He kept calling me Cletus. I mean, his name was Pat, and our co-worker's name was Billy Bob, so maybe Cletus fit the crew better than Clayton.
- But Pat was a good guy. He was working on his fifth heart attack. He always carried around a little bottle of nitroglycerin pills in his front shirt pocket. He'd say, these are for the big one, Cletus. I don't know why I made him sound like Red Fox. Cletus wasn't the only nickname I got when I was working for my summer jobs. When I worked in a restaurant, they called me Pork Chop.
- because of my sideburns. And this last one, it wasn't really a nickname, but it stuck with me in my mind because I'd never heard it before or since. I was working for Dave Walters Heating and Cooling in Terre Haute, Indiana. And we were flipping a house that Dave owned and installing furnaces and air conditioners around the community. And whenever I got done with whatever job I was doing,
- If Dave came to inspect my work and he really liked what I did, if he was really impressed, he'd say, not bad for a hair lip. Not bad for a hair lip. I still don't know what that means, but it was high praise coming from Dave. So in between those summer jobs, I was going to school to be an actor. And my acting professor, he'd say,
- You should never call yourself an actor. You should refer to yourself as a student of acting because you never stop learning, which I think is very true. But I also think it applies to more than just acting. This is Student of the Times. They call me Cletus. I'm a student of the times.
- They call me porkchop, I'm a student of the times. Not bad for hell it. I'm a student of the times. I'm a student of the times. Learning what I need to get by. Don't bother me with details, especially in the weeds.
- My name is Dana Duffy. I am the program coordinator here at the Monroe County Public Library. I have worked for libraries for a really long time. I tried to get away, but they keep sucking me back in, which is good. I don't mind that at all, because I love libraries. I love telling stories. I was a children's librarian for a long time, and I dearly, dearly love that. And the story that I'm going to tell you is a story that I would tell
- to anybody who would listen, because I just happen to really love this story. And I think it's great for children, adults, teens, anybody. And the name of this story is The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle. Now, there once was a little old woman, and she lived in a little vinegar bottle. And every day, she would complain about it. Why do I live in this vinegar bottle? It's small.
- They don't like it at all. Well, one day, just so happens, as she was complaining, a little fairy flew down and heard her complaining. And this little fairy thought to herself, you know what? I'm going to do something nice for this old lady. And the fairy got right in front of the old woman and she said, now, tonight,
- before you go to bed, turn around three times, and in the morning you will see what you will see and you will get what you deserve." And then the fairy flew off. Huh, thought the old woman. Well, that was strange. Well, that night she ate her dinner, she washed the dishes, brushed her teeth, and then she almost got into bed and she thought, wait a minute,
- fairy tell me to do? Oh yeah, turn around three times. All right. So she turned around three times and she got into bed. The next day she woke up and she was living in a little house. Oh, well, this is wonderful. I just think this is terrific. Well, look at this. I have a little house all to myself. I think this is just lovely. Well, the little fairy had
- flow north and east and south and west and around the world. And the fairy thought to herself, you know what? I think I'm going to go check on that old lady and see how happy she is with her new house. And she flew down. And do you know what that old woman was doing? She was complaining. Why do I have to live in this small house? It's so tiny. It only has one room.
- little yard and a door and a window, but other people have bigger houses. I should have a bigger house." Well, the fairy thought, maybe I'll do something for her again. And so the fairy flew down, got right in front of her face and said, okay, tonight, before you go to bed, turn around three times and in the morning you will see what you will see and you will get what you deserve.
- Ooh, thought the old woman. This worked out pretty well for me the last time. Let's see what happens this time. Well, she waited and waited, and she had her dinner, and she cleaned up the dishes, and she brushed her teeth, and she got into her bedroom, and she turned around three times, and she hopped into bed. And in the morning when she woke up, she was in a nice house. It was a split level. It was really nice. She had three bedrooms, she had a garage,
- She had a little yard. Well now, this is more like it. This is more like what other people have. And this is what I deserve. Well, the fairy had been hanging out just to make sure that she got it right this time. And so she flew away, very satisfied with what she had done. Well, the fairy flew north, fairy flew south, east and west and all around the world. The fairy was gone for a long time.
- And then the fairy thought, you know, I think I'm going to go check in on that old woman, see how happy she is. And when she got back, there was the old woman in her split level complaining. The split level. Everybody has one of these. What about those other people up there? They have mansions. I need a mansion.
- And I don't just need a mansion. I need servants. I need grounds. I need a garden. I need a driver. I need a chef. That's what I need. That's what I deserve." Well, the fairy thought about it for a minute, flew down in front of the old woman and said, tonight, before you go to bed, turn around three times. And in the morning, you will see what you will see, and you will get what you deserve.
- Is that the old woman? She could hardly wait. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. How early could she eat dinner? Oh, she ran back into her house. She made herself a quick dinner. She wolfed it down. She brushed her teeth. She got into her bedroom. She turned around three times and she went to bed. It was only five o'clock. She didn't care. She was excited. Well, the fairy
- waited until the woman got up next morning to make sure this time she had gotten it right and when the woman woke up the next morning she was overjoyed she was in the biggest palace you've ever seen she had people waiting on her left and right she had more than just one chef she had three chefs she had a gardener she had
- a maid. She had somebody who dressed her. She had a closet full of clothes. She had a garage full of cars. She had horses. It was crazy, but she was very happy. Now, this is what I deserve. Well, the fairy was pretty satisfied with that and thought there's nowhere for her to go. That's the top of the line. And so she flew away.
- She went north, south, east, west, all around the world. She decided to just lay low and kind of relax for a while. She was gone for a long time. And then as she was doing her journeys, she realized, hey, I'm on the path to go check in on that old woman. I think I'm going to go do that. And she flew down, and there was the old woman sitting in a chaise lounge, fanning herself
- bossing people around, eating chocolate, complaining. I mean, this is great and all, but I really do think that I'm not the boss of everyone, which is what I need to be. I need to be the boss of everybody on this planet.
- I need to be the ruler of, no, wait a minute, not just this planet. I need to be the ruler of the universe. Every single thing. All of it. That's what I need. Well, the fairy flew down, got right in front of her face and said, tonight before you go to bed, turn around three times. And in the morning, you will see what you will see and you will get what you deserve.
- Oh, this time the old woman did not eat her dinner. She didn't brush her teeth. She went straight to her bedchamber and told the maid to shut the curtains. She was going to bed. And by golly, she turned around three times and she hopped into that bed. It was two o'clock in the afternoon. She didn't care.
- Well, the fairy was pretty sure she'd gotten it right this time, and she flew away. And the next morning, the old woman woke up, and she was in a vinegar bottle. And she looked around, and she said, well, I got what I got, and I guess this is what I deserve. And the fairy never came back. Thank you.
- is Dakota Lee Medley. From a young age, I've always liked the idea of being a storyteller and was able to come up with all these ideas I thought were great. I've been in a few church plays and even a high school play. And as of right now, I am an aspiring author who's already working on at least one book
- But tonight's summer tale is a short, comical story I'd like to call The Shark Who Wanted to Enjoy the Pool, one that I made up. Once in a far off and distant land in a hot, dry desert, there was a pool, which was a lake, connected to two rivers, one that flowed in and one that flowed out
- So there's always water in it. And in that pool, all the animals went to cool off from the hot sun that shined down upon them. That river that flowed out, flowed out to the ocean about a mile away. And in that ocean was a shark. And you'd be surprised to hear that that shark was quite lonely. Every time he would go to talk to anyone,
- the sea creatures would all swim away because he was a shark after all. One day, he thought to himself, none of the other land creatures have probably seen a shark before. Maybe they won't be scared of me. So he asked a nearby seagull who was flying towards inland if there was some way he could get on land.
- Of course, the seagull just laughed at him. Are you kidding? Even if you were able to survive in the pool. Yeah, pool. You would have to swim upstream, which is against the current. And the seagull flew away. The shark eventually found that river that flowed outward and followed it upstream, which was, as the seagull said, quite challenging.
- But he eventually found the pool and noticed different animals there. Some were lying on the side, some were swimming on their backs, and some were jumping in, noticing the animals jumping in. The shark decided to try that, too. Of course, the shark doesn't have any legs, so it's really more like a flop in. But he did that from the river.
- and caused a big splash which splashed all the other animals around him in that general area. Eventually, he came up out of the water from jumping in and said, hey, can I join in? But was met with not so happy, in fact, angry stares from the other animals. But one small voice said, can I play with you? She was a young otter.
- who started to swim toward him as he said, yeah, sure. Before, or that could happen though, the young otter was scooped up by her mother. And then the mother proceeded to growl at the shark while swimming in the opposite direction while the shark called out, hey, come back. I don't bite. Well, I don't bite.
- point the shark was disappointed it didn't seem like anyone wanted to hang out with him but before he had a chance to say anything he heard someone say in the distance cannonball and before you know it the shark felt the weight of five young animals jumping on him and he fell to the bottom of the pool head first
- At this point, the shark was seeing starfish circling his head, because he's a shark after all. He eventually came up out of the water once again and decided to try maybe at least one last time to interact with the animals. He noticed over on the side there was a young lion who was playing with a young crocodile, a game of
- catch the fruit. But in his desperation, after all, he'd just been through, you know, a big impact like this, the sharks attempt to befriend and interact with the animals seemed more like he was attacking them. As he swam rapidly toward them saying, Can I play? Some of the animals were quite frightened at the site. And this soon caught the attention of
- the great mighty male leader lion up on the side of the pool who was acting somewhat kind of like a lifeguard. What is the meaning of this? He said, why is there a shark in the pool? He was wise enough to know what a shark was because he's a lion. And as you know, lions are pretty smart. The shark was the shark just simply answered,
- I just wanted to hang out with the animals in the pool. The lion thought for a moment, stroking his mane. And then after thinking about it for about 10 minutes, quite a long wait, he suddenly said, if that is how you feel, then you can stay in the pool.
- Thanks said the shark and the shark enjoyed the rest of his time at the pool in this rather short and simple tale and enjoyed the rest of the day. And that is the end of this story in a happily ever after. Thank you for listening.
- My name is Farida Pawan. I'm from the island of Penang in Malaysia. And I enjoy the Bloomington Storytellers Guild because it allows me to step out of myself and to imagine being someone else and to connect with people in different ways. And so it allows me to essentially pretend. And I do enjoy it very much. The story that I'm going to tell you today is called
- Mutongo Shima. It is a story retold by Donna Washington, who is a storyteller from North Carolina. And it is from her book, The Pride of African Tales. Now, in the story, Miss Washington refers to her audience as people. And I'm going to use the same reference. The story, Sansha Mutongo Shima,
- is a cautionary tale from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Now, people, I'm going to tell you a story. It is about a woman, and her name is Boalia. Boalia was a beautiful woman. Not only was she beautiful,
- she was also very, very smart. Because she was beautiful and because she was very, very smart and intelligent, many, many men wanted to marry her. One man brought shells from the deep ocean. Another brought yams and potatoes
- from the rich earth. And another man said to Bualia, Bualia, I have a house for you. Pick me. But Bualia was not interested in gifts. And she was not interested in the men. And so she turned them away. But she turned them away with a smile because she did not want to hurt them. But one summer,
- From far, far away came a stranger. His name was Sansha Mutongoshima. He wore a tall orange hat and wore a beautiful orange suit. And Sansha Mutongoshima told many, many stories about the people he had met,
- stories of the things that he had done, and even more, many, many stories about the places he had seen in Africa. And you know, people, what happened when Bualia met Sansha Mutongoshima? She fell immediately in love. It was not surprising then when Sansha Mutongoshima asked Bualia to marry him. She immediately said, yes!
- but people in her village, the villagers, did not approve of Sanxia Mutongushim, did not approve of a stranger marrying one of their own. One woman said to Walia, Walia, are there enough handsome men in this village for you to marry? And Walia said, yes, there are more than enough, but they're not interesting. They have not seen the world.
- the villager still did not approve of the stranger, still did not approve of Sansha Mutongoshima. And to appease them, Walia's father decided that he would hold a feast for 10 days up to the wedding. He hoped that the 10 days of feasting would make the villagers more accepting of Sansha Mutongoshima, the stranger. Now each day,
- the 10 days of the feasting each morning. Sansha Mutongashima brought animals he had hunted. He brought antelopes. He brought okapis, which were like zebras. And he brought fat, wild pigs that he had hunted. Now, the villagers did not know how he did it.
- didn't care because they were happy that someone had brought them food to eat and their families to eat. But people, the villagers should have cared because Sansha Mutongoshima was a shapeshifter. Every evening, he left the village and went into the jungle
- And in the jungle, he would peel off his human skin. And underneath that skin was a lion. And as a lion, Sancho Mutongoshima started singing and dancing. I am Sancho Mutongoshima. I am Sancho Mutongoshima. Come join me. Come join me. Come sing.
- Come dance, come sing, come dance. Now, interestingly enough people, animals around him started singing and dancing, singing and dancing, singing and dancing, singing and dancing, singing and dancing, singing and dancing, singing and dancing until they fell to their deaths. And at that point,
- Sancho Motonga Shima carried the animals to the village. Now because this happened every morning of the 10 days, the beautiful and intelligent Bolia became suspicious. How did he hunt so well? How did Sancho Motonga Shima hunt so well?
- Hunt those animals. And so the night before the wedding, she followed him into the jungle. She hid behind the trees and she saw how Sansha Mutongashima peeled off his human animals and how he sang, singing and dancing, singing and dancing the animals to their deaths.
- ran to the village. Bualia ran to her village, but she did not tell the villagers because she knew they would say she was rejecting another good marriage proposal. But she did tell her father and her uncle who believed her. And then Bualia came up with a plan. That very night, Bualia
- Her father and her uncle went to where Sansha Mutongashima was sleeping. They hid behind the shadows. At that time, they draped themselves with leopard skins. Walia put on antlers, and together they held up bamboo sticks. Walia then stepped on the back of her father
- in the back of her uncle and stood up. And in the shadows, they looked like a huge monster. And at that point, Bualia started singing. I am Bualia. I am Bualia. I am the hungry one. I want Sancho Mutongushima. I want Sancho Mutongushima. I want to eat him, eat him. I want to eat him, eat him. I want to eat him, eat him.
- When Samja Mutungoshima heard the song and saw what he thought was a monster, he dashed out of where he was hiding, past the village, never to return. Of course, he missed his wedding the next day. And when the villagers saw that, they said to Bualia, Bualia, we hope you learned your lesson, never.
- trust a stranger. But two years later, Walia did marry a stranger. She took that time to find out more about the man and found him to be someone good and someone who could help her raise many children and even more
- many more grandchildren, and people, to all of them, she would tell the story that I've been trying to tell you, which is what is inside a person is much more important than what you see and what you hear them say on the outside. And with that, people, that is all.
- act to follow. Thank you for that. So hi everybody I'm Christina Jones and I'm your last teller and it's gonna be short I promise but I was asked to talk about my relationship to the guild so just really quick I joined the guild in 2005 I don't see Jenny and two years after Jenny gave me my first job
- my first gig as a librarian and nurtured a storyteller and stretched me a lot. She and the other librarians that I worked with were just so fantastic. And one thing that they did that I'm going to do a dual plug here is I went out for a
- grant with Stephanie Holman, who's not with us any longer, but she's still a storyteller. And we did a grant to learn about and tell the history of the neighborhoods in Bloomington.
- And it was really hard to write and tell a half-hour story. But I learned so much and I stretched so much that I think what my takeaway from the Guild is that stretching and growing in uncomfortable ways, but ultimately I'm stronger for it and I'm a better person for it. Here's the dual plug. If you haven't seen the exhibit at the Monroe County History Center on the history of the neighborhoods
- Bloomington, you should check it out because it's fantastic. Yeah. So my story is also a Jack story, but it's actually an early Jack story before it came across the pond. And I found this story in Stories to Solve by George Shannon. That's a wonderful kind of grab and go if you want just to get started storytelling these Story to Solves are really good. So
- So instead of being in a log cabin, Jack is in a little hut at the edge of a very unremarkable and poor village. But he's at the edge of a very wonderful kind of strong kingdom. And he would see on occasion the king and his advisors going out to do the important business of the kingdom.
- And I'm sorry to say, and maybe you know about England, that there were always issues. There were wars, there were battles, there were people that wanted what other people had and they never had nice things to say about one another. And it was a particularly tense time. It was a particularly not great. People often didn't agree. People looked at each other,
- with distrust. Are they on the right side, the wrong side? Are they on my side or their side? And it happened that that started to weigh on the king. And as Jack would see him go about his business, the king became kind of compressed under that crown, and his spine sort of shrunk. And Jack didn't know this, but when he was with his advisors one time,
- All he heard was arguments. And he just, he couldn't take it anymore. And he said, from now on, from this day to this, I'm going to make this proclamation. If someone can tell me a story that will never end, so I will never have to think about all of these issues you all are having.
- If I can just listen to a story without end, I would give that person my crown. Well, the advisors wanted that crown very badly. And so they set out all around the kingdom to find people that could tell stories that didn't end. Well, it just so happened that at everyone's homes, mostly they were arguing.
- or not talking to them. They weren't on speaking terms. And so they weren't telling a lot of stories. So they would have people that tried. For instance, there was someone that came to the king and said, well, there's a story about a girl named Goldilocks. And she goes into the forest. Yes, yes, OK, this is getting good. OK, I'm visualizing the forest of the king. And he's thinking about that. And he's starting to melt away.
- his problems. And the storyteller said, OK, so Goldilocks went in. There were some bears. And I think they ate her. I really forget. I'm so sorry. I don't remember how it went. So it was just one after another after another. And they got so desperate that they went farther out and farther out until they finally reached the nether regions where Jack lived, quite simply. And they knocked on his door.
- And they said, is there anyone in your home that can tell a story with no end? And I'll tell you what you get in return, a golden crown. Well, that was beyond anything that Jack had ever even conceived of having. And of all things, a story that doesn't end? Are you kidding me? He said, I tell those kinds of stories all day.
- I don't like to work very much. And so I tell my mom these really long stories until she gets annoyed. And this sounds great. And so the advisor led Jack to the throne room and, Your Majesty, here is our savior who can tell a story with no end. All right, let's have it. It's been a long day. And so Jack said, once
- there was a beautiful farm. And when, you know, they learned to cultivate rice and it happened that the growing conditions were just right. Hmm. Rice. I've heard of this. Go on. And so when the farmer was able to cultivate and harvest all of this rice,
- He put it in his biggest barn. There was so much rice that it packed the floor to the ceiling, to the walls. It was bursting through the panels. You wouldn't believe how much rice was in this barn. Okay. I've not heard this one. Now it happened on a moonlight night. There was
- scurried around, hid behind a rock, scurried and smelled rice. And the mouse scurried to the barn and began to gnaw. And she gnawed and gnawed and gnawed and gnawed until there was a hole big enough for her to slip into. And she stole a grain of rice and carried it very carefully between her tiny little mouse
- and brought it back to her babies. Wouldn't you know the next day, the mouse, remembering the rice, scurried when the moon was high to that hole. And there, she slipped in and stole a grain of rice. And she put it in her little tiny mouse teeth. And she was so happy.
- And she went back and she fed her babies that rice. As luck would have it, she woke up the next day feeling hungry, remembering what to do. And she went, when the moon was high, of course, to the hole and she stole, no, don't tell me, a grain of rice. No, I can't do it. And it was at that moment the king decided it was better to solve these problems.
- than to run away with a story that had no end. And that's the end of my story. Thank you for sticking with us. I still can't believe it's been 50 years. You know, what I do want to tell you is that over these years, many, many people have told stories with us.
- many people, and those people could include you, you know. I do want to tell you that if you are interested in coming to Guild meetings, you are so welcome. We are having a meeting in September, September 8th at 6.30 here at the library. Somebody knows what room it is. One B, thank you.
- And we'd like to invite you all to come. We also are going to have some opportunities for just sharing stories in our meetings this year. In October, we're going to invite you to tell us your scariest story. Yeah. We're going to get everybody together, and we're going to hear all the scary, scary, scary stories. In November, we're going to be telling
- and having everybody find their favorite one. So if you're interested, we'd love to have you join us. And we'd love to have your email. In case you're one of the people we didn't email about this program, we'd love to have your email before you leave. Just come up to one of us and we'll write it on our program so that we can let you know when something else happens.
- In the meantime, we hope you'll go away with desire to hear stories and tell stories and share stories. And we thank you all for coming tonight. And we thank the library again, ta-da, and cats again, ta-da. And we hope to see you in September. Thank you.