WEBVTT 00:00:00.674 --> 00:00:17.434 - Welcome, everyone. My name is Patty Callison. As many of you know, the Bloomington Storytellers Guild 00:00:17.434 --> 00:00:23.678 - is celebrating 50 years of existence. 00:00:27.234 --> 00:00:36.595 - I, of course, was not old enough to be here at its founding. I've only been a member for 40 years, having 00:00:36.595 --> 00:00:45.514 - joined at two. At any rate, we've been going back through all of our files. You know, when you start 00:00:45.514 --> 00:00:54.434 - something like the Bloomington Storytellers Guild, you don't go, well, what shall we do for the 50th 00:00:54.434 --> 00:00:55.582 - anniversary? 00:00:56.130 --> 00:01:07.441 - when it's still years and years away. So we've been going through old programs and lists and people 00:01:07.441 --> 00:01:19.091 - who told and line up of the folks and so forth. And we have been able to finally, I think, almost kind 00:01:19.091 --> 00:01:25.086 - of sort of determine that the winter telling started 00:01:26.530 --> 00:01:37.866 - in 1995. We were at various places. We were at the Unitarian Universalist Church, and we were at Unity 00:01:37.866 --> 00:01:49.201 - in their little auditorium. And finally, we were lucky enough to partner with the Monroe County Public 00:01:49.201 --> 00:01:54.814 - Library. And we are so, so grateful to the library 00:01:55.458 --> 00:02:08.513 - and to the friends of the library for making this possible. So, silence your cell phone. I'm not gonna 00:02:08.513 --> 00:02:21.822 - say anything about your baby because I love your baby. And sit back and relax with us. Gosh, we've only, 00:02:22.946 --> 00:02:37.144 - COVID did us in for a couple of years, but we've been telling continuously for more than 20 years. So 00:02:37.144 --> 00:02:51.064 - I hope you enjoy our stories. I think you will. I got to hear them all. And welcome. That's failure 00:02:51.064 --> 00:02:52.734 - number one. 00:02:53.442 --> 00:03:03.805 - My name is Farida Pawan. In December, I traveled to Kazakhstan for work. It was the first time I was 00:03:03.805 --> 00:03:14.169 - in the country. And this story is from Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is a Turanian country. Its culture and 00:03:14.169 --> 00:03:23.198 - its language is Turkic. But because it's in east of the Caucasus, it is also influenced 00:03:23.458 --> 00:03:35.048 - by Central Asia as well as the Middle East. The beauty of Kazakhstan is in its people who cherish large 00:03:35.048 --> 00:03:46.304 - families that they consider the heartbeat of their existence. Kazakhstan is also the land of spirits 00:03:46.304 --> 00:03:53.214 - who live in the world of unseen, in the air and in the earth. 00:03:53.410 --> 00:04:04.306 - They guard the secrets and shape the destinies of the land. For you see the land are steps. They are 00:04:04.306 --> 00:04:15.309 - expansive golden grassland, especially in the summer, that stretch as far as the eyes can see. And in 00:04:15.309 --> 00:04:21.566 - the midst of all this grandeur are emerald green orchards 00:04:22.210 --> 00:04:34.033 - and the crowning glory of these orchards are the pomegranate trees whose fruit and seeds glow like red 00:04:34.033 --> 00:04:45.512 - rubies in the sun. The story I'm about to tell you today takes place in one of these orchards. It's 00:04:45.512 --> 00:04:48.382 - called Zarina's Orchard. 00:04:51.426 --> 00:05:05.102 - Now the story takes place during a time when it was very dry and very, very dusty. Everyone was thirsty. 00:05:05.102 --> 00:05:19.038 - There was little water to drink, even less water to go crops in. Zarina and her 39 sisters wanted to help. 00:05:20.194 --> 00:05:30.308 - They carried empty jugs and walked over the mountains to the river. And when they got to the river, 00:05:30.308 --> 00:05:40.927 - they filled these jugs with water and put them on their heads and walked ever so slowly and so carefully 00:05:40.927 --> 00:05:47.198 - so not to lose a drop of the precious water. Oh, said Zarina, 00:05:47.618 --> 00:05:57.944 - Oh, oh, oh, said her sisters. This is such hard work, how we wish the water would come to us. 00:05:57.944 --> 00:06:08.929 - The next day, when they were at the river again with those empty jugs, a ferocious, powerful hunter 00:06:08.929 --> 00:06:17.278 - by the name of Ferdun passed by. Upon hearing their stories, Ferdun said, I 00:06:17.410 --> 00:06:27.885 - have 39 brothers, we can help. Now upon hearing his summons, Ferdun's summons, his brothers came immediately. 00:06:27.885 --> 00:06:37.407 - They began to hack at the mountains slowly but carefully for 38 straight days. And when they got to 00:06:37.407 --> 00:06:45.406 - the 39th day, they reached the river. And water began to flow and then to gush down 00:06:45.538 --> 00:06:57.608 - to the valley and reach the village where the sisters were. And now the sisters had enough water to 00:06:57.608 --> 00:07:09.919 - drink, enough water to do laundry, enough water to cook, enough water to grow crops, and enough water 00:07:09.919 --> 00:07:15.230 - to raise families with 39 brothers. And so, 00:07:15.714 --> 00:07:25.019 - At this point, Zarina was grateful. She went to the edge of the river. She thanked the sky. And she 00:07:25.019 --> 00:07:34.510 - thanked the water. And she thanked everything that the land had given. And as she was doing that, she 00:07:34.510 --> 00:07:43.071 - felt a gentle breeze. And before her appeared a man in a green silk robe. Without emotions, 00:07:43.071 --> 00:07:45.118 - the man said, Zarina, 00:07:45.922 --> 00:07:57.201 - I have a bag of seeds for you. Scatter the seeds by the river. But Zarina, do not, do not look back. 00:07:57.201 --> 00:08:08.480 - Zarina was mystified, but she took gratefully the bag of seeds and started scattering them along the 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:14.622 - river. Very carefully, just as the man had instructed, 00:08:15.106 --> 00:08:24.704 - Although she remembered what the man had said, Serena could not help herself. And before she knew it, 00:08:24.704 --> 00:08:34.303 - she looked back and she saw rows and rows and rows of fruit trees. There were bright orange apricots, 00:08:34.303 --> 00:08:40.702 - beautifully red, delicious Almaty apples and luscious purple plums. 00:08:42.178 --> 00:08:50.149 - But that was not a single pomegranate tree. Oh, what a shame. Now determined to have an orchard filled 00:08:50.149 --> 00:08:58.119 - with pomegranate trees, Serena the next day went back to the edge of the river. She thanked the skies. 00:08:58.119 --> 00:09:06.013 - She thanked the water. And she thanked everything the land had given. And again, she felt this gentle 00:09:06.013 --> 00:09:12.126 - breeze, and the man with the beautiful green silk rope appeared one more time. 00:09:12.546 --> 00:09:21.383 - And the man said, Zarina, I have another bag of seeds. Scatter these seeds along the river's edge. 00:09:21.383 --> 00:09:30.755 - But Zarina, do not, do not look back. Zarina took gratefully the seeds again, and she started scattering 00:09:30.755 --> 00:09:40.128 - them along the river's edge very carefully. And although she remembered what the man had said when there 00:09:40.128 --> 00:09:42.270 - was only one seed left, 00:09:43.330 --> 00:09:54.111 - Zarina could not help herself. And before she knew it, she looked back. And there were rows and rows 00:09:54.111 --> 00:10:05.212 - and rows of trees, fruit trees. And there was one pomegranate tree. What a shame. But by then, Zarina's 00:10:05.212 --> 00:10:08.414 - sisters and Ferdun's brothers 00:10:08.610 --> 00:10:16.453 - had already found the orchards and they were celebrating and enjoying all of the fruits and all of the 00:10:16.453 --> 00:10:24.296 - good things that came with the fruit trees when they heard a rumble. And the wind began to whip up and 00:10:24.296 --> 00:10:31.987 - the sky turned dark and the whirlwind started swirling and landed right at the river's edge in front 00:10:31.987 --> 00:10:37.470 - of them and outstepped a dovlish creature. And the dovlish creature had 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:50.941 - a long green beard that twisted and knotted with mossy, ugly rotting moss. And he had a green tongue 00:10:50.941 --> 00:11:02.974 - that swirled and wreathed like a serpent. And he pointed a finger right at Zarina and said, 00:11:03.362 --> 00:11:12.407 - How dare, how dare you turn the desert into an orchard. Dusty and dry is the orchard and dusty and dry 00:11:12.407 --> 00:11:21.188 - it shall remain. And so the devilish creature then blew out dust and it covered the sky, it covered 00:11:21.188 --> 00:11:31.198 - the water, it covered the land. And he whirled away without stopping. And Zarina said, we must, we must stop him. 00:11:32.162 --> 00:11:40.918 - And Ferdun's brother said, the only way we can stop him is to kill him. Zarina's sister said, we cannot 00:11:40.918 --> 00:11:49.337 - kill him. He does not have a heart. Determined, determined to have, to save all the things that had 00:11:49.337 --> 00:11:56.830 - brought joy to the brothers, to Ferdun's brothers and to her sisters, Zarina put a scarf 00:11:57.282 --> 00:12:06.098 - over her face and went after the devilish creature in the dust. And as she was doing so, the man in 00:12:06.098 --> 00:12:15.089 - the green silk robe appeared one more time. And the man said to Zarina, Zarina, the devilish creature 00:12:15.089 --> 00:12:23.993 - lives up in the mountain in a cave. He keeps his heart. He hides his heart in an egg to prevent from 00:12:23.993 --> 00:12:26.814 - feeling any joy or pain. Crack. 00:12:27.106 --> 00:12:36.202 - the egg and you will be rid of the devilish creature." Zarina went up the mountain and found the cave 00:12:36.202 --> 00:12:45.476 - where she heard the devilish creature snoring. With every snore came from his nose, nostrils, dust that 00:12:45.476 --> 00:12:54.839 - covered everything in its pathway. Zarina crawled slowly under the devilish creature's pillow and pulled 00:12:54.839 --> 00:12:55.998 - out the egg. 00:12:56.130 --> 00:13:05.242 - And she leapt and run. And when the devilish creature realized what had happened, he ran and screamed 00:13:05.242 --> 00:13:14.353 - at Zarina. Give me back my heart. Give me back my heart. It belongs to me. Give it back to me. And as 00:13:14.353 --> 00:13:22.750 - he got closer, fearing for his life, fearing for her life, Zarina pelt the egg, looked at it, 00:13:27.906 --> 00:13:44.645 - There was no dust on the trees, on the water. There was no wind. There was complete silence. Now what 00:13:44.645 --> 00:13:57.118 - happened to the devilish creature? I cannot tell you because Zarina did not 00:14:00.194 --> 00:14:11.188 - Thank you. A quick announcement. Our friend Ken Ogas, who was to be the next teller, was unable to be 00:14:11.188 --> 00:14:14.206 - with us this evening. Dana. 00:14:18.978 --> 00:14:27.337 - everyone. My name is Dana and I'm going to tell you the story of the four seasons. The story is an old 00:14:27.337 --> 00:14:35.533 - story. It's German folk tale. Sometimes it's also known as Toads and Diamonds. It's been shows up in 00:14:35.533 --> 00:14:43.729 - all kinds of different variations. A long time ago, there was a very poor woman and she worked for a 00:14:43.729 --> 00:14:45.758 - very, very greedy woman. 00:14:46.178 --> 00:14:52.952 - She would get to her house every morning, and she would bake bread, and then she would clean the house, 00:14:52.952 --> 00:14:59.530 - she would do the laundry. And then in the early afternoon, she would start to make the dough for the 00:14:59.530 --> 00:15:06.238 - bread the next day. And she would roll the dough, and little bits of it would come off on her fingers. 00:15:06.402 --> 00:15:13.292 - pull that little bit of dough off of her fingers and she would roll it into a ball. And then she'd take 00:15:13.292 --> 00:15:20.050 - that little ball and she'd put it in her pocket and she'd go home and she'd put that in her very thin 00:15:20.050 --> 00:15:26.873 - soup. It's really all she had to eat that had any sort of real nutritional value. Well, one day as she 00:15:26.873 --> 00:15:33.763 - was doing this, the greedy woman walked into the kitchen and she saw her take this little ball of dough 00:15:33.763 --> 00:15:35.486 - and put it in her pocket. 00:15:37.122 --> 00:15:46.446 - And the wealthy woman looked at her, and she said, what are you doing? And she said, I take that bread 00:15:46.446 --> 00:15:55.588 - home with me, and I make a soup out of it. Well, that's my bread. That's my dough. You need to throw 00:15:55.588 --> 00:16:02.558 - that away. And so the woman threw it away. And she went home, and she had no 00:16:03.202 --> 00:16:10.276 - nothing to make a little dumpling for her soup. And she thought to herself, well, I guess I'd better 00:16:10.276 --> 00:16:17.281 - go out into the forest and do some foraging to put something in my thin gruel. So she went out, and 00:16:17.281 --> 00:16:24.425 - it was winter, and there wasn't much. And she had to go farther and farther into the forest until she 00:16:24.425 --> 00:16:31.710 - realized if she didn't turn back, the sun was going to go down. And she looked around, and she realized 00:16:32.354 --> 00:16:40.563 - She didn't know where she was. But off in the distance, she could see smoke, and what appeared to be 00:16:40.563 --> 00:16:48.771 - four people sitting around a fire. And so she walked up to this group of people, and sure enough, it 00:16:48.771 --> 00:16:57.061 - was four individuals sitting around a fire, and they were eating. And she said, excuse me, I'm afraid 00:16:57.061 --> 00:17:01.694 - I'm lost, and I need to find my way home. Oh, they said. 00:17:02.178 --> 00:17:09.842 - Well, welcome and please sit down and have some food." And when she took the food, she looked up and 00:17:09.842 --> 00:17:17.429 - she realized these four people were dressed very strangely. One person had on a robe. It was bright 00:17:17.429 --> 00:17:25.017 - green and it had beautiful daffodils and hyacinths all over it with a little bit of rabbit fur here 00:17:25.017 --> 00:17:29.342 - and there. And then another one had a robe on and it had 00:17:29.538 --> 00:17:40.087 - had pumpkins and gourds and persimmons and apples. And then another one had a robe on, and it had beautiful 00:17:40.087 --> 00:17:49.952 - raspberries and strawberries and roses and daisies. And the last one, their robe was pure white, and 00:17:49.952 --> 00:17:59.134 - it sparkled like the snow. And as she ate her food, she looked around, and when she was done, 00:17:59.330 --> 00:18:06.836 - She put her plate down and she said, thank you very much. That was a lovely meal. Can you tell me how 00:18:06.836 --> 00:18:14.710 - I can get home? And they looked at her and they said, we can tell you how to get home. We know a shortcut. 00:18:14.710 --> 00:18:22.437 - But before we tell you, you have to answer a question for us. All right, she said, what is your favorite 00:18:22.437 --> 00:18:26.558 - season? Oh, well, I love the spring. Everything is new. 00:18:26.978 --> 00:18:33.875 - and beautiful. And I love the summer because it's warm and you can spend a lot of time outside and the 00:18:33.875 --> 00:18:40.772 - days are long. Oh, and I do love the fall. I love the harvest and all the beautiful colors. And winter 00:18:40.772 --> 00:18:47.534 - is nice because I can go home and I can put a fire on and I can sit by the fire and I can knit and I 00:18:47.534 --> 00:18:52.958 - can read. I'm sorry I can't answer that question. I think they're all wonderful. 00:18:54.114 --> 00:19:00.598 - all right," they said, and they handed her a basket. And the basket had a cover of gold cloth. 00:19:00.598 --> 00:19:07.491 - And they said, take this basket home, but don't take the cover off until you get home. And then they 00:19:07.491 --> 00:19:14.588 - showed her a shortcut on the way home. And she thanked them. And she went home. She put the basket down 00:19:14.588 --> 00:19:21.754 - on the counter, and she pulled off that golden cloth, and it was full of food. It had fruit, vegetables, 00:19:21.754 --> 00:19:23.870 - bread, cheese. And every time, 00:19:24.386 --> 00:19:32.638 - She pulled something out. It would be replenished. It didn't matter how many times she did it. The basket 00:19:32.638 --> 00:19:41.046 - was never empty. And so the woman realized that she could sell this fruit. She could sell these vegetables. 00:19:41.046 --> 00:19:48.986 - She could sell this bread at the market. And she wouldn't have to work for that greedy woman anymore. 00:19:48.986 --> 00:19:51.166 - And so that's what she did. 00:19:52.962 --> 00:20:00.383 - And one day when she was sitting in her booth and she was selling her lovely fruits and vegetables and 00:20:00.383 --> 00:20:07.588 - cheese and bread, who should walk by but the greedy woman? And she looked at her and she said, what 00:20:07.588 --> 00:20:14.937 - are you doing here? And the woman said, I have a stall now. I have this wonderful basket where all of 00:20:14.937 --> 00:20:21.566 - the food is replenished all the time. Where did you get that basket? Said the greedy woman. 00:20:22.274 --> 00:20:29.118 - And she told her all about the people in the woods and how they had given her this basket. Ha! Well, 00:20:29.118 --> 00:20:36.098 - you might get a basket of food because clearly you look like you need it. I, however, do not look like 00:20:36.098 --> 00:20:43.078 - I need food. So I think I'll probably end up getting a basket of pearls and diamonds, gold and silver, 00:20:43.078 --> 00:20:49.922 - maybe a little bit of platinum as well. Where do I find these people? And so the poor woman, who was 00:20:49.922 --> 00:20:51.006 - poor no longer, 00:20:52.034 --> 00:20:59.291 - explained to her how to find these four individuals. Well, she tromped off into the woods. She was looking 00:20:59.291 --> 00:21:06.073 - for them, and finally she spotted the fire. Ha! She said, now for me to go and get my jewels and my 00:21:06.073 --> 00:21:13.059 - reward. And she walked up to the four individuals, and they were sitting just as they had been sitting 00:21:13.059 --> 00:21:19.841 - before. And she said, give me my basket. And they said, would you like to have a plate of food? And 00:21:19.841 --> 00:21:20.926 - they handed her 00:21:21.314 --> 00:21:28.484 - plate of food. And she looked at it and she scoffed. I don't eat this kind of food. This is gourds and 00:21:28.484 --> 00:21:35.585 - pumpkins and persimmons and things like that. I don't eat that kind of thing. I eat pheasant. Where's 00:21:35.585 --> 00:21:42.825 - the pheasant? Oh, we're terribly sorry. They said we don't have any pheasant for you. Well, I just came 00:21:42.825 --> 00:21:49.438 - for a basket. I didn't come here to eat. Very well, they said. Before we give you your basket, 00:21:50.018 --> 00:21:58.494 - Could you please answer a question for us? I suppose. What is your favorite season? Hmm. Well, 00:21:58.494 --> 00:22:07.417 - let's see. The spring is terrible. Rains all the time. And it's windy. Summer's awful. It's burning 00:22:07.417 --> 00:22:16.340 - up. And then suddenly it won't rain anymore. And then there's the fall. Oh, I can't stand the fall. 00:22:16.340 --> 00:22:19.998 - It's just windy, and the days are short. 00:22:20.098 --> 00:22:27.823 - I don't like that at all. Oh my gosh. And winter, winter is the worst of all. It's just awful. It's 00:22:27.823 --> 00:22:35.857 - like it's never going to end. All right. They said, and they handed her a basket and it also had a gold 00:22:35.857 --> 00:22:43.273 - cloth over it. And they said, do not take the gold cloth off of this basket until you get home. 00:22:43.273 --> 00:22:48.990 - All right. She said, and she ran away. She didn't say thank you. Nothing. 00:22:49.794 --> 00:22:59.125 - And she ran home, she put that basket on the counter and she whipped off that gold cloth and out jumped 00:22:59.125 --> 00:23:05.854 - a toad and a snake and a lizard and a roach and a rat, any kind of vermin. 00:23:05.986 --> 00:23:12.562 - that you probably don't want in your house was coming out of that basket. And as soon as one jumped 00:23:12.562 --> 00:23:19.335 - out, another one was there to replenish it. The woman screamed, and she picked up that basket, and she 00:23:19.335 --> 00:23:26.109 - threw it out the door. And she marched down to that woman's booth, and she told her what happened. And 00:23:26.109 --> 00:23:32.948 - the woman said, I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. And there was nothing she could do. But the greedy 00:23:32.948 --> 00:23:35.710 - woman stomped off back home and never got 00:23:36.034 --> 00:23:44.935 - thing again and then our hero she went home and her basket just kept replenishing and that's the story 00:23:44.935 --> 00:23:46.750 - of the Four Seasons. 00:24:12.130 --> 00:24:23.354 - You were waiting to come in, weren't you? Yes. I did the introduction. I screwed up. Do you want to 00:24:23.354 --> 00:24:34.802 - go back over there? All right. Take two. David and I are going to tell a story. And I'm going to tell 00:24:34.802 --> 00:24:40.414 - you a little bit about it before we do the story. 00:24:40.578 --> 00:24:50.510 - This story actually finds its literary roots in the Uncle Remus stories. And so it has evolved. And 00:24:50.510 --> 00:25:00.442 - if you look around, you'll find several different variations of it. And it's all about the Southern 00:25:00.442 --> 00:25:09.182 - story. An African-American story was what it truly was that Joel Chandler Harris heard. 00:25:10.946 --> 00:25:34.317 - in Georgia, and it's called The Chickenhawk and the Buzzard. Well, good day on this wintry but getting 00:25:34.317 --> 00:25:40.670 - warmer day, Sister Buzzard. 00:25:40.930 --> 00:25:50.887 - Oh, I tell you what, Brother Chickenhawk. I am so hungry, but my stomach is wearing a blister on my 00:25:50.887 --> 00:26:00.943 - spine. Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, I got a pretty powerful hunger myself. In fact, I was 00:26:00.943 --> 00:26:09.406 - going to head on over to Farmer Brown's place and get me a young and tender chicken. 00:26:10.018 --> 00:26:23.809 - Why don't you come on with me? Come on, let's go get us a chicken. Oh, no, no, no, no, Brother Chickenhawk. 00:26:23.809 --> 00:26:37.090 - That's not our way. No, we buzzards, we just kind of sit around and wait for something to die. The Lord 00:26:37.090 --> 00:26:38.750 - will provide 00:26:39.714 --> 00:26:50.276 - Well, the Lord has provided me with big sharp talons, big sharp beak. I see you got a pretty good snout 00:26:50.276 --> 00:27:00.839 - on yourself there. Well, come on, come on, let's go get us a young and tender chicken. No, no, no, I'll 00:27:00.839 --> 00:27:08.862 - just wait here because I know that the Lord will provide. Well, suit yourself. 00:27:10.402 --> 00:27:20.695 - Yes, sir. Yes, I'm sure. The Lord will provide. All right, suit yourself. And at that, Brother Chickenhawk 00:27:20.695 --> 00:27:30.411 - took off up into the sky, circling over Farmer Brown's place, spied a chicken, went into a nosedive. 00:27:30.411 --> 00:27:39.454 - Just then, Farmer Brown stepped out, saw that Chickenhawk up there, grabbed his shotgun, bam! 00:27:43.234 --> 00:28:02.861 - X's, splat. Brother Chickenhawk landed right in the dusty road underneath Buzzard's tree. Oh, poor Brother 00:28:02.861 --> 00:28:05.246 - Chickenhawk. 00:28:24.098 --> 00:28:44.287 - about to partake of, I am truly thankful. Hello there. My name is Dakota Medley. And what I'm about 00:28:44.287 --> 00:28:52.766 - to tell is technically an original story. 00:28:54.050 --> 00:29:04.555 - but I wanted it to kind of feel like an older tale. This one is an original tale called How Red Wolf 00:29:04.555 --> 00:29:14.957 - Stopped the Blizzard and is loosely inspired by tales from Norse culture and a tale from Polynesian 00:29:14.957 --> 00:29:23.902 - culture. I know those seem very opposite. But it made sense when I put them together. 00:29:27.298 --> 00:29:37.024 - In a far off land, in a valley of green grass, there was a village full of hunters, gatherers, and even 00:29:37.024 --> 00:29:46.656 - farmers. All was well in the land of green grass, but at the top of a tall, icy mountain was a wizard. 00:29:46.656 --> 00:29:56.382 - His name was Fimble, and he called himself the Lord of the Winter due to his ego and cruel personality. 00:29:58.306 --> 00:30:09.957 - And one day he looked down on that village and said, I think I'll freeze that land and make it better. 00:30:09.957 --> 00:30:21.496 - They think their green grass is so great. I'll show them. So he froze that land and the people of the 00:30:21.496 --> 00:30:25.342 - village went into a panic because 00:30:26.114 --> 00:30:35.247 - Food was becoming scarce due to animals disappearing, and water was, well, hard to drink from a well 00:30:35.247 --> 00:30:44.560 - due to being frozen. Eventually, it got real bad to the point where all the villagers grouped together 00:30:44.560 --> 00:30:53.150 - to meet with the chief elder, Haradwulf, who proposed an idea on how to handle this situation. 00:30:54.818 --> 00:31:06.975 - Some young man needs to step up and talk to Tosk, chief of the fire squirrels. Perhaps Tosk would know 00:31:06.975 --> 00:31:18.778 - the cause of this winter and how we can resolve this problem. I'll go, said a young man in his late 00:31:18.778 --> 00:31:24.798 - 20s named Red Wolf, who was adventurous and brave, 00:31:26.882 --> 00:31:36.779 - The town prepared Red Wolf for his journey and he went off. He walked for several miles for a while 00:31:36.779 --> 00:31:46.677 - until he came across a small stone hut with a tall chimney that smoke came out of the top. This was 00:31:46.677 --> 00:31:56.574 - the home of the fire squirrels. Red Wolf went up to the door. And he knocked. And he knocked again. 00:31:58.178 --> 00:32:10.064 - And again, and again, until he got to about 320 times. He was standing there a while. And then finally, 00:32:10.064 --> 00:32:22.178 - the door was answered by a small and meek voice. It wasn't Tosk, but it was the voice of a fire squirrel. 00:32:22.178 --> 00:32:25.950 - Who, who are you? I am Red Wolf. 00:32:26.530 --> 00:32:35.033 - I come to speak with Tosk, your chief," he said. The fire squirrel led Red Wolf in, and he was greeted 00:32:35.033 --> 00:32:43.371 - by many fire squirrels. At the center of them was one that was slightly larger than the rest, with a 00:32:43.371 --> 00:32:51.709 - flame pattern on his autumn red fur tail, a unicorn-like horn spiraled from his forehead, and he had 00:32:51.709 --> 00:32:56.414 - a stick-like staff in his hand. This was obviously Tosk. 00:32:58.306 --> 00:33:07.280 - The chief looked up and said, Speak. Red Wolf said, I am Red Wolf. Our village is under attack by a 00:33:07.280 --> 00:33:16.434 - blizzard. I come to see if you know what is causing it and how to resolve it. Atosk already knew, and 00:33:16.434 --> 00:33:25.767 - he explained, Your village is under attack by the wizard Fimble. Fimble. We must go to his icy mountain 00:33:25.767 --> 00:33:28.190 - and break his icy scepter. 00:33:29.282 --> 00:33:37.246 - Then you'll be forced to flee to colder areas and won't bother your village again." And thus the two 00:33:37.246 --> 00:33:45.367 - went off on that other, again it was a walk back, so it was once again a while of many miles. And they 00:33:45.367 --> 00:33:53.725 - finally came to the icy mountain and they went to the top and they found Fimble on his icy throne staring 00:33:53.725 --> 00:33:59.166 - at his crystal ball which, as you could guess, was also made of ice. 00:34:00.994 --> 00:34:11.737 - Who dares interrupt me enjoying myself?" Fimble cried. I am Red Wolf, said Bread Wolf, obviously, and 00:34:11.737 --> 00:34:22.796 - I am Tosk. Same. And we have come to end your reign of terror on my village and the blizzard that you've 00:34:22.796 --> 00:34:30.590 - put on it. Oh, I don't think so, Fimble said. He grabbed his icy scepter. 00:34:31.170 --> 00:34:40.463 - And he tried to freeze them by blasting ice at them, but they dodged, obviously. We must split into 00:34:40.463 --> 00:34:49.942 - two different directions, said Red Wolf. Right, he can't hit us both, said Tosk. They split up, which 00:34:49.942 --> 00:34:57.470 - angered Fimble because they kept dodging him. Stand still and let me freeze you. 00:35:01.058 --> 00:35:09.391 - Tosk ran circles around Fimble, distracting him long enough for Red Wolf to come up behind and grab 00:35:09.391 --> 00:35:17.808 - him from behind. Let go, Fimble said. This distraction allowed Tosk the opportunity to use his magic 00:35:17.808 --> 00:35:26.391 - and create a fireball, which he blasted at Fimble, hitting his scepter, which as you'd guess, was also 00:35:26.391 --> 00:35:30.558 - made of ice, causing it to melt. No, the scepter! 00:35:30.882 --> 00:35:40.445 - Fimbul cried. With his power ruined and unable to control the seasons, Fimbul spiraled away in a whirlwind 00:35:40.445 --> 00:35:49.651 - of ice and fled to colder areas, never to bother the village again. The two heroes would return to the 00:35:49.651 --> 00:35:55.550 - village, but not before Tosk would produce a much larger fireball 00:35:56.322 --> 00:36:03.990 - that he made hover over the village long enough that it'd melt all the snow and ice from the blizzard 00:36:03.990 --> 00:36:11.809 - Fimboldt put there prior, turning the town back to normal. The two eventually returned, where the chief 00:36:11.809 --> 00:36:19.627 - elder Harrod Wolf held a great feast for them that all the village people attended. Well done, you two. 00:36:19.627 --> 00:36:25.566 - You saved the village, Harrod Wolf said. I was honored to help, said Red Wolf. 00:36:25.858 --> 00:36:37.312 - As was I," said Tosk. Tosk would eventually leave the village and return to his home amongst the fire 00:36:37.312 --> 00:36:48.765 - squirrels. And the two heroes would be remembered in the village stories for years on after. The end, 00:36:48.765 --> 00:36:55.166 - and thank you for listening. Hi, everyone. Good evening. 00:36:55.490 --> 00:37:04.480 - I'm Christina Jones, and I'm going to whisk you back to Turkey where we started this whole program. 00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:13.829 - And I'm going to tell you a brief but spectacular story about the Mullah Nasruddin. So it happened that 00:37:13.829 --> 00:37:22.819 - the Mullah was living in a small remote village, very close to the steps. And I'm sorry to say that 00:37:22.819 --> 00:37:25.246 - it was attacked by an evil 00:37:25.602 --> 00:37:36.943 - evil tyrant and his followers. And they ransacked every home and they extracted every bit of goodness 00:37:36.943 --> 00:37:48.507 - from each house until every house had nothing and the tyrant had everything. But even everything wasn't 00:37:48.507 --> 00:37:54.622 - enough. And so he went from house to house threatening 00:37:55.202 --> 00:38:05.178 - and saying, tomorrow, you'll give me the most valuable thing. And it will be mine. And in return, I'll 00:38:05.178 --> 00:38:15.058 - let you live. Well, it happened that the Mulas' next door neighbor had a very, very large family. Not 00:38:15.058 --> 00:38:23.678 - 39 sisters large, but large. And they had very little to eat. Everything had been taken. 00:38:24.962 --> 00:38:33.466 - All they had was a donkey, a donkey that had been there from the very beginning and bore their children 00:38:33.466 --> 00:38:41.888 - out into the fields and, and lighten their loads whenever it could until it couldn't. And it was their 00:38:41.888 --> 00:38:50.146 - time to take care of the donkey. But that's all they had. And so the husband said, we have to do it. 00:38:50.146 --> 00:38:54.398 - There's nothing left. And so reluctantly, they took 00:38:54.594 --> 00:39:04.712 - the donkey to the tyrant's home and presented it to them. And the tyrant looked at that donkey, that 00:39:04.712 --> 00:39:14.830 - broken down useless animal and flew into a rage and said, how dare you? How dare you bring me such a 00:39:14.830 --> 00:39:23.646 - disgusting, worthless animal? I should beat you now as warning for everyone. Excuse me. 00:39:25.314 --> 00:39:37.390 - And it was a small voice in the shadows. They all turned and there he was. The mullah had been listening 00:39:37.390 --> 00:39:49.581 - and he said, I see intelligence in those eyes. In fact, I know something very valuable about this donkey. 00:39:49.581 --> 00:39:54.526 - In fact, I will teach this donkey to read. 00:39:58.242 --> 00:40:05.782 - Very well, before I change my mind. You may do that." And so the mullah gently took the donkey to his 00:40:05.782 --> 00:40:13.543 - home. Now, the mullah was a very learned man. And he was one of the few people in his village with large 00:40:13.543 --> 00:40:21.157 - books. And so the mullah grabbed one of the big books and placed it on a table in front of the donkey. 00:40:21.157 --> 00:40:27.070 - And out of his pocket, he put some seeds in between the pages. And he did that. 00:40:29.090 --> 00:40:37.197 - for most of the book and that made the donkey curious because his eyes weren't great but he could smell 00:40:37.197 --> 00:40:44.993 - and he could eat. And so the donkey became very interested in this book all of a sudden and he very 00:40:44.993 --> 00:40:52.867 - gingerly took out his tongue and turned the page and there were some seeds and so he gobbled them up 00:40:52.867 --> 00:40:57.310 - and he took his tongue out, turned the page, more seeds, 00:40:57.890 --> 00:41:05.000 - He was getting the hang of it. And so this happened day after day at a certain time, the mule would 00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:12.252 - bring out the book and he'd put the seeds and the donkey would just feast and just flip right through 00:41:12.252 --> 00:41:19.647 - those pages. It was time. And so, Nasseruddin pulled the donkey down to the tyrant's home with the book 00:41:19.647 --> 00:41:26.046 - in tow. And he said, I've done it. I've done it. I've taught this donkey to read. Behold, 00:41:26.242 --> 00:41:32.265 - And so he put the book in front of the donkey. And the donkey, he knew exactly what to do. He knew he 00:41:32.265 --> 00:41:38.230 - was waiting for this, because it was dinner time. And so he took the book, and he nosed it open, and 00:41:38.230 --> 00:41:44.194 - he licked the page, and he couldn't find the seeds. And so he licked another page. No, and he licked 00:41:44.194 --> 00:41:50.395 - faster and faster, and he was flying through the pages, looking furiously for the seeds. And so he said, 00:41:50.395 --> 00:41:54.942 - bray! And he let out this bray! And he kept looking for the seeds, and bray! 00:41:55.234 --> 00:42:05.102 - I'm looking and bring, bring. And the mullah said, see? He even reads out loud. That's my story. Hi, 00:42:05.102 --> 00:42:14.969 - everyone. My name is Kellen Everett. I'll be telling a story tonight that I found. First, I found it 00:42:14.969 --> 00:42:22.590 - in a collection of Polish fairy tales. And as I started reading it, I thought 00:42:22.690 --> 00:42:29.234 - that this story about a little hedgehog sounded familiar. And so I started doing some more digging. 00:42:29.234 --> 00:42:35.909 - And I found it in Grimm's fairy tales as well, as well as some other fairy tale collections. And then 00:42:35.909 --> 00:42:42.649 - I realized why it sounded so familiar is that it was also in an episode of Jim Henson's 1980s TV show, 00:42:42.649 --> 00:42:49.193 - The Storyteller. So it may seem familiar to some of you as well. It is a classic. And like all good 00:42:49.193 --> 00:42:51.614 - classic fairy tales, this one begins 00:42:51.874 --> 00:42:58.815 - once upon a time. Now once upon a time in Poland there lived a couple, a husband and a wife who lived 00:42:58.815 --> 00:43:05.620 - simply and they were happy enough for the most part except for one thing. They wanted a child. They 00:43:05.620 --> 00:43:12.493 - had no baby sitting in the crib that sat in their house and they worried about this and they fretted 00:43:12.493 --> 00:43:19.774 - about this as they went about their days and as they went about their work in the fields and in the woods. 00:43:20.770 --> 00:43:28.054 - Now one day, as the woman was working in the woods looking for berries, she spotted a little hedgehog 00:43:28.054 --> 00:43:35.196 - crawling underneath a fern, and she sighed deeply and said to herself, if I had even a hedgehog for 00:43:35.196 --> 00:43:42.481 - a baby, I would be happy. And now what this woman didn't know was that Jensa, the witch of the woods, 00:43:42.481 --> 00:43:50.622 - was lurking nearby and had heard what she said. And soon after this, the woman got her wish, and a baby was born. 00:43:51.842 --> 00:44:02.053 - But instead of having soft downy hair and blue eyes and little hands and feet, well, this baby had paws 00:44:02.053 --> 00:44:11.872 - and a snout and sharp prickly quills all over. This was not a human baby. This was a baby hedgehog. 00:44:11.872 --> 00:44:20.414 - And the woman said, well, I'm blessed. Who thought my words would come true like this? 00:44:20.642 --> 00:44:28.716 - I said that if I had even a hedgehog for a baby, I would be happy. And here he is. And her husband said, 00:44:28.716 --> 00:44:36.482 - well, I suppose it's better than nothing. We should be grateful for what has come to us. And so they 00:44:36.482 --> 00:44:44.632 - decided to raise the hedgehog as their child. And they came to love the hedgehog as it grew up. It didn't 00:44:44.632 --> 00:44:49.246 - grow very much, mind you, just about regular hedgehog size. 00:44:50.338 --> 00:44:58.088 - And it didn't speak, and it mostly just sat in the crib that they had in their home. Until one day when 00:44:58.088 --> 00:45:05.839 - the woman was very tired from her chores and all her work, the hedgehog did speak. And he said, Mother, 00:45:05.839 --> 00:45:13.291 - I think today I will take Father's dinner to him out in the field. And so everyone was surprised to 00:45:13.291 --> 00:45:19.998 - see from that day on the hedgehog would take his father's dinner to him out in the field. 00:45:21.282 --> 00:45:28.043 - And then a few years later, the hedgehog said, Mother, today I'll take the pigs out to feed in the woods. 00:45:28.043 --> 00:45:34.676 - And so that became the hedgehog's work. His responsibility was to take care of the pigs as he took them 00:45:34.676 --> 00:45:41.055 - out to feed in the woods. And under the watchful care of this dutiful little hedgehog, not a single 00:45:41.055 --> 00:45:47.497 - pig was ever lost. Now, it was on one of these normal days, the hedgehog was tending the pigs out in 00:45:47.497 --> 00:45:50.686 - the woods, sitting under the shade of a mushroom. 00:45:51.010 --> 00:45:58.004 - The hedgehog spotted the king riding by through the woods. And then he saw the king riding by again. 00:45:58.004 --> 00:46:04.998 - And then he saw the king ride by for a third time. The king was lost. And the hedgehog said, what is 00:46:04.998 --> 00:46:12.339 - your majesty looking for? And the king stopped and looked around and up and down until finally he spotted 00:46:12.339 --> 00:46:19.264 - the little hedgehog sitting under the mushroom. Ah, I seem to have lost the path out of the forest. 00:46:19.264 --> 00:46:20.510 - Will you help me? 00:46:21.282 --> 00:46:27.549 - Well, yes, Your Majesty, but first you must promise me a reward. I would like, as a reward, the first 00:46:27.549 --> 00:46:33.693 - thing that you see when you return home to your kingdom. And in a year and a day, I will come visit 00:46:33.693 --> 00:46:39.898 - and collect this reward. Of course, by all means, says the King. I'm sorry to say, Your Majesty, but 00:46:39.898 --> 00:46:46.657 - your word is not enough. I would like to have this promise written down, and I'd like your royal handkerchief 00:46:46.657 --> 00:46:49.790 - as a seal. Now, the King was not happy about this. 00:46:51.010 --> 00:46:57.497 - He was not thrilled to be bound to such a promise, to a hedgehog. But he also didn't want to spend the 00:46:57.497 --> 00:47:03.795 - night riding around in circles in the forest until he got eaten by wolves. So reluctantly, the king 00:47:03.795 --> 00:47:10.093 - wrote down his promise and gave the paper and his handkerchief to the hedgehog, who then guided him 00:47:10.093 --> 00:47:15.006 - dutifully out of the woods. And as the king rode home and rode to his palace, 00:47:15.842 --> 00:47:22.842 - Why, who came riding out of the gates but his beautiful daughter, the princess, who was worried sick 00:47:22.842 --> 00:47:30.120 - about her father being lost? And now the king was worried. His daughter was the first thing he had seen. 00:47:30.120 --> 00:47:37.190 - Would he have to give his daughter to the hedgehog? Who ever heard of a princess marrying a hedgehog? 00:47:37.190 --> 00:47:44.606 - But soon after this, the king got busy with kingly business, as kings do, and he forgot about his promise. 00:47:45.282 --> 00:47:52.098 - And the hedgehog returned to his hedgehogly work of tending the pigs as time went on until the promised 00:47:52.098 --> 00:47:58.848 - year and a day were fast approaching. And the hedgehog said, Mother, Father, please have a saddle made 00:47:58.848 --> 00:48:05.664 - for the rooster, for I need a ride out into the world. The horse was too big for the hedgehog, you see. 00:48:05.664 --> 00:48:12.546 - So they made a little rooster-sized saddle and placed it on the rooster's back. And the hedgehog climbed 00:48:12.546 --> 00:48:15.102 - up on the little rooster and rode off. 00:48:15.426 --> 00:48:22.003 - with the greatest dignity he could muster. And he rode and rode over hills and valleys and through fields 00:48:22.003 --> 00:48:27.649 - and streams all the way until he made it to the palace of the king. The guard stopped him. 00:48:27.649 --> 00:48:34.163 - Who goes there? What do you want? I wish to see the king, says the hedgehog. Impossible, says the guard. 00:48:34.163 --> 00:48:40.430 - He's at dinner with the royal court. Well, the hedgehog then pulled out the letter from the king and 00:48:40.430 --> 00:48:43.966 - the handkerchief embroidered with the king's royal seal. 00:48:44.802 --> 00:48:52.470 - And the guard had to let the hedgehog in. And what a surprise it was on the promised year and a day 00:48:52.470 --> 00:49:00.444 - for the king to see this hedgehog come flying in on the back of the rooster in front of the whole royal 00:49:00.444 --> 00:49:08.188 - court. And the king had to then sheepishly explain that a year and a day before, he had accidentally 00:49:08.188 --> 00:49:11.102 - betrothed the princess to a hedgehog. 00:49:14.370 --> 00:49:21.389 - And so the whole royal court just burst out laughing and laughing. Whoever heard of a princess marrying 00:49:21.389 --> 00:49:28.138 - a hedgehog? They cried. And they all laughed and laughed at the very idea of it. And at the foolish 00:49:28.138 --> 00:49:35.359 - king for making such a foolish promise. Now the king was outraged at the audacity of this little hedgehog. 00:49:35.359 --> 00:49:42.175 - All have you killed? He cried. And he ordered his guards to attack the hedgehog. But just as he did, 00:49:42.175 --> 00:49:43.390 - the hedgehog gave 00:49:43.490 --> 00:49:50.044 - a shrill whistle, and in an instant, from near and far, from everywhere, from every nook and cranny, 00:49:50.044 --> 00:49:56.663 - came pouring in hedgehogs. Through the windows, through the doors, crawling all over, climbing up the 00:49:56.663 --> 00:50:03.217 - tables and chairs, up the tapestries on the wall, and everywhere they went, they jabbed their sharp, 00:50:03.217 --> 00:50:08.798 - prickly little hedgehog quills into the legs and feet of all the nobles and the king. 00:50:09.474 --> 00:50:15.624 - And as they jabbed and poked and stabbed, the nobles and the king all hopped around and rubbed their 00:50:15.624 --> 00:50:21.897 - legs and feet and cried out in pain until finally, stop, stop, enough, cried the king. You shall marry 00:50:21.897 --> 00:50:27.986 - my daughter. And he commanded the princess to marry the hedgehog. And so she reluctantly dressed up 00:50:27.986 --> 00:50:34.075 - in her finery and the hedgehog hopped back up on the rooster's back as they rode down to the church 00:50:34.075 --> 00:50:37.790 - for the wedding. And as the wedding ceremony was concluding, 00:50:38.018 --> 00:50:45.975 - It was a beautiful ceremony, by the way. As it was concluding, the bride turned to face the bridegroom. 00:50:45.975 --> 00:50:53.780 - And yet another surprise for everyone there. For there was no hedgehog standing up there, but instead 00:50:53.780 --> 00:51:01.584 - a handsome, dignified young man who turned to the princess and gave a most dignified princely bow and 00:51:01.584 --> 00:51:04.798 - said, thank you, princess, by marrying me 00:51:05.154 --> 00:51:12.307 - You've broken the spell that Jens of the witch cast on me at my birth." Well, now the princess was delighted 00:51:12.307 --> 00:51:18.935 - not to be marrying a hedgehog, but instead a handsome princely young man. And the king was delighted 00:51:18.935 --> 00:51:25.825 - to have a handsome princely young man for a son-in-law instead of a hedgehog. And so the former hedgehog 00:51:25.825 --> 00:51:32.584 - turned prince, told them about his family, his parents, and they were sent for to live in a house near 00:51:32.584 --> 00:51:34.750 - the palace and be taken care of. 00:51:35.810 --> 00:51:42.940 - king made the hedgehog prince the heir to the throne. And that night they held a grand ball and a grand 00:51:42.940 --> 00:51:50.069 - feast, the likes of which had never been seen before in that kingdom, or have been seen since. And they 00:51:50.069 --> 00:51:52.126 - all lived happily ever after. 00:52:13.154 --> 00:52:25.356 - One second. That's better. Maybe. Hi, my name is Clayton Schroeder. I'm a singer, songwriter, storyteller. 00:52:25.356 --> 00:52:37.444 - Note that I did not say musician. I told my wife recently that I don't really consider myself a musician. 00:52:37.444 --> 00:52:42.462 - And she said, and I quote, you're an idiot. 00:52:43.842 --> 00:52:54.448 - But I consider myself, in terms of skill and talent, first, a singer, second, a storyteller, third, 00:52:54.448 --> 00:53:05.159 - a songwriter, and way, way, way over here, a musician. In college, I studied theater, the fancy kind 00:53:05.159 --> 00:53:10.462 - that you spell with an R-E at the end of theater. 00:53:11.554 --> 00:53:20.651 - And when I graduated, I realized that an actor's life was not for me. But I always idolized Harry Chapin 00:53:20.651 --> 00:53:29.489 - and Jim Croce. So I went to a pawn shop, bought a guitar, and 20 years later, I still don't know what 00:53:29.489 --> 00:53:38.846 - I'm doing with this thing. I mean, I know some chords. I know like 10 chords. So like, this is the D chord. 00:53:43.842 --> 00:53:59.814 - And this song is called Dish because the chords are D-ish. But it's a voicemail I left an old college 00:53:59.814 --> 00:54:10.462 - roommate of mine named Amanda. It's about a year after we graduated 00:54:11.778 --> 00:54:23.522 - and she went off to grad school in California. I continued my education by squatting in an apartment 00:54:23.522 --> 00:54:35.732 - above a bar in Terre Haute, Indiana. I was a fledgling singer-songwriter at the time. I had more stories 00:54:35.732 --> 00:54:41.662 - than I did songs. The same is still true, I guess. 00:54:41.922 --> 00:54:58.616 - But when I called her up, it was supposed to be just one of those, hey, how you doing kind of conversations. 00:54:58.616 --> 00:55:07.806 - And it turned into an apology because for my senior thesis, 00:55:12.514 --> 00:55:26.829 - I faked my own death. It turned out about as well as you might imagine. And I almost lost some friendships 00:55:26.829 --> 00:55:41.278 - over it, including Amanda's. Almost. And that's what really saved me, is that I could have lost everything. 00:55:43.874 --> 00:55:59.965 - But I didn't. So when I called her up and I got her voicemail, I just started strumming these D-ish 00:55:59.965 --> 00:56:11.390 - chords. And this is what came out. Hey Amanda, it's been about a year. 00:56:17.762 --> 00:56:33.539 - Some songs, some stories to tell. Do you wanna hear? You have to tell me first before I sing the very 00:56:33.539 --> 00:56:35.550 - first verse. 00:57:06.914 --> 00:57:27.836 - I wish we were back in SoHo You were my upstairs wife You were upstairs crazy busy I was downstairs 00:57:27.836 --> 00:57:33.694 - causing strife Sorry Amanda 00:57:36.866 --> 00:57:58.046 - I owe you my life. Sorry Amanda. I owe you my life. Love you Amanda. 00:58:29.890 --> 00:58:39.262 - hair adding to the beauty of singing. 00:59:00.002 --> 00:59:01.342 - Amanda. 00:59:34.690 --> 00:59:44.126 - My name is Laura Clavio. And as you know, just about every culture has their origin myths about things. 00:59:44.126 --> 00:59:53.470 - And the well-known story, Cherokee storyteller, Gail Ross, happened to go through some of her family's 00:59:53.470 --> 01:00:01.182 - papers and found this tale, a love tale about love berries. And this is how it goes. 01:00:04.386 --> 01:00:13.866 - In the very beginning of the world, there was the first man and the first woman, and they lived together 01:00:13.866 --> 01:00:23.347 - as husband and wife, and they loved each other dearly. But one day they quarreled, and even though later 01:00:23.347 --> 01:00:25.694 - neither one of them could 01:00:25.954 --> 01:00:35.872 - Remember what the quarrel was about. Every word spoken brought more pain and heartache until finally 01:00:35.872 --> 01:00:45.692 - in grief and anger, the woman left their house and began to walk toward the east, toward the rising 01:00:45.692 --> 01:00:54.334 - sun. The man stayed in the house. And as time went by, he became lonelier and lonelier. 01:00:55.618 --> 01:01:05.770 - until his anger was gone and all he felt was a terrible loss and despair, and he began to cry. Now, 01:01:05.770 --> 01:01:16.126 - in those early times, spirits and men were much closer than they are now, and they could speak to one 01:01:16.126 --> 01:01:24.958 - another. And a benevolent spirit heard the man crying, and he looked down and he said, 01:01:25.346 --> 01:01:36.914 - Why do you cry? And the man said, my woman has left me. And why did your woman leave, the spirit asked. 01:01:36.914 --> 01:01:48.038 - But the man said nothing. He just hung his head. Did you quarrel with her? And the man nodded. Hmm. 01:01:48.038 --> 01:01:53.822 - Would you quarrel with her again, asked the spirit. 01:01:55.106 --> 01:02:03.456 - And the man said, no, he only wanted to live in peace and harmony and in love as they had done before. 01:02:03.456 --> 01:02:11.725 - And the spirit said, I have seen your woman. She is traveling toward the east, toward the rising sun. 01:02:11.725 --> 01:02:20.075 - And with that news, the man got up and began to follow his wife, but she could not be caught. He could 01:02:20.075 --> 01:02:21.534 - not overtake her. 01:02:21.794 --> 01:02:32.013 - Everybody knows an angry woman walks fast. So the spirit looked at the situation and he said, I'll go 01:02:32.013 --> 01:02:42.032 - ahead and see if I can slow her steps a bit. Then perhaps you can catch her. And so the spirit went 01:02:42.032 --> 01:02:49.246 - ahead and he found the woman on the trail. Her gaze was straight ahead. 01:02:50.370 --> 01:02:59.665 - Her steps were long and hard and fast. So the spirit thought, ah, I see some huckleberry bushes. And 01:02:59.665 --> 01:03:08.959 - he waved his hand. And all the bushes went into bloom and bear fruit. And he thought, this will stop 01:03:08.959 --> 01:03:18.346 - her. But that woman only gazed straight ahead. She didn't look to the right or to the left. There was 01:03:18.346 --> 01:03:20.094 - pain in her heart. 01:03:20.642 --> 01:03:30.455 - And that's all she saw. And her footsteps did not slow. So the spirit waved his hand again and all the 01:03:30.455 --> 01:03:40.363 - bushes along the trail burst into bloom and went to fruit. But still that woman saw nothing. She looked 01:03:40.363 --> 01:03:46.174 - straight ahead. She didn't look to the left or to the right. 01:03:46.466 --> 01:03:56.504 - All she felt was pain and anger and her steps did not slow. So then the spirit made all the trees of 01:03:56.504 --> 01:04:06.542 - the forest, the apple, the pear, the peach, the wild cherry, all burst into bloom and go into fruit. 01:04:06.542 --> 01:04:09.822 - But still the woman saw nothing. 01:04:10.594 --> 01:04:21.233 - All she saw was her anger and her pain, and her steps did not slow. Hmm, thought the spirit. Ah, I will 01:04:21.233 --> 01:04:31.667 - make a new fruit, something that grows close to the ground so that she will have to turn her head and 01:04:31.667 --> 01:04:39.134 - look down, and that will slow her steps. And so he waved his hand again, 01:04:40.930 --> 01:04:49.205 - and a carpet of beautiful heart-shaped leaves began to grow along the path. And pretty soon they were 01:04:49.205 --> 01:04:57.562 - starred with beautiful white flowers. And those flowers ripened into berries, which were the color and 01:04:57.562 --> 01:05:05.918 - the shape of the human heart. And as that woman walked, she stepped on those berries and the beautiful 01:05:05.918 --> 01:05:08.190 - aroma went up into her nose 01:05:08.578 --> 01:05:17.302 - and she stopped and she looked down and she saw the berries and she picked one and ate it and she discovered 01:05:17.302 --> 01:05:25.385 - that it tasted as sweet as love itself. So she began to slowly walk along picking and eating berries 01:05:25.385 --> 01:05:33.788 - and she leaned down to pick up a berry and she saw her husband coming behind her. By that time the anger 01:05:33.788 --> 01:05:37.790 - was gone from her heart and he caught up with her 01:05:38.594 --> 01:05:47.461 - And they ate the berries and eventually began to walk home where they lived out the rest of their days 01:05:47.461 --> 01:05:56.071 - in peace, in love, and happiness. And that is how the first strawberries came to make peace between 01:05:56.071 --> 01:06:04.766 - men and women in the world and why to this day they are still called the berries of love. Thank you. 01:06:16.770 --> 01:06:29.560 - I don't know what you did to it. I'm Jenny Ritchie, and I have a story that I first heard around 1970 01:06:29.560 --> 01:06:43.227 - in Louisville, Kentucky. It was told by the marvelous storyteller, Mrs. Barbara Miller, legendary children's 01:06:43.227 --> 01:06:44.606 - librarian. 01:06:47.618 --> 01:06:57.377 - But although 1970 was a long time ago, the story's older than that. Howard Kurlander heard it told in 01:06:57.377 --> 01:07:07.614 - West Africa sometime in the early 40s and put it in a book called The Cow-Tail Switch, which was published 01:07:07.614 --> 01:07:16.894 - in 1947, so almost 80 years ago. But it's older than that because the man who told him the story 01:07:17.314 --> 01:07:28.776 - was just retelling a story that had been told by the people who lived in Ghana around the town of Akora 01:07:28.776 --> 01:07:40.127 - for generations. And it's this old story I want to share with you. They say there was a countryman who 01:07:40.127 --> 01:07:46.078 - was but an indifferent farmer, but he decided one day 01:07:46.818 --> 01:07:57.410 - that he would go and dig yams to take to market. So he took his digging stick out, and he began to dig. 01:07:57.410 --> 01:08:07.594 - And the first yam he turned over, a big one it was, as he reached for it, that yam talked. It said, 01:08:07.594 --> 01:08:15.742 - what are you doing here? You never came to water me. You never came to weed me. 01:08:15.970 --> 01:08:31.791 - Now you want to dig me up? Leave me alone." Somebody say something? Nobody around. Just the cow. Cow, 01:08:31.791 --> 01:08:44.510 - did you say something? But the cow just chewed her cud. No. Really, said the dog. 01:08:46.018 --> 01:08:59.261 - The cow didn't talk. Cows can't talk. It was the yam. The yam said, leave me alone. You should listen 01:08:59.261 --> 01:09:12.633 - to the yam. You never talked before, said the farmer. And I don't like your tone. I believe, I believe 01:09:12.633 --> 01:09:15.230 - I need to beat you. 01:09:15.330 --> 01:09:28.972 - with a stick. Put me down, said the stick. And the man put the stick down on the rock nearby. And the 01:09:28.972 --> 01:09:39.806 - rock said, take that stick off me. It was too much. I've got to get out of here. 01:09:40.258 --> 01:09:49.248 - And away he went, running down the road. He ran down the road to escape the strangeness behind him. 01:09:49.248 --> 01:09:58.688 - And there up the road came that tall fisherman with his fishing, his fish trap on his head full of fish. 01:09:58.688 --> 01:10:07.678 - He was headed for market. Hey, friend, he said, what's up? Where are you going so fast? Oh, I have. 01:10:07.938 --> 01:10:15.957 - to get out of here," he said the farmer. He said, my yam talked and said, leave me alone. And my dog 01:10:15.957 --> 01:10:24.213 - talked and said, listen to the yam. And the stick said, put me down. And the rock said, take that stick 01:10:24.213 --> 01:10:32.470 - off of me. I had to run. I have a few questions about that, said the fisherman. And the fish trap said, 01:10:32.470 --> 01:10:35.646 - yeah, did he take the stick off or not? 01:10:37.986 --> 01:10:47.595 - And down went the fish trap and the fishermen joined the farmer running down the road. They ran fast 01:10:47.595 --> 01:10:57.204 - to escape what was behind them. And there was that stout little weaver coming up the road with a big 01:10:57.204 --> 01:11:06.622 - bundle of colorful cloths on his head. Slow down, he said. No need to run so fast in this weather. 01:11:07.618 --> 01:11:17.581 - What's going on? And the farmer said, you ready for this? The yam, said, leave me alone. And the dog, 01:11:17.581 --> 01:11:27.349 - said, listen to the yam. And the stick, said, put me down. And the stone, said, take that stick off 01:11:27.349 --> 01:11:35.358 - me. Yes, said the fisherman. And my fish trap, said, did he? Oh, said the weaver. 01:11:35.970 --> 01:11:46.675 - I hardly think this is something to run about. And the bundle of cloth said, oh, you'd run too if it 01:11:46.675 --> 01:11:57.487 - happened to you. Down went the bundle, and off went the weaver running with the others. They ran till 01:11:57.487 --> 01:12:05.118 - they came by a river, and there was a bather in the river splashing and 01:12:05.602 --> 01:12:13.436 - waving at them. Hey, are you chasing a gazelle? What's going on? I had to get away, said the farmer. 01:12:13.436 --> 01:12:21.038 - The yam talked. It said, leave me alone. And the dog said, listen to the yam. And the stick said, 01:12:21.038 --> 01:12:29.105 - put me down. And I put it on the rock. And the rock said, take that stick off. Yes, said the fisherman. 01:12:29.105 --> 01:12:31.742 - And my fishing trap said, did he? 01:12:32.738 --> 01:12:44.626 - And the weaver said, and my bundle said, you'd run too. The swimmer said, you know, things like that 01:12:44.626 --> 01:12:56.397 - don't really happen. But the river came bubbling by. And the river said, you better believe it. Ah! 01:12:56.397 --> 01:13:01.694 - There was a swimmer out of the river running 01:13:01.922 --> 01:13:10.128 - They ran right in to the village. And it was so unusual. People stopped working. Everybody came around. 01:13:10.128 --> 01:13:18.019 - There was a great commotion. And the chief of the village stepped out and did not like what he saw. 01:13:18.019 --> 01:13:26.462 - He called his servant to bring his stool, his beautiful wooden carved stool like a throne. When he stepped 01:13:26.462 --> 01:13:31.038 - on it, when he sat on it, he was doing official business. 01:13:31.618 --> 01:13:39.957 - So he sat and called the men up. What excuse do you have for causing this ruckus? You won't believe 01:13:39.957 --> 01:13:48.378 - this. But everything's talking, said the farmer. When I went to dig up my yam, the yam talked to me, 01:13:48.378 --> 01:13:56.717 - and it said, leave me alone. And then my dog talked to me and said, listen to the yam. And then the 01:13:56.717 --> 01:14:01.470 - stick talked to me and said, put me down, and the ruckus 01:14:01.634 --> 01:14:12.001 - talked to me and said, take the stick off me. I had to get out of there, didn't I? And the fisherman 01:14:12.001 --> 01:14:22.369 - said, and my fish trap said, did he take the stick off? And I had to get out of there, didn't I? And 01:14:22.369 --> 01:14:29.246 - the weaver said, my bundle of cloth said, you'd run too? So I did. 01:14:30.594 --> 01:14:47.829 - And the swimmer said, well, the river said, you'd better believe it. And I had to run too. The chief 01:14:47.829 --> 01:14:58.238 - had listened patiently. But now he scowled. He said, this is 01:14:59.106 --> 01:15:10.878 - the silliest story anyone's ever brought before me. Don't you have better things to do? You'd better 01:15:10.878 --> 01:15:23.000 - go do them before I punish you for disturbing the peace." The men walked away. And as the chief watched 01:15:23.000 --> 01:15:28.478 - them walk away, he shook his head and he said, 01:15:30.658 --> 01:15:47.641 - That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Yeah, said a voice. Yeah, said the stool. That's 01:15:47.641 --> 01:15:55.134 - ridiculous. Who ever heard of a talking yam? 01:16:00.738 --> 01:16:08.265 - Thank you, Jenny. I'm Lisa Ciampelli, and on behalf of the Bloomington Storytellers Guild, I would just 01:16:08.265 --> 01:16:16.155 - like to thank you all for joining us this evening for our wintertelling concert of stories both heartwarming 01:16:16.155 --> 01:16:23.393 - and humorous. Please give another round of appreciation to our talented tellers. Thank you all. And 01:16:23.393 --> 01:16:30.558 - a special shout out to Patty Callison for coordinating our program this evening. Thank you, Patty. 01:16:34.274 --> 01:16:40.960 - We would also like to thank the Monroe County Public Library for hosting us and extend our gratitude 01:16:40.960 --> 01:16:47.580 - to the Friends of the Library, a special group of community members who help support the library by 01:16:47.580 --> 01:16:54.729 - providing funding for library materials as well as an array of programs and special events serving everyone 01:16:54.729 --> 01:16:56.318 - from infants to adults. 01:16:57.090 --> 01:17:05.241 - And we hope that you'll join us again in warmer weather. On July 31st, we'll be presenting Summer Tales, 01:17:05.241 --> 01:17:13.159 - featuring tall tales from American folklore. I think that's right. So hope to see you then. And until 01:17:13.159 --> 01:17:17.662 - then, thank you again. Be well and good night. Thank you.