WEBVTT 00:00:11.202 --> 00:00:18.828 - Good evening. Thank you. Hello. Welcome. My name is Sarah Bowman and I work here at the Monroe County 00:00:18.828 --> 00:00:26.379 - Public Library. I would just like to welcome everybody to this evening's winter telling event. A few 00:00:26.379 --> 00:00:34.005 - things I would like to say first. First of all if you have a cell phone if you could put it on silent 00:00:34.005 --> 00:00:40.958 - mute off whatever works best so it doesn't interrupt a storyteller in the middle of a story. 00:00:41.954 --> 00:00:43.678 - A few other things I would like to say. 00:00:43.778 --> 00:00:50.565 - Before we get going this evening is I would like to thank the Friends of the Library. They make programming 00:00:50.565 --> 00:00:56.912 - at the library for all ages possible. So we would really like to thank them. There's a table on your 00:00:56.912 --> 00:01:03.637 - way outside with some information if you're interested in becoming a member of the Friends of the Library. 00:01:03.637 --> 00:01:10.110 - I'd like to thank CATS for videotaping this evening's program. You can see this program on the Library 00:01:10.110 --> 00:01:13.566 - Channel 3. You can check their schedule at CATSTV.net. 00:01:14.050 --> 00:01:20.009 - Lastly, I would like to thank the Bloomington Storytellers Guild for being tonight's entertainment. 00:01:20.009 --> 00:01:26.087 - Patti Callison from the Bloomington Storytellers Guild is here this evening, and she's gonna go ahead 00:01:26.087 --> 00:01:32.045 - and introduce you to the program. And I would like to, again, welcome you and remind you that after 00:01:32.045 --> 00:01:38.302 - the stories are over, up on stage, we'll be having some refreshments and coffee, well, cookies and milk. 00:01:38.562 --> 00:01:47.989 - Isn't that perfect? So I'd like to invite everybody to stay after the stories are over and get a chance 00:01:47.989 --> 00:01:55.422 - to chat with the storytellers. And again, thank you. Patty Carlson. You are tall. 00:02:03.618 --> 00:02:12.146 - Well, we're really thrilled that you all came out tonight for the Wintertelling. The Bloomington Storytellers 00:02:12.146 --> 00:02:19.898 - Guild, which has been around in Bloomington, and we're all getting so old we can't remember. But we 00:02:19.898 --> 00:02:27.883 - were thinking about 74 was the year that the guild sort of started up. And we are a loose group. Well, 00:02:27.883 --> 00:02:31.294 - wait a minute. Let me put that another way. 00:02:34.338 --> 00:02:43.684 - We're a tight-knit group of storytellers who have a devotion to the art of storytelling and love to 00:02:43.684 --> 00:02:53.966 - present that to you and tonight you're going to hear a number of stories. Because of our literary background, 00:02:53.966 --> 00:02:58.078 - so many of us have a literature background, 00:02:58.178 --> 00:03:05.342 - We tend to tell a lot of folk tales. We also have some personal stories that occasionally get told. 00:03:05.342 --> 00:03:12.578 - But as people were coming tonight, coming together with their stories, it looked like you were going 00:03:12.578 --> 00:03:19.742 - to see a vast, varied group of all kinds of myths and legends and folk tales from around the world. 00:03:20.642 --> 00:03:28.144 - These stories are ones that, since many of us have a literature background, we have found in folklore 00:03:28.144 --> 00:03:35.646 - books that you can check out from the Monroe County Public Library sometime and take a look at those. 00:03:35.646 --> 00:03:43.001 - But we basically carry those stories around in our heads. And that's sometimes a dangerous place to 00:03:43.001 --> 00:03:44.766 - be. So welcome tonight. 00:03:44.898 --> 00:03:52.295 - And again, we want to thank the friends of the library and the two ladies who are sitting outside. We'll 00:03:52.295 --> 00:03:59.692 - be glad to make you a friend of the library if you would like to become a friend. But most of all, thank 00:03:59.692 --> 00:04:06.877 - you for coming out on this winter night. Thank you for coming to Wintertelling. And we hope you enjoy 00:04:06.877 --> 00:04:07.934 - it. Thank you. 00:04:15.714 --> 00:04:22.360 - Good evening. Thank you for coming out on this cold, blustery night. It was so wonderful to see all 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:29.339 - of your faces here to join us tonight for our winter telling. As Patty said, it's true as a storyteller, 00:04:29.339 --> 00:04:36.251 - sometimes when you read stories, they just kind of roll around in your head. And the one that I'm going 00:04:36.251 --> 00:04:38.910 - to be sharing tonight is such a roller. 00:04:39.106 --> 00:04:46.839 - I checked out the Mammoth Book of Fairy Tales in preparation for this program. And the very first tale 00:04:46.839 --> 00:04:54.647 - in this collection of folktales was a tiny, curious gem of a story. And I'm curious to see how you feel 00:04:54.647 --> 00:05:02.305 - about it after it's done. It's a short story. It's by Lawrence Scheimel. And this is an adaptation of 00:05:02.305 --> 00:05:05.758 - it. The name of the story is A Bag of Poetry. 00:05:07.298 --> 00:05:14.305 - So it started on a day when all was lost, all was lost. And Anya was sitting and she was straddled on 00:05:14.305 --> 00:05:21.655 - a stone wall that surrounded the parking lot of the Safeway grocery store. And she had a bag of groceries. 00:05:21.655 --> 00:05:28.662 - And she had a big, thick black marker. And she was scribbling poetry all over her bag. And as she was 00:05:28.662 --> 00:05:35.326 - doing this, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a homeless man and his dog approaching her. 00:05:35.938 --> 00:05:43.381 - and he came up and the dog sniffed her shoe and the man asked for change. And she looked up and first 00:05:43.381 --> 00:05:51.336 - she saw the dog and the dog was black and it had a brown spot which looked like it had balanced precariously 00:05:51.336 --> 00:05:58.633 - on the top of its head and then over time it just kind of slid over one eye. She couldn't resist it 00:05:58.633 --> 00:06:05.566 - and she looked at the man and he was wearing these jolly green and red Christmas boxer shorts. 00:06:05.858 --> 00:06:12.213 - and a red or a brown and black plaid flannel shirt that matched his dog. And she smiled at him and he 00:06:12.213 --> 00:06:18.443 - smiled back with wide wondrous eyes. And she reached into her bag and she gave him a loaf of bread. 00:06:18.443 --> 00:06:24.860 - And then she reached into her bag and she gave him a pound of roast beef. And his eyes grew even wider 00:06:24.860 --> 00:06:31.215 - and he said, God bless you. And she looked at the dog and she pulled into her bag and she reached out 00:06:31.215 --> 00:06:33.022 - and she gave the dog a bone. 00:06:33.282 --> 00:06:39.323 - And the dog wagged his tails, and he couldn't bark because he had the bone in his mouth. And they turned 00:06:39.323 --> 00:06:45.307 - around, and they padded away. Finally, Anya's bus came. And she got on the bus, and it was empty, which 00:06:45.307 --> 00:06:51.405 - was unusual. So she sat down, and she sat her bag next to her. And she reached in her bag, and she pulled 00:06:51.405 --> 00:06:53.534 - out a book. And she started to read. 00:06:54.690 --> 00:07:01.484 - And so when it was time for her stop, she looked up from her book, and she noticed that the crowd of 00:07:01.484 --> 00:07:08.277 - people in the bus was weighing in on her. And she tried to make her way through the crowd to get out 00:07:08.277 --> 00:07:15.407 - of the door. Well, this woman pushed and pushed and pushed, Anya, until her bag fell. And at that moment, 00:07:15.407 --> 00:07:22.268 - everyone stopped, silent, waiting for her groceries to come tumbling out. Well, the moment waited too 00:07:22.268 --> 00:07:24.286 - long, and it lasted too long. 00:07:25.730 --> 00:07:33.345 - And the woman pushed her aside. And as she walked off the bus, 17 eggs rolled out of the top of Anya's 00:07:33.345 --> 00:07:40.885 - bag. And they rolled across the sidewalk. And they landed next to a building, each one uncracked. And 00:07:40.885 --> 00:07:48.500 - a flock of pigeons flew down to the eggs. And they started pecking at the eggs. And first they ate the 00:07:48.500 --> 00:07:52.862 - creamy yellow inside. And then they gobbled up the shells. 00:07:54.018 --> 00:08:00.538 - When Anya bent down to retrieve the bag, she gave them a handful of popcorn, and she walked home. And 00:08:00.538 --> 00:08:07.185 - when she got into her apartment, her mother was glad to see her. She was so glad that she followed Anya 00:08:07.185 --> 00:08:13.577 - right next to her shoulder to see what she brought from the grocery store. So Anya put her bag down 00:08:13.577 --> 00:08:20.224 - on the counter. And the first thing that Anya reached in and brought out was a new job for her brother, 00:08:20.224 --> 00:08:21.886 - Peter. Her mother gasped. 00:08:22.786 --> 00:08:30.170 - She couldn't believe it. She ran around the other side of the counter, and she took Anya in her big, 00:08:30.170 --> 00:08:36.969 - beefy, soft, warm arms. And she pinned Anya's arms to her sides and said, this is wonderful. 00:08:36.969 --> 00:08:44.427 - And she yelled, Peter. And Anya kept getting things out of her bag. First, she reached in and she got 00:08:44.427 --> 00:08:52.542 - a big bag of potatoes. And then she reached in and she got a big flour sack. And then she got 17 cobs of corn. 00:08:52.674 --> 00:09:00.528 - And then she got three quarts of milk, and she set them aside. And then Anya pulled out the moon, and 00:09:00.528 --> 00:09:08.228 - she set it on the counter. And her mother thought it was a saucer, so she took some of the milk and 00:09:08.228 --> 00:09:16.082 - she poured it. And then she took the moon, and she put it on the floor. And Anya noticed this. And so 00:09:16.082 --> 00:09:20.702 - Anya reached into her bag, and she pulled out five kittens. 00:09:21.634 --> 00:09:27.467 - And her mother looked over her shoulder and said, what's that? And she said, it's kittens. And she's 00:09:27.467 --> 00:09:33.301 - like, we have too many kittens. And just as she said that, cats came from everywhere, in through the 00:09:33.301 --> 00:09:39.134 - window, from all the halls and from the cupboards. They came flooding in towards the saucer of milk. 00:09:39.134 --> 00:09:45.083 - Meanwhile, her brother Peter came in, bleary eyed. He'd been asleep all day. And his mother smiled and 00:09:45.083 --> 00:09:50.974 - picked up the new job and took Peter into the living room. Anya kept putting away the groceries until 00:09:51.266 --> 00:09:57.926 - Nothing was left in the saucer. And so she picked up the moon and she went into the backyard to put 00:09:57.926 --> 00:10:03.987 - it back into the sky. Meanwhile, her mother came into the kitchen and everything was gone, 00:10:03.987 --> 00:10:10.714 - save for the bag. And so her mother went to the bag and looked inside thinking surely she can't pull 00:10:10.714 --> 00:10:17.707 - anything else from this bag. And so she collapsed it and neatly folded it along the creases. And because 00:10:17.707 --> 00:10:20.638 - she couldn't read the poetry, threw it out. 00:10:23.554 --> 00:10:39.641 - And that's the story of the bag of poetry. Thank you for listening. Hello, everyone. My story is from 00:10:39.641 --> 00:10:52.574 - Africa. We believe it is Zulu, but we are not sure. It is called the Sky Woman's. 00:10:52.770 --> 00:11:01.290 - basket. I hope you enjoy it. Once upon a time there was a farmer. This farmer had a very large farm 00:11:01.290 --> 00:11:09.810 - that he tended all by himself. He enjoyed taking care of his vegetables and all of his animals, but 00:11:09.810 --> 00:11:18.755 - his favorite thing to tend was his herd of cattle because in the morning he would go to the barn, unlock 00:11:18.755 --> 00:11:22.078 - the door, go inside, and he would milk 00:11:22.338 --> 00:11:34.013 - his cows and from their milk he would make cheese and yogurt and ice cream. Well, one morning our farmer 00:11:34.013 --> 00:11:45.243 - went to the barn, opened the door and he tried to milk his cows, but he couldn't. They were dry as a 00:11:45.243 --> 00:11:51.358 - bone. He thought this was odd, but he let them outside 00:11:51.810 --> 00:12:02.784 - took them to really rich green grass on the far corners of his farm. But the next morning, they were 00:12:02.784 --> 00:12:13.975 - dry again. And now our farmer became suspicious that someone had in the middle of the night stolen the 00:12:13.975 --> 00:12:18.430 - milk from his cows. So the next evening, 00:12:19.010 --> 00:12:29.526 - Instead of locking the barn door and going back to his farmhouse, he locked the barn door from the inside 00:12:29.526 --> 00:12:39.546 - and creeped over to a corner and hid behind a bale of hay. And he waited and waited and waited until 00:12:39.546 --> 00:12:48.574 - just past midnight, a star rose up in the sky and came to hover over the farmer's barn and 00:12:49.730 --> 00:13:01.314 - shot a ray of light through the roof of the barn down to the floor below. And that ray of light started 00:13:01.314 --> 00:13:12.565 - to spin and twist until it formed the shape of a ladder. Our farmer stood in amazement and dismay as 00:13:12.565 --> 00:13:19.582 - he watched that ladder. Down from it came many, many beautiful 00:13:23.906 --> 00:13:32.639 - And they came and they started to milk his cows dry. And he jumped up and said, stop thieves. What are 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:41.456 - you doing? And all of the women scurried up the ladder to the safety of the star, except for one, which 00:13:41.456 --> 00:13:50.104 - he was able to grab by the heel and pull down to him. The star floated away as our farmer turned this 00:13:50.104 --> 00:13:52.478 - beautiful woman toward him. 00:13:54.018 --> 00:14:03.081 - woman you have stolen from me." And she said, yes, I have. I'm sorry. What can I do to repay this debt? 00:14:03.081 --> 00:14:11.969 - He said, well, you could stay here with me and help me on my farm. She said, all right, that is fair. 00:14:11.969 --> 00:14:21.119 - So for several months, the man and the woman worked together on the farm, tending the vegetables, caring 00:14:21.119 --> 00:14:23.646 - for the cows, until one day, 00:14:23.810 --> 00:14:33.526 - Our farmer went to the woman, and he said, Sky Woman, you have worked very hard for me, and you have 00:14:33.526 --> 00:14:43.434 - repaid your debt. You may go if you wish, but as we have worked together these past few months, I have 00:14:43.434 --> 00:14:53.054 - grown quite fond of you, and I would be most pleased if you would stay here with me and be my wife. 00:14:56.418 --> 00:15:05.825 - The first guy said, well, I was hoping that you would say something like that. You are a good man, and 00:15:05.825 --> 00:15:15.597 - this is a good world. I will stay here with you on one condition. What's that? Asked the farmer. Anything. 00:15:15.597 --> 00:15:21.534 - She said, well, I own this basket that is shut tight with a lid. 00:15:22.658 --> 00:15:31.580 - In it is a secret that belongs to me. You must never open my basket without my permission. If you can 00:15:31.580 --> 00:15:40.326 - promise me that, I will stay with you." Well, our farmer thought this was an easy thing to promise. 00:15:40.326 --> 00:15:49.423 - So he said, yes, of course. And they were married. And they lived together happily for quite some time. 00:15:49.423 --> 00:15:52.222 - But you know how it is with us. 00:15:55.586 --> 00:16:05.711 - Every time our farmer would pass the basket that was sitting in the corner of the living room, he would 00:16:05.711 --> 00:16:15.545 - wonder, what is inside that thing? Is it something wonderful, beautiful, or is it something terrible 00:16:15.545 --> 00:16:25.086 - and evil? He didn't know, and he would look to the Sky Woman for clues, but she had none to give. 00:16:26.914 --> 00:16:39.195 - this secret began to eat at him and eat at him and eat at him until he began to think, this is my house. 00:16:39.195 --> 00:16:51.125 - She is my wife and this is my basket. And then one day when our sky woman was out tending the fields, 00:16:51.125 --> 00:16:55.102 - he went to the corner of the room 00:16:56.162 --> 00:17:05.114 - kneeled down and he lifted the lid of the basket and looked inside. When he saw what was in there, he 00:17:05.114 --> 00:17:14.065 - was dismayed and aghast and he burst out laughing and he laughed and he laughed and he laughed and he 00:17:14.065 --> 00:17:22.929 - laughed until the sky woman heard him and came running, burst into the room and saw what he had done 00:17:22.929 --> 00:17:24.158 - and she said, 00:17:25.250 --> 00:17:33.749 - You have broken your promise." And he said, wife, oh, wife, this secret has been eating at me and it 00:17:33.749 --> 00:17:42.500 - has had me in suspicion of you. I didn't know if there was something good or evil inside it. I'm sorry, 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:51.167 - but I just felt I had to know. And I must say, I can't believe it. I look inside this basket and there 00:17:51.167 --> 00:17:52.766 - is nothing inside. 00:17:53.954 --> 00:18:08.838 - You are so silly. Well, our sky woman said nothing when she crossed the room, put the lid back on, lifted 00:18:08.838 --> 00:18:23.582 - the basket, and walked away, never to be seen again by our farmer. And some people say that she left him 00:18:24.226 --> 00:18:34.126 - Because he had broken a promise. And a promise is a promise. But other people say that she left him 00:18:34.126 --> 00:18:44.522 - because when he looked in the basket, he saw nothing there. For we are oftentimes blind to the treasures 00:18:44.522 --> 00:18:50.462 - of others. And that is the story of the Sky Woman's Basket. 00:19:05.922 --> 00:19:14.273 - Well, you are a treasure, Addie, and we are not blind to that. Very nicely done. My name is Stephanie 00:19:14.273 --> 00:19:22.707 - Holman, and I have three short stories sprinkled throughout your program tonight. And so for the first 00:19:22.707 --> 00:19:31.058 - sprinkle. Once long ago, a poor man was walking along a road by himself, looking down, thinking about 00:19:31.058 --> 00:19:32.286 - his situation. 00:19:32.962 --> 00:19:38.820 - And because he was looking down, he was able to see, there by the side of the road, a pouch, a leather 00:19:38.820 --> 00:19:44.735 - purse. And no one around, he stooped and picked it up, and he could tell by the heft of it. He wondered 00:19:44.735 --> 00:19:50.593 - by the clinkety-clank of it if it might not be filled with coins. And when he opened it, indeed it was 00:19:50.593 --> 00:19:56.565 - filled with gold coins. And with no one else there to claim it, he put it in his pocket and headed home. 00:19:56.565 --> 00:20:02.366 - Well, the next morning, he went to the village to spend his newfound wealth. Many things did he need. 00:20:02.754 --> 00:20:10.445 - But no sooner had he gotten to the marketplace than there was a sign freshly painted and it said, lost, 00:20:10.445 --> 00:20:18.137 - purse filled with gold coins, reward for its return. And it was signed by the richest man in town. That 00:20:18.137 --> 00:20:25.902 - poor man was slumped and headed for home. He sat at his table and he looked at those coins in that pouch 00:20:25.902 --> 00:20:29.822 - and he thought about what was the right thing to do. 00:20:30.338 --> 00:20:36.649 - He thought, ah, that rich man, he's so wealthy, he wouldn't even miss this money, and I'm so poor I 00:20:36.649 --> 00:20:42.960 - could really use this money. But it is the right thing to return it, and it did say a reward. Maybe 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:49.335 - there'd be just enough for him to get by. So he headed over to the rich man's house and knocked upon 00:20:49.335 --> 00:20:55.709 - the door. And the man himself opened the door and looked down upon this beggar, this man in tattered 00:20:55.709 --> 00:21:00.190 - clothing, a waif of a man, he was so thin, carrying his purse of gold. 00:21:00.578 --> 00:21:05.856 - He snatched it from the man and started counting it in his hand. And he thought to himself, 00:21:05.856 --> 00:21:11.765 - look at this fool, this fool standing here before me. He probably thinks there's a reward. No, there's 00:21:11.765 --> 00:21:17.502 - no reward. I just wrote that on there so that I get my coins back. But I'll give this man a lesson. 00:21:17.502 --> 00:21:23.354 - That will be his reward. I'll teach him a lesson. And so the rich man counted out the coins. And when 00:21:23.354 --> 00:21:29.091 - he'd finished, there were 100 coins. And he said, 100, and put them back in the pouch and closed it 00:21:29.091 --> 00:21:30.238 - tight. And he said, 00:21:31.042 --> 00:21:37.627 - What are you waiting for? And the poor man said, well, the sign had said something about a reward. So 00:21:37.627 --> 00:21:44.599 - the rich man, a reward? You'll get no reward. In fact, you are nothing but a thief. And I will let everyone 00:21:44.599 --> 00:21:51.248 - know in the village that you are a thief. What do you mean a thief? I returned your money. When I lost 00:21:51.248 --> 00:21:57.703 - this gold purse of coins, it was filled with 200 gold coins. And now there are only 100. You saw me 00:21:57.703 --> 00:22:00.350 - count them. You are nothing but a thief. 00:22:00.546 --> 00:22:06.805 - And he turned to go back into his house. But the poor man reached out and stopped him from closing the 00:22:06.805 --> 00:22:12.942 - door and said, listen, listen, you don't have to give me reward. And I don't even want a reward from 00:22:12.942 --> 00:22:19.018 - you. But you can't call me a thief. You can't besmirch my name. We will go to the village judge and 00:22:19.018 --> 00:22:25.156 - we will let him decide. Fine, said the rich man. And they went not side by side, but together to the 00:22:25.156 --> 00:22:29.470 - village judge. And the village judge listened to the rich man's story. 00:22:30.178 --> 00:22:37.450 - And then he listened to the poor man's story. And then he thought about it. He'd been in this village 00:22:37.450 --> 00:22:44.794 - a long time, and he knew this wealthy man, and he knew that he was up to no good. So he said, tell me, 00:22:44.794 --> 00:22:52.067 - how many coins were in the purse you lost? And the rich man said, 200. And then he turned to the poor 00:22:52.067 --> 00:22:59.838 - man, and he said, tell me, how many coins were in the purse you found? 100. I saw him count them out myself. 00:23:00.354 --> 00:23:17.452 - Aha, then it is clear. The purse you lost is not the same as the purse he found. Give him back the purse 00:23:17.452 --> 00:23:29.502 - he found. And so it was done. That was a good one. They're all good ones. 00:23:34.210 --> 00:23:40.629 - My name is Lisa Ciampelli, and the story that the program says that I'm telling tonight, The Peasant's 00:23:40.629 --> 00:23:47.297 - Clever Daughter, a folktale collected by the Brothers Grimm, is indeed the story that I'm telling tonight. 00:23:47.297 --> 00:23:53.840 - But the version that I'm telling is actually more closely related to the story called Rachel the Clever, 00:23:53.840 --> 00:24:00.446 - which appears in a collection of Jewish folktales, which indicates that the story originates from Poland. 00:24:00.770 --> 00:24:07.357 - But this story is actually pretty well traveled because I've found variations of this story in Greek 00:24:07.357 --> 00:24:13.553 - folk tales and there's another version called The Fisherman's Clever Daughter and a collection 00:24:13.553 --> 00:24:20.270 - of Czechoslovakian tales. So it's really a story that's made its way around the world. And I tell this 00:24:20.270 --> 00:24:26.923 - version tonight in honor of the clever young women around the world and through time who have advised 00:24:26.923 --> 00:24:29.662 - on public matters often behind the scenes 00:24:29.922 --> 00:24:38.597 - and kept the peace at home as well. This is the story of Rachel the Clever. Once upon a time there was 00:24:38.597 --> 00:24:47.188 - a clever king who was so proud of his intellectual aptitude that he vowed to marry only the woman who 00:24:47.188 --> 00:24:55.358 - was as clever as he. Now one day this king happened to be out traveling and he stopped at an inn 00:24:55.554 --> 00:25:02.508 - And he overheard the innkeeper boasting about his very clever daughter. He, the innkeeper, claimed that 00:25:02.508 --> 00:25:09.395 - there was no riddle that his daughter was not able to solve. Now, the king wondered about this because 00:25:09.395 --> 00:25:16.148 - he was very fond of riddles and had posed many a riddle to many a person that they had not been able 00:25:16.148 --> 00:25:23.838 - to solve. And he decided to challenge the innkeeper. He called him over and he said, I have three riddles for you. 00:25:24.578 --> 00:25:34.369 - And if your daughter can solve them, then you shall be handsomely rewarded. But if she is not able to 00:25:34.369 --> 00:25:44.159 - solve them, you will lose your in. Here are the riddles. The first is, what is the fastest thing? The 00:25:44.159 --> 00:25:51.742 - second is, what is the richest thing? And third is, what is the dearest thing? 00:25:52.898 --> 00:25:59.886 - I expect the answers by tomorrow." And the king left, leaving the innkeeper to ponder what the answers 00:25:59.886 --> 00:26:06.670 - could possibly be. He fretted that Rachel would not know how to figure them out, but he brought the 00:26:06.670 --> 00:26:13.590 - riddles to her, and she just smiled and said, Father, don't worry. You're not going to lose your inn. 00:26:13.590 --> 00:26:20.781 - Go back to the king and tell him that thought is the fastest thing, that life-giving earth is the richest 00:26:20.781 --> 00:26:22.206 - thing, and that love 00:26:22.626 --> 00:26:29.644 - is the dearest thing. And when the innkeeper told the answers to the king, he was astonished, for he 00:26:29.644 --> 00:26:36.732 - had shared these riddles with many a noble and educated woman, and none had been able to come up with 00:26:36.732 --> 00:26:43.889 - the correct answers that he sought. And yet he had vowed to marry a woman who was as clever as he. Did 00:26:43.889 --> 00:26:49.726 - this mean that he, the king, was destined to marry the common innkeeper's daughter? 00:26:50.850 --> 00:26:58.711 - He thought that perhaps he would give her another puzzle. And so he said to the innkeeper, tell your 00:26:58.711 --> 00:27:06.649 - daughter well done and give her these 10 eggs and tell her that I would like to have them hatched out 00:27:06.649 --> 00:27:14.587 - and the chicks brought back to me tomorrow. The innkeeper was very worried. How was his daughter ever 00:27:14.587 --> 00:27:19.646 - going to do this? And when he told her what the king was asking, 00:27:20.098 --> 00:27:28.216 - She just laughed and she said, father, go to the king and bring him these seeds of grain and tell the 00:27:28.216 --> 00:27:36.335 - king that if he can plant the seeds, grow them and harvest them by tomorrow, then I will gladly bring 00:27:36.335 --> 00:27:44.612 - him the 10 chicks so that he might feed them the right grain. The king was pleased with Rachel's answer 00:27:44.612 --> 00:27:48.990 - and he decided that it was time that they should meet. 00:27:49.730 --> 00:27:57.856 - and he asked the innkeeper to have her come to the castle. But she should come in three days' time, 00:27:57.856 --> 00:28:06.225 - and she should come neither walking nor riding, and she should come neither dressed nor undressed, and 00:28:06.225 --> 00:28:14.675 - she should come bringing him a gift that is not really a gift. The innkeeper was growing weary of these 00:28:14.675 --> 00:28:17.438 - riddles. They made his head hurt. 00:28:17.602 --> 00:28:26.120 - But he was confident that Rachel would know the answers and know what to do. And indeed she did. She 00:28:26.120 --> 00:28:34.806 - thought just a moment and then she asked her father, would you please bring me a goat and some fishnet 00:28:34.806 --> 00:28:43.324 - and two doves? And the innkeeper did as she asked. And at the appointed time, she wrapped herself in 00:28:43.324 --> 00:28:46.782 - the fishnet and she sat on the goat with 00:28:46.882 --> 00:28:55.022 - one leg dragging on the ground, and she clutched a dove in each hand. And when she arrived at the castle, 00:28:55.022 --> 00:29:02.854 - she greeted the king, and she said, your highness, as you can see, I have come to you neither walking 00:29:02.854 --> 00:29:10.687 - nor riding. And wrapped in this fishnet, I am neither dressed nor undressed. And the king laughed and 00:29:10.687 --> 00:29:14.910 - said, and the gift that is not a gift? Here, she said. 00:29:15.266 --> 00:29:21.950 - And she presented him with the two doves, which promptly flew out the window. That is indeed a gift 00:29:21.950 --> 00:29:28.768 - that is not a gift, the king laughed. And he was pleased to see that Rachel was as pretty and kind as 00:29:28.768 --> 00:29:35.586 - she was clever. And he asked her to marry him. He forgot his pride. He forgot that he was king of all 00:29:35.586 --> 00:29:42.270 - the land, the most cleverest king that ever lived, and that she was simply an innkeeper's daughter. 00:29:44.194 --> 00:29:54.954 - and she agreed to marry him. But then he remembered his pride and he said, excellent, but you must promise 00:29:54.954 --> 00:30:05.009 - never to meddle or disagree with any of my court decisions. Very well, she agreed. And the king and 00:30:05.009 --> 00:30:11.646 - Rachel, they lived happily for many years until there was one day 00:30:11.874 --> 00:30:19.068 - when Rachel noticed a farmer in the courtyard. And he appeared very unhappy. And she went to him and 00:30:19.068 --> 00:30:26.191 - asked him what was wrong. And he told her, well, I came to court on business, and I brought my mare 00:30:26.191 --> 00:30:33.527 - with me. And my mare happened to give birth to a foal under my neighbor's cart. And my neighbor is now 00:30:33.527 --> 00:30:41.790 - claiming that the foal belongs to him. And the king has ruled that, indeed, the foal is now my neighbor's property. 00:30:44.098 --> 00:30:51.776 - Rachel was rather dismayed and somewhat embarrassed by her husband's decision in this matter. And she 00:30:51.776 --> 00:30:59.379 - told the farmer, here's what you should do. Go and get a fishing pole and stand out in the courtyard 00:30:59.379 --> 00:31:06.981 - and pretend to fish. And when the king sees you and asks what you are doing, this is what you should 00:31:06.981 --> 00:31:13.982 - say. But don't tell him or anyone who told you to do this or say what I'm about to tell you. 00:31:15.842 --> 00:31:22.359 - Well, the farmer did, as Rachel suggested. He got a fishing pole and he stood out in the courtyard beneath 00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:28.633 - the king's window, and before long, the king looked out his window and saw the man standing there, and 00:31:28.633 --> 00:31:35.028 - he called to him, hey, what are you doing? Are you daft? How do you expect to catch a fish in the middle 00:31:35.028 --> 00:31:41.180 - of a dusty road? And the farmer just looked at him and said, why, your highness, I am just as likely 00:31:41.180 --> 00:31:44.286 - to catch a fish in the middle of a dusty road as a 00:31:44.418 --> 00:31:53.355 - Wagon is to give birth to a foal. The king realized the injustice of his earlier decision. And he also 00:31:53.355 --> 00:32:02.465 - realized that there was only one person who was clever enough to come up with that retort. And he called 00:32:02.465 --> 00:32:11.314 - Rachel to him, furious. You have broken your promise to me. You have meddled in my judgments. And you 00:32:11.314 --> 00:32:13.310 - must leave the palace. 00:32:15.906 --> 00:32:25.081 - He was very angry with her, but his heart broke as he said these things. And yet his pride overpowered 00:32:25.081 --> 00:32:34.166 - his love. You must leave, he repeated. But before you go, you may take with you the one thing that is 00:32:34.166 --> 00:32:43.074 - most dear to you in the castle. Very well, Rachel agreed calmly. But we have lived together happily 00:32:43.074 --> 00:32:44.766 - for so many years. 00:32:44.994 --> 00:32:52.383 - Let us share one last meal together and recall all of the fond and happy times that we have shared and 00:32:52.383 --> 00:32:59.557 - then we may part as friends. The king agreed and he brought out his choicest wines for the meal and 00:32:59.557 --> 00:33:07.161 - Rachel made his favorite dishes and the king ate and ate and drank and ate and drank and drank and before 00:33:07.161 --> 00:33:14.622 - long he had fallen asleep at the table. And without waking him, Rachel called some of the servants over 00:33:14.818 --> 00:33:22.246 - And she wrapped the king in a blanket. And with the servants, she carried him out into the night to 00:33:22.246 --> 00:33:29.822 - the garden by her father's inn. And the next morning, the king awoke to the sounds of birds chirping. 00:33:29.822 --> 00:33:37.473 - And he found Rachel beside him. And he found that he had a throbbing headache. But he looked at Rachel 00:33:37.473 --> 00:33:44.158 - and he asked, what am I doing here? And she looked at him and said, I'm only doing as you 00:33:44.290 --> 00:33:53.345 - advised. You said that I might take with me from the castle the one thing that is most dear to me and 00:33:53.345 --> 00:34:02.489 - that my love is you. And the king looked into her eyes and he forgot his pride this time forever. Will 00:34:02.489 --> 00:34:11.545 - you forgive me and return home with me? He asked Rachel. Of course, she said. And will you perhaps on 00:34:11.545 --> 00:34:13.054 - occasion discuss 00:34:13.378 --> 00:34:21.000 - your cases at court with me?" Yes, he agreed. And from that time on, whenever he was presented with 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:28.621 - a particularly challenging case, he would pause a moment and say, hmm, perhaps we should consult my 00:34:28.621 --> 00:34:33.118 - wife on this matter. You know, she is a very clever woman. 00:34:43.778 --> 00:34:50.071 - I think we have a theme going here of cleverness. I love to hear stories about clever people because 00:34:50.071 --> 00:34:56.488 - my mind doesn't work that fast. I only think of these clever things like three days later lying in bed 00:34:56.488 --> 00:35:02.718 - sleepless at night and then I say, oh, I could have done that and it would have been clever. But do 00:35:02.718 --> 00:35:09.011 - I think of it like these story people do? If you are looking at your paper, you'll notice that Daria 00:35:09.011 --> 00:35:10.942 - is next and Daria is not here. 00:35:12.674 --> 00:35:23.041 - After I destroy the equipment here, I'm going to tell her story. I don't need that, do I? My name's 00:35:23.041 --> 00:35:33.408 - Jenny Ritchie. The story that Daria was going to tell and that I am going to tell comes from Syria, 00:35:33.408 --> 00:35:41.598 - and it is another clever woman. Some of us are born with a lot, and some of us 00:35:42.562 --> 00:35:50.496 - born with not so much. And it doesn't seem to matter how clever you are or how un-clever you are as 00:35:50.496 --> 00:35:58.510 - to which your circumstances are. Does that make sense? There was a very clever woman who was born in 00:35:58.510 --> 00:36:06.603 - a poor village with not much at all. And despite her cleverness, which enabled her to survive, it did 00:36:06.603 --> 00:36:10.174 - not enable her to put aside for her old age. 00:36:10.914 --> 00:36:21.627 - And so she decided that she must go to the city to see what fortunes could be found there. And when 00:36:21.627 --> 00:36:32.982 - she came to the city, she observed that the queen who had huge flocks and herds and gardens and servants, 00:36:32.982 --> 00:36:39.838 - the queen was easily amused by fortune tellers and by traveling 00:36:40.034 --> 00:36:52.657 - jugglers and not so much by study or intellectual pursuits. So the clever woman went to the queen and 00:36:52.657 --> 00:37:05.156 - said, your majesty, I have a secret. Oh, you do? Yes, I can teach turkeys to talk in seven different 00:37:05.156 --> 00:37:08.126 - languages. Oh, you can? 00:37:09.090 --> 00:37:16.511 - It is a secret. You could teach my turkeys to talk? Yes, ma'am, in seven different languages. But it 00:37:16.511 --> 00:37:24.079 - takes a while. It takes quite a few weeks to teach turkeys to talk even one language. And it will take 00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:31.427 - seven weeks to teach them to talk seven languages. And of course, during that time, Your Majesty, I 00:37:31.427 --> 00:37:36.350 - must focus on those turkeys. You could teach my turkeys to talk in 00:37:36.514 --> 00:37:42.865 - Seven weeks in seven languages? I could have a party. I could have everyone come from the ambassadors 00:37:42.865 --> 00:37:49.155 - from other nations. We could be out in the garden and the turkeys would wander among them talking to 00:37:49.155 --> 00:37:55.382 - them in their own language. What a sensation. When can you start? Well, Your Majesty, you must give 00:37:55.382 --> 00:38:02.107 - me the turkeys and you must give me food and drink and wherewithal for seven weeks of work. Oh, no problem. 00:38:02.107 --> 00:38:04.286 - I'll start planning the party now. 00:38:05.186 --> 00:38:13.470 - And so the clever woman went home with a huge flock of turkeys and a long line of donkeys with provisions. 00:38:13.470 --> 00:38:21.754 - And for seven, well actually for six weeks, she ate and drank and lived well. And the turkeys did whatever 00:38:21.754 --> 00:38:29.497 - turkeys do. And on the sixth week, she went back to the queen. You're back already, said the queen. 00:38:29.497 --> 00:38:34.142 - How are my turkeys? Your majesty, they are doing very well. 00:38:34.594 --> 00:38:42.530 - They have already learned six languages, and they are well started on the seventh. Oh, this is going 00:38:42.530 --> 00:38:51.017 - to be so much fun. I can just can't hardly wait to hear them talking. But, Your Majesty, there's a problem. 00:38:51.017 --> 00:38:59.582 - A problem? What sort of a problem? Your Majesty, the turkeys all say the same thing. Well, what do they say? 00:39:04.930 --> 00:39:17.997 - majesty in seven different languages. The turkeys say, the queen has a lover. Kill the turkeys. And 00:39:17.997 --> 00:39:31.326 - here's a reward for your efforts. And I suggest that you lose the secret of teaching turkeys to talk. 00:39:33.474 --> 00:39:42.590 - suited the clever woman just fine she went back home with the wherewithal to live well on into her old 00:39:42.590 --> 00:39:52.059 - age and with with a huge flock of turkeys which she did kill one at a time one meal at a time she disposed 00:39:52.059 --> 00:39:55.422 - of the turkeys who never talked again 00:40:05.922 --> 00:40:34.046 - over here. My name is Pamela Smith and 00:40:34.242 --> 00:40:43.511 - I get to tell the story tonight that balances out all the cheerful ones. This is a story from the Hebrew 00:40:43.511 --> 00:40:52.779 - Bible about King Ahab, and people often have heard of King Ahab from the Mendelssohn's oratorio, Elijah. 00:40:52.779 --> 00:41:01.342 - Ahab and Elijah, the great dynamic in that oratorio. But there are many more stories about Ahab. 00:41:02.690 --> 00:41:14.410 - The first book of kings says Ahab, the worst king Israel ever had. He married the daughter of King Ishmael 00:41:14.410 --> 00:41:25.582 - of Sidon. Do you remember her name? Jezebel. Jezebel, she was a worshiper of Baal. And Ahab set up in 00:41:25.582 --> 00:41:29.854 - Israel, in his city, an altar to Baal. 00:41:30.978 --> 00:41:41.416 - And as if that weren't enough, one of those shrine grove pole things to the fertility goddess Asherah. 00:41:41.416 --> 00:41:51.651 - Ahab was a pip. But let me tell you how he came to his death. In those days, Israel was divided into 00:41:51.651 --> 00:41:58.238 - two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. And Ahab was the king of Israel. 00:42:00.066 --> 00:42:11.355 - Now for three years, the kingdom of Aram and the kingdom of Israel were without war. But in the third 00:42:11.355 --> 00:42:22.644 - year, Jehoshaphat, who was the king of Judah, came up to visit Ahab, the king of Israel. Ahab said to 00:42:22.644 --> 00:42:25.854 - his officers, do you realize 00:42:25.954 --> 00:42:36.518 - Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and we are doing nothing, nothing to take it out of the hands of the king 00:42:36.518 --> 00:42:47.600 - of Aram. And Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, will you come with me to bring to battle to win back Ramoth Gilead? 00:42:47.600 --> 00:42:55.678 - Jehoshaphat said, I am as ready as you are. My horses are your horses, my men 00:42:55.970 --> 00:43:09.124 - are your men, but Jehoshaphat also said, let us inquire first of the Lord. So Ahab summoned his prophets, 00:43:09.124 --> 00:43:21.657 - 400 of them. And he said to them, shall I go to battle for Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrain? And the 00:43:21.657 --> 00:43:23.518 - prophets said, 00:43:35.618 --> 00:43:46.978 - The Lord will put victory into the hands of the king. Jehoshaphat said, is there perhaps some other 00:43:46.978 --> 00:43:58.566 - prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire? Ahab said there yet remains one more prophet, Micaiah ben 00:43:58.566 --> 00:44:03.678 - Imlah. Micaiah the son of Imlah, I hate him. 00:44:04.834 --> 00:44:15.692 - He never prophesized anything good for me, only disaster. Jehoshaphat said, let not the king say such 00:44:15.692 --> 00:44:26.337 - things. And King Ahab said, bring me Micahiah ben Imla, quickly. Now, Jehoshaphat the king of Judah 00:44:26.337 --> 00:44:32.830 - and Ahab the king of Israel, sitting in their royal thrones, 00:44:33.570 --> 00:44:44.320 - dressed in their royal robes at the threshing floor outside the gates of Samaria. And all the prophets 00:44:44.320 --> 00:44:54.861 - were raving around them. Zedekiah ben Chana'ana had made horns out of iron. And with these, he said, 00:44:54.861 --> 00:45:01.854 - thus says the Lord, with these horns Ahab will gouge the Arameans. 00:45:02.498 --> 00:45:12.878 - And all the prophets were speaking in this wise, march, march and triumph. The Lord will deliver victory 00:45:12.878 --> 00:45:23.357 - into the hands of the king. The officer who had gone to fetch Micahiah said, look at this. All the king's 00:45:23.357 --> 00:45:32.254 - prophets are in one accord. Let your word be like one of them, prophesize something good. 00:45:34.114 --> 00:45:46.780 - But Micahiah said, as the Lord lives, what the Lord gives me to say, I will say. Ahab said to Micahiah 00:45:46.780 --> 00:45:58.462 - ben Imlah, shall I go forth to battle for Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrain? And Micahiah said, 00:46:09.122 --> 00:46:21.811 - Ahab said, how many times must I make you swear to tell me only the truth in the name of the Lord? Micaiah 00:46:21.811 --> 00:46:34.025 - said, I saw the flocks of the people of Israel scattered on the hills like sheep with no shepherd, and 00:46:34.025 --> 00:46:36.990 - I heard a voice cry out, 00:46:38.466 --> 00:46:49.955 - These have no king. Let them go home to their own place. Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, did I not just tell 00:46:49.955 --> 00:47:01.221 - you he never prophesies anything good for me, only disasters? Micaiah said, then listen to this word 00:47:01.221 --> 00:47:06.910 - of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, 00:47:08.034 --> 00:47:18.817 - with all his hosts to his left, to his right, and to his left. And I heard the Lord speak. 00:47:18.817 --> 00:47:30.667 - The Lord said, who will tempt Ahab for me that he may go to Ramoth-Gilead and die? And one said one 00:47:30.667 --> 00:47:38.014 - thing and one said another until a ruach, a breath, a spirit, 00:47:38.882 --> 00:47:51.271 - said, I will do it. The Lord said, how will you do it? And the ruach said, I will go and be a ruach 00:47:51.271 --> 00:48:04.280 - of lies in the mouth of all Ahab's prophets. Oh, the Lord said, you will tempt him and you will succeed. 00:48:04.280 --> 00:48:06.014 - Go and do it. 00:48:07.426 --> 00:48:16.539 - And so you see, Ahab, it is not I who prophesized disaster for you. It is the Lord who has put lies 00:48:16.539 --> 00:48:25.834 - in the mouths of all your prophets." Now, Zedekiah ben Chana'ana came and slapped Micahiah across the 00:48:25.834 --> 00:48:35.038 - face. And he said, just when did the spirit of the Lord leave me and go into you? And Micahiah said, 00:48:38.114 --> 00:48:48.163 - Maybe you will find out on the day when you run home to hide in your privy. Ahab said to an officer, 00:48:48.163 --> 00:48:58.112 - take Micah Iah ben Imla to Amon, the governor of the city, and Joash the king's son, and tell them, 00:48:58.112 --> 00:49:08.062 - put this man in jail and feed him only on bread and water until the king comes home safe and sound. 00:49:09.314 --> 00:49:19.257 - And Micaiah said, if you come home safe and sound, the Lord has not spoken through me. And he called 00:49:19.257 --> 00:49:29.200 - to everyone there, witness this, witness this. So Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and Ahab, the king 00:49:29.200 --> 00:49:36.190 - of Israel, went to battle for Ramoth Gilead. Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, 00:49:37.314 --> 00:49:50.184 - I intend to wear the gear of a common soldier, but you, you, you, Jehoshaphat, wear your robes. So Ahab, 00:49:50.184 --> 00:50:01.950 - the king of Israel, put on the gear of a common soldier and led Israel into battle in disguise. 00:50:04.898 --> 00:50:13.952 - Now the king of Arab said to the captains of his 32 chariots, contend with no one, small or great, save 00:50:13.952 --> 00:50:23.442 - only Ahab, the king of Israel. So when they saw Jehoshaphat, oh, they wheeled to the attack, but Jehoshaphat 00:50:23.442 --> 00:50:32.410 - let out his war cry, and the charioteers, seeing that this was not Ahab, ceased to pursue him. But one 00:50:32.410 --> 00:50:34.238 - archer drew his bow. 00:50:35.298 --> 00:50:49.282 - And by luck, his arrow struck Ahab between the joints of his armor. Turn back, Ahab cried to his charioteer. 00:50:49.282 --> 00:51:01.470 - Turn back, I am wounded. The battle grew fierce that day. They propped Ahab up in his chariot. 00:51:03.298 --> 00:51:12.384 - As though he were confronting the Aramaeans. And there he stood until towards evening he died. And the 00:51:12.384 --> 00:51:21.383 - blood flowed out from his wound and pooled on the floor of his chariot. And at sunset, a cry went out 00:51:21.383 --> 00:51:27.646 - over the battlefield. The king is dead. Let each one go home in peace. 00:51:30.018 --> 00:51:39.105 - So that was how Ahab died. They buried him there at Samaria and they took his armor and his chariot 00:51:39.105 --> 00:51:48.646 - to the pool at the gate of Samaria to be washed. And the city's street dogs came and lapped Ahab's blood 00:51:48.646 --> 00:51:58.005 - off his armor and licked up his blood from the floor of the chariot. And this completed the words that 00:51:58.005 --> 00:51:59.550 - Elijah had said. 00:52:00.418 --> 00:52:12.226 - Ahab, you thief, you murderer. Where the dogs lapped up the blood of Naboth, they will lap up your blood 00:52:12.226 --> 00:52:24.034 - as well. And as for all of Ahab's other great deeds and the cities that he founded and that ivory palace 00:52:24.034 --> 00:52:27.070 - that he built for himself, 00:52:29.442 --> 00:52:38.039 - Are these things not written down in the book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? So Ahab slept with 00:52:38.039 --> 00:52:42.462 - his fathers, and his son Ahaziah ruled in his place. 00:53:05.602 --> 00:53:16.464 - I think we're moving from our clever part of the program to our power struggles because I have for you 00:53:16.464 --> 00:53:27.537 - the second in my short story, sprinklings throughout the program. And it too is a power struggle between 00:53:27.537 --> 00:53:31.966 - two great entities, the wind and the sun. 00:53:32.866 --> 00:53:39.734 - and if they could just keep their arguments to themselves instead of bringing everybody else into it. 00:53:39.734 --> 00:53:45.054 - In this Aesop fable, the wind and the sun were high in the air, up in the sky, 00:53:45.410 --> 00:53:51.523 - when they had yet again another discussion, an argument, a disagreement about which was the most powerful, 00:53:51.523 --> 00:53:57.522 - which of the two entities was the stronger. And back and forth they went, back and forth they went until 00:53:57.522 --> 00:54:03.806 - finally they looked down onto the surface of the earth and there they saw the answer to their power struggle. 00:54:04.098 --> 00:54:10.798 - It was a human, a man, walking along a road. And he was whistling a little tune, his face up against 00:54:10.798 --> 00:54:16.967 - the sun and a little breeze blowing in his hair. And his cloak was billowing out behind him. 00:54:16.967 --> 00:54:23.800 - And the sun said, see that human? Let us each take a turn with our powers. And whichever one of us can 00:54:23.800 --> 00:54:30.699 - make that human take his cloak off first, that will be the strongest of the two. Agreed, said the wind. 00:54:30.699 --> 00:54:32.158 - And the sun said, oh, 00:54:32.450 --> 00:54:38.596 - You can go first. And the sun hid behind a cloud. And of course, the wind, knowing he would win, puffed 00:54:38.596 --> 00:54:44.682 - up and headed out. And he started out soft at first, aiming a slight breeze down at that human walking 00:54:44.682 --> 00:54:50.414 - on the road. And the man turned his face up eagerly to the wind. But then that power started in, 00:54:50.414 --> 00:54:56.501 - in earnest. And it began to blow so hard that the man had to lean forward against the wind to make any 00:54:56.501 --> 00:55:02.174 - progress. And before he knew it, he had to wrap that cloak even tighter around him than before. 00:55:02.594 --> 00:55:05.470 - And so the wind blew out and gave up. 00:55:05.922 --> 00:55:12.110 - Your turn, he said to the sun. And the sun came out from behind the cloud. And he, too, started gentle 00:55:12.110 --> 00:55:18.359 - at first, down on that tiny little human. And the human, he let go of his cloak and let it billow about 00:55:18.359 --> 00:55:24.427 - him as he felt the sun. And then the sun, as we know and remember, right, can really turn it on. And 00:55:24.427 --> 00:55:30.735 - it began to shine down on that little human. And the human began to wipe sweat from his brow. And pretty 00:55:30.735 --> 00:55:35.902 - soon he had to take that cloak off and put it over his arm and carry it as he walked. 00:55:36.130 --> 00:55:45.278 - Said the sun, I am the strongest. I won. And the wind, humble in defeat, blew away. And the moral of 00:55:45.278 --> 00:55:54.516 - this Aesop fable is often said to be kindness or warmth is more effective than severity. Or you could 00:55:54.516 --> 00:56:00.766 - also say to be nice is much better than to be a blowhard. Thank you. 00:56:13.954 --> 00:56:21.306 - This time I have a story and you can take with it what you will, moral or not, it's just a fun story 00:56:21.306 --> 00:56:28.732 - for me to tell and it's called The Pumpkin Child and I'm afraid some of you have heard it before. And 00:56:28.732 --> 00:56:36.230 - this is a story that comes from Persia. Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a man and a woman 00:56:36.230 --> 00:56:43.582 - who lived on the edge of town and they loved each other very much and they had enough of everything. 00:56:44.226 --> 00:56:52.102 - And they were happy enough, except for one thing. The woman wanted a child. And she wanted a child so 00:56:52.102 --> 00:56:59.978 - badly. And all of her friends had children. And she saw the warmth and the love in the homes. And she 00:56:59.978 --> 00:57:07.854 - wanted that for herself and for her home. And finally, she prayed. And she prayed. And she said, even 00:57:07.854 --> 00:57:13.182 - if my child looked like a pumpkin, I would be happy. I want a child. 00:57:14.306 --> 00:57:22.860 - and so she was given a child. That next month, she knew she was pregnant, and she carried the child, 00:57:22.860 --> 00:57:31.330 - and when she birthed the child, came out singing, and they looked in the child's face, and the baby 00:57:31.330 --> 00:57:40.053 - opened her eyes, and her eyes were blue like sapphire, and her lips were red like pomegranate. Oh, she 00:57:40.053 --> 00:57:43.102 - was lovely, and she and her husband 00:57:43.234 --> 00:57:52.262 - doted on this child, and every morning, they would go into the child's room, and they would sing to 00:57:52.262 --> 00:58:01.470 - the child to sing it awake. One morning, the man and the woman went to sing to the child at dawn, and 00:58:01.470 --> 00:58:10.046 - they pulled back the blanket, and instead of a baby, there was a pumpkin. There was a pumpkin. 00:58:12.450 --> 00:58:19.940 - And the man could not believe his eyes. In fact, he almost went blind, and he turned around, and he 00:58:19.940 --> 00:58:27.431 - grabbed a few things, and the woman never saw him again. But she stayed with her pumpkin child, and 00:58:27.431 --> 00:58:35.071 - she picked her up, and she kissed her, and she said, I will never, ever leave you, and I'll always be 00:58:35.071 --> 00:58:41.662 - your mother. And so the woman would go about her day with her pumpkin child on her hip, 00:58:42.338 --> 00:58:47.835 - and she'd take her out into the garden and she'd take her to the market and she would take her wherever 00:58:47.835 --> 00:58:53.121 - she went and she held her head up very high because everyone laughed at her and everyone laughed at 00:58:53.121 --> 00:58:55.870 - her pumpkin child but she didn't pay them any mind. 00:58:56.034 --> 00:59:01.667 - And finally, she loved that child so much that it grew bigger and bigger like children do. And finally, 00:59:01.667 --> 00:59:07.191 - she couldn't carry the child anymore. So the pumpkin child had to roll around the house. So it rolled 00:59:07.191 --> 00:59:12.769 - into the bedroom, and it rolled into the bathroom, and it rolled in the kitchen. It would roll outside 00:59:12.769 --> 00:59:18.185 - to play occasionally, even though the children laughed at her. She didn't care. She would just roll 00:59:18.185 --> 00:59:23.710 - around during their games. Well, finally, the pumpkin child became big enough to go to school. And so 00:59:23.710 --> 00:59:25.822 - the mother said, all right, it's time. 00:59:26.338 --> 00:59:33.466 - And remember, don't listen to anyone. You deserve to be there as much as everyone else." And so the 00:59:33.466 --> 00:59:40.737 - pumpkin child didn't say anything, but rolled down the road. And she rolled into town, and she rolled 00:59:40.737 --> 00:59:48.008 - right up the steps to the school for girls, where she was going to learn how to weave and sew. And so 00:59:48.008 --> 00:59:51.358 - the lady opened the door. There was a pumpkin. 00:59:51.906 --> 00:59:58.760 - Not a word said, she was expecting her. And the pumpkin girl ran in, well, it just rolled inside. And 00:59:58.760 --> 01:00:05.614 - when it was lunchtime, the pumpkin girl rolled out into the courtyard with the other girls where they 01:00:05.614 --> 01:00:12.469 - were all going to have their lunch. Well, it just so happened that at lunchtime, at the stroke of 12, 01:00:12.469 --> 01:00:19.188 - there was someone watching those girls. He made a habit of watching them every day, in fact. It was 01:00:19.188 --> 01:00:20.734 - a rich merchant's son. 01:00:21.154 --> 01:00:27.630 - And he was hot. And he knew it. And he liked to sneak on and spy on these girls just to see what's what. 01:00:27.630 --> 01:00:34.044 - So he would go up to the top of his father's building that overlooked the school for girls and he would 01:00:34.044 --> 01:00:40.397 - spy on these girls. And this particular day he saw a pumpkin rolling into the yard and he thought, how 01:00:40.397 --> 01:00:46.565 - curious. And so he kept watching this pumpkin and it didn't stop with the other girls. It just kept 01:00:46.565 --> 01:00:50.142 - on rolling and rolling until it went to a bush at the far 01:00:50.562 --> 01:00:58.575 - wall of the garden, and went under the bush, and he kept watching it. And then out from the bush came 01:00:58.575 --> 01:01:06.666 - the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, with eyes like sapphires and lips like pomegranates. And the 01:01:06.666 --> 01:01:14.758 - girl scaled the wall that was covered in grapevines, and she ate a lunch of grapes. And when she'd had 01:01:14.758 --> 01:01:20.414 - enough, she scaled back down and out rolled the pumpkin back to school. 01:01:21.474 --> 01:01:27.298 - Well, this guy could not believe his eyes. And he said, surely, this won't happen again. So the next 01:01:27.298 --> 01:01:33.179 - day, he was there at the stroke of 12. There goes the pumpkin. There goes the girl. In go the grapes. 01:01:33.179 --> 01:01:39.176 - Down goes the girl. Back goes the pumpkin. And it happened, and it happened. And finally, he said, I've 01:01:39.176 --> 01:01:44.943 - got to meet this girl. She's beautiful. She's the girl of my dreams. And so he snuck to the wall on 01:01:44.943 --> 01:01:47.422 - the other side of the wall, and he scaled. 01:01:47.970 --> 01:01:55.445 - And he waited because he knew what was going to happen. And so the pumpkin girl scaled up the side of 01:01:55.445 --> 01:02:02.993 - the, wow, up the grapes. And he said, hello. And she said, and she slid down. But he grabbed her hand. 01:02:02.993 --> 01:02:10.394 - But she slipped her hand away. And all that he had was a golden ring that was on her finger. And she 01:02:10.394 --> 01:02:14.718 - went back down. She rolled away in a huff as pumpkins can. 01:02:18.754 --> 01:02:26.211 - And so the boy went in to tell his mother the news. And the mother was very glad to hear this news because 01:02:26.211 --> 01:02:33.319 - the news was her son was finally going to settle down. He was going to stop chasing girls, and he was 01:02:33.319 --> 01:02:39.800 - going to marry at last and give her a grandchild. Oh, she could have wept. She was so happy. 01:02:39.800 --> 01:02:47.326 - And she said, well, tell me who is this girl? Who, who, who, who? And he said, well, I don't know her name. 01:02:48.034 --> 01:02:56.367 - This is her ring. And whoever you can find that fits this ring is the girl that I'm going to marry. 01:02:56.367 --> 01:03:05.116 - Okay. So the mother thought about it. Okay. All right. Fine. It was kind of a mystery. And so she called 01:03:05.116 --> 01:03:14.366 - in her servant, Nana, who was her servant for many years. And she said, Nana, go to each woman's house and see 01:03:14.498 --> 01:03:20.304 - Which girl fits this ring so that my son can get married and our dreams can come true? And Nana agreed. 01:03:20.304 --> 01:03:26.109 - And so she went from house to house. And soon, word traveled fast. And so girls would starve themselves 01:03:26.109 --> 01:03:32.250 - so their finger would fit into the ring, or they'd eat a lot of butter and fat so they would plump themselves 01:03:32.250 --> 01:03:37.888 - up and to fit into the ring. But nothing they did seemed to work. And so Nana would go from house to 01:03:37.888 --> 01:03:43.582 - house and failure, failure, failure, failure until she got to the edge of town where the woman lived. 01:03:44.610 --> 01:03:52.366 - And she knocked on the door, and the pumpkin child's mother answered the door. And she said, hello, 01:03:52.366 --> 01:04:00.432 - do you have a young lady here at this house? And the mother, who was so tired of being laughed at about 01:04:00.432 --> 01:04:08.187 - her girl, said, please stop torturing me. You know that I have a pumpkin child. Well, this I've got 01:04:08.187 --> 01:04:13.694 - to see, said Nana. May I see her? Fine. And so the mother let Nana in. 01:04:14.274 --> 01:04:21.121 - and enrolled the pumpkin child. And Nana said, wow. Wow. And the mother said, there. There she is. There's 01:04:21.121 --> 01:04:27.520 - my pumpkin child. Now what is your business? And so Nana said, well, I have this ring. And well, my 01:04:27.520 --> 01:04:34.175 - master said that whoever fits into this ring is his bride. And so I'm going around from house to house. 01:04:34.175 --> 01:04:40.638 - And before she could say another word, a hand slipped from out of the pumpkin, grabbed the ring, and 01:04:40.638 --> 01:04:43.710 - put it on, and went back down into the pumpkin. 01:04:46.210 --> 01:04:53.123 - And Nana could not believe that either. And so she spun around. She didn't have another word to say. 01:04:53.123 --> 01:05:00.105 - And she flew back to her master's house and told the mother everything. Well, the son came in hearing 01:05:00.105 --> 01:05:07.018 - the hullabaloo. And he said, be quiet. This is the one I've been waiting for. This will be my bride. 01:05:07.018 --> 01:05:14.068 - And Nana said, but it's a pumpkin. How are you going to have babies with a pumpkin? Never mind. I gave 01:05:14.068 --> 01:05:16.190 - my word. It's going to happen. 01:05:17.186 --> 01:05:25.724 - And so the boy married the pumpkin, and everyone laughed as they went down the aisle. And everyone laughed 01:05:25.724 --> 01:05:33.943 - when he said, I do, and the pumpkin just stood still. And everyone laughed when he kissed that pumpkin 01:05:33.943 --> 01:05:42.482 - right on the stem. And everyone laughed when they moved far away into the country, into their own mansion, 01:05:42.482 --> 01:05:43.998 - and lived happily. 01:05:46.146 --> 01:05:57.606 - But no one laughed the day that the girl appeared in bed that night, some night after many months of 01:05:57.606 --> 01:06:09.065 - happy marriage. And the boy looked into his wife's eyes that were blue like sapphires, and he looked 01:06:09.065 --> 01:06:15.646 - at her lips that were rich like pomegranate, and he said, 01:06:16.802 --> 01:06:25.019 - Why tonight? And she said, because I know that you love me. You love me even though I was a pumpkin. 01:06:25.019 --> 01:06:33.642 - And so they lived out their days very happy with lots and lots of kids, but they always kept that pumpkin 01:06:33.642 --> 01:06:41.940 - shell there in their room to remind them of the time when he loved her even though she was a pumpkin. 01:06:41.940 --> 01:06:45.438 - And that's the story of the pumpkin child. 01:07:04.162 --> 01:07:11.508 - My name is Mary Frazier, and I am here tonight with a story for you from Japan. It was first written 01:07:11.508 --> 01:07:18.999 - down by Lafcadio Hearn, and it's been adapted many times. We have some lovely picture book adaptations 01:07:18.999 --> 01:07:26.563 - of this story that you can come back and see another day. As I reflected on this story, I couldn't help 01:07:26.563 --> 01:07:32.382 - but think about the importance of rice in Japan. Indeed, two of the most famous 01:07:32.514 --> 01:07:43.585 - Japanese words that any of us in this room might know. Can you think what those two most famous Japanese 01:07:43.585 --> 01:07:54.340 - words most well known in America might be? Maybe. How about Toyota? How about Honda? Both those names 01:07:54.340 --> 01:07:58.558 - happen to refer to fertile rice fields. 01:07:58.658 --> 01:08:06.554 - or plentiful, bountiful rice fields. They are family names for those corporations, but they do refer 01:08:06.554 --> 01:08:14.528 - to the bounty of the rice field, which for many Japanese peasants was all of their wealth, everything 01:08:14.528 --> 01:08:22.737 - that they had. And so I have a story for you about a little village down by the sea. There were 90 homes 01:08:22.737 --> 01:08:24.222 - there, 400 people. 01:08:24.514 --> 01:08:30.639 - And when the weather was good, the children would play in the bay. There was a large bay, and the water 01:08:30.639 --> 01:08:36.883 - was gentle there. And the children would play and laugh and run in the waves. But when there was a storm, 01:08:36.883 --> 01:08:42.831 - the water would sometimes come up the shore as far as their houses. And the children, and indeed the 01:08:42.831 --> 01:08:49.016 - men and women, everyone would run into their homes and shut the doors and wait for the storm to subside. 01:08:49.016 --> 01:08:53.374 - Now behind this small village was a tall mountain and a road zigzagged up 01:08:53.506 --> 01:08:59.782 - the side of this mountain. And there were ancient patties where people over time had carved out flat 01:08:59.782 --> 01:09:06.120 - places in the sides of the mountain so that they could raise rice there. And the people toiled in the 01:09:06.120 --> 01:09:12.334 - rice fields all through the year. They would be there in the spring as the rain pelted their backs. 01:09:12.334 --> 01:09:18.672 - They would toil up those roads in the summer out to their fields to work. And then when the grain was 01:09:18.672 --> 01:09:21.406 - golden, they would go and harvest the rice. 01:09:22.146 --> 01:09:30.506 - Now at the very top of the mountain there lived a very old, very wise man named Oji-san, which means 01:09:30.506 --> 01:09:38.949 - grandfather in Japanese. And he lived there in this lovely house with his little grandson, whose name 01:09:38.949 --> 01:09:46.398 - was Tada, and they lived there very happily. Now, one day it was very hot and very still. 01:09:46.594 --> 01:09:52.993 - And it was at the time when the rice was about to be harvested. So Ojisan and Tato were standing on 01:09:52.993 --> 01:09:59.584 - the balcony of their house looking at their vast fields of rice. Ah, such wealth they saw there before 01:09:59.584 --> 01:10:05.983 - them. They had worked so hard tending this rice all year. And they could see that they would have a 01:10:05.983 --> 01:10:12.638 - bounteous harvest that would last them all through the year to come. They would have plenty to eat this 01:10:12.638 --> 01:10:13.918 - year. And as Ojisan 01:10:14.082 --> 01:10:20.762 - stood there looking at his field, his eye followed on down the zigzag road and down the other flat fields 01:10:20.762 --> 01:10:27.128 - of the farmers below, kind of like golden stairs making their way down the side of the mountain. And 01:10:27.128 --> 01:10:33.619 - he and his grandson looked down there together and they could see far down in the village, so far away 01:10:33.619 --> 01:10:40.237 - that people were like ants. They could see that they were planning a festival there. There were lanterns 01:10:40.237 --> 01:10:41.182 - and there were 01:10:41.314 --> 01:10:48.342 - Flags hung, just hanging limply though because the air was so still and so hot, but they could tell 01:10:48.342 --> 01:10:55.650 - that people were preparing to have a ceremonial dance in the courtyard of the temple there to celebrate 01:10:55.650 --> 01:11:03.099 - the harvest. Ojisan looked up at the sky and he looked about him and he said, this is earthquake weather. 01:11:03.099 --> 01:11:05.278 - And indeed an earthquake came. 01:11:05.378 --> 01:11:12.180 - Not very long after that, but Tata was not afraid. It was not a particularly strong earthquake, and 01:11:12.180 --> 01:11:19.050 - earthquakes happened all the time in Japan. But this one was a little strange, because it went on so 01:11:19.050 --> 01:11:26.056 - long, and it shook so low, almost in a spongy way, as if something odd were happening out in the ocean 01:11:26.056 --> 01:11:32.994 - far beyond the bay where their village was. And the house shook for a while. But then it stopped, and 01:11:32.994 --> 01:11:34.014 - all was quiet. 01:11:34.498 --> 01:11:42.038 - and they stood there looking down and appreciating the day. But then Oji-san's sharp eye looked down 01:11:42.038 --> 01:11:49.653 - at the edge of the water and he could see that the water was rushing away there from the shore and it 01:11:49.653 --> 01:11:57.119 - kept moving out further and further and further out into the bay and it was leaving behind wet sand 01:11:57.119 --> 01:12:01.150 - there and there were rocks festooned with seaweed and 01:12:01.282 --> 01:12:06.888 - Though he couldn't see it, he was sure there were fish flopping there and crabs scuttling away. And 01:12:06.888 --> 01:12:12.662 - he could see people from the village hurrying down there to the shoreline to look and see. It was such 01:12:12.662 --> 01:12:18.492 - an odd thing. They had never seen such a thing. And they were even venturing out into the oddly rippled 01:12:18.492 --> 01:12:24.098 - sand that had been exposed as the water continued to rush out further and further toward the ocean. 01:12:24.098 --> 01:12:27.742 - And it was plain that the people didn't know what was happening. 01:12:28.578 --> 01:12:34.822 - But Ojisan knew such a thing had never happened in his life. But his grandfather had told him about 01:12:34.822 --> 01:12:41.066 - such a thing. And he knew that there was great danger. There was no time to send a message down the 01:12:41.066 --> 01:12:47.435 - zigzag road of the mountain. There was no time to tell the priest to hit their temple bells, to sound 01:12:47.435 --> 01:12:54.366 - the bells, the warning sound. There was no time to stand and think. Ojisan had to act. And so he said to Tata, 01:12:54.466 --> 01:13:00.361 - Run and fetch me a torch." And the little boy was very obedient. He loved his grandfather, and he did 01:13:00.361 --> 01:13:06.197 - always exactly what the old man said. And so he hurried into the house, and he got a pine torch, and 01:13:06.197 --> 01:13:12.034 - he kindled it there, and he brought it to the old man. And instantly, Ojisan walked up to a stack of 01:13:12.034 --> 01:13:16.542 - his rice stalks, and he plunged the burning torch into it, lighting the rice. 01:13:17.058 --> 01:13:23.667 - kindled instantly just like dry tinder and it began to burn and then sparks flew and began to ignite 01:13:23.667 --> 01:13:28.574 - other rice stalks nearby and soon it was all alight and burning at a great 01:13:28.866 --> 01:13:35.562 - A cloud of smoke went up into the air, a column rising up into the still air. And Ojisan just walked 01:13:35.562 --> 01:13:42.390 - along, continuing to ignite all of the piles of his stalks of rice. And little Tata ran behind him and 01:13:42.390 --> 01:13:49.153 - he said, Ojisan, why? Why, Ojisan, why, why? Stop, stop. He was terrified. He thought his grandfather 01:13:49.153 --> 01:13:56.114 - had lost his mind. But Ojisan didn't have time to stop and explain. All he could think of were 400 lives 01:13:56.114 --> 01:13:58.832 - in danger below. And so he strode along. 01:13:58.832 --> 01:14:05.017 - lighting all of his rice, his whole past year, his whole future, all of his wealth he was burning. And 01:14:05.017 --> 01:14:11.142 - then he looked down and he saw that the monks had looked up and they had noticed it and they began to 01:14:11.142 --> 01:14:17.447 - pound the bell there to send the warning sounds and all the people came up from the shore and they began 01:14:17.447 --> 01:14:23.572 - to hurry up that long road and they ran up. And Oji-san, when he had finished firing all the rice, he 01:14:23.572 --> 01:14:25.854 - just threw the torch down and waited. 01:14:27.042 --> 01:14:33.122 - And he didn't have long to wait at all, because the fastest people had come up the mountain with pads 01:14:33.122 --> 01:14:39.083 - they were going to try to beat out the flames. And the old man held up his arms, and he said, stop. 01:14:39.083 --> 01:14:45.163 - Let it be. Let it burn. I want all the people to come. There is great danger. And soon the people did 01:14:45.163 --> 01:14:51.244 - come, the men and boys and the women and girls who were the fastest runners, and then the young women 01:14:51.244 --> 01:14:55.774 - with babies on their backs. And then the elderly began to toil their way up 01:14:55.906 --> 01:15:04.695 - the zigzag road of the mountain. And then poor little Tata began to cry, and he said, I'm afraid my 01:15:04.695 --> 01:15:13.484 - grandfather has lost his mind. He set fire to the rice himself. He burned our rice. And the old men 01:15:13.484 --> 01:15:18.494 - looked at Ojisan and the young men, and they said, what? 01:15:18.626 --> 01:15:24.722 - What does this mean? What can it mean? And Ojisan said, is everyone here? Yes, it is true. 01:15:24.722 --> 01:15:31.623 - I burned the rice. Is everyone here? And the men said, yes, everyone is here. We have all come to save 01:15:31.623 --> 01:15:38.590 - your fields, you old fool. Have you lost your mind? Have you gone mad? Are you going to burn our fields 01:15:38.590 --> 01:15:45.423 - as well? And they raised their fists in anger to threaten him. But Ojisan just pointed out to the sea 01:15:45.423 --> 01:15:47.902 - and said, look. And everyone turned. 01:15:48.130 --> 01:15:56.426 - and looked and it was so far and so distant, there was no water as far as the eye could see, but there 01:15:56.426 --> 01:16:04.722 - seemed to be a strip of land where no land could possibly be, had never been, could never be. And then 01:16:04.722 --> 01:16:11.326 - that strip of land seemed to grow wider and thicker and darker and it came closer 01:16:12.098 --> 01:16:19.733 - and closer and then it appeared to be a great cliff of water and it was moving toward the people faster 01:16:19.733 --> 01:16:27.589 - than a kite can fly and suddenly everyone understood and the people shrieked Tsunami! And then all ability 01:16:27.589 --> 01:16:35.004 - to make sound, to hear sound was gone as a thunder clap seemed to hit as the water rushed up and hit 01:16:35.004 --> 01:16:41.758 - the shore and then there was a great burst of foam like lightning and then there was just a 01:16:41.922 --> 01:16:48.741 - as it made its way, spray coming up the side of the mountain. The people turned and scattered and ran 01:16:48.741 --> 01:16:55.694 - in fear. And after a minute they came back and they looked down and they saw the foamy white sea raging 01:16:55.694 --> 01:17:02.446 - over the shoreline, raging over the place where their village had been just moments before. And they 01:17:02.446 --> 01:17:09.132 - watched in amazement as that water clawed out great gouges of sand as it made its way back into the 01:17:09.132 --> 01:17:11.806 - bay. And then it came and struck again. 01:17:13.058 --> 01:17:23.257 - ebbed away and struck and ebbed and struck and ebbed, but each time with less strength until finally 01:17:23.257 --> 01:17:33.556 - it stopped in its ancient bed where it had always been, although it raged as if it were a typhoon. No 01:17:33.556 --> 01:17:42.846 - one said a word, just silence. They all looked down at the shore where their homes had been 01:17:44.194 --> 01:17:54.194 - There was nothing left. There was no village, just some bamboo poles and bits of thatch along the shore. 01:17:54.194 --> 01:18:03.908 - And then little Todd, I came up and he took his grandfather's hand in his and he said, oh, Jisan, now 01:18:03.908 --> 01:18:08.670 - I understand. Now I know why you burned the rice. 01:18:11.170 --> 01:18:19.672 - on everyone, the men all knelt, and then everyone else knelt down to give thanks to Ojisan. And they 01:18:19.672 --> 01:18:28.174 - looked up at their neighbors, faced their wise old neighbor. They had always come to him for advice, 01:18:28.174 --> 01:18:37.013 - and they looked at him now and saw he was as poor as the poorest among them. All of his wealth was gone. 01:18:37.013 --> 01:18:39.454 - But he had saved 400 people. 01:18:42.178 --> 01:18:49.895 - The old man stood tall and he said, my house is still standing. Come, there is room for many. And the 01:18:49.895 --> 01:18:57.839 - people never forgot what they owed to Ojisan. They couldn't make him wealthy again, but they did rebuild 01:18:57.839 --> 01:19:05.556 - their village. And when they built the temple, they put his name in gold over the temple door so that 01:19:05.556 --> 01:19:11.230 - no one would ever forget the sacrifice of the old man who saved the people 01:19:11.714 --> 01:19:32.073 - when he burned his rice. And that story is called The Wave. Thank you. We need a moment of silence after 01:19:32.073 --> 01:19:40.798 - that one. Wow. So we are skipping the story. 01:19:41.154 --> 01:19:49.665 - For time's sake, that is the hound story. And so move down your program to voodoo. And this is the third 01:19:49.665 --> 01:19:57.771 - of my short story offerings tonight. And so it is also one of my favorite of the three. It's short, 01:19:57.771 --> 01:19:59.230 - but not so sweet. 01:20:01.026 --> 01:20:06.872 - Mrs. Decker had just come back from a two-week vacation at Haiti. She needed a cooling off period from 01:20:06.872 --> 01:20:12.831 - her husband because before she'd left for her vacation, they had been at each other's throats, a divorce 01:20:12.831 --> 01:20:18.676 - imminent. But would it work? Would a little time off help? No. She had not even unpacked her suitcase, 01:20:18.676 --> 01:20:24.351 - and they were at it again, arguing back and forth. Finally, she just threw her suitcase down on the 01:20:24.351 --> 01:20:30.083 - bed, and she said, half. I want half of everything, half of all the money, half of all the property. 01:20:30.083 --> 01:20:30.878 - I deserve it. 01:20:31.522 --> 01:20:38.720 - And he said, ridiculous. Oh, you think so, is it? You know I could have it all easily. I learned voodoo 01:20:38.720 --> 01:20:45.779 - in Haiti, and I could have it all, and you'd have nothing. And he said, rot. Oh, you don't understand 01:20:45.779 --> 01:20:52.907 - the art of voodoo, do you? I've learned it, and did you know that I could kill you with this art form? 01:20:52.907 --> 01:21:00.382 - And no one would even know. They would think it was a heart attack, and you'd be gone, and I'd have it all. 01:21:03.106 --> 01:21:10.148 - Nonsense. All right, then. If you don't believe it, just give me a little bit of your fingernail, a 01:21:10.148 --> 01:21:17.261 - little bit of your hair, perhaps. And I have the wax figure. I have the hat pin. This is the deal. I 01:21:17.261 --> 01:21:24.444 - will perform the voodoo on you. If you live, I promise not to ask for anything in the divorce. You'll 01:21:24.444 --> 01:21:31.979 - have it all. But if you die, I have it all, don't I? What do you think? And he said, deal. And so, looking 01:21:31.979 --> 01:21:32.894 - at his short 01:21:33.058 --> 01:21:38.627 - freshly clipped nails, he headed into the bathroom to clip a few pieces of hair from his head. When 01:21:38.627 --> 01:21:44.196 - he came back into the room, hair in the palm of his hand, he looked at her, she was warming the wax 01:21:44.196 --> 01:21:49.988 - effigy, working it this way and that. She plucked the hairs from his hand and started pushing them into 01:21:49.988 --> 01:21:55.780 - the warm wax until she had it just where she wanted. She placed the wax figure right there on the table 01:21:55.780 --> 01:22:01.405 - and then she took a ridiculously long, sharp hat pin and she poised above the figure and she said to 01:22:01.405 --> 01:22:02.686 - her husband, she said, 01:22:02.818 --> 01:22:11.630 - You are going to be so very, very sorry." And then she plunged down right where the heart would be. 01:22:11.630 --> 01:22:20.619 - Well, Mr. Dexter was more surprised than sorry. He didn't really believe in voodoo, but he was a very 01:22:20.619 --> 01:22:28.638 - cautious man. And besides, it had always bothered him how she never cleaned her hairbrush. 01:22:32.226 --> 01:22:57.246 - Does anybody need some help with that? Was it his hair? Oh dear. We're on the last three tonight in 01:22:57.246 --> 01:22:59.998 - our little 01:23:01.090 --> 01:23:09.406 - We'll section on Haiti. The last story that I have to tell you is a Haitian folk story. And I tell it 01:23:09.406 --> 01:23:17.884 - because, as I was listening to NPR, the news, it talked about how the people in Haiti, although they've 01:23:17.884 --> 01:23:26.281 - had a nightmarish, horrible experience, have started to come into the streets. And when they come into 01:23:26.281 --> 01:23:29.950 - the streets together, they sing, they dance. 01:23:30.914 --> 01:23:44.586 - They tell stories, and then sometimes they cry. And so this is a story of joy, of silliness. It is a 01:23:44.586 --> 01:23:58.393 - trickster tale from Haiti. Now, the king of Haiti loved dancing. And he would have dancers come every 01:23:58.393 --> 01:24:00.830 - night and perform 01:24:03.522 --> 01:24:13.825 - that he didn't have enough money in the treasury to pay them. So he couldn't have dancing every night. 01:24:13.825 --> 01:24:23.828 - Well, one evening, he was sitting in his garden, and maybe some of you have done this, and a little 01:24:23.828 --> 01:24:30.430 - line kind of went through his mind. Kokikiro, kokikiro, la la la. 01:24:32.834 --> 01:24:55.455 - I like that, he said. I think I can do a dance with that. And he began to dance. Koki Kiro Mastamba. 01:24:55.455 --> 01:24:59.934 - Koki Kiro Mastamba. 01:25:03.298 --> 01:25:24.574 - dance like this. I can dance like this. Kokikiro Musamba. Kokikiro Musamba. Samba dance. Samba dance. Samba 01:25:37.026 --> 01:25:50.230 - got to thinking some more. So the next day, he let it be known that anyone who could figure out the 01:25:50.230 --> 01:26:03.961 - Kokikiro dance, that that person he would give 5,000 gordis. And that was a lot of money. Well, it went 01:26:03.961 --> 01:26:06.206 - out to everyone. 01:26:06.370 --> 01:26:17.608 - And they began to line up. They were all, all dancers. Everybody in Haiti dances. And some were better 01:26:17.608 --> 01:26:28.519 - than others. But they lined up. And one by one, they tried to figure out the steps of the Kokikiro. 01:26:28.519 --> 01:26:34.302 - And he, the king, saw wonderful dancing. But nobody. 01:26:35.490 --> 01:26:45.347 - Nobody could figure out those steps to the Kokikiro. Well, time went on. Every night he had wonderful 01:26:45.347 --> 01:26:55.108 - dancing, and every once in a while somebody would get really close to figuring out the Kokikiro. But 01:26:55.108 --> 01:27:03.806 - even if they got the very beginning of it, or sometimes even if they got the second part, 01:27:05.794 --> 01:27:16.110 - I could never figure out the third part of it. And so months went by. The king loved this. But every 01:27:16.110 --> 01:27:26.427 - night, after all the dancers had gone away, and after all the servants were gone, he would dance the 01:27:26.427 --> 01:27:32.862 - coquiquiro. And he would dance like this. Coquiquiro. Masamba. 01:27:38.850 --> 01:27:59.427 - And I can dance like this. Samba dance. Samba dance. Samba dance. Samba dance. Ha ha! Nobody saw me. 01:27:59.427 --> 01:28:06.558 - But one night, the gardener, Mali, 01:28:08.194 --> 01:28:22.201 - had come back to the palace to get his hat. He needed it. And he heard the Koki Kiro dance. He looked 01:28:22.201 --> 01:28:35.934 - in, and there was the king. And Mali thought, I will watch very carefully, and I will get the 5,000 01:28:38.562 --> 01:28:50.306 - And he watched, and he memorized, and quietly he went away. Well, the next morning, Mali's talked to 01:28:50.306 --> 01:29:02.284 - his wife and Madame Mali's and told her what he had seen. And he had a plan. And the plan involved his 01:29:02.284 --> 01:29:04.958 - friend Boki. Now Boki, 01:29:08.578 --> 01:29:21.589 - was not very bright, and Boki was not very graceful. But Mali thought he was the perfect one to teach 01:29:21.589 --> 01:29:34.854 - the Koki-Oki. And so he approached his friend and said, Boki, I am going to do something great for you. 01:29:34.854 --> 01:29:37.278 - Oh, oh, said Boki. 01:29:38.658 --> 01:29:47.276 - He knew that Molly's was a trickster and every time he went to do something great for him, well, it 01:29:47.276 --> 01:29:56.325 - was better before he did something great for you. Ah, let's just leave it alone. Oh, but Boki, how would 01:29:56.325 --> 01:30:05.029 - you like to win 5,000 Gordons? I have seen the king. I can't do the dance myself, the okey okey, but 01:30:05.029 --> 01:30:06.494 - you could do it. 01:30:07.490 --> 01:30:17.732 - King would suspect me, but I will teach it to you. And so he did the steps of the Koki-Oki. 01:30:17.732 --> 01:30:29.086 - And Boki said, all right, I will try. Koki, Koki-O, huh? We'll work a little bit every night on this, 01:30:29.086 --> 01:30:36.990 - said Mali's, and then you can do it. So they worked on it every night. 01:30:38.626 --> 01:30:48.001 - Two months later, Boki and Mali's were waiting in line with the dancers. People were still coming in 01:30:48.001 --> 01:30:57.561 - and dancing for the king, trying to figure out this, the Koyoke. And still no one had come up with it. 01:30:57.561 --> 01:31:07.678 - Well, Mali's did not go in with Boki. He sent him in, and here came Boki. And the king could not believe it. 01:31:08.802 --> 01:31:21.022 - For Bokey, this slow-moving big fellow, did the coquioque. It wasn't pretty. 01:31:38.626 --> 01:31:55.589 - was the Kokioka. The king was flabbergasted. The king was amazed. The king was stunned. But he handed 01:31:55.589 --> 01:32:07.230 - over the 5,000 Gordes. And Boki, thank you very much. And off he ran. 01:32:09.026 --> 01:32:19.598 - with the sack and he met up with melees and they started talking about how Boke could feed his many 01:32:19.598 --> 01:32:30.594 - little bokies that he had at home. But Mollies, he had a lot of little Mollies at home too. And so they 01:32:30.594 --> 01:32:38.206 - were running through the forest when suddenly Mollies stopped. He said, 01:32:39.778 --> 01:32:54.721 - I have another dance that I could teach you. Another dance? I'm very good at dancing," said Boke. Well, 01:32:54.721 --> 01:33:03.486 - Mali said, it goes like this. If you have no sense, set your 01:33:14.274 --> 01:33:28.062 - that's easy said bulky and so he started to dance if you've got no sense I'll put your 01:34:08.482 --> 01:34:22.915 - Because as he had danced, Madame Malley's had come out from behind the breadfruit tree and sneaked off 01:34:22.915 --> 01:34:35.806 - with his sack. My sack, my sack is gone, said Bokey. And Malley said, did you put your sack 01:34:36.322 --> 01:34:50.688 - On the ground? I warned you about that. And off ran Malise. And Boki was not left holding the sack. 01:34:50.688 --> 01:35:05.342 - And that is a story from Haiti, a trickster story, about that trickster Malise and his sidekick Boki. 01:35:06.210 --> 01:35:13.182 - Thank you all for coming tonight. Please stay with us for some refreshments that will be right