- Good evening. Thank you. Hello. Welcome. My name is Sarah Bowman and I work here at the Monroe County
- Public Library. I would just like to welcome everybody to this evening's winter telling event. A few
- things I would like to say first. First of all if you have a cell phone if you could put it on silent
- mute off whatever works best so it doesn't interrupt a storyteller in the middle of a story.
- A few other things I would like to say.
- Before we get going this evening is I would like to thank the Friends of the Library. They make programming
- at the library for all ages possible. So we would really like to thank them. There's a table on your
- way outside with some information if you're interested in becoming a member of the Friends of the Library.
- I'd like to thank CATS for videotaping this evening's program. You can see this program on the Library
- Channel 3. You can check their schedule at CATSTV.net.
- Lastly, I would like to thank the Bloomington Storytellers Guild for being tonight's entertainment.
- Patti Callison from the Bloomington Storytellers Guild is here this evening, and she's gonna go ahead
- and introduce you to the program. And I would like to, again, welcome you and remind you that after
- the stories are over, up on stage, we'll be having some refreshments and coffee, well, cookies and milk.
- Isn't that perfect? So I'd like to invite everybody to stay after the stories are over and get a chance
- to chat with the storytellers. And again, thank you. Patty Carlson. You are tall.
- Well, we're really thrilled that you all came out tonight for the Wintertelling. The Bloomington Storytellers
- Guild, which has been around in Bloomington, and we're all getting so old we can't remember. But we
- were thinking about 74 was the year that the guild sort of started up. And we are a loose group. Well,
- wait a minute. Let me put that another way.
- We're a tight-knit group of storytellers who have a devotion to the art of storytelling and love to
- present that to you and tonight you're going to hear a number of stories. Because of our literary background,
- so many of us have a literature background,
- We tend to tell a lot of folk tales. We also have some personal stories that occasionally get told.
- But as people were coming tonight, coming together with their stories, it looked like you were going
- to see a vast, varied group of all kinds of myths and legends and folk tales from around the world.
- These stories are ones that, since many of us have a literature background, we have found in folklore
- books that you can check out from the Monroe County Public Library sometime and take a look at those.
- But we basically carry those stories around in our heads. And that's sometimes a dangerous place to
- be. So welcome tonight.
- And again, we want to thank the friends of the library and the two ladies who are sitting outside. We'll
- be glad to make you a friend of the library if you would like to become a friend. But most of all, thank
- you for coming out on this winter night. Thank you for coming to Wintertelling. And we hope you enjoy
- it. Thank you.
- Good evening. Thank you for coming out on this cold, blustery night. It was so wonderful to see all
- of your faces here to join us tonight for our winter telling. As Patty said, it's true as a storyteller,
- sometimes when you read stories, they just kind of roll around in your head. And the one that I'm going
- to be sharing tonight is such a roller.
- I checked out the Mammoth Book of Fairy Tales in preparation for this program. And the very first tale
- in this collection of folktales was a tiny, curious gem of a story. And I'm curious to see how you feel
- about it after it's done. It's a short story. It's by Lawrence Scheimel. And this is an adaptation of
- it. The name of the story is A Bag of Poetry.
- So it started on a day when all was lost, all was lost. And Anya was sitting and she was straddled on
- a stone wall that surrounded the parking lot of the Safeway grocery store. And she had a bag of groceries.
- And she had a big, thick black marker. And she was scribbling poetry all over her bag. And as she was
- doing this, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a homeless man and his dog approaching her.
- and he came up and the dog sniffed her shoe and the man asked for change. And she looked up and first
- she saw the dog and the dog was black and it had a brown spot which looked like it had balanced precariously
- on the top of its head and then over time it just kind of slid over one eye. She couldn't resist it
- and she looked at the man and he was wearing these jolly green and red Christmas boxer shorts.
- and a red or a brown and black plaid flannel shirt that matched his dog. And she smiled at him and he
- smiled back with wide wondrous eyes. And she reached into her bag and she gave him a loaf of bread.
- And then she reached into her bag and she gave him a pound of roast beef. And his eyes grew even wider
- and he said, God bless you. And she looked at the dog and she pulled into her bag and she reached out
- and she gave the dog a bone.
- And the dog wagged his tails, and he couldn't bark because he had the bone in his mouth. And they turned
- around, and they padded away. Finally, Anya's bus came. And she got on the bus, and it was empty, which
- was unusual. So she sat down, and she sat her bag next to her. And she reached in her bag, and she pulled
- out a book. And she started to read.
- And so when it was time for her stop, she looked up from her book, and she noticed that the crowd of
- people in the bus was weighing in on her. And she tried to make her way through the crowd to get out
- of the door. Well, this woman pushed and pushed and pushed, Anya, until her bag fell. And at that moment,
- everyone stopped, silent, waiting for her groceries to come tumbling out. Well, the moment waited too
- long, and it lasted too long.
- And the woman pushed her aside. And as she walked off the bus, 17 eggs rolled out of the top of Anya's
- bag. And they rolled across the sidewalk. And they landed next to a building, each one uncracked. And
- a flock of pigeons flew down to the eggs. And they started pecking at the eggs. And first they ate the
- creamy yellow inside. And then they gobbled up the shells.
- When Anya bent down to retrieve the bag, she gave them a handful of popcorn, and she walked home. And
- when she got into her apartment, her mother was glad to see her. She was so glad that she followed Anya
- right next to her shoulder to see what she brought from the grocery store. So Anya put her bag down
- on the counter. And the first thing that Anya reached in and brought out was a new job for her brother,
- Peter. Her mother gasped.
- She couldn't believe it. She ran around the other side of the counter, and she took Anya in her big,
- beefy, soft, warm arms. And she pinned Anya's arms to her sides and said, this is wonderful.
- And she yelled, Peter. And Anya kept getting things out of her bag. First, she reached in and she got
- 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.
- And then she got three quarts of milk, and she set them aside. And then Anya pulled out the moon, and
- she set it on the counter. And her mother thought it was a saucer, so she took some of the milk and
- she poured it. And then she took the moon, and she put it on the floor. And Anya noticed this. And so
- Anya reached into her bag, and she pulled out five kittens.
- And her mother looked over her shoulder and said, what's that? And she said, it's kittens. And she's
- like, we have too many kittens. And just as she said that, cats came from everywhere, in through the
- window, from all the halls and from the cupboards. They came flooding in towards the saucer of milk.
- Meanwhile, her brother Peter came in, bleary eyed. He'd been asleep all day. And his mother smiled and
- picked up the new job and took Peter into the living room. Anya kept putting away the groceries until
- Nothing was left in the saucer. And so she picked up the moon and she went into the backyard to put
- it back into the sky. Meanwhile, her mother came into the kitchen and everything was gone,
- save for the bag. And so her mother went to the bag and looked inside thinking surely she can't pull
- anything else from this bag. And so she collapsed it and neatly folded it along the creases. And because
- she couldn't read the poetry, threw it out.
- And that's the story of the bag of poetry. Thank you for listening. Hello, everyone. My story is from
- Africa. We believe it is Zulu, but we are not sure. It is called the Sky Woman's.
- basket. I hope you enjoy it. Once upon a time there was a farmer. This farmer had a very large farm
- that he tended all by himself. He enjoyed taking care of his vegetables and all of his animals, but
- his favorite thing to tend was his herd of cattle because in the morning he would go to the barn, unlock
- the door, go inside, and he would milk
- his cows and from their milk he would make cheese and yogurt and ice cream. Well, one morning our farmer
- went to the barn, opened the door and he tried to milk his cows, but he couldn't. They were dry as a
- bone. He thought this was odd, but he let them outside
- took them to really rich green grass on the far corners of his farm. But the next morning, they were
- dry again. And now our farmer became suspicious that someone had in the middle of the night stolen the
- milk from his cows. So the next evening,
- Instead of locking the barn door and going back to his farmhouse, he locked the barn door from the inside
- and creeped over to a corner and hid behind a bale of hay. And he waited and waited and waited until
- just past midnight, a star rose up in the sky and came to hover over the farmer's barn and
- shot a ray of light through the roof of the barn down to the floor below. And that ray of light started
- to spin and twist until it formed the shape of a ladder. Our farmer stood in amazement and dismay as
- he watched that ladder. Down from it came many, many beautiful
- And they came and they started to milk his cows dry. And he jumped up and said, stop thieves. What are
- you doing? And all of the women scurried up the ladder to the safety of the star, except for one, which
- he was able to grab by the heel and pull down to him. The star floated away as our farmer turned this
- beautiful woman toward him.
- woman you have stolen from me." And she said, yes, I have. I'm sorry. What can I do to repay this debt?
- He said, well, you could stay here with me and help me on my farm. She said, all right, that is fair.
- So for several months, the man and the woman worked together on the farm, tending the vegetables, caring
- for the cows, until one day,
- Our farmer went to the woman, and he said, Sky Woman, you have worked very hard for me, and you have
- repaid your debt. You may go if you wish, but as we have worked together these past few months, I have
- grown quite fond of you, and I would be most pleased if you would stay here with me and be my wife.
- The first guy said, well, I was hoping that you would say something like that. You are a good man, and
- this is a good world. I will stay here with you on one condition. What's that? Asked the farmer. Anything.
- She said, well, I own this basket that is shut tight with a lid.
- In it is a secret that belongs to me. You must never open my basket without my permission. If you can
- promise me that, I will stay with you." Well, our farmer thought this was an easy thing to promise.
- So he said, yes, of course. And they were married. And they lived together happily for quite some time.
- But you know how it is with us.
- Every time our farmer would pass the basket that was sitting in the corner of the living room, he would
- wonder, what is inside that thing? Is it something wonderful, beautiful, or is it something terrible
- and evil? He didn't know, and he would look to the Sky Woman for clues, but she had none to give.
- this secret began to eat at him and eat at him and eat at him until he began to think, this is my house.
- She is my wife and this is my basket. And then one day when our sky woman was out tending the fields,
- he went to the corner of the room
- kneeled down and he lifted the lid of the basket and looked inside. When he saw what was in there, he
- was dismayed and aghast and he burst out laughing and he laughed and he laughed and he laughed and he
- laughed until the sky woman heard him and came running, burst into the room and saw what he had done
- and she said,
- You have broken your promise." And he said, wife, oh, wife, this secret has been eating at me and it
- has had me in suspicion of you. I didn't know if there was something good or evil inside it. I'm sorry,
- but I just felt I had to know. And I must say, I can't believe it. I look inside this basket and there
- is nothing inside.
- You are so silly. Well, our sky woman said nothing when she crossed the room, put the lid back on, lifted
- the basket, and walked away, never to be seen again by our farmer. And some people say that she left him
- Because he had broken a promise. And a promise is a promise. But other people say that she left him
- because when he looked in the basket, he saw nothing there. For we are oftentimes blind to the treasures
- of others. And that is the story of the Sky Woman's Basket.
- Well, you are a treasure, Addie, and we are not blind to that. Very nicely done. My name is Stephanie
- Holman, and I have three short stories sprinkled throughout your program tonight. And so for the first
- sprinkle. Once long ago, a poor man was walking along a road by himself, looking down, thinking about
- his situation.
- And because he was looking down, he was able to see, there by the side of the road, a pouch, a leather
- purse. And no one around, he stooped and picked it up, and he could tell by the heft of it. He wondered
- by the clinkety-clank of it if it might not be filled with coins. And when he opened it, indeed it was
- filled with gold coins. And with no one else there to claim it, he put it in his pocket and headed home.
- Well, the next morning, he went to the village to spend his newfound wealth. Many things did he need.
- But no sooner had he gotten to the marketplace than there was a sign freshly painted and it said, lost,
- purse filled with gold coins, reward for its return. And it was signed by the richest man in town. That
- poor man was slumped and headed for home. He sat at his table and he looked at those coins in that pouch
- and he thought about what was the right thing to do.
- He thought, ah, that rich man, he's so wealthy, he wouldn't even miss this money, and I'm so poor I
- could really use this money. But it is the right thing to return it, and it did say a reward. Maybe
- there'd be just enough for him to get by. So he headed over to the rich man's house and knocked upon
- the door. And the man himself opened the door and looked down upon this beggar, this man in tattered
- clothing, a waif of a man, he was so thin, carrying his purse of gold.
- He snatched it from the man and started counting it in his hand. And he thought to himself,
- look at this fool, this fool standing here before me. He probably thinks there's a reward. No, there's
- no reward. I just wrote that on there so that I get my coins back. But I'll give this man a lesson.
- That will be his reward. I'll teach him a lesson. And so the rich man counted out the coins. And when
- he'd finished, there were 100 coins. And he said, 100, and put them back in the pouch and closed it
- tight. And he said,
- What are you waiting for? And the poor man said, well, the sign had said something about a reward. So
- the rich man, a reward? You'll get no reward. In fact, you are nothing but a thief. And I will let everyone
- know in the village that you are a thief. What do you mean a thief? I returned your money. When I lost
- this gold purse of coins, it was filled with 200 gold coins. And now there are only 100. You saw me
- count them. You are nothing but a thief.
- And he turned to go back into his house. But the poor man reached out and stopped him from closing the
- door and said, listen, listen, you don't have to give me reward. And I don't even want a reward from
- you. But you can't call me a thief. You can't besmirch my name. We will go to the village judge and
- we will let him decide. Fine, said the rich man. And they went not side by side, but together to the
- village judge. And the village judge listened to the rich man's story.
- And then he listened to the poor man's story. And then he thought about it. He'd been in this village
- a long time, and he knew this wealthy man, and he knew that he was up to no good. So he said, tell me,
- how many coins were in the purse you lost? And the rich man said, 200. And then he turned to the poor
- man, and he said, tell me, how many coins were in the purse you found? 100. I saw him count them out myself.
- Aha, then it is clear. The purse you lost is not the same as the purse he found. Give him back the purse
- he found. And so it was done. That was a good one. They're all good ones.
- My name is Lisa Ciampelli, and the story that the program says that I'm telling tonight, The Peasant's
- Clever Daughter, a folktale collected by the Brothers Grimm, is indeed the story that I'm telling tonight.
- But the version that I'm telling is actually more closely related to the story called Rachel the Clever,
- which appears in a collection of Jewish folktales, which indicates that the story originates from Poland.
- But this story is actually pretty well traveled because I've found variations of this story in Greek
- folk tales and there's another version called The Fisherman's Clever Daughter and a collection
- of Czechoslovakian tales. So it's really a story that's made its way around the world. And I tell this
- version tonight in honor of the clever young women around the world and through time who have advised
- on public matters often behind the scenes
- and kept the peace at home as well. This is the story of Rachel the Clever. Once upon a time there was
- a clever king who was so proud of his intellectual aptitude that he vowed to marry only the woman who
- was as clever as he. Now one day this king happened to be out traveling and he stopped at an inn
- And he overheard the innkeeper boasting about his very clever daughter. He, the innkeeper, claimed that
- there was no riddle that his daughter was not able to solve. Now, the king wondered about this because
- he was very fond of riddles and had posed many a riddle to many a person that they had not been able
- to solve. And he decided to challenge the innkeeper. He called him over and he said, I have three riddles for you.
- And if your daughter can solve them, then you shall be handsomely rewarded. But if she is not able to
- solve them, you will lose your in. Here are the riddles. The first is, what is the fastest thing? The
- second is, what is the richest thing? And third is, what is the dearest thing?
- I expect the answers by tomorrow." And the king left, leaving the innkeeper to ponder what the answers
- could possibly be. He fretted that Rachel would not know how to figure them out, but he brought the
- riddles to her, and she just smiled and said, Father, don't worry. You're not going to lose your inn.
- Go back to the king and tell him that thought is the fastest thing, that life-giving earth is the richest
- thing, and that love
- is the dearest thing. And when the innkeeper told the answers to the king, he was astonished, for he
- had shared these riddles with many a noble and educated woman, and none had been able to come up with
- the correct answers that he sought. And yet he had vowed to marry a woman who was as clever as he. Did
- this mean that he, the king, was destined to marry the common innkeeper's daughter?
- He thought that perhaps he would give her another puzzle. And so he said to the innkeeper, tell your
- daughter well done and give her these 10 eggs and tell her that I would like to have them hatched out
- and the chicks brought back to me tomorrow. The innkeeper was very worried. How was his daughter ever
- going to do this? And when he told her what the king was asking,
- She just laughed and she said, father, go to the king and bring him these seeds of grain and tell the
- king that if he can plant the seeds, grow them and harvest them by tomorrow, then I will gladly bring
- him the 10 chicks so that he might feed them the right grain. The king was pleased with Rachel's answer
- and he decided that it was time that they should meet.
- and he asked the innkeeper to have her come to the castle. But she should come in three days' time,
- and she should come neither walking nor riding, and she should come neither dressed nor undressed, and
- she should come bringing him a gift that is not really a gift. The innkeeper was growing weary of these
- riddles. They made his head hurt.
- But he was confident that Rachel would know the answers and know what to do. And indeed she did. She
- thought just a moment and then she asked her father, would you please bring me a goat and some fishnet
- and two doves? And the innkeeper did as she asked. And at the appointed time, she wrapped herself in
- the fishnet and she sat on the goat with
- one leg dragging on the ground, and she clutched a dove in each hand. And when she arrived at the castle,
- she greeted the king, and she said, your highness, as you can see, I have come to you neither walking
- nor riding. And wrapped in this fishnet, I am neither dressed nor undressed. And the king laughed and
- said, and the gift that is not a gift? Here, she said.
- And she presented him with the two doves, which promptly flew out the window. That is indeed a gift
- that is not a gift, the king laughed. And he was pleased to see that Rachel was as pretty and kind as
- she was clever. And he asked her to marry him. He forgot his pride. He forgot that he was king of all
- the land, the most cleverest king that ever lived, and that she was simply an innkeeper's daughter.
- and she agreed to marry him. But then he remembered his pride and he said, excellent, but you must promise
- never to meddle or disagree with any of my court decisions. Very well, she agreed. And the king and
- Rachel, they lived happily for many years until there was one day
- when Rachel noticed a farmer in the courtyard. And he appeared very unhappy. And she went to him and
- asked him what was wrong. And he told her, well, I came to court on business, and I brought my mare
- with me. And my mare happened to give birth to a foal under my neighbor's cart. And my neighbor is now
- claiming that the foal belongs to him. And the king has ruled that, indeed, the foal is now my neighbor's property.
- Rachel was rather dismayed and somewhat embarrassed by her husband's decision in this matter. And she
- told the farmer, here's what you should do. Go and get a fishing pole and stand out in the courtyard
- and pretend to fish. And when the king sees you and asks what you are doing, this is what you should
- say. But don't tell him or anyone who told you to do this or say what I'm about to tell you.
- Well, the farmer did, as Rachel suggested. He got a fishing pole and he stood out in the courtyard beneath
- the king's window, and before long, the king looked out his window and saw the man standing there, and
- he called to him, hey, what are you doing? Are you daft? How do you expect to catch a fish in the middle
- of a dusty road? And the farmer just looked at him and said, why, your highness, I am just as likely
- to catch a fish in the middle of a dusty road as a
- Wagon is to give birth to a foal. The king realized the injustice of his earlier decision. And he also
- realized that there was only one person who was clever enough to come up with that retort. And he called
- Rachel to him, furious. You have broken your promise to me. You have meddled in my judgments. And you
- must leave the palace.
- He was very angry with her, but his heart broke as he said these things. And yet his pride overpowered
- his love. You must leave, he repeated. But before you go, you may take with you the one thing that is
- most dear to you in the castle. Very well, Rachel agreed calmly. But we have lived together happily
- for so many years.
- Let us share one last meal together and recall all of the fond and happy times that we have shared and
- then we may part as friends. The king agreed and he brought out his choicest wines for the meal and
- Rachel made his favorite dishes and the king ate and ate and drank and ate and drank and drank and before
- long he had fallen asleep at the table. And without waking him, Rachel called some of the servants over
- And she wrapped the king in a blanket. And with the servants, she carried him out into the night to
- the garden by her father's inn. And the next morning, the king awoke to the sounds of birds chirping.
- And he found Rachel beside him. And he found that he had a throbbing headache. But he looked at Rachel
- and he asked, what am I doing here? And she looked at him and said, I'm only doing as you
- advised. You said that I might take with me from the castle the one thing that is most dear to me and
- that my love is you. And the king looked into her eyes and he forgot his pride this time forever. Will
- you forgive me and return home with me? He asked Rachel. Of course, she said. And will you perhaps on
- occasion discuss
- your cases at court with me?" Yes, he agreed. And from that time on, whenever he was presented with
- a particularly challenging case, he would pause a moment and say, hmm, perhaps we should consult my
- wife on this matter. You know, she is a very clever woman.
- I think we have a theme going here of cleverness. I love to hear stories about clever people because
- my mind doesn't work that fast. I only think of these clever things like three days later lying in bed
- sleepless at night and then I say, oh, I could have done that and it would have been clever. But do
- I think of it like these story people do? If you are looking at your paper, you'll notice that Daria
- is next and Daria is not here.
- After I destroy the equipment here, I'm going to tell her story. I don't need that, do I? My name's
- Jenny Ritchie. The story that Daria was going to tell and that I am going to tell comes from Syria,
- and it is another clever woman. Some of us are born with a lot, and some of us
- born with not so much. And it doesn't seem to matter how clever you are or how un-clever you are as
- to which your circumstances are. Does that make sense? There was a very clever woman who was born in
- a poor village with not much at all. And despite her cleverness, which enabled her to survive, it did
- not enable her to put aside for her old age.
- And so she decided that she must go to the city to see what fortunes could be found there. And when
- she came to the city, she observed that the queen who had huge flocks and herds and gardens and servants,
- the queen was easily amused by fortune tellers and by traveling
- jugglers and not so much by study or intellectual pursuits. So the clever woman went to the queen and
- said, your majesty, I have a secret. Oh, you do? Yes, I can teach turkeys to talk in seven different
- languages. Oh, you can?
- It is a secret. You could teach my turkeys to talk? Yes, ma'am, in seven different languages. But it
- takes a while. It takes quite a few weeks to teach turkeys to talk even one language. And it will take
- seven weeks to teach them to talk seven languages. And of course, during that time, Your Majesty, I
- must focus on those turkeys. You could teach my turkeys to talk in
- Seven weeks in seven languages? I could have a party. I could have everyone come from the ambassadors
- from other nations. We could be out in the garden and the turkeys would wander among them talking to
- them in their own language. What a sensation. When can you start? Well, Your Majesty, you must give
- me the turkeys and you must give me food and drink and wherewithal for seven weeks of work. Oh, no problem.
- I'll start planning the party now.
- And so the clever woman went home with a huge flock of turkeys and a long line of donkeys with provisions.
- And for seven, well actually for six weeks, she ate and drank and lived well. And the turkeys did whatever
- turkeys do. And on the sixth week, she went back to the queen. You're back already, said the queen.
- How are my turkeys? Your majesty, they are doing very well.
- They have already learned six languages, and they are well started on the seventh. Oh, this is going
- to be so much fun. I can just can't hardly wait to hear them talking. But, Your Majesty, there's a problem.
- A problem? What sort of a problem? Your Majesty, the turkeys all say the same thing. Well, what do they say?
- majesty in seven different languages. The turkeys say, the queen has a lover. Kill the turkeys. And
- here's a reward for your efforts. And I suggest that you lose the secret of teaching turkeys to talk.
- suited the clever woman just fine she went back home with the wherewithal to live well on into her old
- age and with with a huge flock of turkeys which she did kill one at a time one meal at a time she disposed
- of the turkeys who never talked again
- over here. My name is Pamela Smith and
- I get to tell the story tonight that balances out all the cheerful ones. This is a story from the Hebrew
- Bible about King Ahab, and people often have heard of King Ahab from the Mendelssohn's oratorio, Elijah.
- Ahab and Elijah, the great dynamic in that oratorio. But there are many more stories about Ahab.
- The first book of kings says Ahab, the worst king Israel ever had. He married the daughter of King Ishmael
- of Sidon. Do you remember her name? Jezebel. Jezebel, she was a worshiper of Baal. And Ahab set up in
- Israel, in his city, an altar to Baal.
- And as if that weren't enough, one of those shrine grove pole things to the fertility goddess Asherah.
- Ahab was a pip. But let me tell you how he came to his death. In those days, Israel was divided into
- two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. And Ahab was the king of Israel.
- Now for three years, the kingdom of Aram and the kingdom of Israel were without war. But in the third
- year, Jehoshaphat, who was the king of Judah, came up to visit Ahab, the king of Israel. Ahab said to
- his officers, do you realize
- Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and we are doing nothing, nothing to take it out of the hands of the king
- of Aram. And Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, will you come with me to bring to battle to win back Ramoth Gilead?
- Jehoshaphat said, I am as ready as you are. My horses are your horses, my men
- are your men, but Jehoshaphat also said, let us inquire first of the Lord. So Ahab summoned his prophets,
- 400 of them. And he said to them, shall I go to battle for Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrain? And the
- prophets said,
- The Lord will put victory into the hands of the king. Jehoshaphat said, is there perhaps some other
- prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire? Ahab said there yet remains one more prophet, Micaiah ben
- Imlah. Micaiah the son of Imlah, I hate him.
- He never prophesized anything good for me, only disaster. Jehoshaphat said, let not the king say such
- things. And King Ahab said, bring me Micahiah ben Imla, quickly. Now, Jehoshaphat the king of Judah
- and Ahab the king of Israel, sitting in their royal thrones,
- dressed in their royal robes at the threshing floor outside the gates of Samaria. And all the prophets
- were raving around them. Zedekiah ben Chana'ana had made horns out of iron. And with these, he said,
- thus says the Lord, with these horns Ahab will gouge the Arameans.
- And all the prophets were speaking in this wise, march, march and triumph. The Lord will deliver victory
- into the hands of the king. The officer who had gone to fetch Micahiah said, look at this. All the king's
- prophets are in one accord. Let your word be like one of them, prophesize something good.
- But Micahiah said, as the Lord lives, what the Lord gives me to say, I will say. Ahab said to Micahiah
- ben Imlah, shall I go forth to battle for Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrain? And Micahiah said,
- Ahab said, how many times must I make you swear to tell me only the truth in the name of the Lord? Micaiah
- said, I saw the flocks of the people of Israel scattered on the hills like sheep with no shepherd, and
- I heard a voice cry out,
- These have no king. Let them go home to their own place. Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, did I not just tell
- you he never prophesies anything good for me, only disasters? Micaiah said, then listen to this word
- of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne,
- with all his hosts to his left, to his right, and to his left. And I heard the Lord speak.
- The Lord said, who will tempt Ahab for me that he may go to Ramoth-Gilead and die? And one said one
- thing and one said another until a ruach, a breath, a spirit,
- said, I will do it. The Lord said, how will you do it? And the ruach said, I will go and be a ruach
- of lies in the mouth of all Ahab's prophets. Oh, the Lord said, you will tempt him and you will succeed.
- Go and do it.
- And so you see, Ahab, it is not I who prophesized disaster for you. It is the Lord who has put lies
- in the mouths of all your prophets." Now, Zedekiah ben Chana'ana came and slapped Micahiah across the
- face. And he said, just when did the spirit of the Lord leave me and go into you? And Micahiah said,
- Maybe you will find out on the day when you run home to hide in your privy. Ahab said to an officer,
- take Micah Iah ben Imla to Amon, the governor of the city, and Joash the king's son, and tell them,
- put this man in jail and feed him only on bread and water until the king comes home safe and sound.
- And Micaiah said, if you come home safe and sound, the Lord has not spoken through me. And he called
- to everyone there, witness this, witness this. So Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and Ahab, the king
- of Israel, went to battle for Ramoth Gilead. Ahab said to Jehoshaphat,
- I intend to wear the gear of a common soldier, but you, you, you, Jehoshaphat, wear your robes. So Ahab,
- the king of Israel, put on the gear of a common soldier and led Israel into battle in disguise.
- Now the king of Arab said to the captains of his 32 chariots, contend with no one, small or great, save
- only Ahab, the king of Israel. So when they saw Jehoshaphat, oh, they wheeled to the attack, but Jehoshaphat
- let out his war cry, and the charioteers, seeing that this was not Ahab, ceased to pursue him. But one
- archer drew his bow.
- And by luck, his arrow struck Ahab between the joints of his armor. Turn back, Ahab cried to his charioteer.
- Turn back, I am wounded. The battle grew fierce that day. They propped Ahab up in his chariot.
- As though he were confronting the Aramaeans. And there he stood until towards evening he died. And the
- blood flowed out from his wound and pooled on the floor of his chariot. And at sunset, a cry went out
- over the battlefield. The king is dead. Let each one go home in peace.
- So that was how Ahab died. They buried him there at Samaria and they took his armor and his chariot
- to the pool at the gate of Samaria to be washed. And the city's street dogs came and lapped Ahab's blood
- off his armor and licked up his blood from the floor of the chariot. And this completed the words that
- Elijah had said.
- Ahab, you thief, you murderer. Where the dogs lapped up the blood of Naboth, they will lap up your blood
- as well. And as for all of Ahab's other great deeds and the cities that he founded and that ivory palace
- that he built for himself,
- Are these things not written down in the book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? So Ahab slept with
- his fathers, and his son Ahaziah ruled in his place.
- I think we're moving from our clever part of the program to our power struggles because I have for you
- the second in my short story, sprinklings throughout the program. And it too is a power struggle between
- two great entities, the wind and the sun.
- and if they could just keep their arguments to themselves instead of bringing everybody else into it.
- In this Aesop fable, the wind and the sun were high in the air, up in the sky,
- when they had yet again another discussion, an argument, a disagreement about which was the most powerful,
- which of the two entities was the stronger. And back and forth they went, back and forth they went until
- finally they looked down onto the surface of the earth and there they saw the answer to their power struggle.
- It was a human, a man, walking along a road. And he was whistling a little tune, his face up against
- the sun and a little breeze blowing in his hair. And his cloak was billowing out behind him.
- And the sun said, see that human? Let us each take a turn with our powers. And whichever one of us can
- make that human take his cloak off first, that will be the strongest of the two. Agreed, said the wind.
- And the sun said, oh,
- You can go first. And the sun hid behind a cloud. And of course, the wind, knowing he would win, puffed
- up and headed out. And he started out soft at first, aiming a slight breeze down at that human walking
- on the road. And the man turned his face up eagerly to the wind. But then that power started in,
- in earnest. And it began to blow so hard that the man had to lean forward against the wind to make any
- progress. And before he knew it, he had to wrap that cloak even tighter around him than before.
- And so the wind blew out and gave up.
- Your turn, he said to the sun. And the sun came out from behind the cloud. And he, too, started gentle
- at first, down on that tiny little human. And the human, he let go of his cloak and let it billow about
- him as he felt the sun. And then the sun, as we know and remember, right, can really turn it on. And
- it began to shine down on that little human. And the human began to wipe sweat from his brow. And pretty
- soon he had to take that cloak off and put it over his arm and carry it as he walked.
- Said the sun, I am the strongest. I won. And the wind, humble in defeat, blew away. And the moral of
- this Aesop fable is often said to be kindness or warmth is more effective than severity. Or you could
- also say to be nice is much better than to be a blowhard. Thank you.
- This time I have a story and you can take with it what you will, moral or not, it's just a fun story
- for me to tell and it's called The Pumpkin Child and I'm afraid some of you have heard it before. And
- this is a story that comes from Persia. Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a man and a woman
- who lived on the edge of town and they loved each other very much and they had enough of everything.
- And they were happy enough, except for one thing. The woman wanted a child. And she wanted a child so
- badly. And all of her friends had children. And she saw the warmth and the love in the homes. And she
- wanted that for herself and for her home. And finally, she prayed. And she prayed. And she said, even
- if my child looked like a pumpkin, I would be happy. I want a child.
- and so she was given a child. That next month, she knew she was pregnant, and she carried the child,
- and when she birthed the child, came out singing, and they looked in the child's face, and the baby
- opened her eyes, and her eyes were blue like sapphire, and her lips were red like pomegranate. Oh, she
- was lovely, and she and her husband
- doted on this child, and every morning, they would go into the child's room, and they would sing to
- the child to sing it awake. One morning, the man and the woman went to sing to the child at dawn, and
- they pulled back the blanket, and instead of a baby, there was a pumpkin. There was a pumpkin.
- And the man could not believe his eyes. In fact, he almost went blind, and he turned around, and he
- grabbed a few things, and the woman never saw him again. But she stayed with her pumpkin child, and
- she picked her up, and she kissed her, and she said, I will never, ever leave you, and I'll always be
- your mother. And so the woman would go about her day with her pumpkin child on her hip,
- and she'd take her out into the garden and she'd take her to the market and she would take her wherever
- she went and she held her head up very high because everyone laughed at her and everyone laughed at
- her pumpkin child but she didn't pay them any mind.
- And finally, she loved that child so much that it grew bigger and bigger like children do. And finally,
- she couldn't carry the child anymore. So the pumpkin child had to roll around the house. So it rolled
- into the bedroom, and it rolled into the bathroom, and it rolled in the kitchen. It would roll outside
- to play occasionally, even though the children laughed at her. She didn't care. She would just roll
- around during their games. Well, finally, the pumpkin child became big enough to go to school. And so
- the mother said, all right, it's time.
- And remember, don't listen to anyone. You deserve to be there as much as everyone else." And so the
- pumpkin child didn't say anything, but rolled down the road. And she rolled into town, and she rolled
- right up the steps to the school for girls, where she was going to learn how to weave and sew. And so
- the lady opened the door. There was a pumpkin.
- Not a word said, she was expecting her. And the pumpkin girl ran in, well, it just rolled inside. And
- when it was lunchtime, the pumpkin girl rolled out into the courtyard with the other girls where they
- were all going to have their lunch. Well, it just so happened that at lunchtime, at the stroke of 12,
- there was someone watching those girls. He made a habit of watching them every day, in fact. It was
- a rich merchant's son.
- 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.
- So he would go up to the top of his father's building that overlooked the school for girls and he would
- spy on these girls. And this particular day he saw a pumpkin rolling into the yard and he thought, how
- curious. And so he kept watching this pumpkin and it didn't stop with the other girls. It just kept
- on rolling and rolling until it went to a bush at the far
- wall of the garden, and went under the bush, and he kept watching it. And then out from the bush came
- the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, with eyes like sapphires and lips like pomegranates. And the
- girl scaled the wall that was covered in grapevines, and she ate a lunch of grapes. And when she'd had
- enough, she scaled back down and out rolled the pumpkin back to school.
- Well, this guy could not believe his eyes. And he said, surely, this won't happen again. So the next
- day, he was there at the stroke of 12. There goes the pumpkin. There goes the girl. In go the grapes.
- Down goes the girl. Back goes the pumpkin. And it happened, and it happened. And finally, he said, I've
- got to meet this girl. She's beautiful. She's the girl of my dreams. And so he snuck to the wall on
- the other side of the wall, and he scaled.
- And he waited because he knew what was going to happen. And so the pumpkin girl scaled up the side of
- the, wow, up the grapes. And he said, hello. And she said, and she slid down. But he grabbed her hand.
- But she slipped her hand away. And all that he had was a golden ring that was on her finger. And she
- went back down. She rolled away in a huff as pumpkins can.
- And so the boy went in to tell his mother the news. And the mother was very glad to hear this news because
- the news was her son was finally going to settle down. He was going to stop chasing girls, and he was
- going to marry at last and give her a grandchild. Oh, she could have wept. She was so happy.
- And she said, well, tell me who is this girl? Who, who, who, who? And he said, well, I don't know her name.
- This is her ring. And whoever you can find that fits this ring is the girl that I'm going to marry.
- Okay. So the mother thought about it. Okay. All right. Fine. It was kind of a mystery. And so she called
- in her servant, Nana, who was her servant for many years. And she said, Nana, go to each woman's house and see
- Which girl fits this ring so that my son can get married and our dreams can come true? And Nana agreed.
- And so she went from house to house. And soon, word traveled fast. And so girls would starve themselves
- so their finger would fit into the ring, or they'd eat a lot of butter and fat so they would plump themselves
- up and to fit into the ring. But nothing they did seemed to work. And so Nana would go from house to
- house and failure, failure, failure, failure until she got to the edge of town where the woman lived.
- And she knocked on the door, and the pumpkin child's mother answered the door. And she said, hello,
- do you have a young lady here at this house? And the mother, who was so tired of being laughed at about
- her girl, said, please stop torturing me. You know that I have a pumpkin child. Well, this I've got
- to see, said Nana. May I see her? Fine. And so the mother let Nana in.
- and enrolled the pumpkin child. And Nana said, wow. Wow. And the mother said, there. There she is. There's
- my pumpkin child. Now what is your business? And so Nana said, well, I have this ring. And well, my
- master said that whoever fits into this ring is his bride. And so I'm going around from house to house.
- And before she could say another word, a hand slipped from out of the pumpkin, grabbed the ring, and
- put it on, and went back down into the pumpkin.
- And Nana could not believe that either. And so she spun around. She didn't have another word to say.
- And she flew back to her master's house and told the mother everything. Well, the son came in hearing
- the hullabaloo. And he said, be quiet. This is the one I've been waiting for. This will be my bride.
- And Nana said, but it's a pumpkin. How are you going to have babies with a pumpkin? Never mind. I gave
- my word. It's going to happen.
- And so the boy married the pumpkin, and everyone laughed as they went down the aisle. And everyone laughed
- when he said, I do, and the pumpkin just stood still. And everyone laughed when he kissed that pumpkin
- right on the stem. And everyone laughed when they moved far away into the country, into their own mansion,
- and lived happily.
- But no one laughed the day that the girl appeared in bed that night, some night after many months of
- happy marriage. And the boy looked into his wife's eyes that were blue like sapphires, and he looked
- at her lips that were rich like pomegranate, and he said,
- Why tonight? And she said, because I know that you love me. You love me even though I was a pumpkin.
- And so they lived out their days very happy with lots and lots of kids, but they always kept that pumpkin
- shell there in their room to remind them of the time when he loved her even though she was a pumpkin.
- And that's the story of the pumpkin child.
- My name is Mary Frazier, and I am here tonight with a story for you from Japan. It was first written
- down by Lafcadio Hearn, and it's been adapted many times. We have some lovely picture book adaptations
- of this story that you can come back and see another day. As I reflected on this story, I couldn't help
- but think about the importance of rice in Japan. Indeed, two of the most famous
- Japanese words that any of us in this room might know. Can you think what those two most famous Japanese
- words most well known in America might be? Maybe. How about Toyota? How about Honda? Both those names
- happen to refer to fertile rice fields.
- or plentiful, bountiful rice fields. They are family names for those corporations, but they do refer
- to the bounty of the rice field, which for many Japanese peasants was all of their wealth, everything
- that they had. And so I have a story for you about a little village down by the sea. There were 90 homes
- there, 400 people.
- And when the weather was good, the children would play in the bay. There was a large bay, and the water
- was gentle there. And the children would play and laugh and run in the waves. But when there was a storm,
- the water would sometimes come up the shore as far as their houses. And the children, and indeed the
- men and women, everyone would run into their homes and shut the doors and wait for the storm to subside.
- Now behind this small village was a tall mountain and a road zigzagged up
- the side of this mountain. And there were ancient patties where people over time had carved out flat
- places in the sides of the mountain so that they could raise rice there. And the people toiled in the
- rice fields all through the year. They would be there in the spring as the rain pelted their backs.
- They would toil up those roads in the summer out to their fields to work. And then when the grain was
- golden, they would go and harvest the rice.
- Now at the very top of the mountain there lived a very old, very wise man named Oji-san, which means
- grandfather in Japanese. And he lived there in this lovely house with his little grandson, whose name
- was Tada, and they lived there very happily. Now, one day it was very hot and very still.
- And it was at the time when the rice was about to be harvested. So Ojisan and Tato were standing on
- the balcony of their house looking at their vast fields of rice. Ah, such wealth they saw there before
- them. They had worked so hard tending this rice all year. And they could see that they would have a
- bounteous harvest that would last them all through the year to come. They would have plenty to eat this
- year. And as Ojisan
- stood there looking at his field, his eye followed on down the zigzag road and down the other flat fields
- of the farmers below, kind of like golden stairs making their way down the side of the mountain. And
- he and his grandson looked down there together and they could see far down in the village, so far away
- that people were like ants. They could see that they were planning a festival there. There were lanterns
- and there were
- Flags hung, just hanging limply though because the air was so still and so hot, but they could tell
- that people were preparing to have a ceremonial dance in the courtyard of the temple there to celebrate
- the harvest. Ojisan looked up at the sky and he looked about him and he said, this is earthquake weather.
- And indeed an earthquake came.
- Not very long after that, but Tata was not afraid. It was not a particularly strong earthquake, and
- earthquakes happened all the time in Japan. But this one was a little strange, because it went on so
- long, and it shook so low, almost in a spongy way, as if something odd were happening out in the ocean
- far beyond the bay where their village was. And the house shook for a while. But then it stopped, and
- all was quiet.
- and they stood there looking down and appreciating the day. But then Oji-san's sharp eye looked down
- at the edge of the water and he could see that the water was rushing away there from the shore and it
- kept moving out further and further and further out into the bay and it was leaving behind wet sand
- there and there were rocks festooned with seaweed and
- Though he couldn't see it, he was sure there were fish flopping there and crabs scuttling away. And
- he could see people from the village hurrying down there to the shoreline to look and see. It was such
- an odd thing. They had never seen such a thing. And they were even venturing out into the oddly rippled
- sand that had been exposed as the water continued to rush out further and further toward the ocean.
- And it was plain that the people didn't know what was happening.
- But Ojisan knew such a thing had never happened in his life. But his grandfather had told him about
- such a thing. And he knew that there was great danger. There was no time to send a message down the
- zigzag road of the mountain. There was no time to tell the priest to hit their temple bells, to sound
- the bells, the warning sound. There was no time to stand and think. Ojisan had to act. And so he said to Tata,
- Run and fetch me a torch." And the little boy was very obedient. He loved his grandfather, and he did
- always exactly what the old man said. And so he hurried into the house, and he got a pine torch, and
- he kindled it there, and he brought it to the old man. And instantly, Ojisan walked up to a stack of
- his rice stalks, and he plunged the burning torch into it, lighting the rice.
- kindled instantly just like dry tinder and it began to burn and then sparks flew and began to ignite
- other rice stalks nearby and soon it was all alight and burning at a great
- A cloud of smoke went up into the air, a column rising up into the still air. And Ojisan just walked
- along, continuing to ignite all of the piles of his stalks of rice. And little Tata ran behind him and
- he said, Ojisan, why? Why, Ojisan, why, why? Stop, stop. He was terrified. He thought his grandfather
- had lost his mind. But Ojisan didn't have time to stop and explain. All he could think of were 400 lives
- in danger below. And so he strode along.
- lighting all of his rice, his whole past year, his whole future, all of his wealth he was burning. And
- then he looked down and he saw that the monks had looked up and they had noticed it and they began to
- pound the bell there to send the warning sounds and all the people came up from the shore and they began
- to hurry up that long road and they ran up. And Oji-san, when he had finished firing all the rice, he
- just threw the torch down and waited.
- And he didn't have long to wait at all, because the fastest people had come up the mountain with pads
- they were going to try to beat out the flames. And the old man held up his arms, and he said, stop.
- Let it be. Let it burn. I want all the people to come. There is great danger. And soon the people did
- come, the men and boys and the women and girls who were the fastest runners, and then the young women
- with babies on their backs. And then the elderly began to toil their way up
- the zigzag road of the mountain. And then poor little Tata began to cry, and he said, I'm afraid my
- grandfather has lost his mind. He set fire to the rice himself. He burned our rice. And the old men
- looked at Ojisan and the young men, and they said, what?
- What does this mean? What can it mean? And Ojisan said, is everyone here? Yes, it is true.
- I burned the rice. Is everyone here? And the men said, yes, everyone is here. We have all come to save
- your fields, you old fool. Have you lost your mind? Have you gone mad? Are you going to burn our fields
- as well? And they raised their fists in anger to threaten him. But Ojisan just pointed out to the sea
- and said, look. And everyone turned.
- and looked and it was so far and so distant, there was no water as far as the eye could see, but there
- seemed to be a strip of land where no land could possibly be, had never been, could never be. And then
- that strip of land seemed to grow wider and thicker and darker and it came closer
- and closer and then it appeared to be a great cliff of water and it was moving toward the people faster
- than a kite can fly and suddenly everyone understood and the people shrieked Tsunami! And then all ability
- to make sound, to hear sound was gone as a thunder clap seemed to hit as the water rushed up and hit
- the shore and then there was a great burst of foam like lightning and then there was just a
- as it made its way, spray coming up the side of the mountain. The people turned and scattered and ran
- in fear. And after a minute they came back and they looked down and they saw the foamy white sea raging
- over the shoreline, raging over the place where their village had been just moments before. And they
- watched in amazement as that water clawed out great gouges of sand as it made its way back into the
- bay. And then it came and struck again.
- ebbed away and struck and ebbed and struck and ebbed, but each time with less strength until finally
- it stopped in its ancient bed where it had always been, although it raged as if it were a typhoon. No
- one said a word, just silence. They all looked down at the shore where their homes had been
- There was nothing left. There was no village, just some bamboo poles and bits of thatch along the shore.
- And then little Todd, I came up and he took his grandfather's hand in his and he said, oh, Jisan, now
- I understand. Now I know why you burned the rice.
- on everyone, the men all knelt, and then everyone else knelt down to give thanks to Ojisan. And they
- looked up at their neighbors, faced their wise old neighbor. They had always come to him for advice,
- and they looked at him now and saw he was as poor as the poorest among them. All of his wealth was gone.
- But he had saved 400 people.
- The old man stood tall and he said, my house is still standing. Come, there is room for many. And the
- people never forgot what they owed to Ojisan. They couldn't make him wealthy again, but they did rebuild
- their village. And when they built the temple, they put his name in gold over the temple door so that
- no one would ever forget the sacrifice of the old man who saved the people
- when he burned his rice. And that story is called The Wave. Thank you. We need a moment of silence after
- that one. Wow. So we are skipping the story.
- For time's sake, that is the hound story. And so move down your program to voodoo. And this is the third
- of my short story offerings tonight. And so it is also one of my favorite of the three. It's short,
- but not so sweet.
- Mrs. Decker had just come back from a two-week vacation at Haiti. She needed a cooling off period from
- her husband because before she'd left for her vacation, they had been at each other's throats, a divorce
- imminent. But would it work? Would a little time off help? No. She had not even unpacked her suitcase,
- and they were at it again, arguing back and forth. Finally, she just threw her suitcase down on the
- bed, and she said, half. I want half of everything, half of all the money, half of all the property.
- I deserve it.
- And he said, ridiculous. Oh, you think so, is it? You know I could have it all easily. I learned voodoo
- in Haiti, and I could have it all, and you'd have nothing. And he said, rot. Oh, you don't understand
- the art of voodoo, do you? I've learned it, and did you know that I could kill you with this art form?
- 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.
- Nonsense. All right, then. If you don't believe it, just give me a little bit of your fingernail, a
- little bit of your hair, perhaps. And I have the wax figure. I have the hat pin. This is the deal. I
- will perform the voodoo on you. If you live, I promise not to ask for anything in the divorce. You'll
- 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
- at his short
- freshly clipped nails, he headed into the bathroom to clip a few pieces of hair from his head. When
- he came back into the room, hair in the palm of his hand, he looked at her, she was warming the wax
- effigy, working it this way and that. She plucked the hairs from his hand and started pushing them into
- the warm wax until she had it just where she wanted. She placed the wax figure right there on the table
- and then she took a ridiculously long, sharp hat pin and she poised above the figure and she said to
- her husband, she said,
- You are going to be so very, very sorry." And then she plunged down right where the heart would be.
- Well, Mr. Dexter was more surprised than sorry. He didn't really believe in voodoo, but he was a very
- cautious man. And besides, it had always bothered him how she never cleaned her hairbrush.
- Does anybody need some help with that? Was it his hair? Oh dear. We're on the last three tonight in
- our little
- We'll section on Haiti. The last story that I have to tell you is a Haitian folk story. And I tell it
- because, as I was listening to NPR, the news, it talked about how the people in Haiti, although they've
- had a nightmarish, horrible experience, have started to come into the streets. And when they come into
- the streets together, they sing, they dance.
- They tell stories, and then sometimes they cry. And so this is a story of joy, of silliness. It is a
- trickster tale from Haiti. Now, the king of Haiti loved dancing. And he would have dancers come every
- night and perform
- that he didn't have enough money in the treasury to pay them. So he couldn't have dancing every night.
- Well, one evening, he was sitting in his garden, and maybe some of you have done this, and a little
- line kind of went through his mind. Kokikiro, kokikiro, la la la.
- I like that, he said. I think I can do a dance with that. And he began to dance. Koki Kiro Mastamba.
- Koki Kiro Mastamba.
- dance like this. I can dance like this. Kokikiro Musamba. Kokikiro Musamba. Samba dance. Samba dance. Samba
- got to thinking some more. So the next day, he let it be known that anyone who could figure out the
- Kokikiro dance, that that person he would give 5,000 gordis. And that was a lot of money. Well, it went
- out to everyone.
- And they began to line up. They were all, all dancers. Everybody in Haiti dances. And some were better
- than others. But they lined up. And one by one, they tried to figure out the steps of the Kokikiro.
- And he, the king, saw wonderful dancing. But nobody.
- Nobody could figure out those steps to the Kokikiro. Well, time went on. Every night he had wonderful
- dancing, and every once in a while somebody would get really close to figuring out the Kokikiro. But
- even if they got the very beginning of it, or sometimes even if they got the second part,
- I could never figure out the third part of it. And so months went by. The king loved this. But every
- night, after all the dancers had gone away, and after all the servants were gone, he would dance the
- coquiquiro. And he would dance like this. Coquiquiro. Masamba.
- And I can dance like this. Samba dance. Samba dance. Samba dance. Samba dance. Ha ha! Nobody saw me.
- But one night, the gardener, Mali,
- had come back to the palace to get his hat. He needed it. And he heard the Koki Kiro dance. He looked
- in, and there was the king. And Mali thought, I will watch very carefully, and I will get the 5,000
- And he watched, and he memorized, and quietly he went away. Well, the next morning, Mali's talked to
- his wife and Madame Mali's and told her what he had seen. And he had a plan. And the plan involved his
- friend Boki. Now Boki,
- was not very bright, and Boki was not very graceful. But Mali thought he was the perfect one to teach
- the Koki-Oki. And so he approached his friend and said, Boki, I am going to do something great for you.
- Oh, oh, said Boki.
- He knew that Molly's was a trickster and every time he went to do something great for him, well, it
- was better before he did something great for you. Ah, let's just leave it alone. Oh, but Boki, how would
- you like to win 5,000 Gordons? I have seen the king. I can't do the dance myself, the okey okey, but
- you could do it.
- King would suspect me, but I will teach it to you. And so he did the steps of the Koki-Oki.
- And Boki said, all right, I will try. Koki, Koki-O, huh? We'll work a little bit every night on this,
- said Mali's, and then you can do it. So they worked on it every night.
- Two months later, Boki and Mali's were waiting in line with the dancers. People were still coming in
- and dancing for the king, trying to figure out this, the Koyoke. And still no one had come up with it.
- Well, Mali's did not go in with Boki. He sent him in, and here came Boki. And the king could not believe it.
- For Bokey, this slow-moving big fellow, did the coquioque. It wasn't pretty.
- was the Kokioka. The king was flabbergasted. The king was amazed. The king was stunned. But he handed
- over the 5,000 Gordes. And Boki, thank you very much. And off he ran.
- with the sack and he met up with melees and they started talking about how Boke could feed his many
- little bokies that he had at home. But Mollies, he had a lot of little Mollies at home too. And so they
- were running through the forest when suddenly Mollies stopped. He said,
- I have another dance that I could teach you. Another dance? I'm very good at dancing," said Boke. Well,
- Mali said, it goes like this. If you have no sense, set your
- that's easy said bulky and so he started to dance if you've got no sense I'll put your
- Because as he had danced, Madame Malley's had come out from behind the breadfruit tree and sneaked off
- with his sack. My sack, my sack is gone, said Bokey. And Malley said, did you put your sack
- On the ground? I warned you about that. And off ran Malise. And Boki was not left holding the sack.
- And that is a story from Haiti, a trickster story, about that trickster Malise and his sidekick Boki.
- Thank you all for coming tonight. Please stay with us for some refreshments that will be right