Essay: How Things Come to Be in Tejas Legends

This week was cool because I got to read a lot of stories in the Tejas Legends. Something that stuck out to me was how many of them included tales of how things came to be/how they came to exist. I love stories like this because it shows the character and creativity of humans and cultures. It tells of how things came to exist and why they have certain traits. I admire the creativity of these stories and aspire to one day be able to tell stories just as well.  The two stories that I found the most interesting were Why Hummingbirds Drink Only Dew and Maidens Who Broke a Drought. The first told a magnificent tale of why hummingbirds only drink dew, revealing the character of the hummingbird along the way. The story dove into the hummingbird's background and showed the events that occurred in order to secure the hummingbird's dew-drinking fate. The other showed how the end of one form of life can transfer into something even more beautiful and live on forever. This one was a bit more depressing, but still showed how something came into being in a lovely manner.
I liked the style of these stories (and the Tejas Legends in general). They were written in a way that kept me entertained. I also appreciate how the title told what the story would be about/what specific thing would be described, yet the true meaning would not come until the very end. This tactic is what kept me engaged and reading. These stories are interesting, because it always seems like the stories have absolutely nothing to do with the title, yet in the end it always comes down to why something occurs or how something came into existence. The creativity to produce these stories is high and very admirable. I hope there are more like these as the semester continues!

Hummingbird. Source: Wikipedia

Reading Unit:

Myth-Folklore Unit: Tejas Legends

Storytelling Week 9: The Happiest Fish Under the Sea

The Happiest Fish Under the Sea

Oh my, oh my, oh my.
My life as a little fish has been awful up until today.
Let me just say...thank goodness for my Grandma.

You would think I would be living the life under the sea. I mean, up on the shore they work all day. Up in the sun they slave away! We get an endless supply of water and we get to swim around all day long. It's always clear and there's never any disruption from the world above. But let me tell you. It's not all happiness down here. We've been miserable since..well...forever!

Why, you ask?
Well...these awful and mean garfish have been absolutely horrible to me, my family and my friends. They've been terrorizing us all since we were born!
Who does such an awful thing?
I used to fear for my life daily - always wondering when one of them was going to be just around the river-bend, and even beyond the shore.

So finally us kids had enough. We cried out to our Grandma (who is the river) - she always knows what to do in any situation. Whenever we need her, she's always there...and this was no exception. She didn't like the garfish, either, so it was easy to convince her to help us. And help us she surely did!

Shortly after our talk with Grandma, it started to rain...and not just any kind of rain. It was a torrential downpour. The river got so extremely full in just a few hours! We had never seen anything like it. Sometimes we go through droughts and sometimes it rains a lot, but this was a totally different ball game. We knew that something strange was up.

Turns out Grandma had a favor called in to the rain cloud that she knows. Grandma has the best of friends that always come to her help since she is so helpful herself.

Of course when the water extended to new territories, the garfish got so greedy and wanted to see if there were any other creatures for them to feast upon and terrorize.

But the joke was on them! Right as they swam up the river, Grandma dried up her banks and showed the big garfish what it was like to feel terror.

So that's why today is so great. We all get to live fear free and don't have to worry about being eaten all day long anymore!

Cute, happy fish. Source: Pixabay
Author's Note: The original story tells the same story that I wrote, but from an outsiders perspective. I didn't change any details, but I changed the style of writing. I wrote this story in a diary-style because I want to practice for my storybook. My storybook entries and stories are written in the same style and I thought it would be good practice to keep writing in that manner so that the storybook can be successful. I chose this image to include because it really looks like a happy, little fish to me.

Bibliography: This story is part of the Tejas Legends unit. Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936).

Reading Diary B: Tejas Legends

Myth-Folklore Unit: Tejas Legends

Why Hummingbirds Drink Only Dew 

Hummingbirds not drinking the water they bathe in is probably smart for their health. I relate to this story because I feel like that's how my friends would act in bets. Making and playing sneaky tricks to technically win, but maybe not in the most ethical way. It's cool to see that even though he was sort of tricked that he still stayed true to his word, though! The hummingbird seems like a good character who probably (and hopefully) learned his lesson about gambling.

How Sickness Entered the World 

This story legit freaked me out and made me uncomfortable. Imagining that many snake eggs and thinking of one next to me was gross. And that they hatched sickness - how awful. The storytelling and creativity was good, but I didn't like the story.

Maidens Who Broke a Drought

Though this was a sad story of the girls ending their human lives, it was cool to read about how they were transformed and honored forever. Again, like I stated in my reading diary A, I love to read about how different people and cultures talk about how things come to be and/or exist...though these in the Tejas Legends have been more sad than happy.

(beebrush)

 

Reading Diary A: Tejas Legends

Myth-Folklore Unit: Tejas Legends

 Why the Woodpecker Pecks

I appreciate how easy this was to read. It kept me entertained and never bored. I also love stories like this - it's always fun to see how different people and cultures describe how things came to be and/or exist. Also...him eating the plants sounded like a drug experience. But I guess interesting stories come out of that, too!

The Cloud That Was Lost

This intro was really great - it had my imagination going. I could really see the clouds bumping into each other and curling up at night. That sounds so nice right now! I also felt so sad for the cloud - I'm not sure why I have such an emotional attachment to a cloud, but this story is great. Poor cloud - but you can always see its beauty in the flowers, so that's neat.

(Wild phlox)

Grandmother River's Trick

This one got to me because of the garfish. I had been to places growing up that had garfish and the thought of them scared me so much. Ha- the beginning of this story definitely didn't help that! But I did like the end. All of the fish got to be happy and free from the garfish. It'd be fun to tell this from the fishes perspective.