Week 7 Storytelling: Wilson and The Magical Little Bird

Wilson and The Magical Little Bird 

Long ago in the far away land, there lived a man named Wilson that lived in a tree house.  Covered with trees and deep in the middle of the forest, is where this man hunted for his food, gathered berries, and spent most of his time.  Although he was lonely much of the time, he liked the peace and quiet from the wilderness and often made friends with the forest animals. 

It was a quiet Thursday morning and Wilson was awaken by a beautiful song.  Wilson had lived in these same woods in the same tree house for many years and never heard such a wonderful sound in his life.  He set out to find who was singing this song. 

Only a few meters outside of Wilson’s house is where he found a bird perched on a glowing golden mushroom.  Frightened at first, Wilson gazed around the tree to hear the bird’s song and figure out how the mushroom was glowing. 

Days go by and the bird returned to the mushroom and sang the song every morning.  Wilson would wake up to the sweetest songs and watch the bird as it sang and lit up the mushroom. 

One day, Wilson wanted to meet the bird.  Typically, Wilson was never a shy man and he could make friends with the animals very easily, but this was not the case with the bird.  Wilson was nervous but finally gained the courage to talk to the bird.

The bird was friendly but did not want Wilson hearing his songs.  The little bird explained to him that the songs hold great powers.  Not only were the songs beautiful to the ear but they can also make a human never age.  Although the songs had different tunes, the lyrics all stayed the same.  “It is only himself that can control his own actions, everything is in his control,” the bird sang.  As the bird sang, the mushroom began to glow brighter and brighter.

Wilson asked the bird to stay and sing to him everyday.  Flattered by the compliment the bird agreed, but under only one condition.  Since the bird’s songs were so beautiful and the songs could make anyone stay young forever, if anyone found out about him, he knew they would lock him up where he could no longer fly free in the skies.  The bird made Wilson promise that he would never tell a soul.    

Months go by and Wilson and the bird became best friends.  The bird sang to him every morning and they lived happily and young.  As the seasons began to change, Wilson had to travel to the nearest town to gather supplies that he could not find from the forest.  As Wilson traveled, the bird stayed in the tree house and guarded the area. 

Wilson was not the most well-liked person in the town, so upon entering, Wilson knew he had to do something that would make him feel accepted.  In order to buy supplies from the general store, he had to make friends with the storeowner.  With nothing to offer, Wilson did not know what he was going to say or do to make the storeowner like him.  A light bulb turned on inside of his head and he knew he had to tell the secret about the bird, the beautiful song, and staying young forever.  Astonished, the storeowner quickly accepted Wilson into the shop, but the secret spread like wildfire.  It was all over the town and Wilson became the spotlight.  Wilson loved the attention, but deep down, he also felt very guilty about breaking the promise with the little bird.

News spread to the King of the Village and he wanted the bird at once. A private dinner was set for Wilson and the King and the King wanted proof about the bird.  Some people were skeptical about the bird but Wilson knew if he could just show the people in the village, then he would be accepted forever.  Wilson agreed to bring the bird into town and show the King and all of his people.

As soon as Wilson returned home, he and the bird set out to go back into town.  The bird sang to him the whole way. “It is only himself that can control his own actions, everything is in his control.” Wilson and the bird walked through the gate of the King’s castle and everyone gathered around.  The little bird did nothing.  The little bird did not even make a little mushroom grow.  The little bird did not sing or say a word.  The townspeople were upset and felt like they had just been played.  They gave Wilson the benefit of the doubt and gave him until sundown for the bird to sing and work his magic to keep them all young. 

At dusk, there was still no peep form the little bird.  Wilson did all he could to get his little bird to sing but nothing worked.  Furious, the King threw Wilson into the pit of dragons where he was eaten.  That next morning, the little bird found a mushroom, perched up, and started singing while the mushroom grew brighter and brighter.  “it is only himself that can control his own action, everything is in his control,” sang the little bird.  Everyone looked in awe and realized Wilson was telling the truth.  Although the little bird felt bad for the death of Wilson, he also knew that he broke the only promise that they had made from the very beginning of their friendship.  He knew the control was in Wilson’s hands and his actions would reflect the outcome of his life.  The bird explained what happened to the townspeople and then flew off into the middle of the forest where no one could find him, and the little bird was never seen again.

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Author’s Note:

As I read this story, I automatically fell in love with the original.  I loved the characters in it and I loved the message and moral behind the story.  Being truthful and sticking to your word is something that is very important especially in friendships. I believe that can make or break a friendship, too.  I kept the setting the same as the original story but changed the characters a little bit.  In the original story, there was a turtle playing a harp instead of a bird singing.  Also, I added in the part about the song and the bird being magical and keeping everyone young.  In the original story, the man was beheaded but I changed that to being thrown into the dragon cage because I felt like that was a better fit for the story since it included Kings and castles.  I wanted to keep the underlying message of the song the same, but I did reword the song to a jargon that we use today in modern times. The Hunter and the Tortoise 

Bibliography:

"West African Folktales" by William H Barker. "The Hunter and the Tortoise"

Reading Diary B: West African Folktales

West Africa Folktales:

The Moon and Stars

o   Scarcity of food in the land

o   Father Anansi and his son, Kweku Tsin hunted for food

o   Son guarded the deer they hunted while he got a basket to carry home

o   After a while, father never came back

o   A call called back and he thought it was his father, it was a scary dragon

o   Dragon found the deer and was disappointed

o   Father finally returned

o   Dragon carried both of them to a castle with other creatures

o   Feared him greatly

o   Could detect a fly moving miles away

o   A big white rooster watched over them while the dragon searched for more

o   Kweku scattered rice around the ground because the rooster could be preoccupied with it

o   Had people make ropes to make a ladder

o   Threw it up to the heavens trusting the gods would catch it

o   Men ate all the cattle for energy

o   Took the bones and procured the fiddle of the dragon

o   Dragon saw something was going on, tried to climb the rope to catch them

o   Kweku threw bones in his mouth everytime he got close

o   As he got the heavens, he sat and played the fliddle and the dragon had to return to earth and dance

o   Cut the ladder below his feet and the dragon fell and he was pulled to the gods

o   Kweku became the sun and light, his father the moon, his friends the stars

How the Tortoise Got Its Shell

o   Setting: few hundred years ago

o   Chief Mauri was the God

o   Yam festival on Friday

o   Sent servants to buy livestock for food

o   Mr. Klo was the tortoise and he was sent to buy palm wine

o   Directed to palm-fields of Koklovi (the chicken)

o   Klo was fast and reached the destination fast

o   Talked to Koklovi about the wine

o   Couldn’t buy it with money, had to fight for it, palm-trees and all

o   Klo and Koklovi fought and Klo finally won

o   More wine than the pot could hold, so Klo drank the rest

o   Drank so much, he felt tired and slow, rain came and it was hard to travel

o   Got to master’s palace and the gates were shut and locked already, too late

o   Rained for 2 months and no one left because of the weather

o   In that time, Klo died because of his load and laid at the gate with the trees

o   Dug to the bottom of the pile and found Klo with a hard cover on his back from the dust

o   Wonderful medicines in the palace restored him but could never stand up right. 

o   Creeping creature with a shell

The Hunter and the Tortoise

o   A hunter heard singing in the forest one day

o   Singing a song “it is a man who forces himself on things, not things which force themselves on him.”

o   Tortoise was singing with a little harp

o   He returned to see her sing then convinced her to let him carry her on his back to his hut. 

o   Agreed but could only sing to him alone

o   Told the secret of the tortoise to many then reached the ears of the chief

o   People refused to believe him

o   He agreed to bring her and if she didn’t sing then they could kill him

o   If the tortoise did then he could punish them in any way

o   Next day, carried the tortoise for everyone to listen

o   She didn’t sing

o   Night came and still no song.

o   He was beheaded then the tortoise spoke

o   The people were troubled because he was telling the truth but they killed him

o   Tortoise said he brought it to himself because he didn’t keep the secret

o   Then she sang the song again

o   “it is man who forces himself on things, not things which force themselves on him”

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Reading Diary A: West African Folktales

West African Folktales

How We Got the Name “Spider Tales”

o   Stories were told about Nyankuupon (Chief of the gods)

o   Spider wanted the stories about him

o   Spider asked him to make all the stories about him (Anansi)

o   Agreed but only if he brought him a jar of living bees, boa-constrictor, and a tiger

o   Spider went to a place with a lot of bees

o   Bees flew into the jar and Anansi went back to Nyankupon

o   Contemplated with himself about the snake until snake came out to ask him what was wrong

o   Measures snake with the stick and took him back

o   Spider sewed up him eyes and went to the den with tiger

o   Sang and shouted till tiger came out to ask what was wrong

o   Spider took tiger back

o   Nyankupon was so amazed.  All the rest of the takes were called Anansi tales

How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race

o   Fanti-land had a man named Father Anansi

o   Had all the wisdom and people came for advise

o   Men in the country made him mad and he punished them by hiding his wisdom from them

o   Hid his wisdom in a pot where no one could find it

o   His son, Kweky Tsin was suspicious of his father so he followed

o   The precious pot hung on his neck

o   Father in the forest far away to the biggest hardest climbing tree and climbed it

o   Tried to hang it on the highest point on the tree

o   “Wisdom would indeed be beyond the reach of every one but himself” but unable

o   Kewku watched and told his father to hang the pot on his back to climb better

o   Father thought he had all the wisdom in the pot but realized his son had it too and could tell him what to do

o   Father got mad and threw the pot full of wisdom. It hit a rock, broke, and the wisdom spread to the whole world

Anansi and Nothing

o   Next to Anansi’s sad hut, a big palace with a rich man named Nothing lived there

o   They both went to the next town to find wives

o   Nothing wore fine velvet, Anansi wore ragged clothes

o   Anansi wanted to change clothes with Nothing just for the trip but delayed it

o   Arriving in town, Anansi could find a wive very easily.  Nothing couldn’t

o   Couldn’t get one wife until a woman took pity on him and gave him her daughter

o   They took them back to their houses and Anansi’s was a dark little path and Nothing’s was a grand and well made entrance

o   Nothing’s wife was queen over the whole district and had everything

o   Anansi’s wives couldn’t even get proper food.  They ate bananas and peppers

o   Nothing’s wife invited the other wives over to the palace and they never went back

o   Anansi was angry and wanted to kill Nothing, but no success

o   Dug a deep tunnel in front of nothing’s door and lined with knives and broken bottles

o   Made the steps slippery to he could slip into it

o   Anansi tried ot get him out there at night and finally he did

o   Slipped on steps and fell in the hole and died

o   Nothing’s wife was so sad she made food to bring to the village and told all the kids she gave it to to cry for her husband

o   Many of them actually are because they are “crying for nothing”

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