Reading Part B "Folklore of Laos"

Another river scene in Laos (Source)

The first story of the wizard and the old beggar was very similar to some of the stories of Arabia and one of the African legends as well, where a genie or wizard was repaid for their kindness with ingratitude, teaching a lesson about the importance of being grateful and honest.
The next story, about the grain of rice, actually follows a similar theme. Rice used to be so big it would just roll out of the field when it was ready and come down into the village. However, due to the ingratitude of an older woman, the rice broke into thousands of small grains and was content to sit in the fields until it was wanted.
Another tale focused on the beautiful young woman, Chum Paw, who tricks all of her evil suitors into killing themselves and the other men into doing the same. It is interesting to see such a story like this in a culture that is traditionally male-dominated, this story truly was a fairy tale for young women.
After this fun story for young girls, we now have a story for young men, where a youth is captured by 3 old men but ends up being able to escape them and sell them into slavery, where he is able to pocket the silver and live a grand old life. It was fun.
It was interesting to see the idea of a "Philosopher's stone" is prevalent in all cultures around the world. This Laotian story, for example lets the owner of the stone turn things into gold and also grants any wish that the possessor desires. Kind of a new twist, I liked it.

Story Source: Laos Folk-lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson with photographs by W.A. Briggs (1899)

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My Project website is here ! A picture I took while in Peru of a tiny pueblo in the Andes

Introduction Post

Hi! My name is Blake Allred and I am majoring in International Relations with a minor in Spanish. I chose this major because I love travelling and meeting new people and learning about their cultures and traditions. One of my favorite things about the classes I take is the chance that I have to meet other people from a very diverse range of backgrounds. If all goes well, I will be graduating this semester, so this part of my college journey is coming to an end. I’m still not sure how I feel about this, it is kind of a mixture between excitement and dread, but overall, I am glad I could have such a wonderful experience here at OU and that I am now able to graduate. This summer we went on a family vacation to visit my grandparents who live in rural Colorado. My grandpa is a retired pilot and owns his own plane and built his retirement home right next to a remote airstrip. When we went there this summer, I was able to go out flying with him and even f...

Storytelling "Hans the Hedgehog"

Hans riding his rooster (Source) This is the story of how Hans the Hedgehog became engaged to a princess. Hans was a very special little creature. His parents had tried for so long to have a child, but when Hans was born, they were horrified to see that their little baby had the head and torso of a hedgehog but the legs of a boy. Although they did their best to love him, from an early age Hans could tell that they were horrified and ashamed of their child. He grew very depressed and spent most of his time in the barn with the other animals, like the pigs, donkeys, and his best friend of all, the rooster. Since he was half hedgehog, Hans stopped growing very quickly and remained quite small. Although this surely disappointed his father, it was perfect, for Hans was able to ride around on top of the rooster as if it were a colorful horse. He rode the rooster everywhere, even flying up around the trees that lined his father’s fields. From th...

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