Reading Notes Week 4: Jewish Fairy Tales A

 Jewish Fairy Tales A

The Giant of the Flood

• giant says he can get unicorn for noah and he does but noah has to have it swim behind the ark since it is huge
• giant rides on its back and eats the unicorns food but noah doesn't argue because he fears the giants size. This continues until the flood ends but the giant makes a deal with noah if he keeps feeding him Og will be the servant of him and his descendants
• he agrees sadly and does not eat for a couple days and shrinks a bit. on landfall he wants to relax but instead noah has him carry the seed bag as they re till the earth and when planting grape vines Og asks if it is food or drink and noah said both, because you can make wine,
• Og likes this and asks if he can make an offering, noah says yes and Og sacrifices a lamb so when man drinks some wine he is docile like a lamb and then a lion for when he drinks more he is bolder and kind of wily. then a pig so when more is drunk men behave like pigs. then a monkey because when even more is drunk men will act like fools
• Og drank too  much and when abraham was his master he would scold him so bad that Og's tooth fell out and was carved into an Ivory chair
• Og then opposed the Isrealites when fighting for Caanan and lifts a mountain to crush them all but grasshoppers and bugs had made so many holes in it it crumbled and fell around his neck trapping him then tiny Moses jumped his height and cut the ankle of Og killing him

The Beggar King

• when being read the holy book it said that riches are not forever but the legacy of a king is. this angered the king so he ripped out that page and demanded the same for everything that went against him then threw the holy book
• he then went on his hunt and chased a deer across a river where it was then stuck in a branch but when he approached the deer it was a young man in deer skin who was a genie that lured him there to teach a lesson
• the genie switched clothes with the king and took his place while the king was mistaken as a beggar and refused aide in exchange for work and instead went to the palace and claimed he was the king but was not believed
• the poor helped the king believing him to be another beggar and knowing that he must somehow survive the king tries manual labor to earn his keep but is not used to that and didn't work out, instead he becomes the guide for a group of blind beggars who were left by the prior guide
• Genie as king throws a feast for all beggars several months later and asks to talk to each when it is the real King's turn he is asked if he is a beggar and he says no he is lower than that and is employed by beggars.
• Genie reveals he knows it is the king and says he learned a lesson and switches back with the king who now rules wisely and kindly.

Quarrel of the Cat and Dog

• dog and cat were best friends when earth started but when winter came they couldnt both find food and dissolved the alliance but not before the dog grew melancholy and the cat sly and grouchy
• the dog thinks he will be alright because he was strong and the cat plans to use this against the dog
• cat says she will go to adam's house and eat the mice and adam will be happy to be rid of them and suggests that they never cross paths so it will be a proper terminated agreement since the serpent said so and he is the wisest animal according to the cat
• they parted ways with the sad dog looking back but not the cat.
• cat goes to adam and says she will rid house of mice in return for nothing else and she grew fat and adam treated her well
• the dog struggled and could not find food for 3 days when he came across a wolves den who felt bad and gave him scraps and was allowed to sleep there. during the night he heard footsteps and told the wolf who told him to scare it away
• he did so but they were wild animals that allmost killed him and cleaned himself after wandering again for food and shelter
• he then sees a monkey and begs for food and shelter and was told to go away and was pelted with coconuts. he then approaches sheep who show mercy if he protects them from the wolf and he does so willingly
• when wolves arrive the dog barks to alert them but some sheep ran directly to the wolves. the dog feels awful and decides to stay away from all animals
• whenever he encountered one he ran away and maintained low traffic routes until he was so thin he could barely crawl and finally he begged for food from a man at his home and warned the man of a raid wild animals were making, the man jumped up and drove them away.
• he then rewarded the dog with shelter and companionship but the dog was reluctant but adam said he must 
• the cat was angered that they crossed paths but adam said their was plenty of room and that dog did not know she was there. the dog even apologized but she tried to scratch
• the cat started fights constantly and dog decided to leave but adam asked that he stay but he says he has a home at the house of seth. 
• adam asks that he befriend the cat and dog says he would but she wont let me  and adam lost his patience and said they seem to squabble forever
• this was true and cats refused to be friendly to dogs ever again

The Water-Babe

• Princess Bathia (daughter of Pharoh) spotted a baby in a basket floating on the nile. she named him Moses and brought  him up as her own
• he was a cure and fun boy and even the cruel pharoh ( who demanded Hebrew baby boys be killed) loved to play with him. that infuriated ministers and magicians and warned him not to do so
• they only laughed at this and went on. when moses was 3 Bathia threw him a party attended by the whole court and moses would have rather played and asked the pharoh what all this was for while tugging his beard and was warned by Bilam the chief magician that it was not play
• Bathia told pharoh to ignore it since Bilam is always warning him about silly things and to just play with him.
• Moses asks about the crown refering to it as a funny hat and asks if he could wear it and takes it before pharoh could stop him Bathia laughs but Balim warns that the child is already trying for the crwon.
• Pharoah asks Reuel his second magician what he thinks and Reuel thinks that Moses was just being a baby but Bilam is still throwing a fit and claims he was a Hebrew boy and if grown up he will rebel and destroy him
• this caught Pharoah's attention since he was kind of annoyed with moses and ordered 3 judges to try him for that crime
• Moses thinks this is a game while Reuel defends him and Bilam goes against him. The judges say that if moses can tell the difference between fire and jewels he was guilty if he chooses jewels and if he chooses fire he is just a clueless baby
• Bathia tries to motion to him but Bilam stops her and she is comforted by Reuel who gave her his magic staff to make a wish as it was passed down from Adam himself
• she wishes that Moses picks the fire and he does and burns him self but tried to ease his pain by putting fingers in his mouth which burns him and he speaks with a lisp
• Bathia picks up moses and Reuel takes his stick back and swears to protect moses and asks if she can read the inscription and she cannot but whoever can will understand everything even thoughts of animal
• years later moses marries daughter of Reuel who became a hebrew by name of Jethro. and flees egypt. when Reuel is planting the magic stick moses sees it and reads the magic word causing the stick to come up and this is the staff he used to free the Israelite

From Shepherd Boy to King

• David was a shepherd boy who went for a stroll after his work was done, he could hear the sounds of nature as if they were speaking to him. he loved to sing as he was a poet and whilst doing so he heard a voice say he will be king 
• he turns around and sees nothing but a hill he approaches it and as he gets closer he sees a tree on top with no leaves. he makes his way to the top but it is really quiet.
• he notices nothing has grown and when he gets to the top he realizes the tree is horn and that the ground is hide, he stays not being afraid when the hill moves and he is aware that this is a unicorn
• he makes a plan to jump down when the unicorn bows its head for food or drink
• as this happens a lion comes by and demands the unicorn bow to him as he is king of the land. the unicorn does this but David didn't see the lion from high up so he hops off the unicorn face to face with the lion and draws his knige
• just then a deer cries out that he will save David and scoops him up. th elion chases them but the deer is fast and just before reaching human civilization the deer stops and tells David he was sent to rescue him because he will one day be king
• the deer runs off and David remembers this encounter and one day is king and turns his songs into the Psalms of the bible.

The Magic Palace

• Ibrahim was a proud man with a wife and 5 young sons. he fell on hard times and went as long as he could before seeking help he even borrowed better clothes from his neighbor
• he went to search for work outside of town so no one would know his struggle, not out of embarassment but because he did not want to inconvenience his neighbors who would have surely helped him
• he runs into an arab man who claims he is a slave and will be Ibrahim's, Ibrahim protests as he himself is poor but the arab man shows him his architectural designs and asks him to claim him as his slave and that surely someone he knows needs a building because no one will listen to him but Ibrahim is respected
• Ibrahim does this and finds a Jeweler who requests a palace and the arab man shows his designs and the jeweler pays Ibrahim 80000 gold for the slave and his work.
• the jeweler explains he will get the arab man workers in due time but the man denies them and says he will have the palace done by tomorrow morning in exchange for freedom and goes to the location and prays.
• that night the merchant dreams of tons of workers constructing the palace that seems to magically erect. Ibrahim has the same dream but he focuses on the arab man who the workers call by name and then he wakes up
• both men wake up with glittering light in their eyes from the glorious palace and both arrive at the same time and greet the man who asks if he is free now and if his work is satisfactory, the jeweler thinks it more than satisfies and frees the man who disappears inside the palace
• both men run around looking for the builder before the jeweler asks who the man was, Ibrahim said it was Elijah the Prophet and benefactor of man who assisted Ibrahim in distress. 
• The jeweler throws a feast for the whole city in the new palace to celebrate scattering silver and gold to the crowds.

Magic Palace

Source

Bibliography

Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends, Gertrude Landa Text Source