Extra Credit Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales, Part A

 The Beggar King


Story source: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919).

Original Source

Plot:

Proud King Hagag sat and listened to his priest read a passage about how riches don't last forever. 

He grew mad at this and asked who wrote those words. 

When the priest told him it was from the book the king took the book and ripped out those pages. 

Then the king went hunting a deer that eventually got caught in some tree branches. 

The deer freed itself and the king continues after it on foot.

He turned a corner and didn't see a deer but a young man in deer skin panting.

He said he is a genie that lured the king there. 

The genie disguised himself as the king and met the other men.

The king cried and was met by a woodcutter. 

HE tried to tell the woodcutter he was the king but instead the woodcutter laughed and made him work.

The king lost all wealth and was essentially a begger. 

Months later the 'king' had a feast for all the beggars.

The real king went to talk to the genie, when the genie asked if he was a beggar he said that he was a guide to blind beggars. 

The genie felt that he had learned his lesson and restored him to his former status. 

Thoughts:
I love how this story removes the king from power. Very often in biblical texts, we see simple blessings of wisdom or strength gave but never learned. This is a cool instance where wisdom is cultivated and grown instead of simply given. I love to see that and I think it is much more valuable than if it were simply given.


Comments

  1. Laura GibbsAugust 17, 2020 at 1:42 PM

    Just to say I am so glad you got a chance to read this story; it is one of my all-time favorite folktales, and it became famous throughout Europe also, in addition to being a famous Jewish legend. So, now you see how the extra reading works; it can be a chance to read more from the UnTextbook if you want and/or it can be a way to get credit for doing reading that is in support of your Storybook project if you decide to go that route. But you might just want to do a Portfolio, which is based on choosing your favorite stories from your blog since you have so many stories to choose from which could be developed in powerful ways! :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Personal Introduction

Image
    Hello, One and All,     My name is Kevin (Kev) Grane. I am a senior here at the University of Oklahoma. I am originally from Plano, Texas where I graduated Plano West Senior Highschool in a class of 1,350. I came to the University of Oklahoma to pursue a degree in religious studies and a minor in health and exercise. I have done quite a bit of study abroad at OU. I am just now returning from a semester at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. I will include a picture of the University of Edinburgh below. University of Edinburgh     This summer I had an awesome opportunity to be a research fellow with Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, I was unable to research in person but I was glad to participate via Zoom. This summer we studied Jewish spirituality and Mysticism in the 21st century. This means we looked at how traditional sects of Judaism viewed their faith as opposed to modern sects. This quickly became a spectrum of each sect identifying on a scale branching from
Read more

Week 5 Story

Image
Rama and Lakshmana ‘dead’ Story source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).           “R…ama… Rama… can you move?” Said Lakshmana.      “Hardly” replied Rama. “I can’t feel my legs.”      “you think this is the end brother?”      “It is never the end. As long as there is breath in my lounges I won’t stop until Ravana is destroyed. This world has been plagued in darkness long enough Lakshmana, and I intend to stop it, whatever the cost. For the enemy is mighty, this is true, but I am Rama. Savior of the land **stands slowly to his feet** and on this day darkness will be reminded once more of the strength of the light” Declared Rama.      Unknown to Rama, Hanuman and company were nearby searching the field for survivors. As Rama stood Hanuman called to those around “come and see, our champion has not fallen! Rama has strength in him yet!”      Hanuman ran to Rama and embraced him. Rama's full weight collapsing instantly into the hands of Han
Read more