Week 4 Essay: Facing Our Fears

In the Turkish Fairy Tales unit, several stories from Ignacz Kunos's Forty-Four Turkish Fairy Tales depict many obstacles that are what is considered pretty common fears in the modern day. While none of the stories reminded me of the horror genre, the fears the characters face make the plots very interesting to read because they are so easily able to relate to.

For instance, the first two stories Fear and Fear (cont.) address a character that is unsure if he knows what fear is. He goes through several situations that remind me of ghostly stories people tell to try to frighten one another. The situations include confronting ghosts, aggressive people, and monsters. While many of the fears are irrational, people still share these fears in modern day. People are weary of ghosts, harmful people, imaginary monsters under the bed and in our nightmares. These are just a few examples that from the fairy tales of this unit.

The monster in the sea.

(Image Information: "Perilous Position of HMS 'Terror,' Captain Back, in the Arctic Regions in the Summer of 1837," by William Smyth R.N. 1800-1877. Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

Another example of modern fears comes from The Wizard-Dervish (cont.). The couple is running from the woman's mother because she is a witch and does not approve of their marriage. Often enough in modern life we run from the people that do not approve of us or our decisions. This story is a good example of a very rational fear. In The Fish-Peri (cont.) story, the man is afraid of losing his wife to another man with more power, more money, and more fame.

Each character overcomes the fears and the obstacles eventually in their own way. That is very inspirational.

There are many more examples of fear that can be compared to our own in real life from these stories of this unit. I think by reading this unit, it is easy to relate and I really enjoyed reading them because I could compare them to situations happening. I believe people enjoy reading stories that make sense or they can relate to and that may be why this unit is very fun. Frightening stories can really make the experience thrilling. For some people frightening stories can heighten their sense of fear, but for others it can calm them, which is why I think the topic of fear as a plot is easily expanded on.

Bibliography:
Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos with illustrations by Willy Pogany (1913). Web Source: Fourty-four Turkish Fairy Tales.

Storytelling for Week 4: He Who Seeks Fear

The three magical maidens watched him from afar, wondering what it was about this particular young man that he seemed to know no fear. Not once in their lifetime had they witnessed such a mortal being. In fact, the three maidens often spent their time amusing themselves through scaring wandering men and women. They had heard of the youth from a bird. The bird overheard him speaking to his mother one night about what it was to be afraid, to which the bird quickly returned to its informants.

The maidens were very excited as the youth traveled in search of fear. The first maiden, disguised as a pigeon, followed him closely as he approached the gang of robbers, folk she often tormented through her ghastly disguise.

“I am seeking fear,” the boy commented.

Fear he would surely find, thought the maiden as she took her ghostly form in the nearby cemetery. As the youth began to make the sweets per the robbers’ instructions, she reached out with her transparent hand. To her surprise, he struck her with the spoon! Howling in pain, the maiden took off.

The Ghostly Hand

(Image Information: Ghost Mouth painting by Tokwa Peñaflorida. 2014. Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

The second maiden heard of the first maiden’s failure, surprised to see the woman muttering about in the gardens. It was time for a true terror professional to attempt this challenge! Thus, the second maiden took off in joy, ready to show the other two women that it took a real trickster to win this one.

On the raised platform, the second maiden sat in the swing for a moment, pretending to weep in sorrow. As the young man approached, she took off running towards the room to greet him.

“You saw the child crying? Raise me upon your shoulders so that I may comfort her,” she requested.

Upon his shoulders, she twisted her legs around his throat until he fell backwards gasping for breath. She tumbled away from him, surprised that even at the brink of death, he was not afraid. It was a challenge she knew she could not defeat. 

Returning to the gardens, she sighed. Only then did the second maiden realize she lost her bracelet, won off some old fool that she easily spooked.

The third maiden was astonished. Truly the youth could not be mortal if he was afraid of neither ghost nor suffocation! Her hand must play a part in defeating the young lad, she thought.

The little bird told the third maiden where to find the man, and after moments of consideration, she dove into the sea and took the form of a large sea creature. Shaking the vessels in the water, she taunted the youth, but he quickly dove in after her and fended her off by flogging her. She grimaced and returned to the garden.

All three maidens walked to the fountain and sat down, discussing their adventures with the lad.

“The youth feared naught even as a hand reached out!” chimed the first.

“The youth feared naught even as I strangled him!” chimed the second.

“Alas, the youth feared naught as he chased me from the sea!” chimed the third.

To his health they drank, amused by the one mortal man without fear.

Author's Note:  The original story from the Turkish Fairy Tales unit, Fear, is told from the youth's point of view. He seeks out what it is to be afraid and each of these circumstances occur from his point of view yet none of them frighten him. At the end, the maidens transform to their beautiful selves before him while they praise his ability to know no fear. I decided to write my story from the maidens' point of views in order to portray them more as tricksters than testing him, to which they are surprised. I made it seem more like a game to them.

Bibliography:
"Fear." Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos with illustrations by Willy Pogany (1913). Web source: Fear.

Week 4 Reading Diary: Turkish Fairy Tales

These are notes over the Turkish Fairy Tales unit.

Fear: A woman tells her son about fear and he sets off in search of understanding what fear is. He meets the robbers who are fearful of ghosts. He does not fear them. He also does not fear the second ghost. He meets Deniz Kyzy, Daughter of the Sea shaking a boat. The boy gets her to leave. Again, he does not fear her. He comes to the alter of goddesses who praise him for never once fearing any of them.

Fear (cont.): The maidens give him the second bracelet to return to the Cadi. He brings back the first bracelet and then returns to finding fear. He was hailed as the new Shah of the country and was not informed that the Shah usually dies. The Sultana (or queen) was able to spook him by scaring him suddenly with a trick, a bird under the soup cover. His mother was brought to him in the palace and the ending was happy.

The Wizard-Dervish: The Great King has no son and was told by the wandering monk that it was the source of his sorrow. The dervish, or monk, gives him a secret to get him a son by using his supernatural powers.The Great King did indeed have a son! At 12 years of age, the dervish kidnaps the little prince and he meets his daughter, who can transform into a dove. The dervish beat the prince until he was happy, understanding that the prince knew nothing. He ends up marrying the girl. Turns out her mother is a witch.

The Wizard-Dervish (cont).: The witch mother is not happy with their marriage and in order to escape her, the maiden turns the boy into a garden and herself into a gardener. As soon as they fooled the mother, they returned on their way until she found them again. This time she turned them into a baker and oven. Again, she turns them into a pond and duck. Finally they hide in an inn and the boy goes to look for carriage, but the dervish finds him and takes him back to the palace. The palace was still in the time of the wedding, so he thinks it's all a dream. The dove finds him and is sad. In the end, he still marries the dove maiden.

The Fish-Peri:  Mahomet, a fisherman, dies and made his wife never tell their son about the fishing. The boy ended up alone and poor, but one day he found his father's net and realized he had been a fisherman. During his fishing trips, his home would magically be cleaned. Turns out it was the fish that turned into a beautiful maiden. She finally becomes his wife, but the Great King becomes jealous and challenges the boy for his wife. The wife, however, sends him on his way telling him not to worry because she desired a cushion.

The Fish-Peri (cont.): The boy had thrown the cushion where the palace was to be built and magic happened. The Padishah, or Greak King, next desires a crystal bridge and the maiden tells the boy to find the Arab and cast the bolster into the sea. The bridge is made. The third test was to throw a feast so magnificent. He gets the coffee-mill but drops it on the way. The next task is to produce a mule from an egg. He accidentally dropped one of the three, and thus he produces only two mules. The Padishah asks for a baby only days old that can speak and walk. The Arab finds him one. The baby beat up the Padishah and the boy was given permission to wed.

The Crow-Peri: Similar to the fisherman, there was a man who caught birds to sell. His son was left without knowing his fathers occupation but finds out anyway. He sells a beautiful bird to the Padishah and the bird is put into a golden cage. The boy was given tons of gold. A lala was jealous and told the Great King to make the boy gather ivory for a new cage. The magic crow helped the boy find it, but the bird of the Great King did not sing. The boy was instructed to find the owner.

The Crow-Peri (cont.): The crow helps the boy again. A ship was built according to the crow's instructions and sailed right. The Queen of mountain is the owner. He takes only the fairy on board and sails away. The fairy was taken to the palace and the bird began to sing. The Padishah married the Queen, but one day the Queen falls ill. With a feather from the crow, he is able to pass the lion guards and save her with the fairy medicine. In the end, the crow was a punished fairy servant but she was forgiven for helping the Queen. The bird-catcher marries her.

Patience-Stone and Patience-Knife: This one is about a poor woman's daughter. Mysterious animals keep telling her that her fate is with a dad man. It drove her crazy.