Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology
There were three stories that stuck out to me this week because they were not only interesting, but also because I liked their writing styles. As a kind-of writer myself, these story styles are ones I can see myself recreating for the project.
Story 1: Katherine Neville Fleeson's "The Man in The Moon"
This was a story about a blacksmith who never seemed to be content with where, or what, he was in life. First, he wanted to be up on a mountain as a stone, because the mountains were cold and breezy compared to his job as a blacksmith. Once a stone-cutter came and started to carve on him, he no longer wanted to be a stone because it hurt, and instead wanted to become a stone-cutter. After being a stone-cutter for awhile, he grew tired and his feet hurt, so he wanted to be the sun. He was then the sun, but after that job was hotter than being a blacksmith, he wanted to be the moon. As the moon, he realized that was hotter than being the sun, and wished to be a blacksmith again, as that was "the best life." The wise man granting all of his wishes had finally had enough and refused to turn the man back into a blacksmith. That is how, today, the face of a man is on the moon.
Story 2: Katharine Berry Judson's "The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost"
This is a story of an Indian man who was traveling in the woods, and through his journeys encountered many different ghosts in many different forms. The first ghost he encountered was a woman who was distraught while looking for her son, and he describes her as wearing traditional clothing, being of "the olden days." The Indian man laid still by the fire as to not get her attention as she approached him, yet the ghost came and picked up his leg and dropped it multiple times to see what it was. After a couple times of this, the woman pulled an old, rusty knife out of her front pocket as to cut the man's foot off. The man then sprung up and scared the woman away, as she ran into the forest to never be seen again. The next ghost was a man who was looking for some wasan for his tobacco. The Indian man noticed this ghost was all bones, as when the ghost smoked, he did not have to move his lips and the smoke went out of his body through his open ribs. The ghost then got angry, told the man they must wrestle, and that if the man won he would receive some horses. There was a fire going, and through the whole fight if the ghost was near the fire he would become weak, but if he could pull the man into the woods, he would become strong in the darkness. At the end of the match it was daybreak, and the man made a final push for the fire, where the ghost finally disappeared, and the man killed the enemy and stole the horses, just like the ghost said. That's why people to this day believe what ghosts say.
Story 3: Josef Baudis's "The Three Roses"
This is a story of a mother with three girls who is attending a market in the other town over. The mother is asking her daughters what they want, and while the two older girls give her a huge list, the youngest girls's only request is for three roses. The mother goes to the market and is on her way home when it becomes dark. She looses her path but comes upon a castle with a garden full of the prettiest roses she's ever seen. As an attempt to get her youngest the three roses she requested, the mother is caught by a basilisk who lives in the castle. It insists that the only way the mother can have the roses is if she gives him her daughter for marriage, no questions asked. The mother goes home and tells her youngest this, and she is actually pleased to leave. Once there, the basilisk requests for him to lay his head in her lap for three hours a day no matter what. On the third day, the basilisk demands the girl to cut off his head, and once she does a serpent appears, who she also cuts the head off of. The serpent was then changed into a beautiful man who married the girl and they lived in the castle together forever.
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