Week 13 Extra Reading Diary: Raja Rasalu

Raja Rasalu

• It seems to be a common motif that there is one good wife/mother and one bad wife/mother. Maybe this is why monogamy works...
• Raja Rasalu's followers are a big contrast to Rama's followers: they are few in number and are frightened by his power, not in awe of it
• I don't quite understand why the guards and old woman won't readily allow Rasalu to go in place of the son to be sacrificed to the giant. What do they care who it is?
• giants being fought - always reminds me of the stories of knights of King Arthur. I took an Arthurian literature class and read tons of these stories

Raja Rasalu bringing the sacrifices to the giant (Source)

• Sooo Raja Rasalu isn't really doing much to fight the giants. They're just running away from him in fear. This should be rewritten to be more interesting
• These are the dumbest giants ever, although giants usually are dumb in stories
• So he just wanted to see if the Queen was really as beautiful as everyone had said? Doesn't want to marry her or anything? This guy is a strange character for sure. I imagine the queen became love sick, like Sita when she saw Rama. 
• Oh okay so he just kind of FELT like being a king and took this kingdom from someone else?? Who the hell is this guy! 

The Dice and the Cricket

• Raja Rasalu kind of seems like a wizard. He did just bring a guy to life like it was nothing
• Hmmm interesting. Magic dice made of graveyard bones. That could be a story somehow

The Maidens Test Rasalu

• A guy has to pass the approval of 69 of this girls closest relatives? Psh, sounds like my family. 
• I gotta say, he's realllly not doing a great job of sucking up to these sisters

Week 13 Reading Diary B: Khasi Folktales (cont'd)

Khasi Folktales

The Leap of Ka Likai

• WTF this guy is seriously messed up. And people say women are over-emotional?
• Honestly, if I learned that I had just eaten the flesh of my own child, I'd probably go crazy, too. 
• Storytelling idea: the mom goes insane and the child comes back to haunt the step father

What Caused the Shadows on the Moon

• Interesting that both water and fire are girls. They probably felt a little neglected here
• This is such a cool story! I love that the sister throws hot ash in her brother's face
• Oddly enough, the moon is normally portrayed as female and the sun and male - why is it switched here?  

The moon (Source)

U Ksuid Tynjang

• This would make an INSANELY scary horror film. Creeeeeepy
• U Ksuid seems more like he should be a sympathetic character rather than the antagonist
• But really...tickling to death? What is this?

Week 13 Reading Diary A: Khasi Folktales

Khasi Folktales

The Tiger and the Monkeys

• I have literally always wondered why the lion is the king of the jungle...here it is the tiger, but still, I have an answer now!
• For being a wild and unruly bunch, I am impressed by their diplomatic counsel to choose a king
• Interesting that the king is chosen based on physical strength rather than wisdom or merit. What if we chose our leaders based on that? (Ahem Arnold Schwarzenegger)
• Brains over brawn, I've always said 

The Legend of the Lei Tree

•  What would the world be like had the wood cutters not listened to the wren, and the tree covered the entire world in shadows?

Lei tree (Source)

Hunting the Stag Lapalang

• This reminds me of something I heard on the radio once. A woman was talking about how much our culture and society holds onto the dead for as long as possible (tombstones, burials, funerals, etc.)

The Goddesses Ka Ngot and Ka Iam

•  Basically the tortoise and the hare

U Biskorum

• This like the story of original sin, except I like this way better because the people are punished as a group. They all messed up, not just one person
• How could I tell the story of Adam and Eve with this plot? 

The Stag and the Snail

• Again, this is very much like the tortoise and the hare! Must be a really important lesson to people for it to be retold so many different times