11. The Strong Man and the Dwarf- It's totally going to be a David and Goliath-esque story--I'm calling it now! Awww. . . Just kidding; it's just another story reminiscent of the valiant little tailor. . . :( Basically just another clever little person taking advantage of a less clever but more physically imposing person. For shame, little people, for shame. Especially reusing each other's tricks like that! At least be original! (Though the sneezing-criticism thing was new; just goes to prove that dwarves are bullies with Napoleon complexes.)
12. The Grasshopper and the Ant- "Hen, give me chickens to give to the kites"--does the grasshopper not realize that he's asking the hen to give over comrades/offspring to be eaten? Good luck with that one. . . This whole thing could be so much less complicated if the grasshopper just used a leaf or a twig or a blade of grass or something; why does it need to be the bristle of a sow?! Oooohhh, the barn talks. Nice use of a random inanimate object. (Just a side note, I consider plants like oaks somewhat animate as they are alive, if not vocal. I'll still eat them and chop them down and all, but they are animate. . . ) Why wouldn't you just use the grass?! Gahhhhh. I'm just glad that my friends are (at least slightly) more effective in emergency situations than that grasshopper. Poor little ant. . .13. The King and the Sage- RIDDLES!!! WOOOOO! Awwwww--they weren't actually riddles. Boo. (Also, who says that it is possible for his wife to give birth to a pig and himself to turn into a weird panther-goat amalgamation, but it isn't possible for a poor-looking guy to have been wealthy once? Whattt?!)
14. Teeth and No-Teeth- Ummmmmm, okay. So we have a toothless but clever old man inhaling food and an athletic and proud young man weeping that he doesn't get as much food. Cool.
15. The Fool's Good Fortune- Okay, these stories are just getting curiouser and curiouser. So we have a fool who is happy with a cow, a cow who rips up a tree and finds a pot of gold, a fool who gives said pot (now filled with rocks) to a king, lots of people beating on a fool for various ill-timed remarks, a fool who decides to steal a bell, a bell which frightens robbers, a fool which cuts off a robber's tongue, a fool who steals the robbers' wealth, and a fool who builds three palaces with said wealth. Which means, overall, he had good fortune, I guess? Huh.
16. Two Losses- Another story of an erudite making fun of the laymen and then perishing because he has no common sense/basic skills. Oh, well. Looking at the silver lining, though, there is now one less snobby scholar in the world. . .
17. The Story of Dervish- Where was the explanation about the other magical happenings in the region--such as the skinless deer running away after being killed? Instead we get told a tale about a man turned into a dog who basically kills everything he sees for reward, before being turned back into a man and turning his wife and her lover into donkeys--of the opposite sex. I just. . . I don't get any of these. . .18. The Father's Prophecy- Basically, rank and glory are two very different things, as are virtue and fortune. The father might as well have been paraphrasing Machiavelli's The Prince. (Also, respect your elders, people; come on!)
19. The King's Counsellor- First off, the ambiguity of the word "kid" here worries me; I'm just going to cross my fingers and assume they were talking about another goat. Also, why does this tale lead to the moral of "beware, above all us, of our wives"? It should be something else such as "be grateful of good counsel and acknowledge it as such," or "don't go up in arms over a favored goat." (And of those two, obviously the latter is the more appropriate and logical.)
20. The Hermit Philosopher- He didn't understand. . . and then it hit him! Haha, ha, ha. . . Yeahhhh, I think I've read a few too many of these stories today. . .
Ta-dahhhhhh! Another unit down and more random knowledge acquired! Now to tell a story. . . A piu tardi!
Image Information. Ant on tree; photo by Thomas Quaritsch, 2005. Wikimedia.
A pair of donkeys, Cloghfin; photo by Kenneth Allen, 2012. Geograph.
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