Essay: Bidpai

Bidpai
The geese and the tortoise
Picture information

The unit that I read this week was GREAT! All of the stories were very entertaining and easy to read and follow. This unit had similar stories to the unit that I read last week. I am starting to notice some overlap in stories, especially the one about the tortoise and the geese. I believe I have read that story three different times. Each time they have been somewhat different, but the same storyline. The wording and how the story was told varied unit to unit.

This unit would be a great read for pretty much anyone. The stories are not too long, and they all involve an animal as the main character. Therefore, if you love animals then this would be a wonderful unit for you to read. If you have noticed, most of the units that I have read have involved animals. Also, all of the stories have great story lines and themes. This makes storytelling easy and fun. You really get to use your imagination and let the animals tell the story. The themes are also fun to use. They let you really take your storytelling in any direction that you would like to.

The untextbook for this unit was very organized, just like all of the other units. The information provided for the unit is very helpful and accurate. The notes that were provided on a few of the stories were helpful. These notes provided background information for the story and even some extra information about other stories that were similar. The notes provided are always great and I really enjoy them. They help me understand the stories and their relation to the overall unit. I do not think that there are additional notes needed for this unit. It was very well written and easy to understand.  

I would suggest this unit to others and it does not need anything added to it.

Storytelling Week 5: The Lion and his Owner

(The Lion and his Owner)

Once upon a time there was a lion and an owner. The owner had gotten the lion when he was just a cub. He rescued him from being killed because the cub’s mom could not take care of him any longer. The owner fed him bottles, taught him how to eat on his own, a few simple tricks, bought him all the cool toys, and even made him his own sanctuary in his back yard. The owner would do anything and everything for the cub.

Once the cub got older, the two would do everything together. The owner would bring the lion on trips with him, walk him in the neighborhood, and even had parties for him. They were the best of friends.

The lion would help the owner around the house and in the yard. The lion would help him pick all the weeds, help pick up leaves and sticks, pick out pretty flowers, and would even water the yard and garden. The owner even let the lion come inside of his house. The lion would watch television with his owner and help him with basic chores around the house each week.

One day the lion and the owner were out in the backyard. They were prepping the yard to get it ready for spring and their annual spring cook out. They were both so happy and excited about the cookout. The weather was gorgeous and winter seemed to be long gone.

As the day went on, the two got a lot done. Planted new flowers, racked leaves, bought new outdoor furniture, and even some lawn ornaments. However, they noticed that is was starting to get super windy. Before they knew it, the nice hot shinning sun was covered by grey boring clouds. The temperature in the air turned from warm to chilly.

There was a cold front that blew in. That night they ended up getting snow! Therefore, the next morning the lion and the owner had to bring everything that was outside to the garage. This was to save the flowers and the furniture from weathering before their perfect party.

Just as the two were moving a piece of the heavy furniture, the lion noticed something. There was a bee coming near his owner. The lion was so grateful for his owner and knew that his owner was highly allergic to bees. So, the lion dropped the furniture to stop the bee from getting to his owner. However, the furniture landed right on the owner’s foot. He ended up breaking his foot, but the lion killed the bee before it got to his owner. 

"It is better to have a wise enemy than a foolish friend."

Author's Note:
The original story is about a gardener and a bear. The gardener was really nice to the bear and feed him food. The bear then fanned away the files while the gardener took a nap. There was one that would not go away, and the bear got very angry. The bear then threw a stone at the fly, but it hit the gardener as well. In the end, both the fly and the gardener die. The theme of the story was "
It is better to have a wise enemy than a foolish friend." 

I wanted to change the characters and add a different story line. Also, I did not want one of the main characters to die in the end after being so nice. 

Bibliography:
The Bear and The Gardener
This story is part of the Bidpai unit. Story source: The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Barrows Dutton,  with illustrations by E. Boyd Smith, 1908.

Reading Diary B: Tales of Bidpai

Tales of Bidpai

The second part of this unit started out with three separate stories about foxes. Three stories about Foxes The first story had a great lesson. "Because of my own greediness, I must now go supper less to bed" In this story, the fox would have had a great supper of a hen, but instead he heard something much louder. He decided to go for the thing that was much louder and ended up having to go to bed with nothing in his tummy.

Two tortoise stories
This page has two stories on it. The first story is The Tortoise and the Geese. I have read a story very similar to this one in past units. The poor tortoise does not listen and ends up killing himself. The geese were being very nice to him. This story ends more dramatically than I remember however, it says he was dashed to pieces. That sounds very painful.
The second story includes a tortoise and a scorpion. The tortoise was being a nice friend when the scorpion was trying to sting him without thinking. Between these two stories the tortoise is not having the best day.

The Lion and the Hare
This unit ended with a great story of The Lion and the Hare. I like how it incorporated Baghdad as the neighborhood of many wild animals.  Another sad ending for the lion, however.

Lion and Hare Picture

Reading Diary A: Tales of Bidpai

Tales of Bidpai

The Rustic and the Nightingale.
This story was very interesting. After reading the first paragraph, I was unsure what the story was going to be able. The first paragraph was very descriptive about the Rustic's garden. I am glad that the story involved a cute little, nightingale. The picture did a great job of helping the reader, me, picture the bird. I am glad that the bird made the Rustic realize that he was punishing the bird for something so little. I like how the story ended and the Rustic is a good man.

The Two Travelers
After reading the first paragraph of this story, I immediately thought about how many ideas and opportunities that this story could have for storytelling.

The Gardener and the Bear
I enjoyed this story. I can imagine the bear doing everything that he does in the story. I also, like how the story ends with, "It is better to have a wise enemy than a foolish friend." This is a great theme that could be used in many storytelling posts.

The Carpenter and the Ape
This story is a perfect example to not mess with other people's business. The poor monkey cut off part of his tail for doing something that he was not supposed to be doing. It always seems to be the monkeys that are messing up.

Bye bye to the Monkey's tail

Overall, this is a great unit. I cannot wait to read the rest of the unit.