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Stories in the World
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By akko, Section Culture
Posted on Wed Dec 17, 2003 at 08:56:12 PM PST
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Last year, I read some folktales and myths in seminar class. And I thought these stories are really quite fun to read and have good lessons.
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| There are many monsters and folktales in the world. I know only few of them but I think there are similarities to all of the stories of monsters and folktales. Most of monsters are said to be scary. Many of folktales have heroes, and teach us lessons and fear. I think these are the same in any stories in the world.
For example, kappa, one of the Japanese monsters, is also said to be scary. Kappa looks like 3 or 4 years old child with a sharp beak, and lives in both land and water. It is strong on the land and also powerful in the water. It pulls in other animals in the water and kills them. It is said that kappa pull children's feet and make them drawn. However, these days, many people do not believe these stories of monsters anymore, so not many people are scared of kappa. Moreover, there is cute mascot of kappa, so maybe some children think kappa is cute and friendly.
Another example is The Boy Who Cried "Wolf" I knew this story because when I was small, my mother read this story for me. I forgot how I felt at that time when I first heard the story, but I remember that my mom told me not to tell a lie because I will get eaten by a wolf. Therefore, this story teaches us that telling a lie is not good and not being believed by people is fearful.
I was looking at the internet, and I learned that folktales have connection with mythologies. Many of the folktales have the same idea and lessons with mythologies. Also, I think folktales are oral literature, and they were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. However, this culture is disappearing because of spread of television. In old days, there were not televisions so families had more time together talking about many things, like folktales. I think this culture of telling stories by word of mouth is very important for us and later generations. As the spread of television, many of us do not have a lot of imaginations. We only believe what we can see and feel. Therefore, it is important to read and hear stories. Because from the stories, we will develop more imaginations, and these stories teach us lessons and fear of life. |
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