^ F o L k t a L e S ^

Cherry Tree

The People Who Hugged the Tree

The People Who Hugged the Tree


Amrita Devi, centuries ago inspired an entire community to protect their trees. Amrita lived in a mud village on the edge of a forest and each day she ran to her favorite tree and threw her arms around it. She knew the importance of trees in her life; they provided shade from the desert sun, buffered them from great desert storms, and helped them find sources of water. She grew up loving this particular tree, often daydreaming while sitting in its shade, and after she married she continued to visit this tree with her family. One day the mighty Maharajah sent his soldiers into the forests to cut trees for his new fortress. When Amrita heard the soldiers in the forrest she ran to them begging them not to cut down the trees. To no avail! Soon the sound of crashing trees could be heard. Amrita saw her own tree come crashing down! She kneeled and hugged the dying tree. The people of the village heard the soldiers chopping away at the trees and they ran from their homes to the forest and stood by the trees forcing the soldiers to leave in disgust. Word was sent to the Maharajah; he was furious! He gathered his entourage and headed for the village where he met the villagers gathered at the well. He demanded that the soldiers again begin to cut down the trees. The people begged the Maharajah to leave the trees, but their pleas were ignored. The people ran to hug the trees as the soldiers began to chop again. Suddenly a storm came whipping across the desert in its fullest force. After the storm passed the Maharajah saw the damage that had been done to the houses and the fields. Now he understood the importance of the trees to the villagers. He told the villagers he admired their courage and promised them that their trees would not be cut. The villagers rejoiced. The place of Amrita's tree became a special place so the people would never forget the tree's sacrifice. Some believe that even today Amrita comes to visit the spot of her special tree.

*The Indian government named the first National environment Memorial for the village of Rajasthani.

The Magic Boat

Lon Po Po

A woman lived with her three children, Shang. Tao, and Paotze, in the country. One day she left to visit their grandmother leaving the three children alone. She would not be returning until the next day. The old wolf had been watching the house and saw the mother leave. He went to the door, knocked two times and told the children that he was their grandmother, their Po Po, coming to visit them. The wolf tricked the children into letting him inside the house and into their bed. They questioned his low voice, his foot with a bush on it, his hands with thorns on them. The eldest child recognized the wolf and devised a plan to get him. They ran from the house and climbed the nearby gingko tree. They convinced the wolf to tie a rope to a basket, climb into a basket, and throw the rope up to them so they could pull him up the tree and he could sample the ginko nuts. As they pulled the wolf up the tree they let go of the ropes so that he fell to the ground. They did this several times until he was finally dead and no longer a threat to them. The children climbed down the tree and ran into the house where they waited until their mother returned. The next day she arrived from the real Po Po's house with baskets of food.

Lon Po Po

The Magic Tapestry

Two of Everything


Old Mr. Haktak found a large brass pot while digging in his garden. He drug the pot home to show Mrs. Haktak. They are excited over finding this brass pot for they are poor and have few worldly possessions. Before returning home with the newly found pot Mr. Haktak had placed his purse with their last 5 gold coins in the pot so as not to drop it on the way home. When he arrived Mrs. Haktak leaned into the pot to take a closer look and dropped one of her hair pins. As she reached for it she found another pin and two purses with 5 gold coins in each.They then began to drop items into the pot and soon had two of everything. One day Mrs. Haktak leaned too far into the pot and on pulling her out by her legs, Mr. Haktak found that he had two Mrs. Haktaks. This presented a problem. In his excitement he fell back into the pot and soon there was a second Mr. Haktak. The two new Haktaks became man and wife and friends with the original Haktaks. Soon the two couples built identical houses next to each other with identical teapots, rice bowls, embroideries, and bamboo furniture.

Mr.Chang and the Yellow Robe



Each day Mr. Chang went about his business dressed in his plain colored clothes, black hat and black shoes. One day he decided he was tired of looking like everyone else and wanted to dress in bright beautiful colors. While on the street the governor, Mr. Mo, passed by in his sedan chair. He was wearing a bright beautiful golden robe, and all the towns' people stopped to bow to him. Mr. Mo held his head high and ignored them. Mr. Chang loved the yellow robe and was impressed by the governor's importance. He went to the tailor and asked for a mandarin's yellow robe for himself. The tailor was shocked at such a request for only the most important people were allowed to wear such a robe. Mr. Chang insisted. The tailor happened to have one in a trunk and sold it to Mr. Chang, but again warned him not to wear it in public. Each day Mr. Chang would arrive home, put on his golden robe, look at himself in the mirror and feel important. When he went out he put his plain clothes over the golden robe to conceal it. He soon took on a haughty air, not speaking or looking at his neighbors, just walking alone with his head held high. One day as he was resting on a river bank wearing his golden robe he heard the screams of two little girls. They had been playing badminton and their shuttlecock was in the river. Mr. Chang jumped up to help them. They saw his golden robe and told him not to bother for he was too important to help with such a small task. Mr. Chang ignored the comments of the little girls and retrieved their shuttlecock. After returning the shuttlecock to the girls he hurried away to cover his golden robe. As he was returning home a dog grabbed the hem of his plain clothes exposing his yellow robe hidden underneath. The people saw this, had him arrested and taken before Mr. Mo. The governor was furious at Mr. Chang for wearing the golden robe and wanted to punish him. The two little girls Mr. Chang had helped were hiding behind a pillar and heard their father speaking in harsh tones to Mr. Chang. They rushed to Mr. Chang's rescue. The girls told their father how Mr. Chang had helped them. Mr. Mo was grateful and invited Mr. Chang to the palace the next night for a fireworks display. He would be permitted to wear the golden robe for one night. Mr. Chang did not go to the palace but stayed home wearing his plain clothes. After the fireworks he gazed at the stars and decided that he was like them, "not as bright as the sun or moon but special just like each of the stars."

Yeh-Shen, A Cinderella Story


During the time of the Ch'in and Han dynasties, a cave chief named Wu married two wives and each gave birth to baby girls. Before long Chief Wu and one wife died leaving one baby, Yeh-Shen, to be reared by her stepmother. The stepmother didn't like Yeh-Shen for she was more beautiful and kinder than her own daughter so she treated her poorly. Yeh-Shen was given the worse jobs and the only friend she had was a beautiful fish with big golden eyes . Each day the fish came out of the water onto the bank to be fed by Yeh-Shen. Now Yen-Shen had little food for herself but she was willing to share with the fish. Her stepmother hearing about the fish disguised herself as Yen-Shen and enticed the fish from the water. She stabbed it with a dagger, and cooked the fish for dinner. Yeh-Shen was distraught when she learned of the fish's death. As she sat crying she heard a voice and looked up to see a wise old man wearing the coarsest of clothes and with hair hanging down over his shoulders. He told her that the bones of the fish were filled with a powerful spirit, and that when she was in serious need she was to kneel before the bones and tell them of her heart's desires. She was warned not to waste their gifts. Yeh-Shen retrieved the bones from the trash heap and hid them in a safe place. Time passed and the spring festival was nearing. This was a time when the young people gathered in the village to meet one another and to find husbands and wives. Yen-Shen longed to go to the festival but her stepmother wouldn't allow it because she feared that someone would pick Yeh-Shen rather than her own daughter. The stepmother and the daughter left for the festival leaving Yeh-Shen behind. Yeh-Shen wanting desperately to go asked the bones for clothes to wear to the festival. Suddenly she was wearing a beautiful gown of azure blue with a cloak of kingfisher feathers draped around her shoulders. On her feet were beautiful slippers.They were woven of golden threads in a pattern of a scaled fish and the soles were made of solid gold. When she walked she felt lighter than air. She was warned not to lose the slippers. Yeh-Shen arrived at the festival and soon all were looking her way. The daughter and step-mother moved closer to her for they seemed to recognize this beautiful person. Seeing that she would be found out, Yeh-Shen dashed out of the village leaving behind one of the golden slippers. When she arrived home she was dressed again in her rags. She spoke again to the bones, but they were now silent. Saddened she put the one golden slipper in her bedstraw. After a time a merchant found the lost slipper, and seeing the value in the golden slipper sold it to a merchant who gave it to the king of the island kingdom of T'o Han. Now the king wanted to find the owner of this tiny beautiful slipper. He sent his people to search the kingdom but no ones foot would fit in the tiny golden slipper. He had the slipper placed on display in a pavilion on the side of the road where the slipper had been found with an announcement that the shoe was to be returned to the owner. The king's men waited out of site. All the women came to try on the shoe. One dark night Yeh-Shen slipped quietly across the pavilion, took the tiny golden slipper and turned to leave, but the king's men rushed out and arrested her. She was taken to the king who was furious for he couldn't believe that any one in rags could possibly own a golden slipper. As he looked closer at her face he was struck by her beauty and he noticed she had the tiniest feet. The king and his men returned home with her where she produced the other slipper. As she slipped on the two slippers her rags turned into the beautiful gown and cloak she had worn to the festival. The king realized that she was the one for him. They married and lived happily ever after. However, the stepmother and daughter were never allowed to visit Yeh-Shen and were forced to continue to live in their cave until the day they were crushed to death in a shower of flying stones.

In this part, we will explain you about the definitions of folktale from many sites around the world.
Pada bagian ini, kami akan menjelaskan kepada anda definisi - definisi atau pengertian - pengertian Folktale dari berbagai situs di seluruh dunia - dalam bahasa Inggris.

# a tale circulated by word of mouth among the common folk
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

# 1. Folklore culture, including stories, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of that culture, subculture, or group.
2. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folktale

# A tale or story that is part of the oral tradition of a people or a place
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/folktale


# folk tale - Alternative spelling of folktale
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/folk_tale

# a traditional tale.
www.louisianavoices.org/edu_glossary.html

# A story originating in oral tradition. Folktales fall into a variety of categories, including legends, ghost stories, fairy tales, Fables, and ...
www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/glossary/glossary_fh.htm

# folk tale - An account, legend, or story that is passed along orally from generation to generation. Folk talks are of unknown authorship.
library.thinkquest.org/23846/library/terms/index.html

# a narrative form, as an epic, legend, myth, fable, etc., that is or had been retold within culture for generations and is well known through repeated storytelling, as an Anansi tale.
www.nde.state.ne.us/READ/FRAMEWORK/glossary/general_f-j.html

# a simple, timeless story that deals with the customs,traditions, and beliefs of ordinary people.
www.daffodil.ca/english/glossary_of_literary_terms_dir/glossary_of_literary_terms_3.html

# folk tale - A traditional story with a moral or lesson handed down by people of a region from one generation to the next
www.thinkport.org/5d8dadfd-d99a-4295-88ce-ca8a39e449ff.asset

# folk tale - A short narrative passed down to generations through the oral tradition.
mrmacconnell.com/Documents/GuidetoLiteraryterms(new).doc