Myth and Folklore

The Higgledy-Piggledy Palace from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa. Sarah: Sarah was “the wife of the patriarch Abraham and the great mother of the Jewish people.” The woman was extremely beautiful; bewitching beauty, casting a hypnotizing effect on every one that beheld her. She had an awesome complexion that was really clear, meaning she didn’t have to deal with the annoyance of zits and pimples or even stubborn freckles that refused to stay hidden. Abraham: Worry-wart/concerned about his exceedingly beautiful wife being too beautiful, (the story even goes so far as to add) “as if she were something more than human.” During his fleeing from Canaan to Egypt, Abraham grew really worried and anxious about Sarah being so pretty/other-worldly so he gets all paranoid. Paranoia drives him to put Sarah into a big box so 1)     People would stop staring 2)     The Egyptians wouldn’t steal Sarah and put her in the king’s harem. Despite his wo

The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa. The story starts off by establishing the dog and the cat as good friends.   They do a lot of things together, like hunting and supplying food for themselves.   But the two creatures are gravely different: Cat is sly while dog is strong, as the canine and feline both profess.   The cat is also a bit petulant, growing upset when the winter comes and makes the pair go hungry.   Their hunger makes them fall into unhappiness and cat suggests they end their friendship so that the two can take their separate ways and survive. In that scene, and for the rest of the story, she is shown as unfriendly and rather selfish as she terminates their friendship simply because the cat thinks the dog is a fool and too nice.   It’s true that the dog is very kind and good-hearted.   While the cat goes to keep the mice out of Adam’s house, the dog tries to keep those who help his safe.   He scares off attacker