Myth and Folklore

Handsome King of the Apes Bibliography: "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book , ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). Handsome King of the Apes immediately reminded me of Disney's Tangled with its introduction of "FAR, far away to the East... and on this mountain, there is a high rock."  The introductions are really similar, which I thought was pretty cool. This "high rock" is also pretty magical, like the golden flower, as it absorbs all the powers of heaven, earth, the sun, and the moon.  With all this power hidden inside it, the rock has gained some pretty awesome supernatural gifts.  It hatches a stone egg, which hatches a stone ape. The ape, once freed of its stone, is pretty wicked.  "Two streams of golden radiance" come beaming out of his eyes.  It initially scares the Lord of the Heavens, but the two gods - Thousandmile-Eye and Fine-Ear - reassure him that it is only the stone ape who

King of the Dead Osiris lay in the Nile, dismembered and dishonored, as king of nothing. Overthrown from his throne on the divine council, Osiris was left an empty shell of great powerful being he had been. The weeping of Isis and Nepthys was bitter, and Osiris did not wish to hear their cries of grief as his body was pulled from the water. Their cries, however, was the saving grace of the usurped king. Ra heard the lamentations of the goddesses. He was displeased at their pain as well as the crude honor of Osiris’ murderer, Set. Ra delivered Thoth and Horus to assist the god Anubis, who was sent from heaven to reunite Osiris’ body. The severed limbs were united and then swathed in linen bandages. As Anubis sewed his arm to his hand, Osiris could feel his fingers. As his toes were placed back on his foot, he could imagine how little effort it would take to wiggle them again. When Iris flew above him and her great wings blew air into his nose, Osiris once again breathed the air of life.

The Tale of King Rhampsinitus The king decides to build a tower to hold all of his riches.  However, one of the builders put in a secret brick which could be taken out from the outside.  He grew ill and told his two sons of the secret brick.  The two brothers set forth to rob the king of his treasures.  The king was bewildered, for his guards were always vigiliant and they had even begun to set traps for the theives but alas, the treasury continued to be empty! Until one night, one of the brother's was caught.  To avoid being recognized and thus incuring the death of the other brother, he asked for his head to be cut off and taken to their mother.  The last brother did as he was asked, though it was with a heavy heart. The king was even more astounded to find the headless corpse in the tower.  He put the body on display, but the brother managed to trick the guards into drinking.  Once they were drunk, the brother stole the body back.  This infuriated and confused the kin

I choose King of the Dead, which tells the story of Osiris becoming the Judge and King of the dead as well as the origin of the mummy form of the Egyptian god. Osiris was murdered and usurped by Set.  The son of Osiris and Iris, Horus, was actually the rightful king so he raised an army against Set.  They fought and fought through all kinds of battles until Set was driven from the kingdom. Both Set and Horus are healed by the god Thoth, and Osiris returns to be crowned again.  But everyone agrees it is Horus' right to the throne. The story also says that there is another version, in which it ascribes the mummification to Osiris.  His body was in fragments, but Iris - his wife - and Nepthys are incredibly upset.  Their cries are heard by Ra, who is understanding.  He has Anubis, Thoth, and Horus come down from Heaven and reunite the pieces of Osiris before they wrap him in linen cloth.  This is the origin of Osiris as a mummy. Iris flies above her husband and her wings push

The Character of a Husband Image from Pinterest There were three young suitors who had each been told of the great beauty of Coral, the daughter of a merchant.   She was extremely pretty, but Coral also held kindness and grace.   Her three suitors all fell for the gorgeous woman, but she could not choose between the three. Her indecision leads to great anxiety until Coral would no longer eat or sleep.   It was not long before she began to wither away.   For many days, the three lovers mourned.   They were devastated by the loss of Coral’s beauty and her gentle heart.   With broken hearts, they each took a different path of mourning. One suitor remained in the cemetery.   He was unable to move on, the grief of Coral’s death haunting him at all moments of the day.   Each night, he would lie down beside her ashes and each morning he would remain seated at her grave with hollow eyes.   The pain of Coral’s death was simply too much for him. The other two suitors manage

The Three Lovers who brought the Dead Girl to Life.   Whose wife should she be? This story comes from Twenty-Two Goblins , translated by Arthur W. Ryder, with illustrations by Perham W. Nahl. In this story, there are essentially seven characters: two as the storyteller and audience as well as the five characters in the goblin’s story. There is the father of Coral, who is extremely beautiful.   Her three suitors feast on her prettiness “like the birds who live on moonbeams.” The three suitors are devastated when Cora just up and dies in some random twist of fate.   They all take three different routes in life: one stays with her ashes, one goes to dip her bones in the Ganges, and the other becomes a monk and wonders the countries. The monk stumbles upon the house of a man who lives with his family.   After witnessing the man’s magic spell that he used to bring his troublesome child back to life, the monk decides to take the book and use it to bring Coral back to lif