Yum, Yum, Run, Run

I am really enjoying these readings. My favorite by far has been The Two Traveling Companions. I think it has been my favorite so far because of the fact that the tailor is so much of a human. What I mean by this is he isn’t a knight who is beyond legends and can overcome anything with his sword and his strength. The tailor also is affected by stress and fear unlike many heroes we see who fear nothing. The tailor fears the consequences of the king if he cannot complete the tasks the kings asks for him to. He is not arrogant and does not foolishly think he can do these tasks without any trouble. Instead, he fears he will fail and he runs from fear of the consequences. Although this can be seen as cowardly, it can also be seen as smart. The tailor also shows compassion towards many different creatures and in return he receives their help in his time of need. This is what I like about this story the most; you cannot do everything on your own and you should always help those who need it so when you need help yourself, they will feel more inclined to help you.  Also, let’s be honest, I like seeing justice being served. Therefore, when the shoemaker lost his way at the end, I was sort of happy.

The next reading I really want to talk about is Hans My-Hedgehog. This story was interesting to say the least. A boy born to a mother and father who is half boy, half hedgehog and can play the bagpipes, what else is there to say? Oh yeah, he can “take off” his hedgehog half off his body and turn into a normal looking boy. When I read this I was completely shocked, I did not see that coming. I understand the whole reason behind not taking it off in the very beginning, but it kind of still seems weird he didn’t take it off sooner.  I also didn’t like the fact that the boy let his father return with him to the kingdom with him. He didn’t want you when you were a hedgehog-boy, why would you want him now?

Finally, The Cat and the Mouse Set Up House was a fun read as well. This reading had an ending I didn’t see coming. . . not. I knew as soon as the cat started eating the fat that it was going to come winter time and there would be no food left to eat so the cat would end up eating the mouse. Although it didn’t quite end up as I thought, the mouse still ended up being eaten. What can you expect? It is a cat and a mouse. Not quite sure what the lesson here would be; don’t say too much? Either way, this reading was funny; I loved the names the cat came up with; come on mouse, those names were a dead give away from the very beginning.

These readings have been very interesting; it is fun to read these stories in the non-Disney version. They have some of the same elements as the Disney movies, but have many differing elements as well; especially the cannibalism, murder, and mutilation elements of them.

Act 1 Scene 1 aaaaand Lost

First, I love Shakespeare. I have read some of his work. However, this is my first time reading The Tempest. I am not going to lie; I am a little lost on what is happening in this act. I think I have the general gist of the section, but I am hoping someone could help me understand it a little more. From what I am understanding, the first part is having the characters on board a ship with a storm happening. I had to look back at the list of characters multiple times to remember who is who, so I may have missed something. The second part with Miranda and Prospero I understood a lot more than the first part. I believe what is happening here is the father and daughter are talking about the circumstances that brought them to the island they are living on. What I got out of this is the ex-duke, Prospero, was betrayed by his brother and put on a ship with his daughter and were put on the island for twelve years. The brother did this to become the new duke I believe. What I had the most trouble with was the ending of the act where Prospero, Miranda, and Caliban are talking. Is Caliban being disrespectful to his master, Prospero, or is he just joking around? Then when Ariel comes in I got confused who she was and what she was doing. Again, I have read Shakespeare before, but I am having trouble with this first act trying to understand what is happening. Sorry for writing a blog such as this one; usually I try to talk about what we read and my insight into it, but I am not going to be in class on Monday so I am trying to get an understanding so I am not lost on the next two acts. 

 I would really appreciate any help on this subject (they say teaching someone helps to teach you). 

Two Faced and Belief Seller

Finally, I nice amount of pages to read. The past few readings have had some interesting parts, but this chapter is one of my favorite chapters so far. The last few readings have had parts that were very disturbing but (sorry not sorry) very fun to read such as infanticide and filicide, devil’s piss in a vase, anus kissing, and eating of infants. These readings have been fun, but chapter 7 has more of the type of flow I like when reading.

                The part that I liked the best in chapter 7 was Strix. This type of reading is what I was hoping for in this class. This type of reading holds my attention better when reading and I can therefore remember and comprehend more of what I read. The part that fascinated me the most about this reading was how fast Apistius changed his mind about the existence of witches. It seriously feels like he in one second denies the existence of witches and in the next he believes in them wholly. I also laughed at the very end when he says, “And because I have changed the habit of my mind, from here on I wish also to change my name.” If someone said that to me I would be like, “Okay dude, you have been named X. for your whole life up to this moment but if you want to be called a new name on a whim, who am I to stop you?”

I also enjoyed the first reading, A Terrible Case of Sorcery in Orléans. This reading, too, was the type I enjoy. This reading is one that I had to read twice to fully comprehend, but I enjoyed it both times. The exciting part about this reading came from the fact that the entire family had something to do with witchcraft. The other aspect of this reading I liked is the fact that this may be the first instance of an undercover person I have read about during this time period. The monk acted as a double agent in this story and may be the first person to be one.

This reading was a nice short one that I really enjoyed. Can’t wait until we get into Harry Potter and Shakespeare 

All the Witches in the Room Say, "Aye"

This was a fun read tonight. What a way to start off the week by reading about infanticide and depravities of the ugliest nature. While reading most of the parts in this chapter I found myself thinking, “Wow!” I also kept saying to myself, “Wait, what did they just say?” I reread many parts of this chapter more than twice. Many of the parts in here that I reread dealt with the killing of infants and filicide. I kept thinking to myself, “How could someone kill their own child and then consume them either in liquid or cooked form?” I cannot even begin to think about doing such a thing. In the beginning of the chapter, there was an idea that I thought was funny because of the reality it still has today, “The greater the urgency for and frustration of reform, the worse appeared the evils that reform was needed to combat.” Although I have not actually dealt with the evils being described here, I made the connection to the idea that the worse you make something in your head, the worse it will be in real life. To this extent, when people thought about how bad the things being thought about are, it is no wonder people feared witches and sorcery so much.

On that same page, it is talked how sorcery must be collaborative and that “… the individual sorcerer, of course, should be apprehended and punished, but the sorcerer also ought to be forced to reveal other members of the group (page 150).” This idea of “point the finger” follows to date. Although a lot of people today would be considered a snitch, courts still ask that members of certain groups help identify others in the group. Compared to today, however, the burden of proof would be much lower. If you are accused of witchcraft back then, it would take a lot less evidence to convict then today.

One term that was used that I found interesting was “Prince of darkness” on page 154. I found it interesting that this term was used back then to describe the being (although many people now may think of Ozzy Osbourne when they hear the name).  

                                            

                        The last graphic and disturbing detail I’ll leave you with comes from page 164. It is, of course, the part about piss in a vase. This part got me thinking, “What in the world is going on?” this part seriously had me gagging. Please tell me other people cringed at this part too. This part is definitely one of the grossest parts of the reading, besides the anus kissing. I really want to know why some of these things happen. What in the world went on in this time period (of course we have many depravities in our time as well).

            Thanks for rereading the most descriptive parts of the chapter again.                                              

Now That's What I Call Magic

Wow, what a great reading to start off the blog. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of my favorite readings that I have had in any of my courses so far in college. The description of the Green Knight is always fun to read. The fact that this Knight is not only wearing green on his entire body, but his hair and beard are green as well makes this an interesting story right off the bat. The description of the Knight, however, is not the most interesting part of the reading to me. The most interesting part is the fact that he is not only able to live after he is decapitated, but talk and ride off on a horse afterwards. This to me is an excellent example of what magic and mysticism is. This is my fifth time reading this part of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but it still amazes me that this knight is able to ride off into the sunset with his head in his hands.

                                                    

King Arthur wishes to have a special event/moment to occur before every meal and that is exactly what he got from this most peculiar knight.

                The Canon’s Assistant’s Tale was also a good reading to start off with in the class. In many classes, we have to read textbooks for exams and papers and other work, so to have readings like these two are a nice break from it all. The Canon’s Assistant’s Tale was an interesting reading; it had trickery, pseudo-magic, and excitement all in few number of pages. The tale is also from a perspective other than the person who had the misfortune themselves. This gave a more appealing look, in my opinion, into the situation.

                Near the end of the reading, I put myself into the position of the priest. I caught myself thinking that if that happened to me I might not have realized that I had been played; I would probably think that I had made an error in the process of making the silver, it would not occur to me (at least not initially) that I had been made a fool of. Please tell me someone else would think this way.

                This reading helped to reinforce my idea of alchemy during this time period. I think of people in this time period as very obsessed with the idea of making gold (or in this case silver) out of other elements. This story shows just that, a priest being so amazed in the “making “of silver that he is willing to hand over his money to obtain the powder to do it himself.

                I loved these readings and I hope everyone else did as well. Please let me know how you feel about them.