1. The “Three Little Pigs” is a well-known story that has good morals from the message. Many countries adapt the story with various versions. In this case, we have to observe the story in three different ways which are in African-American, Italy, and England point of view. In African-American viewpoint we can see many elements which affect the meaning of the story. In this story, the pigs were defined by their appearance such as, Big, Little, Blunt, Speckled, and Runt. The fortunate one who successfully escaped from the Brer Wolf is Runt (which by definition means “the unusually small” one). Furthermore, we can also see the different by the number of the pigs. In the original story, it’s only the adventure of three little pigs. However, in the African-American version there are five pigs take place in the story. This family size affects the story simply because there are additions to the plot of the story. There are additions such as the type of foundation to build the house and also the addition of dialogues. In the story, Big Pig built house with brush, Little Pig with sticks, Speckled Pig with mud, Blunt Pig with Plank, and last Runt with rock. These natural resources are very common and easily find in Africa. As we all know, Africa is the world’s second largest continent and have mostly tropical climate. Africa has dense jungle region which provide the resources for the pigs in the story to build their houses. Moreover, in African-American version the wolf ate all the four pigs except the littlest one because she built her house from rocks and protect herself from the danger (fire straws to burn the wolf). Quite different than the African-American version, the Italy version use Goslings as the main character. As I did my research I found that poultry plays important role in Italy’s food market. Perhaps this is why the author uses goslings instead of pigs for the main character. In addition, in the story, the goslings were being help by a craft man who provide the goslings the sources to build their houses. This shows that Italy is the home of creative people such as artists, musicians, poets, etc. From the ancient ages, Italy (Europe in general) has created many artistic achievements. Furthermore, England version has similarity with the Italy version. The author also uses “craft man” to help the main character to build their house. Later in the story, the little pig uses churn to hide from the wolf. By definition, churn is a machine to make butter, and the use of the device shows that England is the home of inventor. I found from my research that England is the birthplace of Industrial Revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England). There are many inventors from England and perhaps this is why the author use machine element in the story.
2. Adults often teach young children in Nursery Rhyme in form of song or poem. Nursery rhyme exists for many centuries and passed down from generations to generations. Children can learn vocabulary and counting from this rhyme. There are various nursery rhymes with different origins. The two nursery rhymes that strike me the most are “Ring around the rosy” and “Pat a cake Pat a cake”.
“Ring around the rosy” has two versions which are American and English version. In English history, the rhyme is referring to the Great Plaque of London in 17th centuries. In the website it says that, “The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy).” In addition, the “Ashes” term referring to the burial of the dead bodies. The rhyme “Pat a cake Pat a cake” somehow have time connection with “Ring around the rosy”. The Great fire of London in 1966 connects both rhymes. In “Ring around the rosy”, The Great Fire helped terminate the rats which are the cause of the Great Plaque. In “Pat a cake Pat a cake”, The Great fire of London started in a baker’s shop. From then on Bakeries were viewed as fire risks. Moreover, the tradition of “Pat a cake” rhyme still affecting in today’s world sometimes accompany by the movement of clapping hands. People also still practicing the tradition of writing a name on a cake (“Pat it and prick it and mark it with a 'B'”).
The Story of the Pigs
African-American
One time, away back yonder, the old sow and her children were all living longer than the other creatures. It seems to me that the old sow was a widow-woman, and if I am not mistaken, that that she had five children. Let me see, there was Big Pig, and there was Little Pig, and there was Speckled Pig, and there was Blunt, and last and lonesome, there was Runt.
One day this here pig mother, she knew that she was going to kick the bucket, and she took and called up all her children and told them that the time had come when they had to look out for themselves. And then she up and told them as good as she could, although her breath was mighty scant, about what a bad man old Brer Wolf was. She said that if they could escape from old Brer Wolf, they'd be doing monstrously well.
Big Pig allowed that she wasn't afraid. Speckled Pig allowed that she wasn't afraid. Blunt, he said that he was almost as big a man as Brer Wolf himself. And Runt, she just took and rooted around in the straw and grunted. But old Widow Sow, she lay there, she did, and kept on telling them that they had better keep their eyes on Brer Wolf, because he was a very mean and deceitful man.
Not long after that, sure enough, old Miss Sow lay down and died, and all of those children of hers were flung back on themselves, and they whirled in, they did, and each one built himself a house to live in. Big Pig, she took and built herself a house out of brush. Little Pig, she took and built a stick house. Speckled Pig, she took and built a mud house. Blunt, he took and built a plank house. And Runt, she didn't make any great to-do, and no great brags, but she went to work, she did, and built a rock house.
By and by, when they had everything fixed up, and matters were sort of settled, early one morning here came old Brer Wolf licking his chops and shaking his tail. The first house he came to was Big Pig's house. Brer Wolf walked up to the door, he did, and he knocked sort of softly, blim! blim! blim! Nobody answered. Then he knocked loudly, blam! blam! blam! This woke up Big Pig, and she came to the door, and she asked who it was.
Brer Wolf allowed it was a friend, and he sang out:
If you'll open the door and let me in,I'll warm my hands and go home again.
Big Pig asked again who it was, and then Brer Wolf up and said, "How's your ma?"
"My ma is dead," she said, "and before she died, she told me to keep my eyes on Brer Wolf. I see you through the crack in the door, and you look mighty like Brer Wolf."
Then old Brer Wolf, he drew a long breath, like he felt very bad, and then he up and said, "I don't know what changed her mind, unless she was out of her head. I heard tell that old Miss Sow was sick, and I said to myself that I'd ought to drop around and see how the old lady is, and fetch her this here bag of roasting ears. I know might well that if your ma was here right now, in her right mind, she'd take the roasting ears and be glad to get them, and more than that, she'd ask me in by the fire to warm my hands," said old Brer Wolf.
The talk about the roasting ears made Big Pig's mouth water, and by and by, after some more palaver, she opened the door and let Brer Wolf in, and bless your soul, that was the last of Big Pig. She didn't have time to squeal, or to grunt either, before Brer Wolf gobbled her up.
The next day old Brer Wolf put up the same game on Little Pig. He went and sang his song, and Little Pig, she took and let him in, and then Brer Wolf, he took and returned the compliments and let Little Pig in. Little Pig, she let Brer Wolf in, and Brer Wolf, he let Little Pig in, and what more can you ask than that?
The next time Brer Wolf paid a call, he dropped in on Speckled Pig, and rapped at the door, and sang his song:
If you'll open the door and let me in,I'll warm my hands and go home again.
But Speckled Pig, she kind of suspected something, and she refused to open the door. Yet Brer Wolf was a mighty deceitful man, and he talked mighty soft, and he talked mighty sweet. By and by, he got his nose in the crack of the door, and he said to Speckled Pig, to just let him get one paw in, and then he won't go any further. He got the paw in, and then he begged to get the other paw in, and then when he got that in, he begged to get his head in, and then when he got his head in, and his paws in, of course all he had to do was to shove the door open and walk right in. And when matters stood that way, it wasn't long before he made fresh meat of Speckled Pig.
The next day, he did away with Blunt, and the day after that he allowed that he would make a pass at Runt. Now then, right there is where old Brer Wolf slipped up. He is like some folks I know. He'd have been mighty smart, if he hadn't been too smart. Runt was the littlest one of the whole gang, yet all the same, the news was out that she was pestered with sense like grown folks.
Brer Wolf, he crept up to Runt's house, and he got underneath the window, he did, and he sang out:
If you'll open the door and let me in,I'll warm my hands and go home again.
But all the same, Brer Wolf couldn't coax Runt to open the door, neither could he break in, because the house was made of rock. By and by Brer Wolf made out like he'd gone off, and after a while he came back and knocked at the door, blam, blam, blam!
Runt, she sat by the fire, she did, and sort of scratched her ear, and hollered out, "Who's that?"
"It's Speckled Pig," said old Brer Wolf, between a snort and a grunt. "I fetched you some peas for your dinner!"
Runt, she took and laughed, she did, and hollered back, "Sis Speckled Pit never talked through that many teeth."
Brer Wolf went off again, and by and by he came back and knocked.
Runt, she sat on a rock and hollered out, "Who's that?"
"Big Pig," said Brer Wolf. I fetched some sweet corn for your supper."
Runt, she looked through the crack underneath the door, and laughed, and said, "Sis Big Pig didn't ever have any hair on her hooves.
Then old Brer Wolf, he got mad, he did, and he said he was going to come down the chimney. And Runt, she said that that was the only way that he could get in. And then when she heard Brer Wolf climbing up on the outside of the chimney, she took and piled up a whole lot of broom straw in front of the hearth, and when she heard him climbing down on the inside, she took the tongs and shoved the straw onto the fire, and the smoke made Brer Wolf's head swim, and he dropped down, and before he knew it, he was burned to a crackling.
And that was the last of old Brer Wolf. At least it was the last of that Brer Wolf.
The Three Goslings
Italy
Once upon a time there were three goslings who were greatly afraid of the wolf, for if he found them he would eat them. One day the largest said to the other two, "Do you know what I think? I think we had better build a little house, so that the wolf shall not eat us, and meanwhile let us go and look for something to build the house with."
Then the other two said, "Yes, yes, yes! Good! Let us go!"
So they went and found a man who had a load of straw and said to him, "Good man, do us the favor to give us a little of that straw to make a house of, so that the wolf shall not eat us."
The man said, "Take it, take it!" And he gave them as much as they wanted.
The goslings thanked the man and took the straw and went away to a meadow, and there they built a lovely little house, with a door, and balconies, and kitchen, with everything, in short.
When it was finished, the largest gosling said, "Now I want to see whether one is comfortable in this house." So she went in and said, "Oh! How comfortable it is in the house! Just wait!" She went and locked the door with a padlock, and went out on the balcony and said to the other two goslings, "I am very comfortable alone here. Go away, for I want nothing to do with you."
The two poor little goslings began to cry and beg their sister to open the door and let them in. If she did not, the wolf would eat them. But she would not listen to them. Then the two goslings went away and found a man who had a load of hay. They said to him, "Good man, do us the kindness to give us a little of that hay to build a house with, so that the wolf shall not eat us!"
"Yes, yes, yes! Take some, take some!" And he gave them as much as they wanted.
The goslings, well pleased, thanked the man and carried the hay to a meadow and built a very pretty little house, prettier than the other. The middle-sized gosling said the smallest, "Listen. I am going now to see whether one is comfortable in this house. But I will not act like our sister, you know!"
She entered the house and said to herself, "Oh! How comfortable it is here! I don't want my sister! I am very comfortable here alone." So she went and fastened the door with a padlock, and went out on the balcony and said to her sister, "Oh! How comfortable it is in this house! I don't want you here! Go away, go away!"
The gosling began to weep and beg her sister to open to her, for she was alone, and did not know where to go, and if the wolf found her he would eat her. But it did no good. She shut the balcony and stayed in the house.
Then the gosling, full of fear, went away and found a man who had a load of iron and stones and said to him, "Good man, do me the favor to give me a few of those stones and a little of that iron to build me a house with, so that the wolf shall not eat me!"
The man pitied the gosling so much that he said, "Yes, yes, good gosling, or rather I will build your house for you."
Then they went away to a meadow, and the man built a very pretty house, with a garden and everything necessary, and very strong, for it was lined with iron, and the balcony and door of iron also. The gosling, well pleased, thanked the man and went into the house and remained there.
Now let us go to the wolf.
The wolf looked everywhere for these goslings, but could not find them. After a time he learned that they had built three houses. "Good, good! he said. "Wait until I find you!" Then he started out and journeyed and journeyed until he came to the meadow where the first house was. He knocked at the door, and the gosling said, "Who is knocking at the door?"
"Come, come," said the wolf. "Open up, for it is I."
"The gosling said, "I will not open for you, because you will eat me."
"Open, open! I will not eat you. Be not afraid. Very well, " said the wolf, "if you will not open the door, I will blow down your house." And indeed, he did blow down the house and ate up the gosling.
"Now that I have eaten one," he said, "I will eat the others too." Then he went away and came at last to the house of the second gosling, and everything happened as to the first. The wolf blew down the house and ate the gosling.
Then he went in search of the third, and when he found her he knocked at the door, but she would not let him in. Then he tried to blow the house down, but could not. Then he climbed on the roof and tried to trample the house down, but in vain.
"Very well," he said to himself. "In one way or another I will eat you." Then he came down from the roof and said to the gosling, "Listen, gosling. Do you wish us to make peace? I don't want to quarrel with you who are so good, and I have thought that tomorrow we will cook some macaroni, and I will bring the butter and cheese, and you will furnish the flour."
"Very good," said the gosling. "Bring them then."
The wolf, well satisfied, saluted the gosling and went away. The next day the gosling got up early and went and bought the meal and then returned home and shut the house.
A little later the wolf came and knocked at the door and said, "Come, gosling, open the door, for I have brought you the butter and cheese!"
"Very well, give it to me here by the balcony."
"No indeed, open the door!"
"I will open when all is ready."
Then the wolf gave her the things by the balcony and went away. While he was gone the gosling prepared the macaroni, and put it on the fire to cook in a kettle full of water. When it was two o'clock the wolf came and said, "Come, gosling, open the door."
"No, I will not open, for when I am busy I don't want anyone in the way. When it is cooked, I will open, and you may come in and eat it."
A little while after, the gosling said to the wolf, "Would you like to try a bit of macaroni to see whether it is well cooked?"
"Open the door! That is the better way."
"No, no. Don't think you are coming in. Put your mouth to the hole in the shelf, and I will pour the macaroni down."
The wolf, all greedy as he was, put his mouth to the hole, and then the gosling took the kettle of boiling water and poured the boiling water instead of the macaroni through the hole into the wolf's mouth. And the wolf was scalded and killed.
Then the gosling took a knife and cut open the wolf's stomach, and out jumped the other goslings, who were still alive, for the wolf was so greedy that he had swallowed them whole. Then there goslings begged their sister's pardon for the mean way in which they had treated her, and she, because she was kindhearted, forgave them and took them into her house, and there they ate their macaroni and lived together happy and contented.
The Story of the Three Little Pigs
England
Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhymeAnd monkeys chewed tobacco,And hens took snuff to make them tough,And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O!
There was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. The first that went off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him, "Please, man, give me that straw to build me a house." Which the man did, and the little pig built a house with it.
Presently came along a wolf, and knocked at the door, and said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
To which the pig answered, "No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin."
The wolf then answered to that, "Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in." So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and ate up the little pig.
The second little pig met a man with a bundle of furze [sticks], and said, "Please, man, give me that furze to build a house." Which the man did, and the pig built his house.
Then along came the wolf, and said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin."
"Then I'll puff, and I'll huff, and I'll blow your house in." So he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed, and he huffed, and at last he blew the house down, and he ate up the little pig.
The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said, "Please, man, give me those bricks to build a house with." So the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them.
So the wolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said,
"Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin."
"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."
Well, he huffed, and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he puffed and huffed; but he could not get the house down.
When he found that he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the house down, he said, "Little pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips."
"Where?" said the little pig.
"Oh, in Mr. Smith's home field, and if you will be ready tomorrow morning I will call for you, and we will go together and get some for dinner."
"Very well," said the little pig, "I will be ready. What time do you mean to go?"
"Oh, at six o'clock."
Well, the little pig got up at five, and got the turnips before the wolf came (which he did about six) and who said, "Little pig, are you ready?"
The little pig said, "Ready! I have been and come back again, and got a nice potful for dinner."
The wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to the little pig somehow or other, so he said, "Little pig, I know where there is a nice apple tree."
"Where?" said the pig.
"Down at Merry Garden," replied the wolf, "and if you will not deceive me I will come for you, at five o'clock tomorrow and get some apples."
Well, the little pig bustled up the next morning at four o'clock, and went off for the apples, hoping to get back before the wolf came; but he had further to go, and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was coming down from it, he saw the wolf coming, which, as you may suppose, frightened him very much.
When the wolf came up he said, "Little pig, what! Are you here before me? Are they nice apples?"
"Yes, very," said the little pig. "I will throw you down one."
And he threw it so far, that, while the wolf was gone to pick it up, the little pig jumped down and ran home.
The next day the wolf came again, and said to the little pig, "Little pig, there is a fair at Shanklin this afternoon. Will you go?"
"Oh yes," said the pig, "I will go. What time shall you be ready?"
"At three," said the wolf. So the little pig went off before the time as usual, and got to the fair, and bought a butter churn, which he was going home with, when he saw the wolf coming. Then he could not tell what to do. So he got into the churn to hide, and by so doing turned it around, and it rolled down the hill with the pig in it, which frightened the wolf so much, that he ran home without going to the fair. He went to the pig's house, and told him how frightened he had been by a great round thing which came down the hill past him.
Then the little pig said, "Ha, I frightened you, then. I had been to the fair and bought a butter churn, and when I saw you, I got into it, and rolled down the hill."
Then the wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he would eat up the little pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him. When the little pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of water, and made up a blazing fire, and, just as the wolf was coming down, took off the cover, and in fell the wolf; so the little pig put on the cover again in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for supper, and lived happily ever afterwards
Friday, March 7, 2008
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1 comment:
I like your interpretation of the tales. Although i felt that the African- American tales were not based of life in Africa. I feel the Author wanted to describe the hardships felt by slaves in America.
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