Reading Notes: Week 09 "Filipino Tales" Part B

Raven. (Source: Pixabay)

Overall Thoughts

    I liked a lot of these stories because they were mainly creation stories, a.k.a. stories that tell how or why something came to be. I'm not super sure if "creation story" is the correct term, but I think it is. Anyway, out of all the creation stories and a couple fable-like ones, the two I liked the best in Part B were because their endings grabbed my attention.

Story 1: "Why the Sun Shines More Brightly than the Moon"

    The ending caught my eye because I didn't expect it to end the way it did with the two sisters dying. I thought the crystals would have allowed them to rise from and set into the ocean at different times, thus also explaining why the sun and moon seemingly rise from there. Or I thought they might also be saved by being stored in their crystals? I'm not sure, but I didn't expect it to end quite like it had.

    I really liked how the sun and moon, or the people they were meant for, were sisters. I'm always down for a sun and moon story where the two entities are lovers, but having them be familial is a nice change.

    The two things I wondered about the story the most were 1. How was the story told pre-Christianity? The crystals that become the sun and moon are given by God, so how did the story go before then? and 2. What actually became of the sisters in the ocean? It never explicitly says they die, although I suppose being yoted into the ocean by an angel would cause some death. Still though...

Story 2: "The Lost Necklace"

    This ending caught my eye not because it was fantastic or anything but because it sparked my imagination onto a sequel. In the sequel, a chick would escape being eaten by a crow and would go on to find the lost necklace. This would cause the crows to stop eating the baby chickens, and the chickens wouldn't have to keep scratching at the ground. It could honestly be a pretty good novella, I think.

    The crow in this story is definitely a jerk. He gives the chicken the necklace he just bought because he likes the chicken, but boy is that over real fast once the necklace is hidden and lost by the chicks. I'd like to explore both of the main characters' minds and motivations a little more. I think it'd be fun!

Bibliography

Why the Sun Shines More Brightly than the Moon from Filipino Folklore by Dean S. Fansler

The Lost Necklace from Filipino Folklore by Dean S. Fansler