Road Trip for a Book: The Storyteller's Sourcebook

I explore several libraries with my most regular stops with the Salt Lake County Libraries and the Davis County Libraries.

Living in Layton, the Central Branch of Davis County is the closest one to me at about 10 minutes from my home whereas I tend to find the best selection at the Whitmore Branch of the Salt Lake County Library system after a 45-minute drive.

I assumed that the Central Branch would have a copy of the coveted book "The Storyteller's Sourcebook: A Subject, Title, and Motif Index to Folklore Collections for Children 1983-1999" edited by Margaret Read MacDonald and Brian W. Sturm.

There were some pages I needed to continue my research on possible opening stories for my premiere. I aimed for the Reference Juvenile Literature section as that was where I found it at the Weber County Library on November 19th. It was not there. I checked the computer to be sure. There was not a copy at any of the seven branches of the Davis County Library system!

I glanced at my watch. It was 5:35pm. The Weber County Library closed at 6:00pm on Saturdays.

I ran to my car and drove as fast as I could knowing it would take from 20-25 minutes to drive depending on traffic.

I forgot about the Christmas parade.

The road that headed east and usually taken to the library was closed due to the parade.

I headed more north, looking to east at every intersection to see if this part of the street was open. No luck. I wondered aloud, "How long is this parade?!"

By this time it was 5:53pm.

Finally, I saw where the parade ended and zoomed until I saw the blessed building: Weber County Library.

I did not care that I parked crooked. I was here. I bolted for the doors. I knew exactly where this book was and grabbed it from the shelf.

Then the copier had to be. . .temperamental (to put it nicely).

After a few battles and asking for a librarian's help, I made the copies of the pages in the book that listed all the motif codes in connection to family and folklore.

If you read a previous post, you may wonder I did not make copies of these pages as the book was in my hands on November 19th. My response would be "Why do we do or not do things?" Sometimes there is not a clear answer.

Yet I had the copies now and felt more prepared to find the opening story for the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" premiere.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance (2005-2008)

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

The Grand Finale Story: At Last it is Found

Though I listed the Colombian story "The Three Sisters" in a previous post, today was when inspiration struck.

Sometimes stories need to be set aside so that the right paths to take can be found on the creativity map.

The original story starts with three sisters giggling and teasing about who they would want to marry. The oldest sister would like to be with the king's baker as then she can have sponge cake all day. The middle sister would like to be with the king's steward as then she can have anything in the pantry to eat. The youngest sister would like to be with the king himself as then there is quite a feast to eat for every meal.

This conversation is overhead and reported to the king, and the king has these idle wishes to come to pass. The oldest and middle sisters are jealous though they do marry their respective grooms. Eventually, the king and the youngest sister, now the queen, have a child. The two jealous sisters switch out the baby for a dog and then put the baby in a wooden coffin and send it down the river.

Then we meet a gardener and his wife who are unable to have children. The baby is found and they praise God for the blessing.

The king and queen have a second baby. The jealous sisters switch out the baby again, this time for a cat, and send the baby down the river. Again, the gardener and his wife are blessed.

A third time the king and queen have a baby. The jealous sisters switch out the baby for a piece of wood. The gardener and wife are joyous beyond measure as a third child comes down the river to them.

There is much more to this story, though I discovered that I had the most compassion on the gardener's wife. As my husband and I want children of our own and have started the adoption process, I could hear the sounds of joy that the gardener's wife must have shared when her husband walked through the door with a baby, and then a second one, and finally a third. The story came alive and it was at that moment I knew this story had to be part of the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" narrative production.

For this reason, I will rename this story from "The Three Sisters" to "The Gardener's Wife".

I looked at the back of the Latin American Folktales: stories from Hispanic and Indian Traditions edited by John Bierhorst for any notes or hints of other versions and variants. As this was a book published by Pantheon Books, there was guidance.

I learned the following:

• Aarne-Thompson Motif Index is type 707 of The Three Golden Sons
• Versions with this type 707 could be found in California, Chile, Dominican Republic, Mexico, New Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Europe, India, and the Middle East
• Colombian version found in this book is close to the one shared in Thousand and One Nights

Naturally, I will search out these other kinds as well as research the Colombian culture.

I have found the final destination with the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" narrative production--this story!

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance (2005-2008)

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller

Hansel & Gretel and Their Other "Homes"

While listening to the Hansel and Gretel opera created by Engelbert Humperdinck, my mind wandered into the story and then back to the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" narrative production.

Though the opera was sung in German, I was familiar with the tale and imagined what was happening. I realized that the Hansel and Gretel story had two elements: family abuse/abandonment and the lack/excess of food. Interestingly, the lady who sings for the Mother is often the same one to sing for the Gingerbread Witch.

Some people may think that the story involves a stepmother, though originally the mother was the one who sent the sent the two children into the forest to die. As this story was based on the Medieval times, it was not uncommon for parents to leave their children in the forest so there were less mouths to feed. Storytellers are aware that fairy tales have many elements of truth to them.

Though the Hansel and Gretel story intrigued me, I was not interested in telling the German version. I wanted to find a story with similar motifs and themes from another culture. The trick was to find a version that was authentic to the culture rather than being an adaptation of Hansel and Gretel that used another name.

Then "The Storyteller's Sourcebook: A Subject, Title, and Motif Index to Folklore Collections for Children 1983-1999" edited by Margaret Read MacDonald and Brian W. Sturm flashed to mind. At the time, only "The Storyteller's Sourcebook" was the title I remembered and the connection to MacDonald. When I arrived at the library, this book was in the Reference Juvenile Literature section.

The book used the Stith Thompson Motif Index, the enlarged version of classification of fairy tales, rather than the original Aarne Thompson Motif Index.

Since the Hansel and Gretel story was so common, I knew I could look up the title and see what motifs were listed. Then I noticed other categories where I may find other stories appropriate for the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" narrative production.

These were the codes found for Hansel and Gretel:

• G412.1.1
• Type 327A
• R135
• G526
• G512.3.2
• B469.4

These categories caught my attention:

• G400-G499 = Falling into Ogre's Power
  
• G500-G599 = Ogre Defeated
  
• C200-C299 = Eating and Drinking Tabu/Taboo
  
• T0-T699 = Family Life, which includes: Love (T0-T99), Marriage (T100-T199), Married Life (T200-T299), Chastity and Celibacy (T300-T399), Illicit Sexual Relation (T400-T499), Conception and Birth (T500-T599), and Care of Children (T600-T699)

Any combination of C200-299 with T0-T699 will likely be stories to pursue for the "Family Famine: Hunger for Love" narrative production.

These codes and categories will act as my compass to find the other "homes" where stories like Hansel and Gretel may appear.

Until we tell again,

Rachel Hedman

Professional Storyteller

Former Co-Chair of Youth, Educators, and Storytellers Alliance (2005-2008)

Tel: (801) 870-5799
Email: info@rachelhedman.com

URL: http://www.rachelhedman.com

How-To Blog: http://storytellingadventures.blogspot.com

Performance Blog: http://familyfamine.blogspot.com
Other places to find me: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Professional Storyteller