Logan Biggs Blog Fall 2020

  Bibliography:  Ellen C. Babbitt , The Quarrel of the Quails -Lots of Quails lived together in a forest and the most influential and wisest was the leader. -A man would catch quails and sell them near a forest. He would use the note the quails thought was their leader.  -The fowler would throw a net over them and he went into town where he would sell all of them he caught. - The next time the fowler throws a net over you, each of you must put your head through one of the little holes in the net. Then all of you together must fly away to the nearest thorn-bush. You can leave the net on the thorn-bush and be free yourselves." -The next day, the Quails did this plan from the leader. This happened multiple days in a row and his wife was very upset with him because he wasn't bringing home any money.  -The fowler thought that as soon as the quails begin to quarrel, he would be able to catch them all. -  When the fowler came that day he flung his net over them, and th...

    Bibliography: W. Robinson , The Lion and The Boar -This lion lived in the mountains and used to drink water out of this lake. One day, he saw a boar feeding over on the opposite side. He had just eaten a leg of an elephant and wasn't hungry. But he thought to himself that the boar would be a nice meal one day.  -He crawled quietly away through the bushes, hoping he wouldn't see him.  -The boar had sharp ever and did see him. The boar thought the lion was afraid.  If he wants to go, he must fight me first!” He puffed his chest out very big, and rubbed his tusks against a tree, then he called out:  Stay, stay, runaway!  Let us have a fight to-day!  You have four feet, so have I!  If you fail, you can but try! -The lion was so shook, he couldn't believe the boar wanted to fight. The lion talked so much trash to the boar and he was so scared. His friends barely knew him when he got home. All bristles on his back standing up, greedy eyes were ...

  Bibliography:  Ellen C. Babbitt ,  Why The Owl Is Not The King Of The Birds -The people who lived together when the world was young took a certain man for their king. The four footed animals also took one of their number for their king. -Fish in the ocean chose a king to rule. The birds never had a king so they all decided to try to make the Owl the birds king. -The crane didn't want the owl to be king.  See how sour he looks right now. If that's the cross look he wears when he is happy, how will he look when he is angry? I, for one, want no such sour-looking king!" -The crow flew up crying, the owl followed him. From then, they were enemies. The birds then decided to make a turtle dove their king. Turtle dove, king of birds

   Bibliography:  Ellen C. Babbitt , The Banyan Deer -There was a deer the color gold. His eyes were round jewels, horns white as silver, mouth red like a flower, and his hoofs bright and hard. Had a large body and a fine tail.  -He lived in a forest and was king of a herd of five hundred deer called Banyans. Near by, there was another herd called the monkey deer, who had a king as well.  -The king was fond of hunting the deer and eating deer meat. He never wanted to go alone so he would invite people of the town to go with him.  -No one did their work, so they decided to make a park and drive the deer into it. Then the king could go into the park and hunt and they could go on with their daily work. -The made a park with grass and provided water for the Deer. Built a fence for them as well.  - The king went at once to look at the Deer. First he saw there the two Deer kings, and granted them their lives. -Some days the king would go to hunt the Deer, so...

     Bibliography: Ellen C. Babbitt , The Crab And The Crane -There was rain one summer and all the animals wanted water, but fishes suffered most of all.  -In a pond, there were fishes with very low water. A crane sat on the bank watching them. -The boys ran to the fishes and also there was a Turtle in it. -A little fish asked the crane what he was doing and he told him that he was wanting to help the fishes that had barely any water. The first crane to ever offer to help, -The crane offered to carry the fishes back to another pond where there is plenty of water and food. - A big Fish heard the Crane and said, "I will go with you to see the pond—I may as well be eaten by the Crane as to die here." So the Crane put the big Fish on his back and started for the deep woods. - The crane went back and grabbed a fishy. He took him into the woods and put him down and ate him.  -He did this to every fish and made it to where there was no more. The next day, he came back...

    Bibliography:  W. Robinson , The Pious Wolf -There was a Wolf sleeping on top of a large rock when a flood hit. The Wolf woke up and found himself with no way of getting off and nothing to eat. -The Wolf thought to himself what he could do so he crossed his paws and pretended to pray. Thought to himself good and pious to be fasting. -A fairy so this so she switched into a little kid and jumped down onto the rock. The wolf saw this and forgot his prayers immediately . He snapped at the kid and the kid jumped away.  -After the wolf tried to catch the kid, the wolf laid down again and said it was Friday and he had best keep his fast today. - “You humbug!” said the fairy, who had gone back to her proper shape; “you are a nice creature to pretend that you are keeping fast! You fast because you can’t help it, not because you are really good. As a punishment, you shall stay on this rock till next Friday, and fast for a week!”  So saying, she opened her wings a...

   Bibliography:  W. H. D. Rouse , The Mouse and The Farmer -This mouse made a hole where there was thousands of golden sovereigns buried in the ground. -A farmer who owned land where the treasure was but did not know about it but the mouse did. The farmer always saw the mouse but never hurt the mouse because he was a kind farmer. When the farmer was having dinner, he would throw the mouse some cheese.  -The mouse tried to show the farmer he was appreciative of him so everyday, he would bring the farmer a golden sovereign and the farmer would throw him so meat to eat. He started doing this for weeks and got very big.  -The farmer had a black cat but could never see the mice because he was always so small. One day the cat pounced on the mouse ready to eat him because he was so fat.  -The cat and mouse spoke words back and forth. They agreed that the mouse would bring the cat the meat the farmer would give him everyday. If he missed one day, the cat would eat...

 Bibliography: Ellen C Babbitt, The Elephant Girly-Face -This King had a elephant names Girly-face. Named this because he was so good. kind, and gentle. "Girly-face never hurts anybody." - "This is the way to break into a house," they said. "Once inside the house kill any one who wakens. A robber must not be afraid to kill. A robber must be cruel and have no pity. He must never be good, even for a moment." - This got Girly-face on edge and decided to act as these robbers do. Keeper by keeper came to feed and Girly-face killed 2 of them. Picked him up with his trunk and killed him.  -The King heard of the elephant acting like this and sent one of his men to check on him but could find nothing wrong with him.  -The wise man asked one of the other keepers if he has been around people who talked bad and the keeper said "a band of robbers were caught here a few weeks ago." -The wise men suggested that the King sends nice people so Girly can hear good ...

    Bibliography: Ellen C Babbitt, The Ox Who Won The Forfeit -A Man owned an Ox and he was so strong, the man bragged to everyone about him. -The owner told a man in a village that, " "I will pay a forfeit of a thousand pieces of silver if my strong Ox cannot draw a line of one hundred wagons." The man in the village agreed and decided to make the bet. - The owner took the Ox and a huge crowd decided to come out to see. - Then the owner whipped his Ox, and said: "Get up, you wretch! Get along, you rascal!" The Ox was very concerned as to why he was spoken that way so he just stood still. -That night, he went to feed him and the Ox asks, " "Why did you whip me  to-day?  You never whipped me before. Why did you call me 'wretch' and 'rascal'? You never called me hard names before." -The owner decided to never do that to him again and the Ox took his apology. The Ox agrees to go tomorrow to do what he failed in the earlier day before...

   Bibliography: Ellen C Babbitt, The Turtle who Couldn't Stop Talking -A turtle sat at a pond and 2 wild geese approach looking for food. -The next day, they came back and soon became very great friends. -The geese tell the turtle they have a very nice home far away and ask if he wants to come but the turtle has no wings. -The geese tell the turtle they will take him if he can keep his mouth shut. -The next day, the geese come with a stick and have the turtle bite the middle as they fly to their home. -Village children saw the crazy events happening above them. -The turtle spoke out and then fell from the sky and dropped dead right in front of these children. - As the two Geese flew on, they heard the people say, when they came to see the poor Turtle, "That fellow could not keep his mouth shut. He had to talk, and so lost his life." Turtle and Geese flying

    Bibliography: Richard Wilson,  The Indian Story Book : The Five Tall Sons of Pandu -Duryodhana doesn't like the fact Yudhishthira was named king of his realm so he wants war.  -Krishna's brother wants to make peace but a warrior of Krishna's clan calls for war. (Satyaki is the warrior) -Drupada thinks they should seek allies. - When the great armies first meet on the battlefield, Arjuna hesitates to attack as enemies his own uncle and cousins and also his teacher Drona. Krishna persuades him to obey Duty (Dharma ), and Arjuna agrees. (pg 102) -Bhisma leads Duryodhana's army to an advantage on the first day. The second day is opposite, Arjuna and the Pandavas come back fighting. -Bhima slays many of Duryodhana's brothers but almost dies, but the battle must go on.  - Fighting for the Pandavas was  Shik handin , who had been born a woman but transformed into a man, a warrior destined to bring about Bhishma's death. Bhishma would not fight someone who was ...

   Bibliography: Richard Wilson,  The Indian Story Book : The Five Tall Sons of Pandu -Pandu is the father of these five tall sons. -Names are Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. Nakula and Sahadeva are twins.  -Pandu dies and his blind brother becomes king, Dhritarashtra. He has 100 sons. -Drona trains princes in arts of war. Once they grow up, they have a tournament about arts of war. -Duryodhana crowns Anga the kind of Huga. -A Charioteer enters the tournament and it is Karnas dad. -Duryodhana tries to trap the Pandava in a burning house with their mom but they escape as hermits. -Drupada sets up an archery target thinking only Arjuna will win. Arrjuna strings the bow and shoots the target. - Arjuna then takes Draupadi home and tells his mother he has won a prize. Kunti declares that it must belong to Yudhishthira as the eldest, so Draupadi will be the wife of Yudhishthira, not Arjuna. - Pandavas have made an alliance with King Drupada, Duryodhana d...

  Bibliography: R.K Narayan, Narayan's Mahabharata, http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/week-1-of-2-narayans-mahabharata.html -Yudhishthira wants to make one last plea for peace. Worried about if it's safe for Krishna to go to Hastinapura as his emissary. -Duryodhana plans to take Krishna captive. While he is there, he sees Kunti and brings news about her sons. Rejects plea for peace from Krishna.  -Krishna and Karna talk. Tries to get Karna to abondon Duryodhana, but he refuses. -Yudhishthira makes Dhrishtadyumna, Draupadi's brother, the commander of his troops. Bhishma is the commander of Duryodhana's troops. Battle takes place on the field of Kurukshetra. - Dhrishtadyumna tries desperately to kill Drona to avenge his father's humiliation, but Drona escapes him. Bhishma attacks Krishna and draws blood, which enrages Arjuna, but when Krishna goes to slay Bhishma with his discus, Arjuna begs him not to (pg 151). - Drona is now made the commanding general of ...

Bibliography: R.K Narayan, Narayan's Mahabharata, http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/week-1-of-2-narayans-mahabharata.html -Duryodhana tries to humiliate the Pandavas but it backfires completely. He tries to set up a royal camp near them, but the gods sent Gandharva to take care of it. -Pandavas free Duryodhana from captivity. -The Pandavas are walked up by Brahmin in the forest. -A giant deer stole his staff and a kindle he used to make a fire. -The deer runs away and the Pandavas can not catch it, they look for water. Nakula finds a lake, but he needs to answer questions before drinking. -Nakula ignores the voice and drinks the water then dies. -Nakula, Sahadeva, Arjuna and Bhima all do the die from drinking the water. Yudhisthira finds all of them. It was a test from his father, Yuma. -Yudhishthira is the King's companion in King Virata. Bhima is disguised as a cook, Nakula is disguised as a stable boy, and Sahadeva as a cowherd. -Draupadi is the hairdress of Queen ...

  Bibliography: R.K Narayan, Narayan's Mahabharata, http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/week-1-of-2-narayans-mahabharata.html - Duryodhana hates that the Pandavas are still alive, but his son, Dhritsarshtra doesn't hate them near as much. Bhishma and Vidura urge Dhritarashta to make peace.  - Karna denouces both of them as kings/people or want war and urgers that.  -Dhritarashtra sends Vidura to the Pandavas to come back to Hastinapura. Dhritashtra gives the Pandavas part of his kingdom. The Pandavas build a city called Indraprastha.  Because Arjuna  intruded on Yudhishthira  and Draupadi during the year that Draupadi was Yudhishthira's wife, he goes into exile for twelve years. During this time, he marries Ulupi , a naga  princess, and he also marries Subhadra , the sister of Krishna . -Yudhishthria is crowned as a king of Indraprastha. Duryodhana is jealous of Indrapastha. -Agni was served as a reward to help Gandiva to burn from th...

   Bibliography: R.K Narayan, Narayan's Mahabharata, http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/week-1-of-2-narayans-mahabharata.html -A king names Shantanu falls in love with a women by a river, but he rules a city named Hainapura. They soon get married and drowns their newborn babies in the river. The women explains and says she is the river names Ganga incarnated and she is supposed to give birth to 8 gods. The babies returns to heaven. The eigth baby gets taken and returned to Shantanu when he is grown up, who's name is Devavrata, but will know him as Bhishma. -Shantanu falls in love again, this time with Satyavati. This time, the father objects this marriage because of his son Bhishma. They end up having two sons names, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Chitrangada becomes king but dies shortly after, then Bhishma rules as the father figure of Vivhitravirya.  Bhishma sends Amba away, but the king of Shalwa rejects her because she has been in another's man's house....

   Bibliography: Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues, http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/week-1-of-1-paleys-sita-sings-blues-b.html -Dave broke up with Nina by email and she is devastated. -Rama finds out that Sita, his wife, is pregnant. Also, Dhobi, a laundry man, compares her wife to Sita and beats her for being unfaithful. -Lakshmana, Rama's brother, takes Sita into the forest to abandon her, Rama's tells him to do this. -Sita would kill herself if she was not pregnant, rather than get abandon in this forest but Valmiki rescues her. -Sita gives births to twins after she sings the blues on the shore of the river. The twins, Lava and Kusha. -Nina wants Dave back and calls him in India. -Rama hears his boys singing in the forest and figures out they are his sons. He makes Sita prove her purity. -Sita sings about her love for Rama then leaves them. -While Nina is in New York, she reads the Ramayana and works on this film. Sita Sings The Blues 

  Bibliography: Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues, http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/week-1-of-1-paleys-sita-sings-blues-b.html -Lakshmi rises from the sea, Shiva in a ring of fire while Brahma, Lakshmi and Vishnu rest on Shesha.  -Surya (Sun God), Chandra (Moon God), Bhumi (Earth Goddess) -Dave, Nina's bf, got a job in India. (San Fran) -King Dasharatha has 4 sons and 3 wives. Sita is Rama's wife. -Nina says bye to her bf (San Fran) -Ravana steals Sita. Some say Ravana is a good king, but others don't agree. Ravana was the king of Sri Lanka, and an land bridge connecting India to the island. - Surpanakha is Ravana's sister. Angry at Rama, Surpanakha tells Ravana about Sita. Maricha tells Ravana to leave Sita alone but Ravana commands Maricha to become a golden deer to distract Rama so he can grab Sita. -Sita sings about her love for Rama but Ravana abducts Sita. Sita drops jewelry for a sign and Rama seeks her in the forest -Vishnu incarnates as Hanuman. Rama ...

 Bibliography: R.K . Narayan, Ramayana, http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/week-2-of-2-narayans-ramayana-reading.html -Hanuman grows big to cross the ocean of Lanka, but then shrinks. Sita is found in the Ashoka Vana where she is being guarded by demons. She wants to die because she feels so lost. Hanuman grows bigger and kills Ashoka Vana. -Indrajit captures Hanuman and takes him to Ravana. Vibhishana, Ravana's brother, tries to persuade Ravana not to kill Hanuman. Hanuman's tail is lit on fire and burns Lanaka, but Maya rebuilds the city. -Vibhishana has to remind Ravana that he was cursed by Nandi to be destroyed by a monkey. - Rama orders the sea god  to help his armies cross the water to Lanka, threatening to evaporate all the water in the sea. The sea agrees to let Rama build a bridge, which he does with the help of men, monkeys and all kinds of animals, including a squirrel. -Kumbakarna swallows lots of monkeys, then Rama kills him. Indrajit creats a phant...

 Bibliography: R.K . Narayan, Ramayana, http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/week-2-of-2-narayans-ramayana-reading.html -Rama calls for help and Sita makes Lakshman to help him(Rama). Ravana disguises as an old hermit and Sita captures but then he reveals his true identity. Ravana picks up the ground Sita is on and flies with her. -Jatayu fights for Sita, but Ravana kills him. Rama and Lakshmana find him dying, but doesn't know which one Ravana went. -Rama and Lakshmana go to the kingdom of Kishkinda and run into Hanuman, who is a monkey, but disguises as a scholar.  -Vali was mad at Sugriva and beats him. Vali takes Sugriva's wife. - Rama feels sorry for Sugriva, who has lost his wife and is in exile. Hanuman thinks Rama could help them to defeat Vali. Hanuman recognizes that Rama is Vishnu  incarnate. The reason Vali could not come to Mount Matanga is because he has been cursed by the sage Matanga. This happened when Vali fought the demon Dundubhi who had ta...