READING NOTES: JEWISH FAIRY TALES PART A

Jewish Fairy Tales Part A: Web Link
My focus for this Reading Notes was Jewish Fairy Tales. I really enjoyed these stories, I could see myself writing my final story project similar to these. I noticed all these stories taught some kind of lesson, and I would like to incorporate that in my own story.

The Giant of the Flood
Story source: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919).
I enjoyed this story a lot. It's a twist on the Bible story of Noah's Ark. There is a giant that is begging Father Noah to save him too, however he's a giant and won't fit on the ark with all the other animals. However Noah makes a deal to help Og the giant if he works for Noah. Along the journey they reach obstacles and Og is a giant so is very capable of helping.
I noticed this style of writing is almost satirical sometimes. Even though it falls in the unit Fairy Tales, I think many adults would be able to relate to this story. Putting a funny adult twist, or adding some references that adults would find funny and relatable I think could be a good idea for a story. What made me think of this is in the The Giant of the Flood, Noah says"When a man shall drink too much of the juice of the wine, then shall he become a beast like the pig, and if then he still continues to drink, he shall behave foolishly like a monkey."And that is why, unto this day, too much wine makes a man silly. Instead of the ending being the Og drank too much and evetually perished because he broke Noah's word, you could add a funny twist that they took a break from their journey and drank wine together. Happily Ever After.

Image Source

 The Quarrel of the Cat and the Dog
Story source: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919).
This story was a great one! I always love stories that give reasoning for why things are the way they are. Cat and dogs have a long history of being enemies. We see it in cartoons, we read stories, and we even see it in real life. Although this story was light hearted it was also very heart wrenching at some points. People always side with being a dog or a cat person, and I really felt for the dog in this story. It was so sad to know he felt so defeated and was barely surviving. I liked this story, but I don't want to be sad. I don't think I would be very good at writing a sad story. But I love the idea of cat and dog!