Week 5 Story: How a Robber Wed My Daughter

(The king's treasure room. Source)

Author's Note:

The origin of this story comes from The Tale of King Rhampsinitus. The story is told from the viewpoint of the king when he is writing in his journal on the day of his daughter's wedding.

I cannot believe my daughter is about to wed this man. It was he who was stealing my treasure all along. Any other man's corpse would be hung on the palace wall for all to see! But no, he gained my respect and I spared him. In fact it is I who gave him my daughter as a reward. To tell this story I have to start at the beginning.

You see, I caught him and his brother stealing treasure from my chamber. They thought they were so clever. But no, I laid a trap and I captured one of them. I then hung his corpse on the palace wall for all to see to reveal the rest of his mourning family. His brother could not take it, and so he devised a plan to remove him.

This plan was a clever one. The most cleverest plan I have ever known. He put wine on the backs of donkeys and somehow tricked my guards into getting drunk. Once they all fell asleep, he then removed his brother's corpse from the wall. It was a noble thing that he did, but I grew even more determined to catch him.

I then sent my daughter after him. My daughter talked to the men of the city one by one and said she would consider to be their bride if they told her the most wicked and artful things they have done. When she finally talked to the thief, he was honest and revealed his identity to her. Perhaps the most honest man in all the city.

But once again he escaped my grasp! I was so furious, but this man's cunning, nobility, and honesty was unmatched. I then realized I this man by my side, and so I offered a pardon and a reward. He then turned himself in, and in return, I gave my daughter's hand.

And let it be known how a thief wed my daughter.

Bibliography:

The Tale of King Rhampsinitus by Donald Mackenzie

Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths, Part B

(The chamber of treasures. Source)

The Tale of King Rhampsinitus

• Rhampsinitus, a monarch, built two statues
• North statue - For Summer, was worshipped
• South statue - For Winter, never worshipped
• The king built a chamber to keep his riches
• A builder plotted to steal the riches by placing the stone in the wrong way where it could be removed from the outside
• The builder got ill so he told his sons about the riches before he died
• Sons stole the treasure after their father died
• Sons kept stealing his treasure over and over again
• King found his treasure was stolen but didn't know who to suspect
• Guards at entrances didn't help catch them
• King put traps in the chamber
• One of the sons got caught but the other one didn't
• The son that was caught told the other son to cut off his head so the king wouldn't know the identity of his brother
• King hung the corpse on the palace wall to see if anyone would sorrow for him but no one came
• Mother, grieving in secret, told the son to get the corpse off the wall or else she would reveal his identity to the king
• The son got several donkeys, put wine on their backs, got close to the guards, and removed the lids from the wine. The guards drank the wine, got drunk, and fell asleep. The son then removed his brother's body from the wall
• The king sent his daughter in disguise to find the criminal
• She offered to be their bride if they told her the most wicked and artful things they have done
• She found the criminal and he told her the truth. She tried to capture him but he escaped.
• The king was so amazed at the cunning and daring of the robber that he offered pardon a reward if he turned himself in
• The son took the king up on his offer
• He got pardoned and took the king's daughter in marriage

Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths, Part A

(Image of Ra. Source)

Egypt: The Sun's Journey

• Ra forgives his followers (among mankind) for slaying his enemies
• Ra tells the goddess Nut he will move his home from Earth to the heavens. He will no longer reign upon the Earth.
• Ra assembles different beings in the heavens and stars that were born from Nut to come and praise him.
• Ra makes reptiles dread him by shining his rays (sunlight) on them. Announces they can be charmed by words of magic. Says Osiris will favor the magicians who protect mankind from reptiles.
• Ra tells the god Thoth to record the sins of men and the names of his enemies in the underworld Daut.
• Ra creates the moon
• Ra and his companions enter the underworld
• Ra must pass through the enemies of the hour divisions
• First hour division - A high and strong wall with a gate opened by incantations
• Fifth hour division
• Sokar, the underworld god
• Drowning Pool, bodies of men with animal heads on fire
• Seventh hour division
• Osiris, divine judge of the dead
• Worthy live in the Nether World, unworthy get tortured and devoured
• Serpents attack the sun barque but are defeated
• Eighth hour division - Serpents that spit forth fire to illuminate the darkness
• Tenth hour division - Water reptiles and fishes
• Twelfth hour division - Ra and his followers are reborn

Project Topic Brainstorm

(Me thinking about what topics to use for my project. Source)

King Arthur

My interest in this topic is due to my time spent playing medieval type characters in video games. Among the previous knowledge is that Merlin is part of the story. One way I might retell the story is instead of knights being at the round table they are wizards instead.

Egyptian Myth

My interest in this topic is due to watching movies and books about the mysterious Egyptian culture. Among the previous knowledge is that Ra has legendary and mythical powers. One way I might retell the story is combining elements of Greek mythology and Ra needing to consume sacrificial souls to empower the Egyptians.

Homer's Iliad

My interest in this topic is due to the powers of the Greek gods. Among the previous knowledge is that Achilles is a brave warrior and the common folk answered to the Greek gods. One way I might retell the story is from the viewpoint of the gods in the clouds and what they observe on Earth and their thought process and dilemmas on the decisions they face.

Homer's Odyssey

My interest in this topic is due to playing video games where I have to kill cyclopes. Among the previous knowledge is that a cyclops is a giant one eyed creature that can cause destructive damage. One way I might retell the story is from the perspective of a legendary archer and how he has to kill the King Cyclops in order to stop cyclopes from enslaving his people.

Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad, Part A

(Source)

How The War With Troy Began by Alfred J. Church

• Strong story start
• Helen is described as "most beautiful", providing clear imagery to the reader
• Easy to follow along
• Events told in sequential order
• Events told in separate paragraphs. Sometimes paragraphs are as short as 2 sentences.
• Dislike: Names of the characters
• Slows down the flow of the reading
• Dialogue style matches the time era
• Ex: "Now you must all swear that you will be good friends with the man whom my daughter shall choose for her husband, and that if any one is wicked enough to steal her away from him, you will help him get her back."
• Sentence structure
• Frequent use of "So", "Then", "For", etc. at the beginning of sentences

Reading Notes: Week 2 Reading Anthology

(The Man In The Moon. Source)

Story source: Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899)

What I liked:

The length of the story. A 300 word story kept my attention far more than a 1000 word story did.

Spacing of the sentences. Events were separated by blank lines in between them. This made it easier to follow along and not seem as intimidating.

Words that are easy to read and not too complicated.

Only two characters. Again, easy to keep attention and follow along.

The moral of the story: be happy with what you have because it could always be worse.

Use of two events where nothing significant happened and the moral of the story came out on the third event.

Other notes:

Stories about creation seem to get my imagination going the best. Maybe something about the creation of weather storms.

Week 2 Reading Overview

(King Arthur and the Knights of the Round 

Table with the Holy Grail. Source)

UnTextbook Plan
Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3: Homer's Iliad

Week 4: Homer's Odyssey

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: Ancient Egypt

Week 6: Arabian Nights

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.]

Week 7: Japanese Mythology

Week 9: Tibet

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: Alaska

Week 11: Inuit(Eskimo)

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: Beowulf

Week 13: King Arthur

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: Ashliman

Week 15: Hunt

Reading Interests

I would say the units I am most interested in are King Arthur, Beowulf, Ancient Egypt, and Arabian Nights. King Arthur and Beowulf appeal to me because a lot of the creatures from the video games I play come from the medieval time period. It would be good to know the stories behind dragons, wizards, knights, etc, and know the origin of those creatures and characters. Ancient Egypt and Arabian Nights appeal to me because there is a lot of mystery behind Ancient Egyptian culture, Ra, and the many stories of hidden treasure.

Image Selection

I chose this image because the King Arthur unit is the one I am looking forward to the most. The picture of all the knights together at the table gives off a sense of unity, courage, and accomplishing something as a group.