Week 5 Storytelling: The Wolf Aunt

Author's Note: I decided to rewrite the The Wolf Aunt because I didn't really like how it ended. While reading the story, I immediately thought of Little Red Riding Hood. In the Wolf Aunt, a man meets his long lost sister and she takes in him and his family. The man's wife is so grateful that she has her youngest daughter deliver some food to the aunt. When the youngest daughter gets there, she sees that the aunt has turned into a wolf and was eating a man. The little girl ran home and told her mom, but when they were trying to tell the man, he just blew it off and thought they were crazy. The wife took her daughters and left the man. When he told the aunt about what happened, she turned into a wolf and ate him. If, he would have listened to his family and believed them about the 'aunt' he could still be living happily ever after with his family. Also, if he would have taken some precautions when meeting a stranger, he wouldn't have been in this situation to start with.

(Wolf, Source:UnTextbook)

The Wolf Aunt 

There once was a family who was just scraping by. The father worked hard every day in order to provide for his wife and seven daughters. One day, while out gathering food, he came home very late. 

On his way back to his house, he ran into a woman who claimed to be his long lost sister. "Dear brother, is that you? I haven't seen you since we were young, but I know it is you. Come in! Catch me up on your life!"

He spent a few hours with his sister and she knew almost everything about him. She knew about his family and all of the hardships he had overcome to support them. "Well, dear brother, I am very well off now and I do not have a family of my own. So I insist that I provide for you and your family. It is all I can do since I have missed being in your life. Go. Tell your family and bring them here."

The man was ecstatic. He ran all the way home to tell his family the great news. "Darling, girls! I have amazing news to tell you! We will never have to worry about where our next meal will come from! I have met my long lost sister and she has graciously offered to provide for us! Come, I will take you all to meet her."

The man and his family went to the aunt immediately. The aunt was delighted to see the family. She took them all home and tucked them in for the night. 

The family loved staying with the aunt. She bought them all brand new clothes and gave them plenty to eat at every meal. The youngest daughter wasn't used to having so much food to eat that she overindulged and got sick. 

Over the course of a few weeks, the family started to put on some weight due to the good eating. The mother was so happy that her family was well taken care of. She decided to make the aunt a lovely dinner to express her thanks. 

The mother sent her husband to the market to buy a nice piece of liver. She made an elaborate dinner with nice-looking vegetables to go with it. When it was done cooking, she sent the youngest daughter to deliver it to the aunt. 

The youngest daughter ran it over to the aunt's house, but when she got there, she heard a funny noise coming from inside the house. She peeked through the window and saw the aunt turn into a wolf and eat a man. The little girl shrieked and ran back home. 

Luckily, the 'aunt' was too busy with her meal to notice the little girl.

When the youngest daughter arrived back home, she was out of breath and as pale as a ghost. "My child, what has happened?" cried the mother. The little girl told her mother about her encounter. "Oh dear! We must tell your father!" So off they went to find him.

When they found the father and told him what happened, he thought they were kidding. After a few minutes of listening to them ramble on, he realized they were being quite serious. He was furious. "How could she take us in like that and treat us like family and still plan to eat us?!" He went to the town and alerted the people.

The townspeople were also furious. They devised a plan to catch the wolf. They would sneak into her house while she was sleeping and they would tie her up and take her to the middle of the market. There the townspeople would stone her to death. 

They waited until it was late at night and all the lights in the wolf's house were off. Three of the strongest men snuck into her house and tied her up. It wasn't that easy when she awoke and started struggling. They carried her to the market and tied her to a pole. All the townspeople stoned the wolf to death and nobody was in danger of the wolf again.

Bibliography: Story: The Wolf Aunt from The Persian Tales by D.L.R Lorimer (1919).

Extra Reading Diary: Turkish Fairy Tales

Turkish Fairy Tales

The Soothsayer: There was word that the chief soothsayer's wife would be coming to the bath. A woman went home and told her husband that she would leave him if he did not become a soothsayer. The man went and pondered his situation and ran into a friend. He told his friend his troubles and the friend, who is intimate with the bath-woman, told him not to worry. The bath woman told the man to scribble words down like a soothsayer at the gate of the bath. The bath-woman took the ring of the soothsayer's wife and told the man where to find it. When the soothsayer's wife realized it she threw a fit and the man acted like a soothsayer and told her where it could be found. Everybody believed him to be a soothsayer and when the Sultana lost her ring, he was brought in again to find it. A slave had stolen it and confessed to the man and he had her feed it to a goose and then break its leg. He had the Sultan gather all of the poultry and chose the goose with the broken leg. He was promoted to chief soothsayer.

(Hodjas, Source:UnTextbook)

The Wizard and His Pupil: A young boy ran away from every school that he attended. He asked his mother to allow him to apprentice for a wizard. The boy eventually learned all that he could from the wizard and the wizard told the boy that he would transform into a ram, sell him at market, but be sure to keep the rope. The boy did as he was told and sold the ram for 500 piastres and the wizard escaped and returned to his human form. The wizard transformed into a horse and told the boy to sell him at market but to keep the rope again. When the horse was sold, the boy went home and told his mother that he would transform into a lavish bath and that she was to sell him but to keep the key. When the wizard returned home and saw the boy was gone, he was furious. He went to the market the next day and saw the lavish bath and realized it was the boy. He bid for the bath and refused to pay the mother if she refused the key. She gave it over, but the boy transformed into a bird and the wizard transformed into a falcon. The wizard chased the boy until eventually the boy killed the wizard. A king witnessed all this and offered the boy his daughter to wed and the position of vizir. 

The Liver: A little girl was to buy a piece of liver from the market, wash it in the pond and take it to her mother. When she washing it in the river, a stork stole the liver and refused to give the liver back unless she got him some barley. So the girl went to the farmer and asked for barley, but he asked her to pray for rain. She then had to go the market and get incense for the prayer. The merchant asked for shoes in exchange for the incense. She went to shoemaker and he asked for ox-leather. The tanner wanted a hide in exchange for the leather. She went to the ox and asked for hide and he wanted a piece of straw. She then went to a peasant for straw and he asked for a kiss. She accepted and gained all the objects. She gets to eat the liver with her mother.

Reading Diary B: Persian Tales

Persian Tales

Story of The Wolf Bride: A man was lucky enough to have had a son. He went to get a horoscope for him and was told that is son would be torn to pieces by a wolf. To be safe, the mad built a chamber and kept his son in it. The man taught his son to read and write and when the son came of age he was to be wed. The man's brother had a daughter and they had chosen her for the son. The wedding celebration had lasted seven days and when it was over, the girl was taken to the chamber. She somehow turned to a wolf and tore the boy to pieces and changed back into a girl not knowing what happened. When a woman came the next morning, the girl explained that she didn't know what had happened. The boy's body was carried away to be buried. "Whatever is willed by fate, that verily comes to pass."

The Man Who Came To Wake His Luck: There were two brothers, one very rich and one poor. The poor brother went to his brother's herd and found a man herding the horses. It turned out to be his brother's luck. He told the brother that his luck was asleep and where to find it. On his way, he ran into a farmer, a King, and a wolf who also had no luck. When he found his luck, he passed along the messages from the people he met. When he returned to the King who was actually a woman, she asked him to marry her and to stay and have her riches. He refused. The farmer was to dig up a jar of coins for his field to yield fruit and he asked he brother to help him and share the coins but he refused. He went to the wolf and said that he was to eat the most foolish man. The wolf then asked the brother a silly question and fooled him. The wolf then ate him.

The Shepherd Who Found a Treasure: There were two shepherds who were watching a herd of sheep. One had fallen asleep and a green fly had flown out oh his nose and settled on the middle of three rocks. The first shepherd had known that the fly was actually other's soul and woken the other and said that he would give the wages of his sheep to him if he would tell him his dream. The other shepherd agreed and told him of a treasure hiding behind a rock but had no idea if he had gotten it or not because he was woken up. So the first shepherd went to town and got his wages and gave it to the other shepherd. The shepherd fell back asleep and the first shepherd looked under the rock and found jewels. He never worked as shepherd again.

(Green Fly, Source:UnTextbook)

Reading Diary A: Persian Tales

Persian Tales

The Wolf and The Goat: This story was very interesting. The wolf stole the goat's babies by tricking them into opening the door. One ran away and hid though, so when the mama goat came back home and saw that there was only one baby goat, she got mad and found the goat and challenged him to a fight. She filled a bag full of nice presents for a man to sharpen her horns. The wolf was too greedy and just blew the bag up to make it seem full and gave it to a dentist. The dentist peeked and saw that it was just air. But instead of sharpening the wolf's teeth, he pulled the teeth out and filled them with cotton twists that looked like sharp teeth. The mama goat easily beat the wolf in a challenge and ripped his stomach open with her sharp horn. The wolf died and she took her babies back home.

Susku and Mushu: A little beetle name Susku and a mouse named Mushu who got married. Sushi fell into a river and was saved by Mushu. A little while later, Mushu asked Susku to make her a pot of soup. When he left she started to make the soup and when the blind blew, it swept her up and dropped her in the soup. When Mushu came home he saw that his wife had drowned. He then poured the ash on top of his head. The crow then shook his feathers out then the tree shook his leaves out and so on. Others pitied Mushu and Susku and injured themselves too. This story was a little weird.

The Wolf Aunt: A man, his wife, and seven daughters were very poor. The man gathered thorns every day and sold them to provide for his family. One day on his way back, he ran into a woman who claimed to be his sister. She said that she was rich and would provide for his family. He ran home and brought his family to live with the newly discovered aunt. Soon, they were well fed and clothed nicely. The wife was so thankful that she decided to cook the aunt a nice liver dish. When the youngest daughter went to deliver the dish, she saw that the aunt was actually a wolf and was eating a man! She ran home and told her mother who tried telling her husband. The husband wouldn't believe his wife and the next morning woke up alone. He told the aunt about what had happened and she turned into a wolf and ate him. If he had listened to his wife, he wouldn't have died.

(Wolf, Source: UnTextbook)