The Tongue-Cut Sparrow

Like this, only magic.

Hello, reader. This week, we look to Japan for our story. The Tongue-Cut Sparrow is a story about learning to not be a jerk, but only to a point. Follow the link in the previous sentence to read the story, and then continue below to look past the surface with me.

This story really just has three characters: the old man, the old woman, and the sparrow. I'm not sure why the old man didn't realize his sparrow was a fairy when she started talking to him, but maybe he thought that was normal for pet sparrows. The sparrow really does act as a fairy godmother in this story. She takes on a mortal to take care of, and rewards him for his good deeds. Then she punishes another mortal for that woman's wicked deeds. What intrigues me is that the sparrow only uses her fairy powers after her tongue is cut. Clearly, she's been a fairy this whole time, and she's had time to raise daughters as fairy sparrows as well. However, not once did this fairy reward the old man until after her tongue was cut out. It almost seems like she was going to pretend to be a regular talking sparrow until the old woman forced her hand, so to speak.

As for the old woman, I have to wonder why the old man married her in the first place. She's always been like that, so why does such a nice, spineless man still live with someone who's so mean? I'm going to have to assume they didn't meet until they were married. However much we might dislike the old woman for being so mean and awful, she is the only reason this story even happens. Otherwise, it's the story of a man with an awesome pet sparrow. Because of her, the sparrow is revealed as a fairy and the old man and the old woman benefit from it. Only from this brutal, over-the-top punishment do good things come into both of their lives. In a similar fashion, it's only because the old woman got a box of demons that she finally mended her ways and stopped being so cross all the time. Good things only come after bad in this story.

I really feel sorry for the old man. He's pretty much just blown around by others in his life. His wife's and sparrow's actions are what drive him, not his own actions. He has a bond with this sparrow, so after his wife attacks the sparrow, he goes to find her. He doesn't stay with the sparrow too long because he wants to get home to his wife. He only gets gold because the sparrow decides to give it to him. He actually comes into his own at the very end of the story in the paragraph where he convinces his wife not to be so mean anymore. This gets much less time than the sparrow's or old woman's actions. While the old man may be what moves the plot along, this story only happens because of the old woman and the sparrow.

The moral of this story would have to be: be just the right amount of rude and life will be great.

Want a pet sparrow now? Have another moral for this story? Want me to look at a different tale? Comment below!

The Red Slipper

Like these, only magic.

Hello reader. This week's story is Jewish. The Red Slipper looks like it's going to be a Cinderella look-alike, but twists to avoid doing that in just the right ways. Follow the link to read the story and keep reading here to look beneath the surface with me.

I have to wonder about the girl's father in this story. His only job in this story is to raise Rosy-red until he remarries a terrible woman, and then he disappears. Does Rosy-red's stepmother have some kind of magic at her disposal to make this happen? Is she just really good at playing people so she made this man love her enough to marry her, and then hate her enough to leave home constantly? Whatever the answer, Rosy-red's father is not really a character in this story. He and the chieftain's son are the only men in this story, and they don't really do much. I guess the chieftain's son gets to speak, at least. One man sets Rosy-red up for a terrible life and the other brings her into a splendid life. While we're on the subject, there's something a little strange about the chieftain's son.

The chieftain's son finds a shoe in the woods and decides he has to marry the girl who belongs to it. This makes even less sense than Cinderella's story. At least in Cinderella, the prince actually meets the girl he vows to marry. The chieftain's son has no idea what this girl is like, but because of one shoe, he comes back to a cave in the forest to talk to an old woman day after day and has his servants comb the forest to find the shoe's owner. At last, when he is completely convinced that the owner of the shoe is actually living in this cave, he meets Rosy-red and they have their happily ever after. At least this obsessive man could give her a happy ending.

I also wonder about the jinn in this story. I suppose the jinn is referred to as a male, but he is not human, and he has a bit more impact on the story than the human men who set up and end Rosy-red's tale. The jinn rewards good singing and punishes bad singing. I have to wonder about the jewels he's guarding, though. He was willing to give some of them away for a sweet song. I guess it would be pretty lonely hanging out at the bottom of a well, but he must be guarding those jewels for someone. From the phrasing in the story, it sounds like the gems aren't his. This jinn seems to have a terrible effect on Rosy-red's life by setting in motion getting her kicked out of her house, but that ends up being an excellent thing. It's only because Rosy-red got kicked out of her abusive home that she ended up living happily ever after. I like this because it's the opposite of how jinns usually interact with people in stories. Typically, jinns are mean and mess everything up for their master. So, in more ways than one, this story strays from the typical path, and it's better for it.

The moral of this story is either: "Keep the gems you find in a bucket for yourself," or, "If you're going to get lost in the woods, make sure to lose one of your magical shoes so a crazy prince will find you."

Have another moral? Annoyed I didn't talk about the women in this story? Have a story you want me to analyze? Comment below!