Sadko

Play one of these well for the King of the Blue Seas, and he'll give you fish!

Greetings, readers. This is my 100th blog post! Thank you for sticking with me. I've enjoyed learning new stories from around the world and growing my skills trying to write these tales of wonder and magic from long ago into today's world. I hope you've enjoyed them as well.

This week's fairy tale comes from Russia. Sadko is a fantastic musician and manages to make his fortune with a bit of trickery. Click the link to read the story and then read below with me to analyze it.

I'm impressed at Sadko's tenacity. I understand that if he doesn't have anything to do, he gets bored, but if I played at a lake all day and the lake scared me at dusk, I probably wouldn't go near it again. Sadko goes back to the lake two more days and plays all day. I'm just glad that the guy who came out of the lake was glad to see Sadko and had been enjoying his music. It would have been a completely different story if the King of the Blue Seas hadn't enjoyed the music, or if Sadko had somehow called a monster to him with his music. Although, being able to call a monster out of a lake could have its uses as well.

I have to wonder if the lake always had fish with gold fins in it, or if the King of the Blue Seas created them just for Sadko. If the lake had always had them, why hadn't anyone else caught one before? Maybe they're just better at avoiding being caught. Or the King of the Blue Seas likes those fish so usually he won't let them be taken away. That would mean he really enjoyed Sadko's music and felt very indebted to him. Then again, I suppose it's only three fish in exchange for the deepest wish of Sadko's heart. I wonder if Sadko went back out to the lake to play again occasionally after he was a successful merchant. It's a good thing Sadko knew how to run all of those markets well so he could keep making money. Although, I wonder how the town's economy handled that monopoly....

Lastly, I have to wonder about the party the King of the Blue Seas was throwing. Did he not plan for musicians? Or did Sadko's music just sound better than anything the King of the Blue Seas could find underwater? We're not going to worry about the difficulty of sound from the seashore traveling underwater. There's probably magic, or amazing hearing involved there. Or both, I suppose. I wonder if the musicians hired for that feast were mad at Sadko stealing their gig, or if they're planning on asking him to teach them to play better. Hopefully those musicians were still able to earn a living afterward either way.

The moral of this story is that even if you can't find a job, someone will appreciate your talents. Alternatively, if you're playing music and a lake starts to churn and get scary, keep playing. Something interesting is sure to happen.

Have a different moral? Wonder about the life below the waves in Lake Ilmen? Have a story you want me to talk about? Comment below!

The Seventh Gate is the Hardest

Hello, reader. Last week, we looked at Ishtar's Journey into the Underworld. This was a new one for me, although I've seen the idea of going into the underworld to get a loved one back before. It's odd that Ishtar totally forgot about her husband, but that made me think about how it might translate differently into a modern version than some other stories like this.

A quick programming note: there will be no blog update next week. For my American readers, enjoy Thanksgiving! For everyone else, enjoy your Thursday!

Passing through the first few gates is easy.

It was strange how grief hit you. It had been months since Izzy's husband had died and she had thought she'd gotten over the worst of it. Then, on her way home from work, she heard his favorite song on the radio. She remembered how they used to dance to it. Tim would pull it up on YouTube and swing her around the house. And she'd never have those moments again. Izzy pulled over and let herself focus on the song and on those memories while she cried. One more thing she'd had to say goodbye to.

Eventually, Izzy made it home, but she was too tired to eat. She dropped on the couch and stared into space as the room gradually got darker around her. It was so hard to handle these emotions all the time. She'd been having a pretty good day until then. But she couldn't hate the memories, and she no longer hated Tim for dying when they were both so young. She had been feeling so much lately. It seemed easier just to stop. Izzy contemplated this in the dark on her couch. She couldn't just turn her emotions on and off like a switch, but in that moment, she wished she could. It would be living like you were dead, but wouldn't that be better than crying all the time? Everyone was getting impatient with her grief, and Izzy was too. It was just so much work to feel things all the time.

Izzy must have dozed off because in the next moment, she was sure she was dreaming. There was a cave in front of her and she knew, in the way of dreams, that it lead to the underworld. "But I'm still alive," Izzy said out loud. No one answered her. She looked around and there was nothing else. Shrugging, Izzy walked into the cave. She was stopped almost immediately by a gate.

"No one alive can come into the underworld," the watchman said, looking down at her.

Izzy looked behind her. "But I've got nowhere else to go."

The watchman looked at her expectantly.

Izzy reached up and checked which earrings she was wearing. "If I give you my earrings, will you let me pass?"

"Done." The watchman said it so quickly, Izzy was sure he'd been waiting to be bribed. Izzy took off her earrings and the gate opened. She handed them to the watchman and walked through. She'd only gone a few dozen steps before there was another gate in front of her. Izzy looked behind her, but there wasn't anything back there anymore.

"No one alive can come into the underworld," the watchman said.

Izzy looked up at him. "If I give you my necklace, will you let me pass?"

"Done." Again, the watchmen seemed to have been waiting to be bribed.

Izzy went through another gate after she gave up her watch. At the next one, she gave up her jacket. After that, she gave up her clothes. The sixth gate was the hardest, but finally, she gave up her wedding ring. She stood before the seventh gate, naked and alone. "I have nothing left to give," she said.

The watchman looked down at her. "Give me your heart."

Izzy shied away from him and turned around. There was nothing behind her. The gate in front of her was all there was. There was no way around it. Izzy looked up at the watchman. He stared impassively down at her.

"Done," Izzy said.

The gate opened and the watchman took her heart. Izzy wandered forward, but there were no more gates. Her mind went blank and the dirt and dust surrounded her.

Izzy opened her eyes. She supposed that might have been a nightmare, but she wasn't afraid. She noticed that she was hungry, so she got off the couch and made food. When she was tired, she went to bed and then got up for work the next day.

Izzy could see that she was living like a robot, but she didn't care. She didn't feel anything about it, which, she supposed, was part of the point. It was much easier. She no longer cried, but she didn't smile much either. She just existed. It was a boring life, but it was painless and that was better than climbing a wall of grief when she walked past Tim's favorite dessert at the grocery store. Now, she didn't spare it a second glance. It was simply pecan pie.

This went on for some time and Izzy could see people worrying about her. She wasn't sure why. She had gotten over her grief completely and moved on. Wasn't that what you were supposed to do? Her family seemed to notice as well, and Izzy's brother Ivan told her he was coming to visit. Izzy liked Ivan so she told him he could. She wasn't sure how much fun she would be, though.

Ivan arrived on a Friday night and they talked about minor things until it was time to sleep. The next day, Izzy took them out for brunch and they went back home. They started looking at movie times.

"Izzy," Ivan said, setting his phone down. "How are you doing? I mean really?"

Izzy shrugged. "Fine, I guess. I don't cry any more."

"But do you laugh any more?"

Izzy shrugged. "When something is funny."

"What happened to you?"

Izzy remembered her dream, but it was just a dream. "It was hard to be so emotional. This way is easier."

"Making yourself numb isn't easier. That just means you'll have to deal with everything later. You're only putting it off."

Izzy shook her head. "No I'm not. Everyone said I would get over it. Well, I'm over it. You don't need to therapize me," she joked.

"I wish I could," Ivan replied, "but I can't be a therapist for my sister. Still, I can tell there's something wrong."

"Nothing is wrong," Izzy replied, "but you're starting to annoy me."

"Then tell me you're genuinely over Tim's death. That you feel the ache he left but you're able to handle it."

Izzy stared at Ivan. "I'm over it," she said, looking away.

"Izzy, this isn't healthy."

"Drop it," Izzy snapped.

"No. Go ahead and get angry at me. At least you're feeling something."

"What? You want me to feel things? Fine! I loved Tim with my whole heart. I thought he was going to be with me for the rest of my life, to take care of me and love me, and I would take care of him. I thought we'd have children and grow old together. I thought I'd get to tease him that he was becoming more like his dad and he'd tease me about becoming more like Mom. I thought he'd make me chicken soup while I was sick one more time. I thought-" Izzy stopped. She realized she was crying. "I thought he'd never leave me like that."

Now Izzy cried in earnest. She hadn't even noticed how heavy her heart had felt since her dream, but she felt a weight coming off. Like she was washing the mud off and brushing all the dust away. As Izzy cried, she closed her eyes and thought she saw the last watchman watching her steadily. Silently, he handed her back her heart and Izzy took it. She went back to the sixth gate and slid her wedding ring back on her finger. She ran through the rest of the gates, pulling her clothes back on, sliding her watch upside down over her hand, dropping her necklace over her head, and hurrying to put the earrings back in her ears. She ran out of the cave and saw the world all around her light up with the sunrise.

Izzy fell to her knees and cried, letting herself feel again, and coming back to who she really was. No more would she live like she was dead. Tim wouldn't want that. And neither did Izzy.

Ishtar's Journey into the Underworld

I have another announcement for you, dear reader. I'm full of those lately. I am officially a published author! A Tale of Two Tricksters is live on Amazon as both an ebook and a paperback. It's an Urban Fantasy novel that follows the exploits of a college student who doesn't remember that she's a djinn. There's plenty of mythological creatures from all of the world thrown in as well as the power of friendship and extreme dislike. A few of the stories on this blog tie into this novel, either directly or indirectly. Go check it out!

Ishtar in all of her finery...except her shoes.

Now that you've done that, let's get down to business. Today's tale comes to us from ancient Babylon. Ishtar's Journey into the Underworld kind of seems like a small part of a larger tale. Still, we'll take what we can get and just look at this piece of it. Go ahead and follow the link to read the story and then analyze it with me below.

It's interesting to me that a goddess knows so little about the underworld. Ishtar went there to be with her deceased husband, but she didn't seem to know that she would forget all about him when she died. Which means he had also forgotten about her. It seems like their underworld is terrible no matter what you were like in life. For the ancient Greeks, at least there were different parts of Hades depending on whether you did good things or bad things. In ancient Babylon, being dead is just terrible no matter what. And Ishtar seems to have no idea about any of this. I understand that as a goddess, she wouldn't have to worry about dying, but you'd think she would ask around a bit before she went into the underworld.

I'm also interested in Irkalla. Did she already dislike Ishtar before she demanded to be let into the underworld? The punishment Ishtar gets seems a little out of proportion for demanding to be let in somewhere. I could see why they might not get along, though. Ishtar is the goddess of love and Irkalla is the goddess of death. One causes new life to be created and the other is there when life ends. Still, it's a little much to make the girl you hate strip down naked before someone gives her the plague and kills her. Especially since she's a goddess and probably immortal. What kind of plague was that, anyway?

While we're wondering about people, let's wonder about the watchmen at the gates. I'm not sure how long Ishtar was dead, but I'm assuming it was for awhile. These watchmen took all of her awesome stuff on her way into the underworld, but they just kept it and gave it back to her on her way back out. I could understand if they might not have wanted to wear her dress, but it's weird that they didn't do anything with her finery. I would have thought Irkalla would take it, if nothing else, just to be mean. Although, I suppose once Ishtar was dead, she wouldn't have cared. Maybe Irkalla didn't care about it after the watchmen took it and she just left the watchmen to do with that what they would. Or maybe they assumed that since Ishtar was a goddess, she would be leaving the underworld at some point and she would want her clothes and jewelry back.

The moral of this story is that if you're going to go into the underworld after your dead husband, you'd better be sure someone more powerful will come get you if you don't come back. Alternatively, if seven is an important number in your culture, make sure you have seven things to give the watchmen. Otherwise you might get stuck in between gates.

Think of a different moral? Annoyed that after all of that Ishtar didn't get her husband back? Have a different fairy tale you want me to talk about? Comment below!

Our Song

Hello, friends. It's National Novel Writing Month! That's the month where crazy people, like me, write 50,000 words. Don't worry, I'll keep updating my blog. We're getting close to the 100th post, after all. In any case, last week, we looked at The Celestial Sisters, which honestly could have been pretty disturbing. This week I'm writing a modern day version of that fairy tale. Although, I didn't go the disturbing route. I've realized I put a lot of music in my stories but I did it this week for two reasons: The Celestial Sisters is too good of a name to pass up for a girl rock group, and there's just something magical about live music.

Sometimes it's easier to talk through music.

I'm the bass player in a band called The Celestial Sisters. We've got Nikki on guitar and vocals, Jane on drums, and Martha on keyboards. We graduated from practicing in Jane's garage to getting gigs in bars about a year ago and it's been pretty great. We all have day jobs, but our gigs are mostly on the weekends, so it isn't too hard to make everything work. Of course, all of us except Martha are single. She has a very understanding boyfriend who sees her when he can. For the rest of us, our schedule is too demanding and we try to tell ourselves that's the only reason we're single. Sorry. I'm rambling. I do that.

Anyway, we had just finished our set at a club called Michael's when one of the regulars came up to talk to us. Greg was a pretty sweet kid, although Nikki always got annoyed by him. Tonight, though, Greg had a friend with him. Greg introduced him as Shaun. Shaun was tall, handsome, and had a great smile. I promise I usually tried not to be attracted to our fans. It appeared Shaun was also taken with me because after we'd all been chatting for a bit, he asked me to dance. Since we were on our break, it was canned music, but it was still pretty good, so I said yes.

I know how to move to a beat and I don't embarrass myself when I dance, but I'm not that great. Shaun was tearing it up. Then he grabbed my hand and led me through a few steps as well. That guy could dance. After the song was done, he asked me, "Can I take you away from all of this?"

"We're not done playing tonight," I replied, "and I've got something after this. Maybe some other time."

"Okay," he said. "Looking forward to hearing your next set."

 Our next set was great, but by the time we finished playing, Greg and Shaun had already left.

"Looking for a new man, are we?" Jane teased.

"Maybe." I shrugged.

"Tina, you've got to be one of the densest people I've ever met. Did you at least get a date with him for another night?" Nikki was never one to hold back.

"Well, no."

The girls scoffed and Nikki threw her hands up in defeat.

"I'm not sure I want to date him. I just met the guy."

"That's what dates are for, to find that out," Jane told me. "Hopefully he'll come back with Greg next week."

I decided it was best not to say anything.

"Don't worry about it," Martha advised me. "Jason was trying to get my attention for months before I even realized that's what he was doing. If he's worth dating, he can be as patient as you need."

"Thanks, Martha." I finished putting my stuff away and stood up. "See you all tomorrow for practice." I had been working on our next song and I was almost done with it.

The rest of the band waved and finished packing up as I left.

Shaun and Greg were there at the next gig we played, but I still wasn't sure if I wanted to date Shaun, so when he asked, I put him off again. When Shaun showed up to our third gig without Greg, Nikki practically threatened me if I didn't get a date with him. "You like him, right?" she asked me.

"Well, yeah," I admitted.

"Then just call it hanging out if you don't want to call it a date, but set up some time with him! And get his digits!"

I kind of shrugged and started to turn away, but Nikki turned me back around. "Look. Get over whatever complex you have and spend time with this guy you like. If you don't set up a date with him, I'll set one up for you."

I could only imagine how Nikki would phrase that when she was talking to Shaun. "Fine! I'll do it!"

"You're welcome," Nikki replied with a grin.

So in between our sets, when Shaun was dancing with me, this time I accepted when he asked if I wanted to go with him. His smile when I said yes was definitely worth it. It was a Friday night and we decided on Sunday afternoon. We'd get brunch and take a walk.

When I got back to the band, I was grinning from ear to ear. Nikki looked at me and smiled. "Was that so hard?" she asked.

I decided not to answer.

That Sunday, we had brunch at one of my favorite places and took a walk along with waterfront. As we chatted, I learned that Shaun played guitar. "Why didn't you tell me you were a musician?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It never quite fit in the conversation."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "That's so cool."

"I write music, too," he told me.

"Me too. I write for our group. Although really, I write something, and when we actually go to play it, everyone tweaks it a bit and changes it."

"Isn't that frustrating?" Shaun asked.

"It was at first, but that makes it sound so much better." I shrugged. "And it helps me write better for the next time."

"Do you want to write a song together sometime?" Shaun asked.

"Sure." I smiled. "I'm really glad we're doing this."

"Me too," Shaun replied.

We had several more dates until I asked Shaun if he wanted to be my boyfriend. He said yes right away and not too long after that, we started working on a song together. Just after Shaun and I started dating, Martha announced that she had Jason were engaged. He must have been saving up for months to afford that giant rock he gave her. Of course we were all excited, and it was nice to be able to hassle Nikki and Jane for still being single. Nikki, of course, said that she was having too much fun having one night stands. Jane just laughed and shook her head.

Of course, the closer Martha's wedding got, the less time she had for the band. Eventually, Nikki just declared we were on hiatus and I think Martha was secretly relieved. I was too. That meant I could go see more of Shaun's band's shows. White Hawks played mostly feel-good rock, but Shaun told me he was trying to get them to play some harder music, like what we played.

"I just feel like it's okay to bare your soul more with punk rock. You know?"

"Lyrics can still have a deep meaning, whatever genre you're playing," I pointed out.

"I know, but the music carries more weight when it's punk rather than...bouncy. You know what I mean?"

I nodded. "Still, don't try to make your band into something it's not."

Shaun smiled. "This is why I have you. You're right. I won't push it with the guys, but I will bring it up when it's relevant." We kissed and I lost track of time for a moment. "So, want to keep working on our song?" Shaun asked.

"Sure." I hadn't realized I would feel so vulnerable writing a song with Shaun until we had started, but he'd been supportive the whole way. It didn't feel weird being vulnerable with him, and I knew this song would be better having both of us in it. With The Celestial Sisters on hiatus, I didn't have to worry about writing new songs for them, and I could focus on this song with Shaun. We called it "A Basket Tune" because we had to call it something and it was nicer than calling ourselves basket cases.

Time went by and Martha's wedding was coming closer. It had been nice to take a break from the band, but after Martha and Jason got back from their honeymoon, it would be great to start playing again. "Who knows," I told Shaun, "maybe we'll play A Basket Tune at our first gig back."

"I thought we were writing that for White Hawks," Shaun replied, confused.

"Oh, but it's not really your band's style." This wasn't something I'd expected.

"But I'm trying to get it to be our style," Shaun said. "We've already started working on learning it."

"Oh." I was deflated. It wasn't really a betrayal, so why did it feel like one?

"I was going to surprise you with it." Shaun smiled uncertainly. "Is that all right?"

I didn't answer him right away. I was starting to feel sick. "But it doesn't even have the right instrumentation for you guys. There's no mandolin part for Frank." I was grasping at straws.

"Look, Tina, if you don't like it, just tell me."

"Well maybe I don't." Why did he get to sound exasperated when it was my trust that was broken?

Shaun was stunned for a moment. "Well, fine. You can have the damn song, then."

"Good! I meant it for my band anyway." I stood up. For a moment, I wasn't sure what I was going to do.

"Oh, just leave. You're killing my vibe," Shaun told me.

That did it. "Oh, I'll leave. We're done." I stormed out and didn't once look back.

I went to Martha's wedding without a date. I told everyone that Shaun was sick because I didn't want to start drama at Martha's wedding. This was supposed to be a happy day for her.

I went home and wrote a song that night. Bitter and dark and I knew as soon as the girls looked at it, they would know what happened. But it felt so right to write it and I would get a grim kind of pleasure in playing it and having Shaun hear it. By the time we had our first rehearsal after Martha's honeymoon, it was ready to go.

We played through it once. When we were done, Nikki turned and looked at me. "What the hell happened to you?"

I tried to be casual. "Shaun and I broke up."

"What? What happened?" Jane was shocked and trying not to be.

I explained, quickly.

"Jerk," Nikki said decisively. "So, what's this song you were fighting over? We're playing it at our first gig, right?"

I was torn. I had wanted to write it for us and I told Shaun that. It's not like he would have any right to be surprised. "Sure. What the hell." So that's what we did.

I noticed Shaun in the audience at our gig. Nikki must have noticed him too, because she changed the set list to start off with A Basket Tune. It didn't take Shaun long to recognize the song and after that it didn't take long for him to leave. I told myself fiercely that I was glad we left. I didn't want him there anyway.

However, as time went by, I began to miss him. I started to wonder what A Basket Tune would sound like when White Hawks played it. Nikki told me I was backing down, but Jane seemed to understand. Martha told me to go for it, but she'd always been a romantic and getting married had just made that worse. Eventually, I showed up to a White Hawk gig and approached Shaun at their break.

"I'm sorry," I said.

He looked at me for a moment and I was worried he was still mad at me. He sighed. "I'm sorry too. I really messed that up, huh?"

"Hey, I messed it up too."

We stood awkwardly for a moment.

I cleared my throat. "Well, I was thinking. It wouldn't be awful if we both played A Basket Tune, right? We could just say we co-wrote it when we introduced the song."

Shaun smiled. "I think we could make that happen." He looked around. "I think we're almost back up, but listen to the first song. You might want to record it for your bandmates."

"Okay." I guessed I shouldn't have been surprised he wrote a song about me. I'd written a few about him.

Shaun gave one of his great smiles and got back on stage with his band. I made my way to the front of the audience and pulled out my phone. He had written a song about me. It was just him and his guitar weaving a yearning song about what they'd lost, but with the slight hope at the end they might get it back. I ended the recording and tried to blink away my tears. Shaun looked right at me and I gave him a watery smile and a thumbs up. He grinned back and the band launched into one of their bouncy rock songs I loved so much. It was perfect.