The King and the Ju Ju Tree

How can you tell if a tree is magic or not just by looking?

Greetings, readers! This week's story comes to us from Nigeria. The King and the Ju Ju Tree is a story about a king who learns what price we're willing to pay when we're in great pain. Click the link above to read the story and continue with me below to analyze it.

The Boss

I definitely picked a difficult fairy tale to bring into our modern era, but the arbitrary rules of this blog are firm. On one post I analyze a fairy tale, and the next post I write a modern version of it. I scaled down the warfare to office drama, but I ended up keeping the religious aspect of Andersen's original story. I suppose I could have had a boss threaten coffee breaks instead, but this seemed a bit more true to the original.

Never underestimate the importance of a person's desk.

The Wicked Prince

When power is won at the point of a sword, a king rules through fear.

Hello again, readers. I found this story a few weeks back and I thought it would be apt for our world these days. I didn't realize how apt it would be. The Wicked Prince is a story by Hans Christian Andersen and it's about a leader of a nation that creates his power through war and demands to be the ultimate power in his kingdom. When that doesn't work out for him, he reverts to the only thing he knows: more war. At least this fairy tale has a happy ending. Read the story at the link above and continue reading below to analyze it with me.