INDIA, HINDU EPIC RAMAYANA
Dasharatha was the king of all of Ayodhya, and though he had three wives, he had not a single child. He performed a fire sacrifice and was finally blessed with Rama, Lakshmana, and Bharata, all of whom were endowed with traits of the Supreme Trinity Entity, Vishnu. Vishnu had decided to be born as a mortal, for only a mortal could defeat the demon king Ravana. So when the child Rama was sixteen, the great sage Vishwamitra taught him and his brother Lakshmana how to defeat demons, giving them supernatural weapons.
In nearby Mithila, King Janaka was plowing the fields one day when he found a baby girl in a deep furrow. He took her in and named her Sita, and she grew to be unmatched in beauty and grace. Janaka decided that the only person deserving of Sita was a suitor strong enough to use the heavy bow given to his family by the god Shiva. Rama heard of this bow but was so strong that he broke it when he tried to use it. And so Rama and Sita married.
Through the jealousy and treachery of his stepmother, who wanted Bharata to succeed, Rama was exiled from Ayodhya. He was followed by his loyal wife, Sita, and his best friend and brother, Lakshmana. The demon king Ravana, hearing how Rama had defeated a number of demons, kidnapped Sita as revenge. He brought her back to his home, where she repeatedly refused to marry him, staying loyal to Rama. After many attempts, Rama was finally able to defeat Ravana and free Sita.
But vile rumors about Sita and her time with Ravana arose, and Rama asked her to prove her purity by undergoing the test of fire, called Agni Pariksha. Caught between two difficult choices, Sita stepped into the fire. There the god Agni protected her, proving her innocence, and she and Rama returned to Ayodhya.
The Beauty and the Beast
CHINA, CHINESE FAIRY TALE
Once upon a time, there was a man who had three daughters, all greatly skilled in embroidery. The father, doting on his children, would regularly pick flowers on his way home to inspire his daughters. But one day he couldn’t find a single flower along the path. In search of a flower, he accidentally wandered into the domain of the Beast.
Furious that this man disturbed his garden, the Beast threatened to devour the man. Terrified, the man begged forgiveness, saying he only wanted a gift for his daughters. The Beast then promised to let the man go, but only if the man promised to send one of his daughters to marry him. The man reluctantly agreed.
The man returned home to his daughters, but feeling guilty, he told them nothing of the deal he had made. But insects sent by the Beast came to harass him more and more each day until he finally confessed the whole story.
Upon recounting the unfortunate tale to his daughters, the elder two refused to marry the Beast. Only the youngest one acquiesced. She returned to the Beast and was terrified by his giant teeth and glinting eyes. But over time she became used to him. She performed the domestic tasks of his beautiful home, and he was very kind to her. And in this way, she came to like his company.
However, one day she heard her father was sick and begged the Beast to allow her to return to him. He granted her permission to take leave. Coming back many weeks later after her father had recovered, she found the Beast dying of loneliness and thirst. She quickly pulled him to the river and plunged him in. He emerged transformed into a handsome man. He told the surprised beauty that he had been cursed, but her love had set him free.
From that day on, they brought gifts to her family and lived happily ever after.
The Little Match Girl
DENMARK, DANISH FAIRY TALE
There once was a poor little girl with bare feet who sold matches on street corners to make a living. But one New Year’s Eve, no one needed matches, and no one bought from her. As the snow began to fall, the little girl was too scared to go home penniless to her cruel father. So she found a small corner outside and bundled herself up as best as she could. But as the sun set, it got darker and colder, and the little girl couldn’t feel her fingers anymore.
Out of desperation and wanting just a little bit of comfort, the girl took a single match from her bundle and lit it. When the tiny flame burst to life, she warmed her fingers by it, and the warmth felt like a warm, friendly iron stove—she could almost see its brass details. But when the match burned out, the vision and cheer went with it, and the little girl was once again cold and miserable. So she lit another match, and this time she saw a delicious holiday feast with a roast goose and apple stuffing. Again the vision vanished with the flame. The third match showed a magnificent Christmas tree with all the trimmings and finery until it too snuffed out, leaving a single star in the sky that plummeted to Earth.
The little girl remembered shooting stars and how her late grandmother, the only person who was ever loving and kind to her, told her a shooting star meant someone was dying in that moment. She lit a fourth match and saw her grandmother before her, just as kind and sweet as ever. The girl feared that, like the visions before, her grandmother would disappear when the match burned out. So she lit the entire bundle. In the bright blaze, her grandmother smiled and took the little girl’s hand. Together they flew into the sky, where there was no cold or hunger or worry.
The next morning, people found the little girl dead and frozen solid in the snow. But none saw her gentle smile or knew her happiness.
Donkeyskin
FRANCE, FRENCH FAIRY TALE
There once was a handsome king who had a donkey whose droppings were gold. The king married the most beautiful woman in all the world, and together they had a daughter and lived in peace in their prosperous kingdom. But one day, as the queen lay on her deathbed, she made the king promise not to marry again unless his new wife was as beautiful as she was. He agreed, and soon the queen died. Devastated, the king then tried to find a new wife, but he realized that only his own daughter was beautiful enough to fulfill the promise.
The princess was mortified and asked her fairy godmother for help. Her fairy godmother advised that she make impossible demands of her father before giving her consent. So the princess asked for a dress as bright as the sun, a dress as mysterious as the moon, a dress as brilliant as the stars, and, last, a cloak made out of the skin of the marvelous gold-producing donkey. When the king did all of these things, including slaying the donkey that brought the kingdom wealth, they realized how determined the king was, and the princess put on the donkeyskin cloak as a disguise and fit all three of her dresses into a magical walnut.
The princess fled to another kingdom, where she began to work in the kitchens of the royal castle. There she remained hidden in her ugly donkeyskin, but on feast days she wore her brilliant dresses. The local prince happened to see her one day and fell in love with her at first sight. He grew sick with longing and refused to eat anything unless it was made by the girl in the donkeyskin. The others balked at her ugliness, but the disguised princess made the prince a cake with her ring baked into it. He found it and said he would marry whomever the ring fit. When the ring failed to fit anyone else, the hidden princess came forward and slipped on the ring. She then changed into her splendid dresses and revealed herself. The prince and princess were married and lived happily ever after.
John Henry
ALABAMA, AMERICAN FOLKTALE
A legend is told in the Southern United States that not too long ago there was a man named John Henry. John Henry was born a slave and was freed during the Civil War. After receiving his freedom, he struck out to make his fortune and found a job with a railroad company. The train was becoming increasingly popular, and to keep up with demand, the railroad companies were laying down more and more track to connect the east with the west. And in order to lay down track, large swaths of land had to be cleared, rocks broken, and even hills cut through.
John Henry was a giant of a man with a huge appetite for hard work done well, so he was a natural steel driver. Steel drivers, sometimes known as hammer men, would hammer thick steel spikes into rocks to make holes into which explosives would be dropped to blast away t
he rock. A steel driver was always assisted by a shaker, who would crouch by the hole and spin the spike after each hammer. Together, an average steel driver and a shaker could do a good day’s work. But John Henry was no average man. His hammer was fourteen pounds, and he could drive it for ten to twelve hours a day, faster and longer than anyone else.
There came a time when John Henry’s railroad company arrived at a mountain that they could not bypass. They had to bore through it with the steel drivers’ hammers and drills. At this moment a salesman arrived. He told the railroad company that his new steam-powered drill could bore through the mountain faster and longer than any man. He claimed that with the drill, the railroad company didn’t need any other workers and could let them go.
John Henry refused to accept this. Defending the rights of the workers, John Henry agreed to the challenge and lifted up an even heavier hammer. The race began. The engine chugged and the man swung, and both were such a blur they were impossible to track. When the race ended, John Henry’s heart burst from exhaustion, but he had won: the engine had drilled nine feet; John Henry had drilled fourteen!
Apsaras
CAMBODIA, HINDU MYTHOLOGY
Indra is the powerful god of lightning, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. He is also the king of heaven and of the Devas and Devis, or male and female heavenly beings. He is recognizable by the lightning thunderbolt vajra he wields and the three-headed white elephant, Airavata, he rides. But he is also known for having huge debaucherous parties. He surrounds himself with Gandharvas, male nature spirits who are excellent musicians, and their female counterparts, the dancing Apsaras. Apsaras are beautiful and supernatural women who delight in entertaining. They rule over the fortunes of gaming and gambling; they are each a patron of a distinct aspect of the performing arts; and they are all accomplished dancers. They fly through the skies delivering messages and seduce men and gods alike. Indra once even sent the Apsara Menaka to seduce the sage Vishwamitra to distract him from his meditation and prevent him from gaining power. The Apsaras usually marry their musician companions, the Gandharvas. That is, except for Mera.
Mera was the queen of the Apsaras, and though her sisters married the heavenly musicians of Indra, she herself was bored with them. She felt jaded and depressed, thinking that she would never find love in heaven. And so she looked down to Earth and the green land of Cambodia. There she spotted the sage-king, Kambu Swayambhuva, who had traveled to Cambodia from distant India. She was so enraptured by his kindness, his valor, and his exotic origins that she descended from the sky and forsook her heavenly luxuries and even her immortality to be with him. The god Shiva blessed their union, and they married and created the Cambodian monarchy. Through their children, they gave rise to the Khmer people, named through the combination of their names, Kambu and Mera.
The Bear King, Valemon
NORWAY, NORWEGIAN FAIRY TALE
There once was a woodcutter with three daughters and very little money. But one day, a giant white bear arrived at their doorstep and promised the family many riches if one of the daughters would come live with him in his castle. Though the two elder daughters were pretty, they were terrified of the bear. Only the youngest, who was also the sweetest, agreed to the bear’s conditions and climbed up on his back.
The bear carried her far and away to his huge castle, where all her needs and desires were met during the day. At night, something would climb into her bed to sleep beside her, though she never saw what it was.
After she had been there for some time, she asked the bear for permission to visit her family. He agreed but made her promise not to listen to what her sisters said. Her sisters, upon learning of the mysterious nighttime visits, convinced her to take a candle to bed to see what was next to her. The very next night, she lit the candle and found that the something was a beautiful man. Three drops of wax fell on his shirt, and he awoke with a cry. He told her he was King Valemon, and he had been cursed to be a bear, but now that she had seen him, he was forced to marry the troll queen’s daughter. In a flash, he and his entire castle disappeared, leaving her cold and alone.
She set out to find him, recruiting the help of the North Wind to take her to the troll queen’s palace, which was west of the sun and east of the moon. She found him right before the wedding was to begin and challenged the troll princess to a battle. Whoever could clean the wax from the king’s shirt would get to marry him. The troll princess agreed, but when she tried, her black heart only made the shirt become filthier. The woodcutter’s daughter took it next, and with her pure heart, the shirt became as bright and clean as new.
The trolls conceded defeat, and the couple was soon married and lived happily ever after.
Rainbow Crow
NORTH AMERICA, LENAPE PEOPLE (DISPUTED)
Back when the world was new, every day was warm and perfect. But then the earth began to grow cold, and the animals felt the first winter. Snow began to fall, then fell thicker and faster each day until the animals were completely covered and started to fear for their lives. Finally Crow, who was beautiful and rainbow colored, volunteered to fly high into the sky and bring back the first fire. He did just that, but though he flew back to the earth as quickly as possible, the journey was still long. He arrived with the fire to save the animals from the cold, but the fire singed all his beautiful feathers and made his lovely voice harsh.
Rainbow Crow, while attributed to the Lenape people, may actually be an altered story from another people, such as the Cherokee, Shoshone, or Achomawi.
In a Cherokee story, Water Spider was the one to save the animals from the cold earth. She was the only one able to fetch fire from a sycamore tree that had been struck by lightning. In a Shoshone tale, the trickster Coyote stole fire from the cave of the fire people. In an Achomawi myth, Coyote asked Spider Woman to help him talk to Silver Gray Fox, who lived in the sky, and convinced him to return warmth to the land. In the myth, Spider Woman sent her two youngest children up on arrows shot by the animals and lifted up on winds made of song. Silver Gray Fox appreciated the visit and gifted the world with warmth, the first rainbow, and little morning dewdrop rainbows for all spider webs.
It is also possible that Rainbow Crow is a story that belongs to another tribe entirely, of which there is little or no record. Regardless, the story of a hero bringing fire to a cold land exists in many cultures across the world. Everyone dreams of warmth on a cold night.
Bakunawa and the Seven Moons
PHILIPPINES, FILIPINO MYTHOLOGY
The universe is split into seven planes. The lowest layer is empty and vast. The second layer is named Tubignon, and it is filled with water and the water spirits that live in the bottom of the ocean. The third layer is named Idalmunon and contains the dark underground earth and the spirits that live there. The fourth layer is named Lupan-on, and it is on this middle layer that humans live side by side with invisible spirits that cause sickness. The fifth layer is named Kahanginan, and it is the air right above people and is filled with flying air spirits. The sixth layer is named Ibabaw-non, and this is where babaylan, or shamans, ascend to in order to commune with spirits on behalf of people. The seventh layer is named Langit-non, and this is where the creator Maka-ako resides.
In the beginning, the night was long and dark, even on Langit-non. So Maka-ako decided to make light and created the seven sibling moons, each as fair and luminous as the last. The seven beautiful siblings lit up the night sky and were adored by all, including the sea serpent Bakunawa.
Bakunawa, who lived deep in the dark ocean, began to covet the brilliant moons. The serpent’s lust became overwhelming, and Bakunawa leapt up from the sea and swallowed one of the moons whole. For a time, Bakunawa was able to rest beneath the waves, satisfied with the glowing moon inside it. But eventually the moon began to melt away, and Bakunawa craved a moon once more. The serpent leapt up and swallowed another moon and then leapt again to swallow yet another, showing no signs o
f stopping.
In some stories, Bakunawa swallowed every last moon and only spit out the last one in fright when the people of Lupan-on banged their drums and shouted at the serpent. And in some stories, the last moon stayed in the sky to fight while the remaining moons found their own happiness on Lupan-on. Maybe even aided by Tu’er Shen, the Chinese rabbit god of same-sex relationships who ties the red string of destiny between lovers.
Sun God, Ra
EGYPT, EGYPTIAN DEITY
In the beginning, the sun god, Ra, emerged from the waters of Nun as a geometric Benben stone. The sun rose and passed across the sky for the first time. Ra was all-powerful and could take many forms. He was the morning sun Khepera at dawn, the full sun Ra at noon, and the evening sun Atum at sunset. His power was in his secret name and in his ability to call into being that which he named. And so he spoke the names of Shu and Tefnut, the god of air and the goddess of moisture. They in turn gave birth to the earth god, Geb, and the sky goddess, Nut. Ra tried to separate Geb and Nut by placing Shu between them, but Nut still managed to give birth to the deities Osiris, Set, Isis, Nephthys, and Horus the Elder. Ra proceeded to name all the things in Egypt, including the people, and set himself as pharaoh over all.
Thus, Ra ruled for some thousand years, but in the shape of a man, and so he grew old. Eventually humans began to mock his elderly appearance, which angered Ra. He then sent his daughter Sekhmet to slaughter humanity. She did so with such ease and relish that Ra began to pity the remaining humans. Ra stopped her rampage by throwing a party and getting her drunk. Meanwhile, the goddess Isis made a poisonous snake out of Ra’s drool that would turn on him and bite him. Old and weak as he was, Ra began to die. Isis promised to heal him, but only if he revealed his secret name to her. He reluctantly did, and in that instant, he was healed and Isis became the goddess of life and magic.
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