THE AMERICAN STORYBAG
Page 17
“Tell the lion he must file his teeth and cut his nails,” the old woman said cleverly.
“—And what good will that do?” the girl questioned.
“A lion will never agree to such a thing,” the grandmother answered.
The following day, the girl saw the lion and said, “I would like you to file your teeth and cut your nails.”
The lion was surprised at this request, but thinking about it, he said, “After filing and cutting – we can marry?”
The girl nodded.
The lion ran his long claws through his thick mane, and said, “If that is your wish, that is what I shall do.”
The girl hastened away.
At home, the girl told her grandmother – “The lion has agreed. Now what should I do?”
The grandmother frowned. “A lion would never do that.”
“—But… what if he did?"
“Then you will have to tell him, once again, that you are promised to another.”
The following day the girl saw the lion and he looked altogether different.
“I have complied with your request,” the lion said. He seemed resigned but not terribly sad.
“You are less of a lion,” the girl said, “but I still can’t marry you.”
“Why?” the lion asked.
“Well, you see, it is as I said once before, I am promised to another.”
At that, the lion lost his temper. “You’ve tricked me,” he growled. His lip curled. He showed his sawed-off teeth and flexed his missing claws.
“You can’t hurt me,” the girl said. “And I still can’t marry you.”
The lion, angry though he was, burst into tears. “I may be without my teeth,” he said, “and I may be without my claws, but I still have my heart, and now it is broken.”
The girl slept peacefully that night, but the lion did not sleep at all. He roved the meadows and moaned and he never got over his broken heart.
And that is why lions and men have something in common.
Discussion Questions
Most stories in this collection offer one or more discussion questions for your book group. You or your group may also have questions of your own. Some stories do not have questions. You are encouraged to come up with some of your own for these.
A Real Life Goliath
Why is David able to overcome his fear and risk his life to save his father?
The Horse of the Navajo
Why must Jay let go of his fear before he can know who he was and who he is today?
Listener
Why does Listener follow Tree Frog's advice?
When Listener asks Tree Frog what he should do, why does Tree Frog tell him to remember his name?
Even though Listener is nearly sick with loneliness after the flood, why is he willing to accept Mosquito Woman for his wife?
Ishbish
Despite her grandmother's warnings, why does Cornsilk go to the monster instead of accepting one of her handsome suitors?
Why does Cornsilk’s grandmother tell her where to find Ishbish?
Why does Cornsilk stay with the mole people instead of returning home to her own people?
Why do the mole people help Cornsilk?
The Story of Terence Trueblood
What enabled Terrence to survive in the swamp?
Bimini Blue
Why does the author regard the bust of Hemingway as a "foolish thing"?
Why does the author dream that Hemingway has been made "whole and well again" in the clouds?
Along Came Bob Washington
Why does Bob Washington tell the story of the "writer-feller" who slept with a gun under his pillow?
The Billboard at the End of the World
Why do Ginny and Walter seem unconcerned about the physical state of the boys?
Why don't Ginny and Walter ask the boys about their family? Their road trip?
In and Around Onawa, Iowa
How does this story reflect the author's introductory comment that, "Some stories aren't stories at all; they are thoughts strung together"?
From Esther with Love and Directions
Why does the author include the word "love" in the title of the story?
Big Fat Harry Toe
Why does the storyteller have the woman forget that a big fat Harry toe is under her pillow?
Three Guys from Atlantic City
What does the first guy mean by his question when he asks the second guy if he is in heaven before or after he eats?
Just Like Geronimo
What does the man at Dunkin Donuts mean when he says ". . .trodding the earth just like Geronimo"?
Open Water Swimming
In what ways does the author suggest that writing and swimming are similar?
The Ancient Itch
Why is "the ancient itch" considered by some of the author's neighbors to be a positive thing?
A Visit to Cross Creek
How is the author's question, "Why would anyone love this place?" answered by the story?
Dead to the World
What does Roy mean when he says of the crab and dog, "Dem just live like you see dem until the day come when dem dream you and tek your soul wid dem"?
Why does the author's dream make him think that people who don't fear life should not fear death?
Man Taken Aboard UFO
If the author believes has seen Etienne sawing logs, why does he tell himself the sound he hears is an auditory illusion?
Why does the author dismiss his fear as "nonsense"?
Why doesn't the author feel frightened when he sees Etienne floating a couple feet off the tent floor?
Talking Adobe
When Andrew asks the old man if the man on horseback came back, why does he reply, “Who can say, it’s only a story”, then later tell Andrew, “One day he will return to finish the Pueblo”?
Why do the people call the man “Jesus on Horseback”?
Why does the old man tell Andrew the name of the man on horseback only when Andrew asks?
Let's Not Tell Anyone About This
Why does Kyle want to keep the old chair a secret?
Why do the author and Kyle forget about the old chair when they leave the secret room?
If the old chair used to take the storyteller and Kyle to places they "didn't want to go", when they have grown old why does he refer to the chair at the bottom of the lake as their "old friend"?
Why do the author and Kyle ride the old chair again?
To the Blue Mountains of Jamaica
What does the author mean when he says that Roger taught him "How to let characters be who they are and not what you want them to be"?
Towards the end of the story, why does the author believe that he and Roger shared not just writing, also "being"?
What distinction, if any, does the author make between "real life" and dreaming?
Why does the author think his dream is an attempt to fulfill his promise to Roger?
Pirate Breath
In the story, Pirate Breath, what is meant by the words, "Who feels it knows it"?
After Alyce's ghost encounter, what does the author mean when he tells her that "They dream you"?
In the last line of the story, is Jim "wondering about a lot of things lately" because the bed shook, or did the bed shake because he has been "wondering about a lot of things lately"?
Snail
Why does Chief Plenty Coups decide there was no winner of the race?
If there is no winner of the race, why don’t the people reclaim their bets instead of leaving them behind on the blanket?
Curandero
What does the author mean when he says in his headnote that writing this story makes him feel "lighter"?
Why does Dr. Santiago Aguilar say that he remembers the author only after the author's face streaks with grateful tears?
What is the author grateful for?
The Greatest Novelist to Come Out of Cuba
Why does the Cuban novelist respond wi
th the comment, "You ask a very deep question", when the author asks him what he is writing at the moment?
What does the author mean when he says at the end of the story, "It doesn't matter who you are as long as you know what you are doing"?
Why does he add in parenthesis that he “must make a note of that”.
Tyger, Tyger
In the story, how does Mouse give the author hope?
Why does the entrance of the tiger give the author faith?
In his homage to Saroyan, why does the author conclude his story with the lines, "The tiger within whose name is love"?
A Rose for Charley
Why is the story entitled A Rose for Charley if the author gives the rose to his wife?
What does the author mean when he says, "Yesterday the creatures were as strangers. Now they are relations."?
Why does Lorry compare the rose bush to an angel?
Old Ben, Pam Snow, and the Blood of Summer
Why did Pam Snow's presence make the chicken killing very real?
Why did the running headless chickens make the chicken killing seem dreamlike and unreal rather than more real?
Why did Pam Snow steal the chicken heads?
While biking home, why couldn't the author quite understand why the day was "somehow spoiled"?
Rattlesnake Pete, Goiter Healer
Why does the man with the goiter think that "people are too smart for their own good nowadays"?
Of Lions and Men
According to the story, what do lions and men have in common?
Author Interview
[This interview of Gerald Hausman - Folklorist and Listener by Judith S. McCue appeared in the January 2010 issue of staythirsty.com and has been viewed by people in over 110 countries. It is reprinted with the permission of Stay Thirsty Media, Inc.]
"Remember on this one thing, said Badger. The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other's memories. This is how people care for themselves." Barry Lopez (Crow and Weasel)
Gerald Hausman is an award-winning storyteller and author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction inspired by Native American oral traditions, animals, mythology and West Indian culture. I read my first Gerald Hausman story, The Turquoise Horse, in 1995. Fourteen years later we met in Santa Fe. I had organized a Great Books summer institute for educators and wanted to include in the program the best literary storyteller I could find. I knew who that should be. For years I had experienced, as an educator, the captivating qualities Gerald's stories exerted on listeners and readers of all ages. I wanted others to enjoy that experience and be able share it with their own students. When Gerald arrived wearing a cowboy hat, a poncho, and a saddle bag slung over one shoulder, I knew the participants were in for an for an unforgettable ride. Gerald is as charismatic in person as he is captivating on the page.
THIRSTY: How did you come to be a folklorist?
Gerald Hausman: I became interested in folklore as an elementary school student. My mother was involved in anthropology, had been a student of the great naturalist and writer Ernest Thompson Seton, and believed in "the living story" that living people tell them and pass them on to succeeding generations. By the age of eight I was listening to stories told by Native American tellers who'd witnessed the last days of nomadic life in America. It was thrilling to be present at such storytellings, in the 1950s, which was some time before the medium became more or less popular. In "the old days" storytellers passed down traditional values and they were talking rather than entertaining.
THIRSTY: Do you regard yourself primarily as a writer or as a literary ethnographer?
GH: By strict definition, I am neither. I am a "listener" in the tradition of "one who hears things." After hearing, I decide if this is an oral story, which shall remain so, or a written/printed story - or perhaps, but not always, both. This process takes many years of leavening. I have some that I know but have never told or written.
THIRSTY: Why does it matter to you to preserve the oral tradition of cultures that are not your own?
GH: I have always believed that "where you are is what you are." Culture is not limited to a privileged few, though some "restricted cultures" have made us think so. I never believed that any group of people had put up a sign that said off limits. I think the sign says, Off Limits To All Who Are Disrespectful. So, I have always felt part of the story tradition from which I was a collector and gatherer. I first began collecting Navajo coyote stories in 1965 in northern New Mexico. I was told by my translators that many of the old tales were being lost and that younger members of the tribe were not that interested in them. I think, then and there, I had a purpose beyond any kind of selfish wish to be a storyteller myself: I could hear and with the help of a traditional translator make these old stories available to the younger members of the tribe. This came to pass through a series of audio books that I began to publish in 1986.
THIRSTY: What makes a great storyteller and what makes a story great?
GH: Great storytellers are average people who happen to have been around at a crucial time in human history. They saw or heard unfold - some event that the rest of us missed. But the storyteller, the witness to history, was there, personally. Someone like Joseph Medicine Crow whose grandfather was photographed by Edward S. Curtis in the last century has what we might call a tribal memory. This was passed down by storytelling in the Crow nation. Joseph's view of some things may go back a few hundred years. This makes for a great story. There is no doubt in my mind that an understanding of history is vital to our survival. No past, no future, as Ziggy Marley once said. So, then, the storyteller becomes a fulcrum in our present and future survival as human beings.
THIRSTY: As you mention Ziggy Marley, Bob Marley's son, would you tell us how you came to know the Marley family and how the relationship influenced your work?
GH: In Jamaica where we hosted young writers at an accredited summer writing school, we listened to Bob Marley's music every day and night. We also listened to The Melody Makers, Bob's children's combo consisting of Ziggy Marley, Cedella Marley, Stephen Marley and Sharon Marley. It was our daughter Mariah who asked to go to Bob Marley's former home and museum at 56 Hope Road in Kingston. We decided it would be a great trip for all our young writers to take and so we went as a family and as a school and it was there that Mariah met Stephen and Ziggy. Later she met Cedella and they became good friends. Mariah went on tour with The Melody Makers in 1991. Some years after this, when all of us were friends with Cedella and other Marley family members including Bob's wife Rita, we were in Jamaica and Loretta and I visited Bob's birthplace in the village of Nine Miles. There we met more Marleys as well as musicians and helpers who toured with Bob back in the 1970s. At Nine Miles you could hear unsual, sometimes Biblical stories about what it was like in the 1950s when Bob was a young boy planting yams with his grandfather Omeriah. One of these stories involved how he'd been removed - kidnapped is a better word - by his own father and deposited in the Kingston ghetto at the age of 5. This fascinating twist of hard-bitten history plus the soft pastel focus of country life in the hills of St. Ann's Parish excited my imagination. No one that I knew of had written a children's book about Bob's early odyssey and subsequent abandonment in Kingston, so I wrote an outline for the book and Cedella liked it and we worked together on the text for several years. Mariah illustrated the story using the folkloric style of Jamaican muralists. The Boy From Nine Miles: The Early Life of Bob Marley was published in 1999. It was received well by the Jamaican Ministry of Education and has since become a text in many American schools as well as a fun read for just about anyone.
THIRSTY: Many of your stories deal with the theme of the struggle from childhood to adulthood. Is this because you are drawn to stories that reflect your own story, or because you set out to collect stories that w
ill resonate with young adults?
GH: Actually, I never set out to find anything. It happened. My Navajo friendships became lifelong bonds of faith and trust. I was luckily at the right place at the right time. But in answer to the first part of the question, I had a hard time as an adolescent and I was always getting into trouble. A guidance counselor once told me: "You will never make it to college, don't even try." So I didn't. My brother told me years after this, that a different guidance counselor had told him the same thing. If I came out of high school a little bit scarred, all the better - because as I became a storyteller I found out that I remembered everything, and all of it was useful to me. One time I was telling stories at an all black underserved community school in Macon, Georgia, and I felt myself slipping, losing my audience. So I switched from traditional folklore to my own folklore, and I told them about how I failed my first driving test and later on, the same year, learned to drive a dump truck. The librarian who'd hired me for the event said she saw every chair in the room move 12 inches closer to me when I started talking about failing my driving test. Not long ago, another librarian told me - "All of your stories, all of your books deal with young people on the verge of failure, on the edge of survival, trying to find safe ground." In that sense, I am always telling and writing about what happened to me, but I use other people's stories to do that.