Mythology and Folklore

In a house on the other side of the world, there lived a very beautiful girl. She took may suitors as husbands, but one by one they perished by the tricks of her father. Her father was very cruel and possessive of her beauty, not believing any man was good enough for her. At last, only one husband remained. His features were light in comparison to her midnight black hair and dark chestnut eyes, but she was determined to help him survive the tests of her father. One evening, the father invited the husband over to his house for dinner, expecting to rid himself of his son-in-law once and for all. "You must absolutely not wear your shoes inside his house." the wife warned. "Although the ground looks calm, you will burn up if your shoes touch the carpet." When the son arrived, he followed the father inside. "There is no need for you to remove your shoes here, I will take no disrespect." the father urged. But the son, aware of his tricks, vehemently insist...

A long time ago, in a village by a great river, there lived a family of twelve brothers and one beautiful sister. There was also a young boy who was good friends with these siblings. Now this was a time when the earth was still waking up and the stars were just beginning to bleed into the sky. Between the twelve brothers, there was a master in nearly every skill needed by the villagers. Some were phenomenal hunters who often went to the mountains to hunt deer. Some were skilled craftsmen who made houses and canoes. Some were blacksmiths, others were scientists and mathematicians. But the boy was very lazy. While the brothers worked, he often hung around their house with the sister. She was very hard working, just like her brothers. She spent her days gathering berries and preparing the meat her brothers would bring back. Before, the boy was quite frail and nothing but bones, but thanks to the sister's kindness, he got rounder and rounder. He filled himself on the dishes of ber...

Congo River, jbdodane. source . At the edge of a rainforest, there lived a man who made his hut a little further away from the village by the river. Every morning, a wild boar would visit the riverbank and make a splendid mess rummaging through the villagers' waste in search of scraps to eat. Day by day, the man saw the pig visit the riverbank and get more and more plump. A particular morning when the man's stomach was a bit hungrier than usual, he decided to go out and kill the boar and eat it. When the boar saw the man coming, it cried out in alarm, "My brother! I beg you please do not attack me!" Surprised at such an exclamation, the man lowered his arm and the boar took this chance to disappear back into lush safety of the greenery. Scowling to himself, the man returned to his hut. "How can I be a brother to such a creature? She lives her life in a cave or under a bush, I live on land in a dry home. She rummages through my waste for h...

In the heavens far from our known galaxy, there lived a very lazy celestial being. He found it too tiresome to try to create anything new, unlike his neighbors who kept themselves busy forming new galaxies and expanding the boundaries of the universe. He preferred to remain among his wasteland, where other creators tossed their defective and broken pieces of sun, moon, and stars. One day as he was lounging around, he asked a passerby to toss some food in his mouth, as he hungered but could not bring himself to move a single limb in search of food. With a wry smirk, the passerby approached, but instead of food, he poured a handful of stardsust into the lazy man's mouth. Eyes closed and tasting this, the lazy man new he had been fooled and with a heave, he hefted himself up enough to grab a nearby star and hurl it at the passerby. The traveler just laughed as the star hurled into the depths of space, but the star travelled with purpose, gaining energy and becoming brilliant as it spe...

Deep in the jungle lived a mighty lion. In his old age, while he found that his claws and muscles still served him, his teeth were weary. After a meal, bits of meat would remain and during his slumber, mice would scurry about feasting on these scraps. This greatly disturbed the lion's sleep, and despite his best efforts, they persisted. He tried scaring them with his mighty roar, but the mice's brain were too small to remember this scare for any long amount of time, and after a few minutes they returned to him. The lion tried snapping them up to intimidate them, but the dumb mice seemed to not know any distinction between the flesh of the lion's prey and the flesh of their own. After many restless nights, the lion consulted his advisors. "In your kindom," stated a fox, "there are a number of cats, one who is especially skilled in chasing away mice. Perhaps the mice see you as far too omnipotent to comprehend as a threat, but a cat is their natural predator....

Pyramus and Thisbe were youths born of the same prestige. Each grew lovelier by the day, each was brilliant in both character and appearance, each was highly sought after by the young men and women of the town. In their mind and in their hearts, they knew they existence was made for one another. And yet their parents would not recognize the fire burning between them, which only made it burn more brightly. In secret, their love grew stronger, one would think this union was created by Aphrodite herself. Their days were filled with longing for the whispers and glances they might steal. Quite quickly, however, these moments could no longer satiate their emotions. In a hurried exchange, the two lovers agreed to meet beneath the tallest mulberry tree before departing to a northern city together. Thisbe, gripped by the courage that only love can inspire, slipped out of her house for the final time, whispering a goodbye to her parents. Veiled, she sat beneath the tree waiting for ...

At the fork of a powerful river, a small village thrived, peaceful in all ways but one. Every full moon, a Lion would come bounding from the forest, demanding the most prized livestock on which to gorge himself. As King of Beasts, the villagers would not dare refuse him, but gradually their food supplies dwindled so much they would soon no longer be able to sustain themselves. Now the leader of this village and his wife had a daughter, a beautiful maiden whose smile was like sunshine. Knowing that they could not continue sacrificing to the Lion, the village leader decided to take his own action. “What satisfaction am I supposed to gain from this creature?” roared the lion when faced with the maiden. “Please, you Majesty. Allow her to serve you for one month and see whether or not she is more valuable than anything else we could offer you in the village,” the leader replied. “After a moon has passed, meet me once again and if she has not fulfilled your wishes, we will conti...