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Nungambakkam, Chennai, Indiawww.storytellinginstitute.org , info@storytellinginstitute.org

98403 94282 , 4208 0890Eric Miller, PhD, Director

Storytelling Workshop Booklet February 2012

Contents

1) Introduction: Topics and Goals. 2

2) Theories of Story and Storytelling. 3

3) 12 Principles of Storytelling. 10

4) Story Activity and Personality Development. 12

5) Storytelling and Children’s Development. 13

6) Notes for Creating Stories. 15

7) Notes for Playing with Stories. 17

8) Elements of the Pitch. 18

9) Storytelling in the Workplace. 19

10) Warm-up Activities. 20

11) Storytelling Activities. 21

12) Storytelling Guidelines. 23

13) Storytelling-related Websites. 24

Four Fairytales: “Brother and Sister” 27“The Twelve Windows” 29“Mother Hulda” 31 “The Girl at the Pond” 34

“Mythology helps you to identify the mysteries of the energies pouring through you. Therein lies your eternity.” -- Joseph Campbell

1) Introduction: Topics and Goals

Topics

Story Content --Types of Stories.  Finding and Creating Stories.  Elements of Stories.  Symbols in Stories.  Story Structure.  Story and Place.  Story and Community.  Story and the Past.  Story and the Future.  Story and Personality Development.                                

Story Performance --Breathing/Singing/Moving and Storytelling.  Role-playing by tellers and listeners.Psychological, verbal, and physical audience-participation.Stylized speech and movement -- by the narrator, and by story characters.Timing, pacing, and rhythm; striking a pose; pauses.Story Mapping/Painting/Drawing.Storytelling accompanied by Illustrations, Puppets, and Props.Ways of Coaching Storytelling.

Using stories in inspirational speeches.Using stories in sales pitches.

Goals

World Storytelling Institute Storytelling Workshops are designed to help participants to1) Improve their public speaking.2) Conduct story activities with children; and, in turn, train teachers and parents to do so also.3) Develop their abilities in spoken-word performance, performance art, stand-up comedy, and other types of performance.4) Develop their abilities as writers of essays and fiction.5) Use storytelling in the business world, and in other realms of the adult public sphere.

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2) Theories of Story and Storytelling

by Eric Miller, PhD

This piece of writing asks, and begins to answer, such questions as: What is a story? How can story and storytelling be defined? What are twelve elements of a story? What are some types of stories? What makes stories and storytelling great, entertaining, meaningful, and memorable? How have various scholars, psychologists, and cultures seen stories and storytelling? What are some functions of stories and storytelling in individuals and in society?

“Story” can be defined as, a series of events.

“Storytelling” can be defined as, relating a series of events.

“Story” and “narrative” mean the same thing. “Narrative” is simply a more academic term than “story”.

In a story, causality is involved in some way (along the lines: A leads to B, B leads to C, C leads to D, etc).

Story and storytelling can be considered as types of play. Anthropology of Play scholars have posited that three conditions to be satisfied for an activity to be considered as play, are that the activity is done

in a special time in a special space just for fun

Play presents a model of the past, and a model for the future.

Two kinds of play are Art (which involves creating beauty through collaboration) Games (which involves rules and competition)

Stories are pieces of art, and can serve as a basis of games.

We can study how a story is told/performed/presented (presentation analysis). And we can study the actual content of the story (content analysis).

A distinction can be made between actual storytelling, and presenting a story through other mediums. The difference is that in actual storytelling, the tellers and listeners can give instantaneous and ongoing feedback to each other. Even though making movies (or other recordings, or books) is not actual storytelling, we often speak of cinematic storytellers. To be most verbally accurate, we might say that movie makers (and novelists, etc) are presenting a story.

It is debatable as to whether or not actual storytelling occurs through mediated situations such as telephoning or videoconferencing. Some purists feel that for an event to be considered as actual storytelling, the participants need to be physically present with each other. Nonetheless, as the level of interactivity in an electronically-mediated communication event increases (especially in terms of immediacy of feedback, and audio and video representation of participants), the event may become more storytelling-ish.

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Projection, Identification, Empathy, Imitation, and Imagination are important processes when it comes to people and stories. People project themselves into story characters. They identify with the characters. They feel empathy with the characters. This occurs through the use of the listener’s imagination. The listener may then imitate the character.

Each culture has traditional and conventional ways of signaling that a story is beginning and ending. In English, one way is -- “Once upon a time”, and “They lived happily ever after”.

Some storytellers like to comment upon, and tell the moral of, a story. Others like to let the story speak for itself, and permit listeners to generate their own interpretations and meanings.

Storytellers often alternate between

narrating a story, and going into character (role-playing, speaking dialogue).

speaking and singing.

normal conversational speech and movement; and stylized (exaggerated, rhythmical, etc) speech and movement

telling in the past tense, and in the present tense.

What are Some Uses of Stories?

Stories can

give meaning to life, express values, teach the young, and convey culture.

connect elements in one’s own self, experience, and life.

connect one to one’s (individual and group) past, and to other cultures.

give one a sense of wholeness, that the pieces of one’s life fit together and add up to something.

What Makes a Storytelling Event Great, Entertaining, and Meaningful?

Listeners are drawn in, and feel involved and engaged. They relate to the teller and to what is being told. They forget themselves, and get involved in the efforts, struggles, and behavioural styles of the characters. They put themselves in the place of the characters; they relate to characters’ situations and decisions, on the levels of feeling (emotion) and intellect (thought). The story is important to both teller and listeners. The style of telling is vivid and clear -- the design (of the form and content) of the storytelling experience is in step with the times.

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Dramatic Tension

Dramatic tension results when audience members expect something to happen. Skilled storytellers know how to raise and manipulate such expectations. Some expectations are built into certain cultures, through conventions and traditions. Other expectations are universal to humans.

Twelve Elements of Story

1) The title of the story.2) Characters (their histories, thoughts, decisions, abilities to follow-through on decisions, actions, etc).3) Characters' ways of speaking.4) Characters' ways of moving.5) Place.6) Time (continuous, or jumps, flashbacks?).7) The storyline (also known as, plot) -- in one sentence.8) Objects in the story.9) Sensory Elements in the story: Smells, Flavours, Colours, Textures, etc.10) Emotions in the story (for the characters, the teller, and the listeners).11) If the story is being told by a character in the story: Who is the Narrator, and what is his/her Point of View, Tone of Voice, Attitude, and Style?12) Point (theme, meaning, moral, message).

Elements 1-11 combined produce element 12.

Moments of decision are crucial in stories, as in life. A character’s nature is exposed (or self-created) through his/her decisions and actions. That is: A figure’s character manifests and expresses itself in, is embodied in, his/her decisions and actions. These decisions and actions form important parts of the storyline, the plot.

Three Kinds of Stories

Personal Experience stories Traditional stories Created stories.

Created stories often involve a mix of elements from Personal Experience stories and Traditional stories.

Regarding Personal Experience stories: Why do people remember and decide to share certain experiences? What events tend to be considered significant enough for one to make a story out of them? Telling a story involves expressing points of view -- that an event is significant, and how one feels about it. Thus telling a story is an act of moral persuasion. If teller and listeners can agree that a story is worth telling, and that it has a certain point and meaning -- they are members of a community together.

Types of traditional stories include: Folktale Legend Epic Myth

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Folktales tend to be timeless and placeless, with characters that are well-known in a culture. One type of Folktale is a Fairytale -- Fairytales have a magical element.

Legends are historical stories, which took place in a certain place, often in the distant past, with some divine element.

Epics are long stories that tell of the adventures of heroes/heroines as they travel from one end of the land to the other. Epics tend to be encyclopedic, serving as compendiums of many aspects of a culture, and often end with the hero/heroine founding a new institution (even a nation).

Myths are stories about divine characters. Myths often concern the creation of the physical world, and occur before human history. Storytellers sometimes bring out -- in characters, and in audience members -- mythic feelings in everyday life and experience.

These categories (or genres) of story were invented, it seems, in ancient Greece, and have been adopted by European and USA cultures. Other categories of story exist in other cultures. It is a good idea to always see what categories of story exist in a culture, instead of imposing categories from the outside. People might benefit from inventing and/or developing their own theories of story (please see below).

Personification (also known as Anthropomorphism) is am important tool of storytelling. This involves projecting human characteristics and qualities -- such as thoughts, emotions, desires, sensations, physical gestures, and speech -- onto animals, other nonhuman beings, natural phenomena, inanimate objects, and even abstract ideas. The term, anthropomorphism, is derived from two Greek words: anthropos, meaning human; and morph, meaning shape or form.

Another tool of storytelling is to project aspects of contemporary life onto occurrences in earlier time periods.

Theories of Story include

1) Vladimir Propp’s theory of Fragmentation and Wholeness. 2) Joseph Campbell’s theory of Heroic Journey and Community Revitalisation.3) Carl Jung’s theory of Psychological Integration.4) The theory of the “The Well-Made Play” (Conflict, Crisis, and Resolution).5) Bob McGee’s theory of Characters Wanting Things. 6) Aristotle’s theory of Catharsis.7) The Indian theory of Rasas.

1Vladimir Propp’s theory (Propp 1928) states that a story (especially a folktale) is composed of three stages (he was Russian):a) Peaceful home,b) Break-up of the home, often seemingly caused by a villain figure.c) Member of the broken home tracks down the villain, defeats him/her, and re-establishes the home.

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2Joseph Campbell’s theory (Campbell 1949) also states that a story (especially a heroic legend) is composed of three stages (he was of the USA):a) The hero’s/heroine’s community is dull and barren. (For examples: people are unable to have children; there is no rain, etc.)b) The hero/heroine goes on a journey, obtains a sacred object, andc) Returns to the community with the sacred object, thus revitalizing the community.

3Carl Jung’s theory of Psychological Integration -- which he often called “Individuation” (the making of an individual) -- states that stories are composed of two stages (he was of Switzerland):a) Elements are apart.b) Elements are integrated.

This approach has involved seeing aspects of existence as Male and Female elements, which symbolise both aspects of each individual’s personality (micro level), and aspects of nature (macro level). For examples: The sea might symbolise the Female element, and the land might symbolise the Male element. Daytime and action might symbolise the Male element; and night and the regeneration of sleep and rest might represent the Female element. A male character might represent the Male element, and a female character might represent the Female element -- but this is not always the case. This theory states that each individual’s personality is composed of Male and Female elements, and that stories portray, represent, and facilitate the psychological integration (in the teller and in each listener) by bringing these Male and Female elements together and into harmony with each other.

The perceiving of elements of existence in oppositional pairs has been typical of the Structuralist approach in academic thought.

4Especially in the USA and England, from the 1920s to the 1950s -- the Golden Age of Modern Western Drama -- there was much talk about “The Well-Made Play”. This model also applied to other forms of story presentation, such as screenplays and novels. According to this theory, stories revolve around conflict:a) Exposition (situation background).b) Conflict develops.c) Crisis.d) Resolution.

This model does not have much to say about the art of avoiding conflict. Moreover, it was produced by cultures which were very competitive and individualistic, sometimes to the point of being self-destructive.

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5The following notes are based on material in Bob McGee’s Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting (1997).

Character Development: What changes occur in the character’s situation or condition? Does the character grow, change, learn? Is the character transformed?Or is it just that the character’s inner nature is revealed? A character’s inner and innate nature is revealed through his/her choices under pressure.

“Character is destiny”. A character’s fate is created by who he/she is, and what he/she does.

A character may be on a Quest, Mission, to do, create, or find something; may Desire to become something, or win over someone.

The central character’s quest is the story’s Spine, Super-Objective, Controlling Idea. Look into a character’s heart to discover what he/she is seeking.

What are a character’s Objectives in a scene, a sequence of scenes, the entire story? What change occurs in a scene? How does a scene move the story forward?What is at risk, at stake, in each scene? The higher the risk, investment, expenditure, the more valuable the prize.

The Hook, Inciting Incident, captures the audience members’ attention, awakens their curiosity, sets the story into action, upsets the balance of forces in the central character’s life. The character must react to restore balance. The Inciting Incident establishes the story’s Major Dramatic Question. Tells the audience: this is the issue, this is what is at stake. Now we want to see how things work out, what happens next.

There may be some Problem in the story that the characters or the audience members want to be resolved. If all are content, there may be no need for dramatic action (but there still could be action and story perhaps).

Conflict may occur due to scarcity, frustration, ambition, desire. Progressive Complications, Obstacles, Hurdles may be faced by the main character in the course of his/her attempting to restore balance to his/her situation, to achieve a goal.

Set-up -- gives information to characters and audience members.Pay-off -- this information is used by characters in a way that moves the story forward.

Pivotal Event, Turning Point. “A Turning Point is centered in the choice a character makes under pressure to take one action or another in the pursuit of desire” (248).

Reversals, Twists, are surprising things that a character does, or that happen to a character.

Subplots -- may contradict or resonate with the Controlling Idea of the main plot. Irony -- opposites co-exist.

Up-ending. Down-ending. False-ending. An Open Ending means, it could go any number of ways. It is left open.

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“Classical Design means a story built around an active protagonist who struggles against primarily external forces of antagonism to pursue his/her desire, through continuous time, within a consistent and causally connected fictional reality, to a closed ending of absolute, irreversible change” (p. 45). Key terms include: Causality, Closed Ending, Linear Time, External Conflict, Consistent Reality, Sole and Active Protagonist.

At some point, the main character goes to an extreme in pursuing his/her goal. The changes are Irreversible. The main character passes a Point of No Return.

These are qualities of the “Hollywood Movie” -- along with the idea that life can change, especially the optimistic idea that life can change for the better. In what ways might this approach be limited? What are some other possibilities?

6Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, and literary and drama critic, presented and discussed the theory of “Catharsis” (Aristotle, approximately 2,350 years ago). This especially applied to one type of drama -- tragedy, in which the hero is destroyed by a tragic flaw within himself. This flaw was often hubris (pride). According to the theory of catharsis, audience members feel awe, and finally release and relief, by observing and identifying with a great figure who falls due to his/her tragic flaw.

7In classical Indian aesthetics -- as set forth in the Sanskrit text, the Natyasastra (Bharata, approximately 2,000 years ago) -- there are eight Bhavas (imitations of emotions that actors perform) and corresponding Rasas (the audience members’ reactions). These eight emotions are:

Astonishment, Comedy, Love, Disgust, Heroism, Sadness, Fear, and Anger. (Peace was added later.)

According to this approach, what happens in a storytelling event is that the story presenter presents the representation of the emotion, and the audience members then experience that emotion. Some commentators say that plays, etc, should mix different Rasas but should be dominated by one.

Bibliography

Aristotle. Approximately 2,350 years ago. Poetics.

Bharata. Approximately 2,000 years ago. Natyasastra.

Campbell, Joseph. 1949. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. New York: Bollingen Foundation.

Miller, Eric. 1996. "Visuals Accompanying Face-to-face Storytelling". Unpublished MA Thesis, New York University. Available at http://www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com/15.html .

Propp, Vladimir. 1968. The Morphology of The Folktale. Second Revised Edition. Translated by Lawrence Scott. Austin: University of Texas Press. Originally published in the Russian language, in 1928.

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3) 12 Principles of Storytelling

by Eric Miller and Laura Simms

1) A Storyteller is Fully PresentFor the purposes of this piece of writing, it is being considered that participants in the storytelling event are physically present to each other. The storyteller facilitates the social situation, and is there to take personal responsibility for the material being presented.

2) Storytelling is Multi-trackA story flows from the soul of a storyteller to the souls of her listeners. Although the spoken word is usually the primary means of communication, storytelling is synaesthesic activity, i.e., it may occur on one, many, or all sensory levels -- the latter involving total immersion in the experience. A storyteller must constantly calculate how much energy and resources to dedicate to which tracks (oral, visual, touch, etc.) in order to engage the most number of listeners most fully and to best communicate the story.

3) Visual Accompaniment is Never EssentialAll storytelling involves the use of some visual accompaniment, if only one's body and movements. If a storyteller uses external visual accompaniment, it should seem to be generated by and emanate from her. It should not be a major problem if these accompanying visuals are unavailable -- a good storyteller can always improvise (for example, by describing the visual the listener was supposed to see).

4) A Storyteller Has a Unique Relationship with Each ListenerEach listener experiences the story differently. Each listener has her own experiential and emotional associations with the imagery being presented by the storyteller, and thus, each listener visualizes and responds to the telling differently.

5) A Storyteller is Always ListeningA storyteller must on one level remain utterly still and receptive in order to constantly be perceiving messages from her own unconscious, as well as from the external environment (including listeners, the weather, etc.).

6) A Storyteller Instantaneously Incorporates Everything -- including Interruptions--into the Ongoing EventOne common form of feedback received by a storyteller is a gesture or sound -- often a nod of the head or a grunt -- which signifies that the listener has comprehended and accepted the previous portion, and is ready for more. Interruptions may be accidental or may be a form of feedback (an addition, confirmation, objection, etc.). Regardless, a negative can be transformed into a positive: a storyteller can see an interruption as an opportunity to incorporate yet another facet of the "real" world into the story and the storytelling event, and so add momentum and depth to the event. (Actually, storytellers often plan in advance to have participants ask questions, make comments, even be confrontational.) In sum, the storyteller instantaneously incorporates listener responses of all sorts into the ongoing presentation. In a sense, listeners tell the story to themselves through the storyteller.

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7) Storytelling is a Reciprocal, Shared EventIn many forms of storytelling, the roles of teller and listener can switch at a moment's notice. Every participant in a storytelling event has the ability, the right, and even at times the responsibility, to bring the proceedings to a standstill, and to draw all attention to what she is feeling. Thus, if the event proceeds, it does so by consensus of all present.

8) Storytelling is Interactive Largely Through Listeners' Empathy and EnactmentStorytelling events have an open structure in that they are part memorized, part improvised. Responding to listeners' input, a storyteller modifies a performance in countless ways (duration, intensity, intimacy, etc.). Listeners often help choose which story will be told. Interactivity in most types of storytelling has largely to do with empathy: listeners effect the storytelling event by the ways in which they psychologically and physically respond to and enact elements of the story.

One level on which many forms of storytelling generally is not interactive is story structure: that is, many storytellers generally do not leave the story structure up to their listeners. A story is an interpretation of the past and a model for the future -- as such, it is not something to leave to chance. Storytellers have a moral responsibility about where the story leads. Listeners count on the teller and her story to provide a point of view and moral message with clarity and strength, and these things derive in part from the storyline. The teller's certainty in this area gives listeners a sense of comfort and security.

9) At a Storytelling Event, the Human Bonding, the Relationships, are Inseparable from the Imparting of InformationIn the course of a storytelling event, emotional and physical intimacy and bonding occurs between the teller and the listeners, and between the listeners. For example, listeners often lean against each other.

10) Storytelling Events Feature the Possibility of Spillover into Real LifeAt a storytelling event there is an ever present danger/threat/hope/possibility that the teller will make physical contact with listeners, or that the performance will spill over into real life in some other way.

11) Storytelling Tends to Supports the Individual's StruggleStorytelling tends to engender a specific attitude and mood. Storytelling is the medium of the human, the little guy and gal, of the seemingly powerless. Storytelling is about the triumph of the human. It is about coping and survival, about the individual finding a place in the world. The storyteller herself, while in the act of telling, is displaying talent and expertise, and is therefore both an example and a teacher of positive social behavior. Storytelling, then, is first and last a life-affirming, optimistic activity -- the closeness, learning, and growing that occurs in the course of performance is in itself a happy ending.

12) A Storyteller is Both a Keeper and Presenter of the Community's Culture, and a Bridge to Realms Beyond the CommunityA storyteller is not an island unto herself -- she is a member of a community that has an ongoing tradition. In the course of performance, a storyteller uses conventions that are known within that community. Storytellers inform their listeners of their common past, of how the community has come to be; and they point out ways toward the community's future. Storytellers also define that which is Other to their community, and lead explorations of, and relationships with, that Other(s).

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4) Story Activity and Personality Development

Story activity can help people develop in relation to

A) Life Skills 1) Sharing feelings -- becoming aware of one’s feelings in various situations, and articulating these feelings to others.2) Managing one’s feelings of anger and frustration.3) Speaking to people directly (avoiding complaining to others, and harboring grudges).4) Being self-assertive, but not being aggressive.5) Having good self-esteem, but not being self-centred.6) Having self-confidence and self-respect.7) Having compassion for others.8) Practicing conflict-resolution skills.

a) Seeing a situation from others’ points of view.b) Negotiating so that each party gets something.c) Letting the other party know one has heard him/her.etc

B) Moral Values 1) Consideration of right and wrong behavior.

C) Experience of one’s Body 1) Feeling comfortable with one’s body.2) Understanding one’s body’s limitations (not pushing it too far).3) Being expressive with one’s body.4) Being aware of one’s body language. 5) Recognising when one’s space and privacy is being violated, and knowing what to do about it.

All of the above situations can come up in stories -- and then these situations can be discussed.

Outputs of a person’s storymaking and storytelling can include the person --1) Having fun, being creative, entertaining him/herself and others. Successful play can give a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment (which can improve self-esteem, confidence, and ability to relate with others.)2) Learning and maturing.

One role of a Storytelling Coach can be to help others to develop their intellectual and creative abilities -- including the abilities to think --

1) “Associatively” (one thing tends to be associated with another thing), 2) “Causally” (one thing tends to cause another thing), 3) “Logically” (using reason), and 4) “Laterally” (going beyond reason).

A Storymaking and Storytelling Coach can work with others to facilitate other's development on the intellectual, emotional, and interpersonal levels -- thus helping others to become more creative, expressive, and articulate (able to think and speak clearly about their feelings and ideas).

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5) Ways in Which Storytelling and Story-listening Can Contribute to Children’s Intellectual, Emotional, and Social Development

First of all, it is good to keep in mind that telling stories to children can be just the first step in an interactive process.  After any story is told,

1) The storyteller can lead a discussion about the story. 2) The listeners can draw/paint the story.3) The listeners can make costumes, masks, puppets, and props, relating to the story.4) The listeners can act-out the story as a skit. 5) The listeners can be invited to add to, and in any other way, change the story. 6) The listeners can be invited to tell additional stories that might come to mind -- including real-life experiences, traditional stories, and made-up stories.

Regardless of whether a story's characters are humans, animals, divinities, aliens, etc -- all stories are about situations.  Story listeners can project themselves into these characters, and imagine themselves in these situations.  The listeners can consider if they might do things the same or differently from how the characters do things.  This gives the listeners practice for living.

Making Sense Out of ExperienceStorying is the process of constructing and considering stories.  Through storying, children can develop a sense of story.  A story can be defined as a series of events.  One way we humans make sense out of experience is to organise pieces of experience into stories.  Adults may take it for granted that in stories -- as well as in everyday life -- occurrences may be connected, one thing may lead to another, and actions may have consequences.  But children have to learn this -- and one way they can learn it is through storytelling and story-listening.  Storying enables children to think in term of sequences, of progressions, of events.  This helps them to recognise patterns of behaviours and actions, in story and in life.  It gets them in the habit of organising data into sequences that progress from a beginning, to a middle, to an end -- and hold together cohesively as a unit.  This helps children to put things together -- to make sense out of experience.

Considering Behaviour, and Morality and EthicsUsually a story's series of events, taken as a whole, can be thought of as having a point -- a message, moral, or meaning.  It may be of limited value to children to announce the point of a story to them.  It is usually more valuable to them to lead a discussion in which the children are asked such questions as, "What did you get out of the story?  What did you learn from the story?  What did you like about the story?"  Answering and discussing such questions can help children in a number of ways.  Doing so can help them to think about characters' motives.  This can help children to develop understandings of characters' personalities and actions -- and can enable children to think about values, ethics, and principles of morality.  The children are then in a position to be able to apply this kind of thinking to their decision-making about how they might behave in their own real lives.  In these ways, children can become more aware of their own -- and others’ -- thoughts and feelings, and they can become more articulate in talking about all of this.

Vocabulary and GrammarStorytelling and story-listening -- along with discussing and re-telling stories -- can help children to develop their understanding of grammar, and to increase their vocabulary.

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Creativity and ReasoningStorytelling and story-listening gives children practice in creating mental imagery (visualising images), and brings out the vivid imagination and the creativity of children.  Also, children's reasoning abilities are activated when they describe and discuss these images (and any other aspect of a story).

Involvement and EngagementBy discussing, creating, and telling stories, children can explore and express their feelings.  This personal emotional involvement and engagement with story -- and with their story-play partners and guides -- tends to make children optimistic, excited, and enthusiastic about their use of language.

Social SkillsStorytelling and story-listening utilize the social element of language.  By telling stories, and by participating in group conversations about stories and storytelling, children can develop their public-speaking abilities, and they can also learn how to take turns speaking, and how to listen to others.

Reading and WritingOral competency in language is a prerequisite for literacy.  All of the above-mentioned skills that are developed in children through storytelling and story-listening -- including language vocabulary and grammar, content comprehension and retention, gaining a sense of story, pattern recognition, and critical listening and thinking skills -- also extend into helping them learn to read and write.

In summary:

Storytelling and story-listening -- along with discussion -- enhances children's comprehension skills, at the literal, inferential, and critical levels.  Inferential refers to becoming aware of patterns, recognising causal links, and being able to predict what might come next.  Critical refers to considering all aspects of a story, from all angles.

To paraphrase a statement by Sowmya Srinivasan:

Children require rich language experiences to develop their language abilities. Telling and discussing stories -- personal-experience stories, make-believe stories, and other -- provide a substratum for all other language development, and much social development also.

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6) Notes for Creating Stories

Metaphors for the creative process:  Catching fish.  Nurturing a plant.

One can start in any way, with a piece, a fragment.  Then one can build a story around this piece.

If one might be starting with an idea:Think about one's self, life, family, friends, society.  What does one like about these things?  What might one like to change?  Positive examples?  Negative examples?   Might you want to "teach a lesson" to someone?  Might there be something beautiful, interesting, etc, that you might like to show to, share with, others?  Is there a point you might like to make?  A suggestion?  A criticism of someone’s behavior, or of some aspect of society?

In a story -- What is the state of the world (the society, the environment, etc)?  Are things out of balance and not going well in some way?  If yes, how could balance be created or restored?

A central character's personality, or experience, may be lacking something (consciously or unconsciously).  If so, how could wholeness, balance be created or restored?

Imagine situations, entire story-worlds -- not just characters.  A character can only exist in a social and natural context.  Imagine the context.

How might mother nature, the divine, the collective unconscious, destiny, fate, be using a character?  Mother nature might work through accidents and coincidences in a story.

A central character may begin by not wanting anything in particular.  She may find herself in a situation brought on by circumstances of society, nature, etc.

Activating one’s creative process can simply involve seeing what is on one's mind.  Listening to that which is inside one. 

We are searching for, and seeking to conjure:  Characters and situations that embody, speak to, relate to one.  Situations in which you are interested, and with which you are psychologically, intellectually, emotionally engaged.

1) Work from ordinary reality towards fantasy (add fantasy elements to ordinary reality).

Become aware of what you (or a character you might be creating) is feeling.  What are you / is she, going through?  Then, you could represent this internal state-of-mind with dramatic, vivid, exaggerated, and extreme images, things, situations, actions, behaviours, and characters.

2) Work from fantasy towards ordinary reality (find aspects of ordinary reality in fantasy).

In the mythological, fantastic, symbolic -- recognise ordinary-life emotions, urges, feelings, experiences, situations.

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To make-up a Talking-Animal Story --

One can start with a character. What is the nature of this character?For examples,Often getting into trouble.Often falling behind with doing things he/she is supposed to do.Often being selfish.Often helping others. Often being generous. Often being curious. etc.

Depending on the nature of this character, you could choose what animal he/she might be.

What happens as a result, when this character interacts with others?

What lesson does he/she need to learn?What reward or punishment should he/she get?

One can start with a positive or negative real-life situation, attitude, frame-of-mind, or behaviour-pattern (based on some aspect of one's self, or of someone else).  Then one can create a fantasy Animal Story that embodies that state of mind, and plays it out, and shows the results.

To make-up a Fairytale-like Story --

Imagine a young character who is sincere and generous.  She may be easily pushed around.  How might "mother nature" help her?

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7) Notes for Playing with Stories

1Internal debate, inside a character.

Good angel, Bad angel.Should I do this, or should I do that?

2At any point in the story,ask "What if?" something else had happened,and give one or more answers to this question.In this way, one can create alternative story-episodes.

3Introduce a random

Object.Image (a 2D or 3D visual representation of an object). Noun (a verbal representation of an object).

Make up an additional episode of the story, telling how the story’s central character interacts with this object.

4For each story location:Describe four objects, and mime interacting with each of them.

5Identify an important object in the story.Imagine going into, and becoming, this object.From inside the object, or as the object -- How do you feel? What do you see?Tell the story from the perspective of this object.

6Tell the story from the perspective of each character of the story.

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8) Elements of the (Spoken and Written) Pitch

1Introduction.Say the title of your story/movie/game.Say what your story is about. Say the basic dramatic questions or issues of your story.

(What is decided in your story? What is at stake in your story?)Say your story in one sentence.Say what genre your story is in (Action-Adventure, Slice-of-Life, Comedy, Horror,

Social Issues Drama, etc).Say one message that your story might express.

2Tell your story in 3 minutes.Set up the situation; then act out a key scene (role-playing).

3Explain what is the target audience group for your story.

4Explain how your story might improve society.How might it be inspirational to people?Might it show a good example for people to follow?Might it show a negative example for people to avoid?

5Compare your story/movie/gameto one that has come in the pastthat has been commercially-successful --Say how your story is similar and different.

6Offer ideas for marketing and advertising your story/movie/game.Offer ideas regarding designing interactive experiences relating to it.The website might include -- contests, merchandising (making and selling products related tothings in the story), audience-participation, role-playing,crowd-sourcing, viral-advertising, user-generated content, blogs, story-related activities in virtual communities ( www.secondlife.com , www.maplestory.com , www.imvu.com , etc), reality-based and fantasy-basedonline social networks, 3D chat environments, ways to make it a MMORPG, etc.

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9) Storytelling in the Workplace

Stories relating to work

1Something that happened in the last 24 hrs.

2A favorite story from childhood.

3The story of the Industry in which one is working.

4The story of the Company for which one is working.

5Stories about one’s Company’s products and services.

6Stories about things that have happened in one’s Department.

7Stories about how one discovered and developed one’s favourite work-related talents and skills. One’s life story.

8Stories about experiences at one’s Workplace, including contributions one has made and might like to make.

Hopes regarding the future -- for oneself, for one’s Company, and for one’s future role in one’s Company.

Stories about how one’s life story could relate to one’s Company’s story.

Note:Fantasies and exaggeration can be added to all of the above, for the sake of fun, and bringing out points, truths, and feelings.

Types of storytelling situations and styles in the workplace

Consider the contexts, the situations, in which people speak to each other in the workplace (such as one-on-one conversations, at meetings, etc). How might the style and content of storytelling be different in each case?

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10) Warm-up Activities

1) Breathing exercises. Breathe in-and-out (first through nostrils, then mouth).

2) Mouth exercises. Stretch one’s lips and tongue.

3) Vocal exercises. Slow, middle, and high pitch. Say and sing vowels, extended.

4) Verbal exercises. A) Gibberish with intonation. Dialogue between partners using gibberish. Add body language to the gibberish.

B) Tongue Twisters.Objectives include: to warm-up and develop one’s brain-tongue-lips-jaw coordination; and to challenge and sharpen one’s word-related thinking process. Say the following, three times (slowly, then quickly).Jenny drew a joyful dragon. Three fleas flew free. Three thick tree twigs.She sells seashells by the seashore.Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers.

5) Emotion exercises. Say a word (or phrase) repeatedly with different emotions. Practice having tone and body language match the word, contradict the word, and comment on the word in various ways.

6) Relationship exercises. A) “Shaking Hands”. Vary speeds, emotions, firmness of grip.

B) “Give an Emotion”. Players give cushions to each other. As they do so, they say an adjective and make a matching facial expression. They can also create new words.

C) “Give a Gift” (similar to “Charades”). Players form groups of four or five. A player mimes using an imaginary object, and then gives this object to another player so that he/she can also use it. In the process, players guess what the gift is.

7) Visualisation exercises. Play one minute of music of a particular genre. Players, with closed eyes, visualise and then describe what they saw.

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11) Storytelling Activities

1) Telling Stories in Pairs.

Go into pairs, and take abut three minutes to tell a story to your partner. Then reverse roles.

A) Something that happened today or yesterdayB) A favorite traditional story that you have heard, read, or seen.C) The story of your life.

Regarding A) --

Tell something that you remember, something that touched you.

Later, elements of fantasy can be added: “Just for fun, if you could change any aspect of the story, what might you change? Might you have the situation end differently? Might you give a super-power to one of the characters? If yes -- what might the character do with it?”

To be discussed with the child: The distinction between pretending (in story and play), and not telling the truth (in real life).

2) Playing with Pieces.

Make lists of story elements, such as:

Locations.Characters.Good deeds / Bad deeds.Heroes and Heroines / Villains.Super powers.Things that make one happy / Things that annoy one.Problems / Solutions.

Type sets of these items. Print out each set of items. Cut the papers, and distribute the strips of paper to the players. Based on the story-elements received on the strips of paper, each player composes and tells a story.

3) The Story Bag.

Materials Needed:  an assortment of objects in a bag.

The objects can be ordinary items such as a toothbrush, a rock, a feather, etc. Without looking into the bag, a player pulls an object out of the bag. The player then tells a story/story-episode/anecdote relating to the object.

In the story: The object can be used in different ways. The object can keep changing. The object can be considered “magical,” with magic powers. The object can even be a main character in a story.

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4) True or Made-up?

A bluffing game. One player tells, and the other players must guess whether or not these events actually happened.

5) Circle Storytelling.

Players sits in circle.

Players can tell episodes which need to be filled in by the next teller. For example:

"I was walking along a road in the countryside, when I saw a -- “

“ -- large house to my right. It looked empty and since no one was around, so I decided to go in. But the moment I stepped in the door -- “

Each player can give one sentence (or any other rule can be set).

Objects in a bag, or Strips of paper, can also be used in Circle Storytelling.

6) Collaborative Improvisational Storytelling: Making it up as you go along.

Begin a story, and together with your listener decide what happens next.

For example, “A boy was walking in the forest, and ...”

This activity is often done best in pairs. This is so because in the intimacy of the smallest possible group (two people),1) There can be a minimum of stage-fright (fear of embarrassment), 2) The rules of the activity can be changed very quickly by common consent, and 3) Players can more easily read each other’s mind to see where the story should go.

One can start with a storybook, and then improvisation can occur.

7) Make a Story Map.

8) Be a Storytelling Coach.

Everyone can be a storytelling coach. All can learn to give helpful, constructive feedback.

Tell the performer what you liked about the performance, and suggest possible improvements.

9) Have a Storytelling Festival.

Put maps of stories on the walls.

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Have solo and group performances of stories all around the space, indoors and outdoors.

12) Storytelling Guidelines As the storyteller and as characters --

1) Throw yourself into telling the story. Believe in the value of the story, and be enthusiastic about sharing it with listeners. Commit yourself to the story, trust it, get into it, and tell it whole-heartedly. 2) Use voice modulation. Give variations in tone-of-voice, attitude, and emotion; speed, pitch, and rhythm. Give contrast -- even opposites -- between the various voices (slow and fast, continuously and with pauses, soft and loud, low and high pitch, meek and proud emotions, etc). 3) Use facial expressions, gestures, body language (posture and movement). 4) Visualise and describe.Visualise the elements of each scene and describe these elements to listeners. Give good verbal descriptions of things and places. Verbally describe perceptions of as many of the senses as possible -- how things 1) look (sight), 2) sound (hearing), 3) smell, 4) taste, and 5) feel (texture to the touch). It is a good practice to have the storyteller or a character mime physically-interacting with objects in the story.

5) Develop repeated conversational exchanges between characters in the story.

6) Sing songs. Songs could be sung by the narrator, about something or someone in the story. And, songs could be sung by a character, about something that she is thinking -- I want to do this... I feel like this... This is what I did... etc 7) Lead a conversation with the listeners, after the story has been told. Ask the listeners "open questions", such as, "What do you think, feel, like, and remember about the story?"

“What are some key scenes in the story?” (A key scene is one in which: Some truth or reality comes out for the first time. We discover something important. A character does something important -- makes a big decision, takes a decisive action, etc.)

"How do you feel about the ways the characters behaved?" “Do you feel the story shows positive behaviour?” (that we should seek to imitate). “Do you feel the story shows negative behaviour?” (that we should seek to avoid). "Might there be something about the story that you might like to change?”

"What messages, morals, meanings, and points do you get from the story?"

***

Act out characters: speak their dialogue and physically become them.

Be aware of -- and sometimes avoid -- any artificial (distancing) tone of voice.

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Be aware of -- and sometimes avoid -- the inclination to sell a story, to push it onto listeners, to insist that it is important. An ideal is for the listeners to be attracted to the story world, and thus for them to come to the storyteller, seeking to inhabit the world that the storyteller is conjuring. Sometimes go slow, so that listeners have time to visualise and feel/think about the story elements.

13) Storytelling-related Websites

Readings about Story and Storytelling

“Theories of Story and Storytelling,” by Eric Miller.http://www.storytellinginstitute.org/24.pdf

“12 Principles of Physically-present Storytelling,” by Eric Miller.http://www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com/16.html

“Visuals Accompanying Face-to-face Storytelling,” by Eric Miller.http://www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com/15.html

“Continuity and Change in Chinese Storytelling,” by Eric Miller.http://www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com/11.html

“Turn-taking and Relevance in Conversation,” by Eric Miller http://www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com/14.html

“Verbal Play and Language Acquisition”, by Eric Miller http://www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com/16.html

“Storytelling”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storytelling “Introduction to Storytelling,” by Tim Sheppardhttp://www.timsheppard.co.uk/story/faq.html#Introduction

“Effective Storytelling: A Manual for Beginners,” by Barry McWilliamshttp://www.eldrbarry.net/roos/eest.htm

“Perceiving The Foundation of Storytelling,” by Bill Johnson.http://www.storyispromise.com/wfound.htm

“Finding the Heart of the Story,” by Doug Lipman.http://www.storydynamics.com/Articles/Working_with_Stories/find_heart.html

“The Most Important Thing,” by Doug Lipman.http://www.storydynamics.com/Articles/Working_with_Stories/mit.html

“Frequently Asked Questions about Storytelling,” by Tim Sheppard. http://www.timsheppard.co.uk/story/faq.html#Introduction

“The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations,” by Georges Polti.http://www.timsheppard.co.uk/story/articles/36drama.html

“Story Structure,” by Dan Harmon.http://www.channel101.com/articles/article.php?article_id=29

“Story Structure,” by John Savagehttp://www.authorslawyer.com/savage/storystructure.shtml

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“What is Narrative Structure?”, from Pacific Cinematheque.http://www.inpoint.org/pdf/LanguageofFilm01.pdf

Stories

Four Fairytales --

"Brother and Sister"www.storytellinginstitute.org/331.pdf

"The Twelve Windows" www.storytellinginstitute.org/332.pdf

"Mother Hulda"www.storytellinginstitute.org/333.pdf

"The Girl at the Pond" www.storytellinginstitute.org/334.pdf

Talking-Animal Stories, and Other Traditional Stories --

Panchatantra Storieshttp://panchatantra.org

Jataka Taleswww.holyebooks.org/budhism/jataka_tales/index.htmlwww.holyebooks.org/budhism/jatak/index.htm

Aesop's Fableshttp://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/AesFabl.htmlwww.storyarts.org/library/aesops/index.html

Stories for Children , by Heather Forest. http://www.storyarts.org/library/nutshell/index.html

1,164 Folk and Fairy Tales, compiled by Rick Walton. http://www.rickwalton.com/folktale/folktale.htm

Classic Tales and Fables, compiled by Rick Walton. http://www.rickwalton.com/pubtales.htm

The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales ) , presented by D. L. Ashliman, http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html

Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, compiled by D. L. Ashliman.http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html

99 Tamil Folktales, collected by Stuart Blackburn.http://www.storytellinginstitute.org/99.doc

Links to the above and other collections of stories,http://www.storytellinginstitute.org/87.html

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Professional Storytellers

Laura Simmshttp://www.laurasimms.com

Diane Wolksteinhttp://www.dianewolkstein.com

Regina Resshttp://www.rnrproductions-nyc.com/Regina

Linda Fanghttp://chinesestoryteller.com

Story and Storytelling for Therapy

Healing Story Alliance A Special Interest Group of the USA’s National Storytelling Network.http://www.healingstory.org/home.html

Center for Counselling (Chennai)http://www.centerforcounselling.org , http://centerforcounselling.blogspot.com .“Play- and Arts-based Therapies”, http://tinyurl.com/b5m57x .

Online Audio/Video

Over one-hundred interviews about storytelling (audio) --www.artofstorytellingshow.com/past-guests

Eric on telling personal narratives (audio) --http://tinyurl.com/322bd7x (please see item 2)

"Naadukaan Kaathai" ("The Episode of Seeing the Countryside") --A 21-minute video documentary about the 2010 Places of Kannagi Storytelling Tour. Co-produced by the World Storytelling Institute. (Tamil language -- English subtitles coming soon.) --http://tinyurl.com/34fg5ck

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“Brother and Sister”

A fairytale collected by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm in the early 1800s in Germany, and retold by Eric Miller

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived in a forest area. He made his living by cutting down trees and selling the wood. This man had a daughter. Their home was run by a cook, because the woodsman’s wife had died.

One day when the man was walking in the woods, he heard a baby’s cry from the upper branches of a tree. The man climbed up the tree and found on one of the branches, in a bird’s nest, a baby boy!

How had the baby boy come to be there? A woman carrying her infant son had been walking in the forest. She had become very tired, and had sat down to rest. Still holding her child, she had fallen asleep. Birds had come and lifted the child by the cloth that had been wrapped around him. The birds took the child away some distance, high up into a tree, where they placed him in a nest. You can imagine the woman’s anguish when she awoke and found her child missing. She looked all about, but she could not find him.

The woodsman, up in the tree, did not know all of this. He just thought, “I will take this boy home and raise him with my daughter.” So the woodsman carefully lifted up the boy child, and took him home, and the boy and girl were raised together.

One day, the little girl saw the cook heating a very large kettle of water. The little girl asked her, “Why are you heating such a large kettle of water?”

The Cook replied, “Can you keep a secret?”

“Yes,” said the girl.

The Cook said, “I am boiling this water, then I am going to put your little brother inside the kettle. We’ll boil him, cut him up, and eat him.”

The girl was shocked and horrified, but she did not express this to the Cook. She just said, “Ok,” and backed away. Then she ran to her brother and said to him, “The Cook is planning to kill you! Quick! We need to run away!

So the little girl and her younger brother set off, running across the grassy meadow in front of their house. But before they could reach the woods, the Cook saw them, through the kitchen window. She immediately told the man who assisted her, “Go and get those two children, and bring them back here!”

The man ran after the two children. The older sister saw that he was catching up with them. So she stopped running, and her younger brother stopped also. She said to her younger brother, “I’ll never leave you, if you never leave me.”

Her younger brother replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll never leave you.”

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Then she said to him, “You turn yourself into a rosebush, and I’ll turn myself into a rose.” And they did so!

The man approached -- but he could not see the boy and girl. All he saw of note was a rosebush, with a very beautiful rose on it. He tried to pick the rose -- but his finger brushed against a thorn on the rosebush and he was cut a little, so he gave up on the idea of picking the rose. He just walked back to the house and said to the Cook, “I could not find them.”

The Cook replied, “Didn’t you see a rosebush and a rose? Didn’t you know that that was the boy and the girl? Now hurry, go again, and this time really get them and bring them!”

The man ran in the direction the children had gone. Meanwhile, the girl and boy had turned back into themselves, and were running away again. They had reached the woods, but the older sister saw again that the man was gaining on them. So once again she stopped, and her younger brother stopped, and she said to him, “I’ll never leave you, if you never leave me.”

Her younger brother again replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll never leave you.”

Then she said to him, “You turn yourself into a church, and I’ll turn myself into the cross hanging at the alter.” And they did so!

The man approached, and was doubly amazed -- to not see the children, and to see a church where he had never noticed one before. But as he was a humble person, he entered the church and quietly prayed for a minute or two. Then he returned to the Cook.

“I could not find the boy and girl,” he said to the Cook. “But I did find a church.”

“You fool!”, the Cook exclaimed. “How could you not have known that that church was the boy and that cross was the girl? For goodness sake! Well, it seems like I am going to have to go and do the job myself.” And off the Cook went.

The girl and boy had turned back into themselves, and were running away once again. But the girl saw the Cook approaching, and a final time she stopped and said to her younger brother, “I’ll never leave you, if you never leave me.”

And her younger brother replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll never leave you.”

Then she said to him, “You turn yourself into a pond, and I’ll turn myself into a duck.” And they did so!

The Cook came to the pond, and immediately recognised that it was really the boy in disguise. The Cook knelt down and began to drink the water -- she was going to drink the whole pond and then grab the duck. But the duck quickly swam over to the Cook, grabbed the Cook’s neck in her beak, and pulled the Cook into the pond, and the Cook had to drown.

Then the girl and boy turned back into themselves, and headed home to see their father.

You might not be surprised to learn that on the way home, they came across the boy’s mother, who for the past three years had been faithfully searching for her lost son. The boy’s mother was overjoyed to be re-united with her son, just as he was

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delighted to be re-united with his mother, and all three proceeded to the woodsman’s house. When the woodsman returned from work and heard the whole story, he also shared the mother’s and son’s joy. Some time later the woman and the woodsman married, and all lived happily ever after.

“The Twelve Windows”

A fairytale collected by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm in the early 1800s in Germany, and retold by Eric Miller

Once there was a princess, who, high in her castle, had a tower room with twelve windows. The windows looked out in all directions. When she looked out of these windows, she could inspect her whole kingdom. When she looked out of the first window, her sight was more keen than that of any other human being; from the second she could see still better, from the third more distinctly still, and so it went on, until the twelfth window, from which she could see everything above the earth and under the earth, and nothing could be kept secret from her.

This princess wished to keep rulership over this land for herself alone. Thus, she had it proclaimed that only a man who could hide himself from her could be her husband. He who tried this and was discovered by her, was to have his head cut off and stuck on a post. Ninety-seven posts with the heads of dead men were already standing before the castle, and no one had come forward for a long time.

Then three brothers appeared before her, and told her that they wanted to try their luck.

The eldest brother believed that he would be safe if he hid in the earth, so he dug a big hole, climbed down, and covered himself with dirt. But alas, the princess saw him through the second window. His head was cut off and placed on the 98th post.

The second brother went as far as he could walk in a day, and climbed a tall mountain and hid in a cave there. But the princess spotted him through the fourth window. His head was placed on the ninety-ninth post.

Then the youngest brother came to the princess, and asked her to give him a day to think about how he would hide. He also asked for three chances, in case he was found the first two times. This young man seemed very handsome to the princess, and he spoke very politely to her -- so she agreed to his requests.

The next day the young man meditated for a long time about how he would hide himself, but he could not decide on anything. So he seized his gun and went to the forest to hunt.

Soon the young man saw a raven. He took good aim, and was just about to fire, when the raven cried, "Don't shoot! I can help you!" The young man put his gun down, and walked onwards.

The young man came to a lake. There he saw a large fish who had come up to the surface of the water. The young man aimed at the fish, but the fish cried, “Don't shoot! I can help you!" The young man allowed the fish to dive down again.

Once more the young man went onwards. Soon he came upon a fox who was limping. The young man fired and missed it, and the fox cried, "Please put that gun down! Please come here and draw this thorn out of my foot." The young man did as

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the fox requested. Then the fox said, "Thank goodness! I can walk comfortably again. Now please let me go -- I promise I can help you!" The young man let the fox go, and as it was evening, the young man returned to his sleeping place in town.

The next day, the young man was to hide himself, but no matter how much he puzzled over it, he could not decide what to do. He again went into the forest.

He met the raven and said to him, "I let you live, so now please tell me where I can hide myself so that the king's daughter will not see me." The raven hung his head and thought it over for some time. At length he croaked, "I have it." He fetched an egg out of his nest, cut it into two parts, and shut the youth inside it. Then the raven made the egg whole again, and seated himself on it.

When the King's daughter went to the first window she could not discover the young man. She also could not see him from the second window, or the third. She began to be uneasy. But from the seventh window, she saw him inside the egg. She ordered the egg to be brought and broken, and the young man came out. She said, "You have two more chances!"

The next day the young man went to the lake, and called to the fish: "I allowed you to live, now please tell me where to hide myself, so that the king's daughter may not see me." The fish surfaced, greeted the young man, and thought for a while. At last the fish cried, "I have it! I will shut you up in my stomach." So the fish swallowed the young man, and went down to the bottom of the lake. The princess looked through her windows -- fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth. She was getting very nervous! Finally, from the ninth window she saw him. She ordered the fish to be caught and cut open, and the young man came out. Every one can imagine what a state of mind he was in. She said, "You only have one chance left. You better make it a good one."

The next day, the young man went with a heavy heart to the place where he had met the fox. And sure enough, he saw the fox there again. The young man said to the fox, "You are known as the cleverest of animals. I let you live, now please advise me where I can hide myself so that the king's daughter shall not discover me."

"That's a hard task," answered the fox, looking very thoughtful. At length he cried, "I have it!" This fox had the ability to jump up, do a flip in mid-air, and land in a different form. So the fox jumped, flipped, and landed as an animal-trainer. He told the young man to likewise jump and flip, and the young man landed as a flea!

The animal-trainer and his flea went into the town, and set up his show in a busy market street. Many people gathered together to see his amazing dancing, jumping, singing flea! At last the princess was informed of this great novelty, and she also came to see the show. She enjoyed the performance very much, and when it was over she turned to go. At that moment, the animal-trainer said to the flea: “Here’s your chance! Run after her, climb up her back, and hide under the braid of hair on her head!” The flea did as instructed.

The princess returned to her tower room with the twelve windows. The time had arrived for her final search for the young man. She looked through the first window. She did not see him. She looked through the second, the third, the fourth, and so on. Finally, she looked through the twelfth window, and she could see everything -- except the young man. She said to herself, “I can not find him. He has done it! He has done it!”

With that, the flea moved out from under the princess’ braid. The flea leapt, did a flip in mid-air, and landed as himself, a handsome young man.

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The princess was amazed to see him, joyfully hugged him, and said, “Hurray! I have finally found a man who is smart enough to be my husband!”

“Mother Hulda”

A fairytale collected by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm in the early 1800s in Germany, and retold by Eric Miller

Once upon a time there was a widow who had a daughter and a step-daughter. The daughter was lazy, and the step-daughter was industrious. However, the woman was much fonder of the lazy girl, because she was her daughter. The step-daughter was made to do all the work of the house. Also, every day the step-daughter was sent out of the house to sit by the well and spin yarn by hand, until her fingers would bleed. One day the blood from her fingers fell on the spindle, so the girl decided to draw some water from the well with which to wash the spindle. As she was doing so, the spindle slipped out of her hands and fell into the well. The girl ran home and told what had happened. Her stepmother scolded her harshly, and said in rage, “You let the spindle fall into the well, so go and get it!”

The girl went back to the well. Not knowing what else to do, she jumped into the well. Down, down, down she fell. As she was falling, she lost consciousness. When she awoke, she found herself in a beautiful meadow where the sun was shining and flowers were growing all around her.

She walked across the meadow. Soon she came to a baker's oven that was full of bread. The loaves of bread cried out to her, “Please take us out of the oven, or alas, we shall burn! We are baked enough already!” So she picked up the baker’s iron thongs and one by one took all of the loaves out of the oven, setting the loaves on a nearby table for them to cool.

The girl walked on and came to a tree with many apples hanging from every branch. The tree called out to her, “Please shake me, shake me! My apples are ripe and heavy!” The girl shook the tree, and the apples came falling down like rain. She kept shaking the tree until not a single apple was left on its branches. Then she carefully gathered the apples together, and walked on again.

After some time, the girl came to a little wooden house that had a thatched roof. An old woman was standing in the doorway, looking out. The woman’s teeth were very large, and this terrified the girl, so the girl turned to run away. But the old woman called after her, '”Do not be afraid, dear child! Stay with me. Things will go well for you if you will do the work of my house properly. For example, when you make my bed you must shake the mattress thoroughly, so that the feathers fly about. It is then that it snows in the world, for I am Mother Hulda.”

The old woman spoke so kindly that the girl summoned up her courage, and consented to work in the house. The girl did her best to do everything to the old woman’s satisfaction. Indeed, every time she made the old woman’s bed she shook it with all her might, so that the feathers flew about like snowflakes. The old woman never spoke angrily to the girl, and every day there was plenty of good food for the girl to cook for the two of them.

The girl lived with Mother Hulda for a long time, but then she began to feel homesick. Although she was a thousand times better off with Mother Hulda than she had been

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at home, still she wanted to see her mother and sister. So at last, one day when the girl and the old woman were sitting in the house together, the girl said to her, “Mother Hulda, you have been most kind to me, and I have been very contented here, but now I want to return to my own home.'

Mother Hulda answered, “I am pleased that you want to go back to your people. And as you have served me so well and faithfully, I will help you go.” Mother Hulda then handed to the girl, the spindle that had fallen down the well, and a large empty cloth bag, and gestured for the girl to walk out of the house’s front door. As the girl passed through the door, flakes of gold fell from the roof down onto her. The gold kept falling, until the girl had filled the bag with the gold, and the bag was very heavy.

“This gold is yours,” said Mother Hulda, “It is your reward for your hard work and good spirit.” Mother Hulda then waved goodbye.

The girl waved back, as she turned to go and leave the house, the girl instantly found herself back in her ordinary world, close to her mother's house. As the girl entered the courtyard, a rooster who was perched on a fence, called out, “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Your golden girl has come back to you!”

The girl went in the house, to her mother and sister. The girl had the spindle -- and a large heavy bag of gold -- so her mother and sister welcomed her warmly. She told them all about everything that had happened.

When the mother heard about how the girl had come by her great riches, she thought she would like her lazy daughter to go and get rich also! So she made her lazy daughter go and sit by the well and spin. Her lazy daughter would not spin yarn enough to make her fingers bleed, so the mother had the lazy daughter prick her finger on a thorn-bush and drop a few drops of her blood on the spindle. Then the mother told her lazy daughter to throw the spindle into the well, and jump in after it. The lazy girl had no choice, and did as her mother commanded.

Like her sister, the lazy girl lost consciousness as she fell, and awoke in the beautiful meadow. She walked across the meadow until she came to the oven. Just as before, the loaves of bread cried out, “Please take us out of the oven, or alas, we shall burn! We are baked enough already!” But the lazy girl answered, 'No, I might burn my hands if I took you out of the oven.' And she walked on.

The lazy girl came to the apple tree, which once again had many apples hanging from every branch. The tree called out to her, “Please shake me, shake me! My apples are ripe and heavy!”

The lazy girl answered, “Do you think I am going to dirty my hands for your sake? And anyway, some of the apples might fall on my head.” So she just walked away.

Finally the lazy girl came to Mother Hulda's house. She had heard all about Mother Hulda's large teeth from her sister, so she was not afraid. She began her service in the old woman’s house without delay.

On the first day, the lazy girl was very obedient and industrious, and did everything that Mother Hulda asked of her, because she was thinking of the gold she would get in return. The next day, however, the lazy girl began to dawdle over her work. On the third day, she was more idle still. On the following days, she would lie in her bed in the mornings and refuse to get up. Worse still, she neglected to make the old woman's bed properly, and forgot to shake it so that the feathers might fly about.

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Mother Hulda soon told the lazy girl that it was time for her to return home. The lazy girl was delighted, and thought to herself, “Now the shower of gold is coming!' Then the lazy girl stepped out through the front door, and -- Something fell on her, but it was not flakes of gold! It was only a very horrible-smelling mixture of dirt, tar, and poop!

This dirty mixture got all over her! The next thing she knew, she was back in the ordinary world, close to her mother's house. The lazy girl came running into the courtyard, looking for some water to wash herself with.

The rooster who was perched on a fence, called out, “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Your dirty girl has come back to you!”

The lazy girl found some water and spent a long time scrubbing herself, but the mixture was very sticky, smelly, and dirty -- so she might be scrubbing herself even until today!

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“The Girl at the Pond”A Fairytale collected by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm

Once upon a time, there was a very old woman, who lived with a flock of geese in a place in the mountains, and there had a little house. The house was in a meadow, surrounded by a large forest, and every morning the old woman took her crutch and hobbled into the forest. There the woman was quite active, more so than any one would have thought, considering her age, and collected grass for her geese, picked all the wild fruit she could reach, and carried everything home on her back. Any one would have thought that the heavy load would have weighed her to the ground, but she always brought it safely home.

If any one met her, she greeted him quite courteously: "Good day, dear countryman, it is a fine day. Ah! you wonder that I should drag grass about, but every one must take his burthen on his back." Nevertheless, most people did not like to meet her if they could help it, and preferred to take a round-about way. When a father with his boys would pass her, he would whisper to them, "Beware of the old woman. She has claws beneath her gloves. She is a witch."

One morning, a handsome young man was going through the forest. The sun shone bright, the birds sang, a cool breeze crept through the leaves, and he was full of joy and gladness. He had as yet met no one, when he suddenly perceived the old woman kneeling on the ground cutting grass with a sickle. She had already thrust a whole load into her cloth, and near it stood two baskets, which were filled with wild apples and pears.

"But, good mother," said he, "how can you carry all that?"

"I must carry it, dear sir," she answered. "Rich folk's children have no need to do such things, but with the peasant folk the saying goes, Don't look behind you, you will only see how crooked your back is!" He remained standing by her, so she asked him, "Will you help me? You have still a straight back and young legs. It would be a trifle to you. My house is not so very far from here. It stands there on the heath behind the hill."

The young man took compassion on the old woman. He replied, "My father is certainly no peasant, but a rich count. Nevertheless, that you may see that it is not only peasants who can carry things, I will take your bundle."

“If you will try it," she said, "I shall be very glad. You will have to walk for an hour, but what will that signify to you? Only you must carry the apples and pears as well." It now seemed to the young man just a little serious, when he heard of an hour's walk, but the old woman would not let him off. She packed the bundle on his back, and hung the two baskets on his arm.

"See, it is quite light," said she.

"No, it is not light," answered the count, and pulled a rueful face. "Truly, the bundle weighs as heavily as if it were full of cobble stones, and the apples and pears are as heavy as lead! I can scarcely breathe."

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He had a mind to put everything down again, but the old woman would not allow it. "Just look," she said mockingly, "the young gentleman can not carry what I, an old woman, have so often dragged along. You are ready with fine words, but when it comes to be earnest, you want to take to your heels. Why are you standing loitering there?" she continued. "Step lively. No one will take the bundle off again."

As long as he walked on level ground, it was still bearable, but when they came to the hill and had to climb, and the stones rolled down under his feet as if they were alive, it was beyond his strength. The drops of perspiration stood on his forehead, and ran, hot and cold, down his back.

"Good mother," he said, "I can go no farther. I want to rest a little."

"Not here," answered the old woman. "When we have arrived at our journey's end, you can rest. But now you must go forward. Who knows what good it may do you?" "Old woman, you are becoming a pest!" said the count, and he tried to throw off the bundle. But he laboured in vain; it stuck as fast to his back as if it grew there. He turned and twisted, but he could not get rid of it.

The old woman laughed at this, and sprang about quite delighted on her crutch. "Don't get angry, dear sir," she said. "You are growing as red in the face as a turkey-cock! Carry your bundle patiently. I will give you a good present when we get home."What could he do? He was obliged to submit to his fate, and crawl along patiently behind the old woman. She seemed to grow more and more nimble, and his burden seemed to grow heavier. Suddenly she made a spring, jumped on to the bundle, and seated herself on the top of it; and however withered she might be, she was yet heavier than the stoutest country lass.

The youth's knees trembled, but when he did not go on, the old woman hit him about the legs with a switch and with stinging-nettles. Groaning continually, he climbed the mountain, and when he was just about to drop, he finally reached the old woman's house. When the geese perceived the old woman, they flapped their wings, stretched out their necks, and ran to meet her, cackling all the while.

Behind the flock walked, stick in hand, a young woman, strong and big, but ugly as could be. "Good mother," she asked the old woman, "has anything happened to you? You have stayed away so long."

"By no means, my dear daughter," she answered, "I have met with nothing bad, but, on the contrary, with this kind gentleman, who has carried my burthen for me. Just think, he even took me on his back when I was tired! The way has not seemed long to us. We have been merry, and have been cracking jokes with each other all the time."

At last the old woman slid down, took the bundle off the young man's back, and the baskets from his arm, looked at him quite kindly, and said, "Now seat yourself on the bench before the door, and rest. You have fairly earned your wages, and they shall not be wanting." Then she said to the goose-girl, "Go into the house, my dear daughter, it is not becoming for you to be alone with a young gentleman. One must not pour oil on to the fire: he might fall in love with you!"

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The count did not know whether to laugh or to cry. "Such a sweetheart as that could never touch my heart,” he thought.

In the meantime the old woman stroked and fondled her geese as if they were children, and then went into the house with her daughter. The youth lay down on the bench, under a wild apple-tree. The air was warm and mild. On all sides stretched a green meadow, which was set with cowslips, wild thyme, and a thousand other flowers. Through the midst of meadow rippled a clear brook on which the sun sparkled, and the white geese went walking backwards and forwards, or paddled in the water.

"It is quite delightful here," he thought. “I am so tired, I cannot keep my eyes open. I will sleep a little. I just hope a gust of wind does not come and blow my legs off my body, for they feel like rotten wood."

When he had slept a little while, the old woman came and shook him till he awoke. "Sit up," she said. "You can not stay here. I have certainly treated you roughly, but it has not cost you your life. Of money and land you have no need. Here is something else for you." Thereupon she thrust a little book into his hand, which was cut out of a single emerald. "Take great care of it," she said. "It will bring you good fortune."

The count sprang up. He felt that quite fresh, and had recovered his vigour. He thanked the old woman for her present, and set off without even once looking back at the goose-keeper girl. Even when he was some way off, he still heard in the distance the noisy cry of the geese.

For three days the count wandered in the wilderness before he could find his way out. He then reached a large town, and as no one knew him, he was led into the royal palace, where the King and Queen were sitting on their throne. The count fell on one knee, drew the emerald book out of his pocket, and laid it at the Queen's feet. She bade him rise and hand her the little book. Hardly, however, had she opened it, and looked therein, than she fell as if dead to the ground. The count was seized by the King's servants, and was being led to prison, when the Queen opened her eyes, and ordered them to release him. She ordered every one else to leave the room, as she wished to speak with the young man in private.

When the Queen was alone with him, she began to weep bitterly. "Of what use to me are the splendours and honours with which I am surrounded?,” she asked. “Every morning I awake in pain and sorrow. I had three daughters, the youngest of whom was so beautiful that the whole world looked on her as a wonder. Her skin was white as snow, her cheeks as rosy as apple-blossoms, and her hair as radiant as golden sunbeams. When she cried, tears did not fall from her eyes, but only pearls and jewels.”

“When she was fifteen years old, the King summoned all three sisters to come before his throne. You should have seen how all the people gazed when the youngest entered, it was as if the sun were rising! Then the King spoke, ‘My daughters, I do not know when my last day may arrive. Today I will decide what each of you shall receive at my death. You all love me, but the one of you who loves me best, shall fare the best.’ Each of them said she loved him best. ‘Can you not express to me,’ asked the King, "how much you do love me. Then I shall understand what you mean.’ ”

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“The eldest spoke, ’I love my father as dearly as the sweetest sugar." The second said, ‘I love my father as dearly as my prettiest dress.’ But the youngest was silent. Then the father asked, "And you, my dear child, how much do you love me?’ ‘I can’t compare my love for you with anything,’ she replied. But her father insisted that she should name something. So she said at last, ‘The best food does not please me

without salt, therefore I love you like salt.’ When the King heard that, he flew into a fury, and said, ‘If you love me like salt, your love shall also be repaid with salt!’ Then he divided the kingdom between the two elder sisters, but caused a sack of salt to be bound on the back of the youngest, and two servants had to lead her forth into the wild forest.”

“We all begged on her behalf," said the Queen, "but the King's anger was not to be appeased. How she cried when she had to leave us! The whole road was strewn with the pearls which flowed from her eyes. The King soon afterwards repented of his great severity, and had the whole forest searched for the poor child, but no one could find her. When I think that the wild beasts have devoured her, I can’t contain my sorrow. Many times I console myself with the hope that she is still alive, and may have hidden herself in a cave, or has found shelter with compassionate people. So imagine for yourself how I felt when I opened your little emerald book and saw the pearl laying therein. It is exactly the same kind as those which used to fall from my daughter's eyes. Then you can also imagine how the sight of it stirred my heart. You must tell me how you came by that pearl."

The count told her that he had received it from the old woman in the forest, who had appeared very strange to him, and must be a witch, but he had neither seen nor hear anything of the Queen's child. The Queen called the King, and together they resolved to seek out the old woman. They thought that there where the pearl had been, they might obtain news of their daughter.

The old woman was sitting in that lonely place at her spinning-wheel, spinning. It was already dusk, and a log which was burning on the hearth gave a scanty light. All at once there was a noise outside: the geese were coming home from the pasture, and uttering their hoarse cries. Soon afterwards the goose-keeper young woman also entered. But the old woman scarcely thanked her, and only shook her head a little. The young woman sat down beside her, took her spinning-wheel, and twisted the threads nimbly.

Thus they both sat for two hours, and exchanged never a word. At last something rustled at the window, and two fiery eyes peered in. It was an old night-owl, which cried, "Uhu!" three times. The old woman looked up, and said, "Now, my daughter, it is time for you to go out and do your work." The young woman rose and went out.

Where did she go? Over the meadows ever onward into the valley. At last she came to a pond, with three old oak-trees standing beside it. Meanwhile the moon had risen large and round over the mountain: it was so light that one could have found a needle. She removed the skin which covered her face, then bent down to the edge of the pond, and began to wash herself. When she had finished, she dipped the skin in the water, and laid it on the grass, so that it could dry in the moonlight. But how the maiden was changed! Such a change was never seen before! When the rough gray mask fell off, her golden hair broke forth like sunbeams, and spread about like a mantle over her whole form. Her eyes shone out as brightly as the stars in heaven, and her cheeks bloomed a soft red, like apple-blossoms.

But the fair maiden was sad. She sat down and wept bitterly. One tear after another came out of her eyes, and rolled down through her long hair to the ground. There

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she sat, and would have remained sitting a long time, if there had not been a rustling and cracking in the boughs of the neighbouring tree. She sprang up like a doe whichhas heard the shot of the hunter. Just then the moon was obscured by a dark cloud, and in an instant the maiden slipped on the old skin and vanished, like a light blown out by the wind.

She ran back home, trembling like an aspen-leaf. The old woman was standing on the threshold, and the girl was about to relate what had befallen her, but the old woman laughed kindly, and said, "I already know all." She led her into the room and lighted a new log. She did not, however, sit down to her spinning again, but fetched a broom and began to sweep and scour, "All must be clean and sweet," she said to the young woman.

"But, mother," said the maiden, "why do you begin work at so late an hour? What do you expect?"

"Do you know what time it is?" asked the old woman.

"Not yet midnight," answered the maiden, "but already past eleven o'clock."

"Do you not remember," continued the old woman, "that it is three years today since you came to me? The time is up. We can no longer remain together."

The girl was terrified and said, "Alas! Dear mother, will you cast me off? Where shall I go? I have no friends, and no home to which I can go. I have always done as you bade me, and you have always been satisfied with me. Please do not send me away!"

The old woman would not tell the maiden what lay before her. "My stay here is over," the old woman said, "but when I depart, the house must be clean. Therefore do not hinder me in my work. Have no care for yourself. You shall find a roof to shelter you, and the wages which I will give you shall content you."

"But tell me what is about to happen," the maiden entreated.

"I ask you again, do not hinder me in my work. Do not say a word more, go to your room, take the skin off your face, and put on the silken gown which you had on when you came to me. Then wait in your room until I call you."

Once more I must tell of the King and Queen. They had journeyed forth with the count in order to seek out the old woman in the wilderness. The count had strayed away from them in the wood by night, and had to walk onwards alone. The next day, it seemed to him that he was on the right track. He went forward until darkness came on. Then he climbed a tree, intending to pass the night there, for he feared wild animals. When the moon illumined the surrounding country he perceived a figure coming down the mountain. She had no stick in her hand, but yet he could see that it was the goose-keeper girl, whom he had seen before in the house of the old woman.

"Oh," he thought, "there she comes! If I can get hold of one of the witches, the other shall not escape me!" But how astonished he was when she went to the pond, took off the skin, and washed herself -- and when her golden hair fell down all about her, and she was more beautiful than any one he had ever seen in the whole world. He hardly dared to breathe, but stretched his head as far forward as he dared through the leaves, and stared at her. Perhaps he bent over too far, but whatever the cause might be, the bough suddenly cracked. That very moment the maiden slipped into the skin, sprang away like a doe, and as the moon was suddenly covered, she disappeared from his eyes.

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The count descended from the tree, and hastened after her with nimble steps. He had not been gone long before he saw, in the twilight, two figures coming over the meadow. It was the King and Queen, who had perceived from a distance the light shining in the old woman's little house in the meadow, and were going to it. The count told them the wonderful things he had seen by the pond, and they did not doubt that it had been their lost daughter. They walked onwards full of joy, and soon came to the little house. The geese were sitting all round it, and had thrust their heads under their wings and were sleeping. Not one of them moved. The King and Queen looked in at the window. The old woman was sitting there quite quietly spinning, nodding her head and never looking round. The room was perfectly clean, as if the little mist-men, who carry no dust on their feet, lived there. Their daughter, however, they did not see. They gazed at all this for a long time. At last they took heart, and knocked softly at the window.

The old woman appeared to have been expecting them; she rose, and kindly called out, "Come in, I know who you are." When they had entered the room, the old woman said, "You might have spared yourself the long walk, if you had not three years ago unjustly driven away your child, who is so good and loveable. No harm has come to her. For three years she has had to tend the geese. With them she has learned no evil, but has preserved her purity of heart. As for yourselves, you have been sufficiently punished by the misery in which you have lived." Then she went to the chamber and called, "Come out, my little daughter." Thereupon the door opened, and the princess stepped out in her silken garments, with her golden hair and her shining eyes, and it was as if an angel from heaven had entered.

She went up to her father and mother, fell on their necks and kissed them. There was no help for it, they all had to weep for joy. The young count stood near them, and when she perceived him she became as red in the face as a rose, she herself did not know why. The King said, "My dear child, I have given away my kingdom. What shall I give you?"

"She needs nothing," said the old woman. "I give her the tears that she has wept on your account. They are precious pearls, finer than those that are found in the sea, and worth more than your whole kingdom. And I give her my little house as payment for her services." When the old woman had said that, she disappeared from their sight. The walls rattled, and when the King and Queen looked round, the little house had changed into a splendid palace. A royal table had been spread with the most delicious food, and servants were running hither and thither.

The story goes still further, but my grandmother, who related it to me, had partly lost her memory, and had forgotten the rest. I shall always believe that the beautiful princess married the count, and that they remained together in the palace, and lived there in all happiness so long as God willed it. Whether the snow-white geese, which were kept near the little house, were in fact young maidens whom the old woman had taken under her protection, and whether they now received their human form again, and stayed as handmaids to the Princess, I do not exactly know, but I suspect it. This much is certain: the old woman was no wicked witch, as some people thought, but a wise woman, who meant and did well. Very likely it was she who, at the princess's birth, gave her the gift of weeping pearls instead of tears. That does not happen now-a-days, or else the poor would soon become rich.

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