Thursday, July 15, 2010

Fairy Tale Fridays: The Lion, The Hare, and The Hyena

Special Thanks to my Personal Faery Friend for the Button Art: Ye Olde Faery Shoppe

This week for Fairy Tale Fridays, we are traveling to Africa to visit a native folktale, The Lion, The Hare, and The Hyena.  According to Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales, this story comes from Kenya.  According to tradition, the hare and hyena are common rivals that are always trying to outdo each other.  In this week's selection, the hare comes upon the injured lion and nurses him back to health.  The lion grows stronger thanks to the hare, enabling him to be able to begin hunting and providing small meals for the two of them.  The bones laying outside of the cave attract the hyena, drawing him in and bringing on an attempt to outwit the hare.  Who wins this time?  I won't give away the details, but I will say that it may explain the reason why the hyena's hair stands on end!

This was a very interesting story!  I believe it shows the animals with very humanistic traits . . . the hare as clever, the hyena as cunning (and maybe a bit selfish), and the lion, though the king of the jungle, as one who has weaknesses and doubts that may come along with his strength.  It was an enjoyable tale, one in which I read multiple times and even listened to a reading by Alan Rickman on YouTube.  (For Harry Potter fans, I'm talking Snape here!)  I believe the visual on the reading was boring, and I would have preferred to see more African artwork instead multiple photos of Rickman.  However, I will say that Rickman does a fabulous job of narrating this tale!

Before I close for this version of FTF, I would like to bring your attention to an upcoming event next month . . . Once Upon A Week hosted by Today's Adventure!  I recently discovered this through a mutual blogger (thanks to the1stdaughter at There's A Book!) and I immediately signed up!  Assuming you are as clever as the hare in our story today, I would recommend that you hop on over there yourself to learn more and get signed up for more details!


UPCOMING TALES:



Friday, August 6th:  The Twin Brothers (Danish Folk and Fairy Tales)
Friday, August 13th: Chunda's Wisdom Quest (Tales from Tibet)
**SPECIAL NOTE:  I have linked those stories that I can find above either in writing or as a video of the reading via YouTube.  The generic link via the country's tales will take you to a listing of additional tales or possible replacements.  Enjoy!

7 comments:

  1. Sorry I was a day late with my post. Our library had Mandel's Favorites, too.

    http://carolsnotebook.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/the-lion-the-hare-and-the-hyena/

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  2. Enjoyed your review and it sounds like an interesting story. Great choice!

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  3. Cool! Heading over to YouTube now.

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  4. carolsnotebook . . . No worries! I'm a little late in replying too!! :)

    NotNessie @ Today's Adventure . . . You are so welcome! Looking forward to a bit more next week!! :)

    Alexia561 . . . Thanks!! If you have a few minutes, I definitely recommend the Rickman reading so you can experience it yourself!!

    J. Kaye . . . What did you end up thinking?

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  5. Alan Rickman is a favorite since I saw him in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). Love his voice!

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  6. J. Kaye . . . I totally forgot that he was in that movie!! I've got to see if I can get my hands on that one to watch this week!!! And, yes, I love his voice too!

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