Reading Diary A: Czech Folklore

Reading Diary A

1. Sleepy John
2. Silly Jura
3. The Bear, the Eagle, and the Fish
4. Kojata
5. The Three Roses
6. The Twin Brothers
7. The Waternick

I wanted to read something a little different this week and I chose the Czech fairy tales because I read “The Clever Lass” earlier in the semester and really enjoyed it. This unit is also available on Librivox and I like to listen to the stories during my long commute to campus. 

I enjoyed Sleepy John but I had a lot of questions during the story. Why did the farmers decide to drop him in the woods? Why wasn’t he sleepy at any other time during the story? I was also enchanted by the idea of the Leaden, Tin, and Silver forest.

(Russian Winter or Silver Forest? Source: Flickr)

Silly Jura was also an interesting tale. I like the idea of the cat who turns into a princess. It seems to be a common theme in the Czech unit that once transformed, the animal form must be destroyed to free the ensorcelled individual. Although this didn’t happen with the princes in The Bear, the Eagle, and the Fish.

Kojata was a fun story as well. I like that the youngest daughter fell in love with the doomed prince. During the escape scene, I was reminded of one of my favorite books that I read to my son: The Runaway Bunny. She became a church and the prince, a monk. It’s a little like that story where the mother bunny becomes something else to be with her son.

I read the Waternick to search for details for my upcoming Kelpie story. Although the creatures are very different, I hoped to use some characteristics from the Czech water monster for my Irish one. I like the idea of trapped human souls but I’m not sure if I want to make my monster that evil.

Story source: The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922).