Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang), Part A

I was a little worried about using a set that had so few stories in it but I think there is a ton of potential in this story set. I really enjoyed reading the stories and I may have already decided on a plot for my story for this week. I like the writing style because the stories are written in pretty basic, straight forward English.

As I read the first story, "The Two Frogs", I imagined a love story between two traveler's that are destined to be together and happen across each other. They would be motivated to take a trip without reason and their paths would cross. They wouldn't understand the purpose of their journey in the beginning but soon enough they would both be convinced that fate had decided for them. The ending of this story made me sad but I'm not sure if mine would end on a sad or happy note. I'm not incredibly motivated to write this but I think it has some potential at least. 

"The Stonecutter" was interesting and I liked that in the end, the man learned to be content with his given life, rather than to yearn for something he didn't have. I love this message because we so often tend to take for granted the things we have in life. I could maybe work that into a story as a secondary theme. 

(The Stonecutter; online source, online source)

"The Maiden and the Wooden Helmet" is the only one from this set that just seemed bizarre to me. I really didn't understand it. If someone else read it or would like to read it and provide their take, I'd love to hear it! 

"The Envious Neighbour" spoke to me most and I think this is a good candidate for my story for the week. I think I'll write a back story for the dog in this one. I hated the dog's fate but I loved the story, so I think I'd like to write up a little more of his life and bring a little more happiness into his story. 

Source

"Japanese Fairy Tales", retold by Andrew Lang, online source.