Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales, Part A

I have never really been familiar with biblical stories or tales, and I found most of these tales in this unit to be interesting. The Beggar King in which the king lifestyle is changed so that he will learn a lesson. Hagag goes through character development from a self-centered and prideful to a kind and wise man. The other character that is vital is the genie, who appears to shift from a deer and whose only purpose is to carry out the lesson and act as king. The only other characters that contribute to the plot would be the blind beggars, who play a role in showing the king's change in character. I can probably attempt a modernized approach to the story but continuing with the royalty theme.
Another tale I enjoyed reading was The Quarrel of the Cat and the Dog, which consisted of the main characters Pussie and Doggie. Pussie seems like the main reason between the quarrel and refuses to be friendly towards Doggie. It provides the audience with the idea that she only has her best intentions in mind. I would like to try and turn the animal characters into humans and see how I could carry the tale out with the same results. The tale of The Water-Babe is another one that I enjoyed. I am somewhat familiar with the tale of Moses and liked this different point of view that this tale provided. The character of Reuel is the most vital to this story, he helped Moses live into adulthood and then provided him with the staff needed to carry out his prophecy. I am not certain as to how I would approach this one but I found it interesting so I decided to include it in my notes.

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:
Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa, link to reading online.