I am loving this storytelling class I am in. It is so much fun! I don’t feel like we ever do any actual work….just read stories, tell stories, and listen to stories…and I get a grade for it! sigh…so much better than math…

I had to find a story to tell that was from a heritage different from my own. I had purchased a book on Swedish folk tales, since that was Brad’s heritage, so I figured I would use one from there. Honestly….maybe something has been lost in translation, but most of the stories in this book are rediculous. They make no sense and most of them have stupid endings! I was very disappointed….although I haven’t finished the entire book yet so there is room for redemption.

I did end up picking a story tho. I like it because it is so unbelievable. It is about a bird, a mouse, and a sausage. seriously? well, here it is. In my words.

There were three room mates that lived in a little cottage at the edge of a wood. A bird, a mouse, and a sausage. They were good friends and got along famously. They had divided the household jobs between them and everything seemed to work out wonderfully.

Each day, the bird would fly into the forest and collect wood for the fire. The mouse would build the fire and set the table for dinner. The sausage had the job of cooking dinner. Everyone did their job and things seemed to clicking along nicely.

One day, as the bird was out collecting the wood, he ran into some friends and they began to give him a hard time.

“why do you do all the work at your house? Look at you. Slaving away all day out in the hot sun while the mouse and sausage are home resting. It just isn’t fair!”

now, the bird had never thought of it like that, but as so often happens when we listen to friends, he started to believe that he did indeed have the most work. He started to brood and work himself up til he was upset. When he got home, he called his roommates together and voiced his feelings.

“it just isn’t fair! I go out and work all day and do all the work! We need to change jobs. It’s only fair!”

The mouse and the sausage did not think that changing jobs was a good idea, but the bird insisted so they finally agreed.

The next day, instead of the bird going out to collect wood, the sausage started out the door to do his new job. The bird and mouse waited at home for him. The sausage was gone a very long time. Much longer than the bird had ever been gone. As the day grew later, the bird decided to go out and look for him to make sure everything was okay. As he circled over a nearby meadow, he noticed the sausage in the mouth of a dog.

“Hey there! What are you doing? You must let my friend go!”

The dog explained to the bird that he had proof that the sausage was a wanted criminal and that his life must be forfeited to the dog for heinous crimes.

The bird was very sad to hear this but had no choice but to watch the dog carry his friend away. He collected some wood and then flew home to the mouse to tell his tragic tale. They were both very sad at the loss of their friend but put on brave faces and carried on with their chores. The birds job was to build the fire and set the table. As he finished his duties, he looked over at the mouse who was busy cooking dinner. The pot had just started to boil over the fire so the mouse did as the sausage had always done and jumped into the pot to wiggle among the ingredients to flavor them. Unfortunately, the food was so hot it burned all the fur and skin off the mouse and the poor mouse died instantly.

The bird was beside himself with grief. Now, not only were his two dear friends gone, but he had no dinner. In a frantic rage, he started throwing things around the cottage. He caused such a whirlwind of chaos that the fire got out of control and the house caught on fire. The poor bird was burned to death as the cottage burned to the ground.

Thus ends the tale of the three friends that let pride move into their home and destroy them. The lesson to be learned is that we all have talents and thing we are good at. Even when it may seem like we do more than others, we should do what we do best and enjoy our strengths. Don’t let others tell you what you are good at.