The Story of a Noodlehead, Puerto Rican Folktale

Between two Americas, there are many islands called Caribbean. Our story takes us to the island of Puerto Rico. Many years ago, on this island, there was a boy named Juan. He lived with his mother in a small cottage up on a hill.

One day, while the mother was making chicken and rice stew, she realized that her pot wasn’t big enough to mix the chicken and the rice together. So she said to her son “Why don’t you go to your grandmother to fetch the biggest pot she had.”

Juan rushed up the hill to his grandmother. He was catching his breath at his grandma’s place. “Grandma, mom is making my favorite meal and she needs the biggest pot you have” said the boy. She gladly handed him the pot.

The pot was made from iron, which made it heavy. The boy situated the pot on his shoulder, but it didn’t take long, when his shoulder started aching. He put the pot down to rest a bit. While resting, he noticed that the pot had three legs. The boy thought to himself “I have only two legs, why should I carry the pot if it has three legs.” So he spoke up “You know what pot, you can use your own legs. Why don’t we race down the hill to my house.”

They boy rushed down the hill without looking back. He burst into the house asking his mom “Did the pot beat me?” His mother not having time for such foolishness asked Juan “How the pot could beat you if it doesn’t have legs? It can’t walk on its own. You have to bring it here.”

Juan went back up the hill and of course the pot was exactly where he left it. He got angry at the pot. “You are the laziest pot ever” said the boy “I’m giving you the last chance.” But when the pot didn’t move an inch, the boy got even angrier and kicked it. It rolled down the hill and the boy yelled “I’m glad you came to your senses.”

The next day, the mother asked Juan to take the pot back to his grandma. The boy asked the pot to walk up the hill. But the pot didn’t move an inch. The boy got angry again, and then he said “OK, you did a great job with dinner last night. So I’ll give you a break.” He carried the heavy pot up the hill. When he put it down, he pointed a finger at the pot and warned it “Don’t expect the same treatment next time.”

The King and the Moon, Caribbean Folktale

Caribbean is a group of islands surrounded by waters. On one of those islands lived a king, who was ruthless. If he said he wanted something, he had to have it. One night, when he was looking out the window, he saw a moon in the color of silver and immediately said “I want to reach it.” A few days went by; he was thinking and thinking “How can I reach that silver moon?” Then it occurred to him “I need a tall tower to reach it.”

Next day, he called a royal carpenter and said “I want you to build a tower so tall that it will reach the moon.” The carpenter knew that he shouldn’t be disagreeing with the king, but he pleaded “Your majesty, it is impossible. The tower will crumble before it reaches the moon.” “There is no such thing as impossible in this kingdom” shouted the king “I want you to come back tomorrow morning and give me your plan how you’re going to build the tower.” The carpenter knew not to say anything else, so he left.

He knew how to make nice furniture, but he had no idea how to build such tall tower. He thought and thought and then looking at his furniture said “I know I will pile up lots of wooden chests up to the sky.” The following day, the carpenter presented his idea to the king. “Great idea” said the king. He ordered his royal staff to search all the houses in the kingdom for strong chests. “If somebody refuses” said the king “Then remind them that if they don’t like to share the wooden chests, then they’ll be sharing a royal prison rooms.”

Scared people wouldn’t refuse the king, so they handed their chests. Once all the chests were collected, a tower started growing outside the palace. It was a very unique and colorful tower filled with smaller and bigger chests, carved and painted chests. It was almost like a rainbow trying to reach the sky.

Unfortunately, all the chests in the kingdom were not enough to reach the sky. So the king ordered the carpenter to make more chests. The carpenter got busy with making more chests and piling them up.

Unfortunately, all the wood in the kingdom was not enough to reach the sky. So the king ordered the carpenter to cut all the trees. “Your majesty” pleaded the carpenter “We can’t cut all the trees.” “What do you mean we can’t” yelled the king “There is no such thing as can’t in this kingdom.” So the carpenter knew not to say anything else. He left to cut all the trees.

He got busy with making more chests and piling them up. It seemed as the tower was reaching the sky. “It’s time to reach the moon” said the king and started climbing the tower made of chests. He reached the last chest, stood on his toes, stretched out his both arms and he almost touched the moon. “We need one more chest” shouted the king. “Your majesty we don’t have any more chests, any more wood or trees” pleaded the carpenter again. “Can’t you think of something or do I have to think for you” yelled the king “Just pull one chest from the bottom and bring it to the top.” The carpenter couldn’t believe what the king was saying. “If I pull a chest from the bottom, then the whole tower will crumble. He can’t be serious” thought the carpenter. “Did you hear me” hollered the king. “As you wish” answered the carpenter and he pulled the chest at the bottom. Do you know what happened to the king? He got lost among all those tumbling down chests and that was the end of him and his ruthless ruling.

One Grain of Rice, Indian Folktale

In the colorful land of India, where people ride on elephants, there was a man called raja. It was assumed that all rajas were wise and fair. He owned some land on which people cultivated rice.

One day, he declared “Most of the rice must be given to me to be stored in the royal storehouse in case of hunger.” The raja wanted to show that he was a wise man caring for people. So every year people were giving most of their rice to raja.
 

However, one year the rice grew badly and people didn’t have any rice to eat. They sure counted on raja to help them as it was promised.

Unfortunately, the raja turned to be selfish and decided to keep all the rice. Since he didn’t know how long the famine would last, he couldn’t risk going hungry. So he had to keep all the rice for himself. “Your highness” the ministers begged the raja “People are hungry and you promised to protect them.”

“No” shouted the raja “It doesn’t matter what I promised. I am more important than my people. I cannot go hungry.”
 

As people were growing more and more hungry, this didn’t stop the raja from a feast for himself. On the day of the feast, a basket of rice was taken from the storage. The basket had a small whole letting some rice on the ground.

A village girl noticed it and quickly spread her skirt collecting the fallen rice. She brought it to the raja as it was his. In return the raja decided to reward the girl for her good deed and asked her “What would you like to receive?”

“One grain of rice” answered the girl.

The surprised raja said “I am a raja and I can reward you more than one grain.”

“As you wish” replied the girl “You may give me twice as much tomorrow and twice as much the following day and so on for the whole month. The girl turned out to be much smarter than the raja. As the result of her calculations, she was getting more and more rice with every day. Toward the end of the month, the raja’s storage was getting empty. This was a great lesson for the raja, who learned to be wise and fair, as a raja should be.

Source: One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi

The Greatest Treasure, Chinese Folktale

In the land of China known for the greatest wall in the world, there were two very different men. One named Pang, who never had time for his kids, because he was busy making and counting his money. The other was Li, who was a poor farmer. Li worked hard cultivating his land, but whenever he had some spare time, he would play his flute. His five daughters loved singing and dancing creating another sound of music with their laughter.
 

The sound of the music and laughter would reach the rich man’s house making him angry. One day, he thought to himself “If Li had some money to count, then he wouldn’t have so much time to make so much noise.” So off he was to Li’s house carrying a large bag of coins. Surprised Li didn’t know what to make out of this, but he was very grateful for the gift.
 

As soon as Pang left, Li’s dilemma with money started. “What should I do with them?” he thought “I have to count them.” So he started counting the money. He counted once, twice and still wasn’t sure if he counted them right. The whole day went by and he hadn’t had time to play his flute.
 

The next day, another problem appeared. Now, Li thought “Where do I hide my money?” He paused “Maybe inside the stove. No, they can melt in the stove.” He paused again “Maybe in the cellar. No, somebody can easily find them there.” He paused again “Maybe I should drop them into the well” and that’s what he did. Another day has passed and Li hadn’t had time to take out his flute.
 

The following day, a new worry invaded Li’s mind. “How should I spend the money?” He thought “Maybe I should buy an ox or maybe a plow.” He couldn’t decide. He was thinking and thinking and then almost yelled to himself “Maybe I should buy six hens.” But then he was doing more thinking, and said “I should definitely buy myself a fine robe.” Suddenly, he laughed at himself “Where and when will I wear this robe?” So another day has gone and Li hadn’t had time to enjoy his flute.
 

A new day came and Li started worrying. “What if I counted the money wrong and there is less than I planned for.” He rushed to the well to retrieve the money and started counting them again. Meanwhile, the girls asked the father “Will you play the flute. We miss dancing and singing.” The father scolded the girls “Can’t you see I’m busy.” The father lost the count of the money, so he had to start over. But suddenly, he knew exactly what he had to do with the money “I must return them.” The father took out his flute and the air got filled again with singing and laughter.
 

Next day, Li returned the money. Now, Pang was surprised and didn’t know what to make out of this. Li also presented Pang with a hand-made gift. Pang was even more surprised to see flutes for him and his family. Along with Li’s family, the Pang’s family was making as much noise. It was unbearable for Pang “How will I count my money now?” Then Li said to Pang “Remember happiness is priceless.” Pang agreed and began to play the flute himself. Now the two very different men shared the greatest treasure of all – the happiness.

Young Mouse and Elephant, East African Folktale

Parts of the continent of Africa are characterized by small scattered trees surrounded by grasses, which is called savanna. Among those grasses of savanna, there once was a village with a very proud mouse.

One day while crunching on a straw of grass, the Young Mouse stated to his grandfather, “I feel so strong. I think I am the strongest mouse in the whole savanna.”

“You are very strong,” replied grandfather. “But I think the strongest animal on the plains is Elephant.”

“I don’t think so,” shouted Young Mouse. “Let me find that Elephant and we’ll see who the strongest animal is,” added the Mouse and trotted out of the village.

“I think the storm is coming,” said grandfather. “Come back soon.”

But the Mouse was already on his way to find the Elephant. While looking through the tall and short grasses, the Young Mouse stumbled upon some animal relaxing in the sun. “Who are you?” asked the Mouse.

“I’m a lizard,” replied the animal.

“You should consider yourself lucky,” said the Mouse. “If you were the Elephant I’m looking for, you already would be in pieces.”

A thunder appeared in the sky making lizard hide under some branches lying on the ground. The mouse felt very proud thinking he scared the lizard. The Young Mouse trotted with the head high in the sky beaming with pride. But all of a sudden he saw some animal above him. “Who are you?”

“I’m a zebra,” replied the animal.

“You should consider yourself lucky,” continued the Mouse. “If you were the Elephant I’m looking for, you already would be in pieces.” At the same time, some lightning appeared in the sky and scared the zebra away. The Mouse was almost trotting on its toe, he was so proud of himself.

“Everybody is afraid of me,” he thought to himself. Then Young Mouse saw some tall animal nibbling leaves. “Who are you?”

“I’m a giraffe,” replied the animal.

“You should consider yourself lucky,” said the Mouse. “If you were the Elephant I’m looking for, you already would be in pieces.” Instantly the sky got covered with a dark cloud and the giraffe ran to hide by some trees.

Other animals followed the giraffe into a hiding. The Mouse grinning thought to himself, “Everybody is afraid of me.” The Young Mouse trotted on, but it didn’t take long, when he saw a gigantic animal with two tales, one in the front and one in the back. “Who are you?”

The Elephant turned to the right, then to the left, but couldn’t see who was talking to him. Now, Young Mouse yelled, “Are you the Elephant?”

The Elephant stretched his eyes and ears, to see the little spot on the ground and to hear it better. “Yes, I’m the Elephant.”

“Well,” said the Mouse. “I’ve been trotting the plains of savanna looking for you.”

“And why is so?” asked Elephant.

“To confront you that I’m the strongest animal in savanna. How about that?” yelled the Mouse.

“How about this,” said Elephant filling its trunk with water and spraying it at the Mouse.

The Young Mouse got washed away some distance. When the Mouse woke up after the storm and saw the Elephant gone, he said, “Elephant should consider himself lucky. If the storm didn’t wash him away, then I would break him into pieces.”
 

The Clown of Sorrento, Italian Folklore

The boot-shaped country of Italy has a small dent in its lower part. It is called the Bay of Naples. Its calm waters are overlooked by a picturesque town of Sorrento. It is perched atop rocky coastline. A long time ago, in this pastel-colored town lived a small boy with a big heart named Giovanni.

He didn’t have a mother or a father. So his home was any doorway he could sleep in. He had nothing, but he was a happy boy. He knew how to make other people smile, which earned him bread or a hot soup.

Giovanni loved to juggle. Every day he juggled at Signor Baptista’s stand at the marketplace. He juggled any fruit or any vegetable he could put his hands on. Crowds loved to watch him juggling oranges, apples, lemons creating colors of a rainbow. It was magical. When the boy was done, the people would buy from Signor Baptista and his wife. In return they would serve the boy a bowl of soup. The arrangement worked well for both parties.

However, one day a circus was passing by Sorrento. The boy was mesmerized by colorful clowns and beautifully dressed dancers. “Oh, I would love to juggle in those colorful clothes,” sighed Giovanni.

After the play, he rushed to the Maestro, but he did not want to listen to the boy. He brushed him off. But Giovanni was persistent and added, “I can make a rainbow juggling different fruits.”

“Show it me,” said Maestro. He was pretty impressed by the boy and agreed to take him. Giovanni rushed to say his good-byes to the people of Sorrento and off he was traveling to the most amazing places in Italy.

Giovanni received his own costume, was taught how to make his own make up and learned how to juggle sticks, plates, rings and burning torches. He always finished his show juggling colorful balls and creating the rainbow he was famous for. The crowds loved it. It wasn’t long before Giovanni became pretty famous throughout the Italy. He then said his good-byes to his circus friends and off he was traveling on his own.

He traveled north and south, west and east. The towns were no longer unfamiliar to him. He juggled for a duke and a princess. The crowds always cheered. Wherever he went, whoever he juggled for, he always made people happy, bringing smiles on their faces and filling the places with laughter.

Years went by. Giovanni grew old and that’s when he decided to go back to Sorrento. This time the thought of his birthplace brought a big smile to his face. He had great times traveling throughout Italy, meeting different people and making them happy. But now, it was time for him to head back home.

The Hero of Bremen, German Folktale

The city of Bremen, in the northern part of Germany, is situated along the River Weser. Many ships passed by it trading different goods. The city grew, leaving no pasture for any animals and this created a problem, which needed to be solved.

A long time ago in the city of Bremen lived a poor cobbler named Hans. He was a crippled man, who used his knuckles and knees to move around. He lived in a tiny cellar with a small window, where he mended shoes to support himself. Hans was a hard working man putting his heart and soul into his work.

Nevertheless, he always found time to tell stories to the kids, who stopped by his place. Hans enjoyed telling stories of knights the most. And his favorite one was of Roland whose uncle made Bremen a free city. Hans let the children believe that Roland, who died during one of the battles, still watched over Bremen and would come back if the city needed him.
 

The city was in desperate need of more lands. The mayor of the city discussed the matter with the city council and the decision was made to buy more lands from the Countess Emma. She owned all the lands surrounding Bremen, which were supposed to be inherited by her nephew. He wasn’t happy about his aunt considering selling some lands, but the day was set for a meeting.
 

The day of the meeting came and the people of Bremen gathered around the marketplace. Hans made his way through to the front where he witnessed with other people how negotiations where done. The countess wanted more money for less land and the mayor wanted more land for less money. So the bargaining went back and forth till the nephew spoke at last. “I have an idea. The people may have as much land for free as a man can walk around in a day, under two conditions. The first, a man has to leave the east gate at dawn and enter the west gate at sunset. The second, I will pick a man to perform this task.” The people agreed without thinking much. The countess was very proud of his nephew being so generous. The nephew looked at the crowd and pointed at Hans saying, “This is the one that has to complete the mission.”

The mayor’s smile turned into a worry. The crowd’s cheers turned into a disappointment. They thought to themselves, “We have been tricked.”
 

At dawn, Hans appeared at the east gate. He was followed by the servants of the countess, who were marking the path made by him. The land varied. It started as pasture, then turned into a swamp and ended as forest. It wasn’t an easy task, but Hans set his mind to finish the task that meant so much to so many people.

It was the noontime, when Hans made his way through the pastureland and turned into the marshlands. All the kids went home for some lunch, but one girl, who showed the Hans the way to go around the marshlands.

The sun was already starting to set down, when Hans arrived at the age of the forest. He was exhausted. He laid down and was about to close his eyes, when he heard trotting. He looked up and recognized the rider right away. It was Roland, the knight of Bremen. “Let me help you by taking you to your destination,” said Roland.

“I greatly appreciate it, but I must walk,” answered Hans.

“Then let me walk with you,” said the knight. And so they walked to the west gate of Bremen. The little girl caught up with Hans, but she saw only him surrounded by light. She passed by him and straight into the city to tell the news. The people of Bremen quickly gathered at the west gate to welcome Hans as the sun was setting down. Hans became the hero of Bremen who won the lands for the people of Bremen.