Week 10 Story: How Women Came to Be
A long time ago, the world was populated with only one woman among a world full of thousands of men. Rumor spread that there was a beautiful woman in the area and all of the men went out to search for this unfamiliar creature. One of the young men in the north land traveled east in pursuit of the lone woman. He traveled to her house and married her. However, the son of the headsmen was also traveling east and also found the house of the woman sometime later.
The two men fought for some time before the intruder, the son of the headsmen, began to gain the upper hand. The son of the headsman was about to end the husband's life until the wife begged him to stop. The wife offered a compromise. The two stopped fighting so that they could listen to her proposition. The woman offered up an idea to split herself in half so that the two men could both be happy, and keep their lives. She claimed that for the half of her that the men did not receive could be replaced by clay, and would give the woman life. The two men agreed to this and pulled her in half. The original husband kept her upper half while the headsmen's son received her lower half.
The two men replaced the missing parts of the women with clay just as she had instructed. The headsman's son returned to the south where he realized that his wife was naturally good at dancing. The husband remained in the north and after replacing her lower half with clay, he discovered that her craftsmanship talents were second to no one. This story impacts us to this day. This is why women in the north are better with their hands, crafting, while women in the south are great dancers.
Half Woman Half Clay
Authors Note: The greatest difference between this story and the original, is the woman having a say on how they settle their dispute. In the original, the men simply pulled her apart. In this version I liked having her as not only a mediator, but a problem solver.
Bibliography: This story is part of the Alaskan Legends unit. Story source: Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).
The two men fought for some time before the intruder, the son of the headsmen, began to gain the upper hand. The son of the headsman was about to end the husband's life until the wife begged him to stop. The wife offered a compromise. The two stopped fighting so that they could listen to her proposition. The woman offered up an idea to split herself in half so that the two men could both be happy, and keep their lives. She claimed that for the half of her that the men did not receive could be replaced by clay, and would give the woman life. The two men agreed to this and pulled her in half. The original husband kept her upper half while the headsmen's son received her lower half.
The two men replaced the missing parts of the women with clay just as she had instructed. The headsman's son returned to the south where he realized that his wife was naturally good at dancing. The husband remained in the north and after replacing her lower half with clay, he discovered that her craftsmanship talents were second to no one. This story impacts us to this day. This is why women in the north are better with their hands, crafting, while women in the south are great dancers.
Authors Note: The greatest difference between this story and the original, is the woman having a say on how they settle their dispute. In the original, the men simply pulled her apart. In this version I liked having her as not only a mediator, but a problem solver.
Bibliography: This story is part of the Alaskan Legends unit. Story source: Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).
Donovan, This is a very interesting story. I was wondering if there were thousands of men how there weren't more of them fighting for her? I feel like this story could turn dark really quickly. And of course the woman would split her own body in half to make the men happy. When it says the woman was split from top to bottom I thought it a little awkward. I know the story in general is odd but the man with the bottom half would have a woman with no brain at all. How would she be anything but a statue? As the picture you placed with the story shows, I think it would be a great idea to split her right down the middle and then maybe make a story about the different sides of the brain? One creative and the other analytical? Just some thoughts!
ReplyDeleteDonovan, this was written very well! I enjoyed your level of detail. It did not drag on, nor did it have not enough, leaving me needing more. I liked the change you made too. I don't like the first version but the second version it seems like the woman choice the best two men out of everyone on the earth and then mediated the issue. I wonder how the man molded the woman's brain since he only got half a body.
ReplyDeleteHi Donovan, I really enjoyed this story. It was different than the few I read this week. I was not expecting your story to be the way it was by the title but that is what kept it interesting. I am curious about where the woman was. Was she in a house far away trying to hide from all the men or did she just not know that she was the only women? I enjoyed the ending, specifically the last sentence. It helps tie the story together perfectly!
ReplyDelete