Blog 10: Kenyan folk tales

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I loved the lecture by Dr. Ochieng K'Olewe on Kenyan folk tales and story telling tradtions. It was truly a treat to actually hear stories being told instead of having to read and discuss them. There was audience participation, and singing. It was wonderful; you didn't have to think, but to listen, and let your imagination do the work. I loved the balance of logic with the magical element.

Realistically, hares and tortoses do not speak to each other or walk and talk as we do. Nor do they fly into heaven with feathers. (not that I know of atleast.) That's the magical part. But the things they do require logic and wit to solve things, not a magic wand.

In the European fairy tales, it's difficult to appreciate and apply the moral (even if it's blatanly stated) to everyday life. Reality runs on logic. In life we have to use our brains to solve problems.There's no logic in fairy tales because it's not needed. Why should the prince even worry? Sure there's an evil spell cast over the land but, at the right time, he'll just get an enchanted axe, or some magic potion from some magic toad, that will cure everything just in the nick of time. If real life was like that, why would we ever bother trying to do anything for ourselves? We can just have a magic wand whisk our problems away. It's certainly enjoyable to read now and then, but the lack of logic can be too much.

In the Kenyan folk tales I loved the wit that the hare applied, like when he was swinging from the trap in the tree, he thought of a brilliant way to get out of it. He pretended like it was the best thing in the world, because he knew that the chicken wouldn't be able to resist something so fun, and switched places. In European folk tales, like Snow White, the heroine is nauseatingly sweet and good hearted, which  "wins" the heart of everyone. Unfortunalty in life, no one's amazingly sweet and good all the time, and sometimes no matter how pretty you are, or sweet and gentle, you'll never get yourself out of a jam  if you rely on those tactics alone.

Snow White needed the seven dwarves to help her, because she clearly couldn't rely on her own logic to save her.

The hare could have been nauseatinly adorable and sweet. But that wouldn't have gotten him out of the trap by a long shot. Those farmer's would have been chowing down on rabbit stew if he tried to pull that. For those farmer's the only thing that's going to make their food grow is hard work and labor. No magic bean or spell is going to help them there, So they've got to protect that food at all cost because it's their life force.

So the hare did the only thing he could, which was trick the poor stupid chicken. Not nice at all. Did I feel sorry for the chicken. . . absolutley, probably because I would have been like the chicken going "My turn to swing."
Such an act in the Brother's Grimm book would surely cause the hare to be severly punished in the end. Not in the Kenyan version. The hare gets away. The hare pulled what surely any human bieng would pull in that instance. No real person would beg "Oh please kind farmer spare me." as they are swinging around in a trap that they stupidly walked into. Their adrenaline would be pumping like lightning, trying to get away as unscathed as possible. Self preservation is just too strong.

It's like now a days when a child breaks a vase, and risks getting punished by their parents. Their first inital thought would be "how to get out of it." Later they may or may not feel the guilt about lying to their parents. But if they see their sibling walking by, they'll jump at that opportunity and point fingers. It's one less spanking for them. Betthengheim pointed out that parents emphasize bieng "good" all the time, which causes the child to feel horrible when they make mistakes, because children would naturally like to misbehave. That's why it's so enjoyable to hear such a tale from Kenya where the hare sometimes does get away because of quick wit.

I really hope that there are more tales like this in the future.