IWU Global Storytelling Project

Follow

• 

  Spanish: La historia del toro Fernando-The Story of Ferdinand the Bull

  Munro Leaf and Carmela Ferradáns

  Fernando lives with his mother and other bulls in a dehesa in a small Spanish village. Unlike the other bulls who want to be the protagonists at the famous bullfights in Seville, Fernando likes to sit under his favorite cork tree smelling the sweet scent of the wild flowers. The original story by Munro Leaf was controversial in Francoist Spain: the Franco regime was suspicious of a pacifist bull who was happy smelling the flowers instead of training for the bullfights. The book was banned in Spain until the dictator’s death in 1975.

• 

  Spanish: Reading from Platero y yo- Platero and I

  Juan Ramón Jiménez and Adriana Ponce

  Platero y yo [Platero and I] is one of the most popular books written by Spanish author Juan Ramón Jiménez (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1956). Platero and I is a beautiful story told by a child about his donkey, Platero. The first chapter describes the donkey. His fur is soft as cotton, his eyes are deep black and he seems to be made both of steel and of the silver light of the moon. The second chapter talks about how Platero plays, patiently and lovingly with a dog and the children.

• 

  Spanish: Readings from Popol Vuh [the book of the people]

  Unknown and Rocío Morales

  Popol Vuh [Book of the People] tells the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people, one of the Maya peoples, who inhabit the Guatemalan highlands, the South of Mexico, and areas of Belize.

  The Smithsonian link to a written version of the story in Spanish https://maya.nmai.si.edu/sites/default/files/transcripts/el_mito_de_la_creacion_de_los_mayas.pdf

• 

  Tagalog: Sa Aking Mga Kabata [To my Fellow Youth]

  José Rizal and Teddy Amoloza

  This poem is attributed to José Rizal (1861-1896), the Filipino national hero who was executed by firing squad on December 30, 1896 for rebellion. There is no handwritten manuscript by Rizal. The poem praises the love for one’s native language.

• 

  The Brahmin and Three Rogues, a story from The Panchatantra

  Unknown and Eva Nautiyal

  The story starts off with a Brahmin carrying a goat on his shoulder, gifted to him by a rich merchant for fulfilling his priestly duties. The Brahmin is tricked by three thugs into leaving the goat on the streets for the fear that the goat is actually a dog and not a goat. This happens when all three thugs question the Brahmin for carrying a “dog” on his shoulder. Being a Brahmin, he must not carry an unclean animal like a dog with himself. Even though the animal is a goat, the fact that three men (the rogues) see a dog and not a goat convinces the Brahmin of his illusion and he leaves his goat on the street. The rogues finally capture and cook the goat for themselves, basking in the glory of their cleverness tricking the Brahmin. This fable is commonly used to teach children that we must have immense faith and confidence in ourselves and must not be affected by external influences. A lie repeated a thousand times seems like a truth and all the knowledge in the world couldn’t save the Brahmin from being tricked because he didn’t have the self-confidence to believe what he saw was right.