One bonus tale, because #caturday and #JoinIn:

Storyteller Taffy Thomas has a folktale called The Christmas Cat. It's about a time Mary has a sore throat and Baby Jesus is cranky. Joseph can't sing, so the animals decide to take turns singing lullabies. Cat wants to join in, but she's dirty so they send her to wash. By the time she returns the baby is asleep.
Ever since then, cats have been keeping themselves clean all time time, waiting for a chance to sing again.
🐈‍⬛🐈🐱

#GentleFolktales

@TarkabarkaHolgy Thank you so much! I’ve really enjoyed reading these #GentleFolkTales. ❤️❤️❤️

December 24.
The Christmas camel

In Syria, presents are brought by the Christmas camel. Legend says it was the baby of one of the camels of the Magi, left behind on the journey. He didn't give up, and eventually made it to Betlehem on his own, catching up to his mother. Baby Jesus blessed him with the privilege to distribute presents to children every year.
🐪🎁
#folklore #folktales

Thank you for following the #GentleFolktales #AdventCalendar this month! Happy holidays everyone! 😊

@TarkabarkaHolgy Love the #GentleFolktales hashtag so much, thank you!

December 23.
The origin of dolphins

Selk'nam legend. People flee into the ocean to avoid a terrible blizzard. One man can't swim and is terrified of water; he insists on being left behind. Instead, the others pick him up and carry him to the water.
Once they are submerged, they all transform into dolphins. The man sinks, but he others support him, lifting him to the surface again and again until he learns to swim. They swim away together.

🐬

#GentleFolktales #folklore #folktales #nature

December 22.
Hummingbird's wedding

Mayan folktale.
Hummingbird and her beloved are too poor to have a wedding and start a new life. Nightingale sees their sadness and decides to help. With her beautiful song she summons all the animals, and everyone volunteers something:
Peacock makes decorations, Birds offer colors to the couple, Spider weaves a veil, Bees bring nectar to drink, Monkeys gather materials for a nest. They have a beautiful, happy wedding.

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore

December 21.
Jesus invents candy

Hungarian folk legend. Jesus, as a child, brings lunch to Joseph at his workshop every day. According to legend, the older children in the village bullied Jesus, and one day they decided to take the lunch basket and beat him up.
Running away, Jesus picked up a handful of pebbles, and threw them at the bullies. The pebbles turned into candy, making them stop to pick them up. And that's how candy was created.
🍬 🍬 🍬

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore

December 20.
Christmas Thief

Spanish army holds the town of Sterkdam under siege, trying to starve people. Till Eulenspiegel, notorious troublemaker sitting in jail, decides to save the town.

He escapes jail, sneaks into the Spanish camp, and while the soldiers are celebrating he steals a bunch of food and stuffs it into the cannons.
Then he sounds the alarm and the Spanish shoot a rain of food over Sterkdam's walls. Just in time for Christmas.
🍗 🥨 🍞

#GentleFolktales #folklore #folktales

December 19.
The Apple Tree Man

A poor man's younger son inherits all his wealth while the elder only gets a small hut, an old cow and donkey, and an apple orchard. He cares for the animals and the orchard well.
On Christmas night the Apple Tree Man, guardian & oldest tree of the orchard, rewards him with hidden treasure for his kindness.
And since animals can talk that night, the other brother overhears cow & donkey calling him mean and greedy.

🍎 🍏

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore

December 18.
Piglet in the winter

Transcarpathian tale.
A poor old man lives alone with a pet pig. In summer they live off the land, but in winter they don't have much to eat.
Piglet goes to find food. She encounters a wolf and hides under a snow pile - accidentally discovering mushrooms. She leads the old man to them. The same thing happens next time when she discovers a hollow tree full of honey. Man and piglet survive the winter together.
🐖

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore #pig #winter

December 17.
Hats for Jizo

Japan.
A poor man goes out to sell straw hats on New Year's Eve so he can buy some food for himself and his wife. On the way a blizzard breaks out. He sees six little statues of Jizo, the Buddhist bodhisattva, and feels sorry for them, so he gives them the hats. But he only has five hats, so to the sixth he gives his own.
That night, the little Jizos show up at the house singing, and leave baskets of gifts on the doorstep.

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore

December 16.
Prince Dung Beetle

Another Bavarian tale.
A poor girl runs for the doctor to help her sick mother. She tries to avoid stepping on a dung beetle, trips, falls, and sprains her ankle.

Turns out the beetle used to be a prince who was cruel to animals and therefore had to live as a beetle, seeing the world through the animals' eyes, until someone showed kindness to him.

He helps the girl, transforms back, and they live happily ever after.

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore

December 15.
Anansi and sorrel

Jamaica. Anansi the spider-trickster wants to go to Christmas market but he has nothing to sell. He picks some roselle buds to barter. But since he's a well known troublemaker people think he's up to no good, and start chasing him.
Fleeing, Anansi dumps the roselle into a cauldron and the water turns red. People taste it and realize Anansi has a good thing. They add their own ingredients... and they invent sorrel together.

#GentleFolktales #folklore #folktales

December 14.
The lazy horse

Namibia.
The people of a village have to cross lion territory to go to the city market. They ride their horses at full speed to make the trip as fast as possible.
One man has a lazy horse that keeps stopping to eat and rest. On the way back they are attacked by lions. All horses are so tired they can't get away fast enough - but the lazy horse is well rested and has the strength to escape.

#Selfcare is important, people. 🐎

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore

December 13.
The two cows

Today is St. Lucia's day! I picked this tale, from the Hungarian Roma tradition, accordingly.

A poor man has two cows. On Lucia's night he goes out to guard them from wandering witches. Because on this night animals can talk, he overhears them complaining about their food and the way he treats them.
After that the man pays more attention to caring for his cows, and teaches others to do the same.
🐄 🐄

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore #AdventCalendar #StLucia

December 12.
Why snow is white

Bavarian folktale. In the beginning snow didn't have color. The Creator told snow to go and borrow any color it'd like. Snow went around asking all the flowers - roses, violets, tulips - but none would share their color.

In the end a small, shy flower offered to share her white color. Ever since, snow has been white, and it doesn't bother snowdrops at all.

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore #AdventCalendar #storytelling #winter

December 11.
The letter

Spanish tale. Two poor children fear that the Magi won't find the hovel they live in (in Spain the Magi bring presents). So they set out to look for them.

On the way they meet a woman who asks them to deliver a letter to a castle. The children brave many obstacles and succeed. The letter breaks a curse on the castle. Turns out this was the gift of the Magi: to the children, and to the people who live there.

🏰 ✉️ 🧒 👧

#GentleFolktales #folklore #folktales #AdventCalendar

December 10.
Wall of pastries

From India. A stingy king eats carefully measured pastries daily while his subjects go hungry. The girl who makes the pastries manages to pilfer ingredients every day and make one extra to secretly give to the poor.
When an enemy attacks the kingdom a wall of pastries rises up from thin air to protect the starving soldiers. It is a sign that only kindness can save the realm. The king learns his lesson.
🍰 🧁 🥧

#GentleFolktales #folklore #folktales #AdventCalendar

December 9.
The Listening Hood

Japanese folktale.
The deity Inari gifts a kind-hearted old man a hood that allows him to understand the language of plants and animals.

The old man goes around using the hood to listen, and warns people when they make decisions that hurt nature. He saves a tree that people keep cutting back to make space for a house, and a snake that is pinned under a roof.

🦊 🌳 🐍

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore #storytelling #AdventCalendar #nature

December 8.
Little Eve and the Dwarves

Bavarian tale. A girl seeks work at a mansion. She's hired as a maidservant and works hard every day, under the strict rule of the stewardess.
The girl, Eve, is pregnant out of wedlock. She befriends the Dwarves that secretly live in the household. They help her with the birth, and care for her baby while she works.
Eventually, they help her find her beloved and the two of them can get happily married.

#GentleFolktales #folklore #folktales #AdventCalendar