Thursday, June 25, 2009

Themes, Cultural Tales: Repetition and addiction, living with death-dealers, mistranslations

By Dint:

Ma Liang and his Magic Brush; and The Red Shoes
Forced repetition of the desired action: it becomes a punishment for the self-centered person who has the desire. But the West adds darkness to it. A simple, logical and straightforward moral consequence to the East, becomes sin to the West.

Who Will Bell the Cat - Piers Plowman.
Ask a question beyond Aesop's tale, where no mouse is man enough to bell the cat. In 1377, William Langtrey's council mouse takes the story beyond that silly later ending. The original council mouse suggests that this inability to carry out the plan to bell the cat -- too dangerous-- may be just as well. What would have happened if the cat indeed had been belled.... as the mice first wanted. Go read. Watch what you wish for.

Grimm: The Peasant in Heaven.
Texts and mistranslations.  The theme of the perils of riches. Eye of needle, rich man, cultures repeat. But find here that the "needle" is a mistranslation It should read "rope". In this case, the point of the story remains. Where else, however, does a mistranslation skew the result?

The Bawdy vs. Religion. Lange Wapper, Flanders, Antwerp
Fear of sexuality. Fear of functions. Lop it off. There. That's better, isn't it?

Fitcher's Bird. Grimm Tale. The Clever Girls. Water down the strong girls.  Quick. Water them down. They are far too capable.....

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