Reading Notes: King Arthur, Part B

 Sir Galahad and the White Knight

Dang, Galahad is pretty strong. This story didn't really do much for me though.. The White Knight was mysterious, but didn't really intrigue me in a way that mysterious characters usually do.

Sir Lancelot's Vision

Wow, that speech at the end by Lancelot was pretty great to be honest. I was pretty blown away by it, I really could feel the emotion behind his words. Well done by the author.

The Adventure of Sir Percivale

This is one of those stories that has progression like the other tales, but it was way more jumbled without much sense to it. There isn't a clean, overarching theme to  Sir Percivale's adventure, something that makes it hard for me, the reader, to make sense of.

A story idea: write a better adventure for Sir Percivale!

Sir Lancelot and the Five Hundred Knights

It's interesting that the nun gave advice to Lancelot that was essentially "you're good at being a sinful, but adventurous knight. You tried to go on an adventure meant for pure, holy knights, which is why you failed. Continue your sinful ways because you're better than anyone at that."

I thought the nun would be more biased towards religion and try to comfort him in that way, but it turns out the answer she gave was much more spiritual than religious.

Sir Gawaine and the Hermit

These stories are starting to seem like religious propaganda.

Maybe there could be a mystical item that can only be obtained by sinners? That would be something.

The Adventure of Sir Bors

Sir Bors seems like a good enough dude, unless you're his brother and accidentally get killed by him.

Sir Galahad and the Mysterious Ship

Woah, Logris seems like a really cool place. The waterfall entrance reminds me of the Incredibles.

"that is better than other men" - this rubs me the wrong way.

Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad

It's strange to me how strong a family bond can be when you have spent almost no time together with one another. I guess back then it might have been different, but really is everyone just acting like blood means everything? It's very odd. Galahad knows almost nothing about Lancelot, yet he still treats him with the utmost respect. That might also be a knight thing I suppose.

Sir Galahad and the Graal

Miracles? Sounds more like a religious thing.

So Galahad got to finally see the Holy Graal, but it led to his death? I guess maybe in this case the idea is that chasing the grail is equivalent to gaining entrance into heaven, but then the whole Christianity thing doesn't make much sense.

This story is confusing.

The End of Arthur

Arthur's death was probably the coolest, just because he died in a valiant way and was still able to tell that his knight was lying about throwing the sword into the water. If he was testing him, then it was a pretty easy test (you can fail twice and still succeed!).

It's also kind of lame that Guenevere became a nun. Not that being a nun is lame, but the fact that she did it at the end of her life (after Arthur died) makes it seem much less genuine than those who had become nuns earlier in life.

Lancelot's story ends sadly, but at least he received a lot of praise + the forgiveness of his sins throughout life.

Drawing of Sir Bors

via the UnTextbook

Bibliography: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. Source

Reading Notes: King Arthur, Part A

The Drawing of the Sword

Ah, the classic first Arthurian tale. I actually hadn't read this story before. It's the only Arthurian legend that I know, so from here on our things should get interesting.

It's also funny how all the new groups of people didn't believe in Arthur, so he had to continuously show bigger and bigger groups of people that he could pull the sword out.

I guess nobody really did have authority at that time.

The Questing Beast

Wow, poor horsie. That must have been quite a chase. I wonder if the deer was mystical, and this was a test for the young king?

That was... different. I was expecting Arthur to perform his heroic quest, but really it ended... not anticlimactically, but just more calmly. Less action and more thinking,  I would say.

The beast was described rather vaguely, which leaves room for a story to be written about it. It really could be anything!

I also really want to know more about the nephew that is going to destroy Arthur and his knights. Is it inevitable? Merlin seems to think so, and he knows all...

The Sword Excalibur

I wonder if I'll get to find out what the Lady of the Lake is going to ask of Arthur. If not, that could be a story idea! (I guess it could be one regardless.)

The Round Table

Merlin does advise King Arthur a lot! Since he does it so often, it would humorous to write a story where Merlin advises Arthur on modern-day things (maybe time travel?), such as which toothpaste brand to purchase, or what Halloween costume is most fitting for a King.

What does being a Knight entail exactly? If it's prestigious, why is Arthur knighting everyone who asks for it? I would think, if I was one of the knights who actually worked very hard to become one, that I would be pretty upset that these young, inexperienced men were granted knighthood for doing nothing.

The Passing of Merlin

Poor Merlin :(

I didn't realize that he would be capable of falling in love with someone (for some reason being so wise makes me think he would be resistant to that sort of thing), but I guess that was one area he couldn't be wise about.

I hope he comes back!!

King Arthur and Morgan le Fay

Wow, what an intense series of events this story was.

I really like Morgan's character because she's really clever and also bloodthirsty. It seems messed up that she is trying to kill Arthur, her own brother, but then again, the love of her life was slain by him so.... I think I can understand that.

The Quest of the Holy Graal

Huh, that's a pretty interesting and probably true for most ancient stories. Translation is tough!

The King's Pilgrimage

That was a really neat story. I liked the fact that it revolved around a relatively minor character because it shows an interesting diversion from the traditional hero story arc. Also, it involves the supernatural, which is that the dream affected him in reality, which is cool to see.

Definitely could do this with any minor character, or even a major character, and have it be interesting.

The Coming of the Holy Graal

First of all let me just say: having a Holy Graal would be awesome! I couldn't imagine getting my most desired food served magically right out of the air. I guess the Knights agreed as well, because they thought it was important enough to go on a potentially life-threatening quest to seek out this Graal.

It was a strange turn of events. I wonder if this is the prophecy foretold by Merlin?

Statue of King Arthur in Austria

via Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. Source

Story: How the Turtle Learned to Swim

In those days, things were very different. Animals were much bigger and more diverse. Plants were more wild and widespread. Man lived among these creatures instead of over them.

And in those days, Turtle did not swim. You see, a long time ago Turtle lived on an island somewhere not too far off of the coast of what is now Southern California. In those days, the island was covered with thick, leafy vegetation and a whole ensemble of different creatures.

Turtle wasn't one to partake in the highly social atmosphere that was the forest. Instead, he hung out by the water with his two friends, Dolphin and Toad. Dolphin could not come on the land, and toad could not go into the water. Turtle mainly stayed on the land, but he could go in the water if it was not too deep. He was fascinated by it though, and he decided to learn how to swim from his friend Dolphin.

Turtle was not a very good swimmer. He soon became very frustrated and wanted to quit the lessons.

"This is too hard. Plus, I'll never actually get good enough to swim as gracefully as you, Dolphin." he said.

"You're getting better, Turtle, trust me. And who knows? One day it might just save your life."

Turtle finally agreed, and the lessons continued.

A little while longer, there was buzzing among the animals in the jungle about a new creature called the "human" spotted on the other side of the island. Several of them went to go check it out. The return party was much smaller than before. Humans were terrible, ruthless creatures. They had slain nearly all of the animals that had gone to meet them and cooked them over the fire. When the jungle animals heard this, they started to panic.

Eventually, the news made its way to Toad, who them relayed it to Turtle. He wasn't convinced though because he knew that all of the animals in the jungle gossiped a lot, and it was often untrue. Toad was frustrated because Turtle refused to go with him to a safer part of the island.

When Toad left, Turtle spent a lot of time with Dolphin, working on his swimming and just generally hanging out and talking about their crazy dreams. Dolphin told him that he was going to explore another island with his cousin Porpoise, and so Turtle was left alone.

It was a few nights later that he heard the screaming.

"RUUUUUN!" shrieked the high, piercing voice of the Toucan.

Turtle turned his head, and saw some strange creatures running at him on two legs. "Are these the humans Toad was telling me about?"

Turtle could not run very fast. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to get to a safe place in him. He look left. He look right. He was out of options. He turned around and faced the ocean.

With Dolphin's voice in his head, Turtle dove into the water and began to swim. He struggled initially first, but with the humans on his tail, he looked forward and moved his legs. To his surprise, he was able to swim much farther than he thought that he could.

Turtle could not return to the island dominated by the humans. From that day forth, Turtle swam all the time until he was as good as Dolphin was. Today, Turtle is known as Sea Turtle since he now spends all of his time in the ocean.

Sea Turtle

Author's Note: I based this story off of really several stories that I read in the past few weeks. In a lot of the Native American stories, there are explanations of how certain plants or animals came to be the way they are today, and so I decided to take my favorite animal (the turtle) and make up a story on how the sea turtle came to be.

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson. Source.

Reading Notes: California and the Old Southwest, Part B

Origin of the Sierra Nevadas

Poor duck! Being sacrificed like that is unfortunate.

Again, a lot of these stories focus on animal-creators rather than human creators. Could the Native Americans not imagine a creator that was human-like and thus replaced the traditional "god" model by animal creators?

Tu-Tok-A-Nu'-La (El Capitan)

"measuring worm"?

The Children of Cloud

That was a cool story. If I were to write a story like this one, I think the best approach would be to pick some sort of natural landmark and make up some characters with mystical powers that interact in some way to produce the desired land form.

Sounds hard though.

The Boy Who Became a God

Good story, the curious boy manages to experience a whole lot of things but his elders don't believe him. In the end, he is rewarded for not being discouraged by the other members of his tribe.

Origin of the Raven and the Macaw

Coyote and the Hare; Coyote and Fawns

"I am very very stupid." - I feel like this coyote is me sometimes!

Ah, what a great modern message we have here about body image. Beauty isn't worth hurting yourself over!

Coyote and the Quails

How horrifying. How did the coyote not notice his own flesh missing?

Okay, that coyote is really dumb. What makes him think that the quails would tell the truth, leading them to their own demise?

How the Bluebird Got Its Color

Man, the Pima people really don't like the coyote.

Couldn't coyote just jump in the water to get the dirt off? He shouldn't be scared of the water anymore.

Coyote's Eyes

I guess the moral of the story is to not ask for too much! Coyote should have been content with his shinier eyes the first time around.

Coyote as a Hunter

I was surprised that this story didn't end up with the coyote being sprayed by the skunk.This story does a good job of showing the duality of the coyote: the ever-scheming trickster and the greedy creature who always desires for more.

Scarlet macaw, via Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson. Source.

Reading Notes: California and the Old Southwest, Part A

Three Coyote Creation Stories

I really like the simplistic, oral telling of these stories.

It's cool to see how creation stories, no matter where they are from, have to deal with the question of nothingness.

The Coyote is interesting because he doesn't want men to live forever, but he also doesn't want them to suffer.

Another flood story!

I wonder what a modernized Coyote-god would look like. He could be saving people from a lot of modern situations like credit card debt or heroin or something. I dunno.

The Creation of the World

I really like how the Earth Doctor creates various things. The way that they explain the rotations of the sun and moon was pretty cool.

Spider's Creation

I like how each people is given some sort of designation.

The Great Fire; The Origin of Light

What a guy! Can't marry two women so he decides to set the world on fire.

In a lot of these stories, there is talk of a world existing without light. I wonder how difficult that would be. If our world suddenly had no light (I know we need the sun's light for warmth, but imagine if we could live without it), what would happen?

Creation of Man

Great story! It's interesting because a lot of creation done by humans is also done in their own image, maybe not physically but we usually create something that we really connect with.

Old Man Above and the Grizzlies

I don't think that punishment was fair! The grizzlies helped raise his daughter and gave her a good life, it seems.

The Creation of Man-kind and the Flood

I hope we don't have to eat each other when we run out of room....

I wonder why the coyote is such a strong character in these stories.

The Great Flood

The Fable of the Animals

Hmm, so coyotes are friendly to man. I guess this is a common idea, because it would explain the creation stories involving coyote as the "god."

The Course of the Sun

The Theft of Fire

Man, those Karok people really know how to tell a story. I didn't see the ending coming, about fire being kept in dry wood. If I could write a story similar to this one, that would be great. It would be tough to come up with the thing to explain though.

Coyote, Tortillas, and Mesquite Beans

Wow, the cunning coyote got out-foxed this time!

Coyote, god of creation, via Pixabay

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson. Source.

Reading Notes: Tejas, Part B

Why the Hummingbird Drinks Only Dew

Ah, I love the simplicity of this story to explain something about our world! I'm a firm "believer" in science, but it's also so cool to hear non-scientific explanations, like these, for why animals do certain things.

The Maiden Who Loved a Star

It's interesting how the Indians in these stories don't seem to care much about their physical form so long as they can attain some sort of spiritual end.

Old Quanah's Gift

How Sickness Entered the World

Don't mess with snakes. But seriously, snakes are usually portrayed of evil creatures in stories, so it's a very understandable mistake the two young Indians made.

Why the Irises Hold Hands

It sounds like the Great Spirit has some flaws. Just like gods in other stories can get angry, it seems like this god acts much like a human as well. I wonder what other flaws could be written into the Great Spirit? Could it be a jealous god as well? What would the Great Spirit be jealous of?

The Pecan Tree's Best Friend

I wonder if pecan trees and orioles are actually related today. I wonder what other relationships  I could trace create a story out of. I might need to do some research on plants/animals for this story.

How the Rainbow Was Torn


It's interesting to me how most of the stories involved nature, and mostly use people the help explain something in nature. I would think there would be more lessons/teaching in the form of humans taking action and running into problems, but I guess that says a lot about the Tejas people.

Paisano, the Hater of the Rattlesnake

Competition is often very cutthroat, as this story showed. The actions by both of the characters are understandable, so there's not really a right or wrong here, in my opinion.

Maidens Who Broke a Drought

I really like the few common themes / motifs present in this one. The first is the idea of a great drought, which I am sure happened a lot back then, and the second is the willingness of the members of the tribe to sacrifice themselves for the good of the whole. Though some might view it as a form of brainwashing that is done to the young Indians, I view it more as something that is valued within the tribe and if it had been the elders, or the men, or the mothers, I think they all would have done the same.

The Cottonwood Remembers

Poor owl...

Why the Dog's Ears Flap

Dang, the last few stories were so sad! Poor doggies..

Rainbow drawing

via the UnTextbook

Bibliography: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends by Florence Stratton. Source.

Reading Notes: Tejas, Part A

When the Storm God Rides

I liked this story a lot. It's always cool to me when stories like this one use characters (like the storm god and Hurakan) to explain natural phenomena like hurricanes and thunderstorms. Also, they explained the formation of islands off of the Gulf of Mexico, which was a cool bonus.

I could see a story written in a similar format but used to explain a different natural phenomenon.

How the North Wind Lost His Hair

Again, this story has another great characterization of natural occurrences.

The Plant That Grows in Trees

Short and sweet! I wonder if there's any factual backing to this story? Probably not, but it makes for a nice tale.

Why the Woodpecker Pecks

Woah, that was quite the twist at the end. Also, this story makes for good anti-peyote propaganda. Story idea: write a similar folksy tale but that warns against the dangers of another drug, like heroin or marijuana.

The Woodpecker's Stumpy Tail

For some reason it didn't occur to me to think of birds as having tails. After doing a quick Google search, I can confirm that the Woodpecker has a strange, jagged one.

Old Woolly Bird's Sacrifice

The story never goes into how long the rest of the tribe lasts because of the elders' great sacrifice, but I guess we are to assume that they were "saved" by the actions of Old Woolly? I could see some sort of survival story (maybe post-apocalyptic?) ending with the elderly people sacrificing themselves for the younger ones for the good of the whole.

A Tribe That Left Its Shoes

 I really like how these stories are written. I found it a little curious that the stories refer to all of these tribes as "Indians", but I guess there might not be a better word for the translation? Or maybe the specific tribe or tribes that were involved have been lost over the years?

Anyway, here's another survival story that gave me the idea to write an account of a family escaping a volcanic eruption! Would be kind of cool.

The Cloud That Was Lost

The cloud being drunk by the flowers provided a nice visual.

The Swift Blue One

"Horse language" stuck out to me in this story. What else can be communicated by horses? Can they talk to humans, or can humans just give commands?

Grandmother River's Trick

Illustration of the Woodpecker

via the UnTextbook

Bibliography: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends by Florence Stratton. Source.

Week 8 Growth Mindset

GM Strengths

In general, I'm a pretty growth-mindset-oriented person. I really gravitate towards the idea of self-improvement and enjoy learning about a lot of different things. I accept that change is a necessary part of life. Though it is often very hard to deal with, I ultimately think change is for the good.

GM Weaknesses

This section is going to be somewhat longer because I am a persistent self-critic. Whenever it comes to school, I have a hard time keeping my growth mindset. With due dates and midterms, it's hard for me not to think of everything as a grade. I often have to remind myself why I'm even in school. I have passions in my schoolwork, but I tend to lose sight of them when there's a cold, numerical evaluation attached to every effort I put forth.

The Next Step

For the next half of the semester, I'm going to try to tie my passions out of school to my academic coursework. This will require more effort, certainly, but I think it could work to my advantage. Since I have to spent a certain amount of time on academics, I might as well try and enjoy myself and push myself to do better.

With this, I would also like to stop neglecting my outside hobbies and passions. I can't remember the last time I read a book for fun or played a new video game.

I miss books.

Image via pexels

Week 8 Reflections

1. Reading

I've done a pretty good job of taking notes on the readings. I don't take notes on every story, but I try to find interesting narrative choices or characters to cling onto.

I will say that sometimes I'm not always looking forward to a story. In the weeks where I didn't write a story, a large part of it was because I didn't really have any inspiration from the readings I did.

For the next half of the semester, I'm going to try out a few different note-taking styles instead of just trying to take notes on every story within a reading.

2. Writing

My stories have really been hit or miss. Sometimes I get really into the idea that I've thought up, but other times, it seems like a complete struggle to get words out. I'm not sure why this is. I think I just need to start doing more of it and maybe increase the quality of my note-taking.

If I spread out my story writing over a few days, it should be easier. It'll be like I'm exercising my writing muscle more than just doing it in one large chunk over the week.

3. Connecting

I have a hard time giving criticism. I often find very easy mistakes, like typos and misspellings, but the bigger mistakes, like story choices and writing advice I'm not so good at. It might be due to the fact that I'm not a great writer myself, but really I have no idea. Also a lot of this stuff is subjective, which makes it harder to give valid criticism.

via Flickr user Celestine Chua

Story: Goku and the Yemma Fruit

Goku and the Yemma Fruit

Many years from now, there exists a galaxy not too unlike our own. In this galaxy, there is a very, very small planet inhabited by one of the wisest beings to ever exist - King Kai. It's a modest planet, stretched by a smooth, green grassy carpet. The only creatures that live alongside King Kai are his trusty companions - Bubbles the monkey and Gregory the talking cricket. There are a few apple trees sprinkled sparsely throughout King Kai's planet, but other than that there isn't much vegetation to speak of - except for King Kai's mystical forbidden garden of Yemma Trees.

In this not too distant future, Earth is still the primary location of the human race. Not much has changed - technologies have come and gone, nations built and torn down, but the fundamental structure of society would be recognizable to even the most out of touch human beings of today. However, the human world was recently shaken up by an unusual meteorite crash. Within this meteor was an extraterrestrial by the name of Goku. 

Goku is a Saiyan - a human-like, warrior race that is intent on taking over - or destroying - the entire universe. He was sent by his people to destroy Earth. However, Goku was sent while he was still well into infancy, and therefore had no knowledge of his bloodthirsty mission or the warmongering Saiyan culture. He grew up to be a silly, pure-hearted, happy-go-lucky boy who loved eating and fighting the strongest people in the world. 

Goku grew to be the strongest fighter on Earth. He trained hard every day, but he wanted to learn more about fighting. He consulted his teacher, Master Roshi, and asked him what to do. Master Roshi told him the story of a great, celestial being by the name of King Kai. His wisdom and knowledge of martial arts was unrivaled in all of the galaxy. Eyes twinkling with desire, Goku immediately hopped aboard his flying cloud Nimbus and set off for the Kai's planet. 

With a great thud, Goku landed on King Kai's planet. 

"WOOOOOOOW. So THIS is the great King Kai's planet!" he said in awe. 

"Yes, so it is. And who might you be, monkey boy?" muttered an irritated King Kai.

"I'm Goku! Nice to meet you strange, blue guy!" laughed Goku, scratching the back of his head. "Could you help me find King Kai?" 

"HOW DARE YOU.. YOU LITTLE URCHIN! I AM the King Kai, and I am most certainly NOT STRANGE!!" he yelled, with tiny clouds of steam blowing out of his ears. 

With this, Goku was on the floor laughing. "Hahaha, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Hahahaha! You just look a lot different than I was expecting mister King Kai! Hahahaha!" 

With this, the King Kai was irate. His most trusted adviser, his pet monkey Bubbles, was able to calm him down though. After a few moments of deep breathing, the King Kai spoke again. 

"So what is it I can do for you Goku?" he asked. 

With a moment's delay, Goku jumped to his feet, straightened up, and responded. "I want to learn how to fight from you sir!" 

Now it was King Kai who couldn't hold it together. "HAHAHA! You want me to train you? You're clearly still very young and immature, much too undisciplined to be my pupil!" 

Goku frowned. In the whiniest voice possible, he pleaded. "Awwww, c'mon Mister Kai, please teach me! I'm very strong, plus I've trained a lot already! Nobody on Earth challenges me." 

"It's KING Kai to you pal. And while that might be true, the answer's still no!"

The desperation in Goku's face doubled. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? I won't let you down, I promise!" 

King Kai glanced at Gregory, his cricket friend who only shrugged in response. With a deep sigh, he finally gave in. "Fine. But I'm going to give you a trial task to see if you're really ready for my training." 

"I'll do anything!" affirmed Goku.

So King Kai charged Goku with guarding his sacred garden of Yemma Trees. These trees held the Yemma fruit, a magical berry that when consumed, granted the consumer mighty strength and the ability to teleport to anywhere the mind could think to go. He explained to Goku all of these mystical properties of the Yemma fruit, which is why he needed them to be guarded. King Kai also it very clear to Goku that he was forbidden from eating any of the fruit himself. 

Goku stayed strong - for a few hours. Unfortunately, Goku's stomach was severely uninformed of the restrictions placed on the delicious Yemma fruit and began to bellow. Goku doubled-over and let out a loud moan.

"Aw man, this sucks. I must stand firm and guard this fruit, but I'm also sooooo hungry!" he thought. "I could probably sneak one of the hidden fruits higher in the tree, but that stupid monkey is nearby."

He thought for a moment, then his face lit up with an idea. Sending his Nimbus over to Bubbles the monkey, he used the flying cloud to pick him up and carry him to the other side of King Kai's estate. 

With that, Goku scaled one of the taller Yemma trees and yanked one of the more hidden fruits from the top. He bit into the reddish-yellow delicacy and his eyes popped. 

"WOW! These are SUPER delicious!" he exclaimed. "Maybe I'll try just one more..." 

And he try one more. And then another. And before Bubbles could make his way back from the other side of the planet, Goku had eaten every single apple in King Kai's garden. The Kai himself had just been on his way out to check on Goku, and when he saw the utter decimation of his Yemma fruit population, he nearly fainted.

After what felt to him like an eternity, King Kai regained his senses. Then, he got mad. 

"GOOOOOOKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Goku leaped up, still chewing the last few Yemma fruit before he called his Nimbus over to him. With the strength of the fruit, he leaped straight up, and before King Kai could follow him, he used to fruit's special ability to transport himself back to his bed on Earth. 

This wouldn't be the last time these two crossed paths, and Goku continued his childish antics while still striving to become the greatest fighter in the universe. He didn't earn his training on that day, but one day he would. 

Drawing of Goku by DeviantArt user Jaxaly

Author's Note: This story in a mixture of the reading I did this week in the Monkey King unit and a cartoon that I watched while growing up - Dragonball Z. There were a lot of similarities in the characters of Sun Wu Kung and Goku (childish, wanting to learn and grow stronger, unable to obey), so I thought I could rewrite one of Sun Wu Kung's adventures into a Goku one. 

A lot of the world from Dragonball Z is the same, but I changed some details about King Kai's planet so that he would have a garden, just like the "The Queen-Mother of the West" in Sun Wu Kung's world. 

Bibliography: Stories from "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhems, translated by Frederick H. Martens. Source.

Story: Goku and the Yemma Fruit

Goku and the Yemma Fruit

Many years from now, there exists a galaxy not too unlike our own. In this galaxy, there is a very, very small planet inhabited by one of the wisest beings to ever exist - King Kai. It's a modest planet, stretched by a smooth, green grassy carpet. The only creatures that live alongside King Kai are his trusty companions - Bubbles the monkey and Gregory the talking cricket. There are a few apple trees sprinkled sparsely throughout King Kai's planet, but other than that there isn't much vegetation to speak of - except for King Kai's mystical forbidden garden of Yemma Trees.

In this not too distant future, Earth is still the primary location of the human race. Not much has changed - technologies have come and gone, nations built and torn down, but the fundamental structure of society would be recognizable to even the most out of touch human beings of today. However, the human world was recently shaken up by an unusual meteorite crash. Within this meteor was an extraterrestrial by the name of Goku. 

Goku is a Saiyan - a human-like, warrior race that is intent on taking over - or destroying - the entire universe. He was sent by his people to destroy Earth. However, Goku was sent while he was still well into infancy, and therefore had no knowledge of his bloodthirsty mission or the warmongering Saiyan culture. He grew up to be a silly, pure-hearted, happy-go-lucky boy who loved eating and fighting the strongest people in the world. 

Goku grew to be the strongest fighter on Earth. He trained hard every day, but he wanted to learn more about fighting. He consulted his teacher, Master Roshi, and asked him what to do. Master Roshi told him the story of a great, celestial being by the name of King Kai. His wisdom and knowledge of martial arts was unrivaled in all of the galaxy. Eyes twinkling with desire, Goku immediately hopped aboard his flying cloud Nimbus and set off for the Kai's planet. 

With a great thud, Goku landed on King Kai's planet. 

"WOOOOOOOW. So THIS is the great King Kai's planet!" he said in awe. 

"Yes, so it is. And who might you be, monkey boy?" muttered an irritated King Kai.

"I'm Goku! Nice to meet you strange, blue guy!" laughed Goku, scratching the back of his head. "Could you help me find King Kai?" 

"HOW DARE YOU.. YOU LITTLE URCHIN! I AM the King Kai, and I am most certainly NOT STRANGE!!" he yelled, with tiny clouds of steam blowing out of his ears. 

With this, Goku was on the floor laughing. "Hahaha, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Hahahaha! You just look a lot different than I was expecting mister King Kai! Hahahaha!" 

With this, the King Kai was irate. His most trusted adviser, his pet monkey Bubbles, was able to calm him down though. After a few moments of deep breathing, the King Kai spoke again. 

"So what is it I can do for you Goku?" he asked. 

With a moment's delay, Goku jumped to his feet, straightened up, and responded. "I want to learn how to fight from you sir!" 

Now it was King Kai who couldn't hold it together. "HAHAHA! You want me to train you? You're clearly still very young and immature, much too undisciplined to be my pupil!" 

Goku frowned. In the whiniest voice possible, he pleaded. "Awwww, c'mon Mister Kai, please teach me! I'm very strong, plus I've trained a lot already! Nobody on Earth challenges me." 

"It's KING Kai to you pal. And while that might be true, the answer's still no!"

The desperation in Goku's face doubled. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? I won't let you down, I promise!" 

King Kai glanced at Gregory, his cricket friend who only shrugged in response. With a deep sigh, he finally gave in. "Fine. But I'm going to give you a trial task to see if you're really ready for my training." 

"I'll do anything!" affirmed Goku.

So King Kai charged Goku with guarding his sacred garden of Yemma Trees. These trees held the Yemma fruit, a magical berry that when consumed, granted the consumer mighty strength and the ability to teleport to anywhere the mind could think to go. He explained to Goku all of these mystical properties of the Yemma fruit, which is why he needed them to be guarded. King Kai also it very clear to Goku that he was forbidden from eating any of the fruit himself. 

Goku stayed strong - for a few hours. Unfortunately, Goku's stomach was severely uninformed of the restrictions placed on the delicious Yemma fruit and began to bellow. Goku doubled-over and let out a loud moan.

"Aw man, this sucks. I must stand firm and guard this fruit, but I'm also sooooo hungry!" he thought. "I could probably sneak one of the hidden fruits higher in the tree, but that stupid monkey is nearby."

He thought for a moment, then his face lit up with an idea. Sending his Nimbus over to Bubbles the monkey, he used the flying cloud to pick him up and carry him to the other side of King Kai's estate. 

With that, Goku scaled one of the taller Yemma trees and yanked one of the more hidden fruits from the top. He bit into the reddish-yellow delicacy and his eyes popped. 

"WOW! These are SUPER delicious!" he exclaimed. "Maybe I'll try just one more..." 

And he try one more. And then another. And before Bubbles could make his way back from the other side of the planet, Goku had eaten every single apple in King Kai's garden. The Kai himself had just been on his way out to check on Goku, and when he saw the utter decimation of his Yemma fruit population, he nearly fainted.

After what felt to him like an eternity, King Kai regained his senses. Then, he got mad. 

"GOOOOOOKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Goku leaped up, still chewing the last few Yemma fruit before he called his Nimbus over to him. With the strength of the fruit, he leaped straight up, and before King Kai could follow him, he used to fruit's special ability to transport himself back to his bed on Earth. 

This wouldn't be the last time these two crossed paths, and Goku continued his childish antics while still striving to become the greatest fighter in the universe. He didn't earn his training on that day, but one day he would. 

Drawing of Goku by DeviantArt user Jaxaly

Author's Note: This story in a mixture of the reading I did this week in the Monkey King unit and a cartoon that I watched while growing up - Dragonball Z. There were a lot of similarities in the characters of Sun Wu Kung and Goku (childish, wanting to learn and grow stronger, unable to obey), so I thought I could rewrite one of Sun Wu Kung's adventures into a Goku one. 

A lot of the world from Dragonball Z is the same, but I changed some details about King Kai's planet so that he would have a garden, just like the "The Queen-Mother of the West" in Sun Wu Kung's world. 

Bibliography: Stories from "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhems, translated by Frederick H. Martens. Source.

Reading Notes: The Monkey King, Part B

The Lord of the Heavens

The gods are very forgiving in these stories, unlike the stories from Greek mythology. Although the servants in heaven (I'm not sure if this meant gods or just people who worked in heaven) were quick to condemn Sun Wu Kung, the North Wind god and the Lord were very forgiving of his behavior and gave him a position in heaven.

The Great Saint

Unfortunately, Sun Wu Kung didn't really know that he was doing servant work so the work that he did is kind of invalidated. His outrage is unfortunate because it shows he hasn't really learned the ways of the heavens.

Notscha, Son of Li Dsing


The power of the Monkey King is much greater than  I thought. I wonder why the gods are not more powerful than him?

The Queen-Mother of the West

Saint seems like a real punk. Also, the forbidden fruit is a common theme in stories like these. (Like Adam and Eve).

Laotzse

I really like how clever Saint is, even though he is using his cunning to deceive people. I hope he doesn't end up dying, but he is acting much like a "lovable scamp" character in this narrative.

Yang Oerlang

What an exciting chase between the two shape shifters. It would be cool to do a scene like this in a story where there are even more species, like across a galaxy or something. Maybe like a bounty hunter sort of deal?

The Destiny of Sun Wu Kung

I wonder what Buddha would have done if Sun Wu Kung would not have written his name in his hand. The logic doesn't exactly make sense to me anyway, but I guess having a great, strong arrogant being taken down this way makes us humble.

Xi Wangmu, the Queen-Mother of the West via the UnTextbook

Bibliography: Stories from "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhems, translated by Frederick H. Martens. Source.

Reading Notes: The Monkey King, Part A

Handsome King of the Apes

I wonder what the meaning here is of "stone". Is the stone ape made out of stone? Also, I'm not sure if this really is Sun Wu Kung. I really like the idea of a waterfall hiding a cave because it reminds me of the Incredibles, which is one of my favorite animated films.

The Great Sea

It's always interesting to me when an author builds up a a "good" character like the Monkey King, but then later he has the character commit some sort of random, bad act. It makes the character more realistic, but always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. In this story, the part that gave me this feeling was when the Monkey King knocked the fisherman down and stole his clothes to blend in with the humans.

Sun Wu Kung Gets His Name

Ah, so the reference to the "stone ape" just means that he was born of stone. Also, I wonder how old Sun Wu Kung is at this point because he spent 8 + 6-7 years at least traveling trying to find out the "great truth" of immortality.

The Master

I really like stories that involve teaching various disciplines. I can imagine writing a story that involves a quest similar to Sun Wu Kung's where the main character is as focused on a particular goal as he is. It's pretty inspiring.

Learning the Art

It's funny how Sun Wu Kung misinterpreted the master's teachings. It's so typical of someone young and inexperienced in the world, and also seems to make fun of traditional tales where everything has to mean something significant.

Wait, what? Oh, I guess he really did mean for Sun Wu Kung to come to his bedroom at night? That was a strange exchange.

I feel like if I had been whispered a magical truth, I definitely wouldn't be able to sleep right after.

Sun Wu Kung Departs

Aww, poor guy. The master seems unreasonably angry, but he also knows much more about the powers and their capabilities, so I understand his decision.

I wonder if these secrets are actually a result of the behavior or if the behavior just complements controlling the powers and is the only reason a power would be given. If a secret power can just be given to someone, are there evil groups in this world that have these powers as well?

The Devil-King

Boo, that fight was kind of lame. The Devil King didn't even fight back really.

The Dragon-King

Apparently stealing is okay? It seems like Sun Wu Kung is trying to play god here.

Why does as weapon need to be heavy? This is a weird progression.

The Dragon-Queen

Well, I am really not very happy with Sun Wu Kung's character now. He's very determined, but his determination leads to him upsetting a lot of innocent people. The Dragon King tried to appease him, but even then Sun Wu Kung was not very grateful and just demanded more difficult things to obtain.

The Nether World

Now he is heaven-born? I thought he only assumed that he was born of stone?

So, I bet a conflict is coming with the Lord of the Heavens soon because it seems a lot of upset people are turning to him and complaining about Sun Wu Kung. I don't think they are entirely in the wrong by doing so.

Chinese painting, from the UnTextbook

Bibliography: Stories from "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book edited by R. Wilhems, translated by Frederick H. Martens. Source.