Bibliographic
Information (best version for telling):
I
am using three versions and there is no one version I am using more than the
other two. (Well, perhaps I use Laura Simm’s version a
tad bit more than the other two.) See the bibliographic information below.
Ethnic
Origin:
Korean
Running
Time:
Approximately
18 mins.
Power
Center(s):
1.
A resonance of deep emotion resulting from
the birds’ sacrifice. For some this may be sadness, for others it may be a
sense of wonder at the magnificence of such a sacrifice – an understanding and
appreciation for extraordinary personal convictions and sacrifices. This, to
me, is the defining emotion of the story. All other power centers help to lead the
listener to this one.
Reason: I chose this power center because when you originally relayed a
brief synopsis of this story to me, I was immediately struck by this moment in
the story. Because I had such a strong reaction to this even though you were only
recounting the basics to me, it became clear to me just how powerful this
moment could be when the story was formally told.
2.
Some sort of discomfort or fear or tension
over the snake woman’s control of the man and the possibility of her killing
him.
Reason: I think that the inclusion of really tense moments in this story
help draw a greater contrast to the moment of relief when the snake-woman
disappears, thus heightening the relief (catharsis) from her disappearance.
These contrasts in emotion that I am going for will, I hope, strengthen the
emotions themselves.
3.
Great relief after the final toll of the
bell and the disappearance of the snake woman.
Reason: There are two reasons for this power center. The first reason is
expressed in the preceding power center’s reason. I am interested in drawing
out strong emotions from my listeners through the building of one emotion which
climaxes into an opposing emotion (possibly a catharsis). The other reason is
that this particular moment/power center in the story is very deceptive.
Momentarily the listeners will hopefully feel relief only to be squashed
immediately after with shock/sadness when the man finds the birds under the
bell. So in a way, this power center acts as a catharsis which is in fact only leading
them to an “anti-catharsis” at the end of the story.
Characters:
1.
The artist
2.
The snake woman
3.
The birds
Scenes:
I have broken down the scenes into “sub-scenes” because this
helped me to learn the story better since it is a complex story. For the
purpose of the cue card, the items marked by Roman numerals are the main
sections/scenes of the story.
I.
Introductory information
about the man.
1.
Introduction to the man
2.
The man prepares to leave
3.
Description of the forest in spring
4.
The man paints all morning
II.
The first encounter with a snake
1.
The man sees the nest
2.
He sees the snake and kills the snake
III.
Time passes
1.
The man is summoned by the king
2.
He grows old and then wishes to return to
the forest one last time
IV.
The man returns to the forest
1.
Description of the forest in autumn
2.
Forest grows strange and the man gets lost
V.
Enter – the snake woman
1.
The man sees the house
2.
The woman in white serves him
3.
The man sees the first strange reflection
in the teapot
4.
The man sees the second strange reflection
in the teapot and the snake attacks
5.
The snake talks to the man of her pain and
need for vengeance and then releases her grip
VI.
The man is hopeless
1.
He tries to escape
2.
First ring – the snake sits up
3.
Second ring – the snake lurches forward
4.
Third ring – the snake almost kills the
man
VII.
The man is saved
1.
Everything vanishes with the final toll of
the bell
2.
The man searches for the bell
3.
He finds the bell and the birds
Synopsis:
The artist loves the forest and all the
animals in it. One day he saves some eggs from being devoured by a snake.
Killing the snake to save the eggs was a great conflict for the man. The man
leaves the forest and many years pass. The man has grown old and returns to the
forest one last time. The further the man walks into the forest, the stranger
it grows until the man is lost in the dark.
Then he sees a house; and the woman
who lives there takes him in. She feeds him and then suddenly turns into a huge
snake. She is the mother of the snake the man killed years ago and she is
angry. She threatens to kill the man. The man begs her for some opportunity to
prove how sorry he is for what he did. The snake-woman tells him that if he can
ring the bell in the old ruined temple three times before dawn, she will let
him go. He agrees and asks to be released to do this. She says no, that he must
ring the bell from the confines of her home.
The man makes a feeble attempt to
escape from the house. The snake laughs at him. He feels miserable because he is
certain he will die and never see his family again. Then the bell rings. The
snake rises in anger and tries to kill the man before the final toll of the
bell. She does not succeed; and with the final toll of the bell, she vanishes.
The man searches out the bell. He
finds the 3 birds that hatched from those eggs he saved long ago. They are
dead, having thrust their bodies at the bell to ring it for the man.
Rhymes/Special
Phrases/"Flavor":
There were no special phrases in
any of the versions I used that I wanted to bring into my telling.
Audience (why is this story appropriate for the audience?
developmental characteristics?):
This is a
wonderful story for adults. It has an exciting mix of intense conflict, deep
emotion, suspense, good vs. evil, and heightened
catharsis. The story, although linear, is complex which also offers more
substance to the adult listener.
This story
is the classic battle of good vs. evil. This is a timeless theme that continues
to enthrall audiences if done well. Since each of us have a mix of the good and
the bad, the light and the dark, and since as adults, we are more able to
recognize this about ourselves than children are, stories about the struggle
between good and evil are always compelling. They represent on a larger, more
metaphorical scale, the personal, inner struggles we sometimes face in our
lives. Whether the listeners are conscious of it or not, there will be some
deep, possibly unconscious empathy for the snake-woman. All of us have had
something or someone we loved taken from us. Some of us have responded with
intense anger as the snake-woman does. All of us have at some point been torn
between two evils as the artist is when he sees the snake getting ready to
devour the eggs. We have all had to make hard choices. Adults face difficult
decisions, loss, joys, dangers, sadness as a regular
part of life.
This story
is also appealing to adults because, in a way, it symbolizes a life journey. As
a young man, the artist makes a decision that will reap consequences later in
his life. The listeners witness the man’s journey not just into the physical
world of the forest but also into the emotional world of decisions, joys,
danger, and losses.
Another
truly wonderful aspect of this story is that any given moment could have a
completely different emotional impact on one listener as opposed to another.
For instance, the killing of the first snake could be a cathartic resolution, a
relief for some listeners. For others, it could be shocking and unexpectedly
abrupt which could increase their tension. The birds’ sacrifice, the gift of
their lives to save the artist, could make a listener feel very sad or it could
cause the listener to be awed by the magnitude of the “heroism” of the birds.
Some listeners may fear for the man as the snake-woman attacks him. Others may
feel very tense or comfortable. Still others may sympathize with the
snake-woman and would therefore be excited to find out what happens next. All
of these possibilities are really dependent upon the individual listener, upon
his/her personal history and therefore resulting personality. This story
touches upon so many themes that will constitute an adult’s life experience:
personal conflict, joy, appreciation of beauty, facing the consequences of
one’s actions, resentment, pain and suffering, loss of love, danger, fear of
loss, growing old, having children/family, receiving recognition, sadness,
gratitude, awe, etc., etc. Because the story reaches out on so many levels and
because each adult will have his/her unique reactions to these emotional
moments, the story has a richness and depth that defines it as appealing to
almost any adult.
Bibliographic
information on other versions/variants (at least two)?
In-sob,
Zong. “The Pheasants and the Bell.” Folk Tales from Korea. New Jersey: Hollym International Corp. 1982.
Han,
Suzanne Crowder. “The Grateful Magpies.” Korean
Folk and Fairy Tales. New Jersey: Hollym
International Corp. 1982.
Simms,
Laura. “The Woodcutter.” Stories-Old as
the World, Fresh as the Rain. Connecticut: Weston Woods 1981
Brief
comparison of all versions/variants in terms of language, rhythm, "tellability," "flavor," content, etc. Stress
the differences in style rather than
those of content.
For a
comparison overview please see the attached comparison chart. I have chosen
bits and themes from all three versions. The comparison chart outlines those
items I have chosen to include in my telling.
Laura Simms |
Zong In-Sob |
Suzanne Crowder Han |
woodcutter |
woodcutter |
man
on his way to take the kwago |
birds
in a trap – man frees birds |
snake
is attacking birds – man kills snake* |
snake
is attacking birds – man kills snake* |
time
passes until man returns to forest – 25 years |
time
passes until man returns to forest – 10 years |
same
trip, later that night |
man
gets lost* |
man
gets lost* |
man
does not get lost |
man
sees a house* |
man
sees a house* |
man
sees a temple |
snake-woman
says the caged birds belonged to her |
snake-woman
says the earlier snake was her and thus the man killed her |
snake-woman
says the earlier snake was her husband |
man
must ring the bell 12 times before midnight |
man
must ring the bell once – no specified deadline |
man
must ring the bell 3 times before midnight* |
man
must ring bell from the house* |
man
must ring bell from the house* |
man
may go to the bell – he can not reach the bell |
from
the time the snake-woman presents the bell-ringing challenge until the final
ring of the bell, she does nothing |
once
the snake-woman realizes the man can not ring the bell,
she begins to attack* |
once
the snake-woman realizes the man can not ring the
bell, she begins to attack* |
snake-woman
just vanishes with the final toll of the bell* |
snake-woman
re-transforms into a woman and tells the man that he must be “under Heaven’s
protection” and then she vanishes |
snake-woman
snarls about keeping her promise and disappears* |
birds
are alive – man nurses them back to health |
birds
are dead* |
birds
are dead* |
* Items I
have chosen to use in my telling
Notes:
I.
I have chosen
to use Han’s version in that the birds are caged and the earlier snake was not
the snake-woman herself. I have chosen to alter it a bit and instead of the
earlier snake being her husband, it was her son. I felt that a mother losing
her son would be fiercer than a wife losing her husband; especially since it is
often the case in the animal kingdom that mothers will fight fiercely to
protect their children even against their mates.
II.
I have
also chosen Han’s three rings over Simms’ 12 and
In-Sob’s single ring. However, I give the man until dawn rather than midnight
because I want the man to find the birds in daylight.
III.
I have
chosen to have the snake-woman more active after she presents the challenge to
the man. In Laura Simms version, there seems to be a dead space during the
twelve, long, successive rings where the snake does nothing to ensure she gets
her prey. Unlike In-Sob and Han though, I have chosen for the snake to begin
attacking once she hears the bell ringing, out of desperation to kill the man before
the final ring.
IV.
As I have
mentioned on my cue card, I initially went with Simm’s
version of the disappearance of the snake woman. I’ve been practicing my story
this way for a while; and then it occurred to me this weekend that I really
liked Han’s disappearance of the snake woman better. To me it seemed as if the
snake-woman had less of a choice and was pulled away in the dark against her
will, angry that she had lost and the man had won. I’ve tried to work it in and
change the ending of my story but I haven’t quite crafted it in a way which
satisfies me. So I thought the more prudent thing would be to go with my
earlier ending (Simm’s) and save the inclusion of the
snarling, powerless snake-woman for a future telling.
Each
version has strengths and weaknesses as far as its tellability
is concerned. Some of these are shared by another version and some are unique
to just one of the versions.
Both In-Sob and Simms’
versions require the man (woodcutter) to leave the forest for a period of time.
This has its strength in that it allows the snake-woman’s resentment to grow
and fester so that the intensity of her anger is more justified.
Both In-Sob and Han’s versions
require the man to actually protect the birds from the snake, thus resulting in
the man’s killing of the snake. Again, this provides the snake-woman with more
fodder for her anger. The birds weren’t simply set free and therefore she lost
just a meal – not something that would warrant the degree of anger the
snake-woman displays later in the story. Also, Simms’
version of this moment is more passive than In-Sob’s
or Han’s. The man saving the birds from
a vicious predator provides more action and initial conflict and tension.
(However, one could argue in favor of having this moment be more passive so
that the final battle between the snake-woman and the man stands out more; but
as I listened to Simm’s tell the story, I did not
feel that the battle stood out more because of the passivity of the
bird-freeing scene. However, there are other ways in which Simm’s
dulls the story and perhaps this why the battle does not stand out for me. I
have discussed this below. )
Simms’
chooses twelve rings; In-Sob one; and Han chooses three. In Simms’
version, the action, desperation, and fear she has been building suddenly
stagnates while the listener waits for twelve long rings. The snake does
nothing during this long time. She does not try to head the bell off by
swallowing the man early thus preventing her own disappearance and satisfying
her need for revenge. All action just stops as the bell rings. Her telling of
this moment (literally her oral communication of the story) is also slow
without a progression in rhythm or tempo. The rings are pretty much all on one
level – flat without any building of anticipation of the final ring. Also, I find it hard to believe that if the
snake-woman were as angry as Simms’ portrays her, she
wouldn’t try to kill the man before the final ring of the bell. But perhaps
that is one of those magical, idiosyncrasies that seem to appear in many folk
tales; however I think the story would be stronger if the rings were fewer or
if the snake-woman attacked the man before the final ring or if Simm’s simply varied her voice tone and tempo.
In-Sob has the bell only ring once.
This seems too abrupt, almost resolving the story too easily. Han’s version
calls for three rings. Three is neither too abrupt nor too long. The listener
neither feels that the resolution came too quickly nor does the listener hang
in a limbo of sorts waiting for the twelve rings to run their course. Both
In-Sob and Han have the snake-woman attempt to attack the man prior to the
final ring of the bell thus bolstering the character of the snake-woman, a
creature with a fierce determination to satisfy her need for revenge.
In-Sob has the snake-woman
re-transform herself into a woman with the toll of the bell. Suddenly she is
mildly tempered, calmly accepting that she has lost the battle. This is a
little out of joint with her previously defined personality. Han has the
snake-woman snarling at the man as she vanishes, powerless to stop her
disappearance. Han’s choice keeps the snake-woman’s personality in tact. For me, it also heightened the catharsis reached
after the final ring of the bell – the image of this snarling, vicious thing
being pulled away into the darkness makes the final ring of the bell to appear
to come just in the nick of time. (Brian: The more I thought about this, the
more I realized that I wanted to include this image of the snake-woman snarling
away into the dark; but I decided this so late in my practice and so close to
Dec. 3rd, that I have decided it would be best to go with what I
have for now and save this idea for future tellings –
when I have some more time to really make it work.)
Simms’
candy-coats the ending by having the man find the birds alive and having him
nurse them back to health. It deflates the power of the story. It is also
infeasible that two birds who have smashed their bodies against a big metal
bell twelve times would live. For me, this threw the whole story off center. It
removed a bit of Simms’ credibility because it calls
for a greater willing suspension of disbelief than I, as a listener, am willing
to give.
Simms’
creates wonderful moments that flesh her telling out more than In-Sob’s or Han’s. She talks about how the man loves the
forest. She develops more of an introduction to the snake-woman by having her
feed the man. However she stagnates the action once more in addition to the
twelve rings. She has the woodcutter go to sleep after the snake-woman has
vanished and before finding the birds. This simply halts the entire story. It’s
unnecessary. It adds nothing to the story and actually hinders it by stopping
all action at a crucial point in the story.
Han also fleshes out the
relationship between the man and the snake-woman a little more than In-Sob. Han
includes more conversation between the man and the snake just as Simms’ does.
In
conclusion, I chose to weave parts of all three stories into my telling. I
selected those parts of the three versions that I felt heightened the emotions
I wanted my audience to feel.