Jennifer as host welcomed a full house of tellers and listeners, old and new. At the Membership table a box for donations to the Red Cross to bring aid to Japan following the recent series of natural disasters there, earthquake, volcanic eruption and tsunami. Jennifer's story "The Burning of the Rice Fields" told of the sacrifice of a rice farmer's harvest to save his fellow villagers from extinction by a long-ago tsunami. The old farmer, who stayed on high ground for his afternoon rest while the younger ones celebrated harvest time at sea level, watched in horror as the sea was sucked away from the land, anticipated the overwhelming onrush of water, and torched his rice harvest to bring the villagers up the hill to extinguish the flames before the full force of the water swallowed them. So powerfully told we felt the terror of the happening as it must have been, only two weeks ago, for the people on the North East coast of Japan.
In this World Water month, another watery tale by Peg was the tale of the student requested by his teacher to bring him water. The student searched for his finest bowl to bring the water in only to be asked by the teacher why he brought a bowl when he had only asked for water.
Sandra, as a tribute to her own mother, told us with such grace of motion and voice, the story of Claire "The Girl Who Wanted to Dance". A young girl being raised by her father and grandmother, haunted by her grandmother's tale of her own daughter, Claire's mother, passion for dancing. A story that left some of us teary-eyed.
A change of pace with the telling of a Tanzanian folktale that took no notice of man-made borders and made its way to Ethiopia. Her first visit to Fern but no stranger to storytelling, Pauline Grainger of Puente Theatre, delighted us all with the antics of Jackal's and Leopard's endeavours to outwit one another. Pauline, please pay us another visit soon!
Catherine Sheehan - would you be wondering if she was Irish with a name like that? took us on a voyage to the undersea home of a Merrow named Coumara who captured the souls of drowned sailors and kept them in cages. A story from a collection by Malachy Doyle that included such characters as Jack and Biddy Doherty and plenty of that powerful potato drink poteen of which those of us without the Irish in our blood should beware !
Sujeong Kim, Serra while in Canada, a Korean student of English in Victoria and first-time storyteller, bravely told us a Korean folk tale that not only accounts for the origin of the moon and the sun, but illustrates to what length a mother will go to protect her children. This writer was entranced with the idea of the fierce tiger, which had already gobbled up the mother, doing voice exercises to make him sound like the mother who had forbidden her children to open the door to strangers.
Thanks to the Island e-vine maintained so ably by Deidre, Sandy Cole, a Nanaimo storyteller who visited Victoria to both inherit Janna's Little Blue Hippo (see February Fern blog) and tell us a story, chose "What a Squirrel Saw", a precautionary tale from "Tales out of Africa". She enjoyed the evening so much she vows to come back.
Shirley took us back in time to the Vienna of with the story of Grimaldi, the famous circus clown of the early 1800's, whose persona was to bring laughter and joy but who suffered from deep melancholy. Advised by the doctor treating him for "sickness of the soul" to do away with himself he endeavoured to do so in circus/theatrical fashion of various means. In his last effort to fall to his death from a height he was saved by his wonderful suspenders and that made him laugh so much his melancholy was cured!
A brief opportunity to tell a tiny story to a neighbour sitting beside or in front or behind us resulted in story noise filling the room, followed by Jennifer's invitation to come forward to tell us all a story just told and THAT resulted in a hilarious telling by newcomer Phyllis Graham of a singer father's desperate efforts to get his baby to sing.
WHAT A GRAND EVENING!!
Submitted by Janna
