Week 12, Extra Reading Diary: Jewish Fairy Tales - First Half

Jewish Fairy Tales

The Water Babe
This is the biblical story of Moses. The Princess of Egypt found Moses as a baby in a basket in the Nile river. She brought him home and he grew up in the palace with the Pharaoh, the Queen, and the Princess. The magicians said he was dangerous and not to be trusted and everyone laughed at them. When Moses was three, they had a birthday party for him. He pulled the Pharaoh's crown off and was playing with it. One of the magicians said he was evil again, so they put Moses to a "trial". The put fire and jewels in front of him. If he grabbed the jewels he was evil and would be put to death. If he grabbed the fire, he was just a foolish child. The magician that said he was NOT evil gave the princess a staff that would grant her wishes, so she wished for Moses to grab the coal. She wanted the staff to protect him, but he would not give it to her because he said Moses would have it later. When Moses left Egypt, he married that magician's daughter and the staff became his.

The Giant of the Flood
There was a Giant that wanted on Noah's ark before the flood. He said he would bring Noah a Unicorn if he would save him too. Noah said he was a devil and didn't want to save him, but told him if he brought a Unicorn he would save him if he would be his servant. The Unicorn was so big that he had to be tied to the boat and was allowed to swim. As the Unicorn floated past the Giant, he jumped on the Unicorn and told Noah that he would eat all the food that was meant for the Unicorn. The Phoenix was a good bird on the boat, so Noah told him he would never die. The Lion got a fever. The Giant was boasting that no mortals would be able to be the master of him, but Noah told him that the mortals would outlive him. Noah and the Giant went around the world planting food. They planted a grape vine and the Giant gave four offerings: a lamb, a lion, a pig, and a monkey so that when man drank the wine of grapes, there were four levels of acting for his drinking...like a lamb, a lion, a pig, or a monkey.

Grapevine in Tuscany. Source: Wikimedia Commons.