Story Library

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Comment by Dimitris Prousalis on July 22, 2009 at 5:34am

Dear friends hello.
I'm interested in finding traditional stories that speak about stories and storytellers.
If anyone would like to share an idea or story on that subject i would appreciate.
Friendly

Dimitris Prousalis- Athens, Greece

Comment by Katrina Oliver on October 27, 2008 at 4:52pm

Hi Laura, What about some of the rainbow stories? You could add in more about light, 'angel arms', and other ways He speaks to us using light.
Hope that helps.
Katrina

Comment by Laura Kamis Wrang on October 25, 2008 at 5:07pm

Hi would anyone know of or want to share a short 7 - 9 min long story.... which could work in a church...about light... metaforic would do too. I need it asap.... the ones I have are too long. I have been asked to tell a short story at a childrens sermon... HELP : )
Thank you anyone.

Comment by Buck P Creacy on September 30, 2008 at 7:03pm

Hello Everyone;

Please check your freindship request and either accept them or reject them. But please don't let them sit idle. If one hundred people do that, if keeps others from making new friends. Just go to your friends tabs, the little silloettes at the top right of your page, under your name and click it. I expect if you haven't found it by now... you may have many pending new friends.

Just a tip.
Buck

Comment by Vernon L. Cox on June 18, 2008 at 8:45pm

The Cox brothers Family Camp Show Adaptation of
*No News

[Vernon to audience]
My brother Gray is forever going on trips. He travels all over the world and because he is my brother and I do love him so, I take care of his home stead while he is gone. Which taint a problem usually but this one time well you just sit there and we’ll show you!

[Gray approaches with a suit case in hand]
Thanks for meeting me at the Airport Vernon.

[Vernon helping with suit case]
Oh I don’t mind wasn’t doing anything anyways.

[Gray]
I had a great time traveling the world on my vacation but I can’t wait to get home. What happened while I was gone?

[Vernon]
Nothin’ [thinks a second] No News I’m aware of.

[Gray]
I was gone for weeks and nothing happened? Come on now, what did you do yesterday?


[Vernon]
Well sir I sweated most of the afternoon cuttin’ your lawn. That piece out back by Sparky’s grave gave me a terrible time, Leanin’ Left round,

[Gray interrupts with some notable shock]
Sparky’s grave? My dog Spark’s gone?

[Vernon]
up down leaning right. Right oh yea you missed that, sorry Gray Sparky passed while you was gone other than that though there really is no news.

[Gray still in some shock]
How did it happen?

[Vernon]
Vet’s best guess was that it must have been that badly burned horse meat. Course you can never tell with these things Sparky was such a chow hound you know. But that’s no news whole county knows that.

[Gray]
Where on earth did he get that badly burned horse meat! I kept him on a strict vegetarian diet.

[Vernon]
The Barn! Now there’s some news for you! Gray we had three towns’ two radio stations and the Local Morning Gazette Recorder show up for that one. Sorry about your horses though to bad.

[Gray still trying to process all of this]
My Dog Sparky is gone, Barn is burned flat and horses became dog food and you said there’s No news.

[Vernon]
Well don’t be sore I did admit the Barn burnin’ was news now didn’t I. [Pleading to the audience for support]

[Gray]
Well how in heaven’s name did the barn catch on fire. I am so careful with my wiring and heaters……

[Vernon waving hand from one point to another to illustrate]
Them sparks from the house were flying so high when the wind caught ‘em that old barn lit up just like a Roman Candle WOOOOOSH

[Gray becoming a little annoyed at his brother]

My home! You let my house burn while I was gone?

[Vernon]
Absolutely not, it was the Parson’s wife. But by now every one knows that about her so I suppose that’s no news. No sir that ain’t news worthy to me.

[Gray]
Why did the Parson’s wife burn down my home? [Voice wavering and stress yields to tears]

[Vernon]
Gray, Gray you have been gone a while haven’t you? Well even a school child knows you light candles around a casket at a wake! Poor woman was just doing’ her job when the cat got spooked and knocked off a candle on the buffet near them crocheted laced curtains of yours. The nice ones with yours and your wife’s initials in them your Mother-in-law made. But I geuss you knew that Gray so that couldn’t be News either. Definitely not that’s no News.

[Gray]
No news, no news my dog, my barn, the house and I bet this was news to the person in that coffin. Who was it, please don’t say not my wife! I can’t take it any more

[Vernon]
Nope twern’t your wife, she ran away with the High School football team and your Mother-In-Law’s heart just up and stopped.
[While Vernon is speaking Gray is holding his chest having a Heart Attack of his own]

[Vernon]
Of course that was in the obituaries whole town read it a week ago, so, well, Gray I guess there ain’t been No News

[Gray is resurrected as they both bow.]

************************************************
Gray and Vernon Cox have performed their Cox brothers Family Camp show at YMCA camps, for the Belfast Lion s Club, Maine Coast Memorial Hospital, The Bucks Mills Rod and Gun Club, Patten Pond Camp resort, Shady Oaks Campground, and performed on Thursday nights at the Mount Desert Narrows Camping Resort in Bar Harbor Maine for 9 seasons. “No News” was amoung their favorite skits. Below is information on other forms of this funny folk piece.

***********************************************
*A folkography of “No News”
************************************************
The story has been around for some time in one form or another. It has been traced back to India and during the period of earlier French literature was one of the many folktales. In modern form it has been repeated by after-dinner speakers and upon phonographs, only changed to adapt to the audience and the locale.

There is a version of this story in Russian Folklore, by Y. M. Sokolov, published by Macmillan, 1950.
A servant/serf is meeting the nobleman and gradually letting him know the entire family fortune is lost.

The Folktellers, Connie Regan-Blake and Barbara Freeman also recorded a version titled "No News." It is on the album created to celebrate the 10th National Storytelling Festival. "This humorous answer to 'What killed the dog?' was originally created in the early 1900's by Nat M. Wills. The tale was revived by humorist Marshall Dodge of 'Bert and I' fame, who passed it on to The Folktellers..."

Nat M. Wills: The Famous Tramp Comedian recorded his monologue, "No News in 1909
His voice lives on at Venerable Radio dedicated to all genres of music from the 78rpm era.
To purchase a copy visit:
http://www.venerablemusic.com/catalog/TitleDetails.asp?TitleID=12562


No news was on Bert and I Stem Inflation in1961 a folk routine done by Maine Humorists Marshall Dodge and Bob Bryan
To purchase a copy visit:
http://www.bertandi.net/shophome.html

Marshall Dodge encouraged The Folktellers Connie Regan-Blake and Barbara Freeman to create a southern version which can be found in Best-Loved Stories Told at the National Storytelling Festival
August House, 1991
.

My character Willey created a version of this as well maybe we can add that one to show variety and how the bones can get different meat.

Comment by Jackie Baldwin on April 11, 2008 at 3:55pm

Hi to all of you in Story Library...
For the past 10 years, Story-Lovers has been devoted to bringing you public domain stories and illustrations from everywhere in the world, not only specifically, as in Come Sit on Grandma's Knee (with its collection of stories from the early 20th century), but woven throughout SOS's hundreds of categories as storytellers from around the globe have contributed their stories, anecdotes, suggestions, references, links, experiences, tricks and tips to help you find not only public domain stories, but also thousands of other genres, that will assist you in getting started on or expanding your storytelling career.
http://www.story-lovers.com/listsofstories.html

Just take a peek at Come Sit on Grandma's Knee! All these public domain stories are categorized by country and date of publication. So easy to find...and you'll discover lots of helpful information about the stories and a variety of sources, both online and in books.
http://www.story-lovers.com/grandmasknee.html

So... if you have any public domain stories of your own, I encourage you to share them with all of us through Story-Lovers. It's quick, easy and right on target. All you have to do is send your story and I'll post it immediately for all to enjoy and even do a little extra research for you to find alternate sources and other information about the stories themselves that everyone may not know.

And if you already tell some of the public domain stories you find in Story-Lovers, let us know about your experiences and what you find has worked best for you in the story, what audiences you find most receptive, and how you have shaped and reshaped your story over time until you got it just right to tell!

And it's SO easy! Just enter your keyword(s) into the Google search box on the Story-Lovers home page or the main SOS page, and whoosh! there you go...right where you want to be to find the best story to fit your needs. All categorized and right at your fingertips!

Have a fun experience in your searches!
Jackie B.
www.story-lovers.com

Comment by Dianne de Las Casas, Author, Award-Winning Storyteller on April 8, 2008 at 7:09am

Nick:

I think we could have both. I do like seeing how other tellers shape their stories. I can't wait for others to post some stories! I wish there was a way to categorize the stories by genre or country...

Warmly,
Dianne

Comment by Nick Smith on April 7, 2008 at 10:41pm

This is a great idea. My immediate question is this:
Do people want "polished" versions of stories posted here, or just the bare bones? Or maybe both? I ask because I find that I "personalize" most folk tales a great deal as I work with them, so for ME, the simpler the starting version, the easier it is to mold. On the other hand, it is also fun to see what another teller has turned a story into.
If this is going to be a "reference library" of folktales, let's discuss that and shape it the way we want it.

Comment by Daniel Bishop, the Storyteller on April 7, 2008 at 10:30am

This I like, Lets tell some stories.

Comment by Doria Hughes on April 7, 2008 at 9:44am

This is wonderful Dianne, what a marvelous resource you have created - within a resource - for all of us! Fresh back from the Sharing the Fire conference I am all juiced up to work up more stories and share them. Actually, a while ago I came across one I really like, which I call "Lion's Bad Breath".

Lion wakes up one morning with a bad taste in his mouth and decides to ask the other animals if he has bad breath. He asks Jackal, who tells him his breath stinks something awful, and Lion is so offended that he gives him a whallop. Lion next asks Fox, who lies and says his breath smells sweet and fragrant. Lion is even angrier at this, since he knows that Fox must be lying, so he gives him an even bigger whallop. Lion next asks Rabbit, who trembles in fear, whether his breath smells bad. Rabbit apologizes for not being able to say one way or another, since he has a terrible cold and cannot smell anything! (To see my performance of this tale, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icbc_VE_Pv0

I believe I found this story in a collection by Margaret Read MacDonald, and she said it was from Burma. Does anyone else know this one, or if there are other variants in other countries?

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