Sandman Stories Presents

This is the story of the wizard dervish and the son of the Padishah. The Padishah wants a son, but alas he has none. The dervish Giveth and the Dervish taketh away. He kidnaps the prince and puts him through a series of beatings. Then with the help of the dervish's daughter, he runs away and is chased by the mother of his new bride, who happens to be a witch. The witch follows them and the daughte...

In the first story, the Princess Soorthie is tricked by her older sister into thinking that her new husband is a toad. She calls off the wedding. The former fiance decides to have a grand procession past her place, just to show her what she was missing out on. She realizes her mistake too late and tries to sneak out to meet up with him. Instead she is kidnapped and suffers a terrible fate.  I...

This week we have two stories from WH Barker's West African Folk-Tales . In the first one, Anansi takes squirrel to court and uses logic to get what is not his. Too bad he isn't the only one with those skills. In the second story, Anansi tries to get a little rain, but instead goes big and ends up killing a man.  For this he is punished by having to carry a heavy box with him everywhere. But...

This is the story of a Korean king being reminded to take care of his country instead of being distracted by Cinnamon Rose. The great kind Shinmun is distracted by the court ladies and is given an allegory all about the King of the Flowers, known as the Peony. When the king hears the story, he is able to figure out that the real meaning is that he needs to get his own things in order. Of course th...

These five stories belong to the Bukidnon and to the Bagobo . Story one is about how the moon and the stars came to be. (Bukidnon) Story two is about a crab that makes a flood. (Bukidnon) Story three is about Magbangal, a constellation in the sky that lets the people know it is time to plant the rice. (Bukidnon) Story four is about how children became monkeys. (Bukidnon) Story five is about Bulana...

Here are four tales in which the Jackal outsmarts Lion. Since they were four variations on the theme, and all fairly short, I put them all together here.  Source: SOUTH-AFRICAN FOLK-TALES BY JAMES A. HONEŸ, M.D. Narrator: Dustin Steichmann Sound Effects: Nature Ambience Light Rain Birds by Kevin Bouchar CCO 1.0 License from Zapsplat.com Music: Xhosa Culture by Karoo Culture Creative Commons P...

In this story, little Ahmed saves a princess from a lion that breaks free from its handler. He is rewarded with gold, but then his father spends all of it. In order to earn a living, he and his father set out from the holy city of Mashhad only to be caught in a terrible sandstorm. Ahmed gives relief to a dying dervish who rewards him with a crystal cup. During the storm, Ahmed and his father are s...

In the first story, the world is covered with water, and the grandson of the king takes his inheritance and makes the land of the Yoruba. In the second story, the king's wives think that the man covered in scars is attractive, so the king sets out to get the same hundred cuts, but can only stand two. Thus two cuts becomes the sign of royalty. In the third story, Akiti brags about being a great hun...

In the first story, a merchant stores some flowers in the fish room. The fish complain about the smell. Do the flowers find it worth it to argue with fish? In the second story, a mother hen is jealous of some other birds and tries to convince the cat to eat them. The other birds have a little chat with the cat and all of the plans are revealed. In the third story, a little boy is very curious. He...

In the first story the king and queen of Atlantis really want a baby. Eventually they grow sour and the king especially is awful to his subjects. Everyone prays for them to have a kid. Eventually a fairy comes and tells them that they will have a child, but that the fairy will take and raise their daughter for 20 years. For those 20 years the king should make amends for his poor treatment of his s...

This story is of a group of friends who spend the night near a temple in the forest. During the night, they each learn a part of a charm to bring things back to life. Armed with this knowledge, they set out on an adventure only to come to a city with no people or animals. This is all the doing of some Rakshasis, a form of evil spirit. Can the three friends defeat the Rakshasis and bring the prince...

Here is the story of Kintaro and how he began his life. First his father is killed in a court plot, and then his mother and he are banished to the mountain forest. Kintaro learns to live with the animals and build his skills. Then a mysterious woodcutter comes to challenge him in arm wrestling. The woodcutter turns out to be a famous general of the lord Minamoto-no-Raiko, who brings Kintaro to the...

This is a trickster tale from Korea. The people of Korea are at the mercy of Old White Whiskers, the giant tiger that stalks the hills of Gangwon. He catches Mr Bunny slippin, and little bun bun has to use his wits to get home safely. Who is smarter, Mr Bunny or Old White Whiskers? Source: Korean Fairy Tales collected by W.E. Griffis (1922) Narrator: Dustin Steichmann Sound Effects: Arrowwood...

This is a beautiful story of beware of what you ask for and also make sure that when you lay down the rules, they they are clear. The rat wants to race the beetle, but he does not think ahead as she does. And in the second part, it is the beetle who does not think ahead and only wants what she wants. In the end, we get the Brazilian flag. Source: Fairy Tales From Brazil by Collected by Elsie Spice...

This story is of a king who is poisoned and his son who goes off to avenge him. The trouble is that the person who slayed his father isn't a warrior, but an enchanted princess who just wants to be left alone. Eventually he falls for her, but he must break her magic spell before he can talk to her. Even after winning her over, his trials are not over. Will they live happily ever after? Will the wit...

In the first Anansi story, there is a great famine. Everyone is looking for food. Anansi's son, Kweku Tsin is able to find food, but declines to tell his father where because he knows of his father's greed. Well, by trickery, Anansi learns where the meat is and plans to make himself fat. To get back at him, Kweku Tsin tries to convince Anansi that the gods are mad at him. Will it work? In the seco...

In this story, Kara Mustafa starts off as a complete coward. His wife is so ashamed that she leaves him in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night. After this, he takes his rage out on a swarm of flies and proclaims that he killed 60 with one stroke and 70 with a second stroke. He is found by some Dews, which are evil fairies. The believe that he is much stronger than he really is. They test hi...

In this story, Marusia falls in love and is to be wed to a mysterious young man. It turns out that he is not a good guy. He likes to have forbidden snacks in church. Marusia sees him snacking and he confronts her. When she lies to him, he curses her mother, father, and Marusia herself. Babushka to the rescue! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fiend Source: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-Lor...

This is the story of Urashima Taro. He is a legendary fisherman with a kind heart. After saving a tortoise from some boys, he is rewarded with a trip to the palace of Rin Jin, the Sea King. The tortoise that he saves is no other than the princess, whom Urashima falls madly in love with. But he faces a dilemma: does he stay with his love, or does he go back and take care of his aging parents? Liste...

Today's story is that of two wives. One is young, pretty, and mean. The other is older, nearly bald, and kind. After a bit of magic from a holy man, one of the wives is beautiful and has an arm full of precious gifts. The other one comes home frightfully ugly and absolutely poor. Which one is which? Source: Folk-Tales of Bengal retold by Lal Behari Day (1912)  Music: আমার হৃদ কমলো মঞ্চে দোলে...

In the first story the Tigers, not Lion, decide to send their seven children to study with Jackal. Under the guise of teaching the Tiger children, Jackal convinces the parents to stay away while the children get used to studying away from them. One by one the children disappear until finally Jackal is gone. In the second story, the birds want to decide who is the king of all the birds. They all ar...

Here are two tales from the West African country of Ghana, traditional to the Akan people. The first story tells about the trickster Anansi, who meets Thunder and is greeted with a magic pot. Instead of feeding his family, greed makes him hide his magic pot. When his family finds the pot, trouble ensues for Anansi. The second story tells of how Anansi tricks the three princesses into revealing the...

This week's story tells of the young woman, Aponibolinayen, who is magically lifted to the heavens by the siksiklat vine. She shows the Sun, Ini-Init, how to make fish soup with only a boiled stick. When she comes back her family, they wonder who her husband is. They send betel nuts to bring all of the people to the wedding, but her husband avoids it until he cannot stand it any more. Will they fi...

This story comes from Korea, but has cousins in all the world of folklore. It is a classic story of who is the strongest. Is it the Sun? the Clouds? The mighty stone Buddha? Listen to this tale of Mole Father looking for the strongest son-in-law.  Source: Korean Fairy Tales W.E. Griffis (1922) Narrator: Dustin Steichmann Music: [ 서원숙 - 가야금 ] 심상건 산조 및 풍류 중 '중모리~자진모리'(국악...

Two stories this week: The first, a man learns that by being tough he is headed towards an early grave. He must learn to be like the tongue rather than the tooth. The second is the story of snow, who argues for its own importance, but is reminded where it comes from. All in the great courthouse in the sky. Narrator: Dustin Steichmann Story by Mary Hayes Davis and Chow-Leung From the book " Chinese...