Name

Date

Class: SS

"The Crane Maiden"/"Aunty Misery" Compare and Contrast

I. Read "The Crane Maiden" and "Aunt Misery."

II. Answer the multiple-choice questions on the page after the stories.

TH E,

C RAI{ E,MAIDE,N

This select ion is a retel l ingof a Japanese folk ta le about a crane.Cranes are graceful white birds with longnecks. They wade in the water looking forf ish, grains, and smal l animals on whichto feed. In Japan, the crane is a symbol of

long l i fe. Because crane partners stayr:. i ; . ' together for l i fe, they are also a symbol

' of loyalty.

nce, long ago, an old couple lived all alone near rheedges of a marsh.l They were hard-working but poor.

One day the man had been gathering marsh plants, cartails,and such for his rvife to cook. As he walked back along thetraii, he heard a sharp cry and the sounds of someone-or

something-struggling. Parting the long grasses by the traii'sedge, he walked carefully into the marsh. The sounds-a

clacking and a flapping, whirring n6i5s-62me from upahead. Frightened but still curious, he stepped forward andlooked. There on the ground before him lay a great white

crane . Its leg was trapped in a and it was flappingdesperarelr' about trying to get free. Its beak was clacking

open .1r-.r. ' :ur. Irs eye was r,vild with pain and fear. Its wings\\ 'er. ::---,,,-. :,- \- 'r-er had the man seen such desperation in

Use these marks to monitoryour reading:

When you see this penci lyou' l l be asked to mark upthe text . You can also wr i tein th is book in any way youf ind useful .

e7 As you read the beginning

of th is fo lk ta le, you' l l f indout what happens whena man encounters a wi ldcreature that needs help.

D

\?,\

Complete the items below tosum up what has happened inthe folk tale so far.

. : . . , :1r . , : . j . t j ) : '

What qual i ty or qual i t iesdo the old man and hiswife demonstrate?

Underl ine detai ls in thefolk tale that support youranswer.

a \r,i id crearure. His heart \1'ai nloved. Speaking soo:h1ng,-,he drew closer. Somehow the crane seemed ro sense his ixe _ .and grew calm. Gentle and slow were the man's mo\:emenrias he approached. Then, bending down, he loosened the snir:from the crane's leg and backed away.

The crane stood up. Flexing its injured leg, it stood theregazing directiy at the man. Then opening its wings, it flappeconce, twice, lifted up off the muddy ground, and flew away.

The man srood gazingafter the great white bird as it madeits way across the sky. Tears came to his eyes with the beautr-of it. "I must see this clearly, and remember it, every detail,"he said to himself. "How my wife will enjoy hearing of thisadventure. I shall weave every detail into words for her, so shetoo will see."

"You are late," his wife said when her husband returned. "Ihave been worried. Are you all right?"

"I am better than all right, dear wife. I have had anadventure. I have seen such a sight. \Vait, let me remove mysandals and sit down. I shall tell you all."

Then he told her of his finding the trapped crane, ofthe bird's panic and pain, and of the great joy he felt as hewatched the white bird fly away.'

"Dear husband, I am so glad you heiped that wild creature.tuly it must have been a wondrous sight ro see the crane riseup from the muddied ground and soar into the heavens."

"ft was. It was. i have told it ro you as best I could. Forwhen I saw it fly I knew it was a sight you would have loved.And I wanted to share it with you."

"Thank you, husband." Then she steamed the plants he hadgathered and they ate their rice and drank their tea and, whenit grew late and the moon rose up in the blackness and sailedacross the night sky, they let the fire sink down and they siept.

! t , ; . " : : : . i r . t , t ._r , . ,1

':.

130 T.INIT 6: IVIYTHS, LEGENDS, AND TALES

The next morning they heard a knocking at the door. Thewoman opened the door and there stood a young girl.

"I am lost," she said. "M"y I come in?"

,i, "Of course. Come in, dear child," the old woman said."Have a cup of tea. Sit down."

So the girl came in. She was aione in this world, she said,"Let me confess," she added, after drinking the tea and eating

the rice the old coupie gave her, "I would like to stay here

with you. I am a hard worker. I no longer wish to be alone.

You are kind people. Please let me stay."

The old couple had always wanted a daughter, and so it was

agreed."Thank you," the girl said. "I do not think you will regret

it." She peered curiously around the house. She looked into anadjoining room. Her face lit up. "I see you have a loom.2 MayI use it from time to time?"

"Daughter," the woman said, "all that we have is yours. Ofcourse you may use the loom."

"I am a shy weaver," the girl said. "Please, Mother, please,Father, when I am weaving do not look into the room until Iam done. \Will you promise me this?"

"It will be as you wish, chiid."The next day their new daughter said she would go into the

weaving room. The door was to be shut and neither her fathernor her mother were to look in until her work was completed.

All day the girl sat at the loom. And all day the old coupleheard the clacking and the whirring of the shuttle, thespinning of the bobbins3 of thread.

\fhen the sun was setting the girl emerged, pale and worn.But in her hands she held the most splendid cloth the oldcouple had ever seen. The pattern was perfect, the colors

loom: a device for makrng cioth by weaving strands of yarn or thread together.

shutt le. , . bobbins, , ! s ' - : i le:s a device used in loom weavingto carrythread: - : : , Z-a t l . : . : : : , . , :n- : : - : . : - . t3aS 1-3i j ; t :1 i - ; . . , i : . : :a3: . - 'S: : : f :

: -3:

) ,n"next day, a strangerknocks on the old couple'sdoor. Read on to find outwho the stranger is, andwhat she wants.

Complete the sentencesbelow.

\ j t

Do you think the gir l is whoshe appears to be? Why orwhy not?

What qual i t ies does the gir ldemonstrate? Circle any thatapply:

generous loyal

critical loving

secretive greedy

glowing. images of the marsh, the sun, the flight of cranesflowed elegantly through the fineiy woven material.

"Mother, Father, piease take this cloth to the market and

sell it. Vith the monev vonr lifc wili become easier. I want to

do this for you."

The old people were astonished at their daughter's

skil l . The next da;'the man brought the cloth to the town.

Immediately people began to bid for the beautiful cloth,

which was sold at last for three ryo4 of gold-an unheard of

sum.

That night the old couple and their daughter, dressed innew kimonos,s ate a wonderful meal-all boueht with a smail

bit of the gold. For several months life was easy. But then the

money was gone.

Once more the daughter entered the room, closed the

door, and began to weave. Clack clack clacb, uhirr uhirr uhirr.

Hours later she emerged, pale and worn. In her arms was a

cloth that shone like silver, filled with patterns of the moon

and stars, patterns of sr-rnlight and moonlight shining on

water. The old couple had never imagined a material of such

stunning beauty.

But once again the girl said, "Mother, Father, do not keep

the cloth. I can make more. Please sell it and use the money

to care for your old age."

So again the man took the cloth to town. The merchants

were astonished. They bid furiously, one against the other,

until the cloth had been sold for six r1.o of gold.

For manl' months the family lived happily together. But

in time, that money too was gone. The daughter rvent once

again to the loom. But this time her mother and father were

curious. Why must thel' n61 look? They couldn't bear it.

The,v decided that they r,vould take just a peek through a

4. ryo (ryo): a gold piece used as currency in Japan unt i l the mid- i8oos.

t i l f f i f f :

(ke-mo'rroz): long, wide-sleeved Japanese robes worn most often by

137 r \ r r 6: I {YTHs, LEGDNDs, AND TALEs

crack in tire wall. if their daughter coulci not see them, they

reasoned. it would not disttlrb her at aii.

Clack clack clack, whirr whirr whirr. The rnan and the

woman walked softly along the wall, knelt down, and peered

through a tirin crack in the paper wall. At the loom sat a

white crane pulling feathers frorn its own breast and wings

with its long bill. It rvas weaving with those feathers. The

crane turned toward the crack and looked with a great biack

eye. The man and the woman tumbled backward.

But it \,vas too late. They had been seen.

Later, when the door of the room opened, their daughter

emerged, pale and worn. In her arms she heid a most

magnificent cloth. On it were images of the setting sun, the

rising moon, the trees itr autumn, the long migrations of the

cranes. On it too were the image s of a man ancl a woman

watclring a white crane fry away."Father, Mother," she said, "I had hoped to stay with you

aiways. But you have seen me as I trull' am. I aln the crane

you saved, Father, from the trap. I wanted to repay you for

your kindness. I shali never forget you, but now that you

kno'w this truth, I cannot stay witir you."

The man and the woman wept. They begged and pleaded,"\7e iove you. Do not leave us. \7e do not care that you are a

cranel You are or-rr daughter. \7e shall tell no one.""It is too late," whispered the giri. "The marshes call to rne.

The sky calls to me . The wind in the trees whispers my name.

And I must follow. Perhaps all is as it shoulci be. The debt has

been repaid. I shall never forget you. Farerveil."

She walked from the hr-rt and stood out in the open air.-fhe man and the woman watched in wonder as before their

erres their beautiful pale daughter became a beautiful white

crane. Fiapping her wings once, twice, three times, the great

.rene rose slorvly r"rp off the ground and, circiing the hut,

:lex- ax.a\t

.,.,.;+:!'rt

'Q'ffiThe images the gir l woveinto the c loth in l ines rzo-rz5 reflect

the beauty of the marsh

the crane maiden'sdepa r ture

the glowing moon

al l of the above

A test may ask youabout an event in a fo lktale. Remember that infolk ta les, events are of tenrepeated. The gir l in th isstory spins three di f ferentcloths and creates threedi f ferent images. Even i f youthink you know the answer,reread the l ines referred toin the quest ion to be sureyou are th inking of the r ightc loth.

Draw a box around theparagraph that explains whythe crane maiden went to l ivewith the old couple.

What qual i t ies does the cranemaiden seem to suggest areimportant?

a

Itl

..!i\i'l

What qual i ty or.ral i t ies might the crane:*resent? t4d{r rtulE*d'Ai{::l:.$

What do you think the:uple is meant to learn fromreir experience? l*'*J"{"t.* li

eread the Big Question onagerz7. Why is it imPort.antrr the couple to let the'ane maiden go after theYiscover her identitY? +t*r;r

- , t " i , t 1. , \ , t ! t

"Farewell," said the man and the woman, watching the

crane disappear over the marsh. "We shall miss you, daughter.

But we are glad that you are free."After that, every year when the cranes migrated, the old

coupie left a silver dish of grain out before their door. And

every year abeautiful crane came to eat that grain.

So the story goes.

ffi

\ }4 UNIT 6: MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND TALES

, ; " ,

tutt.

l+

* '* =:'-* .* :

: ' -a l i l

-: .ir. 't*""J"

Rcrol i i b i 'Jui i i ih ( . ) r t iz i lo lcr

BACKGROUND Legends of strangehappenings and supernatural forces havebeen part of Puerto Rican storytellingtraditions for centuries. 'Aunty Misery" isa retelling of a Puerto Rican folk tale abouta cranky old woman who meets a sorcerer.The sorcerer's magic solves some of herproblems but also creates new ones.

his is a story about an oid, very old woman who livedalone in her little hut with no other company than a

beautiful pear tree that grew at her door. She spent all hertime taking care of her pear tree. But the neighborhoodchildren drove the old woman qazy by stealing her fruit.They would climb her tree, shake its delicate limbs, and runaway with armloads of golden pears, yelling insults at 'Aunty

Misery," as they called her.One day, a pilgrim stopped at the old womant hut and

ra asked her permission to spend the night under her roof.Aunty Misery saw that he had an honest face and bade thetraveler come in. She fed him and made a bed for him in frontof her hearth. In the morning while he was getting ready toleave, the stranger told her that he would show his gratitudefor her F sjgitalil5 by granting her one wish. +F

- F ocus',z As you read, f ind outj what Aunty Misery learns, about using supernatural, power to solve everyday1 problems.

VOCASULARYWhat is the most likelymeaning of the word pilgrimin l ine 9?

, settler. colonist

: Cfane

' . traveler

TIP Atestmayaskyouthe likely meaning of aword. To answer, rereadthe sentence the word is in.Then substitute each answerchoice for that word, andsee which choice makessense in the sentence. Forthis question, only one wordmakes sense as a substitutefor pilgrim. That is the correctanswer.

l :cspi ta l i ty ! ras 'p i - ta i ' r ie ir r " .he f r iendiy, generoustrratment cf guests

r:Hr cn:i.Nn MATDEN / eunrv MISERy 135

t :

lentify the characteristics ofr lk tales that have been inre story so far.

rpernatural character:

upernatural event:

haracter who represents aua l i ty:

he qual i ty the characterlemonstrates:

'i:iit}-q"#j)raw a star next to thenragraph that tel ls how\unty Misery tr icks Death., ' , ' ;

//hat do you think the long-:erm effects of preventingreople from dying would be?yVrite two predictions.

"There is only one thing that I desire," said Aunty Misery.'Ask, and it shall be yours," replied the stranger, who was a

sorcererr in disguise."I wish that anyone who climbs up my pear rree should not

be able to come back down until I permir it.""Your wish is granted," said the stranger, touching rhe pear

tree as he left Aunty Miseryt house.

And so it happened that when the children came back to.. -.r::, , the old woman and to steal her fruit, she stood at her

window watching them. Several of them shimmied2 up thetrunk of the pear tree and immediateiy got.stuck to it as if

with glue. She let them cry and beg her for a long time beforeshe gave the tree permission to iet them go, on the conditionthat they never again steal her fruit or bother her.

Time passed and both Aunty Misery and her tree grewbent and gnarled with age. One day another traveler stopped

at her door. This one looked suffocated and exhausted, so

the old woman asked him what he wanted in her viliage. He

answered her in a voice that was dry and hoarse, as if he hadswallowed a desert: "I am Death. and I have come to take r-c *

with me."

Thinking fast, Aunty Misery said, 'All right, but beforeI go I would like to pluck some pears from my beloved peartree to remember how much pleasure it brought me in thislife. tsut, I am a very old woman and cannot climb to thetallest branches where the best fruit is; will you be so kind ;'to do it for me?"

-With a heavy sigh like wind through a catacomb,3 Deati-

climbed the pear tree. Immediately he became stuck to it

as if with glue. And no matter how much he cursed and

threatened, Aunty Misery would not give the tree permissi'-

to release Death.

sorcerer: a wizard or magician.

shimmiedr shinnied, or scooted.

catacomb (kdt 'e-kom') : an underground cemetery made up of tunnels f r , : 'graves.

1.

2.

136 UNIT 6: MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND TALES

$.

6il

Many years passed and there were no deaths in the world.The people who make their living from death began to proresrloudly. The doctors claimed no one bothered to come in forexaminations or tr€atments anymore, because they did notfear dying; the pharmacists' business suffered too becausemedicines are, like magic potions, bought to prevent orpostpone the i*;*x.i-ei{-A}$e; the priests and undertakersa wereunhappy with the situation aiso, for obvious reasons. Therewere also many old foiks tired of life who wanted to pass onto the next world to rest'from the miseries of this one.

Aunty Misery realized all this, and not wishing to beunfair, she made a deal with her prisoner, Death: if hepromised not ever to come for her again, she would give himhis freedom. He agreed. And that is why so long as the worldis the worid, Aunty Misery will always live.

inevi tabler i l r - : : ; , . , ' , . t r : ' '

i r ri ;:r::si * l r: l. {r ii1lr,' ; i:i r.'. t :., ..1

,,'w' i . What qualit ies does Aur";Misery reveal by makingher deal with Death? .:;,1Jlvr!#r.6irr_5

?. Doyou think 'AuntyMisery" is a good name f*rthe old woman? Why or winot?,ttA,ff "rUDfildFi!.ri

Why was it so important fAunty Misery to let go afDeath? A4Ai{r J{J$$iri-ni: ,;

)u

n

\T4. undertakers: funeral directors.

THE cRANE MATDEN / aur.rrv MisERY

- - . - i . .+.1

. : : Reading ComprehensionDIRECTIONS Answerthese questions abo,;! -.,e Crane Maiden"and'Aunty Misery" by filling in the correct o',,dis.

In the f irst folk tale, "The Crane Maiden,"what does the old man do to help thecrane?

' He welcomes it into his home.

He cares for i t unti l i t can f ly.

, He helps i t f ind i ts way home.

, He sets i t free out of kindness.

2. How are the beginning and end of "TheCrane Maiden" s imi lar?

, . The couple gains a daughter.

, , The maiden spins a c loth.

, The crane is free.

. : The old man goes to the marsh.

3. What supernatural event occurs in l inesr38-r43 of "The Crane Maiden"?

A crane transforms itself into a gir l .

A gir l transforms herself into a crane.

A crane weaves a beautiful clothfrom its feathers.

, An old couple adopts a strange gir l .

4. Which of the fol lowing is not a lesson'Aunty Misery" teaches?

Misery is always present.

Death cannot be avoided.

Supernatural beings are dangerous.

' Hospital i ty can result in rewards.

5. Of the characters in both folk tales,which one demonstrates grati tude byrepaying a debt?

Aunty Misery

the crane maiden

the old man

, the old man's wife

6. Which of these characterist ics oftradit ional stories appears in "The CraneMaiden" but not in 'Aunty Misery"?

supernatural events

animal characters

lesson about l i fe

, focus on real people

7. What is the most l ikely meaning of theword hearth in l ine 13 of 'Aunty Misery"i

' cupboard

hut

heart

f ireplace

8. What is the most l ikely meaning ofgnarled in l ine 3r of 'Aunty Misery"?

cranky

angry

ta l l

twisted

r38 UNIT 6: MYTHS, LEGENDS, AND TALES

III. Use the graphic organizer below to compare and contrast "The Crain Maiden" and"Aunt Miserv."

Similarities Differences

IV. PROMPT

Both Aunt Misery and the old couple in "The Crane Maiden" face a situation in whichthey must let something go.Write a compare-contrast essay in which you discuss howthese two situations are alike and different.

In your answer, be sure to. Show how the situations are alike. Show how the situations are different. Use details from both stories. Use transitions