Spirituality of Storytelling-Part 5

I am still enjoying writing down the stories that I tell my 4th graders. They get one story every Friday and it is the highlight of the week for many of them. Even the students who do not seem interested at other times are usually riveted when I tell one of my "Mr. Griffith Stories." They will even ask me to retell some of their favorites. Storytelling is spiritual and educational. Here are two more of my favorites:

“Mouse Trap”

On a farm, a farmer and wife lived with a chicken, a pig and a mouse. One day, the mouse overheard the farmer talking to his wife, saying that he decided it was time to get rid of the mouse, so he will get mouse trap.  Alarmed by this, the mouse goes to tell his friend the chicken, asking if the chicken will help him. The chicken is unconcerned and says, “This doesn't concern me, take care of it yourself.”

Disappointed, but still hopeful, the mouse went to see his other friend, the pig, again asking for help. The pig said the same thing to the mouse, that this didn't affect the pig so the mouse should figure it out yourself. Discouraged, the mouse went and hid in his hole.

The next day, the farmer’s wife was awakened with a loud snap as an animal was caught in the mouse trap. All the animals were relieved when they heard that it was a snake that was caught in the trap. But when the farmer’s wife went to get the snake out of the trap, it bit her and she got very ill. To help his wife feel better, the farmer killed the chicken to make soup for his ailing wife. Sadly, the wife got worse and died. So, the farmer killed the pig to feed all the mourners at his wife’s funeral.
So, when a mouse comes asking for help, try to help, it will eventually affect us all.

“The Banquet Hall”

One night, a man had a dream. He was a psychologist and he dreamed of conducting his ultimate research study. In this study, there was a huge banquet hall with a delicious feast for everyone at the table. But, the people at the table had long forks that were attached to their hands, so they could not pick up the food, but were forced to use the utensils. These forks were 48 inches long, so long in fact, that no one was able to get the food to their mouths. Everyone kept trying, but no one could get the food in their own mouths. The people were becoming emaciated, frustrated and depressed.

Just as quickly as this room had appeared, he was transported to another room with the exact same gourmet food and the exact same forks attached to the hands of a new group of people. But, in this banquet hall, all the people were smiling, talking and even laughing. They did not look like they are starving. Then, he noticed the difference, in this room, the people are all feeding each other with the long forks.

Being a scientist, he had to find the difference. So, he asked a man at the table why they were feeding each other? The man said that everyone started to try to feed themselves and failed miserable. Finally, one woman asked the man next to her if she could try to put some food in his mouth with her long fork. It worked. When others saw this, they all started feeding each other and instantly changed the atmosphere of the room from frustration to joy.

I asked the 4^th graders what this story means. One boy said that if someone is willing to help, their example can change the world around them. I like that.

Quotes to end the blog:

“I'm not young enough to know everything.”

- J.M. Barrie






“The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.”

- William James