Mythology and Folklore Blog

Why Cats and Dogs aren't Friends (Cat and Dog Fighting from Wikipedia Commons ) There once was a man and a wife who lived in a village. They weren’t rich but they weren’t poor either. One day, foolishly, they decided to sell a valuable gold ring to increase their riches. Unbeknownst to them, the gold ring was magic and ensured that its owner would always be of comfortable wealth. After selling the gold ring they quickly became very poor. They were so poor that they were unable to provide filling meals to their pets: a dog named Rigby and a cat named Holly. “We’re starving Rigby. It’s been months since we’ve had a filling meal,” complained Holly. “I know. If only we could get the gold ring back. Things would be better,” replied Rigby. “I know!” exclaimed Holly. “We could get the ring back. The new owner lives just across the river.” “You know they keep the gold ring locked in a chest. How would we ever get it back?” Rigby questioned. “I’ll catch a mous...

Retribution (Chinese Water Carrier from Wikipedia Commons ) Plot:  There once was a boy named Ma who lived with his father. From his window, he can see the terrace of his neighbor Old Wang. One day Ma saw from his window Old Wang watering his flowers. Then he sees a water boy offering to help Old Wang water his flowers. He waves him away but the water boy climbs up anyway. Old Wang and the water boy struggle and Old Wang pushes the water boy away where he falls and dies. Worried about being discovered, Old Wang carries the body to the water edge and leaves it there. Ma decides to say nothing. Everyone in the village assumes he slipped and fell to his death. Nine years later, Ma sees the water carrier going into the home of the wealthy Lis. He had come back to earth to be reborn into the Li family. Seven more years pass and the young Li has grown into a small child and is playing with his pigeons. The pigeons land in Old Wang's garden where he is watering his flowers. The boy ...

Why Dog and Cat are Enemies (Cat and Dog Fighting from Wikipedia Commons ) Plot: There once was a man and wife who had a golden ring. This ring was lucky and ensured that whoever had it would always have enough. The couple did not know this and sold the ring. They began to become very poor. Distraught, their dog and cat hatched a plan to get the ring back. The dog suggested the cat catch a mouse and force it to gnaw a hole in the chest where the ring was and bring it back to the cat. The cat and the dog set out for the house where the chest is. They encounter a river and the cat rides on the dogs back across it. The cat catches the mouse and makes it do their bidding. The cat carries the ring in its mouth and the cat and dog cross the river together. On their way home the dog has to run around the houses in the village on the ground but the cat climbs on top of the houses and runs across them to get home. The cat gets home first and is praised by its owner for bringing home go...