Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales Part A

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The Giant of the Flood

-Noah gathers the animals for the ark
-The men and women of the world are left behind
     -"All ye that lie down shall enter and be saved from the deluge that is about to destroy the world"
-Noah realizes he must find a unicorn
-The giant Og offers to bring him one in return for salvation
-Noah refuses, but Og outsmarts him by hopping on the back of the unicorn
     -Noah has tied the ark so the massive unicorn may swim alongside
-The giant is massive and fears death by starvation
     -He could once "drink water from the clouds and toast fish at the sun"
-Noah feeds the giant in exchange for his servitude to the Israelites later on
-Og helps Noah plant seeds around the world once the flood subsides
-Plants the grape vine
     -Og slaughters four animals to honor the plant: goat, lion, pig, monkey
     -His declarations after the slaughter of each represent the stages of drunkenness
     -"When a man shall taste but a few drops of the wine," he said,"he shall be as harmless as a sheep.
     -"When he takes a little more he shall be as strong as a lion."
     -"When a man shall drink too much of the juice of the wine..
     -"Then shall he become a beast like the pig, and if then he still continues to drink...
     -"He shall behave foolishly like a monkey"

-Cat and dog were the best of friends
-Winter was bitter and aroused a temper in the cat
-"Doggie became melancholy, while Pussie grew peevish"
-Cat wanted to end their friendship and split up to forage for food
-"They put their right fore-paws together and gravely repeated an oath"
-Cat went to the house of Adam and grew fat
-Dog faired poorly and could not find food
-Dog is pelted with coconuts by a monkey
-After an incident where dog gets several sheep killed by wolves, he ostracizes himself from all other living creatures
-Too weak and thin to walk, he begs for scraps at a man's door
-The man feeds him and dog repays him by warning him of thieves in the night
-The man turns out to be Adam, who wants to keep dog
-Cat is furious that dog has broken their oath, and the two never learned to get along again



Lining up to brave the storm. Source: Wikimedia Commons

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