Week 7, Storytelling, Symbols for Nathan, Portfolio

Found on travellerspoint.comToulouse,France

Nathan and Daniel were brothers and best friends. They spent most of their time growing up together traveling with their parents who were archeologists. Naturally, the boys also developed a curiosity of the ancient world and its mysteries and stayed in the family business of studying antiquities. Nathan and his brother Daniel accepted adventurous job positions to find any links to the lost Templar Treasure and anything that could link old Crusaders to King Solomon's lost treasures.Nathan, the younger of the two brothers, was always the kinder-hearted boy.

Nathan was so excited to be on a quest in Toulouse and walking the grounds where the actual Crusader Raymond the Count of Toulouse walked. He was even more excited to be given the opportunity to find something mystical and ancient connected to King Solomon. Daniel was focused on the reward at the end of this quest, a large sum of money. Nathan did not care too much about the fortune that could be a reward. What he really wanted was to find the ancient knowledge so he could know what the mysteries are all about.

 One day when Nathan and Daniel set off to  the countryside of  Toulouse France that is heavily steeped in medieval folklore. They are looking for clues to lost treasure of the great King Solomon, and they change their lives forever. As they were roaming around the grounds of an old abandoned medieval castle, Nathan found something amazing.

However, it was Daniel that found the Seal of Solomon etched  on an old keystone of a stone arch that was leading off to a wooded area. They knew they were on to the right track. As they walked into the beautiful wooded area they felt as if they were being watched.

"These woods are creepy, like there are ornery little wood fairies just waiting to catch you in their wicked little snares." Nathan softly and playfully chided his brother Nathan.

"Don't tell me that you actually think that those sweet little people would do harm?" Daniel bantered.
Daniel always felt as if Nathan could charm anyone with his smile and big cow eyes and yet, Daniel seemed to cause a reaction in people too, one of distrust.

As they were talking and teasing one another they came to a clearing in the woods and there was a gorgeous little spring lake. It felt so surreal and magical. The boys stopped and looked at each other with eyes grown large, eyebrows drawn high and mouths hanging open. The lake was not the most magical thing there. To the amazement of them both, there stood the most gorgeous women they had ever seen. The boys did not yet know it, but they were sisters. They were standing by the lake talking and giggling and waving at the two brothers. Naturally, the brothers walked over to them, and the closer they got, the more they felt as if something was not quite right.

The divinely beautiful women were kind and asked them their names. Of course they inquired what the boys were doing wandering around their magnificent home. Daniel lied and said they were just tourist and  they were lost. This little lie caused a reaction in one of the women, Melior. It was a strange little fleck of red  that twinkled briefly in her eye that set off alarms for Nathan. But he just as quickly brushed his alarm aside when he looked at his brother Daniel,who was obviously quite taken with the beautiful woman Melior.

 They all went into the home of the women and  sat down at the table where they offered the men food and drink, things got weird. The sister, Melior, who had the red twinkle in her eye, shifted her appearance and took on a more sinister look. Daniel  was too distracted to see it. All he could see was the amount of wealth all around him. Strewn about the castle hung priceless tapestries, silver candle sticks with Hebrew inscriptions, stained glass windows displaying sacred geometry and signets of Solomon's Seals, crystal goblets that seemed to emanate light from within itself, and it went on and on.  Daniel was so focused on how he would  have wealth and fame because he just found the lost treasures of King Solomon. He did not realize that he had walked into the realm of the fairies and sealed his own fate when he ate and drank what was offered by the hospitable women.

Nathan who did not speak lies,did not eat and drink with the fairies. Nathan was not consumed with greed and did not even notice or see the treasures inside the home. Instead his experience became one of a different sort of enchantment. Little did he know or suspect that his fate had changed forever.

 The other woman, whose name is Melusina, could read the heart and intentions of Nathan. She could see that he was destined to be a seeker of knowledge. So she plotted her plans to ensnare him and use him to break the spell that kept the women captive to the property. Since the women were immortals, they had been there for a thousand years give or take. Melusina, being an immortal and a magical being, needed Nathan who was pure of heart to do her dirty work. So she enchanted Nathan. She made him believe that he found a connection to the lost Templar treasures. She made him believe they were madly in love.

When it was time to leave, Daniel had become captive of the fairy realm, never to leave again. Nathan was under a spell and did not even remember his brother. He only knew  he had fallen deeply in love with Melusina. He knew  he had a new quest to set off on. He had to find the sword of Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake to set Melusina free so they could be married. He knew exactly where to go and look.....

Found on hexkaba.tumblr.com

Tibetan Folk Tales: The Golden Squash 

Tibetan Folk Tales: Covetousness

Author's Note:
I chose to read the Tibetan unit because I do not know much about their folklore. I found that I really liked the simplicity and relatability of the stories. For this assignment it made it easy for me to use the morals of greed and pure of heart in the examples of the original stories for my own storyline. In the original the story is about two old men who are friends, one with a kind heart who helps an innocent animal and is repaid in great wealth, which causes the other man to feel greed and envy. When the greedy man sees how the wealth happened, he tried to reproduce the efforts, but dies out of wickedness instead of reaping benefits.

Something I changed in my story is that it takes place in France during the 1800's and not in Tibet. The pure of heart (Nathan) actually becomes a tool or a means of other people's greed. Like the people that Nathan and his brother work for to find the treasures, the brother (heart full of greed) seals his own fate by not being suspicious of the fairy offerings, or even of the fairies themselves. Soon you will see the fate of  Nathan and Melusina as she uses Nathan for her own greed, in the Portfolio of stories that I am creating.

Bibliography:This story is part of the Tibetan Folktales unit. Story source: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).