Week 11 Storytelling: The Power of Song

Oftentimes, we drift through life meeting people of all shapes and sizes that stick around for a while then leave, giving us only a faint memory by which to remember them. If we are lucky, we stumble upon human beings who, though they may not linger long, leave a strong and lasting presence with which we exist for the remainders of our lives. I’m here to tell you a story about the latter.

Long ago, there lived in a great city a little boy by the name of Hugo. Hugo was a seven-year-old Christian and went to school in the Jewish quarter, where he soaked up knowledge like a sponge. He loved knowledge of all kinds, but he especially loved to learn about the Virgin Mary, whom he had developed an adoration for just about as soon as he could talk. His mother, a devout woman of faith, helped fuel this adoration by teaching him the Ave Maria and other prayers and songs of praise dedicated to the Holy One.

One day, while little Hugo was in school, he heard a new song, one that immediately plucked at his heart strings. He knew with every bone in his body that this was another song of praise to the great Mary, and he yearned more than anything to learn and sing this new song. After school that day, Hugo went up to the teacher and begged him to teach him the song. The teacher agreed, and Hugo learned the song in record time.

(Hugo Singing)

On his way home, Hugo couldn’t help but sing the song as loudly as his little lungs would allow. The angelic singing echoed through the streets, and people all around stopped to listen. Unfortunately, since Hugo was in the Jewish quarter, the attention he received for singing the praises was overwhelmingly negative. As soon as the officials heard his singing, they immediately went to the school, grabbed the teacher, and had him thrown in prison. They then rushed to Hugo’s house in order to have them kicked out.

When they arrived at the house, however, they experienced something that can only be called a miracle. From the time Hugo learned the song to the time that the officials arrived at his home, Hugo had not stopped singing. The officials, having stormed the house, were about to take Hugo and his mother when, all of a sudden, they heard another voice join in, harmonizing with Hugo’s sweet melody. Another voice followed, then another. Soon, it seemed as though a thousand people had started to join in, yet there was nobody there but Hugo and his poor, frightened mother. The officials soon realized what was taking place. The angels, hearing Hugo’s sweet singing to the Virgin, had decided to step in and support the little boy.

The officials were stunned, and for the longest time all they could do was listen in awe. Then, one by one, they too joined in. The neighbors, hearing all that was happening, felt compelled to sing too. Slowly, the whole quarter joined in. Gradually, the singing echoed throughout the city, with every citizen singing the miraculous song along with Hugo and the angels. What’s especially interesting is that those that didn’t know the song found themselves singing with perfect clarity, as though their souls were being shown the lyrics.

After a few minutes, the singing began to die down until only Hugo was left to sing the final notes. The officials, awestruck by the happenings, quickly apologized and left the house. They then went straight to the jail and released the poor teacher.

After that, the city experienced a long and prosperous peace, with all quarters of the city treating each other with the utmost respect and kindness. As for Hugo, he died at a ripe old age, having dedicated his life to spreading the love and kindness that had unified his city on to the rest of the world. He was buried in a white temple, and to this day, people say that they hear his pure, sweet voice echoing within the temple walls.

Author's Note: This week's story was based off of Little Hugh from the Canterbury Tales unit. The original tale tells of the short life of Hugh, a little boy that had a deep love and reverence for the Virgin Mary. After learning a song of praise, he was murdered in the Jewish quarter for singing the song. After finding his body, everyone was stunned to see that he was still singing. As it turned out, Mary had placed a little grain on his tongue so that he wouldn't stop singing the praises, and taking the grain out of his mouth would be the only way to get him to stop. In my version, I changed up the tale so that there would be a happier ending. Since this tale is also anti-Semitic, I wanted my version to include the part where everyone settled their differences and lived together happily.
The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan (1908)
Web source: UN-Textbook

Week 11 Essay: Tragedy and Pathos in the Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales unit contains a fair share of tales that deal with tragedy and pathos. Although most endings are happy, several end on a melancholy note, while yet others contain both sadness and happiness. This kind of collection of stories allows for the unit to be well-rounded and one that is definitely worth reading.

One example of tragedy and pathos is the tale of Little Hugh. The little boy grows up with a love and reverence to the Virgin Mary. When he hears a song to her that he doesn't know, he asks to be taught the song so that he can sing his praises to her. After learning the song, the little boy sings it as he walks throughout the city, which upsets those in the Jewish quarter. Hugh is murdered for his singing, and the one's responsible for his death are severely punished. Although he is revered and gets an exquisite burial, this doesn't take away from the fact that there was violence and tragedy involved. The anti-Semitism of the story adds to the tragedy, because Jews were looked down upon for centuries. Historically, the tragedy pertains to the Jews, and in the story, the tragedy pertains to little Hugh.

Another story that deals with tragedy on several levels is The Promise of Dorigen. Dorigen's husband goes off on his knightly duties, leaving his beloved wife at home. She makes herself sick with worry and can't stop thinking about her husband dying by having his ship shatter on the large rocks of the sea. A squire falls deeply in love with Dorigen, and she promises him her love only if all of the rocks disappear. The squire encounters tragedy upon the husband's safe return, yet Dorigen suffers when the squire enlists the help of a magician to cover up the rocks. She sorrowfully tells her husband of the promise, and he too undergoes tragedy because he must let his wife go. The squire sees all of this and releases her from her promise, but for him, the tragedy is unrequited love.

(Tragedy in love)

Reading Diary B: Canterbury Tales

The second half of the Canterbury Tales unit. This has turned out to be one of my favorite units this semester! It's really great that there is such a variety within the unit itself. No two stories are really alike, and together they make the unit very well-rounded.

One of my favorites from the second half of the unit was Little Hugh. The story was a tragic one and left me feeling a little down, but I'm really glad I read it. The boy in this tale reminded me of the little boy in "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." In both stories, the boys are innocent and pure, yet they both meet such tragic ends. It was interesting to see just how anti-Semetic the tale really was. I have never really read anything very anti-Semetic, so this was a fascinating glimpse into that world. I think that's also why the story sort of reminded me of a Holocaust story.

(Little Hugh)

Another tale that I enjoyed reading was The Priest Who Learned to be a Philosopher. Scam artists have existed much longer than I ever realized, and their skill was highly honed even back then. Nowadays, with all of the advances in science and education, this kind of trickery would most likely not work, but for that age it was extremely clever! It took me a while to get used to the antagonist being referred to as a "canon" because I'm so used to that word having a different meaning. That kind of made me pause every time I came across it for about the first half of the story. Other than that, I thought the reading was very easy and entertaining.

Reading Diary A: Canterbury Tales

This week, I decided to go with the classic Canterbury Tales. I had always wanted to read them, but since I always have at least ten books on my bedside table, reading the tales was always pushed back. I really liked reading the tales in this format because I understood everything clearly and didn't get caught up on old vocabulary or language. I also thought the length of the tales was just right.

(Arviragus and Aurelius)

One of my favorite stories was The Promise of Dorigen. That was such a marvelous tale! It was so full of twists and turns and was told beautifully. I really admire the love of the fair lady and her knights. People always refer to weddings as "fairy tale" weddings and refer to true love in similar terms, and it totally makes sense after reading a tale like this. The character development was what really sucked me in. I felt so sad for the squire because of his unrequited love, but I also felt really sad for the damsel because I'm in a long distance relationship right now and know what it's like to really miss your significant other. I also really liked how honesty and justice prevailed and everything ended on a fair note. I just hoped that there would be some footnote at the end saying that Arelius had found true love, but sadly that was not the case. I also liked that the story was long enough to support such character development and plot twists. Depth of this kind would not have been possible had this tale been told on a single page.