FAN - FANS |
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FAN - FANS Stories, Folktales, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Legends, Myths, History, Nursery Rhymes, Fantasy & Facts Scroll down or click on your choice below • Books about Fans • Online links to stories/info about Fans • SOS: Searching Out Stories/Info - Fans Advice, Comments and References from Storytellers, Teachers and Librarians |
Book titles are in blue and underlined. Click on them to learn more about the books and how to buy them.
To retell any of these stories, get permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.
In performance, always credit your sources.
Alphabetized with short descriptions for your convenience and to save you research time
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Ogi: A History of the Japanese Fan
by Julia Hutt and Helene Alexander. (1992)The Japanese fan has accompanied and reflected Japanese life and culture for over a thousand years. It is an art form which has attracted the finest artists and craftsmen, and examples take their legitimate place amongst the national treasures of Japan. Adapted for the Western market, it had attracted mass appeal by the end of the 19th century. |
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Painted Fans of Japan: 15 Noh Drama Masterpieces by Reiko Chiba. (1962) Reader: These Noh Drama masterpieces immediately tranport you to times long gone and just bring about a sigh, and you are left wondering if the attainment of nirvana, the becoming of the Buddha is yet to come. You are now reborn, once again. |
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Twice upon a Time: Stories to Tell, Retell, Act Out, and Write About
by Judy Sierra and Robert Kaminski. See "The Tengu and the Magic Nose Fan - Japan) (1989 - Baby-Preschool)This collection of 20 popular folktales, with historical and linguistics details, is a storyteller's guide. It explains how to best relate the tales and involve young listeners in creative activities that can enhance retention and inspire creativity. |
ONLINE LINKS TO STORIES AND INFORMATION ABOUT FANS
Online links are in blue and underlined. Click on them to get more information.
Story titles are in quotation marks.
To retell any of these stories, get permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.
Short descriptions included for your convenience and to save you research time.
• http://www.atrium.com/books/atrium-books-Japan_Literature_Tales.html
from Atrium Books, Japanese from Anime to Zen; Japan Literature Tales
• http://www.irving.lib.tx.us/kidspace/bibliographies/talesalive.html
from Tales Alive - Easy Folktales
• http://wwwlibrary.csustan.edu/lboyer/multicultural/child_lit/r1.php?category_code=j
from Multicultural Literature for Children: - An Annotated Guide
• http://www.asij.ac.jp/elementary/library/folk.html
from Folklore - Books and Materials About Japan
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http://www.spfusa.org/Library/teach.htm
from Resources for Teaching about Japan -- Elementary Level
• http://www.epl.ca/EPLPathfinder.cfm?id=JAPANFORG1
from Edmonton Public Library - Japan for Grade 2
• http://www.dragonstrike.com/mrk/myths.htm
from Myths and Legends of Japan
I also found the text of this story at the following website.
http://www.dragonstrike.com/mrk/myths.htm#badge
SOS: SEARCHING OUT STORIES AND INFORMATION ABOUT FANS
Advice, Comments and References from Storytellers, Teachers and Librarians
(excerpts from Storytell post plus original research)
Book titles and online links are in blue and underlined. Click on them to get more information.
Story titles are in quotation marks.
To retell any of these stories, get permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.
In performance, always credit your sources.
Storytell posts are added when then are received by Story Lovers World.
1) The Badger and the Magic Fan, adapted by Tony Johnston ; illustrated by Tomie dePaola. (1990)
A badger comes across three tengu (goblin) children playing with a magic fan that can make noses lengthen and then shrink. Disguising himself, the animal steals the fan and tests its powers on the daughter of a rich man. Sure enough, her nose grows to an embarrassing length, and her "vastly vexed" father summons doctors, a witch and wise thinkers to try to solve the problem. Finally, the distraught man offers his daughter's hand and half his fortune to anyone who can reduce the nose to its original size. Enter the crafty badger
You can hear the story it read to you on this site.
http://library.thinkquest.org/5214/magicfan.WAV
2) " Kupti and Imani"
Story:
Once there was a king who had two daughters; and their names were Kupti and Imani. He loved them both very much, and spent hours in talking to them, and one day he said to Kupti, the elder, "Are you satisfied to leave your life and fortune in my hands?"
"Verily yes," answered the princess, surprised at the question. "In whose hands should I leave them, if not in yours?"
But when he asked his younger daughter Imani the same question, she replied, "No, indeed! If I had the chance I would make my own fortune."
At this answer the king was very displeased and said, "You are too young to know the meaning of your words. But, be it so; I will give you the chance of gratifying your wish."
Then he sent for an old lame fakir who lived in a tumbled down house on the outskirts of the city, and when he had presented himself, the king said, "No doubt as you are very old and nearly crippled, you would be glad of some young person to live with you and serve you; so I will send you my younger daughter. She wants to earn her living, and she can do so with you."
Of course the old fakir had not a word to say, or, if he had, he was really too astonished and troubled to say it; but the young princess went off with him smiling, and tripped along quite gaily, whilst he hobbled home with her in perplexed silence. Directly they got to the but the fakir began to think what he could arrange for the princess's comfort; but after all he was a fakir, and his house was bare except for one bedstead, two old cooking pots and an earthen jar for water, and one cannot get much comfort out of those things. However, the princess soon ended his perplexity by asking, "Have you any money?"
"I have a penny somewhere," replied the fakir.
"Very well," rejoined the princess, "give me the penny and go out and borrow me a spinning-wheel and a loom."
After much seeking the fakir found the penny and started on his errand, whilst the princess went off shopping. First she bought a farthing's worth of oil, and then she bought three farthings' worth of flax. When she got back with her purchases she set the old man on the bedstead and rubbed his crippled leg with the oil for an hour. Then she sat down to the spinning. wheel and spun and spun all night long whilst the old man slept, until, in the morning, she had spun the finest thread that ever was seen. Next she went to the loom and wove and wove until by the evening she had woven a beautiful silver cloth.
"Now,' said she to the fakir, "go into the marketplace and sell my cloth whilst I rest."
"And what am I to ask for it?" said the old man.
"Two gold pieces," replied the princess.
So the fakir hobbled away and stood in the marketplace to sell the cloth. Presently the elder princess drove by, and when she saw the cloth she stopped and asked the price.
"Two gold pieces," said the fakir. And the princess gladly paid them, after which the old fakir hobbled home with the money. As she had done before so Imani did again day after day. Always she spent a penny upon oil and flax, always she tended the old man's lame limb, and spun and wove the most beautiful cloths and sold them at high prices. Gradually the city became famous for her beautiful stuffs, the old fakir's lame leg became straighter and stronger, and the hole under the floor of the but where they kept their money became fuller and fuller of gold pieces. At last, one day, the princess said, "I really think we have got enough to live in greater comfort." And she sent for builders, and they built a beautiful house for her and the old fakir, and in all the city there was none finer except the king's palace. Presently this reached the ears of the king, and when he inquired whose it was they told him that it belonged to his daughter.
"Well," exclaimed the king, "she said that she would make her own fortune, and somehow or other she seems to have done it!" A little while after this, business took the king to another country, and before he went he asked his elder daughter what she would like him to bring her back as a gift. "A necklace of rubies," answered she. And then the king thought he would like to ask Imani too; so he sent a messenger to find out what sort of a present she wanted. The man happened to arrive just as she was trying to disentangle a knot in her loom, and bowing low before her, he said, "The king sends me to inquire what you wish him to bring you as a present from the country of Dur?" But Imani, who was only considering how she could best untie the knot without breaking the thread, replied, "Patience!" meaning that the messenger should wait till she was able to attend to him. But the messenger went off with this as an answer, and told the king that the only thing the princess Imani wanted was "patience."
"Oh!" said the king, "I don't know whether that's a thing to be bought at Dur; I never had it myself, but if it is to be got I will buy it for her."
Next day the king departed on his journey, and when his business at Dar was completed he bought for Kupti a beautiful ruby necklace. Then he said to a servant, "The princess Imani wants some patience. I did not know there was such a thing, but you must go to the market and inquire, and if any is to be sold, get it and bring it to me." The servant saluted and left the king's presence. He walked about the market for some time crying: "Has anyone patience to sell? patience to sell?" And some of the people mocked, and some (who had no patience) told him to go away and not be a fool; and some said: "The fellow's mad! As though one could buy or sell patience!"
At length it came to the ears of the king of Dur that there was a madman in the market trying to buy patience. And the king laughed and said, "I should like to see that fellow, bring him here!" And immediately his attendants went to seek the man, and brought him to the king, who asked, "What is this you want?" And the man replied: "Sire! I am bidden to ask for patience." "Oh," said the king, "you must have a strange master! What does he want with it?"
"My master wants it as a present for his daughter Imam," replied the servant.
"Well," said the king, "I know of some patience which the young lady might have if she cares for it; but it is not to be bought."
Now the king's name was Subbar Khan, and Subbar means "patience;" but the messenger did not know that, or understand that he was making a joke. However, he declared that the princess Imani was not only young and beautiful, but also the cleverest, most industrious, and kindest-hearted of princesses; and he would have gone on explaining her virtues had not the king laughingly put up his hand and stopped him saying, "Well, well, wait a minute, and I will see what can be done." With that he got up and went to his own apartments and took out a little casket. Into the casket he put a fan, and shutting it up carefully he brought it to the messenger and said, "Here is a casket. It has no lock nor key, and yet will open only to the touch of the person who needs its contents-and whoever opens it will obtain patience; but I can't tell whether it will be quite the kind of patience that is wanted." And the servant bowed low, and took the casket; but when he asked what was to be paid, the king would take nothing. So he went away and gave the casket and an account of his adventures to his master. As soon as their father got back to his country Kupti and Imani, each got the presents he had brought for them. Imani was very surprised when the casket was brought to her by the hand of a messenger.
"But," she said, "what is this? I never asked for anything! Indeed I had no time, for the messenger ran away before I had unravelled my tangle."
But the servant declared that the casket was for her, so she took it with some curiosity, and brought it to the old fakir. The old man tried to open it, but in vain-so closely did the lid fit that it seemed to be quite immovable, and yet there was no lock, nor bolt,nor spring, nor anything apparently by which the casket was kept shut. When he was tired of trying he handed the casket to the princess, who hardly touched it before it opened quite easily, and there lay within a beautiful fan. With a cry of surprise and pleasure Imani took out the fan, and began to fan herself.
Hardly had she finished three strokes of the fan before there suddenly appeared from nowhere in particular, King Subbar Khan of Dur! The princess gasped and rubbed her eyes, and the old fakir sat and gazed in such astonishment that for some minutes he could not speak. At length he said, "Who may you be, fair sir, if you please?"
"My name," said the king, "is Subbar Khan of Dur. This lady, bowing to the princess, "has summoned me, and here I am!"
"I?" stammered the princess. "I have summoned you? I never saw or heard of you in my life before, so how could that be?"
Then the king told them how he had heard of a man in his own city of Dur trying to buy patience, and how he had given him the fan in the casket. "Both are magical," he added; "when anyone uses the fan, in three strokes of it, I am with them; if they fold it and tap it on the table, in three taps I am at home again. The casket will not open to all, but you see it was this fair lady who asked for patience, and, as that is my name, here I am, very much at her service."
Now the princess Imani, being of a high spirit, was anxious to fold up the fan, and give the three taps which would send the king home again; but the old fakir was very pleased with his guest, and so in one way and another they spent quite a pleasant evening together before Subbar Khan took his leave. After that he was often summoned; and as both the fakir and he were very fond of chess and were good players, they used to sit up half the night playing, and at last a little room in the house began to be called the King's room, and whenever he stayed late he used to sleep there and go home again in the morning.
By-and-by it came to the ears of the princess Kupti that there was a rich and handsome young man visiting at her sister's house, and she was very jealous. So she went one day to pay Imani a visit, and pretended to be very affectionate, and interested in the house, and in the way in which Imani and the old fakir lived, and of their mysterious and royal visitor. As the sisters went from place to place, Kupti was shown Subbar Khan's room; and presently, making some excuse, she slipped in there by herself and swiftly spread under the sheet which lay upon the bed a quantity of very finely powdered and splintered glass which was poisoned, and which she had brought with her concealed in her clothes. Shortly afterwards she took leave of her sister, declaring that she could never forgive herself for not having come near her all this time, and that she would now begin to make amends for her neglect.
That very evening Subbar Khan came and sat up late with the old fakir playing chess as usual. Very tired, he at length bade him and the princess good-night and, as soon as he lay down on the bed, thousands of tiny, tiny splinters of poisoned glass ran into him. He could not think what was the matter, and started this way and that until he was pricked all over, and he felt as though he were burning from head to foot. But he never said a word, only he sat up all night in agony of body and in worse agony of mind to think that he should have been poisoned, as he guessed he was, in Imani's own house.
In the morning, although he was nearly fainting, he still said nothing, and by means of the magic fan was duly transported home again. Then he sent for all the physicians and doctors in his kingdom, but none could make out what his illness was; and so he lingered on for weeks and weeks trying every remedy that anyone could devise, and passing sleepless nights and days of pain and fever and misery, until at last he was at the point of death.
Meanwhile the princess Imani and the old fakir were much troubled because, although they waved the magic fan again and again, no Subbar Khan appeared, and they feared that he had tired of them, or that some evil fate had overtaken him. At last the princess was in such a miserable state of doubt and uncertainty that she determined to go herself to the kingdom of Dur and see what was the matter. Disguising herself in man's clothes as a young fakir, she set out upon her journey alone and on foot, as a fakir should travel.
One evening she found herself in a forest, and lay down under a great tree to pass the night. But she could not sleep for thinking of Subbar Khan, and wondering what had happened to him. Presently she heard two great monkeys talking to one another in the tree above her head.
"Good evening, brother," said one, "whence come you-and what is the news?"
"I come from Dur," said the other, "and the news is that the king is dying."
"Oh," said the first, "I'm sorry to hear that, for he is a master hand at slaying leopards and creatures that ought not to be allowed to live. What is the matter with him?"
"No man knows," replied the second monkey, but the birds, who see all and carry all messages, say that he is dying of poisoned glass that Kupti the King's daughter spread upon his bed."
"Ah!" said the first monkey, "that is sad news; but if they only knew it, the berries of the very tree we sit in, steeped in hot water, will cure such a disease as that in three days at most."
"True!" said the other, "it's a pity that we can't tell some man of a medicine so simple, and so save a good man's life. But men are so silly; they go and shut themselves up in stuffy houses in stuffy cities instead of living in nice airy trees, and so they miss knowing all the best things."
Now when Imani heard that Subbar Khan was dying she began to weep silently; but as she listened she dried her tears and sat up; and as soon as daylight dawned over the forest she began to gather the berries from the tree until she had filled her cloth with a load of them. Then she walked on as fast as she could, and in two days reached the city of Dur. The first thing she did was to pass through the market crying, "Medicine for sale! Are any ill that need my medicine?" And presently one man said to his neighbour,
"See, there is a young fakir with medicine for sale, perhaps he could do something for the king."
"Pooh!" replied the other, "where so many greybeards have failed, how should a lad like that be of any use?"
"Still," said the first, "he might try." And he went up and spoke to Imani, and together they set out for the palace and announced that another doctor was come to try and cure the king. After some delay Imani was admitted to the sick room, and, whilst she was so well disguised that the king did not recognise her, he was so wasted by illness that she hardly knew him. But she began at once, full of hope, by asking for some apartments all to herself and a pot in which to boil water. As soon as the water was heated she steeped some of her berries in it and gave the mixture to the king's attendants and told them to wash his body with it. The first washing did so much good that the king slept quietly all the night.
Again the second day she did the same, and this time the king declared he was hungry, and called for food. After the third day he was quite well, only very weak from his long illness. On the fourth day he got up and sat upon his throne, and then sent messengers to fetch the physician who had cured him. When Imani, appeared everyone marvelled that so young a man should be so clever a doctor; and the King wanted to give him immense presents of money and of all kinds of precious things. At first Imani would take nothing, but at last she said that, if she must be rewarded, she would ask for the King's signet ring and his handkerchief.
So, as she would take nothing more, the king gave her his signet ring and his handkerchief, and she departed and travelled back to her own country as fast as she could. A little while after her return, when she had related to the fakir all her adventures, they sent for Subbar Khan by means of the magic fan; and when he appeared they asked him why he had stayed away for so long. Then he told them all about his illness, and how he had been cured, and when he had finished the princess rose up and, opening a cabinet, brought out the ring and handkerchief, and said, laughing: "Are these the rewards you gave to your doctor?" At that the King looked, and he recognised her, and understood in a moment all that had happened; and he jumped up and put the magic fan in his pocket, and declared that no one should send him away to his own country any more unless Imani would come with him and be his wife. And so it was settled, and the old fakir and Imani went to the city of Dur, where Imani was married to the King and lived happily ever after.
[Punjabi story.]
(from The Olive Fairy Book (Complete & Unabridged)
3) The Magic Fan
In a village by the sea, there lived a boy named Yoshi who loved to build. He built wagons, stairs, tables-anything his village needed. Yoshi soon became uninspired and didn't know what to build next. One day, he found a magical fan which when opened, presented him with pictures of a beautiful boat, kite, and a huge bridge. Inspired by the beauty of these designs, he builds them all. However, a huge tsunami tidal wave is coming towards the village. Can Yoshi's new creation save the villagers?
4) The Painted Fan
5) "The Young Head of the Family" in The Fairy Ring (Yesterday's Classics)
A Chinese story of a girl who knows how to carry fire in paper (a lantern) and wind in paper (a fan). Her widowed father-in-law designates her head of the family and she leads it to prosperity. Different versions in The milky way: And other Chinese folk tales
6) WIGGLER "Chinese Fan"
My ship sailed from China with a cargo of tea,
All laden with treasures for you and for me!
They brought me a fan!
Just imagine my bliss,
When I found myself going like this, like this.
At the last line of the verse, wave the imaginary fan back and forth with one hand. Keep repeating the verse, adding an additional action each time until both hands, both legs and head are fanning. Repeat one more time to end by collapsing on the floor.
7) "Tengu"
http://metropolis.japantoday.com/biginjapan/364/biginjapaninc.htm
The tengu is reputed to be able to extend and retract its nose by fanning it with a magic fan fashioned from a leaf of the Aralia Japonica shrub. The konoha-tengu is associated with Saruta-hiko, a giant Japanese god with a nose the length of seven hands who acted as a guide for Prince Ninigi no Mikoto when he descended from heaven. Saruta-hiko's eyes shone like multi-planed mirrors, and he radiated light, but it was his long nose that caused him to be regarded as a phallic deity.
8) There is a story I remember from high school Spanish class -- the story of the broken fan. Several young ladies are discussing why each should be the one chosen by the prince -- one has beautiful gown, another gives orders to servants well. One very quiet girl spoke kindly to the servant who had just broken her favorite fan -- the prince chose her to be his bride, since above all, the future queen should be kind. I often choose girls from the audience to help act it out (our Robin especially loves to do it), and I have a broken fan and a good one to use as props, though not necessary.
9) To learn more about tengu and badgers, see The very special badgers: A tale of magic from Japan
10) Margaret Read MacDonald lists the following fan stories in her first Storytellers Sourcebook:
magic fan makes nose grow longer-
Pratt, Davis and Elsa Kula. Magic Animals of Japan (1967 copyright)Sparrows give maid feather to make magic fan-The Search for the Magic Lake.
Barlow, Genevieve. Latin American Tales (1966) Selling wind to buy the moon (riddle)-What is your mother doing?
Vo-Dinh. The Toad is the Emperor's Uncle: Animal Folktales from Vietnam. Bring wind in paper-
Gruenberg, Sidonie. Favorite Stories Old and New. In the latest Sourcebook, these are listed: fan of eagle feathers carried by sun and moon-
Caduto, Michael, Keepers of the Night; magic feather fan causes to fly, protects- search for the magic lake
Forest, Heather--Wonder Tales from Around the World
Kurtz--Miro in the Kingdom of the Sun; Wind wrapped in paper--
MacDonald-- Celebrate the World: Twenty Tellable Folktales for Multicultural Festivals.
Perhaps you can find some of these in your library, or through interlibrary loan.
11) There's The Tengu's Magic Nose Fan, found in the book The Sea of Gold and Other Tales from Japan adapted by Yoshiko Uchida.
12) Thanks for the reminder about Judy's Sierra's TWICE UPON A TIME.
I have two: Fran Stalling's "Paper Flower" from JOINING IN compiled by Teresa Miller, Yellow Moon, 1988 and a video from Ruthmarie Arguello-Sheehan in which she tells the California version of the magic fan. Her title is "Tommy Knocker and the Magic Fan." It was produced by Kartes Video Communications in 1986 and is part of a series, TELL ME A STORY.
13) I posted something about the Japanese Art form of telling stories with a fan and blue towel back in the fall of 1997. eldrbarry
"Concerning Japanese Fan Storytelling, in a forbidding tome called Folklore Genres, ed. by Dan Ben-Amos (1976, University of Texas Press) is an article by V. Hrdlickova "Japanese Professional Storytellers".
Narration of long serious tales is called "Kodan" and of short humorous tales "Rakugo". (Among these Professionals there are apprentices and masters!!) The teller wears a kimono and carries two props up his sleeve - a fan and a blue and white silk scarf. The telling is done kneeling behind a small table. The fan and scarf are used to represent various things, but never used as a fan or scarf in the telling to fan oneself or wipe away sweat. The fan folded may represent a sword or spear (the fan is the handle, an extended finger on the other hand the point), a lute, a pipe, a stick for carrying a load, a pen, a bottle of wine (partially opened), etc. all depending on how the fan is held and moved. The scarf likewise may be a book, a piece of paper, a wallet or tobacco pouch, etc. The posture of the teller and the way it is held identifies the characters in the story as perhaps a peasant, a samuri, ronin, fuedal lord, woman, etc. (Apprentices learn to handle the fan as if it were the real item.)
The article in the book is quite detailed (20 pages) and includes 24 pictures. I have thought it would be interesting to try and do a adventure tale using a fan and scarf as props in this manner, I have a fan from Pier One & hunted around the thrift stores for a blue and white scarf (alas I didn't find one). Perhaps you would like to explore this "angle" of telling."
Fran commented on this posting: "Barry Kent McWilliams' article is absolutely correct in describing the style used by some of the traditional categories of acknowledged capitol-P Professional tellers in Japan. The fan & scarf (actually it is often a cotton towel, similar to a tea towel but used for myriad purposes in Japan) are wonderfully used. The teller remains kneeling on his cushion, but may turn his shoulders to represent different characters in conversation with one another. Although the eyes remain downcast, I wouldn't say that the face is dead pan!!! At least not the Pros I've seen on Japanese television.This is only one category. There are reciters of memorized ancient sagas who use shamisen (stringed instrument) for sound effects and mood music; stand-up duos who do modern skits or things based on folklore; special categories for male or female blind tellers; etc."
Created 2004; last update 9/13/09
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