The Oral Tradition
The 9th grade class has been learning about the oral tradition, including many types of literature
that have been passed down through generations by word of mouth. As part of this unit they
have written their own myths and fables. A myth is a story that explains objects or events in the
natural world as resulting from some supernatural force or entity, most often a god/goddess. A
fable is a brief story, often with animal characters, told to express a moral. Students have
demonstrated their understanding of these genres by composing and presenting their own
stories; you are invited to read them below.
John Alfs
MYTH:
At dinner time in the Savanah food can become very hard to come by. But not for Keegan and
Butch, as they have found a way to get food off of the trees instead of the ground! They figured
out that if Butch stands on the ground and Keegan stands on his back they can get food from the
trees when there isn’t any on the ground.
One day around lunchtime the bottoms of trees were getting kind of bare, Keegan got onto
Butches back and couldn’t reach the leaves. So Keegan and Butch decided that Keegan would
stand on his back legs and reach as far as possible. He got enough for them today but decided
he would get as many as possible so he wouldn’t have to go up tomorrow. He almost had
enough but then all of a sudden Benji the cheetah came crashing through and took out butch’s
legs. Keegan fell from Butch’s back and broke his neck and perished. Benji felt so bad for Butch
because that was his best friend and now he had “kicked the bucket”.
Now that butch could no longer reach the top of the trees he had to eat the grass on the ground.
The next day at lunchtime he ate his grass then decided that he would take a nap, but first he
said a prayer. Please almighty Ajax (God of Dead Animals) please bring back Keegan, I will do
anything, I would even let you stretch me neck out to an unmorally large length. Then he woke up
and he had a long neck. So he ran to the spot where Keegan had died and he was lying there
asleep and he had a long neck just like Butch. It turns out that when Butch said that he would let
him stretch his neck out, it caused all giraffes necks to be stretched out.
And that is how giraffes got long necks.
FABLE:
The Curious Goat
There once was a goat was a goat that would always ram the other goats. One day he rammed
almost every goat in the barn. The other goats got really mad at him, and they plotted to get him
back for it. If he did it again they would all attack him. The next day he rammed one of them and
they followed through with their plan and attacked him. He never rammed again.
Moral: Treat others as you would want to be treated.
Courtney Kamler
MYTH
Benji the cheetah was once a young spotless cub who liked to roam around the open savanna
and play in the dry grasses and small watering holes to keep cool. The young yellow cub could
go to any watering hole he wanted to go except the watering hole by the largest and tallest
Baobab tree. Benji was not allowed to go to the watering hole because of the mud around the
watering hole that was magical. Also that watering hole was only for the adult animals in the
savanna like Willy the water buffalo, Keegan the giraffe, Chloe the zebra, and Gus the antelope.
Eventually, Benji grew tired of going to the same boring watering holes day after day, so he
decided to sneak to the watering hole when nobody would see him on the day when it was the
least occupied, the coolest day of the year.
When the coolest day of the year arrived, Benji made sure his mom, Adanya, was in their den
and keeping busy before he left. Once Benji saw that Adanya had just begun licking herself, Benji
knew that he could escape for three hours before she began to worry. So, Benji left and went
eagerly to the big watering hole by the largest Baobab tree. Along the way Benji thought of a way
to have fun once he arrived. He would climb to the first branch of the Boabab tree and jump into
the watering hole, then get out and do it again until he got tired.
Spotting the huge tree by the watering hole, Benji became excited and immediately raced up the
tree to the first branch. When he reached the end of the branch he counted to three and jumped.
Benji missed the water and landed on the edge of the mud and slid into the watering hole. Benji
started doggy paddling has hard as he could and reached the mud but he began slipping and
sliding everywhere! By the time Benji could stand up and regain his balance he noticed that the
mud had already started to dry. Benji knew that he would be in deep trouble if he didn’t get the
mud washed off and there was no way that he was going back into that watering hole again. So
he had to run as fast as he could to the closest watering hole that he was allowed to go to and
he thought that some of the mud would fly off while he ran which would mean less time in the
little watering hole, but it didn’t.
Arriving at the watering hole Benji was confused as to why he was still speckled with the same
amount of mud but he didn’t question it too long and went swimming to wash the mud off. When
Benji became tired of swimming he got out to dry off and realized that the mud hadn’t even
faded. Panicking immediately, Benji was scared and very curious because the mud was not
coming off. After 5 minutes Benji then remembered that Adanya had said the mud by the largest
watering hole was magical and that was why it wasn’t coming off. Benji knew he had to return
home soon and was afraid of what punishment Adanya would give him for not listening to her.
When Benji got home Adanya was furious. She knew the consequences of a young cub not
obeying instructions. The consequence was that the next day all cheetahs would be effected the
way the trouble­maker was effected. Adanya also gave Benji his own consequence which was
going to bed right away without any raw meat for supper. This was torture for Benji because all
of the fun he had while playing earlier really made him hungry.
****
Feeling the heat from the sun, Benji awoke and was very surprised to find Adanya, his mom,
covered in spots just like him. Instantly, Benji felt ashamed because he noticed that he was
covered in spots which reminded him of the trouble he got into the previous night. After Adanya
noticed he was awake she explained to him that this was the result of disobeying parents and
that cheetahs will forever have spots because of him.
FABLE
The Parrot and the Frog
By: Courtney Kamler
The parrot and the frog once were discussing how to travel to the opposite side of the rain forest
but there was a river in the middle that they didn’t know how to cross. Deciding that it was too
wide to fly across and it had too many sharp rocks and dangerous animals to jump across, the
parrot confronted the frog. When the frog heard the parrot’s opinion, he disagreed; the frog
thought he was the best jumper in the rain forest and decided to ignore the parrot and jump.
Landing safely on the first rock, the frog went to jump on the second, but while he was in the air it
moved and he realized it was part of a crocodile! Opening his mouth wide, the crocodile ate the
frog in one bite.
Moral: Thou shall not think highly of oneself.
Kale Kleinschmidt
MYTH:
Simba the Snake was walking around in the sunshine some island south of Madagascar. Simba
was the biggest snake around, and all the other animals knew not to mess with him. And boy, he
was not afraid of a single thing. He came along this plant, called a Troice. A Troice is a plant that
is forbidden to be touched by anything, and if you touch it, there are terrible consequences.
Simba heard of this plant, and thought to himself, “There’s no way this plant can be harmful, and
he’s trying to overtake my power!” Then Walter the Hyena says “Simba, Troice is the real deal.
Jerry the Caterpillar went up to him and Troice took his head right off!” But Simba didn’t care, he
was gonna show that plant who’s boss.
So the next day, Simba went to challenge Troice. Simba planned to sneak in behind and try to
eat Troice. He snuck up and bit Troice right up by the neck, but he fought him off and bit Simba
back right in the middle of his body. Simba had a sharp pain, then everything went black.
The next day, Simba woke up, and he didn’t have any legs! Simba’s mate, Simi, was terrified
because at the point, they were the only snakes on Earth! If they were to repopulate, the baby
snakes would possibly end up with no legs. They did, and sure enough, they had no legs. Which
means, the rest of the snakes that would be created, would be born with no legs.
FABLE:
Don’t Mess with a Tiger
Steve went to visit the wild safari for a vacation. He would spend 10 long days exploring the wild
and the things that it presents. On the 6th day, he came across a tiger. While looking at it, he
decided to name it Timmy. Timmy started coming near him. Steve, being the fearless rebel he
was, got out food to taunt the tiger. The tiger sprinted to Steve once he saw the food, and he ate
the food. While biting, he partially bit off Steve’s arm.
Don’t Mess with Tigers.
Chris Lichti
MYTH
Why Sloths Are Slow
There was once a man named sloth. He was the fastest known man in all of the land. He
claimed to run faster that light itself. He was so fast that he could run on water. He would race
humans, horses, snakes, dogs, cats, cheetahs, and most recently, sonitus, the god of sound.
He defeated all of them like it was nothing. He then proceeded to mock all of the gods of
Olympus. He claimed he was more powerful than any god. This got the attention of Zeus, the
god of the sky. He consulted with his brothers Poseidon, and Hades. They came up with a plan.
Zeus came down to earth and found sloth. He took him by surprise and threatened to kill him for
the embarrassment he had caused Olympus. But after deciding he would rather humiliate sloth
than kill him, Zeus told Sloth that he would have mercy. He challenged him to a race. Sloth had to
race a lightning bolt around the lake, and if he should be struck by the bolt he would be turned
into the slowest creature on the planet. If Sloth would win he would be made a god on Olympus.
Sloth accepted. Little did he know, Poseidon and Hades were in on it too. When the race began,
Sloth was holding an easy lead. But out of nowhere, Hades the god of the underworld, opened up
a huge hole in the ground. Sloth decided it was better to go around. He made it, but the bolt went
across and was right on his tail. Right as he started to pull away again, Poseidon the god of
water brought up the lake so it was covering the path. A normal person would have to swim
through. Sloth ran right over the top of it. But then Poseidon sent up a massive wave that
swallowed Sloth whole. The lightning went right through the water striking sloth. Poseidon threw
sloth out onto the land.
Trying to run, sloth realized he was barely moving. Then he looked down and saw his feet were
fuzzy. Looking at his reflection in the water, he realized he was I small fuzzy creature, not more
than two feet tall. He looked at his hands and saw fuzzy paws with long, sharp fingernails. He
was suddenly very tired. He decided to first climb up in a tree to sleep, which is where he forever
remains.
FABLE
The Rich Man and the Fox
There was once a wealthy musician named Ylvis. He was very, very talented. The biggest
fascination in Ylvis’s life was the fox. Ylvis released a music video on YouTube about the fox. It
was titled “What Does the Fox Say”. It received millions of views, and there was even a
children’s book made about it. Hearing of this video, Hubert, commander of the foxes looked it up
on his Iphone. “ This is not what the fox says” he growled. He was furious. He gave commands
to his kin. Obeying his orders, they broke into the First National Bank of Norway. Everything was
running smoothly. Suddenly, Tripping down the stairs, Fredrick the fox alerted the night guard.
Rushing through the doors came the guard and his dogs. Fredrick and his crew escaped
through the skylight into Ylvis’s stolen helicopter just in time. They stole all of Ylvis’s money, and
he went bankrupt. Ylvis learned a very valuable lesson about mockery.
Moral: Thou Shalt not Mock
Dakota McBride
MYTH
War
Made my Dakota McBride
On a bright afternoon there was a war going on between the zebras and the giraffes. They would
fight till the sun fell behind the far hill in the west. When the battle was over the great generals
would go pick up their fallen warriors. But let’s go back a few years to before they were at war.
They always didn’t much care for one another. They would call one another names and pick
small fights with each other. The zebras thought it was funny to take a vine and run past a
giraffe. To make them fall over and the others had to help them get up. The giraffes would run
through the zebra herd and pick them up by their horns. The zebras would break a rib or two.
Then the war started and there was always animals that got caught between the battles. The
animals would run in fear after they heard the thundering hooves. There were always zebras and
giraffes that lived in peace. So they helped the little animals get away but could never get them all
out. All the animals thought that there had to be something done.
One day Mother Nature stopped one of the many battles to warn them. That if you keep fighting
one another you will become one. Both, the giraffes and the zebra generals laughed in her face,
but all she told them was that you have been warned. The next day many of their troops were
lost because they took the warning seriously and became peaceful.
The next battle, once the hooves and horns collided. When they collided were all turned into an
Opaki. They begged Mother Nature form themselves back but she just told them that she had
warned them. They all were crying and begging her. But all she did was laugh at them, and
scowl them, now you might have learned your lesson about being mean.
FABLE
The Old Stallion
By Dakota McBride
There was an old stallion that in his prime could drag that biggest cow all day. He lived in a
feedlot and worked from sun up to sun down. As he got older he could still run with the best. The
stallion went with his owner when he moved to a different feedlot. When they got to the feedlot
the cowboys there made fun of the old stallion. So his owner said “I will take this stallion and race
any horse of your choice in this feedlot.” the cowboy accepted. On the next day they saddled up
for the race. The race was that you ran your horse across the feedlot to the end pen. You where
to rope the biggest steer in the lot. Then drag it to the doctor barn. After that you are supposed to
run up the hill, next to the horse barn, and across the finish line. They got ready and the crack of
a bull whip started the race. The owner of the old stallion kick the horse and they were off. About
half way across the feedyard the stallion was back about fifty yards behind the cowboy. When
the stallion noticed something. The cowboy’s horse was slowing, and his owner took notice to.
All he did was let go of the reins and tapped his neck. The old stallion took off like his butt was on
fire and his head was a catchin’. Time the old stallion got to the last lot, the cowboy was about
fifty yards behind. The old stallion had the largest steer up at the doctor barn and was at the
finish line before the cowboy had the smallest steer halfway to the doctor barn.
Moral of the story: don’t judge a book by its cover
Carley Swartzendruber
MYTH
Why do rhinos have horns?
The God named Jameson who was the god of strength, toughness, and good looking. One
special gift that Jameson has is that he takes care of and watches over the rhinos. There
was one rhino that stood out the most to Jameson was Rob; who he wanted to make look
strong and responsible was Rob. Rob was a tiny little rhino he was not very big and did not
want to go out into the world and discover the world. Rob did not want to go out because
everybody made fun of his size and no one respected him, they were bullies to him.
One day when Jameson was watching Rob, Jameson sent his Tweedy Bird named Twitter
to go and tell Rob he can come out into the real world and Jameson will make him big and
powerful just like the others. Jameson said “I will give you all the muscle and strength you
want more strength than the biggest male rhino of the crash.” Rob liked what he heard.
Rob came out and right when he hit the sun he grew to be the biggest rhino of the crash.
Everybody was shocked and could not believe what just happened but they all stood in
shock because the most amazing thing happened Rob got both of his horns. His horn were
so big the first one reached three and half feet and the second horn reached a foot and a
half Surprisingly everyone ran to him and wanted to see them. Twitter came out of nowhere
and said “back on the ranch were we all grew up you respected one and another and you
will not be disrespectable to any others who don’t look the same as you but Rob will be
your leader of this crash” That was one grant that Jameson never told Rob he would do.
When everyone heard they just broke out in a big old commotion and did not like what
Twitter said so they decided to go off and think about it by the water hole. Meanwhile Rob
was thinking this over too did he want to me the leader of the crash or did he just want to be
with the others and not me tormented. After an hour of thinking, Rob decided he would like
to me the main guy and het asked questions and know that everyone has to obey him. Rob
was looking out at the group by the water hole, when they started to come back and then
one of the little rhinos Peedy spoke up “we have decide that we will allow you to be our
leader.” Rob was shocked but happy that everybody thought it was ok.
So later that day Rob decided that they would go out and see the animals. They ended up
running into Butch, Keegan and Melman (the giraffes). Butch had never seen Rob before
so he came walking up to Rob and the crash to see who and what they wanted. Rob said
“we want to see if you guys want to come and have a BBQ of Grassolious with us. I have
been given the gift of being the leader of the group. Butch and his friends agreed to have a
BBQ of Grassolious and the groups ended up meeting new friends like some snakes and
a cheetah and had one big BBQ.
FABLE
Judge not nor shall you be Judge
Jeremy the goat is always judging others, their homes, and the town he lived in. Jeremy knew
there was a new person coming named Leon the lion. Recognizing Leon and started to judge
him the minute he saw him. Carry the cow told Leon that Jeremy judges everybody. The minute
Leon and Jeremy focused on each other, Leon called and judged Jeremy by saying “He is not
worthy to his name he is a liar as well as a judger.”
Moral: Don’t judge people, they judge you back