Classical Writing Models?

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm trying to plan out Classical Writing: Aesop for this coming year. Because we're doing CW alongside English Prep, my plan is to take two weeks with each model: one week for the analysis and interpretation part, and the next in actual writing. I'm planning for 30 weeks of desk work this year, meaning I will need 15 models to get us through the year.

 

Now, it's no problem to scrounge 15 models if I don't care too deeply about content. The CW book comes with 6, and I have a copy of Aesop's Fables and some short Greek myths on my shelf.

 

However, it hit me while I was deciding what model to use for each week that it would be really cool if I could find models that coordinated with what the literature or history my son was doing in a given two-week chunk.

 

The problem I'm having is that I just can't seem to find models that are appropriate for any of the following topics:

 

-Ancient India

-Ancient Egypt

-Mayan Civilization

-Ancient China

 

I have an assortment of re-tellings of myths from these cultures on my shelves, but none of them are short enough. I've tried editing them down, but it's very difficult to come up with something that is brief enough to work for this purpose but still coherent with a beginning and a middle and an end--not to mention being reasonably well written.

 

I'm done spending money on next year, so I will need to find things free or close to it in order to make this work.

 

Any ideas? Or am I doomed to just giving up this lovely idea and doing fables and myths the whole year?

[Kimber]

Here is one on China--

 

THE GODDESS OF THE SILKWORM

c. 2640 BC

 

Hoangti was the emperor of China. He had a beautiful wife whose name was Si-ling. The emperor and his wife loved their people and always thought of their happiness.

 

In those days the Chinese people wore clothes made of skins. By and by animals grew scarce, and the people did not know what they should wear. The emperor and empress tried in vain to find some other way of clothing them.

 

One morning Hoangti and his wife were in the beautiful palace garden. They walked up and down, up and down, talking of their people.

 

Suddenly the emperor said, "Look at those worms on the mulberry trees, Si-ling. They seem to be spinning."

 

Si-ling looked, and sure enough, the worms were spinning. A long thread was coming from the mouth of each, and each little worm was winding this thread around its body.

 

Si-ling and the emperor stood still and {35} watched the worms. "How wonderful!" said Si-ling.

 

The next morning Hoangti and the empress walked under the trees again. They found some worms still winding thread. Others had already spun their cocoons and were fast asleep. In a few days all of the worms had spun cocoons.

 

"This is indeed a wonderful, wonderful thing!" said Si-ling. "Why, each worm has a thread on its body long enough to make a house for itself!"

 

Si-ling thought of this day after day. One morning as she and the emperor walked under the trees, she said, "I believe I could find a way to weave those long threads into cloth."

 

"But how could you unwind the threads?" asked the emperor.

Hoangti and Si-ling walking among the trees

 

"I'll find a way," Si-ling said. And she did; but she had to try many, many times.

 

She put the cocoons in a hot place, and the little sleepers soon died. Then the cocoons {36} were thrown into boiling water to make the threads soft. After that the long threads could be easily unwound.

 

Now Si-ling had to think of something else; she had to find a way to weave the threads into cloth. After many trials, she made a loom—the first that was ever made. She taught others to weave, and soon hundreds of people were making cloth from the threads of the silkworm.

 

The people ever afterward called Si-ling "The Goddess of the Silkworm." And whenever the emperor walked with her in the garden, they liked to watch the silkworms spinning threads for the good of their people.

 

THE MERCHANTS CARAVAN

An East Indian Tale

by Ida Coe and Alice J. Christie (I think)

 

Once there was a merchant who had fine silks and rugs to sell. He wished to send his goods to a country on the other side of the sandy desert.

 

The merchant owned a large caravan of camels, and he employed many men. Camels were the only animals strong enough to travel over the desert with the heavy loads.

 

For many days, Abdul the merchant and his men had been preparing for the journey. The canvas tents and the poles were placed upon one camel. Great leather bottles of water were loaded upon another camel.

 

Firewood and bags of rice and barley meal were placed upon still another. It required many camels to carry the merchant's goods.

 

At last the caravan was ready for the journey. The sun shone steadily, making the sand so hot that no one could walk upon it in the daytime. But at night both men and camels could travel easily.

 

So Abdul the merchant said to the men, "Be ready to start after sunset to-night. Give the camels plenty of water to drink, and feed them well, for we shall have a long, hard journey."

 

Abdul and his men traveled all that night. One man was the pilot. He rode ahead, for he knew the stars, and by them he could guide the caravan.

 

At daybreak they stopped. They spread the canvas tents and fed the camels. They built fires, cooked the rice, and made cakes of the barley meal. During the day, the men rested in the shade of the tents.

 

After the evening meal, the caravan started again on its way.

 

They had traveled thus for three long, silent nights. Early on the third morning, the camels raised their heads, stretched their nostrils, and hastened eagerly forward.

 

The pilot cried, "The camels smell water and grass. An oasis is near!"

 

Before long they could see palm trees, with their spreading leaves waving in the soft breeze.

 

Joyfully they rested during the day. The camels drank freely from the cool spring. The men filled the great leather bottles with fresh water. In the evening, refreshed and happy, the men continued the journey.

 

So they traveled night after night, resting during the heat of the day. At last, one morning the pilot said, "We shall soon reach the end of our journey."

 

The men were very glad to hear this, for they were weary, and the camels needed rest.

 

After supper that night Abdul said, "Throw away the firewood and most of the water. It will lighten the burden of the camels. By to-morrow we shall reach the city."

 

When the caravan started that evening, the pilot led the way as usual, but after a while, weary with many nights of watching, he fell asleep.

 

All night long the caravan traveled. At daybreak the pilot awoke and looked at the last star, fading in the morning light.

 

"Halt!" he called. "The camels must have turned while I slept. We are at the place from which we started yesterday."

 

There was no water to drink. There was no firewood to cook the food. The men spread the tents and lay down under them, saying, "The wood and the water are gone. We are lost!"

 

But Abdul said to himself, "This is no time to rest. I must find water. If I give way to despair, all will be lost."

 

Then Abdul started away from the tent, watching the ground closely. He walked and walked. At last he saw a tuft of grass.

 

"There must be water somewhere under the sand, or this grass would not be here," thought the merchant.

 

He ran back to the tent, shouting and calling, "Bring an ax and a spade. Come quickly!"

 

The men jumped up and ran with the merchant to the place where the grass was growing. They began to dig in the sand, and presently they struck a rock.

 

Abdul jumped down into the hole and put his ear close to the rock.

 

"Water! Water!" he cried. "I hear water running under this great rock. We must not despair!"

 

Then, raising his ax above his head, he struck a heavy blow. Again and again he struck the rock.

 

At last the rock broke, and a stream of water, clear as crystal, filled the hole almost before the merchant could jump out of it.

 

A shout of joy burst from the lips of the men. They drank the water eagerly, and afterwards led the camels to the spring. Then they set up a pole, to which they fastened a flag, so that other traders might find the well.

 

In the evening, the men again started on their journey, and they reached the city the very next day.

[Kimber]

And here's one on Egypt you'd have to edit a little. It's from Peeps of Many Lands.

Our last story belongs to a later age than that of the Shipwrecked Sailor. About 1,500 years before Christ there arose in Egypt a race of mighty soldier-Kings, who founded a great empire, which stretched from the Soudan right through Syria and Mesopotamia as far as the great River Euphrates. Mesopotamia, or Naharaina, as the Egyptians called it, had been an unknown land to them before this time; but now it became to them what America was to the men of Queen Elizabeth's time, or the heart of Africa to your grandfathers—the wonderful land of romance, where all kinds of strange things might happen. And this story of the Doomed Prince, which I have to tell you, belongs partly to Naharaina, and, as you will see, some of our own fairy-stories have been made out of very much the same materials as are used in it.

Once upon a time there was a King in Egypt who had no child. His heart was grieved because he had no child, and he prayed to the gods for a son; so in course of time a son was born to him, and the Fates[Pg 50] (like fairy godmothers) came to his cradle to foretell what should happen to him. And when they saw him, they said, "His doom is to die either by the crocodile, or by the serpent, or by the dog." When the King heard this, his heart was sore for his little son, and he resolved that he would put the boy where no harm could come to him; so he built for him a beautiful house away in the desert, and furnished it with all kinds of fine things, and sent the boy there, with faithful servants to guard him, and to see that he came to no hurt. So the boy grew up quietly and safely in his house in the desert.

 

But it fell on a day that the young Prince looked out from the roof of his house, and he saw a man walking across the desert, with a dog following him. So he said to the servant who was with him, "What is this that walks behind the man who is coming along the road?" "It is a dog," said the page. Then the boy said, "You must bring me one like him," and the page went and told His Majesty. Then the King said, "Get a little puppy, and take it to him, lest his heart be sad." So they brought him a little dog, and it grew up along with him.

 

Now, it happened that, when the boy had grown to be a strong young man, he grew weary of being always shut up in his fine house. Therefore he sent a message to his father, saying, "Why am I always to be shut up here? Since I am doomed to three evil Fates, let me have my desire, and let God do what is in His heart." So the King agreed, and they gave the young Prince arms, and sent him away to the eastern frontier, and his dog went with him, and they said to him, "Go wherever you will." So he went northward through[Pg 51] the desert, he and his dog, until he came to the land of Naharaina.

 

Now, the chief of the land of Naharaina had no children, save one beautiful daughter, and for her he had built a wonderful house. It had seventy windows, and it stood on a great rock more than 100 feet high. And the chief summoned the sons of all the chiefs of the country round about, and said to them, "The Prince who can climb to my daughter's window shall have her for his wife." So all the young Princes of the land camped around the house, and tried every day to climb to the window of the beautiful Princess; but none of them succeeded, for the rock was very steep and high.

 

Then, one day when they were climbing as they were wont, the young Prince of Egypt rode by with his dog; and the Princes welcomed him, bathed him, and fed his horse, and said to him, "Whence comest thou, thou goodly youth?" He did not wish to tell them that he was the son of Pharaoh, so he answered, "I am the son of an Egyptian officer. My father married a second wife, and, when she had children, she hated me, and drove me away from my home." So they took him into their company, and he stayed with them many days.

 

Now, it fell on a day that he asked them, "Why do you stay here, trying always to climb this rock?" And they told him of the beautiful Princess who lived in the house on the top of the rock, and how the man who could climb to her window should marry her. Therefore the young Prince of Egypt climbed along with them, and it came to pass that at last he climbed to the window of the Princess; and when she saw him, she fell in love with him, and kissed him.[Pg 52]

 

Then was word sent to the Chief of Naharaina that one of the young men had climbed to his daughter's window, and he asked which of the Princes it was, and the messenger said, "It is not a Prince, but the son of an Egyptian officer, who has been driven away from Egypt by his stepmother." Then the Chief of Naharaina was very angry, and said, "Shall I give my daughter to an Egyptian fugitive? Let him go back to Egypt." But, when the messengers came to tell the young man to go away, the Princess seized his hand, and said, "If you take him from me, I will not eat; I will not drink; I shall die in that same hour." Then the chief sent men to kill the youth where he was in the house. But the Princess said, "If you kill him, I shall be dead before the sun goes down. I will not live an hour if I am parted from him." So the chief was obliged to agree to the marriage; and the young Prince was married to the Princess, and her father gave them a house, and slaves, and fields, and all sorts of good things.

 

But after a time the young Prince said to his wife, "I am doomed to die, either by a crocodile, or by a serpent, or by a dog." And his wife answered, "Why, then, do you keep this dog always with you? Let him be killed." "Nay," said he, "I am not going to kill my faithful dog, which I have brought up since the time that he was a puppy." So the Princess feared greatly for her husband, and would never let him go out of her sight.

 

Now, it happened in course of time that the Prince went back to the land of Egypt; and his wife went with him, and his dog, and he dwelt in Egypt. And one day, when the evening came, he grew drowsy, and fell[Pg 53] asleep; and his wife filled a bowl with milk, and placed it by his side, and sat to watch him as he slept. Then a great serpent came out of his hole to bite the youth. But his wife was watching, and she made the servants give the milk to the serpent, and he drank till he could not move. Then the Princess killed the serpent with blows of her dagger. So she woke her husband, and he was astonished to see the serpent lying dead, and his faithful wife said to him, "Behold, God has given one of thy dooms into thy hand; He will also give the others." And the Prince made sacrifice to God, and praised Him.

 

Now, it fell on a day that the Prince went out to walk in his estate, and his dog went with him. And as they walked, the dog ran after some game, and the Prince followed the dog. They came to the River Nile, and the dog went into the river, and the Prince followed him. Then a great crocodile rose in the river, and laid hold on the youth, and said, "I am thy doom, following after thee." ...

 

But just here the old papyrus roll on which the story is written is torn away, and we do not know what happened to the Doomed Prince. I fancy that, in some way or other, his dog would save him from the crocodile, and that later, by some accident, the poor faithful dog would be the cause of his master's death. At least, it looks as if the end of the story must have been something like that; for the Egyptians believed that no one could escape from the doom that was laid upon him, but had to suffer it sooner or later. Perhaps, some day, one of the explorers who are searching the land of Egypt for relics of the past may come on another papyrus roll with the end of the story, and then we[Pg 54] shall find out whether the dog did kill the Prince, or whether God gave all his dooms into his hand, as his wife hoped.

 

(You might create an ending for him or have him just write the ending himself.)

 

 

 

These are some of the stories that little Tahuti and Sen-senb used to listen to in the long evenings when they were tired of play. Perhaps they seem very simple and clumsy to you; but I have no doubt that, when they were told in those old days, the black eyes of the little Egyptian boys and girls used to grow very big and round, and the wizard who could fasten on heads which had been cut off seemed a very wonderful person, and the talking serpents and crocodiles seemed very real and very dreadful.

 

Anyhow, you have heard the oldest stories in all the world—the fathers and mothers, so to speak, of all the great family of wonder-tales that have delighted and terrified children ever since.

 

 

I don't have anything on the Mayans. :) Goodluck!

[Jenny in Florida]

Those are great, and I really appreciate the time you took to find them and type them out.

 

Thanks a great big bunch!

[Patricia in WA]

I like this site to find stories for CW. On the left of the page under unit studies there is a tab called Civilizations. This will bring up many sotires from the cultures you are looking for. Good luck. I wish I was brave enough to attack CW without the workbooks.

 

HTHs,

[Renai]

Also remember, the book says for the analysis and interpretation, you don't have to use the entire model. You can choose a section of the model to work on.

[HiddenJewel]

I wish I was brave enough to attack CW without the workbooks.

 

Me too.

[Kathie in VA]

I agree with Renai; don't forget that you can imitate a part of something. This means you can take something right from your history or science studies... or even from your study of Latin and mythology.

 

For India you may be able to use a shortened version or a part of Rikki Tikki Tavvi.

 

hth

[Renai]

Me too.

 

I think once you get into the hang of it, it becomes easy. I'm currently adapting CW for Spanish, using Spanish models as well as translations. It gets easier the more you do it. (Also, that's a reason I purchase a very adaptable preplanned curriculum- I have more time to write out the Spanish, so yes I cheat :D.)

[Patricia in WA]

It NEVER occured to me to try this in Spanish!!!! DUH!!!!!!! Thank you so much for this!!!!!

[Renai]

It NEVER occured to me to try this in Spanish!!!! DUH!!!!!!! Thank you so much for this!!!!!

 

:D I found many Aesop's tales in Spanish on the web and will also be pulling from the Bible, Spanish novels, excerpts from our curriculum that I find in Spanish, and myths (like from the book De Oro y Esmeraldas: Mitos, leyendas, y cuentos populares de Latinoamerica). I haven't narrowed down the models I will use yet, my main step was finding them. I have a lot of material to work with. I also have a 3rd grade Spanish grammar workbook (Fernandez Editores someone gave me a couple of years ago) and wrote down the grammer topics to work on for the year. I'll be writing it all up in August (along with, or somehow integrated with, my adaptation of PLL). Fun stuff, eh? Just can't shake that curriculum writer out of me :001_huh:.

[Jenny in Florida]

Hey, I just wanted to let everyone know that I did find enough stuff to get us through the year.

 

And, yes, I know in theory you can use a portion of a larger piece, but I felt strongly that I wanted to have models that felt "complete," with a defined beginning, middle and end.

 

What I ended up doing was pulling a few stories from a series of books I had on the shelf and then editing them down. I also pulled a couple from links on Mr. Donn's ancient history pages. [ http://ancienthistory.mrdonn.org/index.html , just in case anyone doesn't already know about this wonderful resource ]

 

For the sake of consistency, I typed out all of the selections and formatted them the same way on the page. So, we're now all ready to go.

 

Thanks a bunch for the suggestions!