In the not so far time in the past, there was a woman who had a sharp tongue and made unkind remarks. It was not long before she was accused of starting a rumor and was brought to the village judge.
The judge read the charges against her, which basically said that she had committed the sin of the tongue. In front of everybody, the woman had to explain why she said what she had said. Her excuse was that she was in jest. What she said was just for humor, just for the passing of time.
“My words were carried away by other and changed. I am not to blame”. She explained.
But the victim protested for justice and claimed that his good name had been soiled. “My good name has been destroyed because of what you said of me. You need to pay for the harm you have done to me”.
The woman responded by saying that she would make amends. “I will take back my words. I will explain things are not as they sound”.
The judge of the village listened as she spoke and sadly shook his head. He knew that the woman did not comprehend her crime and that she would do it again and again in time. When she pleaded, he left a little window of hope and said.
“Your careless remarks could possibly be excused only if, only if…”
“Only if?” repeated the accused woman.
And he gave her a challenge. He handed her a feather pillow and said. “Take this feather pillow to the market square, cut it, rip it and let the feathers fly through the airand when this task is done, bring me back all the feathers”.
Everyone looked in suspense. The woman took the feathered pillow and looked at it in disbelief. She knew that this was impossible. She thought that the wise old judge had gone mad: “I will have to bleed for this deed”she murmured in despair.
But she had no other option. She reluctantly agreed. She took the pillow to the village square, she cut it, she ripped it and feathers filled the air. As they were flying around, she touched them and tried to catch them and tried to snatch them and tried to grasp them and tried to collect each one of them. But she quickly discovered that the task could not be done.
The next day, she reported to the judge’s with very few feathers in hand. Everybody was curious. She apologetically lifted her eyes to meet the eyes of the judge and said in a low voice.
“I could not get them back. They scattered all over the land. I suppose, like the words I cannot take back from the rumor I spread. Oh, words like feathers fly. Oh, words reach far and wide away and I promise, my judge, I will make my words kind because I see no other way”.
“So, you see, that words like feathers fly, high in the sky and round and sprout about and bring doubt” replied the judge adding.
“So, learn your lesson, beware, care and be fair”. With this, the judge and passed her sentence in hope that she had learned her lesson.
Storytelling in class.
Stories define us, shape us, control us and make us. Storytelling is indeed the oldest form of teaching. This particular story teach us care, consideration and respect for others. It can play a part in cultivating healthy, respectful and sustainable communities because of the strong message it conveys. But storytelling involves lots of activities which help internalize the meaning. Here are a few suggestions.
Recapping the story and using different points of view.
A storytelling activity would be to give pairs of students a chance to quickly recap what they have heard, checking with each other to make sure they have both understood the story so far. Another activity would be to retell the story from different points of view. The story can be retold from the judge’s, the victim’s or the neighbor’s point of view. Also, the accused woman can be hot seated or interviewed in a realistic role-play, or in a press conference setting.
Putting the students’ own slant on the story.
One classic activity is to ask students to guess how the story turns out or to alter the sequence of events and ultimately the ending. Students think of how the story could have turned out differently and the various versions make the whole process even more interesting. Putting one’s own slant onto the story adds a sense of ownership while feeding one’s imagination.
The benefits of rhyming
The wise story keepers who came before us know well the benefits of rhythm and repetition to get the message across. We can create a rhyming version of the story as part of project work. Focusing on the rhyming element of a story helps language development. Also creating and then highlighting the rhyming words helps enunciation, pronunciation, intonation and rhythm in narration. Here is a small sample of a rhyming version of the story.
In the wind, words, like feathers fly,
reaching far and wide.
In the wind, careless words toss about
going out, bringing doubt.
Tongues like swords can cut the heart.
When words fly out, the rumors start.
Oh, cruel words like feathers fly,
and they reach far and wide.
You try and try to gather them again,
but they fly away leaving a stain.
Expressing our feelings on the story.
When we ask students to express their thoughts, feelings and ideas on the story, we involve them thoroughly. Not only do we support their language learning, but we also get them to infer and interpret the meaning of the story in the way they have internalized it.
Acting out a scene from the story or the whole story.
There may be inhibitions at first but once these reservations are disarmed, students mobilize their creative thinking and reinforce their expressive techniques. They display the inferences and deductions they have made on the story by using oral and visual language. They improve their description techniques and talk with their hands, their bodies, their pauses and the way they look. Acting out delights and inspires most young and older students alike. So, one needs to give it a go.
On the whole when we use a story in class we had better not impose our understanding of it. We had better just show the way and let the students create their own images and make their own meaning. We just need to facilitate the process by dressing the story with before, while or follow up activities.
