The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival has become a great tradition for 19 years. I have gone for the past 6 years and always love it. Usually we make it a big family thing or go with lots of friends, but this year it turned out to be a date night for me and Dave which I'll admit was nice, but I spent some time pouting as I felt like a total social loser because we had invited tons of people and no one came. It was bad timing though with the first BYU football game going on the same day.
My favorite part of the festival is Laughin' night which is always on Saturday. I love to have a good laugh and had no shortage of them last night.
My favorite story of the night was told by Motoko. Raised in Japan, Motoko was trained in rakugo-- the Japanese art of comical storytelling. She also studied pantomime under Tony Montanaro. She is fun to watch because she physically gets into her stories, but has grace and control so she's not running around the stage like some over excited storytellers do.
Her story is (as closely as I can recall) as follows:
Her story is (as closely as I can recall) as follows:
Once upon a time there was a beautiful young woman who was engaged to a farmer who lived in the next town over. Before she married, her mother sat her down one day and said to her "daughter, you will soon be married to the farmer from the next town over. Now this farmer is a good man from a good family and he takes care of his aging mother. When you marry and move to his house, you must take great care to be very polite so you do not bring shame to our family. Do not do anything rude that would embarrass your new mother-in-law or husband. Be a sweet, carefully wife". The daughter agreed and was soon married to the farmer and moved in with him. She immediately began her new life helping to keep her new husbands home clean and nice, she cooked good meals and helped her new mother-in-law. The new mother-in-law liked her sons wife very much-- she was so sweet and helpful and polite. She was the best daughter-in-law that any mother could ask for.
Now the days and weeks went on and the girl was very careful to not be rude so she would not offend her mother-in-law, embarrass herself, or bring shame to her family. She made a wonderful tea every afternoon and served it very politely to her mother-in-law. The girl however found herself feeling very ill, but she did not want to seem weak or bothersome so she just went on as though all was fine. Her mother-in-law however, was a very good mother and as all good mothers can, she could tell that the girl was not feeling well. She asked her daughter-in-law about it and the girl said "Oh no my mother-in-law I am fine" The days continued and the girl became very pale and her face grimaced in pain and her mother-in-law again approached her "My daughter, I can tell you are not well. You say you are fine, but I know you feel very sick and you look pale. My daughter, what is wrong?" The girl replied "oh, yes my mother-in-law it is true I do not feel very well, but I can not tell you what is wrong. I am to embarrassed and I will offend you" The mother-in-law replied "You will not offend me. I love you very much and I want you to feel good. Now don't worry, just tell me what is your problem?" The girl replied "Well my mother-in-law, I want very badly to be polite and not offend you, but I need very much to pass wind. But I don't want to be rude and embarrass you so I will hold it in. I will be okay." "Wind?" the mother-in-law replied. "You mean you have gas?" "Oh yes." replied the girl, "I am sorry I am so rude. I will ignore it and I'm sure the feeling will pass. I am sorry". The mother-in-law was surprised. "You mean you have been holding in your gas since you married my son several weeks ago?" "yes." the girl replied timidly. "Oh my dear daughter" said the mother-in-law "gas isn't rude or offensive. You must pass it. Go ahead and let it out!" The girl cautiously looked around and said "oh, alright". She lifted up her kimono, took a deep breath and let her wind pass.
Now it had been such a long time since the girl had passed her wind that there was much of it built up in her. The great wind violently rattled the house and like a tornado blew her husbands house to the ground. The mother-in-law was blown down the street into a tree, the children of the village lost their footing and blew to the ground, the dogs in the town blew far out to the fields.
Understandably, the girl was very embarrassed at what she had just done. She didn't know what to do so she began to run back to her mother's home in the next village. Her husband came home to find his house blown apart, his furniture broken and thought maybe a tornado had been through. His mother and wife were nowhere to be found. He became very worried and ran about the yard shouting "My Wife, My Mother, are you alright? Where are you?" He soon found his mother in the tree and helped her down. "My mother, what happened? Was there a great storm?" "Oh my son," said his mother "your wife, she has run home to her mother. You must go get her." She quickly explained to her son the story of his wife's attempt to be polite and the great wind that had built up in her and when it was finally released it blew the house down like a great storm. The man ran towards his wife's home town to catch up to her. Once he found her he said "My wife, do not be embarrassed. This is fine. I can rebuild the house and you need not to be embarrassed." The man convinced his wife to return and they decided to make it a ritual that the girl could pass wind once a week-- This was as often as she was comfortable doing it. So once a week, the townspeople would tie their dogs down, hold on to a tree or a fence, the girl would lift up her kimono, take a deep breath, and pass her wind.
As time went by the girl found she could control this great power in her to make as little or as big a wind as needed for any occasion. One day she was walking down a trail and saw at the top of a hill a little prince with his servants under a pear tree. This was a beautiful pear tree with much fruit on it and the prince wanted some, but none could be reached. The tree was very tall and to smooth and delicate to be climbed. The little prince boy was becoming upset that none of his servants could get the fruit from the tree. The girl approached the prince "little prince" she said "I believe I can get some pears off that tree for you" "really?" said the prince in a amazement "how?" "It's a special power, but you must go to the bottom of the hill with your servants and hold on to the trees down there. The boy did as he was asked and the woman lifted up her kimono, took a deep breath and passed a great, yet gentle wind that shook the branches just right to let the fruit fall, but do no damage. The little prince was very happy to have the fruit. He promptly gathered it and ran home where he told his father, the Emperor, of the woman with the power of the great wind.
Now the days and weeks went on and the girl was very careful to not be rude so she would not offend her mother-in-law, embarrass herself, or bring shame to her family. She made a wonderful tea every afternoon and served it very politely to her mother-in-law. The girl however found herself feeling very ill, but she did not want to seem weak or bothersome so she just went on as though all was fine. Her mother-in-law however, was a very good mother and as all good mothers can, she could tell that the girl was not feeling well. She asked her daughter-in-law about it and the girl said "Oh no my mother-in-law I am fine" The days continued and the girl became very pale and her face grimaced in pain and her mother-in-law again approached her "My daughter, I can tell you are not well. You say you are fine, but I know you feel very sick and you look pale. My daughter, what is wrong?" The girl replied "oh, yes my mother-in-law it is true I do not feel very well, but I can not tell you what is wrong. I am to embarrassed and I will offend you" The mother-in-law replied "You will not offend me. I love you very much and I want you to feel good. Now don't worry, just tell me what is your problem?" The girl replied "Well my mother-in-law, I want very badly to be polite and not offend you, but I need very much to pass wind. But I don't want to be rude and embarrass you so I will hold it in. I will be okay." "Wind?" the mother-in-law replied. "You mean you have gas?" "Oh yes." replied the girl, "I am sorry I am so rude. I will ignore it and I'm sure the feeling will pass. I am sorry". The mother-in-law was surprised. "You mean you have been holding in your gas since you married my son several weeks ago?" "yes." the girl replied timidly. "Oh my dear daughter" said the mother-in-law "gas isn't rude or offensive. You must pass it. Go ahead and let it out!" The girl cautiously looked around and said "oh, alright". She lifted up her kimono, took a deep breath and let her wind pass.
Now it had been such a long time since the girl had passed her wind that there was much of it built up in her. The great wind violently rattled the house and like a tornado blew her husbands house to the ground. The mother-in-law was blown down the street into a tree, the children of the village lost their footing and blew to the ground, the dogs in the town blew far out to the fields.
Understandably, the girl was very embarrassed at what she had just done. She didn't know what to do so she began to run back to her mother's home in the next village. Her husband came home to find his house blown apart, his furniture broken and thought maybe a tornado had been through. His mother and wife were nowhere to be found. He became very worried and ran about the yard shouting "My Wife, My Mother, are you alright? Where are you?" He soon found his mother in the tree and helped her down. "My mother, what happened? Was there a great storm?" "Oh my son," said his mother "your wife, she has run home to her mother. You must go get her." She quickly explained to her son the story of his wife's attempt to be polite and the great wind that had built up in her and when it was finally released it blew the house down like a great storm. The man ran towards his wife's home town to catch up to her. Once he found her he said "My wife, do not be embarrassed. This is fine. I can rebuild the house and you need not to be embarrassed." The man convinced his wife to return and they decided to make it a ritual that the girl could pass wind once a week-- This was as often as she was comfortable doing it. So once a week, the townspeople would tie their dogs down, hold on to a tree or a fence, the girl would lift up her kimono, take a deep breath, and pass her wind.
As time went by the girl found she could control this great power in her to make as little or as big a wind as needed for any occasion. One day she was walking down a trail and saw at the top of a hill a little prince with his servants under a pear tree. This was a beautiful pear tree with much fruit on it and the prince wanted some, but none could be reached. The tree was very tall and to smooth and delicate to be climbed. The little prince boy was becoming upset that none of his servants could get the fruit from the tree. The girl approached the prince "little prince" she said "I believe I can get some pears off that tree for you" "really?" said the prince in a amazement "how?" "It's a special power, but you must go to the bottom of the hill with your servants and hold on to the trees down there. The boy did as he was asked and the woman lifted up her kimono, took a deep breath and passed a great, yet gentle wind that shook the branches just right to let the fruit fall, but do no damage. The little prince was very happy to have the fruit. He promptly gathered it and ran home where he told his father, the Emperor, of the woman with the power of the great wind.
Now the Emperor was wanting to have a new palace, but the one he lived in was so massive it would have taken generations to dismantle it and build a new one in its place. The Emperor was intrigued by the story of the woman with the power of the great wind and summoned her to help with the dismantling of the palace. She came to the royal grounds, lifted her kimono, took a deep breath and created just the right wind to bring down the walls of the old palace and clear the land of the rubble. Construction on the new palace could begin immediately.
The woman, her husband, and her mother-in-law traveled far and wide with great celebrity helping in whatever way was needed from clearing fields for planting, guiding ships out of port, keeping invaders out of the country and such. The woman with the power of the great wind was no longer ashamed to pass gas-- it was nothing to be embarrassed about, it just needed to be passed at the right time, in the right place.
I hope you all liked that story. Reading it doesn't do the performance justice, but I hope you enjoyed. This particular story reminded me of a chapter in Marisa Jeans Happily Ever After book that has to do with her husbands gas passing and the fact that it is rude and inappropriate which I laugh about and totally agree with.
There were great other stories too, but they take so much space to write so no more tonight. Maybe tomorrow I'll get bored and tell you about Bill Harleys last fathers day or Gay Duceys naked granddaughter.
The woman, her husband, and her mother-in-law traveled far and wide with great celebrity helping in whatever way was needed from clearing fields for planting, guiding ships out of port, keeping invaders out of the country and such. The woman with the power of the great wind was no longer ashamed to pass gas-- it was nothing to be embarrassed about, it just needed to be passed at the right time, in the right place.
I hope you all liked that story. Reading it doesn't do the performance justice, but I hope you enjoyed. This particular story reminded me of a chapter in Marisa Jeans Happily Ever After book that has to do with her husbands gas passing and the fact that it is rude and inappropriate which I laugh about and totally agree with.
There were great other stories too, but they take so much space to write so no more tonight. Maybe tomorrow I'll get bored and tell you about Bill Harleys last fathers day or Gay Duceys naked granddaughter.
2 comments:
Camy! I wish I would have known that nobody else came. Jonathan and I totally would have come. Granted I had already dragged him to the BYU game and he would have been a total grump (which would have been awful for you guys), but I still would have come. The one and only year I went with you, it really was a great experience. Can't promise I'll be there next year, but I'll try. I'm glad you and Dave had a nice outing though! And thanks for telling the great story through your words. I loved it!
That was hilarious! I am sorry dad and I missed it. Next year remind me how bad I will fill if we don't make it. Now it makes me curious to hear about Marisa's story...:-)
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