“Pride cometh before the fall,” an old Spanish proverb says. But what is pride, and how do we steer clear of it? Today’s collection of stories discusses issues of pride, and the victories or consequences related to it. 

Featured are fun anecdotes of raging elephants, tricksters, and cowboy poetry from storytellers Judith Black, Laura Simms, Dan Deding, Norah Dooley, Joe Harrington, and Jim Bruchac, leaving a lesson with us to Beware of Pride.

 

On today’s episode, enjoy the following:

“The Three Strong Women of Japan” by Judith Black from Blooming (19:10)

A wrestler named Forever-Mountain considers himself the mightiest sumo wrestler in all the land – until he meets a sweet young woman on his travels. When this young woman and her mother and grandmother easily defeat him, he realizes that he has a thing or two to learn from them.

 

“Nalagiri” by Laura Simms from Making Peace—Heart Uprising (8:06)

When  a riled Nalagiri is sent to destroy the Buddha, the Buddha must tame the elephant by extending his kindness and friendliness.

 

“Nasrudin and the Wise Man” by Dan Keding from Wisdom and Wayfaring (1:24)

Nasrudin, a Persian folktale character,  encounters a man who thinks he has learned all there is to know in life – until Nasrudin points out one important missing skill...

 

“Talkative Turtle” by Norah Dooley from World Folk Tales (2:47)

Talkative Turtle makes his escape from hunters  by hitching a ride with two cranes – with one caveat – that he must keep his mouth closed. As you can guess from the title, we’ll see how long that lasts... 

 

“Trail Boss Test” by Joe Harrington from Men of Honor (3:38)

What happens when an upstart cowboy thinks he knows better than the trail boss? We’ll see what wise words the trail boss will impart!

 

“The Beast” by Dan Keding from In a Dead Man’s Company (6:28)

You’re all familiar with the story of Beauty and the Beast! Dan Keding gives us a spin on this “tale as old as time"  from the Beast’s perspective!

 

"Bear and Brown Squirrel" by Jim Bruchac from Northeastern Native American Animal Stories (8:02)

Here's a great reminder about humility. In this story from Jim Bruchac, a bragging bear who can 'do anything', is challenged by a squirrel to demand the sun not to rise.