Sandman Stories Presents

In this story, little Ahmed saves a princess from a lion that breaks free from its handler. He is rewarded with gold, but then his father spends all of it. In order to earn a living, he and his father set out from the holy city of Mashhad only to be caught in a terrible sandstorm. Ahmed gives relief to a dying dervish who rewards him with a crystal cup. During the storm, Ahmed and his father are separated and a stranger calls Ahmed by name. This turns out to be a Ghool (ghoul) who tries to drain the life from the poor boy. He is saved by the princess, but can he in turn save the king from the old man of the mountains? Lots of cool history in this one.

Source: The Cat and the Mouse, Edited by Hartwell James

SFX: Jungle Night Atmosphere by Youtube Creator Studio (Creative Commons) 

Music: Solo Argul - Yarghul أرغول by Arab Instruments (Creative Commons)

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Podcast Shoutout: Espooky Tales Two friends, Cristina & MJ, bring you all the folklore, myths, legends, haunted places, espooky cuentos del rancho and spooky stories you heard at all the family fiestas, with a focus on Latin America.

Listener Shoutout: Jalisco Mexico with a focus on Nahuatl which I try to speak, but now realize that I kinda butchered the pronunciation of the name of the language.

In the first story, the world is covered with water, and the grandson of the king takes his inheritance and makes the land of the Yoruba.

In the second story, the king's wives think that the man covered in scars is attractive, so the king sets out to get the same hundred cuts, but can only stand two. Thus two cuts becomes the sign of royalty.

In the third story, Akiti brags about being a great hunter, but Elephant thinks he brags too much. They have a battle and it comes down to one of the smallest animals to win the day. Is Akiti still the greatest hunter?

Source: Yoruba Legends recorded by M. I. Ogumefu (1929) 

Music: Okun Song by Empress Kofoworola Creative Commons

Cover Photo:  "File:A costume parade on Tiv and Yoruba ethnic group.jpg" by Magicc0077 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Frog recording: Dustin Steichmann

Podcast Shoutout: Beer'd Al Brother and sister John & Lauren Carey discuss beer and Weird Al’s catalog. Beer by beer and song by song. We also go off on wild tangents sometimes (often). Cheers!

Listener Shoutout: Louisville, Kentucky

In the first story, a merchant stores some flowers in the fish room. The fish complain about the smell. Do the flowers find it worth it to argue with fish?

In the third story, a little boy is very curious. He wants to be a bird, or a fish, or just to grab the moon. His curiosity knows no bounds, but without caution he nearly drowns.

Source: CHINESE FABLES AND FOLK STORIES by MARY HAYES DAVIS and CHOW-LEUNG

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: 古琴曲《平沙落雁》唱弦 Creative Commons

SFX: Countryside, spring-like morning, birds singing, insects passing by by Gain Walkers from Zapsplat.com

Podcast shout out: The Vocal Fries podcast with Drs Gillon and Figueroa. Go listen!

Listener shout out: Cape Coral Florida, thank you for all of the listens

In the first story the king and queen of Atlantis really want a baby. Eventually they grow sour and the king especially is awful to his subjects. Everyone prays for them to have a kid. Eventually a fairy comes and tells them that they will have a child, but that the fairy will take and raise their daughter for 20 years. For those 20 years the king should make amends for his poor treatment of his subjects. Can he wait 20 years or will his temper return and sink Atlantis?

In the second story an Angel breaks the rules of heaven and is kicked out. She always loved the flowers of heaven and so when she was kicked out she grabbed an armful of flowers. There were too many and she dropped some. Those became the islands of the Azores.

Source: THE ISLANDS OF MAGIC LEGENDS, FOLK AND FAIRY TALES FROM THE AZORES RETOLD BY ELSIE SPICER EELLS

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: Wistful Harp - Andrew Huang (Creative Commons)

Sound effects: Ansan Rain by Dustin Steichmann

Podcast shout out: A History of the Inca- Nick Machinski

In A History of the Inca, we will explore pre-Inca states and the hostile world they inhabited. We will learn of the Inca origins and how they were but one of many ethnic groups carving out a living miles above sea level. From their beginnings as a small ethnic group we will march with their armies as they set out to expand their rule over Andes. We dissect their administration and government while also looking at how ordinary people fared under the empire.

Listener shout out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbabura_Province 

Language focus: Runasimi 

This story is of a group of friends who spend the night near a temple in the forest. During the night, they each learn a part of a charm to bring things back to life. Armed with this knowledge, they set out on an adventure only to come to a city with no people or animals. This is all the doing of some Rakshasis, a form of evil spirit. Can the three friends defeat the Rakshasis and bring the princess's family back to life?

Source: Folk-Tales of Bengal collected by Lal Behari Day (1912)

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: Bengali Folk Song | Bangla Lokgeeti | Rabha | Bengali Song 2020 | Khamaknama S02 |  Folk songs of the Rabha people recorded by Sondesh TV (creative commons)

Sound effects: Light Rain by Dustin Steichmann

Podcast Shout Out: Black Girl Seoul We are Black women expressing and exploring our love of Asian films and television. Our goal is to build a community with others who love them as well. We come with a unique point of view and over a 10 year viewing history. Listen to our podcast, follow our blog, and please be sure to comment.  We'd love to hear from you!

Listener Shout Out: Persephone and Seraphina! Thank you for listening and enjoying the stories ~Dustin

Here is the story of Kintaro and how he began his life. First his father is killed in a court plot, and then his mother and he are banished to the mountain forest. Kintaro learns to live with the animals and build his skills. Then a mysterious woodcutter comes to challenge him in arm wrestling. The woodcutter turns out to be a famous general of the lord Minamoto-no-Raiko, who brings Kintaro to the city and makes him a full samurai.

Source: Japanese Fairy Tales compiled by YEI THEODORA OZAKI 1908

Sound effects: Winter forest wind moderate with trees rustling and barks creaking North Laurentian Woods Canada by Articulated

Music: Kimono Show - Shamisen Creative Commons

Shout out: Afrotales The Afro Tales Podcast is our way to explore the versions of folklore told be those melinated people that were brought to the Americas. I have made up my mind to share every collected story on this podcast and therefore on this site. I thank you for visiting, learning and sharing with me.

Listeners: L.A., California  Love you Goober and Amy. (happy late birthday Joshie)

"きんたろうさん" by frontriver is licensed under CC BY 2.0

This is a trickster tale from Korea. The people of Korea are at the mercy of Old White Whiskers, the giant tiger that stalks the hills of Gangwon. He catches Mr Bunny slippin, and little bun bun has to use his wits to get home safely. Who is smarter, Mr Bunny or Old White Whiskers?

Source: Korean Fairy Tales collected by W.E. Griffis (1922)

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Sound Effects: Arrowwood by Lisa Steichmann

Music: [🌕_Live] 송소희(Song so hee) - 달무리(Moon Halo) 라이브(가야금ver.)_작곡: 안예은 Creative Commons

Podcast shout out: Composer Chronicals Stephen Trygar recounts the stories of composers past and present through the music they write. Historical episodes focus on a particular work by the featured composer and examines their life during the time the piece was written and performed. Additionally, living composers, musicians, industry professionals, and general enthusiasts are featured every other week to share their own stories and geek out over the music that we all love. Through these tales, you're invited to explore each composers' legacy and their impact in keeping the world entertained.

Listener shout out: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar has been given numerous names in its history. Before 1911, official names included Nomiĭn Khüree (Mongolian: ᠨᠣᠮ ‍ᠤᠨ ᠬᠦᠷᠢᠶᠡᠨ; Номын хүрээ) and Ikh Khüree (ᠶᠡᠬᠡ ᠬᠦᠷᠢᠶᠡᠨ; Их Хүрээ; lit. "Great Settlement"). It is called Bogdiin Khuree (Богдын Хүрээ, Bogdiĭn Khüree, "Great Holy Khan's Monastery") in the folk song "Praise of Bogdiin Khuree". Other names were Da Khüree (Да Хүрээ, dà, "great"), or simply Khüree (ᠬᠦᠷᠢᠶᠡᠨ; Хүрээ). The Chinese equivalent, Dà Kùlún (大庫倫), was rendered into Western languages as "Kulun" or "Kuren". In western languages, the city at that time was most often referred to as Urga (from Mongolian: ᠥᠷᠭᠦᠭᠡ; Өргөө, Örgöö, "Palace"). From Wikipedia

This is a beautiful story of beware of what you ask for and also make sure that when you lay down the rules, they they are clear. The rat wants to race the beetle, but he does not think ahead as she does. And in the second part, it is the beetle who does not think ahead and only wants what she wants. In the end, we get the Brazilian flag.

Source: Fairy Tales From Brazil by Collected by Elsie Spicer Eells

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Sound Effects: Jungle Night Sounds by Youtube Creator Suite

Enjoy this little bonus story and go listen to independent podcasters!

This story is of a king who is poisoned and his son who goes off to avenge him. The trouble is that the person who slayed his father isn't a warrior, but an enchanted princess who just wants to be left alone. Eventually he falls for her, but he must break her magic spell before he can talk to her. Even after winning her over, his trials are not over. Will they live happily ever after? Will the witch steal her away? What can the magic fairies do to help?

Source: The Golden Maiden and other folk tales and fairy stories told in Armenia collected by A. G. Seklemian

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Music: Tailor's Seat by German Mr. Thomas Creative Commons

Sound Effects: Birds and rain by Dustin Steichmann

Podcast Shout out: Planthropology A cool, sciencey, nerdy podcast all about plants and the people who study them. Dr Vikram's passion for plants shows through on his podcast and his twitter feed. Always a good listen.

Listener shout out to Green Bay Wisconsin and the Ho Chunk Native American Tribe. Language highlight is Ho Chunk

 Cover Art: "An Armenian woman posing for Prokudin-Gorskii on a hillside near Artvin (in present day Turkey), Circa 1910" by ali eminov is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

In the first Anansi story, there is a great famine. Everyone is looking for food. Anansi's son, Kweku Tsin is able to find food, but declines to tell his father where because he knows of his father's greed. Well, by trickery, Anansi learns where the meat is and plans to make himself fat. To get back at him, Kweku Tsin tries to convince Anansi that the gods are mad at him. Will it work?

In the second story, Anansi is pretending to take his dead grandfather's body home, when really it is a dead antelope. Wolf and Leopard think he is being tricky, so they scare him and take the meat away. How does Anansi get revenge? He hangs them from a tree and eats a feast in front of them. The white ant (termite) cuts them down, but Anansi still gets another one over on them. Why is the white ant so mad? Listen and find out.

Source: West African folk-tales collected by Barker, William Henry

Narrator: Dustin Steichmann

Sound Effects: Night Frogs recorded by Dustin Steichmann

Music: Kpanlogo at Brandeis University - A Taste of Ghana Francis Kofi Akotuah Creative Commons

Podcaster shout out: Lexitecture  You’ve found the online home of your new favourite source of random etymology from a pair of language geeks from either side of The Pond.

Listener shout out: Istanbul Turkey. Language: Turkish teşekkürler ve iyi geceler Thank you and goodnight.