In Touch with Folklore and Folktales

By Betty Miller Buttram
FWIS Contributing Writer

A folklore is the traditional beliefs of a community’s practices, beliefs, and knowledge that include telling stories, songs, and superstitions that are passed down by generations by word of mouth. Folktales are stories in the oral tradition or tales that people tell each other aloud rather than stories in written form. Their primary purpose is to entertain, teach morals or explain cultural occurrences. A folktale is one element within the larger field of folklore; however, both elements are passed down through the generations.

I recently read a children’s book, “Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears,” written by Verna Aardema (June 6, 1911 – May 11, 2000), and printed in 1976. Aardema was a writer of traditional tales and folklore from distant cultures, usually from Africa and Mexico. I found it a very entertaining moral tale. It teaches children that a cause is something that makes something else happen and the effect is what happens because of the cause. As adults, we understand the cause and effect of our actions, and this book is a valuable teaching tool for all ages.

This is an animal tale that sets off a chain reaction that creates a jungle disaster. The plot of the story goes like this: A mosquito tells a tall tale to the iguana who is so upset and annoyed by her tale that he plugs his ears with sticks and goes on about his business. He does not hear his friend, Python, greeting him, so the snake is frightened that the iguana is plotting against him and slitheringdown a rabbit hole. This terrifies the rabbit, and she runs for her life into a field. A crow is startled to see the running scared rabbit and it is his duty to spread the alarm in case of danger and flies into forest crying his warning. A monkey hears the crow crying of danger and begins to leap through the trees to help warn the other animals. As he is crashing through the treetops, a dead limb breaks and falls on a nest of owlets, killing one. When Mother Owl returns to the nest and finds her dead owlet, she is heartbroken and grieves into the long night; so long that the day does not come. It is Mother Owl who wakes the sun each day so that dawn can come. This chain of reaction is resolved at the end of the story.

I had a conversation with a total stranger; someone I met during a usual day. She commented that she has not listened to and read the news events since 2015. She tunes in to keep abreast, but she tunes off as soon as she needs to know what is happening or what has happened. Too much noise and misinformation. Her attention is captured by cooking shows and other media entertainment. There is cause and effect when you check in now and then. There is no winning the war if you can defeat a battle. There should be no plugs in your ears when it comes to listening; no blinders on eyes that prevent you from reading and being observant.

The mosquito character is full of its own agenda and does what it must to keep its power. That kind of power can frighten people, and they can do several things. They become annoyed and then ignore the situation by going off into their own world. They can become frightened and try and find a place to hide until the chaos is over. There is no hiding place whether you are annoyed, put blinders on your eyes, or are frightened. The character of Mother Owl in the story symbolizes our Statue of Liberty; and she is grieving for her loss of owlets, Truth and Justice. Even though the sun might shine on some days, the sky is not always blue. Now is not the time to plug our ears, run for cover, or just do nothing. We cannot become complacent with the Nation’s situation because action is needed to save Truth and Justice.