Stories from Different Cultures

Read both of the stories and then answer the questions.

The Fox and the Raven (An ancient Chinese story)

The fox knows how to flatter, and how to play many cunning tricks. Once upon a time he saw a raven,
who alighted on a tree with a piece of meat in his beak. The fox seated himself beneath the tree, looked
up at him, and began to praise him.

“Your color,” he began, “is pure black. This proves to me that you possess all the wisdom of Laotzse, who
knows how to shroud his learning in darkness. The manner in which you manage to feed your mother
shows that your filial affection equals that which the Master Dsong had for his parents. Your voice is
rough and strong. It proves that you have the courage with which King Hiang once drove his foes to flight
by the mere sound of his voice. In truth, you are the king of birds!”

The raven, hearing this, was filled with joy and said: “I thank you! I thank you!” And
before he knew it, the meat fell to earth from his opened beak.
The fox caught it up, devoured it and then said, laughing: “Make note of this, my dear sir: if someone
praises you without occasion, he is sure to have a reason for doing so.”

The Boy in the Moon (A Native American story)

Do you see the mark in the middle of the Moon, that looks like a man? Well, that is really a little Indian
boy. It happened this way—

Many years ago, there lived a Vuntakutchin boy. One Winter when he saw that his people had nothing
to eat, he dreamed they killed a lot of Caribou. He told his dream in the morning, and the braves set out
to hunt.

But before they went, the boy made his uncle promise that he would give him the meat of the leader
Caribou. The uncle killed the leader, but when he came back from the hunt, he gave the boy the wrong
meat, and kept the right meat for himself.
 Well, the boy felt so badly that he cried for two nights. And on the third night he disappeared. He wore
Marten-skin pants, and in the morning his uncle saw the left leg of the pants, hanging to the tent pole in
the hole where the smoke goes out. And when the uncle went outside the tent, he found that all the
Caribou, which had been killed the day before, had come to life again, and run away.

As for the boy, he had gone up to the Moon, and there he is now, with one leg bigger than the other,
because the right leg has pants on it. From his hand hangs a little bag full of the wrong Caribou meat, and
during the Autumn and Winter, when the sky is clear, you may see him standing in the Moon.

1. What is the lesson of The Fox and The Raven?

In life we must be careful with people who flatter us and say nice things, because they do it
with a purpose in return and thus deceive us.

2. What is the lesson of The Boy in the Moon?

We should not tell our dreams or projects to other people out of envy can betray us.

3. What do both stories have in common?

These stories have in common that we can not trust the others that come to us with an envy
and interest return because they can make us a bad play.

4. How do you think these stories were used in these cultures?

They are myths and stories are created in each culture and that according to it they find a learning.

DISCUSSION

What is important to people around the world?

each person thinks or has different goals than other people, things that may be important to one person are
not important to another, and each person seeks their well-being and indulge their own interests

Can you think of something that almost everyone thinks is good or bad?
 Something that everyone thinks is good and bad is often dictated by religion, the fact of
killing is something inconceivable for all people and something good are the acts of help
and seeking the general welfare.

Why are there differences from one country to another?

Each country has a history and a journey over the years in which culture is formed and different traditions,
languages and beliefs are adopted.

Do you think these differences are a good thing or a bad thing? How do people learn the rules of how to act
and how to think?

It is a good thing, since there is diversity, and it gives us the opportunity to learn about different cultures
apart from our own, to share knowledge and beliefs.

How do people learn the rules of how to act and how to think?

If there are rules that can regulate the acts of people such as the laws of each country of what is illegal or not
and must be complied with by the citizens of each country but rules for thinking no, since everyone is free to
think and express ourselves, and it would be good if our thoughts were geared towards changing society,
contributing good things and looking out not only for our own interests

If you could create a perfect world, would you have only one culture or permit many different cultures to
exist? Why?
A perfect world not only has a culture, we must leave and respect the culture and thought of other people.
Obviously, if you were to create a perfect world, you would have thousands of cultures.