Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales, Reading B

 

("King for Three Days" by Gertrude Landa via UN-Textbook)

The second story that I chose to focus on for this week is “King for Three Days” by Gertrude Landa (1919). In this story, a cruel warrior and general wished to purge the Jewish people which he eventually accomplishes, but at a great cost. I chose this story because the warrior learned a lesson in the end similar to the other story that I chose this week. In the stories for the second part of the reading, I noticed that rabbis were very common in these tales and this one was no exception. In most of the stories, the rabbi was typically some sort of sage or wizard that had great insight and knowledge above most others. They usually forewarned the main character of danger or helped to teach them a lesson. In the case of this story, the arrogant warrior gets taught a lesson and becomes humbled by the end. Another common thing about this tale and others in this section is that the characters and setting are based on real life people and places. However, there is typically some sort of magical element to the story compared to real life whether it be sages, magic, spirits, etc. As this story in set in the 1100s, the language used in the story has older terms that really helps to make you feel as if you are actually in the time where the story took place.