Reading Notes: Kunterbunt #2

Kunterbunt, or Higgledy-Piggledy

This is a story about three brothers that had no common sense; and two of them were especially silly. They went to the bow-maker's and bought three bows, but two were broken and the third didn't even have strings.

They then went to the stream, where there were three ducks. Two were already dead and the third didn't even have any life left in it. They shot one with an arrow and took it up the hill with them as they drank coffee and smoked, gathering flowers on the way up.

They kept going until they came up on three houses. Two of them were in ruins and the third had no foundation. There were three men with them. Two were dead, and one didn't have life.

They asked the dead men to give them something to cook their duck with, and they showed them three cupboards. Two were broken and the third had no sides. There were three plates inside, two with holes and the third without a bottom at all. They cooked the duck in the third one.

One of the brothers had eaten most of the duck, and one was angry so he ran into a melon-field. He cut into a melon, and met a caravan. They were looking for twelve lost camels.

He came up to a tree and found a basket with a murdered man, as he saw this he also saw forty thieves approaching to he ran away as fast as he could. Once he was out of breath, he sat to rest. He only lost them once he climbed above them, but one thief still found him. Once he drew his knife and came at the brother, he shrieked and fell to Earth. At this moment he suddenly opened his eyes...and realized. he had dreamt the whole thing.

Something that immediately stuck out to me about this story was that it was written in first person, from the perspective of one of the brother's specifically, which I think I would enjoy doing whenever I write my next story. While third person definitely has it's perks, I think that first person can tell the story from a whole different perspective, and it even had me thinking that it would be interesting to write a story (or take one I've already written) and make multiple versions of it from each individual character's perspective. How different would it change from the original third person one I wrote? It would be interesting to hear their thoughts and get inside their head and I think it would be fun to write as well.

What I wasn't a fan of in this story was how it honestly was too repetitive and just didn't make much sense. It was kind of hard to follow and I want my story to be more clear and concise while having more of a plot.

Three ducks in Humpbybong Creek. Link here.

Bibliography: Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos, with illustrations by Willy Pogany (1913).