Title: The Little Mermaid

Characters:

   Ariel

  Prince Eric

  Sebastian

  Flounder

  Ursula

  King Triton

  Scuttle

  Flotsam and Jetsam

  Grimsby

  Max

  Chef Louis

  Carlotta

   Ariel's sisters

Settings:

Under the sea, palace

Summary:

The Little Mermaid dwells in an underwater kingdom with her father (the sea king or mer-king),

her grandmother, and her five sisters. Her five sisters are each born one year apart. When a mermaid

turns 15, she is permitted to swim to the surface to watch the world above, and when the sisters become

old enough, each of them visits the upper world every year. As each of them returns, the Little Mermaid

listens longingly to their various descriptions of the surface and of human beings.

When the Little Mermaid's turn comes, she rises up to the surface, sees a ship with a handsome prince,

and falls in love with him from a distance. A great storm hits, and the Little Mermaid saves the prince from

nearly drowning. She delivers him unconscious to the shore near a temple. Here she waits until a young

girl from the temple finds him. The prince never sees the Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid asks her grandmother if humans can live forever and if they could breathe under

water. The grandmother explains that humans have a much shorter lifespan than merfolks' 300 years, but

that when mermaids die they turn to sea foam and cease to exist, while humans have an eternal soul that

lives on in Heaven. The Little Mermaid, longing for the prince and an eternal soul, eventually visits the

 

Sea Witch, who sells her a potion that gives her legs in exchange for her tongue (as the Little Mermaid

has the most enchanting and beautiful voice in the world). The Sea Witch warns, however, that once she

becomes a human, she will never be able to return to the sea. Drinking the potion will make her feel as if

a sword is being passed through her, yet when she recovers she will have two beautiful legs, and will be

able to dance like no human has ever danced before. However, it will constantly feel like she is walking

on sharp knives and it will feel as though they must be bleeding. In addition, she will only obtain a soul if

she finds true love's kiss and if the prince loves her and marries her, for then a part of his soul will flow

into her. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after he marries another woman, the Little Mermaid will die

brokenhearted and disintegrate into sea foam.

The Little Mermaid drinks the potion and meets the prince, who is mesmerized by her beauty and grace

even though she is mute. Most of all he likes to see her dance, and she dances for him despite her

suffering excruciating pain. When the prince's father orders his son to marry the neighboring king's

daughter, the prince tells the Little Mermaid he will not because he does not love the princess. He goes

on to say he can only love the young woman from the temple, who he believes rescued him. It turns out

that the princess is the temple girl, who had been sent to the temple to be educated. The prince loves her,

and the wedding is announced.

The prince and princess marry, and the Little Mermaid's heart breaks. She thinks of all that she has given

up and of all the pain she has suffered. She despairs, thinking of the death that awaits her, but before

dawn, her sisters bring her a knife that the Sea Witch has given them in exchange for their long hair. If the

Little Mermaid slays the prince with the knife and lets his blood drip on her feet, she will become a

mermaid again, all her suffering will end, and she will live out her full life.

However the Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with his bride, and she

throws herself into the sea as dawn breaks. Her body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist,

she feels the sun; she has turned into a spirit, a daughter of the air. The other daughters tell her she has

become like them because she strove with all her heart to obtain an immortal soul. She will earn her own

soul by doing good deeds and she will eventually rise up into the kingdom of God.

Moral Lesson:

The moral lesson of this story is that race mixing is okay, the mermaid married the human.

 And to follow your dreams no matter how hard it may seem. The little mermaid had to overcome her

father’s disapproval, losing her voice and defeating Ursula to achieve her dream of becoming human and

marrying Price Eric.

 

Title: The Tortoise and the Hare

Characters: the tortoise and the hare

Setting: This story takes place in the forest, in which the two

creatures are racing each other in. 

Summary:

There is a Hare, who is very arrogant, and often boasts about his speed. One day, a tortoise

comes along, and challenges him to a race. The hare was once boasting of his speed before the other

animals. "I have never yet been beaten," said he, "when I put forth my full speed. I challenge anyone here

to race with me."

The tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge."

"That is a good joke," said the hare. "I could dance around you all the way."

"Keep your boasting until you've beaten," answered the tortoise. "Shall we race?"

So a course was fixed and a start was made. The hare darted almost out of sight at once, but soon

stopped and, to show his contempt for the tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The tortoise plodded on and

plodded on, and when the hare awoke from his nap, he saw the tortoise nearing the finish line and he

could not catch up in time to save the race.

Plodding wins the race.

Moral Lesson: Pride goes before a fall.