What are the elements of a story, and how can a folktale help us learn and remember them?
One answer is hiding in plain sight in the well-known and often told Liberian story, “The Cow-tail Switch.” It serves as the title story of a collection curated by Harold Courlander and George Herzog which received a Newbury Honor in 1947.
The story tells of a great hunter who goes out to hunt one day and never returns. A few months later his last child is born. The baby boy’s first words are, “Where is my father?” None of his five older brothers has an answer. He asks and asks until finally the brothers agree to look for their father. One remembers seeing the path he took into the forest, and they head that way. They find his spear next to a pile of bones. The older brothers, who are all magicians, proceed to reanimate him. One by one they put his bones together, add his flesh and blood, and give him movement and breath. They all return to the village, and the father announces he will give the prize of a cow-tail switch to the one who did the most to bring him back. Of course, each of the older brothers says his own contribution was most significant. But the father gives the switch to the youngest, as it was he who insisted that the story of what happened to him be discovered. “A man is never truly dead until he is forgotten,” says the father.
The process the magicians used to rebuild their father contains all the elements an oral story needs to be effective. They also give us a good sequence for building or learning a story we want to tell.
Bones = Story structure
What is essential to understanding the story? How is the story organized to document what changes? How does it proceed from beginning, middle, and to the end? If you had to describe the story in a sentence or two, what would you say?
Flesh = Senses
What do you see, feel, touch, taste, smell, or hear in the story? What temperatures and textures, what scale and substance? What must your listeners feel (in a sensory way) to understand the story?
Blood = Emotion
What are the dominant emotions in the story? Do they change as the story proceeds? What is the emotional tone at the beginning, middle, and end of the story? How do you feel about the story, and what do you hope your listeners feel?
Movement = Gestures and physical expression
How will you embody the story? Where in your body do you feel it? Do the people in the story move in ways that you can incorporate into your telling? What facial expressions can you utilize to engage your listeners in the emotions of the story?
Breath = Speech
What words will ride your own breath to convey the sequence and meaning of the story? When will you speak in the voices of the characters? When will you speak as the teller of the story? How will you use pace and tone to convey the action of the story or the personalities of the characters?
As in the story, it all starts with what the youngest brother gave – intent. He insisted that the story of what happened to the father be discovered. His relentless curiosity and desire to know the story motivated his brothers, which resulted in his father’s rebirth.
Just as a man is never truly dead until he is forgotten, so too can we resurrect and tell stories that may be waiting in books, in the land, and in family and cultural memory. Our desire and commitment to give the stories life is the key.
You can read Courlander and Herzog’s version here and Heather Forest’s version here.
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