Name: Oregonian (Signed) · Date: 10 Mar 2024 12:47 AM · For: The Rooster and the Snake

After reading this chapter, I had to go on the internet and Google "basilisk rooster" to find out if the legendary basilisk was really killed by hearing the crowing of a rooster, and I found a reference in an article about ancient and medieval references to basilisks, and this old document cited in the article was from Cantabria, Spain, and it said that the basilisk could be killed by hearing the sound of a rooster crow, and that medieval travelers would bring roosters along with them on their journeys if they were traveling through regions where basilisks were thought to live.

 

Your fables, including this one about the rooster and the snake, have a very Aesop's-fables style about them, so they were fun to read.  One can sympathize with the farmer, who did need a rooster that would wake him at dawn by its crowing, so that he could get an early start on his day's work.  Ridding the farm of snakes was a valuable service that the late-rising rooster performed for the farmer, but I guess that farmer just took the absence of snakes for granted and didn't properly appreciate what his rooster was doing for him.

 

I wondered if the farmer could just have two roosters, one for crowing at dawn and one for driving away snakes, but maybe the two roosters would fight each other for dominance, so that idea might not work.

 

Doubtless the stranger made a good income by renting out the services of the rooster to rid peoples' property of snakes, and I'm sure he commanded a large fee for dispatching a basilisk, so the stranger obviously got the better of his business deal with the farmer.  Maybe the farmer didn't mind, since he was not about to go traveling around the country as a contract exterminator.  He just wanted to stay on his farm and get up early every day to do his farm work.  And maybe he had dogs that helped some with the snakes.

 

A good moral.  Take advantqge of whatever it is that you can do well.

 

Nice job, cute story.

 

Vicki

Author's Response:

Thank you for the review. The idea of roosters and basillisk, I actually pulled from Chamber of Secrets. All of Hagrid's roosters had been killed (by Gunny under Tom's power) to protect the basilisk. I guess, JK Rowling had done all the research that you did. 

Name: magemadi (Signed) · Date: 14 Jul 2020 07:35 AM · For: The Jealous Judge and the Pious Farmer

Okay last one whooo! Barbara I am DYING at this author’s note acting as a note from the publishing office because it’s so hilarious! The last line in it really gets me *joy emoji* i am personally not religious at all but i think you cover the moral lesson of this story very well that it could be taken in any context, secular or theocentric, and it would still make sense. Scheming people who do such scheming because they are envious of another or another's' possessions are truly horrible people if that scheming goes as far as the judge’s did. Also, he’s a JUDGE, where is his sense of JUSTICE!? He must be a terrible judge, i say!! Well, i guess we already know that based on his actions in the fable…..anyway, great job with this whole series of magic-based fables by aesop, they are truly a delight! :)

 

~madi

Broom racing

Author's Response:

Thanks for the all the reviews, Madi. You did an awesome job at the Broom Racing and I'm sure you were exhausted, but thank you for writing reviews anyways.

Name: magemadi (Signed) · Date: 14 Jul 2020 07:19 AM · For: The Rooster and the Snake

Aw barbara i love this one so much!!! What a nice life lesson to impart, i’d say! Also hell yeah to that rooster, aint’ no snakes gonna fuck with him anymore with that reputation!! I like the little nod to the farmer being (obviously) muggle while the guy who comes to buy the rooster off of him is very much a wizard, but it’s subtle enough only wizardkind (and us) would notice. Again putting logic aside for animals and humans cannot speak the same language, this was a fun little exchange for the wizard to have with the rooster before enlisting him to help defeat a basilisk. I just hope the basilisks that the wizard and rooster defeated weren’t all as large as the one in the chamber of secrets! 

 

~madi

Broom racing

Author's Response:

Thanks for the review, Madi. This rooster did have a bit of an arrogant attitude, but then again if you are a basilisk killer, you are probably justified. 

Name: magemadi (Signed) · Date: 14 Jul 2020 07:06 AM · For: The Lobalug and the Merman

Okay barbara not gonna lie seeing “lobalug” in this chapter title gave me flashbacks to the magical menagerie when i swore that was one of our creatures, or a mashed up creature *joy emoji* anywho what a fun little tale of the vain and too-proud lobalug thinking he’s some kind of hot shit in the ocean just because he’s venomous *mleh noises* well turns out you’re not, buddy!!! Obviously he has enough brain cells to coherently speak with a merman (logic being ignored booo) and puffs up his notoriety but he's never actually faced anyone in battle before so how would he really know that he’s all that, you know? The merman puts him in his place (at least he doesn't kill him) as part of his spearfishing weapon, which seems very fitting. Loved it!

 

~madi

Broom racing

Author's Response:

Madi,

Thanks for the review. Lack of logic has nothing to do with the talking animals in my stories. These are fables. Talking animals are part of the genre.

Name: magemadi (Signed) · Date: 14 Jul 2020 06:48 AM · For: The Gluttonous Runespoor

Yeet first fairy tale lets goooo! It’s a runespoor oooh those guys look cool af, not gonna lie! This is such a funny fable but it has its roots for sure in all of the ones we grew up with! I’m surprised the dreamer and planner were able to even get rid of the critic head without much trouble and still live. But i suppose that's why this is a fairy tale where logic isn’t necessarily of most import as you try to impart a life lesson on the reader :P i like that they’re bickering over tasty food choices even though they both have the same stomach because that’s such a silly thing to challenge each other over. And then of course they eat too much and a very large, presumably, occamy comes and eats them and all of their geckos and jerboas. Love the life lesson about moderation in everything including vegetables, what a laugh!

 

~madi

Broom racing

Author's Response:

Madi,

Thanks for the review. Actually the fact the two heads bite off the critic's head is part of canon. Because of this they don't often live a long life.

Name: magemadi (Signed) · Date: 14 Jul 2020 06:21 AM · For: About the Author

Hi barbara! Can i just say how much i love your premise for this little collection of fairy tales!? This opening explanation about who aesop was and how some things of his history were true or false based on these x y and z factors reads like a ravenclaw wrote it *winky face emoji* and someone who clearly did their research ahead of time. I also let out a chuckle at the “potionspartner printing” thrown in there too! :) I’m excited to know what magical creatures you’re going to be writing about in these fables, as you’ve set the stage very nicely for them already with this opening about who aesop really was! Great work preparing us for some wonderful fables!

 

~Madi

Broom Racing

Author's Response:

Thank you for the review, Madi. You are right. It did take a bit of research especially on Aesop's life which I knew little about despite having read many of his fables.

Name: Noelle Zingarella (Signed) · Date: 10 Jan 2020 02:48 AM · For: The Jealous Judge and the Pious Farmer

Hi Barbara! I’m here for your challenge entry reviews :D

 

This last story was a delightful surprise! I loved how you took a different direction with this tale, and that you provided a lovely story note to tie it into the collection. 

 

I was so worried for the farmer during this whole story—it really seemed like the wicked judge was going to win all the worldly goods—even though the farmer would be right with God either way. But just when all seemed lost, the farmer was divinely inspired to use a strategy worthy of a trickster! It had an old testament feel to me—sort of like when Jacob and Rebecca trick Esau out of his inheritance. When the farmer destroyed the first globe, my children were so excited and laughing out loud! And the way that the judge met his reward tied the whole tale up with a satisfactory justice that we (sadly) often lack in the world. It is good to see right win out so nicely in tales if nowhere else. Keeps you hoping.

 

You did a wonderful job on this story collection! Thank you so much for entering my challenge, and the results should be up soon.

 

Yours,

 

Noelle

Author's Response:

So glad you (and your children) enjoyed it.

Name: Noelle Zingarella (Signed) · Date: 10 Jan 2020 02:44 AM · For: The Rooster and the Snake

Hi Barbara! I’m here for your challenge entry reviews :D

 

I adored this one—not the least because I HATE getting up early. 

 

The story starts out with everyone in the wrong place—the rooster is unhappy because, while he is great at battling snakes, he is terrible at getting up early—which the farmer needs him to do. The farmer is unhappy because he keeps oversleeping because his rooster won’t do what he’s supposed to do. And the wizard is unhappy because he’s being plagued by basilisks! 

 

I’m impressed that the farmer sees a good deal when he’s offered one, and that he willingly lets the rooster go. I do wonder if, at a later time when he’s dealing with his snake problem alone, he ever regrets having let the rooster go. If he had perhaps figured out a way to get up earlier on his own, he would have been able to keep the prize bird. But I guess that it’s good that he was wise enough to let him go in any case. And the rooster probably had a much more exciting life slaying basilisks and sleeping until two in the afternoon every day.

 

 

Author's Response:

Thank you. This is the first one I wrote and still my favorite.

Name: Noelle Zingarella (Signed) · Date: 10 Jan 2020 02:40 AM · For: The Lobalug and the Merman

Hi Barbara! I’m here for your challenge entry reviews :D

 

 

Poor little lobalug! He is so important in his own little world, and he is used to creatures fearing him. The classic big fish in a small pond. But then, when he meets the merman—he is painfully put in his place. Your wit is shining bright in this story, and I feel that perhaps our favorite potions master could stand to hear it once in a while—there’s always someone bigger, stronger, and smarter than we are—and it’s best to know when to back down. My kids laughed out loud when I read them this story.

Author's Response:

So glad you (and your children) enjoyed it.

Name: Noelle Zingarella (Signed) · Date: 10 Jan 2020 02:38 AM · For: The Gluttonous Runespoor

Hi Barbara! I’m here for your challenge entry reviews :D

 

 

This story was hilarious! I really enjoyed the names of the different heads of the runespoors. The fact that the Dreamer and the Planner have rid themselves of the Critic’s troublesome presence seems like a good thing—at first. But we soon see that without the Critic’s careful questioning, the Dreamer and the Planner are lost. I love how you turned this expectation on its head, and also how you showed that even too much healthy food is too much food—and can have disastrous consequences.

Author's Response:

So glad you (and your children) enjoyed it.

Name: Noelle Zingarella (Signed) · Date: 10 Jan 2020 02:36 AM · For: About the Author

Hi Barbara! I’m here for your challenge entry reviews :D

 

 

I always love it when you go into detail and marry the real world with the wizarding world. This set of fables starts out delightfully with this biographical information from potionspartner press (!) and I really like how you tie together the myth and the reality and the wizarding world. A really fun intro to the collection!

Author's Response:

Noelle,

I can't believe you did a review for each chapter! Thanks for all the work.

Name: Oregonian (Signed) · Date: 05 Nov 2019 08:23 PM · For: The Rooster and the Snake

Hi, Barbara,

 

What a cute set of little stories!  And I see that the set is not completed yet.  More little delightful chapters to come.

 

I wonder what Newt Scamander would have thought if he had had access to these fables.  Would he have detected any truth in the accounts of the behaviors of these beasts, or would he have dismissed them as merely anthropomorphisms invented to amuse children and convey useful precepts?

 

I appreciate the subtlety of the fables.  The Moral is not generally in-your-face; you stop and think for a moment, What is this story trying to teach me?  And then Aesop makes it all clear.

 

Lots of fun.  I look forward to reading more.  Thank you for writing.

 

Vicki

Author's Response:

Vicki,

Thanks for the review. I think Newt definitely would have seen truth in them. Afterall good fiction stems from real life athough the animals are definitely anthropomorphisized too. I really tried to emulate Aesop's style using magical creatures. I'll definitely try to add more although it might be a while, but I was thinking about starting a kids' stories section to my AP.