Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories — Part 2: The Little Worm, St. Peter and the Cuckoo, The Wolf's Eyes, The Beetle Nun, The Hornet, The Woodpecker, and The Oak | Romanian Folk Tales in English
Part Two of Moses Gaster's Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories (1915), rendered into English by Gaster himself: seven more "why" tales of the Rumanian villages — why the little worm glows, how the thief Cuckoo came to call his own name, why the wolf's eyes glow in the dark, why the beetle is called the Nun, why the hornet lives in smoky places, how an inquisitive old woman became the woodpecker, and why the oak should not boast.
Disclosure: this performance is narrated by AI-generated voices.
- Why the Little Worm Glows — an angel who looked too far into a shepherdess's eyes falls to earth as a shower of sparks, and the glow-worms carry them still.
- St. Peter and the Cuckoo — the horse-thief Cuckoo is cursed into the bird that can speak nothing but its own name, and the glow-worms are blessed as guides of the wanderers.
- Why the Wolf's Eyes Glow — the devil fashions the wolf, God gives it life, and the devil's own hairs become the bristles and the sparks in the wolf's eyes.
- Why the Beetle Is Called the Nun — the devil's ill-tempered daughter, made a nun in the hope she would mend, is changed into the insect the sisters named Nun.
- Why the Hornet Lives in Smoky Places — the hornet brings God a piece of cardboard, and is cursed to cardboard work, a chimney home, and a nest everyone breaks.
- The Woodpecker and the Inquisitive Old Woman — she opens the sack of insects she was warned not to touch, and must pick them up again as a bird, beak first, to this very day.
- Why the Oak Should Not Boast — the sparrow, insulted by a sapling, returns after nine hundred years to roll in the dust of the proud oak.
The tales:
00:45 — Why the Little Worm Glows
04:39 — St. Peter and the Cuckoo
09:02 — Why the Wolf's Eyes Glow
11:09 — Why the Beetle Is Called the Nun
12:31 — Why the Hornet Lives in Smoky Places
14:33 — The Woodpecker and the Inquisitive Old Woman
17:41 — Why the Oak Should Not Boast
Source: Moses Gaster (1856–1939), Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories (London: Sidgwick & Jackson for the Folk-Lore Society, 1915), Gaster's own English rendering; lawful copy Project Gutenberg eBook #43059. Every piece in the collection was read and screened for this shelf: of its 126 numbered and lettered pieces, 61 were excluded by name under the no-violence law and 56 benched by name with reasons; 5 were told in Part 1, the 7 in this part follow in book order, and 17 clean tales remain for later parts. No completeness claim is made for this collection. Gaster's scholarly notes after each tale are not read.
Narrated by Amos. Opening and closing theme: Bandoneo Street Romance — with a short instrumental separator between stories, and no music under the narration.
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