Activated Stories
219 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 29 ratingsProfessional actors bring your family a different folktale from a new location in every episode. Laugh and learn with "act!vated" actors as they tell silly, thought-provoking stories while touring with their national touring children's show.
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Episodes
The Flying Bed
June 24, 2020 02:15 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBThe Flying Bed is a story from India that bears similarities to many other stories, including Aladdin, East Of The Sun and West Of The Moon, The Golden Pitcher, and the Aesop's Fable The Lion and the Mouse. It tells of how one good deed deserves another, and everybody can be of help to somebody, no matter the differences in size or species. We come to you from Reno, Nevada, where we've been holed up since the pandemic hit. This is our first podcast in a couple of months, so we bring you up...
The Golden Beetle
March 26, 2020 16:40 - 16 minutes - 17.3 MBThe Golden Beetle is a story about how a magical object comes to the aid of poor people in need, who then become careless with whom they share the secret of their good fortune. In that respect, it is somewhat like the Arabian Nights tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. But here there is an added element of an origin story, explaining why cats and dogs fight like... well, cats and dogs. We come to you from Simi Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles. We've been doing some work in the film and T...
The Bamboo and the Stars
February 05, 2020 17:55 - 17 minutes - 18.4 MBThe Bamboo and the Stars is our first podcast story from the Philippines. Welcome to the family, Philippines! And it's yet another one of those celestial phenomenon stories that we seem to be uncovering quite a bit lately. (Story starts at 4:00.) We're in Yuma, AZ, just a short hop from the Mexico border. While in town we visited The Camel Farm, where we were able to feed and pet camels, goats, sheep, a zebra, a zeedonk (half zebra and half donkey) and a hinny (half horse and half donkey)....
Wishing On The Moon
December 28, 2019 16:45 - 17 minutes - 18.3 MBWishing On The Moon is a sort of male Cinderella story from the Inuit (Eskimo) people of Alaska/Canada. We wanted to sneak in one more story about the moon before the end of this 50th anniversary year of the walk on the moon. We're currently taking a holiday break in Atlanta, where we'll be for the end of 2019 before we start touring again in 2020. In this story, we mention the 1922 documentary Nanook of the North by Robert J. Flaherty. You can watch it on Youtube but we should caution y...
The Harpist and the Princess
November 28, 2019 15:19 - 15 minutes - 15.5 MBThe Harpist and the Princess is a story from Burma that is somewhat similar in theme to Beauty and the Beast, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Lohengrin, and a number of other stories in which a maiden falls in love with a person who has been transformed into an animal or beastly shape of some type. In many such stories, as in this one, she is asked to curb her curiosity to find out something about the beastly person -- his name, origin, appearance, or true identity. We come to you fr...
Ameen and the Ghoul
October 31, 2019 16:00 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBJust in time for Halloween, Ameen and the Ghoul from Persia (now known as Iran) tells of a brave man who defeats a terrible monster by using his brains rather than his brawn. It's a story in the tradition of Brave Little Tailor and Dragon of Krakow. We come to you from Warwick, RI, where we are wrapping up our annual fall jaunt in New England by spending some time scaring people at a haunted attraction in Abington, MA. And soon we being migrating south for the winter. Happy listening, D...
The Wooden Tablet
September 26, 2019 18:27 - 13 minutes - 13.1 MBThe Wooden Tablet is a simple little story from China about the importance of keeping promises and honoring your elders. We come to you from Seekonk, Massachusetts, having just returned from spending nearly a month touring Vermont for the first time. We were amazed and impressed by the state's unspoiled beauty -- there are no billboards anywhere! We took a train ride and a boat cruise, and did a lot of hiking (and photographing wild mushrooms) and even toured Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, Be...
Rabbit Sells Corn
August 21, 2019 12:28 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MBRabbit Sells Corn is the first story we've presented from Canada. It originated among Native Americans up north (yes, we can call them Native Americans too, since they lived on this continent) and has undergone some modifications as it was transmitted to white settlers. And we, of course, have done some tweaking of our own. It stems from a tradition of animal stories that also seem to have much in common with African-American tales about tricky and deceptive and clever critters. We come to...
Out Of Season
July 27, 2019 22:06 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBOut Of Season is a Cinderella-type story, rather similar to the Russian Vasalisa, which is rather similar to the story of Hansel and Gretel. These stories just won't stay in their own boxes. This is a tale from what used to be called Yugoslavia, before it was chopped up into smaller nations with less humorous-sounding names. We bring you this story from a country that no longer exists, from a town that didn't exist back then: Kill Devil Hills, NC. In fact, it didn't exist in 1903 when the ...
The Prince and His Servant
June 13, 2019 13:59 - 18 minutes - 19.7 MBThe Prince and His Servant from Poland is one of those folk tales that sound like it actually could have happened -- or something like it. It's a tale about betrayal and trickery, with a little plug for literacy thrown in to boot. We come to you from Heber Springs, AR., having just started our summer season of performing at libraries across the country. We drove out from Reno, where we always put together a new show. While we were there, we did a week residency at Acro Enso, a new facility...
Saving the Snake
April 23, 2019 20:07 - 16 minutes - 17.1 MBSaving the Snake is a Middle Eastern fable about trickery and gratitude and learning from mistakes. It's similar to a story from the Arabian Nights, as well as to our earlier story Anansi and the Story Box; it even has some similarities to the “Brer Rabbit” stories. We come to you from the Bay Area city of Fremont, CA., where we're in the middle of a busy April performing in several Northern California schools and libraries. While in the area, we paid a visit to our old stomping grounds in...
The Drum and the Tree
March 23, 2019 00:35 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBThe Drum and the Tree is a Nigerian fable featuring talking lions and tortoises about the dangers of keeping the wrong secrets from the wrong people, and the problems that curiosity can cause. It's thematically similar to Bluebeard, Lohengrin and Pandora. This month finds us is Nipomo, CA., having just driven across half the country from Texas. Along the way, we stopped to explore the underground marvels of Carlsbad Caverns and the desert splendor of Joshua Tree. We also visited Rooster Co...
How The Tiger Got Its Stripes
February 16, 2019 01:32 - 16 minutes - 16.2 MBHow The Tiger Got Its Stripes is an "origin" story, a fable about bullying, and a trickster tale all rolled into one. We're bringing it to you from Texas, having just driven across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama after having a great couple of weeks in Florida. We went snorkeling with manatees at Crystal River, took a a glass-bottom boat tour at Silver Springs State Park, and watched hundreds of thousands of bats take off at twilight in Gainesville. Now we're heading west, and soon we...
Hina and the Moon
January 15, 2019 16:00 - 14 minutes - 13.8 MBHina and the Moon is a nature origin myth from what is now called Hawaii. It is one of many stories about Hina, who in some cases is a goddess and in others an ordinary woman. Sometimes she is married to Maui, and others not. Sometimes she goes to the moon, and other times she doesn't. We decided to have her take a trip to the moon, because this year is the 50th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing, and libraries will be celebrating it this summer. Accordingly, we'll be having Hina t...
How a Bundle of Straw Became a Fortune
December 19, 2018 16:49 - 10 minutes - 10.3 MBHow a Bundle of Straw Became a Fortune is the Japanese take on the “exchange” type of story, which we could also call the “pay it forward” type. In it, an individual does a good deed by giving away something, and receives a gift in return; this gift is then given to someone else who needs it, and the hero then receives another “white elephant” in return, which is then passed on to someone else, etc. Finally, our hero receives his ultimate good fortune. We are currently performing a story of ...
Tug Of War
November 16, 2018 15:48 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBTug Of War comes from the Island of Andros in The Bahamas, and continues the tradition of a clever trickster animal getting the best of bigger and brawnier bully beasts. Our monkey is named Timmy, thanks to a listener and Patreon named Caleb. We come to you from Jamestown, Virginia, where we've just toured Jamestown Settlement, an amazing museum complex featuring meticulous recreations of a Powhatan Indian village, a colonial fort, and three ships that brought settlers over in 1607 -- amon...
Boots and the Troll
October 23, 2018 00:37 - 16 minutes - 15.7 MBBoots and the Troll is a tale that has many elements in common with other folk and fairy tales, including Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk, as well as countless others about siblings setting out to find their fortunes. We come to you from Abington, MA., where we've been performing as ghouls and goblins and other fearsome creatures in a Halloween attraction, which is something we like to do every year about this time. Happy listening, Dennis (Michael, King, Troll) and Kimberly (Nar...
The Chinese Mirror
September 15, 2018 16:00 - 17 minutes - 17.7 MBYes, The Chinese Mirror is indeed a Korean story, a tale about fools and about how the introduction of something new often leads to comical results. We come to you from Scarsdale, NY, just north of New York City, which we just took a walking tour of. Since our last podcast, we've been to Maine, including Acadia National Park; we've been sailing and taking a high-speed "Eco Adventure Cruise" off the Maine coast; we've been challenging ourselves at Monkey C Monkey D obstacle course; we've be...
The Monkey Husband
August 16, 2018 16:00 - 19 minutes - 19.1 MBThe Monkey Husband from Japan is one of those many stories about a girl from a poor family marrying a beast of some sort or other -- including, of course, one of the best known, Beauty and the Beast. This one also seems to be related to a legend that Shakespeare borrowed for King Lear: a father with three daughters, of whom the oldest two are selfish and ungrateful, and the youngest is loving and loyal. Our monkey husband's name, Misue, was supplied by Elizabeth McFarland, who is one of our ...
The Magic Pear Tree
July 15, 2018 18:23 - 15 minutes - 15.6 MBThe Magic Pear Tree is a strange little tale about greed, generosity, paying it forward, and poetic justice. It comes from ancient China, showing that these concepts are not just modern. It's somewhat similar to the stories about someone getting three wishes, and becoming so overwhelmed with greed that they end up with nothing. We come to you from Raleigh, NC. Since we last approached your ears, we went to Memphis, where we stopped by the pop music landmarks of Graceland and Sun Studios. W...
Common Sense
June 24, 2018 00:25 - 16 minutes - 16.6 MBCommon Sense is a story from Jamaica with roots in Africa that involves the legendary trickster man-spider, Anansi. Many tales are told about Anansi not only in Africa, but in America and nearby islands. He seems to have come to the New World along with the slaves, which is hardly surprising. This particular story is rather similar to Anansi and the Story Box, a tale from Ghana that we have performed on stage. We come to you from Jonesboro, Arkansas, where we are in the middle of our summe...
Kaguya Hime
May 22, 2018 20:47 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MBKaguya Hime is a Japanese tale in the tradition of the stories about a childless couple who find a child of supernatural origin, and adopt her/ him as their own. (See, for example, The Snow Maiden from Russia.) It doubles as a nature myth, as some versions of it are intended to explain a full moon, and some versions explain the smoke arising from Mount Fuji (Fujiyama). This story was requested by podcast listeners in Tokyo, Japan, Sakura and George. We come to you from Reno, NV, which is o...
The Fly
April 25, 2018 21:11 - 12 minutes - 13.2 MBThe Fly is a trickster tale about a boy who is wise beyond his years and gets the better of his elders. He is part of a long tradition of clever "fools" who are really not so foolish, but save the day in the end. We previously performed, for example, The Boy Who Listened to Birds from Russia. We come to you from Dublin, the shamrock city in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we are wrapping up our Northern California tour and finishing our run of our production Hammer, Nail, Tell a Tale. An...
The White Snake
March 23, 2018 18:41 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBThe White Snake is one of the lesser known folktales collected by the Brothers Grim; it's one of those stories in which the hero is able to talk to animals, a story motif that was around long before Dr. Dolittle. It may seem strange to name a story after a reptile that makes only the briefest appearance in it, but the snake is still the one driving the action -- working undercover, as it were. We come to you from Turlock, California, where we're beginning a series of performances for the S...
Hop in My Sack
February 23, 2018 03:49 - 20 minutes - 23.6 MBHop in My Sack is an Italian story collected by the Italian writer Italo Calvino. The version he published was considerably longer, featuring a few more (mis)adventures for the young hero; we streamlined it for our podcast, which was already running long enough. Because we have come all the way from Alabama to California in the last month, and although we didn't bring a banjo on our knee, we did do a lot of other fun things. There was Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham (a gigantic abandoned st...
Li Chi and the Serpent
January 19, 2018 14:00 - 18 minutes - 20.6 MBLi Chi and the Serpent is, like the better known Mu Lan, an old story of girl power from China. In this case, the hero(ine) is not battling an army, but a person-eating creature. But as in the story of Mu Lan, (spoiler alert) she succeeds where the men folk fail. We present this story especially for Chinese New Year, which comes up on February 16 to start the Year Of The Dog. We come to you from Prattville, Alabama, a suburb of Montgomery, as we dodge the cold as much as possible while mak...
The Man Who Had No Story
December 21, 2017 20:41 - 14 minutes - 14.4 MBThe Man Who Had No Story is one of those stories about stories. Many times, they depict not only the origin of a particular story, but of all stories everywhere. (As it happens, we're currently performing one of these, Anansi and the Story Box, live on stage.) Others, like this one, show how you find amazing stories in places where you might least expect them. And this being Christmas time, it's altogether appropriate that this story features elves. And hey, do you notice certainly similar...
Lazy Hans and Gretchen
November 16, 2017 15:10 - 14 minutes - 13.9 MBLazy Hans and Gretchen, from Germany, is about two very lazy people, and of course it's a moralistic tale about how being lazy leads to ruin. But it's also one of the "don't count your chickens before they hatch" stories that go all the way back to ancient times -- the story about the milkmaid spilling her pail of milk while daydreaming about the money she's going to make from it supposedly dates back to Aesop. Other popular variations include The Brahman Who Built Air Castles from India, an...
The Goblin's Bridge
October 21, 2017 14:59 - 16 minutes - 16.2 MBThe Goblin's Bridge is one of those stories about someone making a bad deal with a supernatural being. They (the stories, not necessarily the beings) are especially common in Germany and Scandinavia and sometimes involve a person making a deal for his soul with the devil. (The type has come to America in the form of The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benet and The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving. ) Sometimes, as in the present tale, the deal is broken by resorting to t...
The Three Advices
September 24, 2017 17:05 - 18 minutes - 20.3 MBThe Three Advices is a story of the prescient type; quite often, in such stories the main character has a number of odd items which happen to be exactly what he or she needs to solve problems that come up. In this case, the items are not physical objects, but pieces of advice that help the hero avoid danger for himself and others. And in the process he learns that patience and humility pay off in the end. We come to you from Attleboro, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston -- which has a very ...
The Monkey and the Boar
August 22, 2017 16:21 - 15 minutes - 14.9 MBThe Monkey and the Boar is a tale from Japan about two animal chums who outwit the humans who pose a problem for them. It uses the motif of the staged rescue, which has been used a number of times in movies and TV shows. This story appealed to us in part because when we visited Japan in 2006, we saw a young man with a monkey doing tricks in a busy plaza in Tokyo. We come to you from Wompatuck State Park in Massachusetts, where we are camping and preparing for the end of our 2017 summer tou...
The Blind Beggar Of Baghdad
July 29, 2017 01:08 - 20 minutes - 19.3 MBThe Blind Beggar Of Baghdad is a story within a story, like many tales in the famous collection in which it can be found, and indeed like the entire collection itself, a group of stories spun by Scheherazade to forestall her doom. This story involves a beggar, a caliph (the head official of Islam) and a dervish (a sort of monk famous for their whirling dance of devotion). It's a cautionary tale about greed, and being blind to one's blessings. We're in Charleston, WV to perform for 6 librar...
Why Frogs Croak
June 27, 2017 23:39 - 18 minutes - 18.1 MBWhy Frogs Croak is an origin myth that explains why a certain animal makes a certain noise, though it also delves into the sleeping habits of bears, the length of days and nights, the importance of democracy, and other such profound matters. We come to you from Heber Springs, Arkansas in the middle of a very busy summer tour. We discuss our recent visits to the escape room called Lockdown in Jonesboro and to the Ozark Folklife Center in Mountain View. Here's hoping that the summer keeps ...
The Shadow Builders
May 15, 2017 21:51 - 18 minutes - 17.7 MBThe Shadow Builders is one version of the legend of Karagöz and Hacivat (pronounced KAR-a-gerz and HA-jee-vaht), the beloved characters of Turkish shadow puppet plays, supposedly based on real individuals. According to this version of the story, they were masons who loved storytelling and merriment, and paid a price for being a bit too cheerful on the job. The tradition of these puppet characters being based on actual historical figures seems to have originated around the Turkish city of Bur...
The Further Adventures of the Third Little Pig and the Big Bad Wolf
April 24, 2017 02:24 - 24 minutes - 23.9 MBNo, it's not a sequel. It's not a fractured fairy tale. It's not something that we just made up. It's part of the original Three Little Pigs that normally gets omitted -- you might say that people are accustomed to hearing the Reader's Digest version. This "lost" segment features another example of the rule of three, with three additional desperate efforts by the wolf to lure the third little pig onto his plate. We come to you from Modesto, California, in the middle of an extremely busy Ap...
Old Joe and the Carpenter
March 19, 2017 21:10 - 16 minutes - 15.5 MBOld Joe and the Carpenter is a moralistic little yarn about two neighbors who are initially friends, but get into a small quarrel that escalates into full-scale estrangement until a wise stranger intervenes. The story is set in the Appalachian region of the U.S., which encompasses parts of more than a dozen states ranging from Alabama and Mississippi to New York. This story stems from the (inaccurate) stereotype of the region's inhabitants as backward, isolated, moonshining feuders. This t...
The Robin
February 27, 2017 23:44 - 14 minutes - 13.9 MBThe Robin is a nature origin story from the Inuit people (commonly called Eskimo) of the far north. We thought it would be appropriate for the end of summer and the first hints of spring. We come to you from Mesa, AZ. Having spent the past month in Arkansas, we started our annual pilgrimage west. At Holbrook, AZ we headed south through the mountains on a scenic drive toward Phoenix. Next, we're on to California check our tour schedule for a show near you. Join us in the #beActivated camp...
Aladdin and the Lamp
January 22, 2017 15:05 - 20 minutes - 21 MBAladdin and the Lamp is one of the many popular tales from the collection commonly called The Arabian Nights, though its more proper name is The Thousand and One Nights. It's an anthology of many folktales from many countries, and going back many centuries. Although generally these stories originated in Arabic lands, Aladdin is of uncertain origin, and actually may have come from China. We come to you from Heber Springs, AR., a sleepy little resort town that hums with tourists during the s...
The Mouse Princess
December 24, 2016 19:15 - 16 minutes - 17.5 MBThe Mouse Princess is one of those tales about someone being transformed into an animal and then trying to be transformed back again. It's somewhat similar to The Frog Prince except -- well, it's a princess instead of a prince and a mouse instead of a frog. As in many other such stories (and many folktales in general) there are certain tasks to be completed and challenges to be met before the spell is broken. This story is from Scandinavia, specifically Finland, home of many Christmas-ish th...
The Frog and the Sky Princess
November 29, 2016 19:03 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MBThe Frog and the Sky Princess is a story from Angola in Africa, about a frog and a princess that involves the lead character successfully completing tasks to prove his worthiness to obtain a prize – in this case the hand of the princess in marriage. Yes, it's somewhat like the classic European tale The Frog Prince, though in this case there's no metamorphosis between species. But it's also curiously similar to an American legend. It was immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1858 nar...
Savitri
October 26, 2016 16:16 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MBSavitri is a tale from the Mahabharata, the national epic poem of India, written about 2500 years ago. It's somewhat similar to the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, except things are reversed: it's the wife who goes to rescue her husband from death, and (spoiler alert) in this case she succeeds with her wits. We come to you from Abington, Massachusetts, where we are performing as ghouls and zombies and other spooks in one of New England's finest haunted attractions. And we are counting ...
The Hen is in the Mountains
September 25, 2016 20:12 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBThe Hen Is in the Mountains is a sibling tale, one of those in which (spoiler alert) the youngest of the brood succeeds in overcoming obstacles where his or her older siblings failed. (e.g. Cinderella or The Flying Ship) It also involves a girl marrying a beast (as in Beauty and the Beast), and the bride of a horrendous husband prowling in their home and finding horrible secrets (Bluebeard). We come to you from Providence, RI, where we've been having a great time with Kimberly's sister Sha...
The Bottomless Cup
August 24, 2016 17:21 - 18 minutes - 17 MBThe Bottomless Cup is one of those stories about people getting gifts from elves, fairies, or other supernatural critters, and using those gifts foolishly or negligently. In some cases, the gift is a set of wishes rather than dishes – usually three of them, so that the person’s last foolish wish is to get the sausage off the end of his nose or some such. In this case the gift is more material, and the abuse of it comes in the form of neglect rather than rashness. We bring this story from F...
The Lady Of Stavoren
July 24, 2016 22:50 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBThe Lady Of Stavoren is a tale that has been told for centuries, in dozens of variations. Stavoren, on the coast of The Netherlands, is now a village of fewer than 1000 people. But 1000 years ago, it was a major seaport. Then during the Middle Ages, a sand bar formed in the harbor that made it impossible for ships to get in and out. As a result, the city fell into decline. This story, probably entirely fictitious, was created to explain how the sand bar got there. In 1969, a statue of the La...
The Krakow Pigeons
June 23, 2016 23:02 - 22 minutes - 20.8 MBThe Krakow Pigeons is a story from Poland that supposedly explains why the people of the city of Krakow have so much respect for pigeons, those nasty, pesky, obnoxious little -- oops, those birds which many people revile. It tells how a medieval prince named Henryk tried to unite Poland, which had been divided into five kingdoms. He failed, and the country remained divided until 1333 when King Casimir III took the throne. We come to you from Jonesboro, AR in the middle of our summer tour. ...
The Three Heirs
May 24, 2016 23:25 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBThe Three Heirs is a tale from Germany, in the tradition of worldwide sibling rivalry yarns. As usual in these stories, the youngest brother gets the best of his older siblings; even though they are older, bigger and stronger, and consider him a simpleton, he triumphs with his honesty and wits. Compare the Russian story The Flying Ship and the Fool of the World and the Hispanic tale Juan Bobo. The latter even involves a door and a tree like the present story. We come to you from Reno, Neva...
The Crab Prince
April 25, 2016 02:23 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBThe Crab Prince is a little-known story from Venice that has many similarities to the better-known Frog Prince. Like that story, it makes use of two themes common to many folktales: transformation of humans into animals (a tradition dating back at least to the Odyssey, in which Circe transforms men into swine) and the power of love to overcome evil -- i.e., break a curse. This includes Sleeping Beauty, among others. We come to you from Sacramento, California, after wrapping up two very busy...
The King's Ring
March 25, 2016 19:30 - 26 minutes - 24 MBThe King’s Ring is a story from Italy, which we’re not coming to you from, but would have been a couple of months ago. So before telling you the story, we’re telling you about half of our time in Italy (we’ll do the other half next time). This includes Pisa, with its famous leaning tower, Rome with its Forum and Colosseum and many other ruins, and Cinque Terra, a set of 5 colorful little seaside villages dating back about 1000 years. In the story we meet a King who has lost his ring. A peas...
The Quackling
February 15, 2016 20:21 - 22 minutes - 21 MBThe Quackling, from France, is an odd fable in which not only is the main character a talking animal, but it's taken for granted that inanimate objects can talk as well. It involves quite a suspension of disbelief, even to the point that in the original story there is no explanation given for why the duck doesn't just fly or swim to solve his problems. This story is of the type in which the main character makes clever use of what appear to be useless objects in order to get out of a jam, and...
The Gifts Of Wali Dad
December 22, 2015 17:28 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBIt isn’t really a holiday story, but The Gifts Of Wali Dad from India (or is it Pakistan?) seems appropriate for the occasion, with all of its generous gift-giving. Collected by famed folklorist Andrew Lang, who heard it from a British army officer stationed in the Punjab (which was later split between India and Pakistan) who in turn heard it from a native of the region, it seems to be an absurdist cautionary tale about the consequences of being too extravagant. See if you can spot the refer...