Papa Joe ~ Telling Tales

Brave Little Samantha. An interactive journey via story.  (2093 words)
Shared by Papa Joe

You all know how it starts.

Once upon a time,
long, long ago,
far, faraway, in India,
there lived a little girl named Samantha.

On her birthday,
her mother gave her
a beautiful little red jacket.

On her birthday,
her father gave her
a pair of beautiful little blue trousers.

On her birthday,
her grandmother gave her
a pair of beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles (that’s red on the bottoms)
and crimson linings. . (that’s red on the insides)

And on her birthday,
her grandfather gave her
a beautiful green umbrella,
that she loved very much,
for it kept both the rain and the sun off her head.

One morning, Samantha woke up very early,
too early for breakfast.
So she decided to take a walk.

Good idea?

Well maybe it was
and maybe it wasn’t,
but…

She put on her beautiful little red jacket.

She put on her beautiful little blue trousers.

She put on her beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings.

She picked up her beautiful green umbrella

and she was
walking along, (slapping legs)
walking along,
into the jungle!!

She was

walking along, (slapping legs)
walking along,
when by and by,
by and by,
who do you think she met?

A furiosus tiger.(curling fingers into claws)
 (Roarrrrrrrrrr)

The tiger said,
 “Brave Little Samantha,
I’m going to eat you up.”

Samantha said,
 “Ohhhh! Noooo!
Please Mister Tiger,
don’t eat me
and I’ll give you
my beautiful little red jacket.”.

The tiger said,
 “Alright, Samantha!
I won’t eat you this time,
but you’d better give me
that beautiful little red jacket.”

So Samantha
gave the tiger
her beautiful little red jacket.

He walked away saying,
 “Now I’m the grandest tiger in the jungle.”

Samantha had lost her little red jacket,
but she still had
her little blue trousers,
her beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings,
and her beautiful green umbrella.

She was walking along, (slapping legs)
walking along,
when by and by,
by and by,
who do you think she met?

Another furiosus tiger.(curling fingers into claws)
 (Roarrrrrrrrrr)

The tiger said,
 “Brave Little Samantha,
I’m going to eat you up.”

Samantha said,
 “Ohhhh! Noooo!
Please Mister Tiger,
don’t eat me
and I’ll give you
my beautiful little blue trousers.”.

The tiger said,
 “Alright, Samantha!
I won’t eat you this time,
but you’d better give me
those beautiful little blue trousers.”

So Samantha
gave the tiger
her beautiful little blue trousers.

He walked away saying,
 “Now I’m the grandest tiger in the jungle.
Na-na-na na-bo-bo!”

Samantha had lost her little red jacket,
she had lost her little blue trousers,
but she still had
her beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings.
and her beautiful green umbrella.

She was walking along, (slapping legs)
walking along,
when by and by,
by and by,
who do you think she met?

Another furiosus tiger.(curling fingers into claws)
 (Roarrrrrrrrrr)

The tiger said,
 “Brave Little Samantha,
I’m going to eat you up.”

Samantha said,
 “Ohhhh! Noooo!
Please Mister Tiger,
don’t eat me
and I’ll give you
my beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings.”.

The tiger said,
"Huh?
Samantha! You have two feet and I have four.
You don't have enough shoes for me.
I guess I'll have to eat you."
"But Mister Tiger,
you could wear them on your EARS!"
The tiger said,
"My Ears?
 “Alright, Samantha!
I won’t eat you this time,
but you’d better give me
those beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings.”

So Samantha
gave the tiger
her beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings.

He walked away saying,
 “Now I’m the grandest tiger in the jungle.
Na-na-na na-bo-bo!
Scoobie dobee do!”

Samantha had lost her little red jacket,
she had lost her little blue trousers,
she had lost her beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings.
all she still had left
was her beautiful green umbrella.

She was walking along, (slapping legs)
walking along,
when by and by,
by and by,
who do you think she met?

Another furiosus tiger.(curling fingers into claws)
 (Roarrrrrrrrrr)

The tiger said,
 “Brave Little Samantha,
I’m going to eat you up.”

Samantha said,
 “Ohhhh! Noooo!
Please Mister Tiger,
don’t eat me
and I’ll give you
my beautiful green umbrella.”

"Your umbrella?
What the heck am I supposed to do with an umbrella?
I need all four of my paws to walk with.
I can't carry an umbrella."
"But you could carry it with your tail!

The tiger said,
"Alright, Samantha!
I won’t eat you this time,
but you’d better give me
that beautiful green umbrella."

So Samantha
gave the tiger
her beautiful green umbrella.

He wrapped his tales around that umbrella
and walked away with it wagging
back and forth, saying,
 “Alright, Samantha!
I won’t eat you this time,
but you’d better give me
that beautiful green umbrella.”

So Samantha
gave the tiger
her beautiful green umbrella.

He walked away saying,
 “Now I’m the grandest tiger in the jungle.
Na-na-na na-bo-bo!
Scoobee dobee do!
Lardee dardee dardee!”

Samantha had lost her little red jacket,
she had lost her little blue trousers,
she had lost her beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings,
and her beautiful green umbrella.

She was
walking along, (slapping legs)
walking along,
home…

She was walking along, (slapping legs)
walking along,
when by and by,
by and by,
off in the distance she heard tigers.

Very Quietly (Roarrrrrrrrrr)
But they were coming closer. A little louder (Roarrrrrrrrrr)
And closer. (Roarrrrrrrrrr)
Samantha hid behind a tree. (Roarrrrrrrrrr)
They came right up the path! (Roarrrrrrrrrr)
 ‘Til they were standing
by the tree
that Samantha was hiding behind. (Roarrrrrrrrrr)

The first tiger said,
 “I’m the grandest tiger in the jungle.
Look at my beautiful little red jacket.”

The second tiger said,
 “No, you’re not!
I’m the grandest tiger in the jungle.
Look at my beautiful little blue trousers.”

The third tiger said,
 “You’re both wrong!
I’m the grandest tiger in the jungle.
Look at my beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings.”

The fourth tiger said,
 “You’re all wrong!
I’m the grandest tiger in the jungle.
Look at my beautiful green umbrella.”

Each thought he was the grandest.
They got so angry,
they got so mad,
they decided to fight right there,
but they didn’t want to ruin their beautiful clothes.

The first tiger took off his beautiful little red jacket,
folded it up neatly,
and set it down beside a tree,
the tree Samantha was hiding behind.

The second tiger took off his beautiful little blue trousers,
folded them up neatly,
and set them down with the jacket,
beside the tree,
the tree Samantha was hiding behind.

The third tiger took off his beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings,
and set them down with the jacket and pants,
beside the tree,
the tree Samantha was hiding behind.

The fourth tiger unwound the beautiful green umbrella,
and set it down with the jacket, pants, and shoes
beside the tree,
the tree Samantha was hiding behind.

Then they started to fight!
If you want to do this with me, we’ll have to be very careful.
Keep your hands out in front
Don’t let them touch anything.
Claws and teeth are very sharp
and we don’t want anyone to get hurt.

First they scratched. (With words: clawed hand moving from head level down slowly)
Then they clawed. (With words: quick two handed claw movements repeatedly up and down)
Then they bit. (After words: show teeth, open mouth, bite down with sound)
Then they gnawed. (After words: quick biting motions with sound)

They scratched.
They clawed.
They bit.
They gnawed.

Scratched.
Clawed.
Bit.
Gnawed.

But they didn’t fight long.
You know why?

‘Cause it hurts to be
scratched and clawed
and bit and gnawed.

They didn’t like it.

Then one of the tigers got an idea.

“If I bite down on the end of one of those other tiger’s tails. (show teeth, open mouth, bite down with sound)
I can swing them around (teeth clenched - pivoting head)
and throw them away!” (imitate release)

Good idea?

Well maybe it was
and maybe it wasn’t,

‘cause…

All four tigers had the same idea.
All four tigers had the same idea,
at the same time.

All four tigers
bit down on the end of one of those other tiger’s tails, (show teeth, open mouth, bite down with sound)
 (teeth clenched) OUCH! (little bum jump) <giggle>

This tiger had that tiger’s tail.
That tiger had this tiger’s tail.
This tiger had that tiger’s tail.
That tiger had this tiger’s tail.

It was

tiger by the tail
tiger by the tail
tiger by the tail
tiger by the ring around the tiger rosy!

They didn’t like that,
but what could they do.
If a tiger opened his mouth
the tiger behind him
would swing him around (teeth clenched - pivoting head)
and throw him away!” (imitate release)

So all they could do was stand there
with tails in their mouths…

tiger by the tail
tiger by the tail
tiger by the tail
tiger by the ring around the tiger rosy!

Now when Samantha saw that
she SMILED
and stepped out from behind the tree.
 “Hi, tigers.  How are you?”

Well!
Those tigers wanted to say,
 “Just fine Samantha.
Now you run along home.”

But they couldn’t
 ‘cause they had tails in their mouths.

All they could say was, (clench teeth)
 “Rrrt Rrr  Rrrrrrrrrr.
Rrr Rrr RRRRRRRR.”

Samantha said.
 “Tigers, didn’t your momma ever teach you it’s rude to talk with your mouth full”

Well!
Those tigers wanted to say,
 “Yes, Samantha.
But we’re busy here.
You run along home.”

But they couldn’t
 ‘cause they had tails in their mouths.

All they could say was, (clench teeth)
 “Rrrt Rrr  Rrrrrrrrrr.
Rrr Rrr RRRRRRRR.”

Samantha said.
 “Tigers!
I said that was rude.
If you don’t be nice
I’ll take my clothes back and go home!”

Well!
Those tigers wanted to say,
 “Go home now, Samantha.
And leave us alone.”

But they couldn’t
 ‘cause they had tails in their mouths.

All they could say was, (clench teeth)
 “Rrrt Rrr  Rrrrrrrrrr.
Rrr Rrr RRRRRRRR.”

So Samantha put on her beautiful little red jacket.

She put on her beautiful little blue trousers.

She put on her beautiful purple shoes,
with crimson soles and crimson linings.

She picked up her beautiful green umbrella.

And she was
walking along, (slapping legs)
walking along,
walking HOME!

The tigers?
Well they didn’t like that.

One of the tigers got an idea.

“If I run forward
gobble up this tail in my mouth,
gobble up the tiger it’s attached to,
gobble up the tail in his mouth,
gobble up the tiger it’s attached to,
gobble up the tail in his mouth,
gobble up the tiger it’s attached to
 (I’ll have to stop before I gobble up my own tail),
then I’ll be the only tiger.
I can run after Samantha
get all the clothes
and be the grandest tiger in the jungle.”

Good idea?

Well maybe it was
and maybe it wasn’t,
 ‘cause…

All four tigers had the same idea.
All four tigers had the same idea,
at the same time.

All four tigers ran forward
to gobble the tail in their mouths.
And of course,
the faster one ran,
the faster they all ran.

Round and round and round they went
Round and round
faster and faster
 ‘til they were going so fast you couldn’t see their legs.

Round and round and round they went
Round and round
faster and faster
 ‘til they were going so fast you couldn’t the tigers.
Just a golden brown blur.

Round and round and round they went
Round and round
so fast
they melted into butter.

Just about that time
along came Samantha’s father.

Think he was out looking for Samantha?

All he found was a big puddle of butter.

Tasted it.

Said, “I’d better bring this home to mama.”

When Samantha’s mother tasted the tiger butter
she said,
 “Let’s make pancakes!”

They did!
Fried up those pancakes in tiger butter.
Came out just as golden brown as little tigers.

There was so much butter
they made so many pancakes,
they filled up a platter
as big as this room!
Stacked up to the ceiling!

There were so many pancakes
Samantha’s mother ate sixteen pancakes.
Samantha’s father ate twenty-two.

But Brave Little Samantha,
she was so hungry after her adventure,
she ate
one hundred and thirty-nine.
Boy was she full.

Well that’s the story of Brave Little Samantha.

I hope you enjoyed it.
-----

One of the songs using the unpopular terms:
http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~ela/usct/sambo.HTML  

------------------------------------------------
The  Storytell Letters 1/16/99-1/18/99
------------------------------------------------

Little Black Sambo becomes Brave Little Samantha

Little Black Sambo To view the original:

I learned this tale from my mother.
She learned it from a book.
A book I never saw.
A book that didn’t exist during my childhood,
 ‘cause in my house,
most of the good books got read to pieces before "I was born.
My mom told it in the car or ‘round the campfire.
She's told it many hundreds of times. I have also.

I told it in a library up in Claremont, NH in the 80’s.
That’s when I learned it had been banned,
learned why it was banned,
and saw the U.S. illustrations…
It's one of the most documented case of book banning in U.S. history.

Below is my version.
Use these words or your own,
If the story fits, tell it.
Perfect for ages 3 to 8 and family audiences.
This version runs 20 to 40 minutes.
Pieces are used or not depending on the listeners.

Folks,

In the arguments, pro & con, one thing is clear.
This tale affects listeners.
To tell or not to tell is a storyteller's decision,
but it comes with responsibility.

Do you know how hatefully the term 'Sambo' was used?
Here the URL of a civil war song that might help give you an idea:
http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~ela/usct/sambo.HTML

There many other subtle issues to deal with.
In the story, the little girl loses her clothes.
There are lots of ways to handle it.
And I handle it lots of ways.
Sometimes, she's got a long shirt from the start.
Once in a while, she just doesn't care, 'cause she just wants ta get back home.
I'm not interested in playing shrink,
but if your little girl gets naked,
you'd better have some plans on
how to deal with the comments.

When we get to the tiger fight,
a great deal of care must be used to set up a safe structure.

If a teller can make it clear
that NO touching of others is exceptable,
this section of the tale will be a controlled riot,
a great deal of fun,
and rather like a break in a very long story.

If I can't be sure of my audience,
I slide over the fight section.

For those of you who do not know my style for this type of telling;
I use hand signs for most of the lines
and require the listeners to tell parts of the story with me.
Cupped hands on ears = shoes on his ears.
Arm waving behind = tail wagging while holding the umbrella.

My goal is to leave the tale with the listeners
and have them sharing it for the rest of their lives.

Meanwhile, we left Samantha on the path with the tigers in the distance.
I think we'd better get back to her
'cause you know she doesn't have any birthday presents left to give away!

Folks,

I started telling this story at seven years old.
I don't remember a time when I didn't know it.
It's one of the five stories I got prenatal.
I've heard it hundreds of times.
And told it hundreds more.
It's part of my life.
How could I stop telling it?

A problem with copyright is
folks think the words are important to a story.

Naked Truth:

It ain't the words that are important.
It's the meaning we give those words.

As language changes, so must stories.
Or they fall out o' favor
to be studied under a microscope,
or be banned.
Or be banned and studied under a microscope.
Or maybe even worse;
Forgotten.

I left out hundreds of words I might have use in this telling.
Words that I've used in other tellings
Words that I'll might use in future tellings.

The tigers have tiger voices,
Samantha has a little girl's voice.
Mommy and Dad sound like parents.
The rest of the voice is yours.

Imagine the fun of spinning off on the diolog,
during the scene when Samatha offers up her shoes.
I could spend ten minutes having fun with his scorn at her offer.
And her increasingly confident retorts.

The Story of Little Black Sambo  (1092 words)
By Helen Bannerman

( Born Brodie Cowie Watson, the daughter of a Scottish minister, she married a surgeon serving in the British Army of India and spent thirty years of her life there. In 1898 she published the first and most famous of her books: The Story of Little Black Sambo, which she had written to amuse her two little girls sent to Scotland for their education. )

PREFACE.

There is very little to say about the story of
LITTLE BLACK SAMBO.
Once upon a time there was an English lady,
who had two little girls. To amuse these little girls she in India,
where black children abound and tigers are everyday affairs
used now and then to invent stories, for which, being
extremely talented, she also drew and coloured the pictures.
Among these stories LITTLE BLACK SAMBO,
which was made up on a
long railway journey, was the favourite.

Once upon a time there was a little black boy, and his name was Little Black Sambo.

And his mother was called Black Mumbo.

And his father was called Black Jumbo.

And Black Mumbo made him a beautiful little Red Coat, and a pair of beautiful little blue trousers.

And Black Jumbo went to the Bazaar, and bought him a beautiful Green Umbrella, and a lovely little Pair of Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings.

And then wasn't Little Black Sambo grand?

So he put on all his Fine Clothes, and went out for a walk in the Jungle. And by and by he met a Tiger. And the Tiger said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Red Coat." So the Tiger said, "Very well, I won't eat you this time, but you must give me your beautiful little Red Coat." So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Red Coat, and went away saying, "Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And Little Black Sambo went on, and by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Blue Trousers." So the Tiger said, "Very well, I won't eat you this time, but you must give me your beautiful little Blue Trousers." So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Blue Trousers, and went away saying, "Now I'M the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And Little Black Sambo went on, and by and by he met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings."

But the Tiger said, "What use would your shoes be to me? I've got four feet, and you've got only two; you haven't got enough shoes for me."

But Little Black Sambo said, "You could wear them on your ears."

"So I could," said the Tiger: "that's a very good idea. Give them to me, and I won't eat you this time."

So the Tiger got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful little Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings, and went away saying, "Now I'M the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And by and by Little Black Sambo met another Tiger, and it said to him, "Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!" And Little Black Sambo said, "Oh! Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up, and I'll give you my beautiful Green Umbrella." But the Tiger said, "How can I carry an umbrella, when I need all my paws for walking with?"

"You could tie a knot on your tail and carry it that way," said Little Black Sambo. "So I could,"said the Tiger. "Give it to me, and I won't eat you this time." So he got poor Little Black Sambo's beautiful Green Umbrella, and went away saying, "Now I'M the grandest Tiger in the Jungle."

And poor Little Black Sambo went away crying, because the cruel Tigers had taken all his fine clothes.

Presently he heard a horrible noise that sounded like "Gr-r-r-r-rrrrrr," and it got louder and louder. "Oh! dear!" said Little Black Sambo, "there are all the Tigers coming back to eat me up! What shall I do?" So he ran quickly to a palm-tree, and peeped round it to see what the matter was.

And there he saw all the Tigers fighting, and disputing which of them was the grandest. And at last they all got so angry that they jumped up and took off all the fine clothes, and began to tear each other with their claws, and bite each other with their great big white teeth.

And they came, rolling and tumbling right to the foot of the very tree where Little Black Sambo was hiding, but he jumped quickly in behind the umbrella. And the Tigers all caught hold of each other's tails, as they wrangled and scrambled, and so they found themselves in a ring round the tree.

Then, when the Tigers were very wee and very far away, Little Black Sambo jumped up, and called out, "Oh! Tigers! why have you taken off all your nice clothes? Don't you want them any more?" But the Tigers only answered, "Gr-r-rrrr!"

Then Little Black Sambo said, "If you want them, say so, or I'll take them away." But the Tigers would not let go of each other's tails, and so they could only say "Gr-r-r-rrrrrr!"

So Little Black Sambo put on all his fine clothes again and walked off.

And the Tigers were very, very angry, but still they would not let go of each other's tails. And they were so angry, that they ran round the tree, trying to eat each other up, and they ran faster and faster, till they were whirling round so fast that you couldn't see their legs at all.

And they still ran faster and faster and faster, till they all just melted away, and there was nothing left but a great big pool of melted butter (or "ghi," as it is called in India) round the foot of the tree.

Now Black Jumbo was just coming home from his work, with a great big brass pot in his arms, and when he saw what was left of all the Tigers he said, "Oh! what lovely melted butter! I'll take that home to Black Mumbo for her to cook with."

So he put it all into the great big brass pot, and took it home to Black Mumbo to cook with.

When Black Mumbo saw the melted butter, wasn't she pleased! "Now," said she, "we'll all have pancakes for supper!"

So she got flour and eggs and milk and sugar and butter, and she made a huge big plate of most lovely pancakes. And she fried them in the melted butter which the Tigers had made, and they were just as yellow and brown as little Tigers.

And then they all sat down to supper. And Black Mumbo ate Twenty-seven pancakes, and Black Jumbo ate Fifty-five but Little Black Sambo ate a Hundred and Sixty-nine, because he was so hungry.

Papa Joe ~ Telling Tales