Who Believes In Fairy Tales Anyway

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             The story of "Anansi and the Sky God", originating in West Africa, tells of a spider named "Anansi" who spun a web that reached the sky. He climbed his web and brought back lessons from the Sky God to share with the children. In the British Museum in London, a 3000-year-old Egyptian papyrus scroll holds the tale of "Anpu and Bata". Across Europe, there are approximately 800 versions of this story in circulation. .
             "Anpu and Bata are two brothers who quarrel and are suddenly separated by a magic river full of crocodiles. The brothers make up their differences and long to be together again. Bata places his soul into the flower of an acacia tree and tells Anpu to find the flower after he is dead and to put it in water. The nine gods of Egypt make the most beautiful wife for Bata, and he is heartbroken when she leaves him to marry Pharaoh (king). The Pharaoh cuts down the acacia tree so that Bata will die. When Anpu finds his brother's dead body lying under the acacia tree, he takes a seed from the flower and plants it. The seed grows into a flower containing Bata's soul, and Bata comes to life again." (Jeffries, 1999, pg. 71-72).
             Stories about a small, witty person who can outsmart a "giant" encompass stories like "David and Goliath" from the Bible, the "Parrot Tales", the Norse "Troll" stories, Grimm's "Brave Little Tailor," and in the folklore of Albaina, South America, India, and England (Jefferies, 1998, pg. 72).
             The Swan Maiden is a fairy who can transform from a swan to a human girl and back to a swan through the use of a magical cloak. The cloak was stolen and the swan maiden was in servitude to the rogue until rescued by the prince. In Finland the bird is a goose instead of swan, in Africa it is a pigeon, in Bohemia it is a dove, and in Shetland the bird is actually a seal. (Jefferies, 1998, pg. 73) In Ireland, there were four swans who were the children of a jealous second wife of the king who cursed them to remain as swans until the "union of the woman of the South and the man of the North" (Dubois, 1999, pg.