Fairy Tale Fix - 108: Pew Pew

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

Spoiler alert: the fix is Free Palestine for the Palestinian folk tale of Speak Bird, Speak Again told by Abbie in this episode. Kelsey takes things to a lighter (right?) place with the Slavic tale of Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth.

I don't know why we stopped shocking because there's no word to me neither. We don't have to do the minutes. I don't know. How are you? I'm good. As I mentioned in the last episode, I sprained my ankle a few weeks ago. So I have been watching. I've been at mobile.

I had to wear, I have to use crutches for like three weeks. It fucking sucked. I'm still limping. I haven't had to use crutches for a few days, though, so that's very exciting. I'm happy for you. But I've been watching a lot of stuff and playing a lot of stuff. And yesterday, I played a game called Stray. Oh, I saw that you booted that up for the first time.

What did you, what did you think? Did you like it? I haven't played it, but it looks, it looks cute. It was so fun. You're like a cat in kind of like a dystopian world. and you get separated from your family, which is really sad. It's very sad. And the cat's very cute.

And then you're running around. And then you end up helping a bunch of robots trying to get back to the surface. So I think like humans don't exist anymore. It's just a bunch of robots that are pretty chill. That's probably for the best. And you are the world's smartest cat because you're like a little detective and you have to help them and go on like all these little side quests. Are you like a genetically enhanced cat or like a normal cat? Or do you know yet? Well, I finished the game. Oh, okay. So I don't think so. I think you're a normal cat, but you are very, I mean, very smart. You're doing stuff and hanging out with robots. There's like a little drone named B12 that translates for you.

That's so cute. It's very cute. It was so much fun. I enjoyed it. I'm a little disappointed with the ending, but I can't give it away because that was. will spoil it. But I think they kind of set it up for a second game. It came out in 2022. So I don't know if they're actually planning and doing a sequel soon. Oh, I hope so. I hope they do because I was a little unsatisfied with the story ending. And it sounds like a short game too, because like you played it. Yeah, I've played it for a couple of hours like during the week. And then yesterday was Saturday and I just played it all day. Because I can't move. I can't really do a lot. So I'm using that. as an excuse to be as lazy as possible.

Oh, not lazy. Absorbing, absorbing video games, which sometimes it takes a nice long stretch of not being able to do anything else to fully appreciate. Yeah, I mean, otherwise I just would have been watching. I also watched all four John Wick movies last weekend. I was texting you about that a little bit. I'm obsessed with the fact that they call him Baba Yaga.

And they're like the boogeyman. But no, like, the Baba Yaga is an old lady witch, which also she, like, you don't fuck with her either. So I love it. Well, I think it unintentionally totally works. Yeah, unintentionally for sure. They definitely, no one looked that up beforehand. Like, no one corrected.

You know someone knew and they didn't correct them. I hope that. I hope that's true that they're like he he. well and the guy the very first guy who says it who calls him that even says like baba yaga like he uses the correct pronunciation and everything so it's like well i think by the time they actually got to filming they probably knew it's just that they decided to keep it what if they just thought it was funny yeah i bet they did i'm you know i'm so curious i've never actually looked up this story um of of how they of how they arrived at baba yaga i'm going i'm going to now maybe later i've i've i feel like i feel like I've seen articles where it was a mistake. Like, they got it wrong. They thought it meant boogeyman. They thought it.

Well, I think maybe they just Googled like, what's the, what's the Russian equivalent of a boogeyman? And like, you know, fucking Google spit back out, Babi Yaka. And then they didn't do any further research. God damn AI. Screwing everybody over. I mean, also to be fair, like, so like, you know, Um, my, my ex co-worker who, uh, was, was born in Ukraine, uh, uh, um, makes fun of the way we say

it. Yeah. No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. If I say Baba Diego, I'm an, I'm an, I'm an asshole. Like, I am a pretentious asshole. I can't just that's not for me. It's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like speaking regular English and then saying croissant. You're an asshole Or when I used to say brusquetta Brouscetta You were That was pretentious of you

It's brusquetta Can I get a little extra Mozzadale No I'm sorry I'm not allowed to say Baba Yega Unless I'm Actually speaking Ukrainian or something There you go

Yeah But no but anyway but like but so from what he told me his grandmother pretty much did use Baba Yaga like the boogeyman so it's very like to scare him as like he didn't know any specific

Baba Yaga stories his grandmother just basically told him don't be bad or Baba Yaga will eat you so it's totally possible that like they just they like had a Russian consultant or they knew a Russian person and they said hey who's Russian boogeyman And that Russian person said, oh, yeah, my grand used to tell me stories all the time about Baba Yaga.

And she fucking uses her guns and shoots everybody. And she's awesome. Pugh, peel, pew, pew, pew, pew, phew. I love that. I love those movies. They are 90% fight scene and chase scene. It's, and it's so stylized. It's very, like, I was telling Adam, it's very comic booky.

And he's like, it's from a comic book. so is it yeah i guess it is that's what adam said i didn't look it up i just believe him yeah google that shit i'm googling it's gonna tell you something wrong though no but you see i unlike your average hollywood script writer shade uh am going to click on more links no you do uh what is it scholar google go to google scholar i'll go to google scholar i'll go to google scholar For all of your questions. Okay. Wikipedia won't let me down.

So there is a John Wick comic book series, but the movie predates it. What? I'm going to tell him that he was wrong. Like, I mean, and that's how it goes these days. It's like, sure, there's a comic now, but of course there is. Yeah, sure. Every popular franchise now gets, now gets in addition in, I'm surprised we don't have a John Wick video game yet. I know. It would be, I mean, it basically is a video game. It's 90% fight scene and it's just John Wick killing literally everyone. And he also falls out of like these two story buildings multiple times in one scene. And he doesn't die. It's amazing. I love it. It's so cheesy and so like I'm kind of surprised. I like it because it's very obviously like for boys. You know what I mean? Like just I disagree because everybody I know who likes it are.

are like are gay people it's for the gays it's for the girls the gays the days and the boys the straight boys can like it too they can have it but it's so cheesy it's like there's he's running on horseback there's a car chase like fuck yes i don't feel like i would normally like that stuff but it's keanu reeves so and it's it's the music is so fucking good the music is good and the fight scenes are so well choreographed and they're and they're like legit brutal And I think like, like over the top brutal. Over the top brutal. I have to close my eyes at some of those scenes.

I'm just like, oh, he's going to stick it through his eye. I know. But like, and I remember seeing in early things that like of that people real that like a lot of appreciation for this movie is that like John Wick and all of the bad guys actually have to keep track of their clips. Like their bullets don't have a undetermined amount of gun amount of bullets in them. It seems like they do. it's amazing. But yeah, he just like switch guns and like he actually has to like he actually has to switch his magazines and um uses environment and I don't know. It's they're all it's really well choreographed and stuff. I'm a big fan. I love so good. I'm super stoked to see ballerina

that's still in theaters at the time of we're recording this. The reason I watched all four Johnwick movies. I watched them in two days. I wanted to watch them all in one day but I had to go to sleep. Yeah. There's four of those things. I had to go to sleep. Ugh. But, But I really want to see ballerina because Evanescence did, like, the main song for it. It's called Fight Like a Girl featuring K-Flay. It's so good. I'm obsessed with that song. I've got to check it out.

Fucking love Evanescence. I'm so glad that they're putting Evanescence songs in movies again because that's where they belong. I know. It's so good. And K-Flay is amazing. I love K-Flay. When I heard it, I was like, K-Fleigh should be in that band just all. the time

like the perfect voices together I loved it yeah can KFle and Ebene essence just do collabs constantly I know just put her in the band it's fine it was so good but I haven't seen it yet

and I'm really stoked because it's and it's called ballerina and like if you've seen the John Wick movies there's like a part where he's from like a Slavic orphanage that teaches you to fight or whatever and like and then all the all the like girls are doing ballet which if you know ballet it's like you are literally have to be made of iron to

do ballet absolutely especially like Russian ballet is particularly like athletic and brutal it's brutal as fuck so I'm really stoked uh I'm you're getting me more hyped I wasn't necessarily going to watch it, but I, but I do fucking love John Wick and just, she should, killing you literally everybody. Yeah, it's like, I'm not ordinarily an action movie girly most of the time because I like a little more plot. Like, I don't mind an action scene, but I like a little more plot, generally speaking. See, and the last couple movies are my least favorite because there's too much plot in my opinion. I was like, you know why this is like, Why aren't they fighting?

They haven't been fighting for a whole 20 minutes. I enjoyed it because I was like, ooh, we're really deepening the lore here of this like assassin world. I'm into it. Oh, my God. As soon as fucking, what was it Lawrence Fishburn, Morpheus? Oh, there are so many, um, Matrix, like, like Easter eggs in John Wick or like callbacks. I don't know. I don't know what he call it. But they, they like reference the Matrix constantly. Constantly. So good. Yeah. I love Lawrence Fishburn. I want him and Keanu. I like to think that they're best friends in real life.

Oh. Because they're so good together. They at the very least like each other enough to work to work with each other again. So that's good. Lawrence Fishburn kind of like he calls himself the king. It's just so good. It's so sexy. The whole movie is just very sexy. Everyone in it is hot Everyone's hot Everyone's a badass Yeah It's great So good

It's fantastic It's dog It's pro dog It's very pro dog Which is great Which is an important feature in a film I believe I love that

Like his dog gets killed And he just kills everybody Hell yeah I love that for him As he should Spoiler alert It is really sad That just makes me so sad when he kills dog.

And the very first one, it is the saddest scene. And then he kills everyone and it's just the greatest. Yeah. I do love an entire movie predicated on like getting vengeance for your puppy. Anyway. Yeah. It's a great. It's, yeah.

I mean, thank you for letting me rant about that. Hot take listeners. John Wick is great. The puppy, The boogey man. And they also like, it's a boogie man.

I do kind of reference Babayaga later because he has like I don't think this is too much of a spoiler I don't know like he has he goes to the library and he has like a secret book

he uses like a folklore book and he puts his like stuff in the Babayaga section of the book except I'm a little sad they didn't use the picture of Babayaga they used the picture of Vaselisa the beautiful but whatever well I mean I don't know

that's almost more realistic because that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, the, I know, but the old lady. I want to see. I want to, I want to make sure that people explicitly understand that we are calling John Wick an old hag who lives in the woods. Yeah, you still don't get to see Babiaga. And I'm like, they just picked the first picture that came up on Google images. They did. So they're still not working very hard. God damn it. Um, you are now thinking harder about. about the movie than the writers

bothered to Pue, pew, pew, Pew, Pew, Pew. Point of movie is Pue, Pue. Yes. I love it. I fucking love it.

Yeah. I highly recommend those movies. Especially if you're just in, like, it's also a movie you don't really have to pay super hard attention to. So anyway,

and I love, I personally love that because my attention span is not long. I watched four movies. I watch at least two movies in a row. I watched the first and the second one on like a Friday. And then Saturday I watched the third and fourth one.

Right as soon as I woke up. I'm really impressed with you, by the way. So it really was like a full continuity, a full chain. Yeah. Bench watching John Wick. What else can I do? I can't move. And I can't like, couldn't like sit on the ground normally.

Like I haven't been. able to cross my legs because the way my ankle like twists up it still hurts a little um i know it skews me out when i think about it oh yeah by the way i don't think i told everybody i twisted my ankle while golfing oh no i don't think you mentioned that yet um which is i hate that for you i hate it that that's how you hurt yourself you know how golfing involves a lot of strenuous running and jumping yeah it's such an intense It's famously a very active and intense sport Oh my gosh

So dumb on my first day of vacation Fuck Leaping Leaping for that The ball Ball And it's wearing like a little bit of too high of a Sneaker platform just

Oh my God I don't think about it anymore Yeah did you trip over a like a Did you trip on something? Everybody asks me if I stepped in a hole Like I just didn't see the golf bowl No, I was running toward my ball Because I was trying to just hurry

And be done with it because I am bad at golf This was baby's first real golf course, by the way And the wind was blowing And the wind blew my hat off And I went, oh no, my hat And I went to grab my hat I didn't want anybody to see my ugly hat hair and my ankle just

I went one way my ankle went the other there was a pop it was bad I'm just glad I wasn't broken I also think it's funny that like just you know in the service of hiding your hat

hair I was being you gave yourself a three week injury by the way this it's fairy tale fix Ha ha ha ha. I'm Abby.

I'm Kelsey. And this is the podcast where we talk about books and TV that we've been enjoying for 20 minutes. And then we tell you a classic foker fairy tale that we then proceed to, quote, unquote, fix for a modern audience. I know. And I'm really excited. I think you're first today. I am first today. I am first today.

Let's get into it. I want you to tell me a story. I will be telling you a story. I'm very excited about it. But first of all, we have a returning patron to thank. Oh, yeah. Thanks, Lisa. Yeah.

Lisa Walters, welcome back. You didn't have to, but you did. And we really appreciate and love you and miss seeing your name on stuff. So welcome back, our beloved familiar Lisa Walters. Oh, right. Okay, so my story for you today is from a book called Speak Bird Speak Again. And these are, this is a collection of Palestinian folktales. Very cool.

That I'm excited to tell you. I believe this is a new printing. This book was originally, this collection was originally published in 1989. But it was recently re-edited, republished to kind of have some of, the, some of the original flavor of the story, some of the original like, um, oral tradition, uh, storytelling cadence of these stories to kind of make them more truly sort of like in the, in the Arab style. Yeah, I love that of telling them.

And it was, these stories were like, reedited and collected by two, uh, Palestinian men, Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanana. Cool. Love that. Yeah. So I'm going to be. be reading you the story that's, uh, I don't know, I don't think this is actually much of a hint at all, but this is the story that the title of the collection itself was taken from. Okay. Um,

and this story is called the green bird. Um, how many predictions do I get? It's, uh, it's medium is, so you can or, well, hang on, how long is this? It actually, you know what? It actually might be, you can have three. This is, this is roughly. This is, this is roughly. This is, This is roughly three pages long. Okay. First prediction. The bird is really royalty. A second prediction is there's a curse.

I wonder where I'm going with this one. And third one I'm going to go out of pocket and say there's an old woman, just kind of random. I like it. I want an old woman in every fair. very tale. I'm going to, I mean, I'll read, next week I'll read something from wise women again. And then that prediction will be most assuredly true. So before I get into this book, I just wanted to talk a little bit about, um, just because of just the general world state at the moment and especially what's going on in Gaza. I just wanted to, I guess I don't really have a prepared statement for,

for this. I just, I bought this book a while ago. And I've been like weirdly like, nervous to read from it or to talk about it just because we generally try to keep things pretty light on this podcast. But, um, and so we're recording this at the end of June, uh, where, and things are even more dire in Gaza than they've been for the past couple of years with Israel intentionally, uh, starving these people to death, setting up U.S. aid centers that kill people trying to get aid, blocking other entities from attempting to break the siege and distribute aid to the Gaza and people. And I think as of this week, have fully cut off internet as well so that the people in Gaza can no longer tell their

story. Or it's a lot harder. I think that if someone has an e-sim, they can still reach the internet, but it's, it's become a lot more difficult. Um, they've also been trading missiles back and forth with Iran. So who knows what the fuck is going to happen. The episode we're recording today doesn't come out until August, but that is kind of the position that we're recording from right now. And, and I just, it's really, it's really been on my heart. And I wanted to, sorry, I'm very emotional. Nothing's happening to me. I know, but it's a horrible situation. And you're a good person because you have basic human empathy. Thank you. I agree.

I think that this is something that anyone with basic human empathy should be able to understand as being deeply wrong. Yeah, absolutely. I think we should do a geography corner. Oh my gosh. Why don't we?

Yeah. So, we have not done a story from Palestinian folk down before. This is a interesting and contentious geography corner because the state of Palestine. Palestine is an interesting and politically contentious geographical entity. I think, you know, the stance that Kelsey and I hold is that Palestine should be free. There should be a free state, a free independent state of Palestine.

Culturally, there is a Palestine. And we believe that it should be internationally recognized. Yeah. So where you can find Palestine is, on the Mediterranean. Its borders are Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

And Israel, which is the currently recognized state that encompasses Palestine. And so most of like current occupied Palestine is the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Kelsey and I are not

politicians, political scientists, military people, but Palestine should be, Palestine should be free. And we don't agree with genocide. And we don't agree with genocide. Genocide is wrong. And that is what is, and that is what it's occurring. And it's actually not that complicated. So that's where we are. Right on the coast. Right on the coast. And that's why I wanted to read from this book today. So these are a bunch of traditional Palestinian Arab folktales that were collected by, collected by Palestinian people from Palestinian people and told in that general, told in that general cadence. A lot of these stories have a lot to do with family.

A lot of them have a lot to do with humor. A lot of them have similar tale types that can be found in the Arabian Nights. So some of the story patterns may sound familiar. I'm going to try to read from this book more often in the coming months and kind of get over that reluctance to talk about something upsetting and bring you like a little, a little strip of traditional Palestinian culture, which I'm obviously not qualified to speak on, but I'm going to read from the book anyway. Yeah. Okay. So this is the green bird. Kelsey, remind us what your predictions are because I gave us like a bit of a bit of a sad interlude in between you making them and, uh, no worries. starting the story my predictions are one the bird is really royalty two there's a curse i'm not saying that the curse is that the royalty was turned into a bird but um and saying that i'm saying that i'm just saying there's a curse but uh and there's an old woman in the story somewhere

Am I allowed to predict that? Of course. I love it. This one's not literally called old women folk tales, so you may predict that one. Okay. So, once upon a time, there was a man. It's off to a bad star. Yeah.

I don't love it so far. He had a son and a daughter. whose mother had died. They had a neighbor who was a widow, and every day she kept after the children putting ideas in their heads. Tell me, she would say, doesn't your father intend to get married?

No, not yet, they would answer. Why then, don't you say to him, she would urge, father, marry your neighbor? Hmm. A little parent trap going on. It's a little, sort of, but like, from the adult. And so, okay, so there's also, there's a lot of footnotes in this book that kind of explain some of what's going on culturally.

So I'm going to read the footnote for this one. Yeah, great. This is the first footnote. The children here must be too young to understand what they are doing. Otherwise, the woman could not have approached the subject of marriage with them. So she's definitely taking advantage of the fact that these kids just like, don't, they don't quite understand what's appropriate. But it's very inappropriate for her to be badgering these children about like their father's

marital status. which honestly that would be that would be true in America too. She's like you know what? She's trying to create a little, I don't know. She knows if she wants and she's trying to get it. She's trying to get after it through whatever window she can. And if that's from the heart of the children. Yeah, exactly.

Is that so wrong? Yes, in the story's opinion. So the kids, you know, hearing this, they'd go to their father and they'd say, Father, marry your neighbor. And they, and he would say, children, you're still too young. If I get married now, your aunt will beat you. And the second footnote is that children, especially if their mother is dead, called their stepmother, auntie.

The polite form of a dress also reflects the way she is expected to treat them as if they were her sister's children. Okay. So that's so he's, so he is. So, like, instead of your stepmother, it's your aunt, we'll beat you. When you're older, I'll marry again. I don't want to get married because she's going to beat you. Because I know she's going to beat the shit out of you.

You are bad kids. He's a good, he... Because you're bad kids. And to his daughter, he would say, I'll wait until you're old enough to fill the water jug. The girl would then go to the woman and say, such and such, says my father. and the neighbor would go fill the water jug at the spring, bring it to their house, and urge the girl to say to her father,

Father, I'm now old enough. I've filled the water jug. Mary our neighbor. She's being hallow shady, very manipulative. Mm-hmm. I mean, the kids are doing it, though. So they are, they are. But like, you know, kids don't do anything.

Maybe they like her. Maybe. Maybe they do. I'll marry when you're old enough to need. the dough, the father would say, when you're old enough to bake the bread, when you're old enough to cook. Whatever chore he mentioned, the neighbor would come to the house and do it, and the girl would go back to her father and say, father, here, I've done this and that, marry our neighbor. Eventually, the man. He's just not that into her. Well, I mean, he gave in because he eventually

married the neighbor. And she turned against the children and beat them, so he was also right. I mean, you wanted to marry a widower with kids. Yeah. Where's the bird? Where's the burn? One day, her husband said, wife, by Allah, we've got a craving for stuffed tripe. That does sound good.

And then there's a footnote describing what stuffed tripe is. Yes, please. The meal of stuffed tripe includes not only the sheep's intestines, but also the head and feet. So tripe is sheep's intestines. I thought it was a kind of fish the first time I did too. What was I thinking? You know, I know what tripe is now that you're saying that.

And I'm like, wait, actually. Yeah. That's not fish. Why was I thinking fish? It's tripe. They're thinking trout. Right. There's a kind of fucking fish that sounds similar.

You know what? It doesn't sound appetizing, but they're hankering for it. And I bet it's good. I bet it's delicious. I bet it's delicious. But the footnote continues. it's not only the sheep's intestines but also the head and feet most women dread preparing tripe because it requires so much work because you have to thoroughly cleanse the inside of

the intestines the hair must be removed from the head and feet by singeing and scraping and then the intestines themselves stuffed with rice and chopped lamb and spices are cooked with the head and the feet in a rich yogurt sauce like again it doesn't sound bad I like a yogurt sauce. Yeah. But preparing it sounds fucking annoying and kind of gross. I have a Danish cookbook and one of the things in it is hoghead soup and it tells you how to prepare the hoghead and it literally takes like a week.

Yeah, because it's so much fucking work. It's so labor intensive. Yeah. And auntie's like, no thanks. But she says to him, bring the tripe and we'll cook it. he went and got the tripe she scrubbed and cleaned it and put it on the fire her husband was plowing in the fields and after she had placed the food on the fire she set to sweeping the floor she swept a stroke or two and thought to herself that she might as well check and see if the food was ready she picked up a foot and ate it another stroke or two of the broom and again she said to herself let me poke the food and see if it's ready she picked up a portion of the tripe and ate it and by the time she realized what she was doing she had eaten up the whole meal leaving nothing behind that's so relatable that's how i cook too damn that's good she works really hard on it so she did i mean she's a children beater so i'm not saying she's great or

anything but yeah well one of the other footnotes here says that it also usually takes the entire family to cook it like all the women in the family go in on cooking it so honestly i find this extremely relatable. Exactly. It's like, it's like that labor intensive. Yeah. And so I actually find her extremely relatable of like she worked so hard. She prepared all of the scripe all by yourself and now she's cleaning like she must be famished. She needs a little snicky snack. She needs some sneaky snacks. That's what I do. I do that too. Um, like by the time, by the time I'm actually plating plating dinner, I am full. as it should be ye she cried out the devil take me what's he going to do with me now soon he'll be home from plowing and what's he going to eat by allah i think he'll kill me he'll blacken my face

oh no go call your brother right away and she's calling out to the little girl um the footnote for that is she going to eat the boy or I guess he's going to eat the boy you are good at predicting things there's also too much violence in this already like he's kind of black in my face it's very it's very violent a lot of domestic violence in this story yeah okay just FYI so actually I don't know

trigger warning domestic violence or beating children anyway child murder it's a fairy tale yeah you know if you're not used to it I want my life just to be like a fairy tale. No, you don't. No, you do not. You do not.

So the girl is also good at predicting stories, and so she immediately starts crying, knowing what the woman wants. Oh, little baby. What do you want with my brother, Auntie? I'm telling you to call your brother, and if you don't call him, I'll kill you right now. Jesus. So the girl went out calling, brother, come and don't come.

Come and don't come near. For you, they've sharpened the knives in front of the shop doors. And the footnote for the shop doors is lamb meat is sold fresh daily and most butchers will not carry more than they can sell in one day. It's still common to see butchers sharpening their knives by their shop doors preparing to cut meat for waiting customers. Cool. So she's essentially saying they're going to butcher you, babe.

Don't. Fun fact. My dad was a butcher for a long time. Isn't that fun? I have known you since we were 13. I know. I know. I not know that.

My dad was a butcher. He's like, he used to do that, like cut meat while people are waiting, which I always think is weird because I can't see him doing that. Randy? Yeah. Happy Father's Day, Dad. Oh, it's Father's Day. Oh, it is Father's Day.

I'm going to go see him after this. One of the, one of the sweetest men in the whole world. Yep. A butcher. Cutting up meat, a butcher. Was it his own business or did he just work there? I don't think so. I think he just worked there.

Okay. Man, I've got so many. It's probably just some like little local grocery store. Yeah. I know weird, right? That is weird. But cool. Okay.

Well, now I'm imagining it's Randy at the shop door. Carpening. Me too. Sharping his knives. Boucher a little kid. Butcher this boy. Oh, no. Actually, I can't imagine Randy doing anything that violent.

But now Coming back in, she said Oh, Auntie, I wasn't able to find him. I'm telling you to call him, the woman snapped back. Quick as a bird. Otherwise, I'm going to slaughter you. Okay. Where is the bird?

Patience. Back out went the girl and she called, Hey, brother, come and don't come. Come and don't come near. For you, they've sharpened the knives in front of the shop doors. and this last time the woman said I'll kill you if you don't bring him

finally the sister called her brother for real and he came in taking him inside the woman locked the door she slaughtered him cut him into pieces and cooked him just as she would cook tripe and in the same pot the other one

RIP is head and everything oh sorry I don't know why that that's the like imagery that wreaked me out just now I know was it like that is clearly not sheep's head too so I don't know who you think you're fooling yeah and like the the feet are all wrong

yeah the little girl sat crying and crying but the woman said to her consider yourself dead if you speak to your father about this the father came home from plowing hungry did you cook the tripe wife he asked yes she answered and setting the pot down they cut pieces of bread poured the sauce over it piled the meat on top and set to it. Come girl, come girl. The father urged his daughter, eat. I don't want any, she said. Hell no.

No. How can you not want any? He asked. Eat. No, father. I'm full. I've just taken some food and eaten. Leave her alone.

His wife cut in. What do you want? with her all day long she's been hanging about and eating all right said the father but where's your brother doesn't he want to eat oh he just ate and went out to play answered the wife when he comes back even if it's midnight i'll give him some food mm-hmm that is so freaky you should have read this on Halloween I know I know it's a really fucked it's it's definitely a What the fuck fairy tale? It's like a juniper tree?

Mm-hmm. It has very juniper tree vibes, yep. He just ate, oh, okay. From that day on, the man would set out for the fields with his team early in the morning and come home late in the evening, tired. He would ask about the boy, and his wife would say he had just eaten and gone out to play. Now, the sister, after they had finished their meal, took the bones and dug a hole and buried them at the edge of the garden.

And every morning, she would sit by the place where she buried the bone. and cry and cry until she had no more tears, then she would go home. It's very similar to the juniper tree. Uh-huh, uh-huh. I think there was a bird in that one, too. Right down to the bird, actually. Yeah.

So this is basically the juniper, this is Palestinian juniper tree. One day, there was a wedding at the neighbor's house. Her father, her stepmother, and all the girls in the neighborhood put on their best clothes and went to the wedding. Now that nobody's around, she thought to herself, I'll dig up the bones and look at them again. she went and done sorry who thought that the little girl okay I think that's weird but all right she's traumatized she's traumatized leave her alone I just want to look at the bones I just want to

look at creepy so she went and dug and so the story goes found a marble urn she dug deeper unearthed it and out of it flew a green bird and what else the urn was full of gold bracelets rings and earrings. There was also a dress, which was something to look at. Hooray. Treasure. Buried treasure and a bird, and not my brother's bones.

I just want to look at them, okay? I just want to stare at them. Putting the dress on, the girls are imagining her looking like Wednesday Adams now. Just like. I just want to look at them. Yeah. I just want to look at Pugsley's bones. It's so creepy. Sorry.

This story is horrifying. Anyway. It is. I'm really uncomfortable. I do think it's funny that this is like, this is the, because I picked this one because it's the title, it's the title story from the, from, of the book. Like, why is this the title story? What are the other ones like? Jesus.

I mean, so this is the thing with like a lot of Arab fairy tales is that most of them are pretty fucked up. like I tried to find a breezy one and I couldn't find they're all they all involve a lot of like sex death murder and like body horror I love it I love it good like they're fun as hell yeah but they're really fucked up okay so she puts on the dress and she sets off for the wedding wearing all of the jewelry Everyone noticed her, admiring the clothes and the jewels, but no one recognized her. In a while, as the wedding procession moved along, a green bird came circling over the head of the bride. He sang, I am the green bird who graces this gathering.

My stepmother slaughtered me and my father devoured me. Only my kind sister, a la shower mercy on her, gathered up my bones and saved them in the urn of stone. Okay, so gathering the bones was a good idea. not being a creep. It was a great idea. Okay. So this is kind of where they kind of explain a little bit about the green bird. In the footnotes, the green bird in particular occurs in many songs sung during wedding celebrations.

Aw. Yeah. And then also explaining like the wedding procession. The wedding procession is an essential part of the Palestinian wedding ceremony in which relatives and friends of the couples sing and dance in the street and celebration of the marriage. Cool. It is cool. I love footnotes.

I love it when there's like cultural context. Yes. It's so helpful because it's like I don't know. Uh-huh. Yeah. I'm not from there. I wouldn't know. So it helps like deepen the story and help your understanding.

Okay. So he sings that rhyme. Look, look, they all shouted. There's a bird and it's speaking. They forgot. about the wedding procession entirely and turned their attention to the bird. Speak, bird, they clamored. Speak again.

How beautiful are your words? I will say nothing more, he replied, until that woman over there opens her mouth. Oh, I love that. And his stepmother opened her mouth, and he dropped a handful of nails and needles into it. I know. Cool. Cool. She swallowed them, and behold, she died.

Vengeance Vengeance Peep-be-be- Speak bird urge the crowd Say more How beautiful are your words They don't hear at all

No they were like Oh that makes sense She was kind of a bitch Nobody liked her anyway Nobody liked her anyway I won't speak again He answered Until that man over there

Opens his mouth His father opened his mouth And the bird dropped a handful of needles and nails into it and he too fell dead oh damn he didn't know though yeah but he still ate his son and he didn't ask too many questions about where that kid was he didn't know but like the kid's head was like right exactly um he deserved it because also he married this woman who beat on his children and didn't stop her and then he also beat his beat her yeah um So, you know, the moral of the story is both of those people are terrible.

Yeah, everyone is behaving poorly. Everyone's behaving poorly, except for the little girl. Again, the crowd urged the bird, speak bird. How beautiful are your words? I won't say more, he answered, until that girl over there opens her lap. Her sister opened her lap like this, and I imagine her holding out her dress. Aw, cute. And the bird landed on it

And behold, he turned into a boy again I know That's sweet I know Her brother had returned as he was before And they went home and lived together This is my tale I've told it

And in your hands I leave it The end Ooh, I love that ending Me too I love that as an ending for the story Yeah But like it's your It's your story now

Yeah, yeah That's so cute And I love that the little boy is alive again like me too so that's actually a pretty huge theme of the stories in this book i've noticed and then also this is this is just directly mentioned in the foreword that um uh the forward is by ibtisem baccarat um and he mentions in the in his forward that a lot of these stories are about the um the bond between brother and sister that like the relationship relationship between brothers and sisters, or it's very, uh, sacred and important.

That's sweet. Um, in Palestinian culture. And so a lot of these stories have to do with the bond with brothers and sisters. Aw. Very cool. It is very cool. It's very beautiful. Um, so like, so, you know, now that we come to the end of the story, like, I think

it's more apparent why they chose speak bird speak again as the title. Because the, because the follow up is how beautiful are your words. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and it's a, you know, a collection of Palestinian folk tales. That's very poetic. It's very poetic.

I also kind of love thinking of, just once again, just thinking about how interconnected our planet is and all of the cultures of our planet. Because like, because this, because this, the middle section of this book has strong similarities with the juniper tree. Yeah. Yeah. The stories, like how we talk about how like things like mermaids and like all these themes just transcend cultures.

Transcend culture. And we've also been telling stories to each other all over the world for thousands of years. So who knows where any story truly comes from? Because, you know, the juniper tree is a German fairy tale. But like, you know, but these two stories have a lot of, just a lot of similarity. Yeah. Because of just how stories travel and how people like to talk to each other. And how people.

Yeah. Everybody's got like a Cinderella story. yeah because we all we all like a lot of the same things and we also like talking to each other like as much as as much as we uh fight with each other I think we also really are all just seeking connection with each other as well yeah and so I think that's really just beautiful and a lot of different layers that is very beautiful thank you for telling me that awesome story it was very creepy but I liked it a lot thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it I thought that you would enjoy the vibes I didn't it

Any points, as usual. Oh, I don't know. I disagree. I feel like there was a curse. Oh, yeah. I guess he kind of cursed. Okay. I'll take it.

I'm going to give you that one. Because like the parents almost cursed themselves and the sister blessed herself by despite treating his bones with respect. You're right. Yeah. I'm giving it to you. Thank you. Oh, I love it.

You're welcome. Do, can you think of a fix for the story? Honestly, no. It was really good. I agree. Like, I mean, like my fix for the story would obviously be like one that that means we don't have a story, which is like the father didn't marry a woman who beats his children.

It doesn't sound like he was that great either, though. No, because she was so terrified of him beating her that she thought this was a solution. And he orders her to make elaborate meals with no assistance. I was kind of thinking it would be a cool horror story if he was just also so terrified of her that even though he did realize it was his son, he was pretending not to. Ooh, that would have been a, okay, that's a fun twist. I like that twist.

Like she's so, like, wicked and like, you know, manipulating the kids and stuff. So then it becomes a very like, none of this is true situation. Oh my gosh, yes. I love it. I think that's very fun. Yeah. But I really like the story. I wouldn't, I don't really have a, I don't like have a fix.

I just have a horror movie version in my head. Yep. I mean, but I mean, that'd be if that's a fun, that's a fun interpretation if anyone ever filmed it. I guess like my fix, my fix is free Palestine, really, at the end of the day. Uh-huh. Yep. What story do you have for me? Okay.

Well, as I mentioned, who watched all four John Wick movies. Yeah, you did. So, did that inspire you? I grabbed this beauty. Hell, yeah. It's been a long time. The Russian fairy tales pantheon. And I found a Baba Yaga story.

And I have a couple of stories I want to read from this because the Bobbyaga story is very short. And it is called, God, I shouldn't have told you that it's a Baba Yaga story. No, it says in the title. It's called Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth. Okay, yeah. So there was no way to avoid telling me it was a Baba Yaga story. Okay. Baba Yaga and how many predictions do I get for that one?

Let me look at how many. It's like two pages. Okay. Why don't you give me two predictions for Baba Yaga and the brave youth? I'm pretty sure we haven't told this one. I looked it up and didn't see it. Okay. And I don't think it's one that I've read.

So it doesn't sound familiar. Baba Yaga chases someone. As she does. as she does. I actually want her in her little mortar and pestle. I know. Me too. Every time.

Today. The boy didn't mean to encounter her. Okay. All right. That's two. Oh, that's two. Okay. Yeah.

All right. Tell me the story. Bobbyaga and the brave youth. Once upon a time, there lived a cat, a sparrow, and a brave youth. Aw, all together is a little family. A little trio. that's cute i like it the cat and the sparrow went to the and i feel like the story is just so classic pantheon i love it the cat and the sparrow went to the forest a chop wood and said to the brave youth you keep the house

but mind you if boggy yoga comes and counts the spoons do not say a word keep quiet and counts the spoons very well said the brave youth the cat and the sparrow went away and the brave youth sat on the stove behind in the chimney. Suddenly, Baba Yaga came in, took the spoons, and began to count them. This is the cat spoon. This is the sparrow spoon, and this is the brave youth spoon.

I like that he's like a it's like a category. Like, it's the same as cat or sparrow. It's brave youth. He's a breed. Yeah. The brave youth could not constrain himself and cried. Baba Yaga, don't touch my spoon.

Baba Yaga seized the brave youth He just couldn't stand it Babiaga seized the brave youth sat on the mortar and flew off She drove the mortar, spurring it with the pestle And sweeping away her tracks with her broom The brave youth shouted, Cat, run, sparrow, fly!

And they heard him and rushed to his help The cat began to scratch Bobiaga And the sparrow to peck at her Thus, they rescued the brave youth. Amazing. Isn't that so good? I love it. It's so, like, nonsensical.

That's a brave cat is what that is. And as the sparrows, sparrows are tiny. And it's a cat and a sparrow and their friends. They live together. It's very cute. It's so sweet. I like it. Mind you.

If Baba Yaga comes, do not say anything. Today we are going far away. As soon as the brave youth had sat down on the stove behind the chimney, Baba Yaga came again and again began to count the spoons. This is the cat spoon. This is the sparrow spoon and this is the Bravieth spoon. That's such like a funny, neurodivergent thing to do. It is.

And like you have categorize the spoons of like whose spoon it is. is very important. She's such a queen. Yeah. I'm obsessed with her. The brave youth could not restrain himself and shouted. Babiaga, don't touch my spoon. Stop it.

Don't touching my spoons. Babiaga sees the brave youth and dragged him along with her. The brave youth shouted, Cat, run, sparrow fly. And they heard him and rushed to his help. The cat began to scratch her and the sparrow to peck at Babiaga. Thus, they rescued the brave youth, then they all went home. The third day, the cat and the sparrow prepared once more to go to the forest and chop wood,

and they said to the brave youth, mind you, if Baba Yaga comes, be silent. Today we are going even farther. The cat and the sparrow left, and the brave youth sat on the stove behind the chimney. Suddenly, who do you think came? Was it Baba Yaga? Bobbiaga again took the spoons and began to count them. I just want you to know, I am imagining Keanu Reeves now. Hell, yes.

Keanu has arrived to count the spoons. He wouldn't 100% fight off his cat and sparrow and the brave youth. That's true. A hundred more people after. He'd shoot them. Yeah, absolutely. Then you'd go on a rampage to the down. And I love that for him.

Same. Bobbi Yaga again took the spoons and began to count them. This is the cat spoon and this is the sparrow spoon. This is the brave youth spoon. So funny. The brave youth did not say a word. Babiaga counted again, this is the cat spoon, this is the sparrow spoon, this is the brave youth spoon.

The brave youth did not say a word. Babi Yuga counted a third time. the cat spoon this is the sparrow spoon and this is the phrase she's just waiting is she okay no i think she's waiting to get him to come out because she's trying to kidnap this kid and so she knows that if she touches his fucking spoon she doesn't like spoon being touched he'll be out yeah the brave youth could not restrain himself any longer and cried loudly don't touch my spoon don't touch my spoon bobbyaga seized the brave youth and dragged him along with her. And he cried, cat runs, sparrow fly. But his brothers did not hear him.

Babiaga took him home, put him in the wooden shed by the stove, made a fire in the stove, and said to her eldest daughter, I am going to Russia. Meanwhile, roast this brave youth for my dinner. Very well, said the daughter. She's just been trying to catch supper. Yeah. And I love it. This whole time. Babiaga has an eldest daughter in this one. Uh-huh. Absolutely. I love it. very cool the stove grew hot and the girl told the brave youth

to come out of the shed he came out lie down on the roasting pan said the girl he lay down and held up one of his feet so that it touched the ceiling and put the other on the floor

the girl said not that way it's malicious compliance not like that the brave youth said how then show me the girl lay down on the roasting

pan in the brave youth quickly seized an oven fork, pushed the pan with Bobbiaga's daughter on it into the oven. Classic. Classic. And went back into the shed to wait for Bobbyaga. Suddenly, she ran in and said, now I'm going to feast and regale myself on the brave youth's bones. Oh, man.

We really did like an unwitting theme of parents, of parents unwittingly eating their children today. This is a very fairy tale fix episode. It is. this is your first episode welcome welcome the brave youth answered her feast and regale yourself on your own daughter's bones bobbiaga was startled and looked into the oven she found her daughter all roasted and roared aha you cheat just wait you won't get away she ordered her second daughter to roast the brave youth and went away Another one.

Her second daughter made a fire in the stove and told the brave youth to come out. He came out, lay on the pan, put one foot on the ceiling, and one on the other on the floor. The girl said, no, not that way. Show me how. The girl lay on the pan, and the brave youth shoved her into the oven, went back into the shed, and sat there. Suddenly he... I didn't see her on. I mean...

I want him to, for my prediction. Well, I forgot. Oh, yeah. God, just run. Just run. Now I'm going to feast and regale myself on the brave youth's bones. He answered, feast and regale yourself on your own daughter's bones. And Bobi Yaga flew into a rage.

And just wait, you won't get away. She ordered her youngest daughter. her to roast him. But to no avail, the brave youth shoved her in the oven, too. Wow. Baba Yaga flew into an even greater rage. Now, this is the time, I swear you won't get away. She made a fire in the stove and cried, come out, Brave You, fly on the pan. And he lay down, touched the ceiling with one foot, the floor with the other, and thus could not get into the oven. Bobby Yaga said, not that way, knock that way! Not that way! And the Brave You still pretended that he didn't know how i don't know how show me he said bobby yaga at once curled up and lay on the pan

the brave youth quickly shoved her into the oven ran home and said to his brothers that's what i did with baba yaga the end wow it's a good thing women are dumb it's so random and just super random oh my god okay I love I love a sparrow a cat and a brave youth

living together as a family I love brave youth as a category of person Me too I love that

he was incensed by Baba Yaga touching his spoons and just couldn't restrain Don't touch my spoon but my fix for the story

is at the instant he says oh show me how the first first daughter calls her sisters and the three of them together force him into a curled up position and shove him into the oven. Ooh, I love that. That's way better.

I thought for sure Cat and Sparrow were going to come rescue him. Oh my God. That's another great one. I would have liked that better too. I thought that was what's going to happen. Obviously, I don't love that he pulled one over on Baba Yaga because that's just unrealistic. That's not real. also is she she's an ancient sport she's an ancient forest deity i don't think she's that stupid

and those aren't really her daughters those are just the girls she kidnapped who plot twist that's so true though that's probably exactly who they are they're like women oh my god like in chadwick's story yes except these ones weren't so lucky yeah yep I feel like Chadwick's protagonist would have been smarter. Oh, definitely. Absolutely. The brave youth, I mean, don't touch my spoon. Don't touch my spoon.

Like, that's so funny. I love it. I love it too. I love, okay. Better fix cat and sparrow come and rescue him, just like they have every other time. Yeah. I honestly thought that's what was going to happen. Yeah.

you know it's all good it's all good um oh and they beat her with the spoons then they beat her with the spoon please yes the spoons have to come back it's it's thematically um incomplete without more spoon i also like that they're warning him and also why isn't he going to chop wood if he's a brave youth i know why are you making the sparrow chop wood that doesn't really make a lot sets, does it? And a cat. That would take so much longer than the brave youth grout chopping way. I feel like, I feel like they're not correctly, but maybe honestly, okay, so here's my thing, because I know he calls them his brothers at the end, but I think they found a baby in the woods and now cat and sparrow are raising it. And that's why they hide them in the cupboard

because they're like, it's just, it just happens, you know, Baba Yaga comes every day and she counts our spoons. Like, she's really, it's weird. It's weird. Just let her do it. It's weird. Just let her do it. she'll leave she wasn't even really counting them i like how she was like this is the sparrow spoon this this is the cat spoon this is the brave spoon just saying it over and over again that's like some oCD shit you got it you got it auntie like that's it's you did it like good job like you did a good job you did a good job mm-hmm stop touching my spout I think uh on that note I need to go back to my kitchen and make sure Baba Yaga is in counting my spoons.

It's very important. I'm suddenly really worried about it. Right now. And you got to go and Kelsey's got to go eat some meat. So we're going to wrap it up for the day. Thank you so much for listening to Fairy Tale Fix. If you've been here for a while, you know the drill. Please leave a review on this episode.

What should we have people comment for this one, Kelsey? Don't touch my spoon. Don't touch my spoon. Perfect. Don't touch my spoon, is what you are commenting on today's episode. Leave us a rating, leave us a review anywhere that your podcatcher will let you do that. If you want to follow us, we have an Instagram. You can go to Instagram at Fairy Tale FixPod to keep up to date with when episodes are coming out and what's going on with the podcast. If you love us and you have a little extra money that you'd like to support us with, you can go to Pay. patreon.com forward slash fairy tale fixpod and view all of our wonderful donation tiers. You get various rewards for that, like bonus episodes and merch and stuff like that. So go check that out. You can also email us at info at fairy talefixpod.com.

If you have thoughts, feelings, or a story of your own you'd like to share. Free Palestine. Please, please, please, please. And stop killing people. Just generally. Stop it. I'm trying to remember my fix now. Sorry, yeah, mine is really intense and serious.

I know. Your fix is cat and sparrow rescue the boy from Baba Yaga. Oh, yeah, and the sparrow and the sparrow and the cat came to the Baba Yaga's hut and beat her with spoons and the boy got away. Excellent. Perfect fixes all around, I say. Yes, and they all lived. They all lived happily ever after the end.