2 Tell us a story from the folklore of your country. How is this story relevant today? How does it symbolise your countries national identity or highlight how things have changed? Please discuss how this story makes you feel when you hear it. I am going to tell you a story from Finland that was published in a book edited by my human mom's uncle, Richard Dorson, who has been called "The Father of American Folklore" and who also is known for inventing the terms 'urban legend' for modern 'tall tales' and 'fakelore' for stories by authors who claimed to be re-telling traditional tales that they made up themselves. The book is "Folk-tales Told around the World" and the story is called A Hunter's Tale There was a man and his wife who lived in the woods and the man hunted for a living. He had had several very poor seasons and they were almost starving. In desperation, he sought out the 'bad man' who he had heard could help him. Yes, the bad man promised to drive all the animals he could hope for past a certain island and the hunter could choose what he wanted as long as, by the end of three years, the hunter could show him a type of bird he had never seen before. If he failed, his life and soul was forfeit. The bad man kept his promise -- they were so many animals to shoot that the hunter could take all he needed in a few hours each day. He had fur and meat to sell and soon they had everything they needed for a comfortable life and more. The hunter had never told his wife about the bargain he had made and as the 3rd anniversary deadline approached, he became gloomy and depressed. "What is wrong with you?" asked his wife. "We have everything we need and life is good." "Alas," he said, and told her about the dreadful bargain he had made. "I have never seen a bird in all this time that the bad man would not know, since he travels everywhere, and I expect that in a few days I will die." "Not to worry" said his resourceful wife. "Get a bucket of tar, and paint me all over with it. Then roll me in this," and she cut open a bed pillow full of down and feathers from all kinds of birds. Even he could not recognize his own wife after this treatment. The hunter took her to the island where she lay on the ground as if dead. When the bad man came, he could not say he had ever seen a bird like that before so he released the man from their contract. After 3 or 4 scrubs in the sauna, the wife was clean again and she and her husband lived happily ever after. I love this story because the clever woman saves the day and because it ends with a uniquely Finnish touch by mentioning the restorative powers of the sauna, the famous steam baths that are such an important part of Finnish life. It also reminds us that we still depend on the forest and wilderness, if not directly for a living any longer, still as a special heritage that needs to be protected and preserved. And the bad man is always out there ready for us to make a bad bargain for our short-term gain.  
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