the seven towers of wonder The Tower of Wisdom
t he se v en tow er s of won der t he tow er of w isd om Volume 5
THE SEV EN TOW ER S OF WONDER Stories of Virtue Compiled & Retold by bill gor dh With Drawings by john hutton the tow er of wisdom Volume 5 thor n willow pr ess 2 015
For Jenny, Cody and Rachel; and in memory of my mother and father, Gwen and George Gordh. bil l g or dh
To the memory of my grandparents, Clemence and Louis Hutton. joh n h u t ton
c op y r igh t Š 2 0 15 t hor n w il low pr e s s , lt d .
procl a m ation from the k ing a nd queen of thor n w illow woods Let it be known that the following volumes were put forth on paper by the Royal Scribe and illustrated by the Master Illuminator. They recount the adventures, discussions, and stories collected by Possum and Raccoon. The stories can be found in the Seven Towers of Wonder erected by Possum and Raccoon with the assistance of many friends in Thornwillow Woods. Upon the discovery of these story-filled towers, the king and queen of Thornwillow, recognizing their value to wonderers, wanderers, thinkers, seekers, dreamers, and readers throughout the world, have overseen the creation and distribution of these books.
c on t e n t s Volume 5 the tow er of wisdom On the following pages, Possum and Raccoon engage themselves with the notion of wisdom. As the ever-conscientious adventurers travel yet again down a Thornwillow Woods trail, they examine the stories offered them by a denizen of raconteurs illuminating the concept for their new tower.
Turtle and Knowledge (West Africa)
13
Half a Blanket ( Mexico)
21
The Emperor’s New Clothes ( Denmark)
29
The Frogs’ Chief ( American Indian—Abenaki)
43
Jonah and the Whale ( Middle East)
51
The Best King ( Thailand)
61
Tomorrow Monkeys ( Brazil)
71
W
i s d o m ! ” s a i d r a c c o o n. Possum and Raccoon were sitting in silence one morning in their clearing in Thornwillow Woods, when Raccoon suddenly cried out, “Wisdom!” Possum was quick to respond. “What?” “Wisdom,” repeated Raccoon. “Our next tower should be the Tower of Wisdom. Possum looked at their four towers filled with the stories they had collected: the Towers of Courage, Hope, Justice, and Faith. “Wisdom,” pondered Possum thoughtfully. “Seems like you could call all of these towers ‘Towers of Wisdom.’” “True,” replied Raccoon, “but we didn’t, and there are many paths to wisdom. Besides, this gives us a chance to find another batch of stories.” “Seven, to be exact,” added Possum. “Shall we start right now?” “Sure!” said Raccoon, and the two friends were on their way once again in search of stories for a new tower.
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They had not gone far when they heard a frustrated groan from the top of a palm tree. They looked up and saw an angry turtle standing on top of the tree holding a calabash above his head. “Wait a minute!” said Raccoon. “This isn’t the beginning of the story; it’s the ending! I think we’d better start it over.” And so they did.
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t urtle a nd k now ledge A Tale From West Africa