Just So Stories
Encyclopedia
The Just So Stories for Little Children were written by British
author Rudyard Kipling
. They are highly fantasised origin stories
and are among Kipling's best known works.
, fantastic accounts of how various phenomena came about. A forerunner of these stories is "How Fear Came" in The Second Jungle Book
(1895), in which Mowgli
hears the story of how the tiger
got his stripes.
The Just So Stories have a typical theme of a particular animal being modified from an original form to its current form by the acts of man, or some magical being. For example, the Whale has a tiny throat from a swallowed mariner who tied a raft in there to block the whale from swallowing others. The Camel has a hump given to him by a djinn as punishment for the camel refusing to work (the hump allows the camel to work longer between eating). The Leopard has spots painted on him by an Ethiopian (after the Ethiopian painted himself black). The Kangaroo gets its powerful hind legs, long tail, and hopping gait after being chased all day by a dingo, who was sent after the Kangaroo by a minor god whom the Kangaroo had asked to make him different from all other animals.
The original editions of Just So Stories were illustrated by Kipling.
As well as appearing in a collection, the individual stories have also been published separately, often in large-format illustrated editions for younger children. A video edition has also been released; on VHS tapes it required three tapes with four episodes on each.
, also known as a Manji
; Kipling used the Manji as an emblem on his books, for its oriental connections.
The Just So Stories were adapted into a musical
, called Just So
, in 1984.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
. They are highly fantasised origin stories
Pourquoi story
A pourquoi story, also known as an origin story or an etiological tale, is a fictional narrative that explains why something is the way it is, for example why a snake has no legs, or why a tiger has stripes...
and are among Kipling's best known works.
Description
The stories, first published in 1902, are pourquoi storiesPourquoi story
A pourquoi story, also known as an origin story or an etiological tale, is a fictional narrative that explains why something is the way it is, for example why a snake has no legs, or why a tiger has stripes...
, fantastic accounts of how various phenomena came about. A forerunner of these stories is "How Fear Came" in The Second Jungle Book
The Second Jungle Book
The Second Jungle Book is a sequel to The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. First published in 1895, it features five stories about Mowgli and three unrelated stories, all but one set in India, most of which Kipling wrote while living in Vermont...
(1895), in which Mowgli
Mowgli
Mowgli is a fictional character from India who originally appeared in Rudyard Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" and then went on to become the most prominent and memorable character in his fantasies, The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book , which also featured stories about other...
hears the story of how the tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
got his stripes.
The Just So Stories have a typical theme of a particular animal being modified from an original form to its current form by the acts of man, or some magical being. For example, the Whale has a tiny throat from a swallowed mariner who tied a raft in there to block the whale from swallowing others. The Camel has a hump given to him by a djinn as punishment for the camel refusing to work (the hump allows the camel to work longer between eating). The Leopard has spots painted on him by an Ethiopian (after the Ethiopian painted himself black). The Kangaroo gets its powerful hind legs, long tail, and hopping gait after being chased all day by a dingo, who was sent after the Kangaroo by a minor god whom the Kangaroo had asked to make him different from all other animals.
The original editions of Just So Stories were illustrated by Kipling.
The full list of Just-So Stories
- How the Whale Got His Throat — explains why the big whale eats such small prey.
- How the Camel Got His Hump — explains how the idle camel was punished.
- How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin — explains why Rhinos have folds in their skin and bad tempers.
- How the Leopard Got His Spots
- The Elephant's Child — the story of how the elephant's trunk became long.
- The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo — the story of how the kangaroo turned from a grey, woolly animal with short, stubby legs, to the athletic animal we know today.
- The Beginning of the Armadillos — the story of how the hedgehog and the turtle transformed into the first armadillos.
- How the First Letter Was Written — introduces the only characters who appear in more than one story, a family of cave-people, called Tegumai Bopsulai (the father), Teshumai Tewindrow (the mother), and Taffimai Metallumai, (the daughter). Explains how Taffimai delivered a picture message to her mother.
- How the Alphabet Was Made — Taffy and her father invent the earliest form of the alphabet.
- The Crab That Played with the Sea — explains the ebb and flow of the tides
- The Cat That Walked by Himself — the longest story, explaining how all wild animals became domesticated by man except for the wildest of all, the cat.
- The Butterfly That Stamped — the story of how SolomonSolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
rid himself of troublesome wives, and saved the pride of a butterfly. - The Tabu Tale (missing from most British editions; first appeared in the ScribnerCharles Scribner's SonsCharles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing a number of American authors including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon...
edition in the U.S. in 1903)
As well as appearing in a collection, the individual stories have also been published separately, often in large-format illustrated editions for younger children. A video edition has also been released; on VHS tapes it required three tapes with four episodes on each.
Trivia
The "magic mark" inscribed on the stone under the man's foot in Kipling's original illustration for "The Crab That Played With the Sea" is actually an inverted swastikaSwastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
, also known as a Manji
Manji
Manji or mangi may refer to:*The Japanese name of the 卍 character , see swastika/sauwastika* Manji , a Japanese era name* A type of sai, a traditional Okinawan weapon* A kind of chiefship found among the Chaga tribe of Tanzania...
; Kipling used the Manji as an emblem on his books, for its oriental connections.
The Just So Stories were adapted into a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, called Just So
Just So (musical)
Just So is a musical by Anthony Drewe and George Stiles written in 1984 based on theJust So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Just So was produced by Cameron Mackintosh at the Watermill Theatre and Tricycle Theatre in England, as well as at the Goodspeed Opera House and North Shore Music Theatre in the...
, in 1984.
See also
- Just-so storyJust-so storyA just-so story, also called the ad hoc fallacy, is a term used in academic anthropology, biological sciences, social sciences, and philosophy. It describes an unverifiable and unfalsifiable narrative explanation for a cultural practice, a biological trait, or behavior of humans or other animals...
in the context of evolutionEvolutionEvolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
ary explanations. - Just So SongsJust So SongsJust So Songs is a collection of twelve poems from Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories set to music by Sir Edward German in 1903. It consists of musical settings for voice and piano of "When the Cabin port holes", "The Camel's Hump", "This Uninhabited Island", "I keep six honest serving men", "I am...
- The Cat Who Walked by HerselfThe Cat Who Walked by HerselfThe Cat Who Walked by Herself is a 1988 Soviet animated feature film directed by Ideya Garanina and made at the Soyuzmultfilm studio. It is based on Rudyard Kipling's short story, The Cat that Walked by Himself...
, a Soviet animated feature film based on The Cat that Walked by Himself - Just So (musical)Just So (musical)Just So is a musical by Anthony Drewe and George Stiles written in 1984 based on theJust So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Just So was produced by Cameron Mackintosh at the Watermill Theatre and Tricycle Theatre in England, as well as at the Goodspeed Opera House and North Shore Music Theatre in the...
External links
- http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/ Full text of the stories, including Kipling's illustrations
- Free audiobook download of Just So Stories FreeClassicAudioBooks.com
- The Elephant's Child Free Audio Story by Storynory
- Archived audio recording of an educational ArtsSmarts "How the Elephant Got His Trunk" project
- The Just So Stories read by Tim Bulkeley