Intended audience: Late elementary (8-11)
Why this audience?: This is a fun story that asks many questions: What would you do if you had a magic mortar that would give you anything you desired? Would you be greedy? If you had all that you wanted would you leave your family? All these questions wouldn't necessarily come up in a follow up discussion, but they could.
Characters: Younger Brother
Younger Brother's Wife
Older Brother
Old Man
Little Magic People
Younger Brother's Wife
Older Brother
Old Man
Little Magic People
Scenes/Settings: The shack of the younger brother.
The house of the older brother.
A back alleyway hidden behind a hole.
The bay
The house of the older brother.
A back alleyway hidden behind a hole.
The bay
Synopsis: It was once New Years day in Japan and a poor man didn't have a single grain of rice with which to celebrate. He goes to his older brother's big house to beg for some rice, with the promise of repayment. His brother swats him away like a pesky fly saying that he has no rice. The younger brother, alone and depressed, walks home slowly and bumps into a wizened old man. "What's wrong, my son?" he asks. When he tells him about his own brother denying him food on New Years the old man offers him a rice cake with a bead of honey. He instructs him to climb through the hole in the wall to the alleyway. There he should negotiate with the men there for a mortar.
Once through the hole the younger brother is shocked to see dozens of tiny men running around. He almost squishes one of them. He apologizes and offers them the rice cake with honey. The tiny men are ecstatic and offer him gold in return. The younger brother refuses and asks for something else. Then they produce a mortar. They instruct him to turn it to the right and ask for whatever he wishes. The mortar will produce whatever he wishes until he turns it to the left and says, "stop." The younger brother quickly trades his rice cake for the mortar and leaps home in triumph.
His wife is disappointed he has not returned with rice. "Who cares about rice when we can have anything we want." He turns the mortar to the right, "Cake, cake, let us have cake!" And as soon as the words have left his lips cake appears on the table until he turns the mortar left and cries, "Stop!" This goes on for quite some time. The younger brother asks for wine, a mansion and a banquet for a party.
His neighbors quickly arrive to share in his good fortune as well as his brother. The neighbors do not ask where this new found wealth is from. That is not polite. The children ask, but the younger brother swats them away and goes to the kitchen get the mortar to make him some bean candy for them. Eying his younger brother, the older brother follows him into the kitchen to uncover his brother's secret. As soon as he sees his brother create the bean candy he is determined to possess this magic mortar himself and become the most powerful man in Japan.
The older brother swipes the magic mortar and climbs into a boat back to row back to his house. In his haste to leave the party with the magic mortar he forgot to eat anything so he scrounges up a rice cake from the bottom of the boat. He decides it's too dry and needs salt so he turn the magic mortar to the right, "Salt, salt, let me have salt." Immediately salt comes pouring out of the mortar and onto the rice cake. Delicious! But as the older brother continued to row to his house, the salt continued to pour out of the mortar until the boat became so heavy it sank to the bottom of the bay.
And that is where salt comes from in the ocean.
Once through the hole the younger brother is shocked to see dozens of tiny men running around. He almost squishes one of them. He apologizes and offers them the rice cake with honey. The tiny men are ecstatic and offer him gold in return. The younger brother refuses and asks for something else. Then they produce a mortar. They instruct him to turn it to the right and ask for whatever he wishes. The mortar will produce whatever he wishes until he turns it to the left and says, "stop." The younger brother quickly trades his rice cake for the mortar and leaps home in triumph.
His wife is disappointed he has not returned with rice. "Who cares about rice when we can have anything we want." He turns the mortar to the right, "Cake, cake, let us have cake!" And as soon as the words have left his lips cake appears on the table until he turns the mortar left and cries, "Stop!" This goes on for quite some time. The younger brother asks for wine, a mansion and a banquet for a party.
His neighbors quickly arrive to share in his good fortune as well as his brother. The neighbors do not ask where this new found wealth is from. That is not polite. The children ask, but the younger brother swats them away and goes to the kitchen get the mortar to make him some bean candy for them. Eying his younger brother, the older brother follows him into the kitchen to uncover his brother's secret. As soon as he sees his brother create the bean candy he is determined to possess this magic mortar himself and become the most powerful man in Japan.
The older brother swipes the magic mortar and climbs into a boat back to row back to his house. In his haste to leave the party with the magic mortar he forgot to eat anything so he scrounges up a rice cake from the bottom of the boat. He decides it's too dry and needs salt so he turn the magic mortar to the right, "Salt, salt, let me have salt." Immediately salt comes pouring out of the mortar and onto the rice cake. Delicious! But as the older brother continued to row to his house, the salt continued to pour out of the mortar until the boat became so heavy it sank to the bottom of the bay.
And that is where salt comes from in the ocean.
Story Climaxes/High Points: The younger brother is having a party and his older brother spies how the magic mortar gives him whatever his chants for: "Bean candy, bean candy, let us have bean candy." With this, the older brother is determined to possess the magic mortar and become the most powerful man in Japan.
Special Chants/Phrases: Chant to the magic mortar: "Rice, rice, let us have rice."
Bibliographic Information:
O'Callahan, Jay. (1994). The Magic Mortar. In Ready-To-Tell Tales (pp. 146-150). Little Rock, AK: August House.
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