Folklore in two cultures (Cultural Anthropology) - Essay Example

This paper will describe and evaluate examples of folklore in Irish culture and Bhutan culture, in order to determine the values they convey while at the same time being entertaining and instructive. Bhutan, in the mountains of the Himalayas and bordered by India and Tibet, is still very much an oral society (Penjore, 2005) today, and one that is absorbed in their traditions with most people wearing traditional clothes (Mystic Bliss). One of their most prevalent folktales is the story of a man called ‘Meme Haylay Haylay’ and his turquoise stone (Penjore, 2005, p.259). The story tells of an old and impoverished man who finds a turquoise stone while digging in his fields.

On his way back home he meets a variety of men with whom he makes a number of different trades; he trades his turquoise for a horse, the horse for an ox, the ox for a sheep, the sheep for a goat, the goat for a rooster, and finally he trades the rooster for a song. Singing his song and continuing his journey home he feels he is the happiest and richest man in the world (Evans, 2010, p.12). As this story is relayed by different people the ending changes in a number of ways, dependent on how they prefer to interpret the tale (Penjore, 2005) in terms of whether they consider the old man as foolish or as the provider of the secret to happiness.

In another version he trades the rooster for a flute; while playing the flute he slips in a wad of cow dung and forgets how to play it and thus ends up with nothing (Penjore, 2005). Whichever version is preferred however, they are used as a satirical account of sound or bad business decisions and the making of profit, and thus while being a form of entertainment in their humor to be enjoyed by all who are listening, they are more importantly a vehicle of instruction; if taken from the perspective that the old man made sound business decisions by appreciating the futility of finding happiness with material possessions and wealth, the ridicule pertains to the other men who traded their happiness for material possessions.

If on the other hand, it is told with the belief that the old man is foolish, then it is used as evidence for bad business practice and one not to be imitated (Penjore, 2005). Within the folklore of Irish culture there is much reference to little people, of which the leprechaun is probably the most famous. Leprechauns are described as small, clever and roguish men who lived in Ireland before the arrival of the Celts. The story tells of these little men about two feet tall with green or red coats and leather aprons, working as shoe makers, hammering away all day long.

Leprechauns are said to be unfriendly and miserly and while working on making their shoes, store all their money in a pot which they hide at the end of a rainbow. If you catch one of these leprechauns he will lead you to the pot of gold but if you take your eyes of him, even for an instance, he will disappear with the pot of gold. Also, if you find the end of a rainbow you will find a pot of gold. Such a folktale is obviously entertaining, especially for children, and has been passed down through generations, and like the Bhutan folktale, is concerned with wealth.

This tale however, illustrates the futility of believing that money and richness come easily but instead, like the leprechaun, people must work hard and save