Hello, and good morning. How are you doing today, Carmen, Good
morning, Arrow, I'm well. Thank you for having me on. Oh
listen to your energy. You're about to play a joke on me. It's
the British version, right, having me on. I guess. Thank you
for inviting me. That's so funny you bring that up, because you know,
being in radio, I've always been taught that we're not talking to people.
We're talking with people, you're having a conversation, you're not. And
so that's interesting that you bring that up. And I love that side of
your heart when it comes to storytelling or a story sharing, let's put it
that way. How is it that you're able to receive these stories and turn
them into basically a street speak attitude of today, because you know how today
is. It is just filled with so much judgment. I know, you
know what, I'm old. I don't care anymore and you know, yeah,
right, but you know boo, So I see is I spend my
life? Really? This is trawling through old tones, tms, old books,
old anthologies, collections of stories. I probably have two thousand books that
are all folklore, fairy tale, myths and legends, and no I have
not read them all, but I've had many, many, most of them,
I would say, And I'm always looking for books that seemed like they
would take children to either a fun place, a wise place, or a
place of safety. And that makes sense. It does because I do want
to know. I have openly admit there's something that I'm missing in this story,
and I felt like I needed to talk with you to find out what
is it that I'm missing in this because it reminds me so much of the
woman that swallowed the fly. I guess she's gonna die, so therefore she
eats the cat, and then she eats this, and she eats that.
What is the story of Karina? All right? So it's called a cumulative
tale, and stop your callings. We have a winner. Thank you for
playing all right. Arrow. First of all, that's exactly what it is,
with your finger on it. A cumultan story builds on itself. It's
also this is the house that Jack built, this is the grain inside there,
and so forth. All right, So children, these are these are
pneumonics. They're they're meant to help children with memory. So they were told
so that you would learn how to remember, because remember we used to read,
I say, remember ha ha. We used to learn by rote,
by memory. We had to memorize everything when I was a kid five thousand
years ago when the stones were soft, mind you. But so throughout history
human beings have used memory. So these those kinds of stories. Now this
particular question, but what does it mean? So this story is found in
India, in Denmark, and in so many places throughout the world. My
father is cute with you know, I'm Cuban. He told me a version
of it when I was a child. Each country takes the folk tale or
fairy tales that comes to them and they adapt it to their culture. That
makes sense. So there's a Chinese Cinderella, there's an Egyptian Cinderella. It's
called wrote Office in the Gilded Sandal. There is a Native American Cinderella.
I think it's called ash Face. So each culture takes the story and puts
on the clothes of that culture. Why did I choose this one, Well
for two things. One because I love that particular frame. There's also a
circular frame. There are many like you know, you end up where you
started, Like I should give him out a cookie, he's gonna want a
glass of milk. And then you end up again by giving him at the
end, giving him a cookie, and then you start all over again.
But for cumulative stories, it sometimes doesn't matter how it ends. Like the
old woman who swallowish lie right, it doesn't matter so much that perhaps she'll
die. It's actually kind of horrid. But many children's early picture books were
pretty pretty awful. Actually, but there were a hard time. You know,
if you had to kill a chicken, a six year old maybe sent
out to the yard to do it. So those were a harder time.
We've softened many of these stories. This story is about two things. I
think this sister is my opinion. Everybody takes they think they see in a
fairy chill or Sokay, I think it's about being really weary about who you
invited dinner, okay. Number one. Number two, it's not underestimate the
power of small letter things, because in the end it's two very small things
who use not strength but strategy in order to teach the cat a lesson and
release the prisoners. As it were great story really when you when you unpack
it, it's a great story. You open up my heart tist to look
at it in a way of going, wait a second here Karina, actually
she was challenged or the cat was challenged in a way, but she didn't
let that stand in the way. I'm going to go where I need to
go, but you're not going to get in my way. I will hold
our time together. But the thing, the thing is is that I'm not
going to let me be weighed down by this moment that that really kind of
could have weighed me down, you know what I mean. Well, that's
an interesting take. I hadn't thought of it that way, honestly. Yeah,
I see her more of a ravenous creature, and yes she is very
much. You know, I'm not you get out of my way, but
you know, she she tends to into the story. I have to think
about that. That's interesting. What I read was that that Karina, you
know, we all have a life that's that's filled with people that tend to
get in the way, and we'll sit down and we'll go well, I'm
not going any further. But Karina teaches people that know, keep moving.
You're still going to hold on to that moment, but just keep moving.
Well, that's interesting, and I never stand speaking of in the way of
different person a person's different interpretations of a story because I find really curious things
that's not mine. I find her it's pretty horrid. Actually, not so
much that she won't back down, because I love that in the character.
But when I do that in a book, it's generally a small character who
is very power us and will not back down. She is she is big,
she's pushy, she's raving us, and it doesn't matter that she's she
doesn't she doesn't matter. She's a character, and her character will simply have
what she will have, end of no matter if you said, no matter
who stands in her way. That's not my favorite kind of character. But
then you have all these people who are basically imprisoned, right because she didn't
just get her away. Other people were sacrificed in order for her to get
her away. And that's something for children to think about. Yeah, you
got what you want? Is who pays? Oh my god. Now there's
a lesson right there, right there, And that's for these of the crab.
Yeah, that's that's a heart opener. Well, you're darling. Well,
if you look back over the book, you'll also see that the little
crabs are always almost always in the illustrations, in the background, hidden somewhere.
Watching it makes me think of monsters ink. What was her name?
Watch, Watching, always watching, that's April Us. So I see them
as to mean that the characters that are often kind of quiet, whether in
an office setting, in a school, in a in a neighborhood, in
you know, whatever, in a situation, in any situation where something is
bad is happening, and they're they're thinking, they're they're they're observers, and
they're they're strategizers, you know, they're, they're, they're they're a little
bit they're not they no, they can't possibly take on this creature. So
they're thinking, they're thinking, and because there are two of them, and
this is I remember I work in metaphors. So these are my thoughts.
That doesn't mean you have to think this way. But as the writer,
to me, they formed an alliance. We're stronger together as an alliance,
you know, when we have others and and you know, and the book
was dedicated to a young group of very wonderful pacifists, you know, non
violent young Cubans who are in the island now trying to exact some democratic change.
And that's what's dedicated to. And so you know, if you want,
if you want to see a metaphor there, maybe it's there. Maybe.
So then when when the people are or the things inside Karina are set
free, do you see that as human lives being set free in Cuba?
Oh that was a direct question. Well how should I say this? A
girl can dream? Oh god, I love you so much. I love
you too. Oh man, all right, this has been great. Oh
my god. Ten minutes with you is not enough. We need to We
need to get together and have a real conversation because I do love where your
heart is and I just I just love how how you're taking things, because
I would love to get your interpretation of London Bridges because when I found out
that it was about dark times too, it's like, oh my god,
oh my goodness, oh yeah, the plague. Yeah, we need to
talk sometimes, just about stories. They'd be lovely. Thank you so much
for having me here. Oh my goodness, you're a dog. You'd be
brilliant today. Okay, oh you got me all right? Was saying to
you done, You've done it.