Book Review

Apples From Heaven, Multi–cultural Folktales About Stories and
Storytellers
Selected and Retold by Naiomi Baltuck
Linnet Books
Review by Robert Rodriquez

In the Armenian tradition, the standard ending for most folktales is: three apples fell
from heaven, one for the story-teller, one for the listener, and one for him who takes
the story to heart. This formulaic ending seems more than appropriate as a keynote
for this intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable collection of traditional stories compiled
by Pacific Northwest storyteller Naiomi Baltuck, since the central theme of the
collection is the art of storytelling, the craft of the storyteller, and the purpose of
storytelling throughout the world. In her introduction to this collection, Baltuck
reflects upon the impact that traditional stories had on her development, from her
earliest childhood to her eventual decision to become a professional teller, which she
has been for two decades. This is equally reflected in the tales she has chosen to
include. Here are stories which explain, for example, why human beings tell stories to
one another, (Rumania), why all stories now belong to spider, (Ashanti, West Africa),
and why stories may be as good a nourishment for the human heart and soul as is
food for the body, (Swahili, East Africa). From India comes a tale which tells how
three royal princes were given a valuable education through the use of stories, and the
story also tells how one of the great collections of tales in the world, the Pancha
Tantra, came into being.

Some of the stories chosen by Baltuck are vehicles for the protagonists to engage in
telling stories themselves, using the familiar device of the frame story in which other
tales are told within the larger tale, known best in such works of liter-ature as
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Bocaccio’s Decameron, and the Arabian Nights. Three
of the tales in Baltuck’s collection are excellent examples of this frame device. In
"The Golden Lamb" from Iraq, three brothers must tell tales to the sultan in order to
determine who shall possess the golden lamb; in "The Silent Princess" from Turkey,
a prince must tell stories to a princess who has never spoken in order to win her for
his wife; in "Conal Crovi" from Scotland, a young man must tell stories to the king of
Ireland in order, not only to save his own life, but to redeem the fortunes of three
disinherited English princes. Some of the tales show just how ingenious the craft of
storytelling can be. A clever shepherd uses the device of a sack filled with stories to
outwit an entire royal family in an amusing story from Norway. A clever wife saves
her husband from embarrassment at the hands of relatives by using her talents as a
storyteller in a tale from China. Two tellers of tall tales match wits in a musing yarn
from the United States. Even the smallest of creatures, in this case a mouse, can
become a fine storyteller as in the tale of Bobtail, from the Inuitt tradition, while in the
Irish tale, "The Storyteller at Fault," a fellow who was unable to tell stories suddenly
discovered his talents through a very strange adventure in his own life.

If the telling of stories can serve to attain material wealth, fame, or some other tangible
result, they can equally bring wisdom to the fore, the ability to mend hearts, and teach
those values that ultimately enhance human development. Several tales in this
collec-tion prove this, as in the case of Wisdom from India, Truth and Parable from
the Yiddish tradition, and perhaps the most thoughtful tale of all, Lighting the Fire, a
Hassidic story, which shows that, when all is said and done, when all the rituals have
been forgotten, and when there is nothing left but a story to tell, that will be more than
enough for God’s ear.

Several further pluses to the collection should be mentioned. With each tale, Baltuck
has included proverbs from that story’s culture and relevant to the telling of that
particular tale. Her notes, though brief, are nonetheless concise and give further
insight to the story, and the culture from which it comes. In an era when the term
multi–cultural seems to be a peg from which to dangle any tale that comes from
beyond the twelve mile limit, Baltuck’s tales certainly legitimately qualify to be called
multi–cultural. I personally happen to be a big fan of collections based on a particular
theme. Clever women, creation tales, trick-ster stories, wonder tales, etc.; this group of
stories is an absolute must for any fan of storytelling, and Baltuck is to be
commended for giving us these narrative apples from heaven, apples which will
always last as long as there are folks to tell stories as well as folks to hear them.

—published in WIP Summer 1996