Simplia was plagued with insecurity and feelings of inadequacy.
The Simpletons had just purchased admission to a big storytelling festival where one of the special guest tellers specialized in ancient Welsh stories.
“Simple as in thick-headed?” Sagacia asked.
“As in thick-headed and unread and provincial and unschooled and void of culture.”
“Whoa!” said Sagacia. “Why are you coming down so hard on your self?”
“I’m looking at the program and I’m seeing all these references to mythic heroes whose names I can’t even begin to pronounce, and this ancient epic I can’t pronounce either, and it’s clear there’s magic in these stories, there are other-worldly creatures effecting other-worldly interventions in these stories. It’s clear that they are wonder tales — fairy tales! — and I who, along with you, am an emissary of Vasilisa the Wise to all our Magical Friends at the Fairytale Lobby, have barely a nodding acquaintance with them.”
Just then, a passerby pressed a post-it note into Simplia’s hand and hurried away. Simplia unfolded it and read:
“Lucky you! You have a whole world to begin discovering. An ocean of new depths to plumb. And after the Mabigoni, so many of the fairy tales you’re familiar with with be all the richer. And there are so many other ones out there. There’s that Icelandic saga. Does it have magic? Is it a fairy tale? Some of those stories from India…they seem half myth, half legend, half folktale, half fairy tale. And what about those ‘Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio’? Twilight Zone meets The Brothers Grimm. Why don’t you ask Vasilisa to compile a reading list of essential stories, sagas, epics, and myths from all over the world? In good modern translations. I bet she’d be delighted.– Unapologetically —
Eavesdropping from Evanston.”</em
The Simpletons regarded the post-it note and bent their minds to the suggestion.
“Well, in Vasilisa’s absence, why don’t we ask our Magical Friends for such a required reading list?”
And they made plans that, just as soon as they arrived home, they would post Eavesdropping’s post-it note on the Fairy Tale Lobby bulletin board. With any luck, they wouldn’t have to wonder about what to read during the coming winter months.
(Caption for photo: It was a storytelling festival like no other storytelling festival you’ve ever attended. These are the fans. The tellers were truly unique.)
Fairy Tale Lobby 
I keep trying to come up with a definitive list of stories that storytellers should know (not tell, but be at least familiar with) but I keep running out of space. The easy answer would be “all of them” or “as many as humanly possible.” I am completely biased about epics, but I think epics are important on so many levels that storytellers should be familiar with as many as they can access in their language.
I love that photo. I’ve never heard of a storytelling festival where fans show up in cosplay before.
As for myths and epics, may I suggest Beowulf as translated by Seamus Heaney and the epic of Gilgamesh. My copy of Gilgamesh is by David Ferry, but I’m sure there are other good translations. Also, I’d suggest Monkey, translated by Arthur Waley. Monkey is actually an abridged version of the Chinese “folk novel” A Journey to the West by Wu Ch’Eng-En.
I have yet to find a good English translation for Journey to the West, a lot of them are old and convoluted. The Hungarian translation, on the other hand, is amazing :D And let’s add Water Margin and Three Kingdoms while we’re at it :D
I am so glad you’re compiling this list! Having been brought up on my granny’s Scottish and Welsh (yes, including the Mabigoni; my favorite there was Bloddwedd Flowerface), it always irritated me in school that the only references to myth were Greco-Roman and Norse! Don’t forget the Irish Fionn tales, Cuchulainn, and so many others. Would Native Americans consider Gluskapi stories a cycle? Raven stories? Such a wealth of things to explore for many!
Actually, Adam, this photo was taken at a renn faire on the occasion of my son and daughter-in-law’s second wedding. This is the wedding party. I logged this post from a mobile device, and I’m not too adept at calling up copyright free images and inserting them into posts on a four inch screen. This photo was on my camera roll, and it seemed vaguely appropos. (They’ve gotten married four times now–twice at renn fairies, once at a county courthouse, and once in the back yard of a beach rental. That was the one I attended. )
Barra–good question about Gluskabe (sp?) and Raven. …ditto for Iktomi and Coyote. There’s Copper Woman from the western side of this continent. Her stories qualify. I think.