The folktales that Ricardo E. Alegria presents in
“Three Wishes” are very different from Aesop’s fables. The meanings in Aesop’s
fables are mostly clear and straight forward they did not take me long to
figure out what the tales were saying, but the tales in Alegria’s “Three Wishes”
took a lot longer to analyze and understand what they are trying to convey. The
main reason this is, is because Aesop’s fables are just to show general morals that
can be used to change your outlook at the world were as the tales in “Three
Wishes” are more complex, these tales are used to spread specific ideals and
values of the Puerto Rican culture. Sarai Lastra writer of "Juan Bobo: A
Folkloric Information System" explains that many Puerto Rican folktales
are old European riddle-tales, however there are many new tales that contain Puerto
Rican traditional elements being “confused and mingled.” “Three Wishes” is an
example of old foreign tales, in this case it is African tales, being used to
share cultural elements that shaped Puerto Rico. In the tale of “The Ant in
Search of Her Leg” was my favorite, because it states god holds the most power
over everything, I personally know that religion plays a big role in Hispanic communities
but it is intriguing to see that religion follows through into the culture’s
stories. It is not often that you see religion in folklore, or at the very least
have it directly stated. I guess that is why that folktale resonated with me
more than the other two; it was something I was not expecting.
Classic Greek folklore is full of stories about gods, as is that of other cultures, such as Native American culture. In most of these tales, the actions of the gods are given as causes for specific phenomena, unlike the message behind the ant story, which is simply the idea that god is the most powerful entity.
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