more Western context. “The Four Faithful Friends,” Story 34, is the much-loved national tale of
Bhutan that is found painted on the walls of homes, hotels, and government offices.
All cultures have told stories, and all cultures have told stories specifically for children. While
some do not cross cultural boundaries very readily, others are adaptable as therapeutic tales, as I have
hoped to illustrate in the above examples. I would encourage that you look out for, and collect, the
stories in your own cultural background, and those from other cultures, that may be relevant for the
children with whom you are working.
How children see meaning in cross-cultural stories was brought home to me when I returned
from Bhutan and told my grandson the story of the Four Faithful Friends (See Story 34). He con-
templated it for a while then said, “But the monkey could climb up the tree and pick the fruit on his
own.” He continued, “The pheasant could fly up into the branches to get the fruit.” With a little
more thought he added, “The elephant could reach up and pluck the fruit with its trunk.” And, yes,
the rabbit could probably wait till the fruit ripened and fell.
He was right, of course. Each animal couldsurvive by itself. Even the tree may well have grown
of its own accord, as trees in the wild have a good track record of doing. As I thought about it, my
grandson’s comments seemed to hold their own wisdom. This new knowledge made the message of
the story even stronger for me. The bottom line was that the animals did not haveto cooperate to be
able to reach the fruit but choseto cooperate. They wanted to be friends. They wanted to help each
other. By working together, by sharing in the activity of cultivating the seed and harvesting the fruit,
it was a lot more enjoyable and productive than doing it alone.
METAPHORS BUILT ON CLIENT CASESThe experiences of one child, the things that child did to resolve an issue, and the outcome he or she
gained may be helpful for another child. As I discussed back in Chapter 1, stories are a way of com-
municating about experiences the listener may not yet have had. They help equip or prepare a child
for a present or future situation by hearing what another child or adult did to manage a similar set of
STORY IDEASWhere Do I Get the Ideas for Healing Stories? 251
EXERCISE 15.8 METAPHORS BUILT ON
CROSS-CULTURAL TALES
This book would not have happened were I not a collector of tales from a variety of sources. I
have already mentioned that when I travel a part of my goal is to collect local stories.■ Build your own collection of stories that may be helpful for your clients.
■ All cultures have told stories to educate their young, teach values, describe ways of re-
lating with others, and build the skills necessary for understanding and living life.
■ Buy or borrow storybooks from different cultures, or sit with storytellers, to find the
tales that are useful for your therapeutic work and the ones that are not. This may take
sorting through a lot of stories, but it can be a very useful exercise.