King Solomon and the Worm

Worms. Demons. Suicidal birds. It's a Jewish folktale that inspired a lot of personal stories so naturally we ramble!
King Solomon and the Worm from A Treasury of Jewish Folklore, edited by Nathan Ausubel (1948). Originally from Jewish Fairy Tales, selected and translated by Gerald Friedlander (1917).
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Straw Hut media. Yes, said he there is my glory
and joy. I am the servant of an infallible master.
I am not going out under human guidance subject to
the defective laws and airing control of my feeble fellow worms,

(00:21):
my king, my log Ever, my captain is the all perfect.
That is from chapter thirty four of Jane Eyre by
Charlotte Bronte Glora. So how are you. What's new? It's
been a.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Minute now good? I mean every day's got peaks and valleys,
that's for sure, starting off like every day with an
intention and just seeing how quickly that intention deviates.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, how's your schedule?

Speaker 2 (00:57):
It's awful. I've totally you had your schedule.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
And then it inspired me, and then I never a
single day succeeded at it. I had zero days, zero
days of success, well.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Zero days of zero days of doing none of them
or zero days of completing all of them.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Completing all of them.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Okay, So you have made attempts to like do one
through four or something, and then.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
It's more like I pick and choose throughout the day.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
M h. You know.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, Like there was a period where I did ninety
minutes street work a few times. I did that, took
a couple walks. I have never woken up at the
time I decided to wake up though.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Oh yeah, I'm getting real bad.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Never happened. I'm drinking my new drink of choice. Have
I told you about this? No, tell me to truly vodka.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Truly vodka like the like the canned beverages that are
similar to white claw.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, and then I just put vodka in.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Oh, truly and vodka. Wow. Oh my god. Your life
has no rules.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
They're not strong enough.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
I'm not trying to fuck with five percent.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's what am I. I don't have all day?

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, you know, Yeah, I'm trying to get somewhere. Get
me there now. Hello and welcome to Folklorica, the podcast
about folk tales from around the world. I'm your host,
Clayton Stucker.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
And I am your host Maggie Bulls and uh so
here today we're going to be reading a story. It's
a Jewish folk tale, our first Jewish folk tale, the
first Jewish folk tale of this show. Anyways, this is
not the first Jewish folk tale of all time. However,

(02:50):
it is the first Jewish folk tale in the book
that it was originally recorded in number one.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Oh wow, so's it's a very old tale? For sure
it is.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
It's from the Talmud. Actually, so it's a it's a
very old story. So the book I have the story
in is called A Treasury of Jewish Folklore, and I
got it at a yard sale.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
Oh cool, you actually have a copy of this.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, so it's from Jewish fairy Tales, translated by Gerald Friedlander,
published in nineteen seventeen.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
So would Gerald Freelander be considered, for our sake, the
ethnographer of this story. Would he be the person we'd
look to to have collected it and put it into publication.
For Nathan Asube, I would.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
Say, he's the original you know. So Nathan Auspell, who's
the one the editor of the book that I actually
got it from, which was A Treasury of Jewish Folklore, which.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Was published nineteen forty eighth.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Then yeah, I said, I check out a little shushy
there was speaking weirdly. So the uh, the book that
I read, the book that I read the story and
is called a Treasury of je It doesn't matter what
the name is, but the guy's name was a Treasury
of Jewish folk.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Boys, Boys, you guys are being a bunch of folk boys.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
And he is definitely a philologist in his own right.
I would say, Nathan, Yeah, I think they're both. You know,
they're just of different times.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Just a sort of passing of the torch mm hmm.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
So a lot of the ones that Nathan Alsbell got
were from various sources, but this story originally is from
the Babylonian Talmud, wow, being the Holy.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Book the Holy Book, yeah, meaning.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
From the Bible. Basically, I thought.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
That the Talmud was like, are the less the learning
the not the Bible. I thought the Torah was the Bible.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
The Torah is the Bible. Yeah. To tell them that,
I think is like the companion to the to the Torah.
It's funny, is I should know this because technically I
am Jewish?

Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah? Same? But we got two Jewish people telling a
Jewish story.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
Yeah, two blonde haired Jewish people having absolutely no idea
about the cultural relevance of Judaism. How are you Jewish?
I didn't know that, Clayton. Tell me about your Jewishness.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
My Jewishness. My father's mother is where we get our
Jewishness from her father. So my great grandfather is a
Polish Jew who moved to the States and lived in
New York and on the East Coast. My great grandfather,
yeah got it, was a Polish Jew who got out

(05:55):
I think in the tens or twenties.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
When he was World War One.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, when things really started to get a
little crazy and uh in Europe. He thankfully got out.
Otherwise I don't think I would be here. Uh but
uh but yeah, So growing up, we did celebrate Passover
in Honkkah when I was little, and I mean that
quickly dissipated because both of my parents I'm pretty sure

(06:24):
are agnostic, but a little bit of like a cultural
jewishness growing up. Like now when I when I celebrate
holidays on my dad's side, it's more like we do hanamous.
So it's it's basically Honkah, but with ham and so
everything else, like the manora is lit. It totally doesn't count.

(06:44):
You can't have hands and guess what, I dip my
ham in milk. I break all the rules. What are
you kidding? I don't know. I don't do that. No,
I want to be a real breaker on Hanukkah.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Oh my god.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
But yeah, so and we have like a very casual
relationship with our religion.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
So you have blood relation to Judaism, but non practical
Judaism because your mother is not Jewish.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Correct, But I do have access to my birthright trip
because all you need is to say you want to go.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, that's all they need.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
Now. Yeah, they'll take anybody. So tell me about your
Jewish heritage.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
So my mother converted to Orthodox Judaism before my older
brother was born. She was raised Catholic, and she moved
to la and somehow decided I should we should I
should have had her as a special guest because she
could have told us all about her why she chose

(07:55):
to be Jewish. So she spent like it takes a
it takes a lot of work to become Orthodox Jew,
especially as a Shikxe like her. So she spent like
four years doing all the things that you have to
do to convert to Judaism and then became a Jew.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
That's cool.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
And she was religious until I was probably like six sish.
You know, she says if she were religious, if she
had to choose one, she would be Jewish. But she's
also just not a not a big not a big
religious nut anymore, you know.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, yeah, I get that. I really like the ceremony
of Jewish holidays. I loved Passover just because there's so
many there's so many steps, it's so procedural and having
like a gathering of people and family who are all
participating in this process together. And another thing I like
about Jewish holidays is they're all kind of based on

(08:54):
historical events rather than some sort of magical thing happening.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
They are also magical.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
They are magical, but they're they're celebrated in a way
that's like this, this happened, not in a not in
a you had to believe it to be a part
of it sort of.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
That's how they feel about Did Christians feel about Jesus too, right?

Speaker 2 (09:19):
I don't know. There's a lot of faith in Christianity.
There's a lot of you got to have this faith.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
There's faith in Judaism too.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
I feel like Judaism is kind of like the Mandalorian
and like this is the way, you know, like that's
their belief.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Well, they are the chosen mm hmmmm hmm.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
But so I understand I can relate to it. Your
mom found interesting about that. It's I've also heard that
it's highly it's a lot more likely for a woman
to convert to Judaism, but men typically who are dating
someone who's Jewish don't convert because they have to become circumcised.
So the number of men who convert is way less

(09:57):
than women.

Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, my dad never can inverted, but he is. When
they were married, they all assumed he was the Jewish
one and that she converted for him because he talks
like in New York jew He's always like making making jokes,
and he speaks Yiddish for some reason, and he's always like,
oh you give valt. You know, he he should be Jewish,

(10:20):
but he's not. It's a it's a it's ultimately a tragedy.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
Yeah, I know, it's it's it's there are people who
have a Jewish essence that sadly are not Jewish.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
He might as well be Jewish. You know, we'll give
it to him.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
We'll give it to him. I mean, if if I'm allowed,
he's allowed.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
I agree.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
He put the time in.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
You know, he put the time in. And apparently on
the on the the answering machine, it said, shalom, you've
reached the home of American Tara. Leave a message Shalom like,
I don't know if it was at the.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
Beginning of the end, but was it like a family
voicemail where everyone got a turn.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
No, see, they were never married. They weren't married long
enough for us all to be on it at one time.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
I see.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
But my dad used to always have me record his
voicemail for him. I always did that, and I actually
for a very long time, until probably I was like
twenty three, I recorded my dad's voicemail.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
What was the last voicemail? Like, give me an example
of what you would say.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
I think I said something like, I've reached the phone
of Eric Bowles, my brilliant and talented father. Please leave
a message and he'll get back to you as soon
as he can.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
Oh that's so cute. How can you not You can't.
You couldn't be mad at that. Even if someone was
like calling your dad to be they were like mad
at him for whatever reason. If they heard that, I'd
be like, Okay, I got to pull it back. Yeah,
this guy has a daughter who is super sweet.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
I was always like, I don't know what the fuck
to say. It's weird that someone's gonna call you when
they're gonna hear my voice, like that's weird. So then
I just had to be like my brilliant and talented
father both.

Speaker 2 (12:05):
That's cool, you know, but I don't know.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
I also really like I like Jewish stories because there's
always an element of humor, and there's some really dark
shit in Jewish stories, like Lilith. You know, the story
of Lilith not formiliar Adam's first wife. Adam had a
first wife, he sure did. Yeah, Oh boy. God made

(12:31):
Adam in the garden of Eden, right, and Adam was
like lonely, like I don't what to do, and so
God was like, okay, I'll make you another person. So
he had made Adam out of the dust, and so
he made another person, Lilith, out of the dust. He
made a wife where I'm out of the same stuff
they had made Adam. And they lived together for a while,

(12:51):
and then Adam wanted to basically like, she wouldn't do
what Adam told her to do, and Adam was like,
you have to kneel before me, like I am your master.
You have to do what I say. And Lilith was
like nah, And apparently I can't remember how it comes
to a head, but she flies out of the Garden
of Eden because she has wings apparently, oh.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, yeah, yeah this minor details. She she also had wings.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
Yeah, well most this is actually something that's interesting. And
apparently there are three things that all demons have, which
is they have wings, they can fly from one end
of the earth to another, and the third thing they
have is the third thing they have is they can
foretell the future. That's the thing that all demons have. Apparently.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
Interesting. Interesting.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
So anyways, Lilith flies away. Adam is like, God, what
the heck my lady left. So God is like, okay, yeah,
that's not cool. We got to we'll get her back.
So he sends out these three angels to find her,
and they find her and they threaten to like drown
her in the sea, and she doesn't come back, and
she's like, no, I'm not coming back, like I'm destined

(14:04):
to like kill children or something like that's her thing.
She like kills children. Oh shit, which is crazy. Yeah,
they try to drown her because she won't go back,
and she says she's just going to kill children, and
then she says, fine, like I won't kill all the kids,
like if like women going into birth, hang these medallions
up in the room where they're giving birth, like I'll

(14:26):
leave them alone. And this is actually really interesting. Some
people think that the word lullaby so well, first people
would hang these amulets in the room where the woman
was giving birth, and that had apparently I think, the
names of the three angels, and then another one that
said usually like lolith be gone. And they think that

(14:46):
the word lullaby is a direct derivative of lila abye,
meaning lolith be gone.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
Wow, that is cool. So it's sort of like a calm,
like a lullaby obviously we know is some sort of
like something that puts you at ease, relax you and
you fall asleep, protect and it ultimately, yeah, protects you.
That's interesting. Wow.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
And actually a lot of the heat the Jewish stories,
the Hebrew stories come from Zoroastrianism, which sounds like the
coolest religion I've ever heard named. Mm hmm, you know, Zoroastrianism.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
No, No, totally sounds exciting though, right it does. It
sounds like I mean, my first guess is that Antonio
Benderaz is wearing some sort of mask and liberating the
people of Mexico. What's a astropeia?

Speaker 1 (15:44):
I honestly don't know very much about it except that
I like the name. And then it's a pre Islam
monotheistic from Persia founded by a king named Zoroaster sixth
century BC. And there's a lot of parts of Zoroastrianism
in Judaism, Like there's a lot of well, because I

(16:06):
mean the Jews, like they're in perpetual diaspora because they've
always been just kicked around from place to place. And
even though like I think Israel has like three thousand
years of Jewish history or something like that, they've constantly
been kicked out of it and sent around and there
was wandering around like absorbing other cultures like wherever they are,
you know. And also people say that that's why, so

(16:30):
why Jewish people are so funny generally, because they have
to be because they've been kicked around so much historically
that like, if they didn't have a sense of humor,
there's no way they would have survived this long.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it seems like any culture that struggles
a lot tends to have a very solid sense of humor.
Just to combat that sort of darkness, that daily struggle
you're dealing with, you have to bring some some levity
and some brevity.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
Well that's what they say, comedy equals tragedy plus time point.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
Good point. So our story today involves King Solomon, who
predates zoro Aspria. Should we do a little like family
history of him?

Speaker 1 (17:11):
Sure? I don't know anything about him, so you fill
us in.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
Okay. So in order to tell a story of King Solomon,
which is what our story involves today, we have to
talk about his father, who is King David, the the David,
like famous.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
David Leonardo da Vinci's David.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
I think so. I believe it's the same one, David
and Goliath David David. Yeah, David was just like a
really skillful shepherd and a musician.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
Isn't it weird that the name David, Now, like if
you think of somebody named Dave, but that's who they're
named for.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
Yeah, that was his actual name, is named.

Speaker 1 (17:58):
For fucking David. Didn't go. I have David who slayed
the Giant and did all this cool stuff. And now
there's just like some like suburban like golf enthusiast with
a pot belly and his name is Dave.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and he is considered the Golden One.

Speaker 1 (18:15):
All right, on on with on with Solomon.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
David is h he's coming up in the world and
he's actually at the time the ruler of the of
the of Israel was King Saul, and the reviews on
Saul are mixed. He seemed to be okay for a while,
but then his ego really started to turn on him.
As kings tend to, their ego gets a little big
and they become a little bit too tyrannical and paranoid,

(18:40):
and and so he starts to have these spells. David
is like very famous for his ability to play music.
He's a poet, he's very handsome, he's a mench like
the he's he's a real mench like. The people of
Israel love David. So David ends up winning Saul's favor

(19:00):
and actually plays music for him anytime. Saul has these
like sort of evil spirit headaches that he gets that
really make him kind of crazy, and David earns his
trust that way. Eventually, Saul and.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
David, so he's kind of like rest bututant in a sense.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
Yeah, he's kind of working his way into the he's
like the right hand man. But eventually, with his magic,
Saul starts to get jealous of David, so he actually
wants to kill David. David ends up marrying Saul's daughter
as part of Saul's plan to kill him, and this

(19:35):
sort of cat and mouse game ensues for like years
and years and years. David continually gains the favor of
the people, even going so far as to like to
show Saul that he could have murdered him, Like Saul
was taking a leak somewhere, and while he's doing that,
David like snuck up cut off a piece of his
clothing and then like from a ways away, like yelled, Saul,

(19:57):
look at I have your clothing. I could have killed
you if I wanted, And Saul starts to see the
air of his ways. But ultimately Saul and his whole
lineage die in a battle. David is basically elected king,
not elected king, but I mean he's he's given the
power by the people the through other fights. He's also

(20:19):
given the power or the crown of Israel. He conquers Jerusalem,
so he becomes the first king of like a united Israel,
with Jerusalem, Judah and Israel all under his territory. But David,

(20:41):
who had married Saul's daughter, Saul's daughter didn't like David,
David's getting all the success, but like her whole family
has been killed. And I think her name was Mi Cal,
beautiful mi Cal, and yeah, it looks like it looks
like Michael. So David and Michael have a bad relationship. David,

(21:05):
Israel's golden boy, ends up cheating on Michael with bath Sheba,
who's like this great beauty, and she actually ends up
getting pregnant. But because he had committed adultery, God punished
David by killing her their firstborn. After that's all out

(21:32):
of the way, he like, Solomon is their next child,
and Solomon is our main guy. Who yeah, that's all
I'll say. I feel like that gets this up to speak.
Then Solomon rules and he has a pretty good reign.
They both reigned for forty years each, so a good
eighty years of having this unified Israel. And Solomon's pretty smart.

(21:56):
He's very tactful. He sets up a lot of trading routes,
establishes Palestine. I mean, it's already strategically pretty good. It's
like right on the it's the only land connecting Africa
to Asia, and then it's also got a port access,
so it was very pivotal to his success. He creates
a relationship with the Queen of Sheba, gaining her like

(22:19):
Mediterranean routes.

Speaker 1 (22:20):
So you know what confuses me the most about like
Jewish stories what's happen is that, like how do you
separate the myth from the history. We know that like
David definitely didn't slay a giant, you know, like there
is either that's that's an exaggeration of a story where

(22:44):
he just fought a big guy.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
Yeah, because even in the even in what I read,
Goliath is three meters tall or basically ten feet tall.
That's pretty much, which is huge. I mean the tallest
person that we have document that I think is still
only like eight.

Speaker 1 (23:01):
Four wow, which is which is big?

Speaker 2 (23:06):
Which is very tall? Do you want to dive into
our ethnographer at all?

Speaker 1 (23:10):
Alspell? Nathan Alspell Nathan Olspell born in eighteen ninety eight
in Galicia which is now like Ukraine Poland area. Came
to New York, attended Columbia, fought in World War One,
you know, just like a regular dude, and then he,

(23:34):
you know, became some kind of an ethnographer. I don't
I didn't find very much about what is I think
what his career was. I can't, I can't or I
can't remember, but he did have a notable nephew who
ended up being an ethnographer, I mean, not notable to
the regular world, but he did end up being a professor, educator, ethnographer,

(23:57):
and one of the pioneers of cognitive educational psychology, which
is sort of the precursor to cognitive behavioral therapy. So
I feel like we are ready, m h to read
the story.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
We're going to take a quick break by when we
come back Solomon and the Worm, or is it King Solomon.
We're going to take a quick break, but when we
come we're going to take a quick break. But when
we come back King Solomon and the Worm, So stay tuned.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
King Solomon and the Worm from a Treasury of Jewish Folklore,
edited by Nathan Auspell. King Solomon, the wisest of men,
resolved to build a temple dedicated to the glory of
the God of Israel. He remembered the sacred words of Scripture.
And if thou make me an altar of stone, thou

(25:04):
shalt not build it of hewn stones, For if thou
lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
This is from Exodus twenty twenty five. That's a footnote.
In the story, the tools of iron symbolized the sword,
the instrument of war and death, whilst the altar and

(25:26):
temple were the symbols of peace and life. Solomon desired
that not only the altar, but all the stone work
in the sacred edifice should be made ready for the
builders of the quarry without using any metal implement, so
that in the course of building the temple no instrument
of iron should be employed. How is this wish to
be realized? Even Solomon, the wisest of monarchs, did not

(25:50):
know how to set about this task. Again and again
he asked himself, how is it possible to split the
immense blocks of stone or to cut down the huge
trees if the workmen are not allowed to use metal implements.
In despair, the king summoned his great Council of State,
consisting of the wisest men in his kingdom. He told
them his difficulty and asked them for their advice. The

(26:12):
counselors listen to the words of their beloved monarch in silence.
After a while, one of the most venerable of them
arose and spoke as follows, Long live the King, Mighty, Sovereign.
Haven't you heard that among the countless creatures of the
most High, there is one which can serve you as
your heart desires. It can cut stone better than the
sharpest tool of iron. I refer to the tiny but

(26:36):
wonderful worm called the shamier or diamond insect. Don't you know, o,
wisest of rulers, how the Almighty created ten marvels in
the twilight of the eve of the First Sabbath in
the week of creation. Among these marvels was the worm shamier.
Its size is that of a grain of barley. It

(26:58):
is endowed with miraculous power. For behold, it can split
the hardest stone by merely touching it. Moreover, iron is
broken by its mere.

Speaker 2 (27:07):
Presence, so it really only just needs to be around
the stone, and its presence alone could split stone.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
Yeah, you know, I'm trying to imagine the picture where
the worm walks into a room or slides into a
room and there's some iron in there and the iron
just breaks in half.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
In my mind, he's got a lot of confidence, this worm.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
So he struts. Would you say he struts struts.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
I mean he struts in sunglasses, leather jacket, leans himself
up against the wall, and with a iron just falls apart.
It's cool guy, cool guy.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
Worm, I believe it.

Speaker 2 (27:52):
Maybe he's got a pompadoor.

Speaker 1 (27:54):
Maybe well, we haven't met the worm yet, We've only
heard about him. His reputation precedes him.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
As they say, as they say.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
You show excellent wisdom, beloved counselor, cried Solomon with joy
in his heart. Now tell me where is this marvelous
little worm to be found? I feel like that's something
that like Robin Williams in the Bird Cage would say.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, can you do it? Robin Williams in
the Bird Cage impression.

Speaker 1 (28:28):
No, I wish I could.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
Tell me.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
You want to give it a shout?

Speaker 2 (28:37):
Where is this marvelous little worm to be found? It's
like kind of dramatic.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
Yeah. I didn't hear Robin Williams in that, But I
do appreciate that you tried.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
I tried.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
I appreciate that. May your days be as glorious as
the days of David, your father, replied the wise servant
of the King. But more than I have already told you,
I do not know, no mortal being has ever discovered
the home of the Shamir. It is useless to seek
the information you desire by consulting the sons of men.

(29:12):
Hasn't God bestowed upon you knowledge and understanding more than
he has given to anyone else? Is it for naught
that your wisdom exceeds that of all the children of men?
Aren't you ruler of all the spirits and demons? Seek
their aid desire, and you will find the Shamir, Invoke
the wisest of the spirits, who will reveal to you

(29:32):
even the secrets of the heaven above, of the earth beneath,
and of the waters under the earth. Sounds like he's
kind of getting like like he's got a little bit
of attitude there. He's like, aren't you like really like mighty?
Aren't you like the King?

Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah? And this is his counsel, right, Someone from his
council is like, you don't know about the Worm. You
don't know about how God created ten marvels, one of
them is this little worm.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
I like the Worm, like their first ep, like before
they even had an album, Like, I was like so
into the Worm, Like nobody even knew the Worm, And
I was like really big into the worm.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah exactly. Oh you don't know the worm?

Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah, yeah, it does feel that way. Are you ready ready?
The good advice of the counselor appealed to Solomon's heart,
and after thinking his wise minister, he dismissed his counsel
in order to carry out the suggested plan. So he's
not offended, he didn't discuss.

Speaker 2 (30:38):
You're right, tell me more about this worm.

Speaker 1 (30:40):
Yeah, okay. He looked at the ring on his right
hand and read the Holy Name of God engraved their own. No,
sooner have you pronounced the divine name than a demon
appeared before him and making obee since.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
Cried, what does your wish? Solomon, King of Israel.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
Just grat you like that voice.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
I love that voice.

Speaker 1 (31:06):
See if I can keep it up. I command you,
said Solomon, to tell me where the worm Shamir is
to be found. In trembling voice, the demon replied.

Speaker 3 (31:18):
Mighty King of man and spirits, I am your servant
and I will always obey you if I have the
power to do so. Be not angry with me, for
I fear I cannot help you now. The secret you
desire to know has not been revealed to any of
the inferior demons. It is only Ashmo day our king,
who is in possession of the secret. Tell me, interrupted

(31:42):
King Solomon, where does Ashmo Daye, the king of demons dwell?
May it please your gracious majesty, the demon replied, Ashmodaid
lives far from the haunts of man. His ballas is
built on the top of a very high mountain. In
this same manner mountain, he has dug a very deep well.

(32:02):
Daily he veges his drinking water from the well. When
he has obtained sufficient water for his needs, he closes
up the mouth of the well with an enormous rock,
which he seals with his signet ring. He then flies
up to heaven to receive the orders of those who
are his superiors.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
His tasks take.

Speaker 3 (32:20):
Him to the ends of the earth, even beyond the
Great Sea. With the going down of the sun in
the west, he returns to his own home. He examines
very carefully the seal on the rock at the mouth
of the well in order to find out if it
had been tampered with in his absence. He then proceeds
to uncover the well, and he drinks of the water.
What is this act that I'm doing?

Speaker 1 (32:40):
I don't know what I'm doing.

Speaker 2 (32:41):
It's turning into an impatient lady.

Speaker 1 (32:45):
It's so long as it's all long monologue.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
Uncover the well, and he drinks of the water.

Speaker 3 (32:55):
He then proceeds to uncover the well, and he drinks
of the water. Having quenched his thirst, he covers up
again the mouth of the well and seals it afresh.

Speaker 2 (33:08):
Very good, Very good.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
King Solomon sat on his wonderful throne of gold while
the demon told his tale. Not a word escaped the
memory of the wise king. He then dismissed the demon,
who disappeared in an instant. Thereupon, Solomon summoned to his
presence his brave captain and friend, Baniah, son of Judea.
He told him briefly the nature of the task he

(33:32):
was chosen to undertake, saying, go, trusty servant, Bania, and
capture Ashmudai, the king of demons, and bring him before
my presence to assist you in your perilous undertaking. I
give you this golden chain, on the links of which
the letters forming the divine name are engraved. I will
also entrust to your care my signet ring, which is

(33:54):
also engraved with the holy name of the most high,
take with you also this large bundle of white wool,
and these skins full of strong wine. After giving him
minute instructions about the journey and the way to overcome Ashmudai,
he sent Benia on his way, wishing him success in
his undertaking. The brave warrior set out on his dangerous quest.

(34:18):
After many days of hard riding across the great desert,
he finally reached his destination. Never had he seen such
a desolate spot. Before him stood a towering mountain without
side of any human habitation. The mountain seemed to be
the abode of silence and death. Undaunted, Bania began to

(34:39):
climb the mountain. He feared neither man nor spirit, for
he was wearing on his finger King Solomon's signet ring.
When half way up, he bored a hole in order
to discover the whereabouts of Ashmudai's well. Great was his
delight when he discovered the position of the well. He
drew off the water and stopped up the hole with
the wool, which he had brought with him. Quite near

(35:01):
this hole, Bania made an opening into the well. Through it,
he poured all the wine in the skins. Then he
concealed himself behind a large crag and waited impatiently for
the arrival of the King of Demons.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
So he's hiding in a hole.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
That's correct. I call it a Heidi hole, a Heidi.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
Hole covered in wool that leads to an opening in
the well.

Speaker 1 (35:28):
Well. He's he's poured a large crag, right, crag. I
see it's a crag. So it's like a protuberance from
a rocky mountain, you know.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
Mm hmm. So he's well head and he's waiting for
the King of demons to arrive.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
The King of demons Ashmodai ashmou Daye.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
And Banana is hiding Banana Banaya.

Speaker 1 (35:52):
I see you're making a joke about his name sounding
like banana.

Speaker 2 (35:56):
It does, doesn't.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
I didn't even notice.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
It does not.

Speaker 1 (36:01):
It does not. Soon after sunset, Ashmadi drew nigh. He
carefully examined the seal on the rock over the mouth
of the well and found it intact even as he
had left it. Early in the morning. After he had
rolled away the rock, he descended into the well to
quench his thirst. The fragrant wine overpowered him so that

(36:23):
he quickly returned to the mouth of the well to
inhale the fresh mountain air. Realizing that the well had
been tampered with, he again examined the seal, but it
did not appear to have been touched. Meanwhile, a burning
thirst forced him to descend again in order to obtain
something to drink. No sooner had he tasted the wine
than he desired to drink more and more. I know

(36:44):
that feeling after He's just gonna leave me hanging there.
It was not even gonna saything back.

Speaker 2 (36:52):
No, no, no, no, you're in that moment alone.

Speaker 1 (36:56):
It's passed up.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
Ant. There's a gnat in here.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
Get it?

Speaker 2 (37:01):
I got it. I think I got it.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
After he had drunk freely of the wine, he felt drowsy.
All his senses were overpowered, his head became heavy, his
body staggered, and his knees gave way. At last, he
fell to the ground and slept soundly.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
Does this remind you of Clash of the Titans at all?

Speaker 1 (37:22):
I don't know that. Is that a that's an anime?

Speaker 2 (37:26):
No, it's a it's a movie from the eighties. They
did do a remake, But was it anime? No, it's
got a little bit of like eighties cgi, but it's
live action Perseus the anime.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
Version of Clash of the Titans, because I feel, well,
maybe I'm thinking of teen Titans.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
Yeah, you're thinking of teen titans. Those are like teenage superheroes.

Speaker 1 (37:51):
Yeah, I'm thinking of teen Titans.

Speaker 2 (37:54):
But Perseus goes after Medusa and he has to like
hide from her and lure her into her own living,
her own quarters, basically, and it just made me that's
what I was picturing.

Speaker 1 (38:05):
Hmm yeah, trapping a demon.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
Mm hmmmm. En snare of the demon.

Speaker 1 (38:12):
Benia and now came forth from his hiding place and
crept very quietly to the sleeping demon without wasting a moment.
He threw the golden chain around Ashmodai's neck and sealed
it with the golden signet ring engraved with the divine name.
He then sat down on the ground close by, waiting
for the effects of the strong wine to wear off.

(38:34):
After a while, Ashmodai awoke and found that he was
no longer free, for he saw the golden chain around
his neck, and he beheld the holy name on the seal.
He then groaned so loudly that the mountain shook in vain.
Ashmadai struggled to rise, and his anger Sparks of fire
flew from his eyes and foam covered his mouth.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
He can saw rhyming in this story?

Speaker 1 (39:00):
Is that right?

Speaker 2 (39:00):
Notice that? Yeah? In vain Ashmada I struggled to rise
and his anger. Sparks of fire flew from his eyes.
M you've you've done it a couple of times and
I and it always makes it turn into like a
sing song for me in my head.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
Interesting, I haven't noticed.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
There's like a rhythm to it.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
He continued to struggle, but all to no purpose. He
could not rise. He looked at Bania and cried in
bitter anger. Is it you who has bewitched me? Fairly
replied Bania, behold the name of the Lord of Lords
is upon you. Ashmudai immediately subsided. Realizing that he was vanquished,

(39:43):
He told Banaia that he was quite ready to obey
his orders. Easy easy, easy demon.

Speaker 2 (39:50):
Yeah, easy, King of demons, King, King of demons. Easily
tricked into drinking the wine.

Speaker 1 (39:58):
He's like, all right, let's go, let's do this. You
know well, because I think it's because like he knows
they're not going to kill him, you know, He's like,
this isn't my death, That's not how this game works.
They're not demon slayers. They're just regular people. And uh,
you know, they're gonna use me when they need me,
and they're gonna let me live in peace.

Speaker 2 (40:19):
They're gonna use me, they're gonna abuse me, and then
they're gonna lose me.

Speaker 1 (40:23):
Unlike say Buffy the vampire slayer who's constantly killing demons.
You know, yeah, like this demon seems to be living
in relative peace with humanity. You know, like they cause problems,
but they don't. You know, there's no like end of
the there's no apocalypse plans for any of these guys.

(40:44):
They're not trying to end Yea.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
The things you have to go through to get to
the King of Demons is a very exclusive club. You
have to have the sigil, you gotta have the necklace
or the chain, gotta have the ring. So if anybody
do us get in, they're worth getting in. It's like
it's free to those who can afford it and very
expensive to those who can't come.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
Then cried Banaya, we will go at once to King Solomon.
Your master, arise and follow me. Ashmudai rose and followed Banya,
who was surprised at the behavior of his captive on
their way to the holy City. Wherever they passed, Ashmudai
left behind him a trace of his might. In one village,
he brushed against a palm tree. After its foliage had

(41:30):
been shaken off, he uprooted it with one hand. In
another place, he knocked his shoulder against a house and
overturned it. In the marketplace of a large town, they
made a happy bridal procession. When the bride and bridegroom passed,
Ashmudai began to weep. Why do you weep, Banya asked
in surprise. Alas replied Ashmodai. Within three days, the bridegroom

(41:55):
will be a corpse.

Speaker 2 (41:56):
That's brutal. Yeah, And how big is Ashmadai.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
He's a regular sized demon.

Speaker 2 (42:02):
He's just able to flip a house easily.

Speaker 1 (42:05):
Well, he's very strong. This is a good question. What
does ashman Dai look like? I don't know. We do
know that he has wings, and we do know that
he can fly from one end of the earth to
the other, and we do know that he can see
the future. Those are the three things that the demons
all have in common, and he so far has uh.
They've actually explicitly said all of these things in the story,

(42:27):
which is interesting and it's interesting.

Speaker 2 (42:29):
Okay, so yeah, you're right, I misinterpreted that who is weeping,
But it's actually Ashman Dye is weeping seeing the newlyweds
because he knows that the bride is going to die
within the next three days.

Speaker 1 (42:42):
The bridegroom.

Speaker 2 (42:43):
Uh yeah, yeah, Ashman Daye is even like has emotions
and is feeling empathy for this newlywed couple.

Speaker 1 (42:52):
Maybe not, maybe it is sympathy empathy something.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
Yeah, something, he's definitely. I mean, how many demons have
you ever heard of crime because someone's going to die eventually.

Speaker 1 (43:02):
I've never heard of a single demon who cried because
he saw the future of a bridegroom who's going to die.
Never a single demon. I've never heard of it in
my life. It's Brandon crazy. In the next town, they
overheard a farmer asking a boot maker to make a
pair of boots which were to last him for seven years.
Ashmoday burst out laughing. Tell me, cried, Banaia, why do

(43:25):
you laugh? Because the poor fellow will not wear his
shoes for even seven days. Behold, within a week he
will die, Yet he asks for shoes to last him
seven years. One day they met a blind man going astray.
Ashmudai set him on the right path. He showed similar
kindness to a drunkard whom they met at the crossroads.

(43:48):
On another occasion, he saw a magician who was exhibiting
his skill. He claimed to be able to read the
future and to disclose secrets. This made Ashmuday laugh, and
when Banya asked the reason, he is con wouldn't you
laugh also at a man who pretends to reveal secrets
while at the same time he is unaware of the
fact that a treasure lies buried at his feet. We

(44:10):
deem in this judge persons according to their true value
and not according to their deceptive appearance. In the eyes
of man.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
I like ashman Day. I feel like he should have
his own movie.

Speaker 1 (44:21):
He sounds like a good time. I was just thinking that,
I was thinking I would travel with ashman Day.

Speaker 2 (44:27):
Yeah, like obviously crying because the bridegroom is going to
die in three days, so he's got a heart, but
then also laughing at the fact that someone's making shoes
that the last seven years where they're going to die soon.
It's like, okay, so he's got a dark sense of
humor as well, very dark. And then also he calls
people on their bullshit, like this guy claiming to be
someone who can reveal secrets. He's like, you don't know anything, Ashman,

(44:50):
Dy's got to figure it out.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
He helps a blind man and a drunkard. He helps them.
He doesn't even fuck with them, he just helps them.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
He was a pretty cool demon.

Speaker 1 (45:01):
It's a cool guy.

Speaker 2 (45:03):
Mm hmm. Eight o'clock.

Speaker 1 (45:09):
People yelling have you done it? Have you yelled?

Speaker 2 (45:12):
No? I tried to do like a live stream on
Instagram when it was counting down to it, and that
night my neighborhood didn't do it, so I've never done it.
You should just go out and just do like a
help scream.

Speaker 4 (45:28):
So loud.

Speaker 1 (45:30):
It's enough, guys, it's enough. We've shown our support Jesus Christ.
After many strange adventures, they finally came to the Holy City.
Benaiah conducted his captive to the royal presence. As soon
as Ashmud beheld, King Solomon fear seized him, and he
began to tremble violently in every limb. He held a

(45:50):
long staff in his hand, on which he supported himself.
Ashmudai threw his staff before the king. Why do you
do this, asked Solomon, mighty sovereign, replied, Ashmodai. Don't you
know that, in spite of all your splendor, you will
occupy after your death no more space in the earth

(46:10):
than is measured by yonder staff. Yet you are not
satisfied with ruling the children of men, but must hold
the spirits and demons in subjection.

Speaker 2 (46:19):
Wooh, that's a great point.

Speaker 1 (46:21):
I know, I know. That's He's like, you're a man
at the end of the day, You're a man.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
Yeah. Like he's basically saying, we're all just dust in
the wind, and you are trying to not only control
the children of men, but also hold spirits and demons
and subjection. That's Ashmadai. I'm a big fan.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
He basically just said, where do you get off? You
know what I mean? Who do you think? You are?

Speaker 2 (46:52):
Way into it? Let's keep going.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
Don't be vexed. Solomon answered gently, you won't find me
a hard master. Merely demand one little service of you.
I wish to build a great temple to the glory
of the creator of Heaven and Earth, and for this
purpose I require the services of the wonderful worm shechemir.
Tell me, now, where can I find this tiny creature,

(47:18):
Oh wisest of mortals, replied Ashmodai, don't you know that
the shamir has not been placed in my charge? Where
is it? Thundered Solomon, Speak slave, and speak truly?

Speaker 2 (47:34):
Escalated quickly it did, And I like that you nailed
down his sarcasm in O mightiest of mortals. He really
leaned into that, And I like that.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
Mighty master, replied Ashmoday. Since the days of Moses, who
employed the shamir when writing on the tablets of stone,
the worm has been entrusted to the care of the
Prince of the Sea, who has given it into the
charge of the woodcar The woodcock has sworn to carry
the shamier with him at all times. He lives in

(48:06):
a nest built on the top of a very high mountain.
He uses the shamier to split the rock so as
the plant seeds in the clefts, and the vegetation which
grows there serves as his food. Whenever he goes from
his nest, he takes the shamer with him, carrying it
beneath his wing. Enough, cried Solomon, you shall live with

(48:28):
me until the temple is built once again. King Solomon
summoned his trusty captain Banya, and sent him to look
for the nest of the woodcock, to obtain the shamier,
and to bring it back to the Holy city. Take
with you, said the king, a glass cover, a little wool,

(48:48):
and a small leaden box. May your journey be as
successful this time as your former one. Bania obeyed with
a glad heart. All the instructions which King Solomon gave him.
He set out on his journey, crossing hill and dale,
stream and desert. At last he discovered the nest of

(49:08):
the bird he sought. The woodcock was away on one
of his expeditions, and the nest were the fledglings. Bania
now covered the nest with the glass cover, which he
had brought with him for this purpose. He then concealed
himself and waited to see what would happen. So basically,
it's kind of Solomon is the brains behind the operation,

(49:33):
you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (49:33):
Mm hmmmm hmm.

Speaker 1 (49:35):
Like he basically he gives him the tools and he's like,
this is what you gotta do.

Speaker 2 (49:40):
It reminds me of last week's story about the king
sending the peasant to do all these Really, you know,
hard tasks. You gotta do this, to do this, to
get me this and then bring it back to me.
And we're seeing that again. It's funny that it's called
King Solomon in the worm, when really it should be

(50:01):
Banya and his duties, you know, or something. Bania is
doing all the leg work.

Speaker 1 (50:07):
Here, except that in the last story, the guy who
went out, he had to figure it all out on
his own, you know what I mean, He had to
figure out how to get the things done. The king
just gave him an impossible task and then he had
to be resourceful, whereas this time Solomon gives Baniah everything
he needs to succeed. He just is go do it.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, I would say, I mean
I would. Really you should watch Clash of the Titans.
Zeus does the same thing with Perseus. He gives, yeah, yeah,
it really is that Perseus is this just homely whatever,
And then Zeus is like, but he needs a sword
and a shield and these exact kind of weapons in

(50:51):
order to do and conquer and become great. And then
Solomon is doing the same thing exactly like with his
shield is very helpful when he's fighting Medusa because if
she if she makes eye contact turned to stone, so
he uses his reflective.

Speaker 1 (51:06):
Shield almost like fate.

Speaker 2 (51:13):
It's all destiny. That's for me for I'm going to
watch that tonight, Young Frankenstein.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
That's it's a good movie. I quote that movie more
than I quote any other movie. And I don't know why.

Speaker 2 (51:32):
What's your favorite Young Frankenstein quote? That's so good, so good.
I like when he's he's saying he's meeting I Gore
for the first time, and he's like Igor and he's like,

(51:52):
it's pronounced I Gore and he's like, oh, well they
told me it was Igor. Well they were wrong, then,
weren't they.

Speaker 1 (51:58):
Well they were wrong.

Speaker 2 (52:02):
Movie. So that's one of my favorite movies. It's so good.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
I also always say lands hey when he gets in there.

Speaker 2 (52:13):
We actually have that in the first season of Folklorica.
You and I both do a role on the hay Run.
We talk about Young Frankenstein quite.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
A bit of really shit.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
Yeah, talking about Destiny.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
It's a big part of my life. That movie. I
haven't seen it in years. I should watch it again.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
Oh man, I watched that movie. I want to say,
like once every three months. Really, yeah, gotta revisit just
because it just like puts me back into a center.

Speaker 1 (52:42):
When the woodcock returned, he tried to enter his nest,
but found he could not do so, for the glass
was very hard and strong. He saw through the glass
his helpless young and, flapping his wings and screeching loudly,
sought to break the glass. All his efforts were in vain.
The young birds, frightened by the noise, also began to screech.

(53:04):
What is to be done, cried the woodcock in the
language of the birds. Again and again he tried to
smash the glass, but without success. As a last resource,
he decided to make use of the precious treasure entrusted
to his care. He produced the schamer from beneath his
wing and put it on the glass, which split into

(53:24):
pieces as soon as it was touched by the wonderful worm.
At that instant, Baniya raised a lusty cry and frightened
the woodcock so that he dropped the Shamir. It had
barely fallen upon the ground when Baniya seized it and
carefully placed it in the wall and secured it by
putting it in the small leaden box which he had
brought for the special purpose. Without lingering a moment, Bania

(53:49):
set out on his homeward journey, rejoicing greatly at his success.
In despair, the woodcock killed himself, fearing the terrible vengeance
the Prince of the Sea would bring on him. And
the disappearance of the Shamir became known.

Speaker 2 (54:04):
Sad, So the woodcock killed himself because the Prince of
the Sea would be so mad that the shamir or
the worm went missing.

Speaker 1 (54:17):
Right. So he's like, I had one job. My job
was protect the worm, and someone got the worm, and
so rather than facing the wrath of the King of
the Sea, he's just like seeya.

Speaker 2 (54:30):
So what do we know about the Prince of the Sea.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
He's the one who was entrusted the care of the worm.
I remember there was that long chain of people who
had the worm. It was like they give it to him. Oh,
that's right, and you give it to him, and you
give it to him.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
The worm's just like this kid in an orphanage. He's
getting passed around. Yeah, and the woodcock is a bird.
How do you think it killed itself?

Speaker 1 (54:53):
I was just thinking that, Okay, so this is what
I think. I think it flew headfirst into like the
like the bottom of a cliff.

Speaker 2 (55:03):
Oh okay, I was gonna say it flew into the
window of a Walgreens, broke its neck and that was it.

Speaker 1 (55:12):
That's a sad end, I think. I think what it
did is it found a really tall cliff and then
it just nose dived into the bottom of it, like
into a bunch of rocks. Is that sad that they think.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
That that's brutal? That's so sad. And for some reason
I pictured it yelling Adrian, it hit the ground, Rip woodcock.

Speaker 1 (55:34):
If I were a bird, that's how I would kill myself,
nose dive off a cliff, because there's some irony to it,
you know, because they can save themselves.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
Yeah, exactly like you to a woodcock jumped off the
cliff but didn't fly.

Speaker 1 (55:48):
It'd be like running yourself into a wall to die,
you know. It's like stupid. It's like, but you could stop.
Why not stop? Because I want to die?

Speaker 2 (55:59):
Because yeah, it's just got dark.

Speaker 1 (56:01):
I've been in quarantine for too long. But when I
reached the Holy City in safety and delivered to King Solomon,
the wonderful worm, with its help, the wise King built
the temple and thereafter the Shamir disappeared, and to this
very day no one knows where it is to be found.

Speaker 4 (56:20):
The end Glorica.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
That's the story of the Worm of Shamir. So what
are your thoughts. How do you feel?

Speaker 2 (56:50):
I feel rattled. I feel only because what was his
intention with getting the worm? Take me back.

Speaker 1 (56:58):
He wanted to build.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
The Solomon, want the worm.

Speaker 1 (57:01):
He wanted to build a temple, and he couldn't use
steal to cut the rock or the trees, and so
he wanted this worm who could do it without steel,
so that it would be pure.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
Wow, this feels like a movie that after the movie
ends it explains that like and for forty years, like
in text on the screen, for forty years, the worm
cracked all the iron and did this, and that It's
like we're left right at the beginning of their journey together,

(57:35):
is where this story ends.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
It's very true. Yeah, we don't care about how it
happened when Shamer broke the stone and they built the temple.
It was all about getting the tool to build the temple.
So you think at the beginning of the story that
you're going to build a temple, but you don't. You
just get a worm.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
Yeah, The whole journey is about Benaya using the tool
Solomon gives him to get first the king of Demons,
ashman I, which is the best, such a cool guy, coolest,
cool guy, and then only to find out that actually
ashman I isn't the person who's got it. He goes,

(58:14):
you gotta go get the bird the woodcock, and so
he's like, Okay, Banaya, sorry about that. We're gonna send
you back out. You gotta go to this bird. Bird's
got the worm feeling. That's how the song was made.
I think was based on this story of King Solomon.
I wonder, yeah, I wonder how Banya's feeling having gone

(58:35):
through all this, because then it's just like, all right, Banya,
thank you for all your help. Accomplished. He did it.

Speaker 1 (58:41):
He's been a solid help to Solomon. Like Banaya, I
wonder what Benya's story is. You know, I didn't do
any research into the name Banya. I feel like in
the same way that I feel like we could do
a lot of stories about the the Saints, the Catholic Saints,
or even Baba Yaga, you know, these recurring characters. I

(59:03):
feel like we could go into deep dives about all
kinds of characters, you know, like Banya, who the fuck?
Who the fuck is Banya? And why is no one
named named Banaya anymore?

Speaker 2 (59:14):
My firstborn is going to be named ASHMANI for sure.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
Like why? I wonder why some of these names persisted?
Like David easy, David is fine. Everybody agrees David is
a totally normal name.

Speaker 2 (59:31):
But if you were to name some would even say
to normal.

Speaker 1 (59:36):
Some would yeah, yeah, Why has David survived whereas Banya
has not? Even Solomon there are still people named Solomon,
you know what I mean, Like it's a biblical name,
but there are people named Solomon, but no one is
named Banya.

Speaker 2 (59:54):
Why Solomon was also at the time it was Shlomo.

Speaker 1 (59:59):
Yeah, and that it's also like a name, you know.
But do you have you ever heard of anybody in
your life named Banaya before? Right now?

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
No?

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
No, besides Bania Twain.

Speaker 2 (01:00:11):
Isn't there a Shlomo Marx? Isn't isn't there a Marx
brother named Shlomo?

Speaker 1 (01:00:15):
No, but there is Bania Twain. You missed my joke
about Bania Twain.

Speaker 2 (01:00:19):
Banya Twain, that's pretty good. Did you just come up
with that you felt it in your heart and you
and you shouted it from the mountains as soon as
it appeared to you.

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
Give me one example of a banya besides Bania Twain Banaya.

Speaker 2 (01:00:38):
Nope, I think you got it. You reached the top
of the mountain immediately with that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:43):
Much like Bania did.

Speaker 2 (01:00:45):
So having a party, a party for two yeah, ain'ton button, nobody,
nobody but you in your socks. You don't know the song?

Speaker 4 (01:01:01):
Or you do?

Speaker 1 (01:01:02):
Do you know the song? But I am just adding
in my bits about Benaya.

Speaker 2 (01:01:05):
You did great.

Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
Thank you. So let me ask you this, is there
a moral to the story?

Speaker 2 (01:01:17):
I would be hard pressed to find one. I don't
think there is.

Speaker 1 (01:01:20):
There must be something like, what's the purpose? What's the
purpose of this story? Is it just to reinforce Solomon's greatness?

Speaker 2 (01:01:27):
It seems like it's a story because Solomon King Solomon
is a very well celebrated king of Israel, like being
the son of David, and how great David was until
his falling off with the adultery thing. Solomon is someone
else who has perceived to have done who's like Solomon
is like a sage or a poet in the eyes

(01:01:49):
of the Jewish people. So there's this is just adding
to the mythos.

Speaker 1 (01:01:56):
What's the Song of Solomon? What does that mean?

Speaker 2 (01:01:59):
The Song of Solomon. I'm not familiar with Song of Solomon.
Oh no, there actually is. Yeah, it's from the Book
of Songs.

Speaker 1 (01:02:08):
Song of Songs also Song of Solomon or Canticles of
found in the last section of the Tana. Unique to
the Hebrew Bible. No interest in law or covenant or
the God of Israel. Doesn't teach or explore wisdom like
Proverbs or Ecclesiastes. Instead, it celebrates sexual love, giving the

(01:02:34):
quote the voices of two lovers praising each other, yearning
for each other, propering invitations to enjoy. So it's about sex, I.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
Mean, and that makes sense because Solomon is like very
well known for the size of his harem was. I mean,
he's like, this man's a lover's he's basically like a
casanova poet, so leader of the Jewish people.

Speaker 1 (01:02:57):
There were reality TV back then. He would have been
on a season of Sister Wives, is what you're saying.

Speaker 2 (01:03:02):
Sister Wives, or he would be the Brett Michaels in
Rock of Love.

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
I don't know the reference, but I appreciate that it
is a reference.

Speaker 2 (01:03:09):
You don't know Rock of Love, No, I don't. Brett Michaels,
lead singer of Poison, got his own spinoff reality love
show from Flavor Flaves Flavor of Love, which I'm.

Speaker 1 (01:03:21):
Sure I remember Flavor Flave. I remember that that's freshman
year of college.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
Well, Brett Michaels from Poison got his own version of
that same show. I feel like King Solomon would be
the Brett Michaels or the Flavor Flave.

Speaker 1 (01:03:34):
I believe it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:35):
Yeah, So I feel like this story is just this
sort of enhancement of the mythos of what we already
want to praise about Solomon is that he's someone who
has this authority, has this understanding. But we also know
that one of his counsel was the one who told
them about this whole thing. Like, don't you know, like
you're having trouble splitting iron, there's a worm that does that.

Speaker 1 (01:03:58):
There's a lot of working together that happens in this story, right,
Like this is like this is truly a tale of teamwork.

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
Yeah, if anything can be taken away from it, it's
that it really is.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
It takes a village, It takes a village of dudes. Specifically,
there are no women in this story.

Speaker 2 (01:04:15):
There are no women in this story at all. Even
the mythical creatures were all male.

Speaker 1 (01:04:20):
Yeah, no women unfortunately. Wow, but that's okay. There's a worm,
and I like worms. I think they're funny. Did I
ever tell you about when I was a kid, like
a young kid, my mom took us to Wisconsin, where
her family's from, for a family reunion, and we went
we went fishing on Lake Michigan.

Speaker 2 (01:04:42):
Uh huh.

Speaker 1 (01:04:43):
And they gave me a worm or regular earthworm as
bait to fishing. But I bonded with it and I
became friends with my worm. And there's actually a picture
of me holding the worm up to my face as
my friend. And that's what I got out of fishing,
was just that I like worms.

Speaker 2 (01:05:04):
This this photo will be in the show notes for
anyone listening.

Speaker 1 (01:05:07):
I don't have it. I don't have it anymore. It's
it's I wish we could put it in the show notes,
but there's no picture of me holding my worm.

Speaker 2 (01:05:14):
What I would like is for our listeners to draw
their interpretation of Maggie as a Maggie as a six
or seven year old proudly holding a worm that has
become her near and dear friend, and then send that
to us on any social media platform because I would
love to see it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:35):
Please do, please do.

Speaker 2 (01:05:36):
Yeah, I do not have an affinity for worms.

Speaker 1 (01:05:41):
I can bond. I can bond to anything if you
if I'm alone, you know, like it was, I was
on I was on a boat. I felt uncomfortable. You
hand me a worm, and that's my friend. Now, like
I think, did.

Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
We just apply to living things only?

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
No, I was actually going to tell you that one
time I was at a party a long ago. Actually
it was probably in like twenty thirteen or twenty fourteen,
and I was very uncomfortable and I found this rubber
washer on a counter, and that became my friend. I
just got really attached to that rubber washer. I kept
it for many years.

Speaker 2 (01:06:16):
Wow, did you name it?

Speaker 1 (01:06:19):
No? I didn't. It's just it's a why you know,
I don't need to name it. I don't need to.
I don't need to.

Speaker 2 (01:06:24):
Oh that's the weird part. Giving it a name would
be fucking crazy. Friends with it for ten years.

Speaker 1 (01:06:30):
Is I don't need to anthropomorphize it, you know what
I mean the fact that it's a washer is enough
for me. I don't need to pretend it is a human.
It is a washer, and it is my friend.

Speaker 2 (01:06:41):
You know, hey, we all have different lines in the sand,
you know what I mean. Where we're willing to draw
those is individual to each of us.

Speaker 1 (01:06:50):
I could be friends with that anything. I feel like
that's what makes me a little bit of a hoarder.
You know. I get a lot of emotional and spiritual
attachment to inanimate objects. How do you feel about enanimate objects?
Do you get attached?

Speaker 2 (01:07:04):
I used to when I was little, because obviously, when
you're a child, most of the things you own are
gifted to you, right, So it really started to affect me.
Like my mom would pack me lunch, so i'd and
in that lunch, maybe she'd give me, like a banana,
for example, Eat the banana. Now you got the peel.
I used to feel so guilty about throwing the peel

(01:07:24):
away because it was this thing that had been gifted
to me. I feel you, That's that's something I struggle
with now. So it's more of a guilt of what
this thing is a relationship with someone else maybe, or
what this thing means to me. Yeah, I have I
add a sentimental value intense sentimental value to inanimate objects.

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
One time someone gave me a cookie that said like
I love you or love on it. It was like
a heart shaped cookie, and I didn't want to eat it,
and so I asked my mom how I could say it,
and she said, well, we could get like Scotch guard
and we could like spray it. And so we were
going to spray it, and then I dropped it and
it broke in half. And I was devastated.

Speaker 2 (01:08:06):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I.

Speaker 1 (01:08:08):
Was like, we got to grow together. We gotta put
it literally so heartbreaking, so hard. It was a heart
and it broke in half, so it was literally it
was literally heartbreaking for my whole life. I must have
been about the same age six or seven, yeah, because

(01:08:29):
it was at the apartment where my sister was born.

Speaker 2 (01:08:33):
Wow, you had a lot going on that year, you know,
I did, You know, really, in this moment, I'm realizing
I did.

Speaker 1 (01:08:44):
All those were formative years for me. You know, childhood
like when you become a human but you're not quite
a you know, you haven't gone through puberty yet. You know,
like seven eight nine, you know, big years, big years,
six seventy nine.

Speaker 2 (01:09:06):
There's There's something magical about that time in a very
depressing way in that you don't fully understand how the
world works, but you know that at some point it
all goes away, Like you're just starting to learn that
things don't come back, you know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (01:09:22):
Yeah, you start to the ephemorality of life starts to
set in, but.

Speaker 2 (01:09:28):
You're still like eight or nine, so you don't understand
the structure of why. So you still have this magical
mentality about things like maybe you still believe in Santa
or whatever, but there is this like but but death
is real, you know, and it's a very special time
to be a child.

Speaker 1 (01:09:47):
You want to hear Santa story. Yes, when I was
on the brink of not believing in Santa, like I
had decided that Santa didn't exist, Like it was going
around the school. Santa wasn't real, you know, it was
like like, Okay, Santa's fake, It's not a thing. Melder brother,
How quick to that?

Speaker 2 (01:10:04):
How quick to that that rumor? Were you on board
or were you somebody who was like no, no, no, no, no,
you know what Santa's reel?

Speaker 1 (01:10:11):
Or were you like I was pretty skeptical. I've always
been a skeptical person. So I was pretty on, you know,
I wanted to believe, but I was like, that makes sense,
It's not real, of course, it's not real. Like the
handwriting does look like my mom's handwriting, you know, like
on the note, on the thank you note for the cookies,
Like it does look like my mom's handwriting, it does.
You know, you can't argue with the facts.

Speaker 2 (01:10:34):
You're a little sleuth, a little detective.

Speaker 1 (01:10:36):
But so but my brother Nick, who you know, three
years older, he told me that not only was Santa real,
but that he didn't wear a red suit, he wore
a green suit, which was really the clincher for me.
Like the fact that there was it was a little

(01:10:57):
different than what had been described really sold it to me,
you know, because it was like, oh, no, that story
they told you that is false, but this story, a
slight variation is true. He said Santa was real, he
wears a green suit, and that he was bringing me
a power wheels for Christmas the next day because I

(01:11:18):
wanted a power wheels so bad. And yeah, the next
day I woke up there was no fucking power wheels.
And that was the year that I stopped believing in Santa.

Speaker 2 (01:11:31):
And Nick killed it for you.

Speaker 1 (01:11:34):
Well, the best part about that is that my mom,
my parents, my mom felt so guilty about it that
like this like this power wheels thing had like killed
Santa for me because we lived on Riverside Drive in
the valley. It was like a super busy street. There's
no way they would have ever given us a power
wheels because we would have killed ourselves within an hour.

(01:11:55):
Like there's no way we would have survived to power wheels.
But she felt so guilty about it that she ended
up buying me a car as an adult, and she said,
the power wheels is in the driveway, you know, like
the power wheel is in the driveway, and it was
like it's it's stuck with her and she remembered that
it that it, you know, had an effect on me,

(01:12:17):
and it was very sweet. And that was my car,
Blanche that you probably know.

Speaker 2 (01:12:21):
Yeah wow, oh yeah, that's right, the white one, remember Blanch.

Speaker 1 (01:12:27):
Blanche.

Speaker 2 (01:12:28):
Yeah, yeah, she was your rider. Die for so long.

Speaker 1 (01:12:32):
I miss her.

Speaker 2 (01:12:34):
Nothing more sentimental than a car. Oh my god, my
heart breaks about cars that I've had.

Speaker 1 (01:12:40):
They just they serve you so well.

Speaker 2 (01:12:43):
I talk to mine all the time, every time I'm
in mine.

Speaker 1 (01:12:47):
What's your car's name?

Speaker 2 (01:12:50):
Right now? I have a a Jeep Compass. It's kind
of like a little Mini suv buddy little U And
I call her Pepe. I like to call her Pepe
the Little Mule.

Speaker 1 (01:13:02):
Why it's because she's a mule.

Speaker 2 (01:13:05):
I don't know why. I don't know if you've ever
seen Romancing This Stone, you know, I know.

Speaker 1 (01:13:11):
The movie, but I couldn't tell you anything about it.

Speaker 2 (01:13:14):
But they meet up with this like super big drug lord.
I think they're in Columbia and he's got this black
Toyota truck thing, I think, and they get away from
like the uh some sort of people are after them,
and his car is called Pepe the Little Mule.

Speaker 1 (01:13:30):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:13:30):
And so there's I've always like and I grew up
watching that movie, so that's always stuck with me. So
now she's my little Jeep. Is she's Pepe?

Speaker 1 (01:13:36):
Oh, she's Pepe.

Speaker 2 (01:13:39):
She is Pepe.

Speaker 1 (01:13:39):
Now I wanted to tell you about another reason why
I have an affinity towards worms is because yeah, more
Ryan listeners, my fiance, my Beyonce, Ryan looks like a worm.

Speaker 2 (01:14:00):
Ryan does have.

Speaker 1 (01:14:02):
You ever seen you know, Richard Scary's book books about busytown. Yeah,
he looks like that worm. Wears the hat and he
has the one shoe on with the high.

Speaker 2 (01:14:12):
And the apple car.

Speaker 1 (01:14:13):
Yeah, he looks like that worm.

Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
You should get him that little green hat with a
feather in it.

Speaker 1 (01:14:18):
And then sometimes when I see him sleeping in the bed,
he makes just a perfect worm shape and then his head.

Speaker 2 (01:14:25):
Like a little worm. You've just been chasing the worm
that you met when you were six or seven, and
you finally found it.

Speaker 1 (01:14:34):
I trapped him, he did, He trapped him. I didn't
tell you the sad end of the story about the worm.

Speaker 2 (01:14:41):
Oh no, what happened to it?

Speaker 1 (01:14:42):
They convinced me to. They convinced me to put it
on the hook and try to catch a fish with it.
They were like, that's what he's for.

Speaker 2 (01:14:51):
Oh my god.

Speaker 1 (01:14:52):
And I stuck a hook through his body and then
I throw him out in the water and then a
fish eat them off the hook And didn't even even
catch a fish. It just ate my worm.

Speaker 2 (01:15:07):
That's so traumatizing. That's like those stories you're here where
kids grow up out in the woods, like you know,
Turn of the Century.

Speaker 1 (01:15:16):
They're in to kill their chicken.

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
They have to like kill the chicken or they have
to like kill their first deer or whatever. It's like,
no finish it, put the knife in its heart. It's
like what you had to do with your own rite
of passage.

Speaker 1 (01:15:34):
Let's let's wrap this up. Closing thoughts.

Speaker 2 (01:15:37):
So the moral of the story, we are we going
to settle with it?

Speaker 1 (01:15:41):
It takes a village, Yeah, like a teamwork plus Solomon.

Speaker 2 (01:15:46):
Real good, Like even even the great, one of the
greatest people of Hebrew history required the help of his people,
you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (01:15:57):
Like that? Yeah, I like that. Yeah, listeners, if you
have any other opinions, or if you are maybe a
scholar of the Talmud, maybe you have other opinions, please
feel free to let us know. You can at us

(01:16:18):
on Twitter at Folkloroga dot pod, or you can at
us on Instagram at Folklarca dot pod, or you can
email us at Folklorica at stratmedia dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:16:32):
Yeah, get back to us. Well, thanks for tuning in, guys.
I am Clayton Stecker.

Speaker 1 (01:16:37):
I am Maggie Bowles, and you have just been and
we have been. You've spent some time with us. This
has been folk Larka. Please leave us a reading and
a review. Tell your friends about us, give.

Speaker 2 (01:16:51):
Us a good old like a subscribe, Share it.

Speaker 1 (01:16:54):
Like a subscribe, Follow us on Instagram, follow us on
Twitter at folklorgot. And this is a presentation of straw
hat Media. It's so important to say there may or
may not be all of.

Speaker 2 (01:17:10):
Our show notes. Oh yeah yeah, all of our references.
Will try to get up and going and put those
in the show notes on straw hut media dot com
slash Folklorica. We love you, We love you very much.
Have a good like a banana peel that we don't
want to throw away, or a worm we don't want

(01:17:33):
to put on the home we.

Speaker 1 (01:17:34):
Don't want to feed because he's our friend, all right.

Speaker 2 (01:17:39):
Yeah, or rubber washer that is our best friend for
seven years, but we don't name it because that would.

Speaker 1 (01:17:45):
Be would be weird, all right, all right? And scene Gloria,

(01:18:08):
and now for your moment of sim Zon and Garlf,
Uncle Bill Walls.

Speaker 4 (01:18:17):
Christ and Mighty No made.

Speaker 2 (01:18:24):
A trait. I have no need of friendship. Friendship causes pain,
it's laughter and it's loving. I disdain. I am a rock,
I am an

Speaker 4 (01:18:39):
Island.