Perhaps you’ve read poems, myths, and fairytales and never got much out of them.  This type of literature is meant to be spoken and heard.  When spoken, these works somehow slip below the surface of logic understanding and connect directly with the soul.  Try having a friend read the Rumi poem to you, and see if you get new meaning from it.  Ancient myths and fairytales survive because their truths are universal, because they are born of a common human consciousness and wisdom that knows what we need to make our way through life.
    
I suggest you and a partner each memorize a short tale and then take turns telling the stories to each other.  As a storyteller, find a story that has meaning to you, learn it until it becomes part of you, tell it as though you were there, and don’t rush.  As a listener, try not to analyze everything in the story while listening.  Rather, pay attention to how you feel at different moments, and what images or events strike you as powerful, and enjoy the story!  Later, you can wonder how the story is like your life and what it has to teach you.  You and your partner can then share your experiences.  When a story is told in a group and sharing follows, you’ll find that the differences in lessons can be startling.  Following are my accounts of two tales good for group tellings.  The first is a fairytale from Africa.  The second is a parable from China.

In the Snake’s Belly
A long time ago, in the jungles of Africa, there were snakes that were much larger than the snakes of today.  They were huge.  They could eat tigers and antelopes, but their favorite food was the human.  In one particular village, the people lived in constant fear.  The snakes came through at all hours, and took what they wanted.  A mother was crying there, lamenting the loss of both of her children taken by the snakes.  The people said that something must be done.  A man was listening to the woman’s story.  He was a gifted flute player, and he loved to walk around the village playing his flute.  

He heard this woman’s sorrow and felt compassion.  He knew that something must be done.  So, he put his knife in his sheath, and walked into the jungle, playing his flute as he went.  He found a clearing and chose a spot to sit, and continued playing his flute.  He could not see the snake coming towards him from the dark jungle, but he sensed it, and still he played on.  Finally, the snake lunged at him and swallowed him with a single gulp.

All was dark.  He heard the faint beating of the snake’s heart.  He was in the snake’s belly.  It was tight, warm, and damp, and the man struggled to reach his knife.  He slowly pulled the knife free and poked at the inside of the snake’s belly.  The snake, feeling the pain, loosened his muscles and gave the man as much room as he could.  After a while, the man grew hungry, so he took his knife, carved a piece of meat from the snake’s belly, and ate.  The snake writhed in agony, but what could he do?  The man waited a long time in the belly, and ate whenever he was hungry.  The snake, in his terrible pain, went to his brother and sister snakes, and told them not to eat of these humans.  The pain was too great.

The man continued to eat, slowly making his way towards the snake’s heart, hearing the beat getting louder and louder.  Finally, he came to the snake’s heart and plunged his knife in.  The snake died and the man emerged into the light of day.  He immediately took up his flute and began walking to his village, playing as he went.  The people were surprised to see him.  He had been gone a long time.  He told them that he had been in the belly of the snake.  At first, they did not believe him, but then he showed them a piece of the snake’s heart, and so they knew that it was true.

The Mule in the Road
One day, old Mack came to town, towing his pack mule behind him.  Mack came to the general store on Main Street, tied up his mule, and went in for supplies.  Now this was the days before cars, and the streets were very narrow, and there was much commerce done of this Main Street.  Old Mac’s mule was a very ornery one, and as the people tried to pass behind or in front, the mule would shuffle about braying, kicking, and biting.  Children and brave men all tried to get around the mule, but no one could.  A couple of men tried to grab the mule’s leash, and almost got their hands bitten off.  Someone said, “We’ve got to get old Mac to move his mule.”  So, a few people went into the general store, but Mac had gotten sick, and was resting on a cot in the back.  They called for a doctor, and the doctor said, “I’m sorry to say that old Mac is very sick, and he can’t be moved for two weeks.”  The people of the town didn’t know what to do.  How would they conduct their business? 

Then Sherman walked up.  The people knew Sherman to be a wise old man.  Perhaps he could figure out what to do.  Sherman said, “Well, I have to go down the street myself.”  So he thought and looked around.  Suddenly he began to walk down an alley along the side of the store, and then he disappeared around the corner.  “Where is he going?” the people said.  After a while he emerged from another alley farther down the street, on the other side of the mule.  He continued down the street to conduct his business.  The people stood there with their mouths open, and someone said, “But what about the mule?!”