Lord Bao And The Stone (Chinese Folktale)

                                     

Hundreds of years ago a man lived in south China . He was a government official. He was so honest and fair , people loved him and they called him "Lord Bao".
One day during his routine visit to a town Lord Bao found a little boy who was crying badly. 

''Why are you crying my child'' ?  Kind hearted Lord Bao asked the young boy.
''Sir, I use to sell oil to earn my livings.  I have lost all my money." 
 ''How ?", asked Lord Bao.
"In the afternoon I felt tired , I put my  the money next to me and put my head on this stone and fell asleep'' the boy said pointing towards a stone.  
''When I got up I found out that my money wasn't here.'',he added. 
                                                
''Oh! So the stone has stolen your money, it is the thief.'' ,said Lord Bao. He lifted the stone with his hands and screamed,''Where is the money of this little boy , give it back! '   People who heard him shouting laughed and whispered in each others ears, '' How can a stone steal the money? Lord Bao has gone crazy."                     

 ''How dare you people call me crazy? Now each one of you will pay fine of one cent.'' Lord Bao ordered one of his men to collect the coins in a bag. 

While the people were putting their coins in the bag , Lord Bao was checking every coin by himself. 
"He is the thief , catch him!", suddenly Lord Bao pointed his finger towards a man and shouted. 

"But how can be you so sure that he is the thief ?", Someone  questioned Lord Bao.
''See! the coin has oil on it and the boy is an oil seller, he must be having  oil on his hands therefore there is oil on the coins too. This is little boy's coin.'' , said Lord Bao.
All the people gathered around the man..... he got scared and took out all the boy's money which he had stolen. 

Bao returned all the collected coins. The little boy got his money back and thanked Lord Bao. People praised Bao for his intelligence.

                                                                                                       Chinese Folktale
                                                                     Retold by - Aunt Mary

PLEASE LET ME FREE!

           
     
   It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon . Alia was returning home    with her parents after having lunch in her favorite restaurant.  Their car stopped at traffic signal . Suddenly Alia saw a bird seller
 who was selling beautiful small birds . "Look papa !How Beautiful birds!" ,she cried with excitement . The bird seller came near their car and said "Sir  please buy a bird for your kid, she will be very happy" . "Yes please,  papa I want a bird , please buy one bird for me!", Alia insisted . "No, no I am not going to buy the bird it is not right to keep it in a cage like that" . Alia used her best weapon, she started crying as all children do when their parents deny  to fulfill their demands . Papa became annoyed , he could not find a way to handle the situation . Alia was continuously crying and insisting for buying the bird . Mommy whispered in Papa's ear, " Let her buy the bird, after some time I will convince her to free the bird". At last Papa agreed to buy a bird for Alia though he was not happy with it at all. Alia  was extremely happy that she got the bird! She called her friends home, and showed the bird to them. 
 Many days passed, life was going on normally. One day after returning from school Alia was not feeling well. Mommy took her to the doctor. Doctor told that Alia has got viral fever and she needs to stay at home and take rest for some days. In just two days Alia got bored of staying at home all the time. She couldn't go to school, she couldn't go to park for playing. Her friends' parents did not allow them to go to Alia's house to play as it was a viral disease. She had to eat light and simple food like porridge, milk and bread. 

She said to her mother, " I am tired of lying on bed all the day and eating the boring food. I want to go out and play with my friends. I want to eat my favorite food". Mommy replied, " You should do that after you recover from your sickness". At that time an idea came in Mommy's mind to make the little bird free. She said to Alia very politely, " My dear girl, in just two days you got bored of staying at one place, think about that little bird in the cage

which can not go out, can not meet her family and friends. She is unable to eat the favorite fruits which she could eat when she was free. Can't you relate yourself with that bird in this situation?" . Alia looked at the bird in the cage and she realized how sad the bird was . The little bird was looking at her with her innocent eyes. Alia felt that she was saying, " Please make me free. Please let me go out and fly in the open sky. Kindly give me back my freedom". Alia got up from the bed, took the cage, went to the balcony and opened the door of the cage. The little bird flew away in the sky! Little Alia now had understood the importance of freedom.
                                                                       - Aunt Mary 

 




 
   

I LOVE YOU SON!

My dear children, did you wish your father a 'Happy Father's Day'? If not, say it now because there is no one like your father he is one of the most important people in your life. 
Today I am going to tell you the story, by reading which you will realize that how much a father can love his child. This is a true story about Babur, a Mughal emperor of India.

Once the eldest son of Babur whose name was Humayun fell seriously ill. Babur loved his son very much. He could not see his beloved son in this condition. All the doctors ( hakims) told the emperor that no medicine or treatment could save Humayun .

Babur was shattered. The heart broken emperor prayed to God, "Oh almighty God! Please take my life and give my life to my son". He prayed and prayed and prayed. By this prayer he transferred his son's illness to himself in order to save him. After this Humayun recovered from the illness and Babur fell sick. Two months passed and Babur died. The emperor sacrificed his life to save his son. Humayun never forgot the sacrifice made by his father for him. 
               
This story is included in the syllabus of almost every school in India. I hope you will like this tragic but lovely story which shows a father's true and unconditional love for his child.
                                                                                      -Aunt Mary

Now Cheer up kids! Enjoy these  lovely pictures of Father's Day....

          

''A very happy father's day''

SHE FOUND A FRIEND

Reema's father is in a transferable job. He just has been transferred to a new city. It's a completely new place for Reema, she is missing her friends, her house and her school very much. Reema's parents understand her situation. They are trying their best to keep her happy. They know that as a child it will take some time for Reema to adjust to a new place. It is the time for the summer vacations so most of the families of the building are out of station hence there  is no one to be friends with, that's why the little girl is feeling lonelier.   

Mother is making french fries and Reema's favorite orange drink for her, she loves this combination. She served it for Reema and said to her, "Please have it dear ,come on cheer up , everything will be alright , soon the children of the society will return and you will have a good company then, now finish it fast my good girl". Mommy went to do her work.
While Reema was sitting and having her snacks, she heard a voice,"Meow...meow...". Reema realized that some cat was there. She tried to find out where the voice was coming from. It was coming from outside the door, she told mommy about this. Mommy opened the door, oh there was really a cat in the passage. A cute, white and brown cat. She got a little scared to see new faces and sat in a corner. 
" Look mommy! How pretty she is!", Reema said in a happy tone. "She looks like a pet cat, maybe she is lost", mommy said. Mother phoned to the security. The security guard came and told them that it was a pet to the people who lived in this house before them. The cat's name is Snowy. "Oh poor kitty!", Reema felt pity for the cat. She called the cat by her name, "Snowy...Snowy!". The cat came near her. Reema picked the cat up in her arms. Mommy gave some milk to the cat and she drank it very fast, she was so hungry. Mommy saw the excitement and happiness of Reema after finding the cat. She said, "Isn't it a good idea to have Snowy as a pet cat in our home". "Really mommy? Can we do that?", an excited Reema asked. "Yes my child, we can do that. It will be good for Snowy as well as for you because you'll have a good company", said mommy. 
There was no limit to Reema's happiness. She found a new friend, and she will not be lonely anymore. Mommy is also very happy because her daughter is happy.

                                                                                              -Aunt Mary
                                        
                                                

THE BEST REWARD!

Once upon a time a small girl lived with her parents and little baby sister in a village.The village was near the woods.They lived in a small hut with their pet hens. The girl's father was a woodcutter. It was a really hard job to do. Many times the hands of woodcutter got injured or hurt during cutting the wood. The girl felt sad for her father because he worked so hard to earn their living. The little girl wanted that her father should get some easier work to do.

One day, one of their hens ran towards the woods so the girl ran behind the hen to catch her. When the girl was passing by near the plants she heard a very low and feeble voice coming from a plant which was full of flowers, "Please help me to get out of here!It will be very kind of you". The girl saw that a little butterfly fairy was sitting upon a flower. The girl couldn't believe her eyes, that she was seeing a butterfly fairy! First she got a little scared but after that she went near her and asked, " What is the matter little fairy?". Fairy replied, "My wing has got stuck in the thorn of this plant.Will you please help me?". Very carefully the girl let her wing out of the thorn. Little butterfly fairy thanked her. Meanwhile, mother fairy also came there to search for her daughter. Little butterfly fairy told everything to her mother. 
Mother fairy said, "Thank you so much kind girl, you saved my daughter's life. I am not the fairy who makes the wishes come true but I am giving you something that will help you a lot!"

" Here is the necklace of the 'Queen of State'. Sometime ago she came to visit the woods and lost her necklace here. The servants of king tried a lot to search for the necklace but couldn't find it. I am giving it to you , if you return this necklace to the queen she will be very happy with you". The girl took the necklace and went home with her hen.
She showed the necklace to her parents and told them what had happened in the woods. Next day, the girl with her family went to the king's court and returned the necklace to the queen. The queen became very happy to find her lost necklace. She was very pleased with the little girl and was very impressed by her honesty. She then said to the girl, "I will give you a big reward for your good deed". The girl very politely, said to the queen," Your highness , I request you to give my father a job because I do not want him to cut the woods any more. This will be my biggest reward!". Queen smiled and said "I appreciate you little girl, for the love and concern you have for your father ". The girl's father being a woodcutter had a great knowledge about plants and trees so the queen gave him the job of the caretaker of gardens of the royal palace. 

The girl was so happy for her father because now there would be no more injuries or hurts on the hands of her dear father! The little butterfly fairy sometimes, watched the girl and her family from the fairyland and felt very good to see them living a cheerful and happy life.
                                                                     - Aunt Mary
        

"A Dream Came True"

It was Saturday night Lisa came back home late with her parents from a birthday party,she was so tired,she went straight to her room and soon fell asleep and got lost in the world of dreams.

   

 She was in a strange but wonderful place,little beautiful fairies were swinging on the fruitful branches of trees .Cute faced dwarfs who wore funny colorful clothes and fur caps were singing,glow worms were shining,flowers were lovely and filled with dainty scents.All among the fairies the most beautiful fairy was mother fairy who dressed in white her wings were golden,she had a silver wand in her hands.There was a kind lovely smile on her face,her soft face was glowing.She said to Lisa in her melodious voice,"Oh little girl,welcome to the fairy land,do you have any wish?"Lisa said,"Yes mother fairy". Mother fairy said,"Tell me your wish my child, I will fulfill it".  

Lisa said,"I want a new pink dress with frills on it and white shiny shoes and a white matching hairband with stars on it". "O.k. Dear as you wish", Mother fairy said with a lovely smile.

"Lisa.....Lisa come on get up dear its already nine"
Lisa slowly opened her eyes and got up, "Oh my God I was dreaming",she was still feeling sleepy.Her mother was standing in front of her,there was a gift pack in her hands."Here is a surprise for you my child",mother said."What surprise?..Lisa asked."Come on open up the gift",mother said.She opened the gift pack and what did she see ?There was a lovely pink dress with frills on it,shiny white shoes and a beautiful white hair band.She hugged mummy and said,"OH ! MOMMY YOU ARE MY MOTHER FAIRY".
                                                                                       - Aunt Mary

     




                  

  

KIND LITTLE GIRL

                             

 Today Tina is very happy.It's her birthday.Her parents and friends gave her many gifts.Most of them are toys.
Tina's mother said to her,"Listen Tina,now you have a lot of new toys, so you should give your old toys to some other child to play with."
    "No mommy I will not give my toys to anyone, I love them.", said Tina.
    "Look!" said mommy,"There are so many poor children who have got not even a single toy to play with.God will be very pleased with you if you give some of your toys to a child who cannot afford them."
   "Really mommy, is that so?", asked Tina
   "Yes my dear it is.", said mommy.
   "O.k I will give them.", Tina agreed, she was a good girl.Tina's mother knew a poor girl named Misha .Tina went to Misha's house with her mother.She gave the toys to Misha.
 Misha is very happy, Tina is happy too.

       - Aunt Mary