THE RICH LANDOWNER

Once there was a fat old man whose uncle had died and left him much land and money. The old man and his wife had no children, although each day they prayed for a son, and the old man build a school for the children of the village.

One day, when the old man was out walking, he happened to pass the school. The teacher had been scolding the children. “You are like mice and donkeys,” he said to himself. “Maybe he can make a son for me out of mice and donkeys.” The old man hurried to farmer whose field he owned. “Sell me your donkey,” he said. “And have you boy help me catch some mice.”

The farmer thought the old man was crazy, but he did as he was told, and soon the old man was back at the school with a donkey and a bag of mice. “Here,” he said to the teacher, “I've brought you all you need.”

“All I need?” said the teacher puzzled. He didn't know what the old man was talking about.

“This morning you told the children you could make men out of donkeys and mice. Now, I want you to make me a son. Here are some mice, and here is a donkey.”

The teacher didn't know what to do, but he knew the old man was rich, and so he said. “All right, but you must leave the animals with me for three weeks.”

After three weeks had passed, the old man went again to the school. The teacherhad hidden the donkey and give the mice to the children, but he didn't want to make the old man unhappy. “Ali, sir,” he said. “I have bad news. The mice died.”

“Never mind about the mice, then.” said the old man. “But what about the donkey?”

“The donkey. sir. I mean son, sir,is doing very well indeed. He has gone to the city to help the governor. You'll be happy to hear that your son is the governor's assistant.”

When the old man heardthis, he gave the teacher some money and rushed home to tell his wife the good news. “Tomorrow,” he said. “I will go to the city to see our son and give him good wishes.”

The next day, the old man put on his best clothes and trav­eled to the city. he went straight to the governor's house, and the guards let him in because he looked so rich and important. He talked loudly about his son.

“Who is that man, and why is he making so much noise?” asked the governor.

“I don't know, sir,”said his young assistant, “but he seems to know everyone.”

“Well. I don't know him.” said the governor. Tell the guards to show him out.”

When the guards asked him to leave, the old man began to shout. “Doesn't the governor know who I am? Son, tell him.” he cried, waving at the governor's assistant. Tell him who I am.”

The young assistant said he'd never seen the old man be­fore, and the guards then had to carry the old man out.

The next day, the rich old man returned to the governor's house. This time, he carried a donkey's feed-bag. I’ll make him remember who he once was,” he said and held the bag before the eyes of the governor’s assistant.

“Who is that strange old man?” said the assistant. “And why does he pint at me when he waves that feed –bag”

“He says he's your father, sir,” said the guard.

“But I have no parents. You know that.” the young man re­plied. “Show him out, but be gentle with him.”

“The governor's assistant was once a donkey in my field,” the rich landowner told the guard.

Now the guard knew that old man was crazy, but he wanted to be gentle, so he said, "That may well be true, sir, but if you come back here. I shall have to lock you up.”

And so the rich old man went home. He was very unhappy and he wept as he told his wife that their son did not know him. A few days later, the old man went out for a walk. As he walked past one of the fields, he suddenly saw the donkey. “So! You've came back.” the old man shouted. 'I'll teach you to re­spect your father.” He picked up a stick and began to chase to donkey.

The old man chased the donkey across the field, but he was too slow to catch it. The donkey leaped over the fence and disappeared.

Scarface the pirate

Many year ago there was a pirate who lived in the Rhio Is land. He had one hundred men, and one day they had a terrible fight, one of the pirates cut the leader's face with a knife. After that, the pirate leader was called “scarface.”

Scarface took some of his inert and went to look for an­other place to live. Before long they came to the village of Pasir Panjang on the western coastof Singapore. Now, the people who lived in Pasir Panjang were fishermen. Theylived quietly. and when they saw the pirates, they were very frightened.

“Help us, and we won't hurt you,” said Scarface to the people. “If you don't Help us, we'll burn your village.”

The people were poor, and they would be even poorer if the pirates burned the village. They agreed to let the pirates stay, but soon they learned that Scarface arid his men were very cruel. One afternoon, a man was carryinga chicken home to his family when a pirate stopped him. “Give me that chicken,” said the pirate.

'But my wife is ill, and I need it to make her some soup,'” said the man.

At this, the pirate drew his sword and cut off the poor man's head. Then he picked up the chicken and walked away laughing.

The next day, the villagers talked to their headman. “These pirates must leave our village,” they said. “And you are the headman, so you must tell them to leave.”

Like everyone else in Pasir Panjang, the headman was afraid of the pirates, but he went to see Scarface. “You have made my people angry, and we want you to leave,” he said.

Scarface laughed. “You are a stupid old man,” he said, and kicked the headman down the stairs.

That night the old headman died. The next morning, after the pirates had left. the village to rob some Chinese junks, the villagers talked among themselves. “Our headman is dead, and we have no one to help us now,” they said. “We must tell the sultan.”

“I'll go to tell the sultan.” said the headman's son.

“Brave boy!” said the villagers.

And so, the headman's son ran to see the sultan in his pal­ace. When the boy finished telling the sultan about the pirates. the sultan said, “You are a brave boy, and I will certainly help the people in Pasir Panjang. Go back to the village arid tell the people that will send the soldier tonight. Tell themto stay in their houses when the soldiers come.”

“Oh, thank you, Your Majesty,” said the boy, and he ran all the way back to his village. When hecame to the village, he told the villagers what the sultan had said.

That afternoon, the pirates returned. They had stolen many jewels, clothes and baskets of fine food. They asked the villagers to cook the food for them. The villagers did as they were told and then went quietly to their homes. Scarface and his men ate too much and drank too much palm wine. Soon all the pirates were asleep.

When the pirates were asleep, the sultan's soldiers came into the village. They tied all the pirates with strong rope and took them to the sultan's palace. The next day all the pirates were hanged, and the sultan said he would hang any other pirate who came ashore.

Once again Pasir Panjang became a peaceful place, butpeople never forgot Scarface the pirate.

The Fly and the Ant

A fly and an ant got into an argument over a silly question as to who had right of way. The fly, which has always been one of the rudest insects, said all sorts of horrible things to the unas­suming ant.

“You are such a tiny, insignificant creature,” it said. “How dare you compare yourself to me, a daughter of the air? I go to the palaces of thegreatest lords, and eat out of the plates of bishops. If I choose to, I can even walk about on the crown on the king's head!”

The ant waited patiently for the fly to finish, and then he answered carefully: “Yes, I know that you can land on heads, but you are not even capable of distinguishing between the head of a king and the head of an ass. Furthermore, it is not as if you are welcomed In palaces.... But why am I wasting my time with you when l should be off gathering supplies for the winter? Although ants may be tiny, we are wise, and the cold doesn't kill us. You flies can fly up high.... but when the first cold comes, you fall to the ground, along with the dry leaves, and what good to you are your wings then!”