a folk story from South Africa - The lost message

THE LOST MESSAGE

(a folk story from South Africa)

The ant has had from time immemorial many enemies, and because he is small and destructive, there have been a great many slaughters among them. Not only were most of the birds their enemies, but Anteater lived almost wholly from them, and Centipede beset them every time and at all places when he had the chance.

So now there were a few among them who thought it would be well to hold

council together and see if they could not come to some arrangement

whereby they could retreat to some place of safety when attacked by robber

birds and animals.

But at the gathering their opinions were most discordant, and they could

come to no decision.

There was Red-ant, Rice-ant, Black-ant, Wagtail-ant, Gray-ant, Shining-

ant, and many other varieties. The discussion was a true babel of diversity,

which continued for a long time and came to nothing.

A part desired that they should all go into a small hole in the ground, and

live there; another part wanted to have a large and strong dwelling built on

the ground, where nobody could enter but an ant; still another wanted to

dwell in trees, so as to get rid of Anteater, forgetting entirely that there they

would be the prey of birds; another part seemed inclined to have wings and

fly.

And, as has already been said, this deliberation amounted to nothing, and

each party resolved to go to work in its own way, and on its own

responsibility.

Greater unity than that which existed in each separate faction could be seen

nowhere in the world; each had his appointed task, each did his work

regularly and well. And all worked together in the same way. From amon

them they chose a king-that is to say some of the groups did-and they

divided the labour so that all went as smoothly as it possibly could.

But each group did it in its own way, and not one of them thought of

protecting themselves against the onslaught of birds or Anteater.

The Red-ants built their house on the ground and lived under it, but

Anteater levelled to the ground in a minute what had cost them many days

of precious labour. The Rice-ants lived under the ground, and with them it

went no better. For whenever they came out, Anteater visited them and

took them out sack and pack. The Wagtail-ants fled to the trees, but there

on many occasions sat Centipede waiting for them, or the birds gobbled

them up. The Gray-ants had intended to save themselves from

extermination by taking to flight, but this also availed them nothing,

because the Lizard, the Hunting-spider, and the birds went a great deal

faster than they.

When the Insect-king heard that they could come to no agreement he sent

them the secret of unity, and the message of Work-together. But

unfortunately he chose for his messenger the Beetle, and he has never yet

arrived at the Ants, so that they are still to-day the embodiment of discord

and consequently the prey of enemies.

Source: South African Folk Tales,

Juan and Ice Cream Story

Funny Story - Juan and the ice cream story
(Favourite stories from Philippines)

One day, Juan went to the city to look for work. While he was standing at the corner of a road, he saw a man selling ice cream. He bought some. When he tasted it, he jumped with surprise. The ice cream almost fell to the ground.

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“Why didn’t you tell me it’s so cold!” he asked the man. “Are you trying to cheat me? How can you expect me to eat it?”

The man explained that ice cream was made of ice, milk and sugar. Juan laughed. “It’s the first time I have come to a big city,” he said. The man then offered him another ice cream as a present.

“I can’t eat it,” Juan said. “My tongue is frozen.”

“Then take it home to give to your mother as a present,” the man replied.

Juan placed the ice cream inside his bag made of bamboo leaves, in which he had placed some clothes for his stay in the city.

Later in the afternoon, as he was not able to find any work, he returned home. He told his mother what had happened. He was very excited. He told his mother what had happened. He was very excited. He told her of the strange and new sights he had seen in the city.

“I have a big surprise for you,” he said. He then opened his bag but the ice cream had melted.

“Thief! Thief!” he cried at the top his voice “somebody has stolen my present for my mother! Thief! Thief!”

The neighbours came running to ask him what had happened. When he told them, they shook their heads.

“How can you put an ice cream in your bag, keep it there all the afternoon, and expect it still to be there when you come home?” they laughed.

Source: Favourite stories from the Philippines by Leon Comber

shared by www.englishstory12.blogspot.com

The giant princess’s fan story

Folktale - The giant princess’s fan story
(Favourite story from Singapore)

In days long gone by, the world divided into two parts, and each part was rulled by a powerful giant king. The Eastern lands were hot and wet, while the Western lands were cold and dark. Sometimes there were wars between the giants of two the lands, but story takes place when there was peace.

The youngest  son of the king of the Western Lands wanted to travel, and so left father’s palace. For many days, the prince travelled east, hiding whenever he saw soldiers. Many weeks later, he came to a small lake in the Eastern lands.

Because it was hot, the prince went for a swim in the lake. Suddenly, he saw a beautiful girl on the opposite side of the lake. He swam to her side, and they began to talk.

“I am a traveller from the Western Lands,” said the prince.

The girl’s eye grew wide. “Then you must leave,” she said. “My father, the king, will kill you if he finds you here.”

The prince was about to swim away when the giant princess called him back. “Don’t go yet. My ladies and I will hide you for a time, and we can swim together each day.”

After his long journey, the prince was glad to have chance to rest. The princess’s ladies hid him in a small house in the forest near the lake. Each day they brought him food, and each day he swam with the princess in the lake, before long, the prince and the princess fell in love.

“I want to marry you,” said the prince.

“But my father would never agree to it,” said the princess. “He would never let me marry a prince of the western Lands.”

“I’ll go and ask him anyway.” Said the prince, and he walked to the palace of the king of the Eastern lands.

When the king heard the prince say he wanted to marry the princess, he immediately threw the young man into prison. A few days later, the princes escaped, and he went to the lake. There he saw the princess. “Come with me to the west,” he said. “we can be married in my father’s palace, and my family will welcome you as my wife,”

“Are you sure it will be all right?” asked the princess. “Yes, but we must hurry.”

The princess wrapped her jewels and a beautiful fan in a length of silk. Then she took the prince’s hand, and together they ran towards the west, away from her father’s guards. In her hurry, the giant princess dropped her bundle. In the darkness, she was able to find her shiny jewelry, but not her fan. “I’ve lost my fan, my beautiful fan,” she cried.

The princess could hear the guards coming closer. “Come, my dear,” he said “we cannot waste any more time. I’ll buy you another they fled to the Western Lands where they were married. The beautiful fan that the giant princess dropped, fell to earth in what is now Malaysia. Some time later it flated down a river to the sea where it caught on some rocks and turned into an island. This island is now called Singapore.

Posted by www.englishstory12.blogspot.com

Source: Favourite stories  from Singapore by Irene-Anne Monteiro and Jenny Watson

Fable - The king’s Kinka story

Fables -The king’s Kinka story
(Favourite stories fromThailand)

The kinka is a small lizard with a red ring around its neck. This story is about a kinka that lived in the king’s garden.

One day the king took a walk through his garden. He looked at the birds and the flowers. He looked at the trees. Suddenly he noticed a kinkas do when they are frightened.

“Look at this,” said the king. “this lizard is very clever. He knows how to behave before the king. He is certainly the most polite animal I have ever seen.”

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The king called his gardener. “I want you to feed this kinka. Give him some meat each day. Here is a bag of gold coins to pay for the meat.”

And so, each day the gardener used two gold coins to buy meat for the kinka. The kinka grew fat and lazy. He no longer ran through  the garden.

One day the gardener was too busy to buy meat. Instead, he hung the two gold coins around the kinka’s neck. The kinka climbed to the top of the garden gate. Soon the king came along on his daily walk. He saw the kinka. This time the kinka did not nod its head because the coins around its neck were so heavy. It simply looked down on the king.

“What a proud kinka you are,” said the king. “You are too proud to be polite.”

After that the king refused to buy any special meat for the kinka. Like other animals, the kinka once again had to find its own food.

Sumber : Favourite stories from Thailand – Jenny Watson

Diposting oleh : www.englishstory12.blogspot.com