Story Zone: May 2010

Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Little Basket Maker

Jimmy had very poor parents, but he was always eager to study and had learned basket-making...

Little Eddy was the son of well-to-do people and relying on their riches he did nothing and did not even want to study. Little Jimmy, on the other hand, had very poor parents, but he was always eager to study and had learned basket-making.

One day Eddy was at the sea shore and was trying his hand at fishing. Jimmy, meanwhile, had cut a bunch of small willow branches and was about to return home when some pirates suddenly appeared from the woods and dragged the two boys to their ship. Later on they would be sold as slaves.

The ship tossed about by a violent storm and knocked against the rocks, was soon floundering and only the two boys managed to save themselves. They found themselves on a strange island which was inhabited by savage and cruel moors.

Jimmy thought that with his trade he could move them to pity. He pulled a knife out of his pocket, cut off some small willow branches and began to work on a beautiful basket. Many of the moors (men, women and children) came around and looked at him curiously.

When he had finished the work, he offered it as a gift to the most respectful moor. But all the others desired to possess a basket such as the one that Jimmy had given to their companion. They prepared a hut for him, which was under the shadow of numerous fruit trees, so that he could work in peace and when he was hungry he always had enough to eat. But they also promised him that there would always be the best food for him.

Then they wanted Eddy also to make baskets and when they found that he knew nothing about such work, they beat him cruelly and would have probably killed him if Jimmy had not put in a good word for him. The chief however ordered Eddy to give Jimmy his elegant coat to wear an old rough one and to be a servant to Jimmy and to give him the necessary branches whenever he needed them.

Everyday learn something new.

The Journey To A Better Home

They were accompanied to the shade of tall palm tress and in the midst of a flowery field...

A father and mother with their two children lived on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. They fed themselves with roots and herbs, drank from a spring and lived in a cavern hewn from the rock. Often hurricanes and tempests arose over the island.

The children could not remember how they had reached the island; they did not know anything of the vast continent that was far away from their island home. Bread, milk, fruits, and all other good things were unknown to them.

One day a small boat landed near the island and four negroes came ashore. The parents went overcome with joy and hoped that they would finally be freed from their sufferings, but the boat was too small to take all of them at the same time to the mainland, and the father decided to attempt the voyage first.

The mother and children wept continuously when he went into the frail, wooden boat with the four negroes. But he said: "Do not cry! On the mainland it is possible to live better and very soon you will follow me." When the small boat came back to take the mother, the two children cried even more bitterly, but she also told them: "Do not cry, because we will see each other again in a better home."

At last the boat came to take the two children also. They were very afraid of the negroes and were struck with fear at the sight of the rough sea they were about to cross. This fear accompanied them all during the journey until they approached the mainland.

They were filled with joy when they found their parents waiting for them with arms outstretched. They were accompanied to the shade of tall palm tress and in the midst of a flowery field they were given milk, honey, and delicious fruit.

"Oh! How foolish was our fear!" exclaimed the two brothers. "When the Negroes came to take us to this place we should not have been afraid but very pleased."

"My dear children," said their father, "our crossing from the island to this wonderful place has for us a deeper meaning. We are all bound for a longer journey to a place much more beautiful than this. The earth on which we live is like an island and this wonderful place is but a very feeble image of the kingdom of Heaven; the rough sea-crossing to reach that kingdom to death. The boat reminds us of the coffin in which we will be taken one day by men dressed in black. When the hour will arrive that I, your mother, or yourselves will have to leave this world, do not be afraid. For those who have loved and obeyed God's commandments, death is but the gate to a better home."

This world is all a fleeting show,

For man's illusion given;

The smiles of joy, the tears of woe,

Deceitful shine, deceitful flow,

There's nothing true but Heaven.

Monday, May 24, 2010

The Little Black Lamb

One day the three white lambs, who were very bold, decided to explore the hills in back of the barn...

Three white lambs and one lived together on a farm. They stayed close to their mothers at first, but as they grew bigger, they went farther away – under the hedges and over the fields.

One day the three white lambs, who were very bold, decided to explore the hills in back of the barn. The black lamb warned them that they were too young to go so far.

Well,” said one white lamb, “if you’re afraid, you don’t have to come with us.”

”I’m not afraid,” said the black lamb. “And I will go with you, since you don’t have the sense to take care of yourselves.”

It was still very early in the spring. Soon a cold wind came up, and it began to snow so hard that the lambs could not tell which way led back to the farm.

Soon they felt cold in spite of their warm coats, so they huddled together under some bushes, which has turned white. When the lambs tried to walk on the snowy ground their feet slipped – so the black lamb showed them how to snuggle together under the bushes to keep warm.

Meanwhile, the farmer was bringing in all the sheep and lambs, in case the snow became really deep. Soon they were all safe – except the three white ones and one black lamb. The farmer went off, through the fields, looking for the four lambs. But it is not easy to see white lambs in a snowy field. He looked and looked, hoping to see them through the falling snow.

Then, suddenly, he stopped, and there in the snow he saw a patch of black. Could that be the black lamb? He ran to it, and there were the three white lambs, as white as the snow, and the one black lamb, in the dry patch under the bush. “Well,” he said to the white lambs, “if you had not had little black lamb with you, I should never have found you. You are very lucky to have such a good and sensible friend.”