Ships of Deserts

We call camels ‘ships of desert’. Camels can live in desert without food or water for many days. They have big humps on their back. They store food and water for many days. They have big humps on their back. They store water and food in their humps in the form of fat.
The camel has thick hair on its body. It does not feel the heat of sun. The camel can work very hard on a hot day. It can walk a long distance without a rest.
Camels can carry heavy loads on their back. Peoples cross deserts on camel’s back.
The camel can store about 25 gallons of water at a time. It can walk through the desert for more than 15 days without food or drink.
Here is a story about a camel. Read the story and find out what happen to the camel’s hump.
Once a camel fell ill, he lay in bed without eating or drinking for many days. All his friends went to see him. The poor camel became weak. After a month, he was well again. He became out of his home and rested in the sunshine.
The elephant loved the camel very much. He invited the camel for dinner. The camel went with him. The elephant invited his other friends too. All of them came-the giraffe, the lion, the tiger, the fox and all others. It was a big dinner.
All the animals sat down to dinner. Suddenly, the donkey asked, “Oh! Camel, Camel where is your hump?” The camel turned round and looked—there was no hump on his back!
The camel was upset. “Where’s my hump? Where’s my hump?” he cried. He was very unhappy. How can a camel live without a hump?
He said, “Somebody stole my hump when I was ill. I don’t know who. There are thieves among animals too!”
All other animals looked for the camel’s hump. They couldn’t find it. Somebody ran off to camel’s house t look for the hump. It wasn’t there.
The elephant said, “Come let’s have diner first. Then we will look for the hump together. The food will be cold. Come”. All the animals agreed. They were very hungry. The camel also sat down. He was hungrier than all other animals. He hadn’t eaten anything for a month.
They started eating. The elephant and his wife served them a lot of food. The guests ate more and more, and the host and the hostess served more and more. The camel ate and drank a lot.
His belly was full and he fall asleep in a corner. After a long time, the elephant woke him up. All the animals were ready to leave. Suddenly, the donkey pointed to the camel’s back and brayed, “Look, there’s your hump.” Everybody turned to the camel. Yes, it was there right on his back! Everybody smiled. The camel also smiled. He said, “The thief put it back when I was asleep. An honest thief, indeed!”

KANGAROOS

There are many stories about the names of birds and animals. Here is one such story.
Captain James Cook was a British sailor. He lived in the eighteenth century. He and his men once reached Australia. Australia is an island. There, Captain Cook saw a group of strange animals. He pointer to one of them and asked an islander, “What’s its name?” Captain Cook asked the man in English. But the islander did not know English. He did not understand the Englishman’s question. He replied in his language, ‘Kangaroo’. In his language ‘Kangaroo’ meant: ‘I don’t know’. The Englishman took it for the name of the animal, and he and his friends called the animal: ‘kangaroo’.
Please remember this is just a story.
Kangaroos are strange animals. They are different from other animals. We see them mainly in Australia. They live in hills and valleys. There are different kinds of kangaroos of different sizes. Some of them are small as rabbits. Some of them are very big—about to meters and a half tall, and they weigh about 90 kilograms.
The mother kangaroo carries her baby in a pouch-a skin-bag in the lower part of her belly. The baby kangaroo is only about 2.5c.m.long. It lives in the pouch for about eight or nine months. Then it gets out. Sometimes the baby comes back to its mother’s pouch for a nice sleep.
The hind legs of kangaroos are very long and strong. They help the kangaroo to hop very far and moves fast. Usually, a kangaroo hopes about three meters. But in a hurry or in danger, it can hop about six meters! Its tail is strong, too. The tail also helps the kangaroo in its long jump.
Their main foods are vegetables. They usually live and move in groups. Generally, kangaroos live for about fifteen years.

Can You Jump?

I can jump, I can hop,
I can go round on my toes.
I can clap, I can snap,
I can fall on my own.
I can peep, I can sleep,
I can weep on and on.

A Haircut And A Bath

Once there lived a man called Shambhu. He was a hair-dresser. He was always angry with people. Nobody liked him. Nobody went to his shop for a hair-cut or a shave. He opened his shop in the morning and sat in front of it. He had a comb and a pair of scissors in his hands. He waited for someone to come. But nobody went to him.
One day, there came a cat. It looked here and there and walked straight to Shambhu's shop. Shambhu was happy. He sat on the chair, wrapped its body with a towel and started cutting its hair. After the hair-cut he wanted to give the cat a bath. He took the cat to a pond in the field.
A farmer came that way. He saw the hair-dresser and the cat in the pond. He told shambhu, "Don't dip the cat in the water. It'll die."
"Who are you to tell me?" shouted Shambhu. The farmer went on his way.
After some time the farmer came back to the pond. Shambu was sitting on the bank of the pond. He was crying.
"Why are you cring?" asked the farmer.
"The cat is dead," said the hair-dresser.
"I told you not to give the cat a bath. You didn't listen to me," said the farmer sadly.
"No,it's not the bath that killed the cat. After the bath I wrung the cat to dry it," said the hair-dresser. He was still weeping.

ICE-CREAM

I scream ice cream,
You scream ice cream,
We scream ice cream,
They scream ice cream,
Scream aloud : ICE CREAM!

Ramu – the Weaver

Once upon a time, in a small city lived a weaver called Ramu. He spent hours designing garments-garments fit for a prince’s wardrobe. Despite all the hard work he put in, he was not able to earn enough money. He saw other weavers around him who weaved course cloth and yet earned a lot of money.
One day he told his wife, “I don’t seem to be earning enough in this city. I am going to somewhere else to earn a living.”
His wife tried to dissuade him but he would not listen to her, and went to another city. Ramu stayed there for three years and earned three hundred gold coins. After three years he decided to return home.
On his way back, he had to cross a forest. Now the sun was about to set, and the weaver decided to rest in the forest during the night. He selected a stout banyan tree, hid his bag of gold coins in a hole in the tree and slept under it. At midnight, he woke up when he heard some noises. He saw two human figures whose eyes were bloodshot. He heard them abusing each other.
One of them was saying, “Come on Ram! You tried every possible ways to prevent Ramu from earning good amount of money, and you have given him three hundred gold coins.”
“Now, Laxman!” said the other, “I was forced to give Ramu a reward for his hard work. If you want to take away the reward, you can.”
As soon as Ramu heard this, he began looking for his bag of gold.
To his surprise, he found the bag empty. ‘Oh God! I worked so hard to earn money and now I have lost it. What will I tell my wife and friends?’ he thought. He decided to go back to the city again and earn the money.
There he earned five hundred gold coins in just a single year. Once again he started for home, but this time by a different road. When the sun was about to set, he came across the banyan tree. He slept under it. At midnight he woke up and again saw the same two figures.
One of them said, “Ram, why did you give this fellow Ramu five hundred gold coins?
Don’t you know that he’s not supposed to get a thing beyond food and clothes?”
“Dear friend, Laxman,” said the other, “I am to give to the enterprising. If you want to take away the reward, you can.”
When Ramu heard this, he looked for his bag and found it empty. He was very sad. ‘What good is life to me if I keep losing my money? I will just hang myself from this banyan tree and die,’ he thought. As he was about to hang himself, a voice spoke to him, “Do not be so rash. I am the person who takes your money and gives you enough for food and clothes. Now go home. Whenever you need anything just ask me.”
“In that case,” said Ramu, “give me plenty of money.”
“But my friend,” said the voice, “what will you do with excess money? All you need money for is to buy food and clothes.”
“Even if I have no use for it, I still want the money because anybody who is rich becomes famous. So give me plenty of money,” said Ramu.
“I will give you plenty of money, but first you must go back to the city. In the city live two brothers, Gopal and Bhola. Their father is a merchant. When you have observed their conduct, ask yourself whether you need the money or not,” said the voice.
So Ramu returned to the city. He searched for Gopal’s house. After some troubles he finally found the house. Ramu was not at all welcomed there. Gopal’s wife and children very grudgingly allowed him to stay. At night he was given dinner, but nobody spoke to him.
The next day he was given no food, because Gopal was suffering from cholera and no food was cooked in their house.
Ramu left Gopal’s house and went to Bhola’s house. Here he was greeted with much honour. A feast was lead before him and he was given new garments. When he saw Bhola’s hospitality, he thought, ‘Gopal has much money, yet he did not treat me well, whereas Bhola has hardly any money, yet he treats me well with whatever little he has.’
So he happily returned to his own house and prayed to God to make him a good person, one who would put his money to proper use.

The Tortoise and the Geese

Once there was a tortoise in a large tank. He had two geese as friends.
These geese used to come to the tank and the three of them spent much of their together. They lived thus happily for a number of years.
Then there was a drought in the country; for a long time there was no rain. Rivers and tanks began to dry up.
There was famine in the land. There was no food. People and animals were dying. Birds were flying away to places of safety.
The two geese saw the danger from the drought, and they decided to go away to some other place.
They went to the tortoise to take leave of him.
“Why do you bid me farewell?” said the tortoise. “Am I not your friend? Don't you want me to live too? Why do you leave me here to die?”
“How can we help you?” asked the geese. “We can get to any place on earth by flying. But you can't fly.”
“It is true that I cannot fly like you,” said the tortoise, “but you can help me. Take me with you.”
“How can we do that?” said the geese.
“That is easy,” said the tortoise. “Bring me a stick. I shall hold the two ends of the stick with my teeth. You can hold the two ends of the stick in your beaks and fly up, taking me with you. Then we can all fly to some place where we shall be safe from this drought.”
The geese thought the matter over and said: “We hope we can do that, but there is one danger. If by any chance, you began to speak while we are up in the air, you will lose your hold on the stick and be crushed to death.”
“But I will do no such foolish things,” said the tortoise. “I will not utter a word as long as we are in the air.”
So, the geese brought a strong stick and held it in their beaks, one at each end. The tortoise held the middle of the stick firmly in his mouth.
The geese flew up, carrying the tortoise with them. They flew higher and higher. They flew over many fields and hills, and then they flew over a city.
The people of the city noticed the strange sight in the sky. They had never seen anything like it before. They clapped their hands and shouted: “Look! What a wonderful thing! Two birds carrying a tortoise on a stick through the sky. See how they are flying.”
The tortoise didn’t like the people shouting.
“Why re those fools shouting like that?” he said.
But even as he uttered these words, he lost the hold of the stick and down he went. He hit the ground and he was killed.