The Tailor and the Pea
Story
One day a cook put some peas in a pot and set them on the stove to boil. Two
of the little peas were talking, and said to each other "Let us jump out; it is
getting too hot in this pot." And out they hopped, one falling into the fire,
where it burnt up, and the other rolling away on the kitchen floor. Now it
happened that a little piece of coal also became dissatisfied and jumped out
of the fire, where it had been too hot. The coal said to the pea on the floor,
"Let us go together to the stream and take a bath." "I am willing," said the
pea, and they started on their journey. When they reached the stream, the
coal saw a shaving floating on the water, so he rolled on it to cool off, when
lo! the shaving caught fire from the hot coal and soon burnt up. The little pea
had remained on the shore, and when he saw what happened he began to
laugh; he laughed and laughed, until he burst his sides. There lay the little
pea, split into two parts! A tailor, who was taking a walk on the banks of the
stream, saw the little pea, and noticing that it was split in halves, asked him
what was the matter. "I have burst my sides laughing," said the pea; "and I
hope you will be kind enough to sew me up." "That was very naughty," said
the tailor, "but if you will promise never to laugh at any one again, I'll sew
you up." Hereupon he took his needle (but found he had only a thread of
black silk), threaded it, and tied a knot in the end, and sewed up the little pea.
The little pea was very happy, thanked the tailor for sewing him up, and
promised never to laugh at any one. Now, children, if you will examine the
little peas, perhaps you can see the black knot the tailor made.
Angel! Look out!
Angel and his grandpa live on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Grandpa is tired. ‘I’m
going to sleep now, Angel. Be good, and don’t go past the coral! There are lots of
dangerous animals out there.’
‘Hi, Angel. What are you doing?’ ‘I’m bored. Grandpa is asleep.’ ‘Do you want to come
and play?’ ‘Yes, let’s go!’ ‘Look, Turtle! A ball!’ ‘Look out! That isn’t a ball! It’s a
dangerous octopus! Swim!’
‘Angel! Look out! There’s a dangerous fish behind you! Angel, you must be careful
here. You’ve got to stay with me!’
‘I’m sorry, Turtle. Look! I’ve got a present for you.’
‘Aargh! This is a dangerous cone shell! Drop it quickly, Angel!’
‘I’m tired, Turtle. Can we rest here?’ ‘Don’t sit here, Angel! There’s a dangerous sea
snake! Quick! Swim!’
‘Where are we?’ ‘I don’t know. I think we’re lost. Look out, Angel! That’s a box
jellyfish! Swim!’
‘Look out, Turtle! A dangerous animal is behind you!’ ‘That’s not a dangerous animal.
It’s Doug. He’s my friend.’ ‘Hello, Doug. We’re lost. Can you help us?’ ‘Yes, I can help
you. I’ll take you home.’
Hello, Angel.’ ‘Hello, Grandpa.’ ‘Oh, you’ve been a very good fish, Angel. Here’s a
present for you.’ ‘Thanks, Grandpa!’
George and the dragon
Once upon a time there was a brave knight called George. George had lots of
adventures as he travelled by horse across many lands.
One day he came to a small village and met a man who lived in a cave next to the
village.
The hermit told the knight about the awful things that were happening there. A
terrible dragon had come to live in the lake and attacked the village every day.
The villagers didn’t know what to do. First, they gave the dragon all their food, but the
dragon just took the food and still attacked the village.
So then the villagers gave the dragon all the animals from their farms. The dragon
took all the animals, but continued to attack the villagers.
The king sent his army to try and capture the dragon, but the dragon was too strong
and the knights of the army were too scared and they ran away.
With nothing left to give, the king could only think of one thing to help protect his
people. He sent his only daughter, the princess, to the lake to wait for the dragon.
When George heard this he rode as fast as he could to the lake. Just then the dragon
jumped out from the lake and was going to eat the princess.
George attacked the dragon. He fought very bravely, won the fight and killed the
dragon. George and the princess returned to the village and everyone was very
pleased that they would have no more problems with the dragon.
Today, the story of George’s bravery is remembered and George is known as the
patron saint of many countries.
The magic paintbrush
Rose loved drawing. She was very poor and didn’t have pens or pencils. She drew
pictures in the sand with sticks. One day, an old woman saw Rose and said, ‘Hello!
Here’s a paintbrush and some paper for you.’
‘Thank you!’ smiled Rose. She was so happy. ‘Hmmm, what can I paint?’ she thought.
She looked around and saw a duck on the pond. ‘I know! I’ll paint a duck!’
So she did. Suddenly, the duck flew off the paper and onto the pond. ‘Wow!’ she said.
‘A magic paintbrush!’
Rose was a very kind girl and she painted pictures for everyone in her village. She
painted a cow for the farmer, pencils for the teacher and toys for all the children.
The king heard about the magic paintbrush and sent a soldier to find Rose. ‘Come with
me,’ said the soldier. ‘The king wants you to paint some money for him.’
‘But he’s already rich,’ said Rose. ‘I only paint to help poor people.’
But the nasty soldier took Rose to the king. ‘Paint me a tree with lots of money on it,’
he shouted.
Rose was brave and said, ‘No!’ So the king sent her to prison. But Rose painted a key
for the door and a horse to help her escape. The king chased after her. So she painted
a big hole, and splat! The king fell in.
Today, Rose only uses her magic paintbrush to help people who really, really need
help.
The lucky seed
A long time ago, a farmer took a big bag of seeds to sell at the market.
Suddenly, his cart’s wheel hit a big stone. Bump! One of the seeds fell out of the bag
and onto the hot, dry ground.
‘I’m scared!’ said the seed. ‘I need to be safe under the soil.’ Just then, a buffalo
walked on the seed and pushed it into the ground.
‘I’m thirsty!’ said the seed. ‘I need some water to help me grow.’ Just then, it started
to rain.
The next morning the seed had a little green shoot. All day it sat in the sun and grew
taller and taller.
The next day it had its first leaf. This helped it to catch sunlight and grow.
That evening a hungry bird tried to eat it, but the seed had roots to help it stay in the
ground.
Many years of sunshine and rain passed. The seed became a plant and then the plant
became a tree.
Today if you visit the countryside you can see the tree. It is big and strong and now
makes seeds of its own.