Tuesday, March 31, 2009

THE DEVOTED MOTHER

A mother duck and her little ducklings were on their way
to the lake one day. The ducklings were very happy
following their mother and quack-quacking along the way.
All of a sudden the mother duck saw a fox in the distance.
She was frightened and shouted, “Children, hurry to the
lake. There’s a fox!”
The ducklings hurried towards the lake. The mother duck
wondered what to do. She began to walk back and forth dragging one wing on the ground.
When the fox saw her he became happy. He said to himself, “It seems that
she’s hurt and can’t fly! I can easily catch and eat her!” Then he ran
towards her.
The mother duck ran, leading the fox away from the lake. The fox followed
her. Now he wouldn’t be able to harm her ducklings. The mother duck
looked towards her ducklings and saw that they had reached the lake. She was relieved, so she
stopped and took a deep breath.
The fox thought she was tired and he came closer, but the mother duck quickly spread her wings
and rose up in the air. She landed in the middle of the lake and her ducklings swam to her.
The fox stared in disbelief at the mother duck and her ducklings. He could not reach them because
they were in the middle of the lake.
Dear children, some birds drag one of their wings on the ground when an enemy is
going to attack. In this way they fool their enemies into thinking they are hurt. When
the enemy follows them this gives their children time to escape.

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THE ANGEL


Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. One day the child asked God, “They tell me
you are going to send me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and
helpless?” God replied, “Among the many angels I have chosen one for you. She will be waiting for
you and will take care of you.”

Said child, “But tell me here in Heaven I don’t do anything else but sing and smile. That’s what I
need to be happy!” God replied, “Your angel will sing for you every day. And you will feel your
angel’s love and be happy.”
And, said the child, “How am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, if I don’t
know the language that men talk?” “That’s easy”, God said, “Your angel will tell you the most
beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will
teach you how to speak.” The child looked up at God saying, “And what am I going to do when I
want to talk to you?” God smiled at the child saying, “Your angel will teach you how to pray.”
The child said, “I’ve heard on earth there are bad men. Who will protect me?” God replied, “Your
angel will defend you, even if it means risking life!” The child looked sad, saying, “But I will always
be sad because I will not see you anymore.” God replied, “Your angel will always talk to you about
me and will teach you the way to come back to
me, even though I will always be next to you.”
At that moment there was much peace in Heaven,
but voices from earth could already be heard.
The child in a hurry, asked softly, “Oh God, if
I am about to leave now please tell me my angel’s
name!” God replied, Your angel’s name is of no
importance… you will simply call her
MOTHER!

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Friday, March 27, 2009

The Story of a Boy and a Tree



As Salaamu‘alaykum and peace to all,

“A son’s sacrifice towards his parents is not complete until a situation arises whereby he buys and frees his parents from becoming slaves.” As we already know, we cannot deny the greatness of our beloved parent’s sacrifice, how they have spent most of the time lives to secure our future; their children’s future. From the time we were infants until we become useful people, they care for us. This is a story that relates to their sacrifice; a story about a boy and a tree in a countryside.

Once upon a time, when a boy was a small child, he used to play with a particular tree everyday as a hobby. Tree was very happy and wished that it could stop time from going on so that it could stay with the boy forever. But time goes on by and the boy gradually grows older day by day, year by year. Eventually, he doesn’t play with the tree anymore. So, the tree becomes very sad and lonely.

One gloomy morning, as the tree was standing alone, remembering the happy days they had together, it got a shock joy as the boy come back. He had come to ask for money and the tree didn’t hesitates even the least to give and sacrifice all it had with its capability, shedding all its leaves to give to the boy, leaving it bare and cold. The boy went away happily but didn’t return for along time.

A few years passed by and the boy has grown into a handsome man. Eventually, he came back to visit the tree, asking yet another favor for wood to build of his house. Once again, the tree sacrificed itself and was partly cut down. But again, the boy left the tree alone and never come back anymore.

In this story, the tree symbolizes our parents. The reality today is just as such. Children never appreciate their parents’ sacrifice but always asking for more. Parents, on the other hand, never abandon their children’s hope and sacrifice all they could. Some nowadays think that money could pay for what they have done, that is by giving their parents money. Actually, this concept is totally wrong.

Always remember, love has no substitute, be it billions of dollars or ringgit, no value can match the price of love. One thing need to remember is that, even if you service your parent for whole of your life, you still cannot pay for what they have done for you. The parent’s sacrifices are invaluable.



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THE FOX AND THE GRAPES


It was a sunny day and fox was walking across the fields. Soon he came to a vineyard.
As he came nearer, he could see some bunches of juicy grapes.

The fox looked carefully around him. He had to make sure that he was safe from the hunters.
He decided to steal some before anyone came along.

He jumped upwards but he could not reach the grapes. He jumped again as high as he could. He still could not reach them. The grapes were just too high for him!

He was not ready to give up. He backed off, took some running steps and leapt into the air towards the grapes. Again he failed to reach them.

It was getting dark, and he was getting angry. His legs hurt with all that running and jumping. At last he stopped trying.

As he walked away, he said to himself, “I don’t really want those grapes. I’m sure they are too sour to eat.”

Sometimes when we cannot get what we want, we pretend that it is not worth having.
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Thursday, March 26, 2009

THE FOX AND THE STORK


A selfish fox once invited a stork to dinner at his home in a hollow tree. That evening, the stork flew to the fox’s home and knocked on the door with her long beak. The fox opened the door and said,

“Please come in and share my food.”
The stork was invited to sit down at the table. She was very hungry and the food smelled delicious!

The fox served soup in shallow bowls and he licked up all his soup very quickly. However, the stork could not have any of it as the bowl was too shallow for her long beak. The poor stork just smiled politely and stayed hungry.

The selfish fox asked, “Stork, why haven’t you taken your soup? Don’t you like it?”
The stork replied, “It was very kind of you to invite me for dinner.
Tomorrow evening, please join me for dinner at my home.”
The next day, when the fox arrived at the stork’s home, he
saw that they were also having soup for dinner. This time
the soup was served in tall jugs. The stork drank the soup
easily but the fox could not reach inside the tall jug. This
time it was his turn to go hungry.
A selfish act can backfire on you.
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THE MONKEY AND THE DOLPHIN


One day long ago, some sailors set out to sea in their sailing ship. One of them brought his pet monkey along for the long journey.

When they were far out at sea, a terrible storm overturned their ship. Everyone fell into the sea, and the monkey was sure that he would drown. Suddenly a dolphin appeared and picked him up.

They soon reached the island and the monkey came down from the dolphin’s back. The dolphin asked the monkey, “Do you know this place?”
The monkey replied, “Yes, I do. In fact, the king of the island is my best
friend. Do you know that I am actually a prince?”

Knowing that no one lived on the island, the dolphin said, “Well, well, so you are a prince! Now you can be a king!”
The monkey asked, “How can I be a king?”

As the dolphin started swimming away, he answered, “That is easy. As you are the only creature on this island, you will naturally be the king!”

Those who lie and boast may end up in trouble.
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THE ANT AND THE DOVE


One hot day, an ant was searching for some water.
After walking around for some time, she came to a spring.
To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass.
While making her way up, she slipped and fell into the water.

She could have drowned if a dove up a nearby tree had not
seen her. Seeing that the ant was in trouble, the dove quickly
plucked off a leaf and dropped it into the water near the
struggling ant. The ant moved towards the leaf and
climbed up there. Soon it carried her safely to dry ground.
Just at that time, a hunter nearby was throwing out his net
towards the dove, hoping to trap it.

Guessing what he was about to do, the ant quickly bit him on
the heel. Feeling the pain, the hunter dropped his net. The
dove was quick to fly away to safety.

One good turn deserves another.
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