1. Lonely Old Woman
Bu Aminah, the old widow, sighed. How tired she felt. Every bone in her thin body seemed to ache. If only she had children, her life would not so be miserable. They would have taken care of her and she would have had an easy life in her old age.
Ever since her husband died Bu Aminah had been poor and lonely. Her husband had been a fisherman. He had earned his living by selling the fish he caught in the river near their hut. When he died Bu Aminah tried to continue doing his work, but she was not strong enough to row the boat far into the river where the biggest and fattest fish were. She had to remain near the river bank and often she did not catch a single fish. Then she had to go hungry, for the money she earned collecting firewood was too little for her to buy enough food.
This day was a particularly bad day. How many times she pulled up the net? And every time it was empty. And she felt so tired!
“This is the last time I will pull up the net,” she said to herself. “If I don’t catch anything I’ll just go home and sleep.” Carefully and slowly she pulled up the net out of the water and looked at it hopefully. Nothing! Again there was nothing! Tears filled Bu Aminah’s old eyes. Then suddenly she wiped them away, for there was something at the bottom of the old net! However, it was not a fish. It was a snail!
Carefully Bu Aminah picked the snail from the net and held it in the palm of her hand. It was not and ordinary snail. It was bigger and its shell shone like old gold.
“How beautiful you are!” the old woman cried out. “I can certainly get a silver piece for you at the market!”
At the moment the snail put out her head from the golden shell. Looking at the old woman she slowly waved her head. Bu Aminah looked at her amazement. When she looked into those little black eyes of the old woman felt as if the little animal understood every word she had said. And suddenly she began to like the beautiful snail.
“Well, perhaps I won’t sell you after all,” she said smilingly. “I’ll keep you as a pet. You can be my friend. It’s nice to have somebody to talk to.”
Bu Aminah took the snail home. She put the snail in an old earthen pot in which she scattered some sand and she fed it with some fresh leaves. After she had taken care of the snail she ate a banana and then lay down on her bamboo bed. Soon she was fast asleep.
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Comment by Mackeran — August 12, 2009 @ 11:23 am
Interesting and informative. But will you write about this one more?
Comment by Crasty — August 23, 2009 @ 8:12 am
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Comment by ClariceMercer — April 8, 2010 @ 10:52 pm