The boy, the crow and the sesame seed

The boy, the crow and the sesame seed story

Once there was a boy who lived with his grandparents. His job was to look after the garden where they grew beans and sesame. One day, when his grandparents were away, the boy went fishing instead of watching the garden. A crow, seeing that no one was _in the garden, flew down and stole some beans and sesame seeds.

The grandparents returned and saw what had happened. They were very angry with their grandson for being so careless. The boy was ashamed of what he had done. He decided to get the beans and sesame seeds back. He went to a hunter. "Please use your arrows; to shoot the crow that stole our sesame," he said.

"Nonsense," replied the hunter. "I wouldn't help a naughty boy like you."

No matter what the boy said, the hunter refused to help, so the boy went to see a mouse. He asked the mouse to chew the hunter's bow-string.

"What has the hunter done to hurt me? I don't see that it's my problem," said the mouse.

Then the boy saw a cat. He asked the cat to eat the mouse, but the cat said it wasn't hungry. This made the boy very un‑happy, so he asked a dog to chase the cat. The dog said, "Why don't you chase the cat yourself?"

Now the boy was truly upset. He found a hammer which he asked to beat the dog. The hammer refused. He asked a fire to burn the hammer, but the fire refused. He asked the water to put out the fire, but the water refused. He asked the earth to cover the water. "I like water,' said the earth. "Anyway, this really has nothing to do with me."

The boy saw an elephant standing nearby. He asked the elephant to pound the earth. The elephant refused. The poor boy sat down on a rock and cried. When he stopped crying, lie saw a gnat flying around his head. He caught the gnat and said, "I want you to fly into the elephant's ear. If you don't do it, I'll squeeze you between my fingers."

The gnat was frightened. "I'll do anything you ask, but please, please let me go."

So the boy let the gnat go, and it flew into the elephant's car. This hurt the elephant so much that it began to pound the earth. And then the earth began to cover the water. The water started to put out the fire. The fire began to burn the hammer, which threatened to beat the dog. The dog ran away from the hammer and chased the cat, and the cat tried to eat the mouse. But the mouse was beginning to gnaw the hunter's bow-string.

The hunter knocked the mouse away and shot an arrow to­ward the sky. When the crow saw the arrow, it dropped all the beans and sesame seeds back into the garden and flew away.

When the boy went home, his grandparents were very pleased. They forgave him, but after that the boy watched the garden very carefully and never let the crow come near.