zoo

THE ZOO

The boy was out of the ordinary as boys go, because he didn’t like chocolate. No, not at all. Not even one little bit. And I must stay, I’ve never met a boy like that. Not in my entire life. And the monkey was unusual because he absolutely adored chocolate – this particular monkey went absolutely bananas for it – and as you may guess – very few monkeys are mad about chocolate, if only because, they’ve never even tasted it.

The boy was called fred

And the monkey was called Theodore, or Theo for short.

One day, fred’s bret Judith took him to the zoo. fred’s mother had told her that Jim didn’t like chocolate, but she didn’t believe that.

“Poor little thing,” she said to herself. “His Mum won’t buy him chocolate because she’s too mean. But I’ll buy him a nice lovely bar and give it to him while we are out.”

And that’s what she did. Only it was true. Jim really didn’t like chocolate.

“Oh thanks Auntie bret” he said when she gave it to him. “That’s really kind of you. I’ll just save it for later, if you don’t mind.”

FRED: Did I ever tell you about the time I came face to face with a very fierce gorilla? BERT: No, what happened? FRED: Well, I stood there, without a gun . . . The gorilla looked at me and snarled and roared and beat his chest. Then it came closer and closer . . . BERT: What did you do? FRED: Oh, I'd had enough, so I moved on to the next cage.

#march2

• The Railway Children

The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film version is the best known. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography credits Oswald Barron, who had a deep affection for Nesbit, with having provided the plot.
The story concerns a family who move to "Three Chimneys", a house near the railway, after the father, who works at the Foreign office, is imprisoned after being falsely accused of spying. The children befriend an Old Gentleman who regularly takes the 9:15 train near their home; he is eventually able to help prove their father's innocence, and the family is reunited. The family take care of a Russian exile, Mr Szczepansky, who came to England looking for his family (later located) and Jim, the grandson of the Old Gentleman, who suffers a broken leg in a tunnel.
The theme of an innocent man being falsely imprisoned for espionage and finally vindicated might have been influenced by the Dreyfus Affair, which was a prominent worldwide news item a few years before the book was written. And the Russian exile, persecuted by the Tsars for writing "a beautiful book about poor people and how to help them" and subsequently helped by the children, was most likely an amalgam of the real-life dissidents Sergius Stepniak and Peter Kropotkin who were both friends of the author.

• "The Curse" by Lee Su Ann 
  “The Curse” is about a girl, named Azreen, her parents and sister, Madhuri. Azreen, a strong-headed girl is studying in London but has to take a leave from her study when she receives the news about her sister’s death. She is curious about the cause of her sister’s sudden death. When she reaches home, her sister’s body has been brought to the cemetery. She overhears a village gossiper, Puan Normala talks about her sister’s death. Normala claims that her sister has been murdered and has shed white blood.
  
  On her return, Azreen discovers a few truths about her family and people around her. First she finds out that her sister has been in love with Asraf, and has planned to marry and divorced her husband, Hj Ghani. Second, Awang, the Shaman has actually caused the accident which his parents are involved in and causes her mother to become paralysed. Third, she learns that Madhuri is actually her adopted sister and the crazy woman is Madhuri’s biological mother. Fourth and finally, she discovers that Madhuri has accidentally been killed by her father.
  
  There is one old woman whom Azreen has turned to for emotional support. The old woman lives alone in an abandoned house in the jungle. Azreen learns a lot about life from this wise old woman. The old woman however dies in a fire started by Asraf who has blamed her for his grandmother’s death.
  
  At the end, Azreen returns to London to finish her study. She has learned a valuable lesson from her short break at her little village in Langkawi Island. She has learned to forgive others and to look ahead. 

A LION

One day a Lion lay asleep in the jungle. A tiny Mouse, running about in the grass and not noticing where he was going, ran over the Lion’s head and down his nose.

The Lion awoke with a loud roar, and down came his paw over the little Mouse. The great beast was about to open his huge jaws to swallow the tiny creature when “Pardon me, O King, I beg of you,” cried the frightened Mouse. “If you will only forgive me this time, I shall never forget your kindness. I meant no harm and I certainly didn’t want to disturb Your Majesty. If you will spare my life, perhaps I may be able to do you a good turn, too.”
The Lion began to laugh, and he laughed and laughed. “How could a tiny creature like you ever do anything to help me? And he shook with laughter.

“Oh well,” he shrugged, looking down at the frightened Mouse, “you’re not so much of a meal anyway.” He took his paw off the poor little prisoner and the Mouse quickly scampered away.

Some time after this, some hunters, trying to capture the Lion alive so they could carry him to their king, set up rope nets in the jungle. The Lion, who was hunting for some food, fell into the trap. Her roared and thrashed about trying to free himself but with every move he made, the ropes bound him tighter.

The unhappy Lion feared he could never escape, and her roared pitifully. His thunderous bellows echoed through the jungle.The tiny Mouse, scurrying about far away, heard the Lion’s roars. “That may be there very Lion who once freed me,” he said, remembering his promise. And he ran to see whether he could help.

Discovering the sad state the Lion was in, the Mouse said to him, “Stop, stop! You must not roar. If you make so much noise, the hunters will come and capture you . I’ll get you out of this trap.”
With his sharp little teeth the Mouse gnawed at the ropes until they broke. When the Lion had stepped out of the net and was free once more, the Mouse said, “Now, was I not right?”
“Thank you, good Mouse,” said the Lion gently. “You did help me even though I am big and you are so little. I see now that kindness is always worth while.”