YAISHWARYAJ: {Awareness} The Conquerors – Biscuit [2 Attachments]

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Pedagogical Project

"The Joy of Reading"

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Dear Readers,

We would like to invite you to take part in a new project called "From Stories to Books".

The Stories for Everyone Team have been, for some time, gathering and selecting books that provide some sort of reflection on the fundamental ethical principles of our society, such as solidarity, courage, honesty, respect for differences and a sense of justice, matters that have deserved the attention of writers from various nationalities.

Therefore, the Stories for Everyone Team proposes to send, together with the usual weekly stories, and also free of charge, full texts of selected books.

In case you are interested in receiving each week, by email, a chapter of an extensive reading book, all you have to do is answer this message by writing the following sentence in the subject field:

"Yes, I am interested in participating in the project From Stories to Books."

Hoping that this new proposal will meet your utmost interest, we look forward to your reply.

The Stories for Everyone Team

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This week's stories with PDF attachments:

- THE CONQUERORS

- Biscuit

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THE CONQUERORS

There was once a large country that was ruled by a General. The people believed that their way of life was the best. They had a very strong army, and they had the cannon.

From time to time the General would take his army and attack a nearby country "It's for their own good," he said. "So they can be like us."

The other countries resisted – but, in the end, they were always conquered.

Eventually the General ruled all the countries except one…

This was such a small country that the General had never bothered to invade it. But now it was the only one left. So one day the General and his army set out again.

The small country surprised the General. It had no army and offered no resistance. Instead, the people greeted the soldiers as if they were welcome guests. The general installed himself in the most comfortable house while the soldiers lodged with families.

Each morning the General paraded his soldiers and then wrote letters home to his wife and son.

The soldiers talked with the people, played their games, listened to their stories, joined in their songs, and laughed at their jokes.

The food was different from their own.

They watched it being prepared, then ate it. It was delicious.

With nothing else to do, the soldiers helped the people with their work.

When the General realised what was happening, he was furious. He sent the soldiers home... and replaced them with fresh ones. But the new soldiers behaved just as the others had. The General realised that he didn't need a large army there. He decided to return home and leave just a few soldiers to occupy the country.

Once the General was gone, those soldiers hung up their uniforms and joined in the daily life.

The General returned home triumphant, with his soldiers chanting as usual:

"We are the conquerors.

We are the conquerors."

He was glad to be back, although somehow it was different. The cooking smelt of the cooking of the little country. People were playing games from the little country. Even some clothes were those of the little country.

He smiled and thought: "Ah! The spoils of war."

That night, when he put his son to bed, his son asked him to sing to him. So he sang the only songs he could remember. The songs of the little country – the little country he had conquered.

David McKee

The Conquerors

London, Andersen Press, 2004

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Biscuit

One morning, Biscuit the cat came back from his daily jog and sat down for breakfast. He opened the newspaper and turned to the jobs page.

"Today I am going to find a job," he decided.

WANTED: SECURITY GUARD

FOR WAREHOUSE.

MUST BE BIG, STRONG

AND TOUGH-LOOKING.

"That sounds interesting," thought Biscuit. "I'm big, for a cat, and quite strong, and I can look tough if I really want to." He put on clothes to make him look extra-tough, and off he went to the warehouse.

"I'm offering the job," said the warehouse owner, a big bulldog. "A tough cat like you is just what we need around here."

All went well… until Biscuit gave some scrap wood to a Do-It-Yourself mouse who came by.

The bulldog got very angry.

"Why do you think I hired a cat in the first place?" he shouted. "You're supposed to chase mice in this warehouse, not make friends with them.

Now beat it – and don't set foot in here again!"

Biscuit went back to his newspaper and found another advertisement.

WANTED: ASSISTANT FOR PLEASURE-BOAT RENTALS, RIVERSIDE MARINA. MUST SWIM AND ROW. LIFE-SAVING SKILLS HELPFUL.

Biscuit was a good swimmer and had worked as a lifeguard for a month. He put on clothes to give him an extra-sporty look, and off he went to the riverside marina.

"Congratulations – we want you for the job," said the owner, a beaver. He showed Biscuit around the docks. "A good cat like you is exactly what we need."

All went well… until Biscuit left a family of mice do their fishing on the pier. The people who rented the pleasure-boats didn't like mice, and complained about them to the beaver.

"It's that cat's fault!" Biscuit heard the beaver say. Biscuit left, before the beaver started yelling at him.

"I'm not having much luck," thought Biscuit. Then he remembered another advertisement in the newspaper.

WANTED: WAITER FOR NEW RESTAURANT. MUST BE PRESENTABLE, WITH GOOD MANNERS. KNOWLEDGE OF FRENCH ESSENTIAL.

"Perfect!" thought Biscuit. He had done French at school. He put on clothes to make him look extra-presentable, and off he went to the restaurant.

"Congratulations! You've got the new job," said the head waiter, who was a duck. "A cat like you is perfect for this restaurant."

All went well… until a couple of mice came into the restaurant. Biscuit ushered them to the centre table.

"MICE! MICE!" shrieked the ducks, jumping out of their seats. "MICE IN THE RESTAURANT!" squawked a chicken, flapping her wings.

Biscuit didn't even wait to hear what the head waiter would say. He just slipped quickly out of the back door.

"It seems that people who hire cats only want them for chasing mice," thought Biscuit. "But I don't want to chase mice – after all, they never chase me!"

Just then, he saw a sigh in a shop window.

MOUSE COMPANY CHEESE SHOP

WANTED: ASSISTANT.

"I'd really like that job," thought Biscuit, "but they'd never hire a cat."

Back at home, Biscuit kept thinking of the cheese shop. Perhaps if he didn't look too catty, they might consider him for the job!

He tried on all the kinds of clothes, but no matter how many times he checked in the mirror, he always looked like a cat.

Then he had an idea.

"Perhaps the mice I've met will help me!" and he run off to the mouse neighbourhood as fast as he could.

The mice were all delighted to see Biscuit again.

"Of course we'll help you, Biscuit," they said. "We'll go with you to the cheese shop straight away and have a word with the manager."

And they did.

"This cat gave me some scrap wood I needed," said the Do-It-Yourself mouse to the cheese shop manager.

"He let us fish from the pier and we caught a huge fish!" said the mice children.

"He gave us the best table in the restaurant," beamed the mouse couple.

"Quiet now, all of you!" said the cheese shop manager. "All right," he agreed finally, shaking hands with Biscuit. "I'll give you a try."

Soon, Biscuit became the most famous cat in town. Mice came from far and wide just to buy cheese from him and shake his hand.

The manager of Mouse&Company Cheese Shop couldn't have been happier.

Best of all – Biscuit never got fired again.

Becky Bloom

Biscuit

London, Siphano Picture Books, 2001

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You can visit us on Facebook where you can find more interesting stories about several different topics.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stories-for-Everyone/125862557478585

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Sir/Madam,

We are a group of people with some experience in the area of storytelling and we would like to share our project – The Joy of Reading – with everyone who is in touch with children and young people in general but above all with everyone that enjoys reading.

This project consists of sending stories for free on a weekly basis. So this particular e-mail and the ones that will follow it in the next weeks are intended to share some small stories with you. All the stories we send have some values within: respect for nature, tolerance, tenderness, responsibility, solidarity and many more. They all aim at developing the reading skills among young people, as well as allowing some moments of reflection and dialogue about topics connected with human values, which seem to have been somewhat forgotten in these times of materialism and hedonism.

We thank you for your attention and hope you will welcome this project (which, it is important to say, does not have any profitable aims).

If you know anyone interested in receiving the weekly stories by email, let us know by sending their emails to us.

Please let us know your opinion about the project.

Yours faithfully

The Pedagogical Team

sg@storiesforeveryone.com

stories4ev@gmail.com