YAISHWARYAJ: {Awareness} One city, two brothers - Into the forest [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 send an email to

books@storiesforeveryone.com or stories4ev@gmail.com 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:

- One city, two brothers

- Into the forest

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One city, two brothers

Once, wise King Solomon ruled in the city of Jerusalem. He built a magnificent temple in e city, a special and sacred place for his people.

Every day, the king sat in his palace receiving visitors, offering guidance to those who asked, and judgement for those who broke his laws.

One day, two brothers stood before the king. Their father had died recently, and they were arguing about who should inherit the family land. They came to the king for advice.

"By law, it should be mine!" said one.

"It´s only fair that I have my share!" shouted the other.

The wise king listened to them argue for a while. They grew louder and angrier until finally he held up his hand for silence.

"Let me tell you a story," he said, "from long ago, before there was a city here, before any temple had been built on this land."

This is the story that Solomon told.

Long ago, a river valley curved and curled its way through the land from the hills in the east to the sea in the west, its steep sides lined with orchards of olives and almonds. Near the head of the valley where the river curled around the foot of a rocky hill, there were two villages, each a cluster of white stone huts and animal pens.

Two brothers farmed a piece of land on the flat valley floor between the two villages, where the soil was rich and deep — perfect for farming.

The elder brother lived in a village on the valley side, above the field they shared. The younger lived in the other village, a little down the valley, below the field. Two paths linked the villages — one over the hill that separated them, and the other along the valley floor past their field.

Every autumn, after the first rains each brother brought his donkey, and together they plowed the earth and sowed the grain. Every winter, the grain sprouted and grew until springtime, when the heads of wheat swelled and ripened, turning gold by early summer. Then the brothers brought their scythes, cutting and threshing the wheat, and pouring the grain into sacks.

When all the work was done, the brothers counted up the sacks of grain, dividing them equally, half and half. Each kept an equal portion of straw for his animals´ bedding and wheat to grind into flour for baking bread.

Then autumn came around and it was time to start plowing again. In this way, the years passed. The elder brother married and soon had a handful of children to feed at home. Happily, his share of the harvest always gave him enough to last the winter. He was content. The younger brother never married. Some say he never found the right woman; others say he liked the quiet life. Whatever the truth, he too was content with his lot.

One summer, the harvest was the best ever. Each brother stacked the heavy "bags of grain: twenty bags each. The elder brother had just finished when he thought of his younger brother.

"I´m so lucky to have a family," he thought. "When I´m old, they will be there to take care of me. But my poor brother has nobody. He´ll need to save for his old age. He needs this grain more than I do."

He decided to give his younger brother a surprise gift. When it was dark he loaded three sacks of grain onto his donkey and led it up over the hill behind his house and down to his brother´s village on the other side. It was a cloudy night, without moon or stars to light the path, but he knew the route so well he could have found his way with his eyes closed. Very quietly, he tiptoed into the store and added the three sacks to his brother´s pile. He walked home smiling at the thought of his brother´s face in the morning.

The next day, over breakfast, his wife asked him about the harvest.

"Only seventeen sacks this year," he said, "but that will be enough if we are careful."

His wife looked puzzled. "Why only seventeen? It looked like a good crop."

Her husband just shrugged and smiled.

While the family was finishing breakfast, his wife ducked into the store, returning a few moments later.

"Husband, are you so tired you have forgotten how to count?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I´ve been in the store and there are twenty sacks, not seventeen."

"That´s impossible!"

But, when he went to the store, he saw that it was true. Twenty sacks of grain!

"How can that be?" he wondered. "I must have been dreaming."

That evening, after sunset, he took another three sacks of grain to his brother´s store. This time, to rest his donkey, he took the easier path along the valley floor. Next morning, over breakfast, he explained to his wife that there would only be seventeen sacks after all, as he had given three away.

He pressed his finger to his lips. "It´s a secret," he whispered.

His wife looked at him suspiciously.

"Are you sure? she asked.

"I´m quite sure. Come, I´ll show you."

But when they looked in the store there were still twenty sacks. His wife was not pleased.

"Why are you teasing me like this?" she demanded. "You should tell me the truth."

"Could it be a miracle´?" he wondered. "Or am I just getting old and forgetful´?"

On the third night, he set off at sunset with another three sacks, determined to give his gift.

Three days earlier, the younger brother had just unloaded his last sack when he thought about all the children his brother had to feed, "He needs the grain more than me," he mused. "I know what I´ll do, I´ll sneak a few extra sacks into his store, and he´ll have a nice surprise in the morning."

…

(To be continued in the PDF attachment)

Chris Smith

One city, two brothers

Massachussets, Barefoot Books, 2007

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Into the forest

One night I was woken up by a terrible sound.

The next morning all was quiet. Dad wasn´t there. I asked Mum when he was coming back but she didn´t seem to know.

I missed Dad.

The next day Mum asked me to take a cake to Grandma, who was poorly. I love Grandma. She always tells me such fantastic stories.

There are two ways to get to Grandma´s house: the long way round, which takes ages, or the short way through the forest.

"Don´t go into the forest," said Mum. "Go the long way round."

But that day, for the first time, I chose the quick way. I wanted to be home in case Dad came back.

After a short while I saw a boy.

"Do you want to buy a nice milky moo-cow?" he asked.

"No," I said. (Why would I want a cow?)

"I´ll swap it for that sweet fruity-cake in your basket," he said.

"No, it´s for my poor grandma," I said, and walked on.

´I´m poorly," I heard him saying, "I´m poorly..."

As I went further into the forest I met a girl with golden hair.

"What a sweet little basket," she said. "What´s in it?"

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(To be continued in the PDF attachment)

Anthony Browne

Into the forest

London, Walker Books, 2005

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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