The Nightingale, the Spider, and the Bat

The nightingale sings about everything that is good. He sings about happiness

and joy. He sings about the sunbeams that shine on the earth. And when he sings, life becomes even more beautiful. As the sun rises, the nightingale’s voice fills the air, and all the butterflies and dragonflies and bees hear the nightingale’s song with pleasure.

But not everyone loves the nightingale. Not everyone loves the beautiful warm sunlight. There are some animals that stay inside during the day in cold, dark places, like the bat. The bat spends her days inside a dark cave where she hangs upside down. She hates the sunlight. And that is why she hates the nightingale.

Once, a long time ago, the bat hated the nightingale so much that she wanted to hurt the nightingale. So she asked the black poisonous spider to help her. “Dear spider,” said the bat. “You and I are friends. We both love the darkness. We both love to suck the blood of other animals. All the animals are afraid of us. Even the camel is afraid of your bite.”

“What do you want me to do?” asked the spider.

“I want you to bite the nightingale,” said the bat, and she begged and pleaded with the spider until the spider finally agreed.

The spider crawled along the branch where the nightingale was sitting. The spider crawled closer and closer. Suddenly, the nightingale saw the poisonous spider.

What do you think?

If you were the nightingale, and you knew the spider wanted to bite and kill you, what would you say to the spider?

“Oh, spider!” said the nightingale. “All of my life I have tried to do only good. My song is an example of goodness. Maybe you want to do something bad to me. Maybe you want to bite me, who knows? If so, before I die, I want to do something good for you. What have you seen of the world as you have crawled along the bare earth? Hold onto my tail. I will take you up into the sky, and I will show you how beautiful this world is.”

The spider agreed and held onto the nightingale’s tail. And as the nightingale flew through the air, he sang about the beauty of the sunshine and of the earth. The music from the nightingale’s song melted the spider’s heart. He decided not to bite the nightingale.

What do you think?

What did the spider tell the bat when he returned to the cave? Create a dialogue between the spider and the bat.

The Three Bears

A long time ago three bears lived in the forest. There were two little bears and one big bear.

One day the big bear caught a fox by the tail and started to swing the fox around and around.

The two little bears said to the big bear, “Don’t hurt the fox! She did not do anything to us. Let her go.”

What do you think?

Guess which character is saying the following line of dialogue. Your choices are (A) one of the two little bears, (B) the big bear, or (C) the fox:

“Ouch! My tail hurts.”

“I am so big and strong, I can do anything I want!”

“We don’t want to live with a mean bear.”

The big bear told the two little bears that he wanted the fox to respect him. “If she says she respects me, I will let her go.”

The fox answered, “I respect you! I respect you! Please let me go.” The big bear let the fox go.

On another day, the big bear caught a wolf. The big bear started to bend the wolf’s paws and pull on the wolf’s ears.

The two little bears asked the big bear to let the wolf go. But the big bear wanted the wolf to respect him.

“I respect you! I respect you!” said the wolf. “Please let me go.”

The big bear let the wolf go.

Finally, the two little bears and the big bear could not live together any more. The big bear went to live by himself in the forest. One day, he met a whole pack of wolves.

“Remember me?” asked one of the wolves. “Now we are all going to attack you!”

The bear got scared and climbed up to the top of a tree. He stayed in the tree until all the wolves left. After the bear carefully climbed down, he met the fox.

“Big bear, who frightened you?” asked the fox.

“Oh! A whole pack of wolves!” answered the big bear.

“There are more wolves in the forest,” said the fox. “Go in that direction.”

The big bear went where the fox showed him to go, but he ended up in a swamp.

“Remember, big bear, how you swung me by my tail?” asked the fox. “Now I have taught you a lesson!”

The big bear wandered around the swamp for a long time. When he finally made it out of the swamp, he met the two little bears.

What do you think?

If you were one of the two little bears, what would you say to the big bear? What was the lesson the big bear needed to learn? Write down what you think. Then share your ideas with your classmates.

Date: 2015-01-12; view: 959