Courage

No matter how painful reality is, there is always a ring of salvation called hope. In the midst of crises, graces come to us that make the sun rise again after the darkness and gloom of the moon. It is told that near a beautiful lake in western India, there was a beautiful house on the lake’s shore. A small boy lived there with his elderly mother named Ayoubi. On a hot summer day, Ayoub decided to go to the lake behind the house and swim, for the water was beautiful and cold. ...

No one knew where Mona went after she left the camp, for no one had paid attention to her—everyone was busy with what had happened in the early morning when the occupation soldiers had attacked the houses. They had stormed the doors and broken them down, and they had seized the men and driven them to the square. As for the boys, they didn’t leave a single one; they dragged all of them to the military vehicles. The women screamed, and the small children cried as if fire were burning them. ...

In one village there were three wives, none of whom had become pregnant despite several years passing since their marriages. One day the neighbors heard a vendor calling in the street: “Apples for pregnancy! Apples for pregnancy!” They hurried to him, and he had two apples and half an apple. He gave the first wife one apple, the second wife one apple, and the third wife half the apple. The first wife gave birth to a boy and named him Nāfiʿ, the second wife gave birth to a boy and named him ʿUmar, and the third wife gave birth to a boy of strange appearance and named him Niṣf Nuṣayṣ. He had one sound arm and the other paralyzed, and the same condition with his legs, but he was brilliant in intelligence. ...

In the famous era of King Arthur, there lived in the land of England, specifically in Cornwall county, an active farmer who had only a son named Jack. Jack was a brave boy who loved hearing stories about giants and fairies, and chasing villains. He enjoyed reading about them, and his favorite time was what he spent with his mother as she told him stories of chivalry and courage, and his father recounted the great deeds of brave knights like King Arthur. ...

It is told that there was a big ewe living with her seven small lambs in the forest, living a happy life. She didn’t know her enemy except the existence of the wicked wolf who tried repeatedly and continuously to eat the small lambs. One day, the ewe mother went out to bring food for her small children. She advised them not to play together and not to open the door to any stranger, so the wicked wolf wouldn’t come and eat them. ...

In the middle of Sherwood Forest in England lived a skilled young man named Robin Hood. In his childhood, he was deceived by some nobles, so he decided then to rob the rich of their money and give it to the poor. He would steal only from the rich and give what he stole to the poor because he saw that the rich didn’t deserve what they had. When Robin Hood’s fame spread, the sheriff of Nottingham placed many rewards for capturing Robin Hood. But because he was the champion of the poor, many people loved him and made him their leader. They would watch the sheriff and know his schemes to warn Robin Hood about them step by step. So the sheriff couldn’t capture him, and he began plotting to trap Robin Hood in his nets. But Robin was a cunning young man who calculated all his steps. ...

The fairies used to go to the fields in spring to help crops grow and color them with beautiful colors, and to help the animals and insects that lived in the fields. However, it was forbidden for fairies to go to the land of humans. Next to the field where the fairies camped was a house belonging to a man who worked as an insect researcher. He would go there and take his little daughter Zizi with him to collect butterflies and conduct research on them. Zizi was a good and beautiful girl, but her father didn’t pay attention to her because he was always busy with his research. So Zizi built a small dollhouse and decorated it, and she would take it out to play in the fields. ...

In a village called Sercy, there was a woman who gave birth to twins. They were two beautiful boys with such gentleness that whoever saw them loved them greatly. One of the twins was named Iba and had a white spot on his right hand, and the other was named Saiba and had a white spot on his left hand. The father and mother were very happy with them and very sad at the same time. You will ask why? Because there was a very bad custom and tradition in the customs and traditions of Sercy of killing twins. The leader of the city of Sercy had said: These twins must also die, but their father and mother did not want to kill them. ...

Kay and Girada were two close friends for stories. Kay’s grandmother used to gather with them to tell them a scary story every day. One day, the grandmother sat with Kay and Girada to tell them the story of the queen of the wolves, that evil sorceress who turns human’s heart into a heart of a wolf, and he becomes after her a servant and follows her. During the telling of the story, Kay wished to meet with the queen of the wolves. Suddenly, he felt pain in his heart and cried out. Girada rushed to her dear friend to comfort him, but he shouted in her face and left with anger and displeasure. From that moment, Kay’s habits changed toward her dear friend Girada, and she became bigger on him, and she was not able to understand her actions those. ...

There was a child orphan living with his brother and his wife. But his brother’s wife was an evil mistress who always used to beat her husband’s son and make him carry heavy water from the well to the house, and she never gave him food. The brother of the orphan was weak and afraid of his wife. One day, the brother’s wife decided to get rid of the orphan because he no longer stayed at the house, and she ordered her husband to take him to a remote distant island and leave him there. When the brother refused, his wife threatened that she would kick both of them out of the house. ...