The Gold in the Garden

A farmer had a large garden that he cared for completely. He strove to arrange, organize, irrigate, and fertilize it. It bore much fruit, and he profited greatly from it. The man knew that his three sons hated agriculture and despised the cultivation of orchards. Their goal was to learn something else to get rich quickly. When the father grew old and felt the end of his life approaching, he called his three sons and said to them: My dear sons, I have left you a large fortune of gold. I placed it in a large pot and hid it in the garden’s land. After my death, dig the earth and search for this fortune if you desire it. The three sons tried to make their father tell them the place where he had put this gold fortune or even show them the direction where it was hidden, but he didn’t answer their request. ...

The Sun's Gift

Nour invited her friend the Sun to her birthday party. Nour said to her mother: We want to celebrate on the balcony so the Sun can participate in the celebration. Then friends came carrying beautiful gifts for their friends, but the Sun was very sad because she couldn’t give her friend anything on her birthday. But she sang a birthday song for her with the girls and boys from friends, neighbors, and relatives. Then Nour blew out her six candles, then cut the cake, and everyone ate from it while they were happy. Then Nour shouted: Oh no, oh no. My tooth has fallen. Nour’s mother said to her: Don’t cry, my dear, this happens to all children. Then Maha, Nour’s friend, said: Listen, take your tooth, Nour, then throw it to the Sun. Perhaps the Sun will give you a new tooth of pearl. ...

The Secret of Happiness

There were three brothers living together in a small cabin near the forest. The first was named Samuel, the second Timothy, and the third Zander. The three were hardworking and honest. They worked every day in the forest cutting wood, then went to the market to sell it at a suitable price. To spend on themselves and be able to live, their lives continued this way, but after a period of time they became dissatisfied with their lives, for each one of them wanted to live differently. ...

I Have a Friend Named Tree

Reem looked out the window and saw nothing because of the night. Warm steam came out of her mouth and nose, filling the glass. She drew lines and circles on the glass with her finger. The night ate my tree, Father, my tree that I planted. I don’t see it. In the morning, a wind blew in the garden, and Reem looked out the window and saw the houses and trees in their places. ...

Sheep Don't Eat Cats

I am the cat with the long tail. The story began when a sheep and his family came to live in the house at the end of the street. I couldn’t imagine that sheep could scare my father, brother, and mother to this degree. I don’t know what a sheep is. I only know that when he speaks, he says baa. Suddenly, my father closed the door of the house and forbade us from going out because the sheep might harm us. My father was talking with my mother and brother about the sheep issue for long periods, and I was sitting alone feeling bored. It became forbidden for me to speak, and it also became forbidden for me to play with the wool ball that I love. As for the toy my mother made for me in the shape of a mouse, my father wouldn’t let me play with it, so that I wouldn’t make a sound that would make the sheep notice my existence. ...

The Story of a Doll

She came to me shyly, saying: I want to buy a doll, my daughter. And why a doll now? She said: I want to play with it like my friends. So I said to her: Is playing with a doll necessary? She said: Yes, I wish I had a doll to change her clothes and make her shampoo her hair. So the father said: I will try, God willing. So I went to the doll shop, hoping to find a cheap one. I wished I hadn’t bought some fruit this morning so that I would be able to buy the doll she wanted. For my little daughter is smart and sweet and shy. She dreams all the time of having toys like her friends, and I always postpone it with many excuses. She doesn’t get angry but stays silent and submits. The excuses didn’t work this time, and there was no trick left, so I must buy her a doll. ...

The King and the Seamstress Daughter

It is told that a prince of a region wanted two centuries according to what is the Chinese law, to marry the emperor’s daughter, and he has to choose his future wife appropriately, and he had to find the girl who deserves his status and love. In the emperor’s palace, a wise woman was serving as a seamstress, for that she was extremely skilled at sewing, so she knew that her daughter was extremely skilled at sewing too for the emperor, and when the wise woman went home she informed her daughter of the emperor’s call, and her daughter said to her mother: Mother, I will receive that party and be among the candidates, so the wise woman said to her daughter: If you are from those who will come to that party and are extremely modest, and you are the emperor’s daughter, be extremely happy and modest for the reality of what might be painful. ...

Grandma, Come to Our House

Sarah said to her grandmother: Grandma, come to our house. Her grandmother answered: Coming, my beautiful daughter, I will come on your birthday. Sarah said with great joy: And you will bring me a gift. Her good grandmother answered: Of course, my daughter. I will bring you a big bear with a long trunk. Sarah was surprised and said to her grandmother: A bear with a trunk!! The elephant is the one with a trunk, Grandma!! ...

My Cage

Every morning when my mother places our piece of golden, before I go to school and read us its news which our grandmother taught her to show its bright heart, I try helpful, and great works. I was all of us extremely happy when he places the news in his chest with its appropriate value. A small dream suit which I will buy its colors and present to the teacher, and I will buy a flower of roses of a white one my mother who brought it to us, which he gave her to me as a safe gift. ...

My Piggy Bank

Every morning, my father distributes our share of coins to us before we go to school, and he repeats to us the advice we have memorized by heart: Buy useful things. Each of us was very happy when putting the coins in his pocket and drawing in his mind a small adventure that suited the value of these pieces. I will buy colored chalk and give it to the teacher. I will buy a plate of fava beans from Abu Mahmoud. But my brother Wael would hurry to the wooden cabinet that his mother had given him, at the bottom of whose shelf he placed his piggy bank. ...