A child named Ziyad tells the story: “Can you see me? Of course, you can see me. For several days, it was difficult to see anything. Do you know what happened? One night, all the lamps disappeared from the house and from the entire town. Darkness was everywhere. It was a terrible and frightening matter. Everyone felt fear. We searched everywhere and didn’t find the lamps. All the town’s residents gathered, asking where the lamps were and who stole the lamps.”
I thought about solving the problem. There must be a serious secret in this matter. I must find the lamp thief. A thief must leave behind evidence. I put on my hat, grabbed the magnifying glass, and walked searching the road. When I reached my house window, I shouted in triumph. I found it. It was a long black hair. I shouted loudly, “The thief left this hair. The hair must belong to the thief. I must find him.” Who could he be? He could be a monkey, could be a gazelle, or could be a large ogre. I felt severe fear.
But we must be brave. I grabbed my magnifying glass and walked searching the ground for another trace of the thief who owned the hair. I searched and searched. I climbed the mountain and came down searching in the plain. I crossed the forest and didn’t find anyone matching the hair’s description. I stood tired from searching all day. Suddenly, I saw a strong glow from afar. I asked myself, “Where does this light come from? The entire town doesn’t have a glimmer of light.” I approached quietly until I reached the cave inside the mountain. And the surprise was that all the town’s lamps were stacked inside the cave but disassembled. Who did this, and where is the thief?
A deep voice came from the depths of the cave and said, “I stole the lamps.” My knees trembled. Who is the owner of this thick voice? A bear with long, thick black hair came out of the cave. I asked him in amazement, “You’re the spectacled bear of the Andes. Your hair is long and black. You’re the one who took our lamps.” The bear sat in thought. “Yes, Ziyad.” I asked him, “But why?” The bear answered me, “I’m the last of my kind. I have no companion and no one to sit with. I thought if I filled my cave with lamps, it would shine like a star in the sky, and my friends would find my cave more easily to keep me company in my loneliness.” I asked him, “Why, why didn’t you tell us instead of that? Instead of taking our lamps, I’ll help you solve your problem on condition you return all the lamps you stole.”
The bear said with relief, “You’ll find the rest of your lamps in this cart. Those lamps consume a lot of electricity. A huge bill came to me, so I replaced them with energy-saving lamps from the neighboring town.” I looked at the lamps, and suddenly a diabolical idea occurred to me. I replaced all the settings. I took the lamps from the cart and hurried to my friends. I told them about the problem and my idea. Immediately, we began execution. We converted all the lamps into vases of different and beautiful shapes. I and my friends excelled in making them using colors. We sold all the lamps and bought other lamps, which we distributed to the town’s residents. They were very happy.
As for our friend the bear, my friends and I alternated keeping him company and entertaining him in his loneliness. He even visited us at school and joined us in the school play. It was among the most wonderful plays the theater team presented. Offers rained down on our friend to act in neighboring schools.
That’s why you can see me clearly after the mystery of the disappearing lamps was solved? In your opinion, what is the moral of the story?
Story from children’s literature: by author Marwa Al-Baltaji.