How the French Bean got its fiber

An attempt at writing a story for children. Read at your own risk. Any kind of damage to the reader on reading this story will not be considered the blogger's responsibility. :-)

Once upon a time, in a land called Sabjiland, all the vegetables lived together. One day, all of them got very bored. They got together and decided to have a party the coming weekend. They all agreed to participate in organizing the party. They agreed that they would have a lot of fun together. There would be music, dance, food, games, everything.

The idea excited the vegetables greatly. Arrangements were made, food was cooked, beautiful decorations were made and the Town Hall was made ready for the party. Invitations were printed and distributed to all in Sabjiland. Each and every vegetable was invited – the onion, the tomato, the chilly, the potato, the French bean, the capsicum, the cabbage, the brinjal, the lady finger, all and sundry. No one was left out.

Excitement grew as the occasion drew nearer and nearer. Every one had been asked to perform something to exhibit their talent. Everybody was eagerly awaiting the D-day.

Finally, the day of the great event arrived. All the vegetables arrived at the Town Hall, dressed in their best clothes. There was noise and laughter all around. The vegetables danced together. Loud music blared out of Town Hall. Then food was served. The vegetables enjoyed the various delicacies.

Then the time came for the best part of the party – the talent search. Each vegetable presented an item. The tomato sang a nice, hip song which had all the vegetables rocking on their feet. The lady finger mimicked a famous actor of the yesteryears, which had everyone oohing and aahing. The chilly and the potato presented a witty drama. The capsicum recited a beautiful poem. The cabbage said a story that it had written on its own.

Then it was the turn of the rotund brinjal to present something. It had decided to present a dance before the other vegetables. The musicians started playing and the brinjal started dancing with great gusto. It was a fast number and the brinjal was performing wonderfully. All the vegetables were fully immersed in watching the dance.

Suddenly, the satin robe that the brinjal was wearing got under its feet. It slipped and fell. It tried to right itself, but could not. It fell on the stage with a loud thud.

At this, the French bean burst out laughing. The other vegetables told it to hush, that it sounded very rude to laugh at someone who had fallen, but the French bean could not control itself. It laughed and laughed and laughed till it fell off its seat.

It laughed so much that it split its sides. The town tailor was called urgently and its sides were stitched.

The brinjal was furious that the French bean had laughed at it. It said to the French bean, “You laughed at me when I had fallen down. It serves you right that your sides burst open. Now you will always have these stitches throughout your life. They will remind you never to laugh at someone in difficulty.”

The French bean apologized profusely to the brinjal, but the brinjal refused to take back its words.

Since then, the French bean has always had the fiber at its sides.

The fox and the grapes

We have all heard of the story of the fox and the grapes. I have tried to modify the original story a bit, in the light of the changing scenario in the modern times...Here it is:

Once upon a time, in a certain land, there lived a fox. The fox was known to be very cunning and intelligent. Whatever question was put before him, he would always have an answer.

Now, this cunning fox was passing through a vineyard one day. He saw fresh grapes hanging from a vine. The smell of ripe grapes filled his senses and his mouth started watering. The fox was hungry too. He looked around, but the owner of the vineyard was nowhere to be seen. He decided to have his fill of the ripe, juicy grapes.

The grapes were hanging at a great distance above the fox. He got up on his hind feet and tried to reach for the grapes, but could not. The distance was too great. He tried jumping up and reaching for the fruit, but all in vain.

After several such attempts, the fox finally got tired. He sat down on the ground to rest for a while. He was suddenly reminded of his great grandfather, who had been put in a similar situation years ago. Grandpa Fox had also tried to reach for a bunch of grapes in a vineyard, but had been unsuccessful in doing so. Ultimately, after many futile attempts, he had gone on his way, consoling himself that the grapes would have been sour anyway.

Our Mr. Fox thought, “The grapes might be sour, but maybe they are very sweet. They do smell ripe and juicy. How can I know unless I taste them? I will not give up the way Grandpa did. I have to think of a way to reach them.”

He started racking his brains for a way to eat the grapes. Finally he hit upon an idea. He called to his wife, and Mrs. Fox soon came there trotting.

He asked his wife, “Dear, would you like to have some fresh, juicy grapes?”

Mrs. Fox replied, “Hmmmm….. How nice that would be! I would love that.”

Mr. Fox said, “See those grapes hanging from that vine?” He pointed to them and his wife nodded. “I need your help in getting them. I will lift you on my shoulders and you get them. Then we can have them together.”

Mrs. Fox was only too happy to help her husband. He lifted her up and she grabbed the bunch of grapes. Then he gently put her down on the ground.

Both of them had their fill of the grapes. And, just as he had thought, the fruit was very sweet and juicy.

The husband and wife went back home satisfied and happy. Mr. Fox was very happy that he had not admitted defeat like his great grandfather had and had found a way to deal with the problem.