Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!


Sneh's Indo-Fijian Children's Stories

Click HERE To View Enlargement of Sri Saraswati Image

QUICK PAGE SEARCH
[the Crocodie and the Monkey]~ [the Camel and the Arab]
[the Power of Prayer]~ [Nursery Rhymes & School Poems]

These are a collection of stories
remembered from my childhood in the Fiji Islands




The Monkey and the Crocodile

A monkey and a crocodile
befriended each other.
The monkey lived on a coconut tree
above and beside the water.
The croc used to take
the monkey on his back for a ride
around the river
and in return the monkey
fed coconut to the croc.
One day the croc's wife
became very sick
and was going to die.
Someone told her that her
life could be saved if
she ate a monkey's liver.
The wife told her husband
to get his monkey friend
so that she would eat his liver.
The croc reluctantly
went to his monkey friend
and made up a story
that his wife had invited him for dinner.
The monkey was very pleased
and hopped on the croc's back
and off they went.
Half way down the journey
the croc related the true reason
for the monkey's visit.
The monkey quickly thought of an excuse.
He said, "dear friend, monkey's hang
their livers on the tree."
"Let's go back and get it."
The croc turned around
and they returned to the tree.
The monkey jumped off and climbed
up the tree as high as he could.
The croc waited and waited
and finally yelled out,
"friend, where are you".
The monkey picked a coconut
and threw it at the croc saying
"Go, away, I don't ever
want to see you again".
You are not a true friend
and monkeys DON'T
hang their livers on trees,
we have them inside us."






The Camel and the Arab

One day an Arab and his camel
were crossing the desert.
Night came and the temperature became colder.
The Arab put up his tent
and tied the camel to it.
The Arab went to sleep.
The temperature became slightly colder
and the camel asked the Arab
if he (camel) could just put his nose
in the tent to warm up.
The Arab agreed that the camel
could just put his nose in,
because the tent was small
and there was no room for 2.
So the camel's nose became warm
and after a while the temperature
went down even more.
The camel asked the Arab again,
if he (camel) could just put
his fore legs in
because they were very cold.
The Arab reluctantly agreed
that the camel could only put
his fore legs in and no more.
So the camel moved in his fore legs
and they became warm.
After sometime the camel
asked the Arab again that he had to
put in his hind legs or else
he won't be able to make the journey
the next morning with frozen legs.
So the Arab agreed
and once the camel moved his hind legs in,
there was no more room
in the tent for the Arab
and the Arab was kicked out.



The Power of Prayer

Once upon a time there lived a young king, his queen and their 4 year old son, Raju. They were living in a big castle and had many servants. The king was very well liked by his subjects.

One day the king felt like hunting. He left on his horse towards the jungle. After riding for a few hours he came before a hill. The hill was too high for the horse to climb. The king stood there pondering what to do....how to go to the other side. Then a large bird who was watching the king from a short distance flew close to him and said, "dear king, take one of my feathers which has special powers and it will enable your horse to go over the hill".

The king was very pleased and gladly accepted a feather from the bird. After saying thank yous and good-byes the pair galloped over the hill without any problems. The feather had great powers. The site was so beautiful over the hill...green grass...colourful flowers...and a stream nearby. The horse galloped on. At a distance the horse saw a deer and chased after her. But when they came up close, the deer turned into a witch. The witch cast a spell on the king which turned him into a stone and his horse into a parrot.

At the castle the queen became very worried when the king did not return. Raju became very upset as well and cried for his dad. Notices of the missing king were posted in every town. Police and soldiers went to the jungle to look for the king to no avail.

Days passed. Raju and his mom prayed and prayed and prayed every single day for the safe return of the king. The prayer time became longer and longer as each day passed. The queen and Raju prayed so much that they hardly left the prayer room.

On the fifth day during their prayer the queen and Raju heard a loud noise up in the sky. The clouds became dark and thunder and lightning happened. A strong bolt of lightening fell on the witch in the jungle. The witch died.

The spell on the horse and king became disabled. The parrot turned back into the horse and the stone into the king. They sped very fast towards the castle. Upon hearing the hoofs the queen and Raju ran to the front door. They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw it was the king coming towards the castle. The queen and Raju lept to greet the king.

There were kisses and hugs and tears everywhere. The servants were so happy to see the king that they danced and partied in the court yard all night long. In the days that followed the king was welcomed by freshly made sweets in every home and there were celebrations and parties in everywhere.

Sneh's "Poetry from my elementary school"


Peti

Chamde ki hoti hai peti
Rehti sada kamar par leti
Bacche isse dar jaate hain
Maar bichare jab khate hain
Yeh meri hain nishi kahani
Sonu dhyan se meri vaani
Pita gaye the mere kashi
Tab maine ki ek badmashi
Ma bole yeh Shama beti
La jaldi bappa ki peti
Lagi mujhe peti sadkane
Pahoonche meri hosh dhikane
Lal Lal jab phoole gal
Chupa door main ja kar bhaag
Peti paath seekhaee mujhko
Ise batata hoon main tujhko
Badmashi mat karna bhai
Peti naam bada dukhdaii

Links

Sneh's Home on the Web
Sneh's Indo-Fijian Recipes

Email: fijirecipes@hotmail.com

Return to Home Page