The Ants and the Jar
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
The Ants and the Jar
Written by harjjari
http://arabswata.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8892
In my grandfather’s house, I like to go up on the roof stealthily. With half of my skinny body bending over the edge of the roof, I look at the yard in the middle of an abandoned old house next door. It looks strange. There is a big shady fig tree down there. Next to it, there is an empty jar, which fills up with water every time it rains. It seems that birds too like this house. They descend in the middle of the house to sing happily, without interruption, and they safely build their nests on the tree branches.
I used to carry in my pocket a little piece of bread, and break it into little tiny pieces to feed the birds and the ants. One day, I saw an army of ants; thousands upon thousands of them. They were climbing the jar, and I could not understand why. In the evening, I heard a flock of birds making a great commotion. They were flying back and forth and flocking over the jar.
"Why are the birds making such a commotion?" I asked my Grandfather
He looked at me quite puzzled, and then said; “maybe, they are afraid of something, maybe, they are happy, or perhaps there is a festival!”
“And why are the ants surrounding the jar?" I asked.
My grandfather laughed and said: “Maybe they found butter and honey inside it".
"Do they like butter and honey?!" I asked in amazement.
My Grandfather didn't answer; he kept laughing and nodding his head instead.
At night, while I was sleeping, I dreamed that I was looking at the house from the roof, as usual. I saw a colony of ants standing in columns in a beautiful formation. They were there in front of its leader, who climbed on top of the jar. He addressed them
“Dear brothers
"We have lost many of our sisters and brothers in this accursed jar. They have sunk here, to the bottom. So, what are we going to do?"
Many suggestions were presented to find a way to protect the ants from falling in the jar, but none of them was approved. When the controversy reached a new climax, a small ant stepped forth.
"Can we make this jar our house?" She said.
Then, a brilliant idea sparked in the mind of another ant;
"Roll down the jar, empty the water from it, then we can use it as a house". She said.
The ants highly applauded the two ants;
"Well done, ants. Let's cooperate to turn the jar over”; the leader said.
So, the marching army of ants moved towards the jar quietly and in orderly fashion.
At that moment, I woke up feeling thirsty. I left the bed and slowly headed to the kitchen to get a drink of water. Then, I went back to sleep. In the morning, I rushed to the roof to look at the abandoned house. The jar was still there, but it was surrounded by a colony of ants. "Maybe, they are preparing to roll it down". I thought.
Then, I decided to go down, but my grandfather was behind me.
“Don't come up here again! It is dangerous, do you understand?” he said.
"Yes Grandfather, I understand".
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