"The Wooden Bowl"

   Once upon a time, in a small town in Germany, lived a man called Kurt. He lived with his son, Manfred, and his daughter-in-law, Thekla. They all shared a little old house at the end of a quiet street in the town. Manfred was a carpenter and spent all his time in a workshop next to the house. He had learned carpentry from his father, who had been a famous carpenter in his day. Kurt had taught his son well, and the son earned a good living. He made furniture for the people of the town, and from time to time, he did some carving. The young couple, Manfred and Thekla, had a son called Wilhelm. The boy liked to sit in the workshop and watch his father. As he grew older, he helped his father by fetching and carrying things. He learned to clean the tools and to take care of them. He learned how to use a saw, a hammer, and a chisel. His grandfather taught him to carve wood into wonderful shapes. The grandfather was very old now and getting older every day! He was not very strong; his eyes were dim, and he could not see well. Sometimes his hands shook, and sometimes he sat in a chair and nodded off. In the evenings when they all sat down to dinner at the table, Manfred and Thekla used to get angry with the old grandfather. He was slow and clumsy. Sometimes he broke a glass, sometimes he dropped a spoon, and sometimes he spilled soup on his clothes. He was an old man, after all.

   One day during the evening meal, the old man dropped his plate on the floor. Crash! It smashed into a hundred tiny pieces, and the food fell all over the place. Thekla and Manfred began to clean up the floor. But how angry they were! After this accident, they bought him a cheap wooden bowl from the market and gave him his dinner in that. They made the old man sit by himself in the corner of the room to eat his food. The old man was sad. He kept quiet and did not complain. One evening, not long afterward, Thekla and Manfred had finished work for the day and were preparing the evening meal. When the meal was ready, they called for Wilhelm. They looked in his room, but he was not there. "Where could that boy be?" asked Thekla. Manfred had no idea. He asked the old man if he had seen Wilhelm, but the old man shook his head.

   Thekla and Manfred became a little worried. They looked out on the street, but Wilhelm was not there. Then they saw a light on in the workshop. They went to look. They stepped into the workshop and found their son sitting on the floor. He was cutting a small block of wood, and working as hard as he could. "Ah, there you are!" said Thekla. "What are you making, son?" asked Manfred. Wilhelm put down the block of wood and the chisel. He looked up at his parents. "I am making a wooden bowl for you to eat from when you are old," replied the boy. The parents looked at each other. Their eyes filled with tears. "Come, dinner is ready," said Thekla softly. And she put her arms around her son, and the three of them went back to the house. After this, Thekla and Manfred always asked the old grandfather to sit with them at the table.

Hafsa Murad

Soggat Academy Kallag