The crow grabbed the biscuit and flew up into a tree.
By Roshan Shah
Chinku was playing with her toys in the backyard when she spotted a crow fiddling around with a broom that lay in a corner. It was busy picking out long, feathery sticks from the broom with its big black beak. Every now and then, it would stop for a while, loudly call out ‘Kaw-Kaw-Kaw’, and then get back to work.
“Kaw-Kaw, what are you doing?”, Chinku said to the crow. “That’s Mumma’s new broom! It isn’t a toy to play with!”
The crow didn’t pay any attention to Chinku. It continued pecking away at the broom.
“Oh Kaw-Kaw! I think I know what you’re up to!” Chinku said. ” You want these sticks to build a nest for your babies!”
The crow turned to look at Chinku and flapped its wings about, as if to tell her that she was right.
“Okay Kaw-Kaw, I’ll help you,” Chinku offered. She lifted the broom and, one by one, separated the sticks and broke them into little bits. “That should make it easier for you to carry them to make your nest,” she said.
Chinku watched with great delight as the crow picked up bits of stick in its beak and flew up into a nearby tree. In a short while, it was back for more!
“Wuppy! You’ll soon have a warm little nest ready for your babies!” Chinku said excitedly.
Later that day, when Chinku’s mother discovered what had happened to the broom, she was very upset.
“It was a brand new broom and you ruined it! I paid a hundred rupees for it!” she scolded Chinku. “It was very naughty of you to have done what you did, Chinku.”
“But Mumma, I did that for Kaw-Kaw, not for myself,” Chinku replied. “I wanted to help her build her home for her babies.”
Chinku’s mother didn’t want to listen to her. She walked away in a huff.
Chinku felt very sad. She didn’t like being scolded by her mother”and certainly not for the good deed that she had done.
Some weeks later, Chinku was again in the backyard playing with her toys when she heard a familiar sound. It was a crow sitting on the fence, cawing loudly!
“Is that you, Kaw-Kaw?” Chinku asked excitedly.
The crow looked at Chinku and shook its head this way and that to say ‘Yes’.
Chinku put out a biscuit for the bird.
The crow grabbed the biscuit and flew up into a tree. As Chinku followed it, guess what she saw? A neat little nest, made of sticks from her mother’s broom! And what was more, there were three hungry beaks sticking out of the edge of the nest, waiting for their mother to bring in their breakfast!
“Kaw-Kaw, your babies have arrived!” Chinku exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. “And you’ve made such a cozy nest for them!”
“You are such a clever bird and such a loving mother, Kaw-Kaw!” Chinku said.
The crow looked at Chinku from high up in the tree and loudly cawed, as if to say, “And you are such a kind little girl, Chinku!”
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