Why Dog and Cat are Enemies

A long time ago, there lived a husband and his wife.
They were rich. They lived in a big house. What did they do so they became very rich? Well, the family had a golden ring. It was a magic ring. Whoever had the ring, they would become very rich.
The family had a dog and a cat. It was the time when dogs and cats were best friends. They never had arguments and always helped each other.

One night, a thief came to the house. He stole the magic ring! The family was sad. They knew slowly they would be poor.
Well, it finally happened. They became poor.

They no longer had happy lives. They even did not have enough food.
The dog and the cat were sad to see their masters' condition.
“We have to help our masters. They are very kind to us. Now it's time to pay back,“ said the dog.
“I agree. We have to help our masters find the magic ring,“ replied the cat.
The dog and the cat started to find the magic ring. They asked other animals if they had heard about the ring.
They asked a mouse. He answered, “Yes, I've heard about the ring. Unfortunately it is kept in a house across the river.“
“Can you show it us?“ asked the cat.

“Yes, I can. But I cannot cross the river. The current is too strong,“ said the mouse.
The dog answered, “Don't worry. I will help you both.“
The cat was not able to swim while the dog was a good swimmer. So, the dog took them on his back and slowly started to swim.
They found the house! The thief kept the ring in a drawer. It was too small for the dog and the cat to reach the ring. Well, it was only the mouse that could do the job.
He got it! They carefully left the house and went back home. Again, the dog took the cat and the mouse on his back and started to swim.

When they arrived at the other side of the river, the dog was very tired. He said to the cat, “You go now and give this ring to our masters. I want to get some rest. I'm too tired to walk.“
The cat nodded. He immediately ran to their masters' house. The family was so excited when they saw their golden ring.
“You're very clever. Thank you very much,“ said the husband.
The wife gave the cat some food.
“Here, eat this food. You must be hungry after going to find this ring.“
The cat immediately ate it. Yes, he was terribly hungry.
While the cat was enjoying his food, the dog finally came home. He was also hungry. He asked, “Can you share your food?“ Before the cat answered, the husband yelled.

“Hey, don't disturb the cat. The food is his reward after finding this ring. Go now!“ They beat and scolded the dog. The dog grew angry at the cat, because the cat had stolen his reward. The dog chased and tried to bite him.
Since then dogs and cats are enemies. - Media Indonesia, 20 Juli 2014, Halaman 20

The Girl in the Moon Folklore From Siberia


THERE was a poor little girl in the village. Her parents had just died.
She then had to live alone in her house. She could not eat properly.
At night, she was hungry. She had to sleep with her empty stomach.
The villagers felt sorry for her.

They wanted to do something to help her. However, they were also poor. They could not adopt her.
The villagers were discussing how to help the little girl.
“One of us has to adopt her. She is too young to live alone. She cannot take care of herself,“ said one villager.
“Yes...but who can afford to adopt her? We are poor,“ replied another villager.
“We are not equally poor. There must be the richest family among us,“ said another.
They all nodded. They then discussed who could take care of the poor little girl. They finally found one man. They all thought that he was the richest in the village. Well, the man could not say no. He finally brought the girl to his home.
The man's wife was so unhappy to see the little girl.

“We have to feed our own children and now we have to feed her?“ she asked her husband.
“You can ask her do things to help you,“ replied the man.
The woman could not argue her husband. After all, it was not his decision to take care of the girl. It was all the villagers' decision.

The girl thought that her life would completely different after she moved to the man's house.
Sadly, she was wrong. Her life was worse. She still could not eat properly and she still had to work hard.
After the girl stayed there, the man's wife did nothing. She always asked the girl to do the household chores.
The girl often cried. Her tears rolled down her beautiful face.
She had no one to talk about her problems.

At nights, the girl looked at the moon and told her about all her miserable life. The moon heard the girl's problem. She also felt sorry for her.

In one cold winter night, the woman asked the girl to get some water from the river. The little girl said, “Can I get it tomorrow morning? It's dark and also very cold outside.“

The woman was angry. “I don't care! If you don't get me some water, you have to leave this house now!“ The woman forced the girl to go out. The girl had no other choice.
She was terribly scared of her.

The little girl went to the river. She felt very cold and also hungry. She had not eaten all day. The woman always asked her to do things.

The little girl started to cry. She could not take the pain any lon ger. She looked up the moon and said, “Dear Moon...
P l e a s e t a ke m e now. I cannot live h e r e a ny m o r e . I cannot hold this pain.
Please take me. You are the only friend I have. Please, Moon...
take me away now.“

The moon looked down and heard the girl's cry. She really felt sorry for her. The moon slowly came down to the little girl and picked her up.

Since then the little girl lived happily in the moon. Parents in the village then told their children about a little girl who used to live on earth but then she lived happily in the moon. The story was passed down to generations until now. Media Indonesia, 13 Juli 2014, Halaman 20

FUN WITH ENGLISH The Story of Two Frogs FOLKLORE FROM JAPAN

ONCE upon a time, there lived two frogs. They lived in different cities.
One frog lived in Osaka and the other one lived in Kyoto. The frog living in Osaka was tired living in his city. He got bored and wanted to have a new life. He asked some animals about the best place to live.

“Why don't you go to Kyoto? It's a beautiful place,“ said a rabbit.
The frog was curious. He asked other animals and their answer was the same, “Kyoto is a beautiful place.“
The frog then made up his mind.
He would leave Osaka for Kyoto.

Meanwhile, there was a frog living in Kyoto. He also felt bored living in his city. He wanted to go to other city and stay there.
He asked a goat about the best place to live. The goat answered, “The best place is Osaka. Why don't you go there?“ The frog was not satisfied. He asked other animals, the answer was the same. They all said, “Osaka is the best place.“
So, those two frogs left their hometowns at exactly the same time. The frog living in Osaka left for Kyoto and the frog living in Kyoto left for Osaka.

Those two frogs did not know each other and they had n e v e r met. However, strangely they had the same plan.
They wanted to leave their own cities. The two frogs finally started their journeys. It was very tiring. They never thought that their journeys would be very difficult. They almost gave up. However, their dream to visit the other city was so big that the two frogs suddenly had extra energy to continue their journeys.

After spending for days, the two frogs finally met face to face. They greeted each other.
“Good day. How are you?“ asked the frog living in Osaka “I'm fine, thank you. Where are you going?“ “I'm going to Kyoto. How about you?“ “I'm going to Osaka. Hey, you know what? I live in Kyoto.“
“That's strange. I live in Osaka.

Please tell me, is Kyoto far from here?“ “Yes, it is. How about Osaka? Is it far from here?“ “Yes, it is. It's far from here.“
Well, those two frogs were hesitant. They did not know whether they would continue their journey or not.
The Osaka frog had an idea. “Since the city that we will visit is still far from here, why don't we stand up on our hind legs and hold onto each other. Then we can each look at the town we are traveling to.“

The Kyoto frog agreed. He immediately jumped up and put his front paws on the shoulder of his friend, who had risen also. There they both stood, stretching themselves as high as they could and holding each other tightly, so that they might not fall down. The Kyoto frog turned his nose towards Osaka, and the Osaka frog turned his nose towards Kyoto.
Unfortunately, they forgot that when they stood up their great eyes lay in the backs of their heads, and though their noses might point to the places to which they wanted to go, their eyes were looking at the places from which they had come.
Therefore, the Osaka frog was still looking at Osaka and the Kyoto frog was still looking at Kyoto.

“Wow!“ yelled the Osaka frog, “Kyoto is exactly like Osaka. It is certainly not worth such a long journey. I will go home!“ “If I had known that Osa ka looks like Kyoto, I would never have traveled all this way,“ said the frog from Kyoto.
The two frogs then said polite farewell and went home again. They still believed that Osaka and Kyoto, though they were very far apart, looked exactly the same. Media Indonesia, 6 Juli 2014, Halaman 9

How Bear Lost His Tail : FOLKLORE FROM NORWAY

FOLKLORE FROM NORWAY
A long time ago, bears had long tails and they were also friendly. However, now bears have short tails and they are not friendly. They always growl at almost every animal they meet. How did this happen? Well, let's read story to find out.
Back in the old days, Bear had long and beautiful tail. He was very proud of it. He always showed off his beautiful tail to other animals. He often wagged his tail and that made other animals amazed to see its beauty.
The Fox was so jealous to see the Bear's tail. Unlike the Bear's tail, his tail was shorter and not beautiful. He hated when he saw the Bear was wagging and showing off his long and beautiful tail.

The Fox really hated the Bear. He was thinking how the Bear lost his tail. He had a bad idea! It was winter. The river was frozen. Its surface was covered by thick ice. The bear had not been eating fish for days. He was so hungry.
The Bear had broken some spots on the surface and tried to grab the fish with his paw. Unfortunately, he could not catch any fish. While he was trying to grab the fish, the Bear saw the Fox was carrying a big fish.

He asked, “Mr Fox, how did you get the fish?“ The Fox smiled. His plan was working. The Bear wanted to know how he got the fish.
The Fox said, “If I tell you how to catch the fish, will you follow my instructions?“ The Bear wagged his tail. He always did that when he felt very happy. On the contrary, that made the Fox became more jealous.
The Bear said, “Sure... I will do anything you say.“

“Listen, I caught the fish by making a small hole in the ice,“ said the Fox.
The Bear could not believe what he heard. He asked, “A small hole? It's impossible, I broke a large spot and still could not catch any fish.“

The Fox explained, “Your technique is wrong! You just have to make a small hole. Later, place your tail inside the hole. Let your tail hang in the water for a moment. If you feel any pain, it's because the fish is biting your tail. The more pain you feel, the bigger the fish you will get.“

The Bear was happy. Again, he wagged his tail. “I understand. Thank you for your advice, Mr Fox.“ Soon, the Bear made a small hole on the surface of the river. After that, he placed his tail inside the hole. He waited for a moment. Slowly, he felt some pain in his tail. He remembered what the Fox said.

“It is not really painful. I'm sure the fish is small. I want to catch a big fish. I will wait,“ thought the Bear. Well, what actually happened? The hole was slowly frozen. The pain that Bear felt was because the hole started to squeeze his tail. Finally, the Bear could not hold the pain any longer.
With his big power, he stood up and tried to jump. He was screaming in pain! “Ouch!“ He yelled loudly.
It was so painful. He thought he caught a very big fish. When he looked at his tail, he did not see any fish! Instead, he lost his long and beautiful tail. It became very short! “Oh no! Where's my tail?“ He saw his tail slowly drowning into the bottom of the river.

The Bear was so angry! He just lost his long and beautiful tail.
He growled loudly and looked for the Fox! “ M r Fo x ! W h e r e a r e you? You just fooled me! Come here!“ The Bear screamed loudly. He was terribly angry and wanted to kill the Fox. He l o o ke d e v e r y where but the Fox had gone. Since then, bears have short tails and they are not friendly any more. They always growl at any animals. SENO - Media Indonesia, 29/06/2014, halaman 20