Theme: Prejudice; love of nature; true love
Appearances are deceiving
Marcelo lived in a beautiful farm where he was close to
animals and plants. When he came home from school, he
had lunch and went to his large backyard to play or even
rest, watching the nature.
One day Marcelo saw, on a low branch
of the mango tree, a small, well-made bird's nest in the
shape of a little cup. He didn't take long to realize it
was from a hummingbird mom.
In Marcelo's mind a thousand of
things crossed. He would protect the nest by helping
Mom's hummingbird, and then, when the chicks were born,
they would be his friends, fly around him, and land on
his finger. These thoughts filled Marcelo with joy and
he already loved these babies even before they were
born.
He arranged a net and placed it under
the tree, circling the trunk and protecting the branch
so that the dogs could not reach the nest. And he often
used to observe it. One day he saw two very small eggs
inside it. What a joy he felt. His little friends were
on their way.
Marcelo then wondered what they would
be like. I wish they were male and female and blue and
green, bright as their mother.
More than a couple of weeks has
passed since the eggs appeared. Marcelo continued to
visit the nest daily, expecting to meet his new friends.
One Sunday afternoon, after a walk
with his family, the boy went, as usual, to the mango
tree. What a surprise!
Instead of the little eggs, there
were two hideous, greyish animals inside the nest, with
two large balls on their heads, like huge, ugly eyes.
They had wisps of lint all over their bodies. And they
moved slowly, a little awkwardly.
Marcelo was so horrified that he
screamed and, not knowing what to do, ran to meet his
mother.
- Mommy, mommy! There are some
animals in the nest! They must be caterpillars or
something and they must have eaten the eggs because they
are gone!
The mother hugged her son and said,
feeling sorry.
- Too bad, honey! I'm so sorry! Just
now that the chicks were so close to being born. I know
how much you expected for them.
Marcelo hugging his mother cried
disconsolately.
After some time, the sadness gave way
to anger and Marcelo returned to the yard determined to
take the nest and kill those intruder and disgusting
animals.
But when he arrived, he saw the
hummingbird mom near the nest. Figuring she would do the
work herself, he slowly approached to watch her.
He could hardly believe it when he
saw exactly the opposite of what he expected! Nestled on
the edge of the nest, Mother Hummingbird fed those two
ugly beings who opened their mouths to her.
Marcelo was stunned. He suddenly
realized that the animals he had found horrible, and
even wanted to pull out of the nest, were the
long-awaited chicks! He didn't know, but baby birds are
not born cute like dogs or cats. They are born with a
naked body, just a few tufts of feathers, with big eyes,
huge mouth and short beak.
He was relieved and happy to see that
the baby birds were alive. But at the same time
embarrassed too, for making such a mistake.
Marcelo kept following and taking
care of that dear family. The chicks developed, were
beautiful and one day flew out of the nest, happily!
Never again in his life did he has
forgotten the lesson he learned from them: that
appearances can be deceiving. That our hasty judgments
can lead us to great mistakes. He also learned that true
love must be like that of a hummingbird, for whom the
appearance of the babies made no difference. With
patience and dedication, she provided the necessary
conditions for ugly and fragile chicks to become
beautiful and agile hummingbirds!
Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com
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