APRIL
The Magic Porridge Pot
Once upon a time in a small village, there lived a little girl with her mother. Her father, a woodcutter, had just passed away. The mother and daughter were so poor that often they had to go to bed on an empty stomach. One day, they found that they had nothing left to eat. The little girl went to the forest to find some fruits. In the forest, she saw an old lady who was drowning. She saved the old lady who was very grateful to the little girl. The old lady asked her why she looked so sad. The girl replied that she was hungry and so was her mother.
Unknown to her, the old lady was actually a good witch. She gave her a little magic pot. The old lady said, 'With this magic pot, you will never go hungry. All you have to say is, 'Cook little pot, cook' and you will have porridge. When the pot is full, you must say, 'Stop little pot, stop' and it will stop cooking.'
The little girl thanked her and ran towards her home. She showed her mother the pot. At first her mother refused to believe her. But when the little girl said, 'Cook little pot, cook', her mother was shocked to see the pot slowly getting filled with porridge. When the pot was filled, the little girl said, 'Stop little pot, stop.' So the mother and daughter never went hungry again.
One day, the little girl went to visit her friend. Her mother who was hungry decided to use the magic pot and said, 'Cook little pot, cook.' But when the pot was filled the mother could not remember the magic words to stop the pot from cooking. The porridge began to overflow from the pot and into the whole village!
When the little girl came home, she quickly said the magic words and so the porridge stopped flowing. The villagers had a busy time cleaning up their houses. But no one complained because the little girl shared the pot with everyone. No one went hungry in the village again.