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The snow was descending rapidly and the ground was covered with a layer of dazzling white. In the bitterly cold wilderness, a man was hurrying along. He was so cold he was shivering, and his footsteps gradually got slower, before coming to a halt as he fell, unable to support himself anymore. Just then, a young man passed by. “Save me!” The fallen man pleaded with the young man. “Please help me up, for I am going to freeze to death soon.” The young man shook his head, “No, I’m rushing somewhere. If I have to hold you up while walking, I will slow myself down!” With that, the young man walked away heartlessly. Not long after, a middle-aged man passed by and noticed the man lying down in the snow. When he realized the man was still breathing, he helped the man up immediately. Carrying the man on his back, he gritted his teeth and made the slow journey onwards. Gradually, the man on his back woke up, and was extremely grateful to the middle-aged man for saving him. Thanking him profusely, he said, “You’ve carried me on your back for so long you must be extremely tired, let me carry you on my back now!” In this way, they took turns carrying each other and continued forward into the wilderness. After walking a distance, they saw a man lying face-down in the snow, frozen to death. It was the young man who had been rushing earlier. The two men continued making their way until they finally exited the wilderness. Why didn’t they freeze to death in the bitter cold? Boys and girls, do you know why? Well, it’s because they took turns carrying each other, and when their bodies were pressed together it kept them warm, until they were able to reach their destination safely.

There lived an elephant named Dongdong. One day, he saw a group of monkeys playing football, and so he asked, “Hello! Can I play with you too?” “Sure, welcome!” said the friendly monkeys. Dongdong was delighted. But when he started playing, he ended up flattening their football instead of kicking it. The monkeys cried, “Go away! We won’t play with you anymore!” Dongdong was very sad and walked away with his head hung low. Not long later, he saw some rabbits playing on their swing, and so he asked hopefully, “Hello! Can I play with you too?” “Sure, welcome!” said the friendly rabbits. But to his dismay, once Dongdong sat on the swing, the entire structure came tumbling down! “Boohoo!” wailed the rabbits. “In the future we won’t be able to swing anymore!” Dongdong was upset. “It’s all my fault, I’m dumb and heavy and I can’t play any games!” And so he thought long and hard, and finally he came to a decision: I MUST LOSE WEIGHT! From that day on, besides drinking water, Dongdong did not eat anything at all. Naturally, his body slimmed down as the days went by. “Hurray, I’ve succeeded! I’m slim!” Dongdong was so ecstatic he decided to tell everyone the good news. “Ah! Who are you?” No one could recognize Dongdong with his new body, but they were all afraid of his strange appearance. “Oh no! You are a monster! Hurry everyone, run!” From then on, all the animals were very afraid. “Will that monster hurt us?” That night, they suddenly noticed a pair of gleaming eyes staring at them in the darkness through the trees. “Oh dear, the monster is back!” But before they had even finished their exclamations, a fierce creature had leapt out from the undergrowth. “OH NO! It’s not the monster, it’s a black panther!” When the animals heard that, all the blood drained from their faces. They were so very frightened! “Hurry, run! Faster, before it can catch us!” Everyone ran as fast as they could, and finally they were able to elude the panther. Suddenly, they heard cries calling for help from the forest. Immediately, everyone rushed to the source of the cries, only to find an injured animal lying in the bushes. “Ah! Isn’t that the monster?” Everyone exclaimed in fear. “No! I’m not a monster, I’m Dongdong! I’ve been bitten by the panther..” Everyone was surprised! Why did Dongdong look like that? And so Dongdong, his voice quavering and weak, explained about his dieting to the animals. Upon hearing that, a monkey protested, “But you’re not fat! You’re just strong!” After dressing his wound, all the animals then decided to go out and search for food for him. “We must eat sufficient food everyday in order to stay fit and strong!” explained the monkeys. On this day, everyone was carrying all the fruits they could find back for Dongdong, when suddenly, a black blur flashed by! It was the panther! None of the animals had time to hide. It seemed that all hope was lost. But at that very moment, Dongdong rushed out from where he had been resting, and coiled his long nose around the panther, stopping it from moving! With a flick of his powerful nose, the panther was thrown all the way down the mountain, never to harass them again! “Hurray for Dongdong!” Everyone cheered. “In the future no one will dare to harm us again!” Dongdong thanked everyone profusely for their help, “Thank you for helping me to regain my strength.” From then onwards, all the animals played with Dongdong often. Dongdong invited the rabbits to swing with him, but instead of swinging on a wooden swing, he let the rabbits sit on his long nose, where he would swing them around! Dongdong said happily, “Look, my swing will never be spoilt!” And as for the monkeys, they would invite Dongdong for all their matches. But what was different was that Dongdong became their goalkeeper instead! “Dongdong is the BEST goalkeeper in the world!” proclaimed the monkeys proudly. And isn’t that the truth? With Dongdong as the goalkeeper, the monkeys have never lost a single match. Boys and girls, do you know why?

Mr. Peacock opened a beauty salon in the forest. On the opening day, many animals gathered to queue bright and early in the morning. The first of the queue was Mr. Rooster. He showed Mr. Peacock a photograph and told him, “I want a beak just like Mr. Eagle’s, please help me change my beak!” And so Mr. Peacock helped Mr. Rooster change his beak according to the photograph. Mr. Rooster looked into the mirror, admiring his reflection, and was very satisfied. “Yes, I look much more regal now!” The next customer was little Miss Duck. She confided to Mr. Peacock, “Whenever I walk I have to waddle side to side, and it’s so ugly! I want to change my feet, please help me change them to feet like Mr. Rooster’s!” And so Mr. Peacock helped little Miss Duck get a pair of chicken feet, and even painted glossy red nail polish for her! Little Miss Duck walked off very pleased with her new feet. Next was Mr. Squirrel. He pointed glumly at his bushy tail, saying, “Look at my tail! It’s even larger than my body! It’s so lopsided and looks terrible.” And so Mr. Peacock helped Mr. Squirrel change his tail to a round and small one. Mr. Squirrel was simply delighted! “Hurray, now my new tail is even prettier than Miss Rabbit’s!” But within a few days, Mr. Rooster, little Miss Duck, and Mr. Squirrel all returned to the salon sighing heavily. Mr. Rooster said, “Look! My eagle beak is so curved it’s hard for me to peck at any bits of food on the ground. I’m starving!” Little Miss Duck cried, “It’s horrifying, my new pair of feet don’t have webs and I can’t swim! The other day, I nearly drowned!” And Mr. Squirrel said sadly, “I can’t even jump around from tree to tree. Without my bushy tail, my body cannot balance and when I tried to jump I fell down! Look, my leg is injured now, and it hurts!” When Mr. Peacock heard all of this, he was very upset. “How about this? I’ll return all of you to your original states, for free!” And so, Mr. Rooster got back his sharp beak, little Miss Duck regained her webbed feet, and Mr. Squirrel changed back to his practical bushy tail. From then on, the animals never went for plastic surgery again. Before long, the beauty salon in the forest had gone out of business too.

The little duck was very envious of Mr. Rooster, because every morning, all it took was one loud crow from him, for the entire village to be roused awake. The little duck wanted to be able to do that too! Early in the morning, he opened his mouth and tried quacking with all his might, but no one woke up. So, he thought of a wonderful idea. Just before dawn, he rushed to Mr. Rooster’s side. When Mr. Rooster started crowing, the little duck started quacking as well! Sure enough, everyone was roused awake. The little duck was extremely happy and proud of his success. He rushed to ask the old bull, “Hi Mr. Bull! Did you get woken up by me today?” But old Mr. Bull shook his head, “No, I was woken up by the rooster.” He rushed to ask the pig, “Hi Mr. Pig! Did you get woken up by me today? Did you hear my cries this morning?” But Mr. Pig only shook his head, “No!” The poor little duck! He was very disappointed. He thought to himself, “Perhaps my voice isn’t loud enough, so no one heard me!” But he was undaunted and refused to give up on his hopes. “I know! I will run to each house and quack in front of each door! This way, they will surely hear me!” So, before dawn, he rushed to each door and started quacking non-stop. Quack quack! Quack quack! Suddenly, a door opened and an old lady came bustling out of one of the houses angrily. “It’s the middle of the night and you’re making a din! I’m going to beat you to death!” The poor little duck was beaten until he felt dizzy, and he finally managed to escape with much difficulty. When Mr. Rooster saw the little duck, he asked concernedly, “Whatever happened to you?” “Oh, nothing, nothing,” The little duck brushed it off with a wry smile. “At least I managed to wake one household up… Hehe.”

The little airplane and the white clouds were the best of friends. The little airplane often flew through the clouds and they had lots of fun together. But one day, the little airplane realized that all the clouds were gone! All that was left was the blue sky. “How strange, where have my friends gone?” He was very disappointed, and so he flew back to the ground. Suddenly, a nearby stream shouted to him, “Little airplane, do you recognize me?” “Who are you?” asked the little airplane. “I’m your friend, the white clouds, silly!” said the stream. “When I’m up in the sky I’m clouds, but I change to raindrops, and finally I reach the earth and become the stream!” “That’s great!” exclaimed the little airplane. “I don’t care what shape or form you’re in, you’re always my best friend!” But one day, when he flew over to find the stream, he realized that the stream had disappeared. “Oh no! What has happened?” The little airplane circled the area for a long while trying to find the stream, but he finally gave up and flew back into the sky. While in the sky, he suddenly heard a voice. “Little airplane, do you recognize me?” “Who are you?” asked the little airplane, looking around. He couldn’t see anyone at all. “I’m water vapour now, friend! I was the stream, but when Mr. Sun shone on me, I changed to water vapour!” “That’s great!” exclaimed the little airplane happily. “Even though I cannot see you, just knowing my best friend is right there with me, I’m happy enough!” The water vapour rose to the skies and gradually became the white clouds again. The little airplane and his friends were reunited finally! He flew through the clouds again and again, not bearing to leave them after getting them back. But one day, the white clouds suddenly changed their colour, becoming blacker and blacker. The little airplane was very scared. Before he had any chance to ask why, a flash of lightning bolted across the sky, and with the rumbling of thunder, raindrops started pelting down, hitting the little airplane, who squealed with pain. “Why have my friends become like this?” cried the frightened little airplane. The rain kept falling and soon, many places became flooded. “Oh no! My dear friends have washed the houses on earth away!” The little airplane was so frantic and upset, he started crying. He was unable to land anywhere due to the rain so he could only fly around and around in the sky, until he was so very, very tired. After a long, long time, the rain gradually stopped. Mr. Sun started smiling, and the white clouds appeared in the sky again! “White clouds, why were all of you so fierce just now?” asked the little airplane. “We’re so sorry, we don’t mean to either!” cried one of the clouds sadly. “We can’t control most of these situations. For example, when the humans pollute the air, the temperature and climate change drastically and we’re affected too…” “That’s right,” agreed another cloud. “And when humans chop off all the trees, all the rainwater is unable to be absorbed sufficiently, and that causes great floods!” The little airplane nodded in understanding, and asked earnestly, “So what can I do to help you?” “Well, to be honest,” said a cloud. “When you’re flying, the amount of black smoke you emit also pollutes the air too…” “Really?” The little airplane was so upset when he heard that, he flew off without saying another word. For the next few weeks, the white clouds did not see the little airplane anymore, and they were all very worried. “Do you think we offended him that day with our frank words?” “Or maybe he’s just ill?” Just as they were discussing this issue, they saw a distant black dot looming larger as it approached them. “Look, it’s the little airplane! He’s back!” The white clouds smiled merrily. “Hello everyone!” The little airplane greeted everyone happily. “We’re all so sorry,” the clouds apologized. “The other day we were too quick with our words and we offended you.” “No!” protested the little airplane. “If you had not pointed out my flaw, I wouldn’t have known either!” The little airplane gave a little twirl, and said, “But look! I have already corrected that flaw, now I have a solar panel. That way, I won’t ever emit smoke while flying again!” “That’s wonderful!” The white clouds gathered around the little airplane, cheering. “We like friends like you!” The little airplane was so ecstatic, he flew through the clouds again and again in delight! Look, how beautiful the sky is!

Mr. Strongman was a robot. He loved to help others, but often, he ended up making things worse. Everyone called him the brainless Mr. Strongman, all brawn but no brain. One day, he saw a car on fire, and without a word, he picked the car up and ran to the river. He threw the car into the river, and said complacently, “Aha! I managed to put out the fire!” “Hey! Why did you throw my car into the river?!” A man ran over, shouting and pointing at Mr. Strongman. “I was helping you to put out the fire! But instead of thanking me, you’re scolding me!” Angrily, Mr. Strongman stalked away. “I don’t know why people never appreciate what I do for them!” After walking awhile, he noticed a little boy crying, and asked kindly, “Why, what’s wrong, little boy?” “My kite is stuck in the tree, and I can’t take it down!” “Don’t cry, I’ll help you!” Without further thought, Mr. Strongman uprooted the entire tree and overturned it. “There! Now you can get your kite.” Unexpectedly though, the little boy started crying even more loudly. “You uprooted the tree… Now my father will scold me and in the future I won’t have any fruits to eat… Boohoo…” “Argh! These people! Really..” Mr. Strongman heaved an exasperated sigh and walked away. One day, a block of buildings were on fire. Mr. Strongman was immediately on the scene. “I will help to put out the fire!” “And how do you plan to do so? Are you going to throw our houses into the sea?” There was a ripple of laughter in the crowd. Mr. Strongman hung his head, unsure of what to do or say. The fire grew in intensity and the people started to panic. “Oh no, why isn’t the fire engine here yet?” “I heard there’s a traffic jam, so the fire engine can’t get over here!” “I have a way!” With that, Mr. Strongman rushed towards the road. Wow! He picked up the fire engine as if it was a toy, and carried it on his shoulder as he made his way through the cars. “Look, the fire engine is finally here!” cried the people. “Ah, it looks like it’s flying!” Mr. Strongman carried the fire engine to the burning building, where he set it down. Everyone cheered! The firemen rushed bravely into the building and started the rescue operations. Finally, at long last, the fire was finally put out. “Mr. Strongman, this time you have done the right thing!” Applause showered down on him. “You are fantastic!” “Thank you, thank you!” said Mr. Strongman, scratching his head. “In the future I will use my brain more, so my brain will… fatten? No, not fatten. So my brain will… swell? No, not that too. Oh dear, look what happened! Once they praised me, my brain seems to have been spoilt again!”

One day, Mother Squirrel rushed to find Policeman Bear. Panting heavily with every word, she cried to him, “Oh no! Something bad has happened! My poor baby is flying into the sky! Please, please save him!” Policeman Bear opened his eyes wide, unbelievingly. “What? Baby Squirrel is flying into the sky?” “Yes, someone gave him a bunch of balloons and just like that he flew off!” “Alright, let’s get to action immediately!” Policeman Bear ordered all the animals of the land, sea, and air to be prepared and on the alert. Everyone was to try their best and work together to rescue Baby Squirrel! The Eagle was the first to get to the sky. With his good eyesight, he spotted Baby Squirrel immediately, and shouted, “Don’t be afraid, Baby Squirrel! We are coming to save you!” Poor Baby Squirrel! He was clutching onto the balloons for dear life, afraid to let go. The Eagle flew over and burst the balloons with his beak one by one. Pop! Pop! As they burst Baby Squirrel fell down and further down. He was so alarmed he shouted, “Help! Help!” But mid-air, a flock of birds were already prepared for this. They spread out their great wings and huddled together, forming a ‘carpet’ in the air. With a plop, Baby Squirrel settled onto this safety net. He heaved a sigh of relief, but the wind was whirling so greatly that Baby Squirrel got blown away again! “Help! Help!” Right beneath him was a vast ocean, and the prospect of falling into it scared Baby Squirrel so much he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. But surprisingly, he did not fall into the sea! A school of whales had gathered and all of them were spewing water jets high into the air, propelling and supporting Baby Squirrel in the air! What a near miss! Before Baby Squirrel was even clear of what was going on, a pelican in the air had already swooped in carefully through the water jets, sweeping him up in his giant pouch of a beak. “Don’t be afraid, Baby Squirrel! I will send you safely back home!” But this poor pelican had been drenched by the water jets, and as he flew he suddenly let out a huge sneeze – Achoo! And with that, Baby Squirrel was thrown out in the air again! He tumbled out into empty air, hurtling down towards the ground. “Don’t be afraid, Baby Squirrel! We will save you!” On the ground, Policeman Bear and the other animals had all brought nets of various sizes, and were running back and forth, preparing to catch Baby Squirrel once he landed. “Look, he’s falling down!” “Forward, forward! Left! No, right! Hurry! Catch him!” “Oh no! He bounced up again!” Just when Baby Squirrel had bounced up from the net, a monkey jumped out from a nearby tree and caught him in his arms! All around them the sound of cheering could be heard – Baby Squirrel was finally saved! Mother Squirrel hugged her darling tightly, crying. “We must really thank all of them!” she said. But when they turned around, all the animals were lying on the ground. They were all so tired from the rescue efforts, they had fallen asleep!

Baby Raven had a bad habit – he loved to sleep, too much! Every day without fail, he would only wake up long after the sun had risen. “If you continue sleeping, we won’t be able to find any worms to eat!” Mother Raven often admonished Baby Raven. “In the future I won’t be around to help you find food!” “It’s alright, I have my ways!” said Baby Raven uncaringly. “Look at Miss Owl! She also sleeps in the morning, and all her activities are done in the night. If she can survive, so can I!” One day, Baby Raven woke up extremely late and could not find any food. He was so hungry. So, he decided to search out Miss Owl. “Hello, Miss Owl, can you please teach me how to find food in the darkness?” “Sure, come along and fly with me!” With that, Miss Owl flapped her wings and set off into the night, with Baby Raven following closely behind. But as it grew darker, Baby Raven could not see in front of him, and soon he lost track of Miss Owl. Baby Raven could only stop. The forest was dark and cold, and he was so very afraid. Throughout the long night he could not fall asleep. Finally, the morning dawned and he dragged his tired self home. The sun rose, and while everyone scurried around finding food, Baby Raven was still asleep in his nest, snoring loudly. He slept all the way till the evening before he woke up. Upon waking up, his first thought was, “I’m so hungry!” He wanted to fly out and look for food, but to his dismay, he was so weak that when he flapped his wings, he found himself falling from the tree. “Ouch! That hurts!” Suddenly, his eyes lit up. “Worms! Look, so many worms on the ground!” Immediately he felt more energized. “Humph, whoever said only early birds get the worm? Well, now I’m going to eat my fill!” Just then, Baby Raven sensed many pairs of eyes looking at him. When he looked closely, he realized that they were his brothers and sisters! Sister Raven told him, “Go ahead and eat! Mother was afraid you’d be hungry, and so she caught all these worms and put them here for you to eat.” Baby Raven blushed - he simply did not know what to say! That night, he flew to Mother Raven and told her firmly, “Mother, from tomorrow onwards, I will wake up very early! You just have a good rest. Let me find food for you to eat instead!” Mother Raven hugged Baby Raven tightly, saying, “O dear silly child, I’m already used to waking up early. Tomorrow morning, let’s both fly out and find food together!” That night, Baby Raven slept very soundly and sweetly. He had already made up his mind: Once morning dawned, he would wake up immediately and fly out with his mother, marking the beginning of a beautiful new day.