Tales of Adventurous Girls
Tamasha and the Troll
Tamasha lived with her mother and two sisters on the beautiful island of Zanzibar.
One day, the sisters went to the beach, and Tamasha found a beautiful white shell. She held it near to her ear. "Oh! I can hear the sea!" she thought. Then she sang the song of the sea.
In the evening, the sisters walked home.
"Oh! I forgot my shell!" Tamasha cried.
Then she ran back to the beach. Her sisters did not go with her.
Tamasha found her shell on a rock. She was very happy, and she sang her song again. But Zamia, the big, bad troll, was behind the rock. He heard Tamasha's song.
"You can sing very well," he said. "You can help me."
Zimwi had a big drum, and he put Tamasha inside it.
Zimwi hit the drum. "Now you must sing!" he cried.
Tamasha sang her song inside the drum.
Zimwi carried the drum to a village. "This drum can sing," he said to the villagers. Then he hit the drum, and Tamasha sang.
"Now bring me some food!" he cried.
The villagers liked the song, and they brought Zimwi lots of food.
Zimwi carried the drum to lots of villages. "Sing, drum," he always said. Then he hit it, and Tamasha sang. But Zimwi never listened to her songs.
The villagers gave Zimwi lots of food, but Tamasha was very sad.
One day, Zimwi visited Tamasha's village. Tamasha heard her mother's voice.
"Sing, drum!" cried Zimwi. Then he hit the drum.
Tamasha sang, "Mother, I'm inside the drum."
"It's Tamasha!" thought her mother.
"We must help her!"
"Bring me food," Zimwi said to the villagers.
"I can cook you some food," said Tamasha's mother. "But I need some water from the river."
Zimwi went to the river.
Tamasha's mother opened the drum and found Tamasha.
Tamasha's mother was very angry with Zimwi. Then she had an idea. She caught some bees and put them in the drum.
Zimwi brought back some water from the river.
"Play your drum again!" the villagers cried.
"Sing, drum!" said Zimwi. Then he hit it.
But the drum did not sing. Zimwi hit it again. "SING!" he cried.
Then the drum opened, and the bees flew out of it. The bees were angry, and they flew towards Zimwi. "Ahhh!" he cried.
Zimwi ran out of the village. Tamasha and her family never saw him again.
Tokoyo and the Sea Serpent
Tokoyo's father was the Emperor of Japan's favourite samurai. The samurai loved his daughter, and she loved him.
Tokoyo's father was a good teacher.
He taught her how to swim, and how to use a knife, and a bow and arrow.
One day, Tokoyo's father visited the Emperor, but the Emperor was confused. He was confused because he was ill.
"Go to the island of Oki, and don't come back!" the Emperor told Tokoyo's father.
The samurai went to Oki, and Tokoyo cried every day.
Then, Tokoyo thought, "I must find Father."
Tokoyo travelled for many weeks. One day, she saw the sea, and the island of Oki.
There was a village near the sea.
"Please take me to the island," Tokoyo said to the villagers.
"No," they said. "We're frightened of the sea because a serpent lives there."
Tokoyo found an old boat. Voices from the sea cried, "Go back!" But Tokoyo was brave, and she went to Oki in the boat.
Then she saw a man and a girl at the top of a cliff. The girl was very frightened.
Tokoyo ran to the cliff.
"Why are you in this dangerous place?" she cried.
"I must throw the girl in the sea," said the man. "Every year, we have to throw a girl to the serpent. Then it doesn't kill people in our village."
Tokoyo was angry. "I can kill the serpent!" she cried.
Tokoyo carried her knife in her mouth, and she swam to the bottom of the sea. She found a statue of the Emperor, and she found the serpent.
Tokoyo was very brave, and she killed the serpent with her knife.
She took the serpent's body to the man and the girl.
"You helped us," said the girl. "How can we help you?"
"Please find my father," said Tokoyo. "The Emperor sent him to Oki."
The girl smiled. "Your father is living in our village," she said, and she took Tokoyo to him.
Tokoyo and her father went home.
"The Emperor is well now," people said.
"Then let's visit him," said Tokoyo's father.
The Emperor smiled at them. Then he said, "What is that?"
"I killed a serpent, and I found this statue of you," said Tokoyo.
"There was a curse on that statue. I am well because you killed the serpent and found that statue," said the Emperor. "You are brave, Tokoyo. You can be a samurai now!"
Tokoyo and her father were very happy.
Chandra and the Elephants
Chandra lived with her parents in a village in India. She washed the Rajah's elephants every day. She loved the elephants, and they loved her.
The villagers grew rice. Chandra's mother and father grew rice, too.
"I can help you," said the Rajah to the villagers. "Let me look after your rice."
The villagers brought their rice to him.
One year, it did not rain, and the villagers did not have any food.
"Can we have our rice?" they asked the Rajah.
"No!" said the greedy Rajah.
The villagers were hungry, but Chandra did not stop working. She washed the elephants every day.
But, one day, the Rajah's guards said, "You can't wash the elephants today. They are very ill."
Chandra was worried. "Can I talk to the Rajah, please?" she asked.
The guards took her to the Rajah in his beautiful palace. In front of him was a board with black and white squares.
"What do you want, little girl?" he said.
"I'm Chandra. I wash your elephants," she said. "I can help them. Please can I see them?"
"Yes, you can," said the Rajah.
The guards took Chandra to the elephants, and the big animals walked slowly towards her.
"Oh! You are very ill!" said Chandra, sadly. Then she looked at their bodies.
"Oh!" she said. "Your ears hurt! I must clean them."
Chandra cleaned the elephants' ears, and, after three days, the elephants were well again.
The Rajah was very happy. "Thank you. What can I give you?" he asked.
Chandra thought about the hungry villagers. "You can give me some rice," she said.
"Of course. How much rice do you want?" asked the Rajah.
Chandra looked at the Rajah's board.
"Please put one grain of rice on the first square," she said. "Then put two grains of rice on the second square, and put four grains on the third square."
"I understand," said the Rajah. "We must double the number of grains on every square. Let's start."
The Rajah's guards put all the rice in the palace on the board. Then the Rajah was worried. "There are sixty-four squares. I can't put rice on all the squares," he said. "That is too much rice! What can I do?"
Chandra smiled at him. "You've got the villagers' rice," she said. "Give it back to them."
"Of course," said the Rajah, and he was never greedy again.
Sea Girl and the Golden Key
Sea Girl lived in a small village near a big mountain in China. Sometimes, it did not rain, and the villagers' rice did not grow.
"I must help my family," Sea Girl thought.
One day, she found a beautiful lake on the mountain.
"We need water," Sea Girl thought. "There is lots of water in this lake."
Then she looked at the rocks next to the lake.
"We can't take this water down the mountain," she thought, sadly. "These rocks are too big."
Then she saw a door in the rocks, and she had an idea. "The lake is behind the door," she thought. "I must open the door."
A white bird flew near her. "You must find the key for the door," it said.
"Where can I find the key?" cried Sea Girl.
But the white bird flew away.
Then a red bird spoke to her. "You must speak to the Dragon King's daughter," it said.
"Where can I find her?" cried Sea Girl.
But the red bird flew away.
A blue bird stood near her. "Sing! The Dragon King's daughter loves songs," it said.
Then it flew away.
Sea Girl sang two songs. Then a girl walked out of the lake.
"Your songs are beautiful!" the girl said.
"Thank you," said Sea Girl. "Are you the Dragon King's daughter?"
"Yes," said the girl. "Who are you? Why are you here?"
"I'm Sea Girl, and I need water from this lake for my village," said Sea Girl. "Can you help me?"
"Yes, I can," said the girl.
"You can open the door to the lake with my father's key," said the girl. "It's in his cave, but a grey bird guards the cave."
The two girls went to the Dragon King's cave. The grey bird sat on a rock near it.
"The bird likes songs," said the girl. "I must sing to it."
The girl sang songs for the grey bird, and it moved towards her.
Sea Girl ran into the cave, and she found the key in a small brown box. Then the girls ran away.
The girls opened the door with the key, and the water went down the mountain.
Now there was a beautiful little river in the village. The villagers' rice grew, and no one was hungry again.
- THE END -
