STORYSPROUTS!!
free stories and poems for children
Folk Tale from Africa
THE HYENA AND THE OSTRICH
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In the mighty jungle,
Where the river bends…
An ostrich and hyena,
Were best of friends.
They talked, they laughed
Till the day's end.
Their little cubs and little chicks
Played catch and pretend!
Then the famine came,
There was very little food.
All the searching and hunting,
Gave hyena a bad mood.
Ostrich went far... ostrich went wide,
To keep her chicks satisfied.
Hyena on the other hand,
Didn’t care or understand
‘We’re hungry,”the cubs cried,
Making hyena very mad.
“I can’t hunt anymore,” she replied
And a wicked idea she then had.
When Ostrich was out, of her house
Hyena entered like a mouse.
“Stay here cubs, goodbye,” she said
She took the chicks with her instead.
Ostrich was shocked,
“MY CHICKS!” she cried.
“Give them back!!”
But hyena replied
“They’re my kids now,
The cubs you keep.
Feed them, feed them
Till they sleep.”
Ostrich ran to lion,
And all the jungle folk
“Help me”, she said crying.
“This is not a joke.”
To challenge the hyena...
No one really dared!
Until a little squirrel,
Was annoyed and declared.
“Oh! please...
can we not see?
Eggs hatch little chicks!
Not cubs, can we agree?”
Lion roared, "Now hear me,
Hyena, set those chicks free.
I'll be watching as you feed,
Your cubs and care for their need."
So in the end when all was done,
Hyena lost, ostrich won!
She got her chicks and walked away.
Hyena lost a friend that day.
Hey kids, What do you think of what Hyena did to her friend. How would you treat your friends when the going gets tough around you?
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