Nahida's LongBeard

Marli's LongBeard

Piggy

It was pouring with rain in the little town of Riversdale. Deep underground, safe and warm, LongBeard the gnome and his friend Milly the millipede, were having a hot drink.

Milly was enjoying the rest, as she and the other millipedes had been very active above ground just before the rain had started. Millipedes are actually messengers that let us know when rain is coming. The higher millipedes climb up against walls and trees, the more rain is typically expected!

LongBeard and Milly loved sharing stories, and tonight was no exception.

“I will tell you about the time a piglet had a near escape,” LongBeard said.

“There was a farmer called John who used to farm with pigs. He was a competent man and looked after the animals in his care very well.

Sometimes, when a litter of piglets is born, there is one which is much smaller than the others. This one, called a runt, is often pushed away by its siblings in their competition to get the most milk from their mother. If a runt doesn’t suckle regularly and gets enough milk, it will die.

On this particular cold, winters day, the pig had 9 babies. After a while John noticed that the smallest one needed help. He removed it and took it into the house where his wife, Maggy, took over its care. She tucked the little one up warmly in old towels and put it in a box lined with straw. This box was kept in the kitchen near the wood stove, so that the piglet would be warm.

To add to the pig’s comfort, it was bottle fed every two hours for the first week of its life! It was hard work initially and every member of the family took it in turns to feed the baby pig. However, it was always worth the effort and very rewarding to see a strong little piglet rejoining its siblings within a few weeks.

By the time the piglet was 3 weeks old, it had outgrown its box and was moved to a wooden crate. He had been nicknamed Piggy and was becoming a strong and fat looking little fellow. Piggy was quite happy with this change and ran around in his straw lined new home. As the crate was too big for the kitchen, it was placed in an outside store room close to the house. For extra warmth, a light bulb was hung above Piggy’s crate.

What John did not know, was that mice in the ceiling of this store room had nibbled through the protective plastic covering of the electric wires. On this particular night, as the bare wires touched each other, it caused a spark and the cable started burning.

The light bulb above Piggy’s crate exploded and the sparks set the straw in his crate alight. Piggy squealed as a spark hit him on the leg and the heat of it stung him.

His squealing roused Rover, the dog, which was lying in the doorway. Rover smelled the acrid smoke and intuitively knew that there was trouble! He started barking. More of the straw caught alight and Rover saw the flames. Piggy squealed loudly in fear and Rover intensified his barking. He ran to the kitchen door and scratched on it to get John’s attention, all the time barking loudly.

John was an observant farmer, always listening carefully in case sounds alerted him to anything out of the ordinary going on outside. He immediately heard the barking and knew by the sound of it that something was wrong. As he opened the door, he heard piglet squealing and saw smoke coming from the store room.

He grabbed the fire extinguisher, which had conveniently been placed by the door and ran to the store room, shouting to alert Maggy and the children to the impending disaster. In the doorway of the store room he dropped down to his stomach so that he would be underneath the smoke curtain. He had learnt this technique when he was a fireman in his younger days. He saw flames coming from Piggy’s crate and quickly aimed the nozzle of the fire extinguisher towards it. Within moments the fire was doused.

He picked up poor Piggy where he was trying to hide in the corner of the crate. Thankfully, due to Piggy having tipped over the water bowl in his frantic scrabbling to try and get away from the fire, this part of the crate was wet and he had been saved from the flames. The little creature had a slight burn on his leg, but was otherwise unharmed.

As the smoke cleared, John noticed the burnt wire and made a mental note to check all the wiring in the ceiling the next day. He also decided that all electric wires would be put into secure tubing which would prevent such incidents in future.

Piggy was taken into the kitchen and wrapped in a towel. He was shivering with fright and Maggy gave him a bottle of milk to drink from. This soothed him and he relaxed straightaway. In the meantime, John had prepared a small crate and put it next to the stove. They put Piggy into this temporary new home and he fell asleep almost immediately.

John stroked Rover’s head and thanked him. He gave him some special dog biscuits which he used as treats. Rover wagged his tail, happily knowing he and John made a good team when it came to looking after the farm and all its inhabitants.”

2010 Copyright © LongBeard stories by Susan Bellingan Fourie

Acknowledgement: Jillene Henderson, isc.tamu.edu, cartoonstock.com, inmagine.com, lgfl.net, hebrideonhams.com, heightsants.com, earth911.com, Wilma Potgieter

The Soldier's Values

LongBeard and Podgy were sharing a mint drink in the shade of their favourite red and white toadstool. Podgy had come to see LongBeard as he had had a strange dream which he wanted LongBeard to help him understand. He had asked LongBeard to help him with dream interpretation before, and came prepared with his 6 words neatly written on a maple tree leaf.

LongBeard looked at the words, took a sip of his cool drink and said: “Podgy, my friend, here is the story which will help you understand your dream:

Billy knew that the happiness he was feeling now was short-lived. From where he was standing in the shade of the trees, he could hear the single bell tolling in the castle tower. This was a warning to the guards that someone had escaped, and the search would soon begin.

Earlier in the day, dissatisfied with the way the soldiers were treated, he had demanded an audience with his superior officer to discuss the situation. To his dismay, however, the colonel was annoyed by his request to grant the soldiers more time with their families.

This uncaring attitude had prompted him to resign on the spot.

Disappointment and anger had washed over him in waves as he left the office. It seemed as if the status quo was to remain. His vision of leading a battalion of men who were satisfied and highly motivated had been cut down by the cruel decision of the commanding officer.

Billy had been so upset that he decided he could not even stay to honour his one month resignation period. He was suddenly desperate for his freedom from the tyrannical entrapment of this regiment. Their false promises had been exposed and he was having none of it any longer.With stealth and strength he had climbed over the castle wall, and disappeared into the nearby forest.”

Acknowledgements: www.blazelightaround.com

2010 Copyright © LongBeard story Susan Bellingan Fourie

Saeed the Chameleon

LongBeard was sitting peacefully on his red and white toadstool, smoking his harmless herbacco pipe. His friend Colorby, the chameleon, was visiting him. They often sat together and spoke about how the world seemed to be constantly changing. Of course, for Colorby it wasn’t a problem, as he changed his colours as quickly as his environment changed around him!

Colorby was sitting on a colourful flower, chewing on a fly. “Please tell me about humans, LongBeard,” he requested. “My cousin was captured by them and we wonder how he is now.”

“Oh, I know all about your cousin!” exclaimed LongBeard. “I heard a girl on Cybernews talking about him. He's quite a celebrity now! It was heart warming to hear that there are humans who truly love animals and who care for them as much as we do. "

“Really?” exclaimed Colorby. “Who is the girl? Where is she from? Where is my cousin?” “Slowly, slowly,” said LongBeard, “I will tell you everything I heard. The girl is called Marli Henderson and she was interviewed by Scott Lindsay. They are both from a country down South called New Zealand. However, Marli presently lives in Dubai, a desert city where one would expect to find camels, rather than chameleons!”

“How on earth did my cousin end up with New Zealanders in Dubai?” asked Colorby, gasping in surprise.

"The same way you landed in South Africa, Colorby,” laughed LongBeard! “People captured him as a baby in your home country of Madagascar and sold him to a local pet shop, which in turn sold him to a pet shop many miles away in the United Arab Emirates. This is what I heard:

'“Hi, Marli. Thank you for agreeing to speak on Cybernews tonight. We heard that you have a chameleon and we wondered if you would tell our listeners across the world more about him?”

“With the greatest of pleasure,” said Marli, “I love telling everyone about Saeed. "

“Let us just tell our listeners a bit more about chameleons first,” said Scott. “Can you tell us what a chameleon is and where they come from?”

“Sure,” said Marli. “Chameleons are small to mid-size reptiles that are famous for their ability to dramatically change colors. They also have bulging eyes that move independently of one another, and they hold their feet in a grasping position. Some of them have horns on their heads.”

“Does your chameleon have horns?” asked Scott. “Oh yes,” said Marli, “he has two horns that stick out from the front of his head. He is known as an East Usambara chameleon. They are originally from Madagascar, which is home to about half the world's chameleons. Many of his cousins back in Madagascar and Tanzania are unusually big and are known as giant chameleons. However, our chameleon is only about the size of my hand!”

“You say your chameleon is originally from Madagascar - so where did you find him?” asked Scott.

“Well, when I first came to Dubai, I decided to have a turtle to keep me occupied. My husband took me to an old pet shop in Al Barsha so that I could choose one. As I looked around, I saw the cutest little creature at the back of the shop. I ran towards it and there was little Saeed with his hands up against the glass, trying to get out. There and then I said to my husband, ‘I want that one please!’ We ended up buying him the same day.

On the way home in the car, Saeed started turning darker. We were very scared and worried about him. We thought maybe he had turned dark because he was cold, so we turned the air conditioning off. As it is really hot here in the desert it wasn’t a pleasant trip at all!! However, we decided that Saeed was very precious and we were prepared to sacrifice our comfort for his. Little did we know at the time that contrary to popular belief, a chameleon typically does not change colours to match its surroundings. Instead, colour is usually used to convey emotions, to defend territories and communicate with mates. Thinking back, I guess Saeed was just very scared, which is why he changed colour and became so dark.”

“You keep calling him ‘Saeed’”, remarked Scott. “How did you did decide on that name?”

“Well funnily enough, I was doing data entry at work one day and the name Saeed kept popping up in business cards, so I thought it would be a nice name for him. I found out that it means ‘happy’ in Arabic, which suited him very well, as he is always a happy little dude!”

“I have heard that chameleons have special tails used for grasping objects when climbing and moving, and some of them have long tongues for catching insects at a distance. Is this true or is it just a fairytale?” asked Scott.

“Absolutely true,” Marli laughed. “Saeed can climb up and down quite fast, using all four feet as if they were little hands, and his tail as if it were a fifth hand! He loves climbing onto my head and he will grasp my hair so tightly with his little claws that we really struggle to get him to let go!

Saeed normally catches his food from a distance with his tongue, which is as long as his body! However, one day I saw him climb down his tree to get some mealworms from the food dish. To my surprise, he kept edging closer and closer to the dish. I wondered what he was doing. Then he carefully put his front feet on either side of the bowl , opened his mouth and scooped the mealworms up with his jaw! As a chameleon he is supposed to use his tongue, but I think on that day he was being a bit lazy!”

“What else can you tell us about Saeed?” asked Scott. “Saeed is special in every way,’” Marli replied. “One thing which is quite interesting is the way he walks. Like all chameleons, he has a bizarre way of moving. He slowly rocks back and forth between each step, often in time with the movement of nearby leaves blowning in the wind. Mr Saeed is a little ‘groover’ and loves to dance. You can play any song and he will step back and forth in time with the music in this way. We always have a good laugh when we watch Saeed dance.”

“Another interesting thing about Saeed is that he broke his toe nail and it never grew back! What happened was that when Saeed had been with us for about 4 months I got a baby tortoise, called Jerry. I decided that Saeed should meet his ‘brother’. Holding Saeed in one hand and Jerry in the other, I said, ‘Saeed, this is your new brother.’ This caused Saeed to jump out of my hand. He broke his nail when he fell on the floor. Ever since that day it has never grown back!

One day I put Saeed's water bowl next to the mirror. As he got closer, he suddenly started pulling strange faces and puffing himself up. I sat watching him until I realised that he thought that there was another chameleon in the mirror! It was very funny, as he looked like he was praying with his mouth open.”

“Yes,” remarked Scott, “I have heard that chameleons are often aggressive towards members of their own species and this is then marked by rapid color change and aggressive posturing.”

“I have heard that most people keep their pet chameleons in a cage. Where do you keep Saeed?" asked Scott.

“We tried keeping him in a cage, but he didn’t like it at all,” Marli replied. “In fact, Saeed is a naughty little boy who is spoilt rotten by his mummy! When he decided that he didn’t want to sleep in his nice warm cage anymore, we decided that we would buy him a tree. He LOVES it and I think it is because he can go walk-about anytime he wants! Sometimes we will come home after work, look at the tree and think, ‘Hmmm, where is Saeed?’ And then the hunt for him begins! At times we find him on the kitchen rubbish bin, on our shoes, coat hangers, coats, and once even inside the toilet! He is definitely happiest when he has the freedom to go wherever he likes!”

“Has Saeed ever gotten sick?” asked Scott. “Yes,” Marli replied in a more somber tone. “Luckily there is a vet here in Dubai who specialises in reptiles. He has always been able to help us. "

“I guess Saeed is a male?” Scott asked. “We think so,” Marli replied. “He seems to love the ladies, but will hiss and puff up if a man approaches him suddenly. He also has a slight bump near his tail, which we have heard might indicate that he is male.”

Scott closed the interview with a laugh and said, “Well, on a last note, I just want to tell our listeners and viewers something else I read which I thought was interesting. It seems as if chameleons are feared in many areas and care has to be taken that natives don’t kill them. Actually, the name "Chameleon" is derived from the Greek words chamai (on the ground, on the earth) and leon (lion), so their name means "earth lion."

Marli laughed. “He looks more like a miniature dragon than a lion,” she said lovingly. “What I would like to say about chameleons is that they are very intelligent and seem to be almost human in their emotions. If you reprimand Saeed, he will crouch down, but if you laugh and kiss him on his tummy, all is well and he seems all energised again. Also, if he tries to sneak away and you speak to him loudly, he scampers off as fast as he can to escape you. He is definitely very clever, and it seems as if he knows exactly what is being said to him.”

“Well, thank you very much, Marli,” said Scott. “We all learned a lot from you and Saeed today. We trust that all people will take care of their pets and love them as much as you obviously love Saeed.” '

Back on the red and white toadstool, LongBeard went quiet. Colorby sighed. “What a wonderful story,” he said in a satisfied tone. “Thank you LongBeard, I really enjoyed hearing about Marli, Scott and my cousin Saeed. With a contented smile, LongBeard and Colorby went back to their homes.

2010 Copyright © LongBeard stories Susan Bellingan Fourie

The monk and the gypsy

LongBeard the gnome was sitting inside a hollow tree trunk having a mint drink with his friend Antsy. Antsy was a black ant, renowned for his energy and hard working attitude. Today, however, Antsy was in a sober mood. He had asked LongBeard to meet him, so that he might interpret a strange dream he had had the night before.

Antsy told LongBeard about the dream. “Hmmm,” mused LongBeard, puffing on his harmless herbacco pipe. "Write down the 6 most important words from your dream." After Antsy had done that, LongBeard instructed him: “Now ask your unconscious mind for 6 words in the place of those ones and write them down.” Antsy did as he was told. Again LongBeard repeated this instruction, and Antsy wrote down a third set of words on a piece of bark. He gave the words to LongBeard.

For a long time LongBeard looked at the words, silently puffing on his pipe. Antsy waited patiently for he knew it would be worth the wait.

Then at last LongBeard said, “Antsy, I am going to tell you a story about a human, and in this story you will find the hidden meaning of your dream. Here is your story:

The disobedient young monk wrapped his black cloak tightly around him and climbed out the window. He was very quiet for fear of waking someone up who might sound the alarm and force him back inside again.

He heard the melancholic voice singing faintly in the distance. The voice had been haunting him every night for a month and he could stand the suspense no longer. He simply had to find out who it was out there, who was singing so soulfully.

When he had asked his friend what he thought of the song his friend had reproached him for being a faithless, no-good monk who lusted after sex in stead of concentrating on his spiritual growth. The young monk had been aghast at this response, as he had had no such carnal intents at all. He had stopped confiding in his friend and had decided to go and explore the matter on his own, regardless of the consequences.

Softly he tiptoed through the dark night, until at last he came to an opening in the forest. There was a small group of gypsies who seemed to have put up a temporary camp. One man was playing guitar, while the woman who leant against him sang the haunting tunes which had so magnetically attracted him. The monk sat down in the darkness, invisible to all in his black cloak, and listened in silence.

After a long time, the couple stopped their music and started preparing for bed. The monk left as quietly as he had arrived, taking care not to give his presence away. He walked back to the monastery and climbed through the window. All was quiet, no-one had noticed his absence.

Satisfied, he hung his cloak on a hook, said his prayers and got into bed.

All he had wanted to do was to see who the beautiful melancholic voice had belonged to. And now that he knew, he was at peace, quietly content to continue living in the monastery.”

Acknowledgements: www.blazelightaround.co.uk, isabellasrealm.com, kasovo.net, eliznok.org.uk, flickr.com, travel.webshots, crossforest, home-and-garden webshots, nydailynews.com, millymoney.com, marketplace.veer.com

LongBeard Story Copyright © Susan Bellingan Fourie

Tommy has German Measles

It was midwinter and freezing cold outside. LongBeard and the rest of the gnome community were deep underground in their warm and cosy gnome-holes. They loved all the different seasons and winter was no exception. This was their favourite story telling time and LongBeard always entertained them with stories which had some interesting information about humans.

The gnomes were sitting and lying about on the soft rabbit fur and poofs in their West Oak Root lounge. Suddenly they noticed LongBeard touching his nose with his left index finger. They immediately quietened down and listen attentively, as they knew this was the cue that he was about to start telling a story. LongBeard cleared his throat and held his harmless herbacco pipe in his right hand, while gently gazing at his fellow gnomes.

“Tonight I would like to tell you about a disease that used to bring about much despair to the human world:

The little boy was playing quietly on the carpet with his toy cars.

It was a school day, but he had German Measles and had been told by the doctor to stay at home. The doctor had said that the illness was caused by a virus and that he could go back to school within three days. He did not feel very sick, but his parents had explained to him that this virus can spread from infected to healthy people, causing them to also “catch the virus”. They told him that it was particularly dangerous for pregnant women to get German Measles, as it could cause their babies to be born blind, or have other serious problems.

Tommy was an inquisitive little boy and wanted to know more about this contagious illness. He parents patiently explained that the infectious illness called German Measles is caused by the rubella virus. In Tommy’s case, he had started with a mild fever, and then some pink and light red spots appeared, first on his face, and then on his arms and the rest of his body.

Little Tommy did not want anyone to get the illness from him and he certainly did not want any babies to be born blind! He was a considerate child and understood that even though he was longing to have friends visiting him, his best friend Luke would not be able to be with him while his state was contagious.

Luke’s mother was pregnant and they were worried that if Luke caught this highly infectious virus from Tommy, he might in turn pass it on to his mother!

Luke’s parents were very rich, but they had learnt over the years that wealth cannot buy good health. They were well known in the community for their intelligence and common sense approach to life. Luke’s father was a doctor and part of a special team of people who were busy developing a vaccine against German Measles. They knew that if they could vaccinate babies against this disease, they could stop the development and spreading of this illness in people, thus minimising the risk to unborn babies.

As Tommy was playing with his police car, he started dreaming about the day he would be grown up and could become a policeman, a protector of people. He was quite a serious little boy, and although he was only 6 years old, he had a well developed sense of right and wrong.

He felt that he was doing the right thing by staying at home now, in stead of spreading an illness. He knew that if each person in the community behaved responsibly towards their health, all members of society would benefit.”

Acknowledgement: www.turnunitingchurch.org.au, skinsight.com, http://www.blazelightaround.co.uk/pages/dreamblazer.php, livelink.saintlukeshealthsystem.org

LongBeard story Copyright © Susan Bellingan Fourie