It's Not About the Diamonds! Read online

  Text copyright © 2013 by Veronika Martenova Charles

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 by David Parkins

  Published in Canada by Tundra Books, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, One Toronto Street, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M5C 2V6

  Published in the United States by Tundra Books of Northern New York,

  P.O. Box 1030, Plattsburgh, New York 12901

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2012945431

  All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Charles, Veronika Martenova

  It’s not about the diamonds! / Veronika Martenova Charles; illustrated by David Parkins.

  (Easy-to-read wonder tales)

  Short stories based on Diamonds and toads tales from around the world.

  eISBN: 978-1-77049-333-9

  1. Fairy tales. I. Parkins, David II. Title. III. Series: Charles, Veronika Martenova. Easy-to-read wonder tales.

  PS8555.H42242I8333 2013 jC813′.54 C2012-905308-2

  We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.

  Edited by Stacey Roderick

  www.tundrabooks.com

  v3.1

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Lunchtime Part 1

  Three Gnomes

  (Diamonds and Toads from Germany)

  Rice Cakes

  (Diamonds and Toads from Indonesia)

  Old Man of the River

  (Diamonds and Toads from Africa)

  Lunchtime Part 2

  About the Stories

  LUNCHTIME

  PART 1

  “What are you eating?”

  Jake asked Lily at lunchtime.

  “Cherries,” replied Lily.

  “Can we have some?” asked Jake.

  “Sure,” said Lily. “Cherries,

  phlit, are my, phlit,

  favorite fruit, phlit.”

  Ben looked at the pits

  dropping from her mouth.

  “That reminds me of a story I know

  about a girl who had diamonds

  fall out of her mouth,” said Ben.

  “I know a story like that,” said Jake.

  “But it’s not about diamonds.

  I’ll tell it to you.”

  THREE GNOMES

  (Diamonds and Toads from Germany)

  Once there was a girl called Ema

  who lived with her stepmother

  and stepsister.

  The stepmother was cruel

  and made life very hard for Ema.

  One winter, when the snow was deep,

  the stepmother made a dress

  out of paper.

  She called Ema and said,

  “Now put on this dress,

  go to the forest, and bring me

  a basket of strawberries.

  I have a craving for them.”

  “How can I?” Ema said.

  “Strawberries don’t grow in winter.

  And I will freeze in that dress.”

  “How dare you talk to me

  like that!” shouted her stepmother.

  “Go and don’t come back

  without the basket of strawberries.”

  Then she gave Ema a piece of bread

  and said, “Here is your food.”

  Ema put on the paper dress

  and went out into the snow.

  She walked into the forest

  and found a small cottage.

  Three little gnomes were looking

  out of the window.

  Ema knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” called the gnomes.

  Glad to be out of the cold,

  Ema sat down by the fire

  to eat her bread.

  “Can we have some, too?”

  asked the gnomes.

  “Of course,” replied Ema

  and divided the bread into pieces.

  “What are you doing in the forest?”

  the gnomes asked.

  “I’m looking for strawberries,”

  answered Ema.

  “I can’t go back until

  I have a basket full.”

  After she finished eating,

  the gnomes asked her

  to sweep the snow away

  from the back door.

  Once Ema was outside,

  the gnomes began talking.

  “What should we give her

  for being so kind?” asked one.

  “Let’s make a piece of gold

  drop from her mouth

  each time she speaks,”

  said the other two gnomes.

  Meanwhile, Ema swept the snow

  away from the back of the house.

  What do you think she found?

  Strawberries!

  Ema filled the basket,

  thanked the little gnomes,

  and rushed back home.

  When she entered the house

  and said, “Good evening,”

  a piece of gold fell out of her mouth.

  Then she explained

  what had happened to her

  and, with each word,

  more gold fell out.

  Her stepsister was jealous.

  She pleaded with her mother

  to let her go

  and look for strawberries, too.

  Finally, her mother gave in.

  The girl put on a fur coat,

  took a cake her mother had baked,

  and headed straight for the cottage.

  The three gnomes were looking

  out of the window.

  The girl barged in uninvited,

  settled by the fire,

  and began to stuff herself

  with the cake.

  “Please, can you give us some?”

  the little men asked.

  But the girl answered,

  “There’s hardly enough for me.

  Get your own food.”

  When she finished eating,

  the gnomes asked her,

  “Can you please sweep the snow

  by the back door?”

  “Do it yourself!” the girl said.

  “I’m not your servant.”

  Then she went outside

  to get the strawberries.

  When she didn’t find any,

  she went home in a bad mood.

  Meanwhile, the three gnomes

  were talking among themselves.

  “What should we give her

  for being so greedy and rude?”

  asked one.

  “Let a toad jump out of her mouth

  each time she says a word,”

  said the other two gnomes.

  When the girl arrived home

  and began telling her mother

  what happened,

  a toad jumped out of her mouth

  with every word she spoke.

  From then on,

  people wouldn’t go near her.

  She had to live alone
/>
  and soon died in misery.

  “Once when I was eating dinner,”

  said Ben, “I sneezed,

  and a piece of chicken

  flew out of my nose!”

  “That’s gross!” said Lily.

  “Anybody want a rice cake?”

  asked Jake.

  “Yes, please,” said Lily and Ben.

  “Hey, I know a story

  about rice cakes,” said Ben.

  “Do they fall out of

  somebody’s nose?” asked Lily.

  “No,” said Ben.

  “But it’s a good story.”

  RICE CAKES

  (Diamonds and Toads from Indonesia)

  Elok and Lia were sisters.

  Elok was older and kind,

  and Lia was lazy and clever.

  Lia always figured out

  how to get out of doing

  any work in the house.

  One day, their mother said,

  “I’m going to the market.

  Go pick the rice in the field

  and make rice cakes for dinner.”

  After she left, Lia said to Elok,

  “I don’t feel well. My head hurts.

  Can you please go pick the rice?

  I’ll clean it when you get back.”

  “All right,” said Elok.

  “I hope you feel better soon.”

  Elok worked hard in the hot field,

  and when the baskets were filled

  she brought them home.

  Her sister was sitting under a tree

  fanning herself.

  “I just remembered,” said Lia,

  “I have to do something.

  Please clean and grind the rice.

  I’ll be right back.”

  Then she raced to the river

  and went for a swim in cool water.

  Meanwhile, Elok cleaned the rice,

  ground it into flour,

  and made the rice cakes.

  She was covered with sweat

  from all her hard work.

  In the afternoon, Lia came back.

  “Go and clean yourself,”

  Lia told Elok.

  “I will finish the cooking

  before Mother returns.”

  After Elok left,

  Lia sprinkled flour and water

  on her face so it would look

  like she was sweating.

  Just then, their mother returned.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” said Lia.

  “I have worked hard all day

  while Elok went swimming.”

  Their mother was angry.

  When Elok came back,

  she beat her and screamed,

  “How dare you let your sister

  do all the work?

  Now, take these dirty clothes

  and wash them in the river.”

  Elok went off crying.

  She washed the clothes

  and spread them out to dry.

  By then, she was so tired

  that she fell asleep.

  When she awoke, it was dark.

  She stumbled through the jungle,

  not knowing which way to go.

  Finally, she saw a hut in a clearing.

  All kinds of jungle animals

  surrounded the little house.

  An old woman came out of the door.

  “Don’t be afraid,” she said.

  “The animals won’t harm you.

  Come in and have something to eat.”

  Elok ate dinner with the woman

  and then lay down to sleep.

  In the morning,

  Elok tidied up

  the woman’s house

  and weeded the garden.

  She stayed with the woman

  for weeks.

  One day, Elok said,

  “I must go back home.

  I miss my mother and sister.”

  “Of course,” the woman replied,

  and she gave Elok a small box.

  “This is a gift for all your help.

  Don’t open it until you get home.”

  Elok carried the box

  through the jungle to her village.

  Finally home, she opened it.

  Inside were jewels and rings!

  She put some on.

  Just then, Lia returned from the

  field. She looked very tired

  because she had to work so hard

  while Elok was gone.

  She saw the jewels

  and became jealous.

  Then Elok told her what happened.

  “I’ll get myself some jewels, too,”

  said Lia, and she rushed off.

  She wandered through the jungle

  until she found the clearing

  with the animals and the house.

  BANG! BANG!

  She pounded on the door.

  The old woman opened the door.

  “I’m hungry,” said Lia.

  “Bring me some food!”

  Lia ate everything in the pot

  the woman put on the table

  and then took a nap in the shade.

  When she woke up,

  she asked the old woman,

  “Can you give me a gift

  like you gave my sister?”

  The woman brought a small box

  and told Lia not to open it

  before she got home.

  But as soon as Lia was back

  in the jungle, she stopped

  and opened the box.

  Out came big spiders

  that bit her all over!

  “Ahhhhhhh!” Lia screamed

  and ran to the village.

  “What happened?” asked Elok.

  Then she put some healing

  leaves on Lia’s spider bites

  to take the pain away.

  “I am so lucky to have you

  as my sister!” cried Lia.

  “I’ll never be jealous again.”

  From that time, Lia shared

  the work equally with Elok,

  and they lived happily together.

  “Yuck! I hate spiders,” said Jake.

  “I wonder how big they were.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Lily.

  “Sometimes it’s the small bugs

  that are deadly,

  like the germs in one story

  I’ve heard.”

  “What’s the story?”

  asked Ben.

  “It’s about two brothers …”

  Lily began.

  OLD MAN OF THE RIVER

  (Diamonds and Toads from Africa)

  Long ago, in a village,

  lived a man with two sons,

  Tobi and Uba.

  Tobi was nice and quiet,

  but Uba liked to fight and argue.

  One afternoon, their father said,

  “Go fetch some water!”

  Tobi took a big water jar

  and set out on the road

  with his brother.

  But as soon as their hut

  was out of sight,

  Uba said, “I’m not going!”

  and went to play with friends.

  So Tobi went alone.

  When he reached the river,

  he tried to dip the jar in.

  Slish! Tobi slid in the mud

  and fell into the water.

  The undertow pulled him down

  into a large cave

  on the side of the riverbank.

  There, Tobi saw a pot of food

  cooking in the shadow.

  A voice came from inside saying,

  “Stir me and eat me!”

  Tobi was hungry,

  so he stirred the food in the pot

  and then ate some.

  “Thank you so much!” he said.

  “These are the best yams

  I have ever tasted.”

  Then Tobi n
oticed an old man

  in the back of the cave.

  Beside him were several clay pots.

  “Come closer,” the old man said.

  Tobi walked over to him

  and thanked him for the meal.

  “My child,” the man said.

  “I see that you have good manners.

  Choose one of these pots as a gift

  and take it to the other world.”

  Tobi didn’t want to be greedy,

  so he chose a small, plain pot.

  Then he thanked the old man

  and returned through the water

  to the dry land.

  When Tobi arrived back home,

  he looked inside the pot.

  It was filled with golden coins!

  He showed his father and brother

  his gift and told them

  what happened.

  Uba was jealous.

  “Why should my brother

  be so lucky?” he thought.

  So he went to the river

  and jumped in.

  He found the cave

  and saw the pot cooking by itself.

  Not waiting for an invitation,

  he ate all the food inside it.

  Next, he looked around

  and saw the old man

  sitting in the back of the cave.

  “You there!” Uba shouted.

  “What have you got for me?”

  “My child,” the old man replied.

  “You have no manners.

  Still, I’ll offer you a gift.

  But take my advice

  and choose the smallest one.”

  But Uba did not listen.

  “I want the big pot,” he said rudely.

  “There will be more inside.”

  Without a word of thanks,

  Uba grabbed the largest pot

  and swam up to the riverbank.

  He stuck his hand inside the pot

  to see what was there.

  But the one that had looked best

  had the worst contents.

  Inside were germs of a disease!

  They attached to Uba’s hand

  and quickly spread up his arm.

  Soon his body swelled up

  to an enormous size.

  Uba ran home, but his father and