فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
حياك الله اخي
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فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
Love & Time
Once upon a time, in an island there lived all the feelings and emotions : Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to them that the island would sink! So all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.
Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.
When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.
Richness was passing by Love in a boat. Love said,
"Richness, can you take me with you?"
Richness answered, "Sorry Love, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat and so there is no place here for you."
Love next asked Vanity who was also sailing by. Vanity was also ready with the same answer.
"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.
Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, take me along with you."
"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!", sadness said in a sullen voice.
Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so preoccupied with her happiness that she did not even hear when Love called her.
Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. An overjoyed Love jumped up into the boat and in the process forgot to ask where they were going. When they arrived at a dry land, the elder went her own way.
Realizing how much was owed to the elder, Love asked Knowledge another elder, "Who Helped me?"
"It was Time," Knowledge answered.
"Time?" thought Love. Then, as if reading the face of Love, Knowledge smiled and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."
Once upon a time, in an island there lived all the feelings and emotions : Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to them that the island would sink! So all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.
Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.
When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.
Richness was passing by Love in a boat. Love said,
"Richness, can you take me with you?"
Richness answered, "Sorry Love, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat and so there is no place here for you."
Love next asked Vanity who was also sailing by. Vanity was also ready with the same answer.
"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.
Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, take me along with you."
"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!", sadness said in a sullen voice.
Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so preoccupied with her happiness that she did not even hear when Love called her.
Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. An overjoyed Love jumped up into the boat and in the process forgot to ask where they were going. When they arrived at a dry land, the elder went her own way.
Realizing how much was owed to the elder, Love asked Knowledge another elder, "Who Helped me?"
"It was Time," Knowledge answered.
"Time?" thought Love. Then, as if reading the face of Love, Knowledge smiled and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
One of These Days
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Monday dawned warm and rainless. Aurelio Escovar, a dentist without a degree, and a very
early riser, opened his office at six. He took some false teeth, still mounted in their
plaster mold, out of the glass case and put on the table a fistful of instruments which
he arranged in size order, as if they were on display. He wore a collarless striped
shirt, closed at the neck with a golden stud, and pants held up by suspenders He was
erect and skinny, with a look that rarely corresponded to the situation, the way deaf
people have of looking.
When he had things arranged on the table, he pulled the drill toward the dental chair and
sat down to polish the false teeth. He seemed not to be thinking about what he was doing,
but worked steadily, pumping the drill with his feet, even when he didn't need it.
After eight he stopped for a while to look at the sky through the window, and he saw two
pensive buzzards who were drying themselves in the sun on the ridgepole of the house next
door. He went on working with the idea that before lunch it would rain again. The shrill
voice of his eleven-year-old son interrupted his concentration.
"Papa."
"What?"
"The Mayor wants to know if you'll pull his tooth."
"Tell him I'm not here."
He was polishing a gold
tooth. He held it at arm's length, and examined it with his eyes
half closed. His son shouted again from the little waiting room.
"He says you are, too, because he can hear you."
The dentist kept examining the tooth. Only when he had put it on the table with the
finished work did he say:
"So much the better."
He operated the drill again. He took several pieces of a bridge out of a cardboard box
where he kept the things he still had to do and began to polish the gold.
"Papa."
"What?"
He still hadn't changed his expression.
"He says if you don't take out his tooth, he'll shoot you."
Without hurrying, with an extremely tranquil movement, he stopped pedaling the drill,
pushed it away from the chair, and pulled the lower drawer of the table all the way out.
There was a revolver. "O.K.," he said. "Tell him to come and shoot me."
He rolled the chair over opposite the door, his hand resting on the edge of the drawer.
The Mayor appeared at the door. He had shaved the left side of his face, but the other
side, swollen and in pain, had a five-day-old beard. The dentist saw many nights of
desperation in his dull eyes. He closed the drawer with his fingertips and said softly:
"Sit down."
"Good morning," said the Mayor.
"Morning," said the dentist.
While the instruments were boiling, the Mayor leaned his skull on the headrest of the
chair and felt better. His breath was icy. It was a poor office: an old wooden chair,
the pedal drill, a glass case with ceramic bottles. Opposite the chair was a window with
a shoulder-high cloth curtain. When he felt the dentist approach, the Mayor braced his
heels and opened his mouth.
Aurelio Escovar turned his head toward the light. After inspecting the infected tooth, he
closed the Mayor's jaw with a cautious pressure of his fingers.
"It has to be without anesthesia," he said.
"Why?"
"Because you have an abscess."
The Mayor looked him in the eye. "All right," he said, and tried to smile. The dentist
did not return the smile. He brought the basin of sterilized instruments to the worktable
and took them out of the water with a pair of cold tweezers, still without hurrying. Then
he pushed the spittoon with the tip of his shoe, and went to wash his hands in the
washbasin. He did all this without looking at the Mayor. But the Mayor didn't take his
eyes off him.
It was a lower wisdom tooth. The dentist spread his feet and grasped the tooth with the
hot forceps. The Mayor seized the arms of the chair, braced his feet with all his
strength, and felt an icy void in his kidneys, but didn't make a sound. The dentist moved
only his wrist. Without rancor, rather with a bitter tenderness, he said:
"Now you'll pay for our twenty dead men."
The Mayor felt the crunch of bones in his jaw, and his eyes filled with tears. But he
didn't breathe until he felt the tooth come out. Then he saw it through his tears. It
seemed so foreign to his pain that he failed to understand his torture of the five
previous nights.
Bent over the spittoon, sweating, panting, he unbuttoned his tunic and reached for the
handkerchief in his pants pocket. The dentist gave him a clean cloth.
"Dry your tears," he said.
The Mayor did. He was trembling. While the dentist washed his hands, he saw the
crumbling ceiling and a dusty spider web with spider's eggs and dead insects. The dentist
returned, drying his hands. "Go to bed," he said, "and gargle with salt water." The
Mayor stood up, said goodbye with a casual military salute, and walked toward the door,
stretching his legs, without buttoning up his tunic.
"Send the bill," he said.
"To you or the town?"
The Mayor didn't look at him. He closed the door and said through the screen:
"It's the same damn thing."
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Monday dawned warm and rainless. Aurelio Escovar, a dentist without a degree, and a very
early riser, opened his office at six. He took some false teeth, still mounted in their
plaster mold, out of the glass case and put on the table a fistful of instruments which
he arranged in size order, as if they were on display. He wore a collarless striped
shirt, closed at the neck with a golden stud, and pants held up by suspenders He was
erect and skinny, with a look that rarely corresponded to the situation, the way deaf
people have of looking.
When he had things arranged on the table, he pulled the drill toward the dental chair and
sat down to polish the false teeth. He seemed not to be thinking about what he was doing,
but worked steadily, pumping the drill with his feet, even when he didn't need it.
After eight he stopped for a while to look at the sky through the window, and he saw two
pensive buzzards who were drying themselves in the sun on the ridgepole of the house next
door. He went on working with the idea that before lunch it would rain again. The shrill
voice of his eleven-year-old son interrupted his concentration.
"Papa."
"What?"
"The Mayor wants to know if you'll pull his tooth."
"Tell him I'm not here."
He was polishing a gold
half closed. His son shouted again from the little waiting room.
"He says you are, too, because he can hear you."
The dentist kept examining the tooth. Only when he had put it on the table with the
finished work did he say:
"So much the better."
He operated the drill again. He took several pieces of a bridge out of a cardboard box
where he kept the things he still had to do and began to polish the gold.
"Papa."
"What?"
He still hadn't changed his expression.
"He says if you don't take out his tooth, he'll shoot you."
Without hurrying, with an extremely tranquil movement, he stopped pedaling the drill,
pushed it away from the chair, and pulled the lower drawer of the table all the way out.
There was a revolver. "O.K.," he said. "Tell him to come and shoot me."
He rolled the chair over opposite the door, his hand resting on the edge of the drawer.
The Mayor appeared at the door. He had shaved the left side of his face, but the other
side, swollen and in pain, had a five-day-old beard. The dentist saw many nights of
desperation in his dull eyes. He closed the drawer with his fingertips and said softly:
"Sit down."
"Good morning," said the Mayor.
"Morning," said the dentist.
While the instruments were boiling, the Mayor leaned his skull on the headrest of the
chair and felt better. His breath was icy. It was a poor office: an old wooden chair,
the pedal drill, a glass case with ceramic bottles. Opposite the chair was a window with
a shoulder-high cloth curtain. When he felt the dentist approach, the Mayor braced his
heels and opened his mouth.
Aurelio Escovar turned his head toward the light. After inspecting the infected tooth, he
closed the Mayor's jaw with a cautious pressure of his fingers.
"It has to be without anesthesia," he said.
"Why?"
"Because you have an abscess."
The Mayor looked him in the eye. "All right," he said, and tried to smile. The dentist
did not return the smile. He brought the basin of sterilized instruments to the worktable
and took them out of the water with a pair of cold tweezers, still without hurrying. Then
he pushed the spittoon with the tip of his shoe, and went to wash his hands in the
washbasin. He did all this without looking at the Mayor. But the Mayor didn't take his
eyes off him.
It was a lower wisdom tooth. The dentist spread his feet and grasped the tooth with the
hot forceps. The Mayor seized the arms of the chair, braced his feet with all his
strength, and felt an icy void in his kidneys, but didn't make a sound. The dentist moved
only his wrist. Without rancor, rather with a bitter tenderness, he said:
"Now you'll pay for our twenty dead men."
The Mayor felt the crunch of bones in his jaw, and his eyes filled with tears. But he
didn't breathe until he felt the tooth come out. Then he saw it through his tears. It
seemed so foreign to his pain that he failed to understand his torture of the five
previous nights.
Bent over the spittoon, sweating, panting, he unbuttoned his tunic and reached for the
handkerchief in his pants pocket. The dentist gave him a clean cloth.
"Dry your tears," he said.
The Mayor did. He was trembling. While the dentist washed his hands, he saw the
crumbling ceiling and a dusty spider web with spider's eggs and dead insects. The dentist
returned, drying his hands. "Go to bed," he said, "and gargle with salt water." The
Mayor stood up, said goodbye with a casual military salute, and walked toward the door,
stretching his legs, without buttoning up his tunic.
"Send the bill," he said.
"To you or the town?"
The Mayor didn't look at him. He closed the door and said through the screen:
"It's the same damn thing."
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
The Gift of the Magi
by O. Henry
by O. Henry
This story was originally published on Dec 10, 1905 in The New York Sunday World as "Gifts of the Magi." It was subsequently published as The Gift of the Magi in O. Henry's 1906 short story collection The Four Million.
ONE DOLLAR AND EIGHTY-SEVEN CENTS. THAT WAS ALL. AND SIXTY CENTS of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.
There was clearly nothing left to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.
While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the look-out for the mendicancy squad.
In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name "Mr. James Dillingham Young."
The "Dillingham" had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, the letters of "Dillingham" looked blurred, as though they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D. But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called "Jim" and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.
Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a grey cat walking a grey fence in a grey backyard. To-morrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling--something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honour of being owned by Jim.
There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 Bat. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Della, being slender, had mastered the art.
Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. Her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its colour within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.
Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. Had the Queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out of the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.
So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her, rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.
On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she cluttered out of the door and down the stairs to the street.
Where she stopped the sign read: "Mme Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds." One Eight up Della ran, and collected herself, panting. Madame, large, too white, chilly, hardly looked the "Sofronie."
"Will you buy my hair?" asked Della.
"I buy hair," said Madame. "Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it."
Down rippled the brown cascade.
"Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand.
"Give it to me quick" said Della.
Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present.
She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation--as all good things should do. It was even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness and value--the description applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 78 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain.
When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task dear friends--a mammoth task.
Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls that made her look wonderfully like a truant schoolboy. She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically.
"If Jim doesn't kill me," she said to herself, "before he takes a second look at me, he'll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do--oh! what could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?"
At 7 o'clock the coffee was made and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops.
Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit of saying little silent prayers about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: "Please, God, make him think I am still pretty."
The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was with out gloves.
Jim stepped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face.
Della wriggled off the table and went for him.
"Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again--you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say 'Merry Christmas!' Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice-what a beautiful, nice gift I've got for you."
"You've cut off your hair?" asked Jim, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that patent fact yet, even after the hardest mental labour.
"Cut it off and sold it," said Della. "Don't you like me just as well, anyhow? I'm me without my hair, ain't I?"
Jim looked about the room curiously.
"You say your hair is gone?" he said, with an air almost of idiocy.
"You needn't look for it," said Della. "It's sold, I tell you--sold and gone, too. It's Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with a sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?"
Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year--what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. I his dark assertion will be illuminated later on.
Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table.
"Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first."
White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat.
For there lay The Combs--the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped for long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise-shell, with jewelled rims--just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.
But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say: "My hair grows so fast, Jim!"
And then Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, "Oh, oh!"
Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit.
"Isn't it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. You'll have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it."
Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled.
"Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on."
The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men-who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
The Tale of Asao and Ayato
Long ago in ancient Japan, there lived two brothers named Asao and Ayato. Asao was the older brother and Ayato was the younger one. Now, these brothers were quite different from each other. While Asao was greedy and selfish, Ayato was a kind and helpful man. Both of them lived with their wives in houses that stood next to each other.
One day, Ayato had to go to another town for business. On the journey, he had to make his way through a forest. While walking through the forest, Ayato spotted a freshwater lake. Tired and thirsty, he drank some water. Just then, he noticed a forlorn child crying nearby. There was no parent or guardian to be seen. Taken by pity, Ayato approached the boy and asked him his name and where he had come from. The boy replied that he was from a nearby town and that he had lost his way in the forest, where he had come to collect fruits.
Ayato comforted him and offered him the bread that his wife had packed for him. As the child ate hungrily, Ayato told him that he would get him home and he would soon be with his parents. Cheered up, the boy smiled and hugged Ayato.
Immediately, there was a thunder clapping. To his amazement, Ayato saw the boy disappear and in his place, stood a tall old man with white hair and a flowing white beard. “I am the Spirit of the Lake,” he said, “And the child was me in disguise. I am impressed by your goodness and kindness. As a reward, I am giving you a magic conch. Blow it only when you are in trouble and it will take care of everything. And remember not to misuse it.”
Saying so, the Spirit gave Ayato a conch that had all the colours of the rainbow. As Ayato bowed low in gratitude, the old man vanished into thin air. Soon, Ayato resumed his journey and reached his destination. Having done a good business, he earned a lump sum amount of money. However, when he set off for home, it was late afternoon, and when he was travelling through the forest, it grew dark.
Soon, a group of thieves attacked Ayato and asked him to hand over all his valuables. Scared, Ayato did as he was told. The thieves grinned in glee when they saw the big booty that they got. Having robbed him of all his money, they let Ayato go. Ayato however, had the magic conch in his pocket, and no sooner than he was let free, he remembered the words of the Spirit of the Lake. “I am doomed,” he thought, “As all the money that I have earned has been taken away from me. Now is the time for me to blow the conch. Let me see what magic it does.”
Taking out the rainbow-hued conch, Ayato blew it. Once. Twice. Thrice. Now, the robbers were only a little distance away and Ayato could hear their laughter. However, with the blowing of the conch, their laughter stopped and there was silence. Curious, Ayato, ran in the direction of the robbers, blowing the conch from time to time. When he came to the thieves, he found them fast asleep with Ayato’s bundle of cash lying next to them. He realized that the peals of the conch put its hearers to sleep and hence, the thieves had dozed off all of a sudden.
Ayato quickly collected his money and made his way out of the forest. When he reached home, it was quite late into the night.
Asao soon came to know that his brother had been blessed with good fortune while doing business in the other town. He was very jealous and wanted to get equally rich, if not more. So he and his wife invited Ayato and his wife to dinner one night, and Asao asked his brother about where had gone and how he had conducted business, in order to follow the same path himself. Helpful by nature, Ayato gave Asao the business details and then, told him about the Spirit of the Lake and the magic conch. “Had it not been for the Spirit’s gift, the conch, I would have lost all my money and returned home empty-handed,” he replied.
A few days later, Asao set out for business like his brother. Soon, he came to the lake in the forest. Now, Asao was on the lookout for a crying child whom he would help and in return, get a reward from the Spirit of the Lake. However, it so happened that this time, the Spirit assumed the guise of a poor old woman carrying two pails of water. “Ooh!” signed the old woman, “These buckets are so heavy! If only I were younger, it would not be such trouble.” But in spite of seeing her pitiable plight, Asao did not come to help her. “Pooh! Why should I carry the buckets for her?” he thought, “She will not be able to give me anything. I will only help a crying child as I know it will be the Spirit of the Lake.” So he stood there even as the old woman grunted in pain.
At last, there was a clapping of thunder and the Spirit of the Lake appeared in his true form. “You are a very mean person!” he boomed, “You did not come forth to help a poor woman. Such a selfish man! You will not prosper in whatever that you are on your way to do.” And while a disappointed Asao stared, the Spirit disappeared. Just as the Spirit had predicted, Asao was not able to fare well in business. In fact, he lost a lot of money. He returned home angry, with lesser money than he had left with.
However, instead of repenting for his selfish act in the forest and trying to be a good person, Asao kept wondering about how he could get rich. He was so greedy that he was ready to go to any length to get money. Asao remembered the powers of the magic conch and hit upon a plan. One night, when Ayato and his wife were sound asleep, Asao stealthily stole the rainbow-coloured conch from their house. That same night, he broke into the King’s palace and entered the room containing the royal treasury. When the alarm was raised and the guards came running, Asao began blowing the magic conch, intending to lull them to sleep.
But none of the guards fell asleep! On the other hand, the sound of the conch helped them to easily locate Asao and nab him. Actually, the conch could only work its magic if it was used for a good purpose, as the Spirit had told Ayato. As Asao had misused it, it had worked just like an ordinary conch and had not put any of its hearers to sleep. Therefore, Asao ended up in prison for his greed.
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
The Milkmaid and her Pail
Patty the Milkmaid was going to market carrying her milk in a pail on her head.
As she went along, she began calculating what she would do with the money she would get for the milk. I'll buy some fowls from Farmer Brown," said she, "and they will lay eggs each morning, which I will sell to the parson's wife..
With the money that I get from the sale of these eggs, I'll buy myself a new dimity frock and a chip hat; and when I go to market, won't all the young men come up and speak to me!
Polly Shaw will be so jealous; but I don't care. I shall just look at her and toss my head like this." As she spoke that, she tossed her head back and the pail fell off it, and all the milk was spilt!
MORAL: DO NOT COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED
As she went along, she began calculating what she would do with the money she would get for the milk. I'll buy some fowls from Farmer Brown," said she, "and they will lay eggs each morning, which I will sell to the parson's wife..
With the money that I get from the sale of these eggs, I'll buy myself a new dimity frock and a chip hat; and when I go to market, won't all the young men come up and speak to me!
Polly Shaw will be so jealous; but I don't care. I shall just look at her and toss my head like this." As she spoke that, she tossed her head back and the pail fell off it, and all the milk was spilt!
MORAL: DO NOT COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
The Goose with the Golden Eggs
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Once upon a time, a man and his wife had the good fortune to have a goose which laid a golden egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough.
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They imagined that if the bird must be able to lay golden eggs, its insides must be made of gold. And they thought that if they could get all that precious metal at once, they would get mighty rich very soon. So the man and his wife decided to kill the bird.
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However, upon cutting the goose open, they were shocked to find that its innards were like that of any other goose!
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MORAL: THINK BEFORE YOU ACT
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فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
قصة جميلة عن القرآن - Beautiful story about QURAN
.
.
why do we read Quran, even if we can't understand a single arabic word ?
لماذا نقرأ القران, حتى لو لم نكن نفهم مفرداته العربية جيدا.
An old American Muslim lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each
morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Quran. His grandson wanted to be just
like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.
morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Quran. His grandson wanted to be just
like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.
عجوز امريكي مسلم يعيش في مزرعة في جبال شرق كنتاكي مع حفيده الصغير
في كل صباح الجد يستيقظ باكرا ويجلس على طاولة المطبخ ويقرأ القران.
حفيده الصغير كان يريد ان يصبح مثل جده لهذا كان يحاول تقليدة بكل طريقة ممكنة
One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Quran just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Qur'an do?"
في أحد الايام سأل الحفيد جده قائلا (جدي! انا احاول ان اقرأ القران مثلك لكنني لم افهم كلماته,والذي افهمه انساه وسرعان ما اغلق الكتاب.ما هي الفائده المرجاة من قراءة القران.)
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in-the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.
الجد بهدوء وضع الفحم في المدفئة واجاب (خذ سلة الفحم الى النهر وأملأها بالماء )
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather
laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.
laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.
قام الولد بعمل ما طلبه منه جده,لكن كل الماء تسرب من السلة قبل ان يصل عائدا الى المنزل.ضحك الجد و قال(يجب عليك ان تكون اسرع في المرة القادمة) ثم بعثه مرة اخرى الى النهر مع السلة ليحاول مرة اخرى.في هذه المرة ركض الولد بشكل اسرع, ولكن مرة اخرى السلة فرغت قبل وصوله المنزل.كان يتنفس لاهثا .و اخبر جده انه من المستحيلان احمل الماء بهذه السلة, وذهب ليحضردلواً بدلا من السلة
The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just again trying hard
enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try in.
enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try in.
الرجل العجوز قال (انا لا اريد دلوا من الماء, بل اريد سلة من الماء.انت فقط لم تحاول بجهد كاف)ثم خرج ليشاهد الولد يحاول مرةاخرى
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fasts he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when here ached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"
"So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."
"So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."
في هذه الاثناء ادرك الولد انها مهمة مستحيلة,لكنه ارادان يثبت لجده انه حتى لو ركض بأسرع ما يستطيع ,الماء سوف يتسرب قبل ان يصل عائدا الى المنزل . فقام الولد رمى بالسلة في النهر وركض بسرعةوبجهد. ولكنه عندما وصل الى البيت وجد ان السلة فارغة مرة ثالثة.
فقال وهو يلهث, انظر جدي ...انها غيرمجدية
اذن انت تظن انها غير مجدية.؟ أجاب الجد
انظر الى السلة
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.
نظر الولد الى السلة وللمرة الاولى ادرك ان السلة مختلفة. كانت سلة متسخة تنقل الفحم القديم والان اصبحت نظيفة من الداخل والخارج
Son, that's what happens when you read the Qur'an . You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out when you read time by time . That is the work of Allah in our lives."
أجابه الجد : بني هذا ما يحصل عندما تقرأ القران . من الممكن أن لا تفهم شيئا او تتذكر اي شيء ولكن عندما تقرأه مره بعد مره بعد مره .سوف تتغير داخليا وخارجيا.هذا عمل الله في حياتنا
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
There was a boy who was always losing his temper. His father gave him a bag full of nails and said to him, “My son, I want you to hammer a nail into our garden fence every time you need to direct your anger against something and you lose your temper.”
So the son started to follow his father’s advice. On the first day he hammered in 37 nails, but getting the nails into the fence was not easy, so he started trying to control himself when he got angry. As the days went by, he was hammering in less nails, and within weeks he was able to control himself and was able to refrain from getting angry and from hammering nails. He came to his father and told him what he had achieved. His father was happy with his efforts and said to hi “But now, my son, you have to take out a nail for every day that you do not get angry.”
The son started to take out the nails for each day that he did not get angry, until there were no nails left in the fence.
He came to his father and told him what he had achieved. His father took him to the fence and said, “My son, you have done well, but look at these holes in the fence. This fence will never be the same again.” Then he adde “When you say things in a state of anger, they leave marks like these holes on the hearts of others. You can stab a person and withdraw the knife but it doesn’t matter how many times
you say ‘I’m sorry,’ because the wound will remain.
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
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a man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers ""
to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away.
As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.
He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother.
But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars."
The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose."
He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers.
As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home.
She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother."
She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.
The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order,
""picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's house.
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
. Sara Went Shopping
Sara Smith, a Pasadena resident, went shopping. She is 30, and has lived at 3037 N. Foothill Street since 1992. Sara has been married to John for seven years. They have two children; Bob is five years old and Nancy is three. Sara owns a 1995 four-door blue Toyota. At 9 a.m., Sara got into her car and drove to Barget, a department store a mile away.
Barget was having a holiday sale. Sara bought a four-slice toaster for $29.95 plus tax. The regular price was $39.95. She paid by check. On her way home, Sara stopped at MilkPlus to buy a gallon of nonfat milk. The milk was $3.50. Sara got 50 cents back in change.
Sara arrived home at 10 a.m. John and the kids were still sleeping. She woke them up and then made a hot and nutritious breakfast for everyone.
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
. Man Injured at Fast Food Place
A 79-year-old man was slightly injured on Saturday while waiting in his brand new convertible in a drive-through lane at Burger Prince restaurant. Herman Sherman of Northville suffered a mild burn about 9:00 p.m. when a young female employee accidentally spilled a cup of coffee into his lap. Sherman said the coffee was hot but not scalding.
He refused medical aid, saying the only problem was the stain on his slacks, but it would wash out. He was given a fresh refill. Before Sherman drove off, the restaurant manager, John Johnson, gave him two free gift certificates--one for an extra-large coffee and one for the restaurant's newest sandwich, the McRap.
The employee, who was a new hire, was let go later that evening. She was quite upset. She said she would probably sue Burger Prince for letting her go. She said it was the man's fault for ordering something that she might be able to spill.
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
A Life-Saving Cow
Six consecutive days of spring rain had created a raging river running by Nancy Brown’s farm. As she tried to herd her cows to higher ground, she slipped and hit her head on a fallen tree trunk. The fall knocked her out for a moment or two. When she came to, Lizzie, one of her oldest and favorite cows, was licking her face. The water was rising. Nancy got up and began walking slowly with Lizzie. The water was now waist high. Nancy’s pace got slower and slower. Finally, all she could do was to throw her arm around Lizzie’s neck and try to hang on. About 20 minutes later, Lizzie managed to successfully pull herself and Nancy out of the raging water and onto a bit of high land, a small island now in the middle of acres of white water.
Even though it was about noon, the sky was so dark and the rain and lightning so bad that it took rescuers another two hours to discover Nancy. A helicopter lowered a paramedic, who attached Nancy to a life-support hoist. They raised her into the helicopter and took her to the school gym, where the Red Cross had set up an emergency shelter.
When the flood subsided two days later, Nancy immediately went back to the “island.” Lizzie was gone. She was one of 19 cows that Nancy lost. “I owe my life to her,” said Nancy sobbingly.
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
. Driver Loses Mabel, Finds Jail
A fifteen-year-old boy was injured in a car accident when the minivan he was traveling in was hit by a pickup truck at an intersection. The boy was taken to a nearby hospital. The paramedics said that it appeared that the boy had nothing more serious than a broken left leg, but that internal injuries were always a possibility. The boy was conscious and alert. His mother, who was driving, was uninjured. She said that the truck appeared out of nowhere, and she thought she was going to die. She turned the steering wheel sharply to the left, and the truck hit her minivan on the passenger side.
The driver of the truck was a 50-year-old man who was unemployed and apparently had been drinking—police found 18 empty beer cans inside the truck. The man denied drinking, but he failed the police test for sobriety. When asked to touch his nose with his arms outstretched and eyes closed, he was unable to touch any part of his head.
The handcuffed man asked the police if they knew where “Mabel” was as he was put into the back seat of the police vehicle. The police asked him if Mabel was his wife. He said, “She’s my dog, my dog! Where’s my baby?” A dog with a collar, but no identification, was found minutes later, half a block away. The man was taken to the city jail and booked on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and on causing an accident.
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
. Jerry Decided To Buy a Gun
Jerry Baldwin was 30 years old. He was the manager of a pizza restaurant. He lived in an apartment about one mile north of the restaurant. He walked to and from work. When it was raining, he took the bus.
Jerry
d gangster movies. When a new one came out, he would go to the theater and watch the new movie three or four times. Then, when it went to video, Jerry would buy the video at Barney’s Video Store. Jerry had a home collection of over 1,000 gangster videos. Old ones, new ones, color, black and white, English, Spanish, Japanese--he
d them all. He could tell you the name of the movie, the director, the stars, and the plot. Did you say you liked “Pulp Fiction”? Well, Jerry would rattle off all the details of that movie. And then he would invite you to his place to watch it some time. He was a nice guy.
Jerry finally decided that he would like to own a gun, just like the gangsters. So he saved his money for a couple of years. Then he went to a gun store and bought a used .38 caliber revolver for $300. While there, he also bought a couple of boxes of ammunition. The following Saturday morning, he went to the gun club to practice with his new revolver. He was in the club for only 10 minutes when he accidentally dropped his pistol. The gun went off, and the bullet went into Jerry’s right knee.
Jerry now walks with a limp and a cane, just like some gangsters.
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
Young man grew up on sin .. married a woman is valid bore him a group of boys of whom was born deaf and dumb .. Vmutir his mother raised him origination valid Flmth pray and mosques since childhood .. and upon reaching the age of seven became seen what it is and the father of deflection and denier repeat advice with reference to his father to quit the evil and careful prayers but to no avail .. One day , the child and his voice smothered and tears flowing and put the Koran in front of his father and opened on Maryam and put his finger on the verse, " O my father, I am afraid to catch the agony of Rahman would be to the devil and Leah , "and burst into tears . Vtother father of this scene and wept with him .. and God willing, that the heart of the bloom locks father at the hands of the good son .. he wiped the tears from my eyes, and his son , and kissed him , and he with him to the mosque .
This is the fruit of Salah Din wife Choose the one who raised your hands .
This is the fruit of Salah Din wife Choose the one who raised your hands .
ﺷﺎﺏ ﻧﺸﺄ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﻤﻌﺎﺻﻲ .. ﺗﺰﻭﺝ ﺍﻣﺮﺃﺓ ﺻﺎﻟﺤﺔ ﻓﺄﻧﺠﺒﺖ ﻟﻪ ﻣﺠﻤﻮﻋﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﻭﻻﺩ ﻣﻦ ﺑﻴﻨﻬﻢ ﻭﻟﺪ ﺃﺻﻢ ﺃﺑﻜﻢ .. ﻓﺤﺮﺻﺖ ﺃﻣﻪ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺗﻨﺸﺌﺘﻪ ﻧﺸﺄﺓ ﺻﺎﻟﺤﺔ ﻓﻌﻠﻤﺘﻪ ﺍﻟﺼﻼﺓ ﻭﺍﻟﺘﻌﻠﻖ ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺴﺎﺟﺪ ﻣﻨﺬ ﻧﻌﻮﻣﺔ ﺃﻇﻔﺎﺭﻩ .. ﻭﻋﻨﺪ ﺑﻠﻮﻏﻪ ﺍﻟﺴﺎﺑﻌﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻋﻤﺮﻩ ﺻﺎﺭ ﻳﺸﺎﻫﺪ ﻣﺎ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺍﻟﺪﻩ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻧﺤﺮﺍﻑ ﻭﻣﻨﻜﺮ ﻓﻜﺮﺭ ﺍﻟﻨﺼﻴﺤﺔ ﺑﺎﻹﺷﺎﺭﺓ ﻟﻮﺍﻟﺪﻩ ﻟﻺﻗﻼﻉ ﻋﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﻨﻜﺮﺍﺕ ﻭﺍﻟﺤﺮﺹ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺼﻠﻮﺍﺕ ﻭﻟﻜﻦ ﺩﻭﻥ ﺟﺪﻭﻯ .. ﻭﻓﻲ ﻳﻮﻡ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﻳﺎﻡ ﺟﺎﺀ ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ ﻭﺻﻮﺗﻪ ﻣﺨﻨﻮﻕ ﻭﺩﻣﻮﻋﻪ ﺗﺴﻴﻞ ﻭﻭﺿﻊ ﺍﻟﻤﺼﺤﻒ ﺃﻣﺎﻡ ﻭﺍﻟﺪﻩ ﻭﻓﺘﺤﻪ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺳﻮﺭﺓ ﻣﺮﻳﻢ ﻭﻭﺿﻊ ﺃﺻﺒﻌﻪ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻗﻮﻟﻪ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻰ " ﻳﺎ ﺃﺑﺖ ﺇﻧﻲ ﺃﺧﺎﻑ ﺃﻥ ﻳﻤﺴﻚ ﻋﺬﺍﺏ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ ﻓﺘﻜﻮﻥ ﻟﻠﺸﻴﻄﺎﻥ ﻭﻟﻴﺎً " ، ﻭﺃﺟﻬﺶ ﺑﺎﻟﺒﻜﺎﺀ . ﻓﺘﺄﺛﺮ ﺍﻷﺏ ﻟﻬﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻤﺸﻬﺪ ﻭﺑﻜﻰ ﻣﻌﻪ .. ﻭﺷﺎﺀ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﺳﺒﺤﺎﻧﻪ ﺃﻥ ﺗﺘﻔﺘﺢ ﻣﻐﺎﻟﻴﻖ ﻗﻠﺐ ﺍﻷﺏ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻳﺪ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻻﺑﻦ ﺍﻟﺼﺎﻟﺢ .. ﻓﻤﺴﺢ ﺍﻟﺪﻣﻮﻉ ﻣﻦ ﻋﻴﻨﻲ ﻭﻟﺪﻩ ، ﻭﻗﺒّﻠﻪ ﻭﻗﺎﻡ ﻣﻌﻪ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﻤﺴﺠﺪ .
ﻭﻫﺬﻩ ﺛﻤﺮﺓ ﺻﻼﺡ ﺍﻟﺰﻭﺟﺔ ﻓﺎﻇﻔﺮ ﺑﺬﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﺗﺮﺑﺖ ﻳﺪﺍﻙ .
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
فرحة الاردن
الادارة العامة
Golden Windows
Years passed by and she grew up quickly. She became 12 years and looked very beautifully like a golden princess. She believed that she is supposed to live in a house with golden windows, not in an old wood house.
As she grown older, her mom allowed her to move around her house. It was holidays for Molly and she requested her mom that she wanted to wander in the garden near the river. Her mom also agreed and told her not to go so far.
Molly decided to climb the mountain and peek into the house with the golden windows.
She took her bicycle and started her journey towards reaching the top of mountain. She found a narrow road in the mountain towards the abandoned home in the mountain. With so many struggles, she reached the top of the mountain.
She was so shocked to see the dirtiest house, in fact the damaged castle with dark windows. What she used to see from her home wasn’t there in the mountain. Yes, the golden windows she saw from the lap of the mountain were in fact the reflection of the dark and dirty windows.
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The truth was she lived in her dream home, the home with beautiful golden windows. She realized it too late. What she dreamt for years just vanished away.
So understand that all glitters are not gold
Little Molly lived in a small beautiful town. Her tiny house is constructed on the banks of a beautiful river, near the mountain. She was the only daughter for her parent. Although they weren’t very rich, they lived happily.
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Her house was surrounded by huge trees and beautiful plants. It was a single bedded house, made of woods. Molly did not like her house very much. She felt that the house was too small and not very neat. Little molly was very fond of the mountain. The steep and sloppy mountain had a beautiful but abandoned castle like home with golden windows.
Yes, she liked the home on top of the mountain because of the glittering golden windows. The windows sparkled and glazed so beautifully that little Molly was completely mesmerized.
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Her house was surrounded by huge trees and beautiful plants. It was a single bedded house, made of woods. Molly did not like her house very much. She felt that the house was too small and not very neat. Little molly was very fond of the mountain. The steep and sloppy mountain had a beautiful but abandoned castle like home with golden windows.
Yes, she liked the home on top of the mountain because of the glittering golden windows. The windows sparkled and glazed so beautifully that little Molly was completely mesmerized.
She went crazy for that the glittering golden windows and she started to hate her home more.
However, little Molly was so sweet and she understood the struggles her family undergoing. So she accepted everything silently. Still her desire went on growing.
However, little Molly was so sweet and she understood the struggles her family undergoing. So she accepted everything silently. Still her desire went on growing.
Years passed by and she grew up quickly. She became 12 years and looked very beautifully like a golden princess. She believed that she is supposed to live in a house with golden windows, not in an old wood house.
As she grown older, her mom allowed her to move around her house. It was holidays for Molly and she requested her mom that she wanted to wander in the garden near the river. Her mom also agreed and told her not to go so far.
Molly decided to climb the mountain and peek into the house with the golden windows.
She took her bicycle and started her journey towards reaching the top of mountain. She found a narrow road in the mountain towards the abandoned home in the mountain. With so many struggles, she reached the top of the mountain.
She was so shocked to see the dirtiest house, in fact the damaged castle with dark windows. What she used to see from her home wasn’t there in the mountain. Yes, the golden windows she saw from the lap of the mountain were in fact the reflection of the dark and dirty windows.
She was very upset and sat quietly for some time as she lost words. Her desire got vanished. Suddenly, she looked at her home. A window in her was shining like gold. She realized that the sun rays reflecting in the water makes the window glows.
[/FONT]The truth was she lived in her dream home, the home with beautiful golden windows. She realized it too late. What she dreamt for years just vanished away.
So understand that all glitters are not gold