Page 32 - Moral Stories Vol 6

Nandita woke up early in the morning hearing the shrill1 chirping sound of two sparrows perched above the window curtain. “It is too early, let me sleep!”, shouted Nandita and tried to wave the sparrows away. Soon after, Nandita heard her mother’s voice. She sounded almost annoyed.
“What pests are these sparrows?”, she grumbled2.
“I cleaned your room a short while ago. Look at the mess they have made again!”.
A heap3 of dry grass, twigs and leaves lay below the window curtain. It was a nest the birds had been building. “Where will they lay their eggs? Don’t
destroy their nest!”, Nandita cried as she got up
sharply, looking at her mother clearing away the nest. She felt very sorry for the birds.
As she lay on her bed and stared at the two
sparrows on the pelmet4, an idea struck her.
'The old dollhouse, of course!'. She pulled out a
dollhouse that she used to play with. She dusted
and wiped the house and put it on her table. “There! It
is ready now!'' Nandita called out to the sparrows. “You are my guests. Do build your nest here!”, she waved at them. But the sparrows did not move.
Later in the day Nandita sprinkled some dal(lentils) and rice grains on the floor of the dollhouse. She hoped it would lure5 the birds into entering the house. The sparrows hopped in and out of the dollhouse, pecking grains eagerly but did not build a nest there.
23