Y5 : Yau Yan Zong

Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and all my friends.

The title of my story is
The Milkmaid and Her Pail
Patty, a milkmaid milked her cow and had two full pails of fresh,
creamy milk. She put both pails of milk on a stick and set off to the
market to sell the milk. As she took steps towards the market, her
thoughts took steps towards wealth. On her way, she kept thinking about
the money she would make from selling the milk. Then she thought about
what she would do with that money.
She was talking to herself and said, “Once I get the money, I’ll buy
a chicken. The chicken will lay eggs and I will get more chickens. They’ll
all lay eggs, and I will sell them for more money. Then, I’ll buy the house
on the hill and everyone will envy me.” She was very happy that soon she
would be very rich. With these happy thoughts, she marched ahead. But
suddenly, she tripped and fell.
Both the pails of the milk fell and all her dreams were shattered.
The milk spilt onto the ground, and all Patty could do was cry. “No more
dream,” she cried foolishly!
The Moral of the story is
Do not count your chickens before they are hatched. Thank you!
Y5 : Yau Wen Zong
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and all my friends.
The title of my story is
The Ant and the Dove
On a hot scorching day of summer, an ant was walking around in
search of water. After walking around for some time, she saw a river and
was delighted to see it. She climbed up on a small rock to drink the water,
but she slipped and fell into the river. She was drowning but a dove who
was sitting on a nearby tree helped her.
Seeing the ant in trouble, the dove quickly dropped a leaf into the
water. The ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up on it. The dove
then carefully pulled the leaf out and placed it on the land. This way, the
ant’s life was saved and she was forever indebted to the dove.
The ant and the dove became the best of friends and days passed
happily. However, one day, a hunter arrived at the forest. He saw the
beautiful dove sitting on the tree and aimed his gun at the dove. The ant,
who was saved the dove saw this and bit on the heel of the hunter. He
shouted from the pain and dropped the gun.
The dove was alarmed by the voice of the hunter and realised what
could have happened with him. He flew away!
The Moral of the story is
A good deed never goes unrewarded. Thank you!
Y5 : Irdina

Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and all my friends.

The title of my story is
The Ant and the Grasshopper
Once upon a time, there were two best friends – an ant and a
grasshopper. The grasshopper liked to relax the whole day and play his
guitar. The ant, however, would work hard all day. He would collect food
from all corners of the garden, while the grasshopper relaxed, played his
guitar, or slept. The grasshopper would tell the ant to take a break every
day, but the ant would refuse and continue his work. Soon, winter came;
days and nights became cold and very few creatures went out.
On a cold day of winter, a colony of ants was busy drying out some
grains of corn. The half-dead grasshopper, cold and hungry, came up to
the ant who was his friend and asked for a piece of corn. The ant replied,
“We work day and night to collect and save up the corn so that we don’t
die hungry on cold winter days. Why should we give it to you?” The ant
further asked, “What were you doing last summer? You should have
collected and stored some food. I told you as much before.”
The grasshopper said, “I was far too busying singing and sleeping.”
The ant replied, “You can sing all winter as far as I am concerned. You
will not get anything from us.” The ant had enough food to last through
the winter, without any worries at all, but the grasshopper didn’t and he
realised his mistake.
The Moral of the story is
Make hay while the sun shines. Thank you!
Y5: Yan Yee Fung
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and all my friends.
The title of my story is
Elephant and Friends
A lone elephant walked through the forest, looking for friends. She
soon saw a monkey and proceeded to ask, ‘Can we be friends, monkey?’
The monkey quickly replied, ‘You are big and can’t swing on trees like I do,
so I cannot be your friend.’
Defeated, the elephant continued to search when it stumbled across a
rabbit. She proceeded to ask him, ‘Can we be friends, rabbit?’ The rabbit
looked at the elephant and replied, “You are too big to fit inside my burrow.
You cannot be my friend.”
Then, the elephant continued until she met a frog. She asked, “Will
you be my friend, frog?” The frog replied, “You are too big and heavy; you
cannot jump like me. I am sorry, but you can’t be my friend.”
The elephant continued to ask the animals she met on her way, but
always received the same reply. The following day, the elephant saw all the
forest animals run in fear. She stopped a bear to ask what was happening
and was told the tiger was attacking all the small animals.
The elephant wanted to save the other animals, so she went to the
tiger and said, “Please, sir, leave my friends alone. Do not eat them.”
The tiger didn’t listen. He merely told the elephant to mind her own
business.
Seeing no other way, the elephant kicked the tiger and scared him
away. Upon hearing of the brave tale, the other animals agreed, “You are
just the right size to be our friend.”
The Moral of the story is
Friends come in every shape and size. Thank you!
Y5: Lim Xin Yee
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and all my friends.
The title of my story is
Selfish Friendship
Once, a cat was caught in a hunter's net. A mouse used to live in
a nearby hole. The mouse seeing the cat in the net started playing
around the cat.
Soon a mongoose came there. He wanted to kill the mouse.
As he lifted his head, he saw an owl sitting on a tree trying to
catch him.
The mongoose went very near the cat's net to save himself.
The mouse thought "When the hunter takes away the cat, the
mongoose will not spare me and the owl is there to enjoy both of
us."
The Mouse went to the cat and said,
"I can cut the net if you promise to save my life from the
mongoose and the owl." The cat agreed.
The mouse started cutting the net slowly and freed the cat
only when the hunter was just near the cat. The cat took to heels
and so ran the mongoose too. The owl was very much
disappointed to see even the mouse running away to safety.
A few days later, the cat being hungry, went to the hole of
the mouse and requested him to come out for a game. The mouse
replied, "I sought friendship and saved you to save my life." Now
you can go home.
The Moral of the Story is
Don’t nurture friendship with selfish people. Thank you!
Y5: Aina
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and all my friends.
The title of my story is
The Magic Shirt
Once upon a time, A great king said to his son. “Son! I am
not well. Go and bring a good doctor." The king was not really
well. But he said, “I am sick. I am sick." He was lazy. So he fell
sick.
A great doctor came. He examined the king. He said, “You
are not sick. You are well and strong."
The king was angry. “I do not believe you. You are a fool." The
king cut off the doctor’s head.
Another doctor came. He said, “Oh King! Sleep one night
in the shirt of a man who is happy. You will be happy and well."
The king called his servants. He said to them, “Go and get me a
shirt of a happy man." The servants went in search of a happy
man. They saw some rich people. The rich people said, “We are
NOT happy. We are poor."
The poor people said, “We poor men are always unhappy.
So our shirts will not be useful to your king." The servants went
to a beggar. He was laughing and singing. He was rolling on the
grass. The servants said to him. “You are a happy man. Give us
your shirt. We will take it to the king."
The beggar said, “I have no shirt at all." The servants told
this story to the king. He learnt a lesson. He went out of his
palace. He worked hard. He was happy. The people were also
happy.
The Moral of the Story is
Always be grateful for what you are having.
Y5:
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and all my friends.
The title of my story is

The King and the Spider

Vikram was a brave king. Once, he had to fight against a large
army with just a few soldiers, he was defeated. He had to run for
his life.
Vikram took shelter in a forest cave. He was very
depressed. His courage had left him. He was blankly gazing at
the ceiling of the cave. An interesting scene captured his
attention. A small spider was trying to weave a web across the
cave ceiling.
As the spider crawled up, a thread of the web broke and the
spider fell down. But the spider did not give up. He tried to
climb again and again.
Finally, the spider successfully climbed up and completed
the web. Vikram began to think, "If a small spider can face
failure so bravely, why should I give up? I will try with all might
till I win". This thought gave strength to the defeated king.
Vikram got out of the jungle and collected his brave
soldiers. He fought against the large army. He was defeated
again. But now, he would not give up his fight.
Vikram again and again fought against the large army and
finally, after many attempts defeated the large army and regained
his kingdom. He had learnt a lesson from the spider.
The Moral of the Story is
Perseverance paves way to success. Thank you!
Y5:
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and all my friends.
The title of my story is
A Wise Counting
Emperor Akbar was in the habit of putting riddles and puzzles to
his courtiers. He often asked questions which were strange and
witty. It took much wisdom to answer these questions.
Once he asked a very strange question. The courtiers were
dumb folded by his question. Akbar glanced at his courtiers. As
he looked, one by one the heads began to hang low in search of
an answer.
It was at this moment that Birbal entered the courtyard.
Birbal who knew the nature of the emperor quickly grasped the
situation and asked, "May I know the question so that I can try
for an answer".
Akbar said, "How many crows are there in this city?"
Without even a moment's thought, Birbal replied "There are
fifty thousand five hundred and eighty nine crows, my lord".
"How can you be so sure?” asked Akbar.
Birbal said, "Make you men count, My lord. If you find
more crows it means some have come to visit their relatives here.
If you find less number of crows it means some have gone to
visit their relatives elsewhere".
Akbar was pleased very much by Birbal's wit.
The Moral of the Story is
A witty answer will serve its purpose. Thank you!
Y5:
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and all my friends.
The title of my story is
The disobedient son
Once there was a rich farmer in a village. He had a lot of land,
cattle, money and many servants. He had two sons. He led a
happy life with them.
After few years, the younger of the two sons became
unhappy. He asked his father for his share of property. His father
advised him not demand like that. His mother also advised her
son to do so.
But he would not listen to his father’s words. He got his
share and sold them. He had a huge amount with him.
Once he got much money, he got bad company of friends.
With this amount, he travelled to a distant country where he did
all he wished.
He had another bad company of friends there as well.
Because of this, he fell into evil ways. All the money was gone.
He became poor. At that time, no one helped him out of bad
company.
Soon, he fell into debt. Then he understood his mistake and
returned to his country and to his parents.
He afterwards obeyed his parents and led a happy life.
The Moral of the Story is
We should obey our parents. Thank you.
Y5 :
Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and all my friends.
The title of my story is
A Rich Man and His Son
A rich man's son was graduating college. For months, the
son was asking his father for a new car, knowing that his father
had more than enough money. When graduation day came, the
young man's father called him into the study. The father handed
him a wrapped gift and congratulated him about his graduation
and his achievement.
Looking disappointed, the son opened the gift to find a
lovely, leather bound journal, with the young man's name
embossed on the cover. He angrily raised his voice, threw down
the journal and stormed out.
The young man had not seen his father since graduation
day. He became successful and was wealthy like his father, with
a beautiful home and family. He came to realize his father was
aging and it may be time to put the past behind them. Just then,
he received a message that his father had passed, and he had to
return home to take care of the estate.
As the mourning son regretfully returned home, he began
searching through his father's important papers and saw that still
new journal, just as he had left it. He opened it, and as he flipped
through the pages a car key dropped from the back of the journal.
A dealer tag was attached to the key that read "Paid in full.
Wherever this car takes you, write about it to remember it
forever. Love, Dad"
The Moral of the Story is No matter what you expect, be grateful
for what you are given. Thank you!
The Needle Tree
Once, there were two brothers who lived at the forest’s edge. The oldest
brother was always unkind to his younger brother. The older brother took all
the food and snatched all the good clothes.
The oldest brother used to go into the forest in search of firewood to sell in
the market. As he walked through the forest, he chopped off the branches of
every tree, until he came upon a magical tree.
The tree stopped him before he chopped its branches and said, ‘Oh, kind sir,
please spare my branches. If you spare me, I will provide you with golden
apples.’
The oldest brother agreed but was feeling disappointed with how many
apples the tree gave him.
Overcome by greed, the brother threatened to cut the entire tree if it didn’t
provide him with more apples. But, instead of giving more apples, the tree
showered him with hundreds of tiny needles. The brother fell to the ground,
crying in pain as the sun began to set.
Soon, the younger brother became worried and went to search for his older
brother. He searched until he found him at the trunk of the tree, lying in pain
with hundreds of needles on his body.
He rushed to him and started to painstakingly remove each needle with love.
Once the needles were out, the oldest brother apologized for treating his
younger brother so badly. The magical tree saw the change in the older
brother’s heart and gifted them with all the golden apples they could need.
The Moral
It’s important to be kind, as it will always be rewarded.
The Lion and The Hare
Once in a forest there lived a lion who was very proud of his strength. He
would kill any animal which came in his way just for fun. All the animals
in the forest were worried about their survival.
“If the lion keeps this up, none of us will be left in the forest," said the
bear.
“He kills much more than he really needs to," squeaked the little hare.
“We have to come up with something to stop this massacre," said the
monkey. So they all joined together and went to meet the lion.
“O king of the forest, we have come to make a small request," they all
said to the lion.
“Now what would that be?" asked the amused lion.
“You are the king of the forest, but soon there will be no animals to rule
over. So we beg you to stop this unreasonable killing and we promise that
one of us will come to you everyday for your food," pleaded all the
animals with the lion.
So from that day, the animals drew lots to decide on who was to go to the
lion as his prey.
One day, the lots fell on the hare to visit the lion. All the animals
consoled him and sent him on his way to meet his doom. But the hare
was a clever animal. He did not want to die at the hands of the cruel lion.
He saw an old well on the way. It was very deep and was a danger for all
the animals. He thought of a plan.
The little hare went to sleep near the well all day. In the evening, he made
his way to the lion's den. The lion was terribly hungry by then and when
he saw a tiny hare coming towards him, he became furious.
“You little thing, how dare you come so late? How dare they send such a
small animal? I will kill them all," the angry lion roared.
“It is not my fault, O mighty lion. There were three other hares with me.
But on the way here, another lion attacked us. I just managed to escape.
The other three hares were eaten by that lion,"said the hare.
“What? Another lion in my jungle? Take me to him immediately," said
the lion in a fit of rage.
The hare took the lion to the well and pointed it out to him from a
distance. The other lion jumped out at us from inside the well when we
tried to drink some water from the well. The lion rushed angrily to the
well and peeped in.
There inside the well he could see another lion glaring at him. What the
foolish lion did not realise in his anger was that he was looking at his
reflection. He roared angrily at the other lion. He heard an answering
roar.

It was only the echo of his own roar. But the lion thought that the other
lion was challenging him. He jumped in and landed inside with a loud
splash. And that was the end of the wicked lion.
The Foolish Lion

In a forest there lived a lion. He had grown old and could not run fast
anymore. As days went by it became more and more difficult for him to
hunt.

One day while he was wandering through the forest in search of food, he
came across a cave. He peeped in and smelt the air inside the cave.
“Some animal must be staying here," he said to himself. He crept inside
the cave only to find it empty. “I will hide inside and wait for the animal
to return," he thought.

The cave was the home of a jackal. Every day, the jackal would go out in
search of food and return to the cave in the evening to rest. That evening,
the jackal after having his meal started towards home. But as he came
closer, he felt something wrong. Everything around him very quiet.
“Something is wrong," the jackal said to himself. “Why are all the birds
and insects so silent?"

Very slowly and cautiously, he walked towards his cave. He looked

around him, watching for any signs of danger. As he got closer to the
mouth of the cave, all his instincts alerted him of danger. “I have to make
sure that everything is alright," thought the jackal. Suddenly, he thought
of a plan.

The clever jackal called out to the cave. “Hello my good cave, what
happened to you today? Why are you so quiet?"

The jackal’s voice echoed deep inside the cave. The lion, who by now
could control his hunger no longer, thought to himself, “I think it is
because I am here that the cave is silent. Before the jackal realises that
something is wrong, I should do something."

The jackal continued to call out, “Have you forgotten our agreement
cave? You are supposed to greet me when I return home." The lion tried
to make his voice sound hollow and called out from within the cave,
“Welcome home my friend."

The birds chirped loudly and flew away on hearing the lion’s roar. As for
the jackal, he shook with fear. Before the hungry lion could pounce on
him and eat him up, the jackal ran for his dear life as fast as his legs could
carry him.

The lion waited for a long while for the jackal to enter the cave. But when
the jackal did not come in, the lion realised that he had been fooled. He
cursed himself for his foolishness that made him lose a prey.