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Story Time
A Tale: JIRTDAN’S WORLD
Once upon a time there was an old woman that had a small son. This child was so small that he was called Jirtdan ("tiny" in Azerbaijani), but that did not matter because he was very intelligent. One day Jirtdan saw that children from neighborhood were going to the forest to gather wood. Jirtdan came up to his mother and said, "Mommy, I'll go the forest with children as well."
The old woman called the children, gave each of them a piece of bread spread with butter and asked them to take care of Jirtdan. While going to the forest to gather wood, the children saw that Jirtdan didn't do it. They said, "Jirtdan, why aren't you gathering wood?"
Jirtdan answered, "My mommy gave you bread spread with butter for gathering my wood.".
The children gathered and loaded Jirtdan's wood. When they wanted to leave, the children saw that Jirtdan was sitting and looking. They said, "Jirtdan, why aren't you carrying your wood?"
Jirtdan answered, "Boys, my mommy gave you bread spread with butter for carrying me as well."
Having no way out, the children loaded his wood. After walking awhile, they saw that Jirtdan had fallen behind and was crying. The children asked, "Jirtdan, why are you crying?"
Jirtdan answered, "I am tired. Mommy gave you bread spread with butter for taking care and carrying me on your back, when I got tired".
Being in hopeless situation, the children took him on their back. When the day turned into night and the sky turned dark, the children lost their way. Leaving the forest they saw that on one side a dog was barking, on the other there was light. At that moment they said to Jirtdan, "Hey, Jirtdan, shall we go to the side of dog's barking, or to the side of light?
Jirtdan responded, "If we'll go to the side of dog's barking, the dog will eat us. Let's go to the side of light, maybe we'll find the way out."
While walking to the side with the light, the children came to the monster's house. The monster was very glad when he saw the children and thought to himself, "Well, to night I'll eat them one by one". The monster gave the children a little bread, and put them to bed. Late during the night, the monster wanted to eat one of the children. The monster called out, "Who has got asleep? Who is awake?"
Hearing this question Jirtdan raised his head and said, "Everybody has fallen asleep, but Jirtdan is awake."
The monster asked, "Why is Jirtdan awake?"
Jirtdan replied, "Because, my mommy used to cook scrambled eggsevery night before putting me to bed."
The monster stood up, quickly cooked scrambled eggs, fed and put him to bed. Later on, he asked again: "Who has got asleep? Who is awake?"
Jirtdan raised his head again and said: "Everybody has fallen asleep, but Jirtdan is awake."
The monster asked: "Why is Jirtdan awake?"
Jirtdan answered, "Because my mommy used to bring to me water with a sieve from the river every night before falling asleep."
After hearing his answer, the monster stood up, took the sieve, and went to the river to bring water for the boy. Jirtdan woke up his friends immediately, and said, "This monster wants to eat us. Stand up and lets run away quickly."
The children quickly run away and crossed the river. Meanwhile, monster put the sieve into the water and took out of it, but he saw that there was no water in it. The monster did not realize this was an impossible task because the sieve would always cause the water to leak out. At last, being tired, the monster decided to return home. However, he suddenly saw the children were going to the other side of the river. He immediately tried to cross the river and run after the children, but he couldn't cross the river. He called to the children, "How did you cross the river?"
Jirtdan quickly answered, "Go and find a millstone, put it on your neck, and throw yourself into the river, then you can cross the river."
The monster believed Jirtdan's words. He found a millstone, put it on his neck, and threw himself into the river. Drawing in the water, the monster died, and the children were able to escape.
And that is how Jirtdan, despite his size, used his intelligence to outwit the monster and return safely home with his friends.
Other Activities
There are fun activities for kids all over the Karabakh Foundation Web site! Check out the Textile and Rug themed games and arts and crafts. There are also puzzles scattered throughout our "Cultural Topics." For example, try your hand at putting the flame tower back together.
