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Our wonderful world
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Our wonderful world
Writer: Herminder Ohri
© Pratham Books, 2014
Our wonderful world
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Once upon a time long ago, when there were no

people, God looked down at the beautiful world he had made.

He thought I must have someone to look after my

creation.

Our wonderful world
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The lion roared, "I am the king of the jungle, I

can look after the world."

Our wonderful world
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The elephant trumpeted loudly, "My Lord, you have

made me so big and majestic."

"Surely I am right for the job."
Our wonderful world
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The whale looked up at the sky and spouted a

fountain of water, "Do they know how to swim and

look after the fish, the reefs, the coral and

millions of tiny sea animals?".

"I can look after the oceans."
"I can also keep my head above water and see what

is going on on the land."

"I am so LARGE, no one will dare to do anything

against your will."

Our wonderful world
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The shark thought his sharp teeth were all that

were needed to do the job.

Our wonderful world
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The eagle laughed, "These animals can only look

after those on land, while the whale and the shark

can only see the water animals."

"But I fly, I see the sky, land and water."
"I am the only one fit to be the keeper of the

world."

Our wonderful world
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God listened carefully to the animals, to the

fish and the birds.

"I will create man," he said.
The animals all wondered, what was this thing

called "man".

What colour, with feathers or fur, or scales?
Will he run like the lion? Swim like a fish?
Fly high like the eagle?
Our wonderful world
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The sun had set and it was night.
He wrapped himself in the night sky, put the

twinkle of stars into the eyes and used the

black clouds for hair.

He also put pieces of the moon in the nails and

the shine of far away stars in the teeth.

So the first man and woman were created with

shiny black skins like the night.

Our wonderful world
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Soon the night faded and it was morning.
God covered himself in the white morning light,

took the blue sky for the eyes, the gold of the

sun he spun into hair, and before him stood a man

and woman with white skins, blue eyes and golden hair.

Our wonderful world
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Now the morning had turned into afternoon.
The sun was very bright, so he pulled the yellow

light, and the deep black shadow of the afternoon and

made a man and woman with yellow skins, black hair and

eyes that slanted to look into the sun.

Our wonderful world
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It was now evening, the sky had become dusky and

a few stars had also appeared in the sky.

God looked down and saw the beautiful rich brown

of the earth and the dusk of the sky for the skin.

The black colour of the night was for the hair

and he used the sparkle of stars for the eyes.

Before him stood a man and woman with brown

skins, black hair and eyes.

Our wonderful world
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The animals all looked in wonder at the strange

creature who stood on two legs, with naked skin,

with no fur or feathers or even scales.

The lion looked down his kingly nose and roared,

"I can outrun them and with a swipe of my paw I

can kill them, sorry for saying so."

Our wonderful world
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The zebra suggested, "Some stripes would have

improved their look."

The leopard said, "A few spots."
The elephant trumpeted, "Surely grey would have

been a better colour?"

Our wonderful world
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The shark looked at their teeth and smiled

showing his sharp teeth.

"Ah! No fins, how will they swim? And they are

going to be the keeper."

"Ha! Ha! Ha!".
The fish, big and small, laughed as they dived

into the deep water leaving a trail of bubbles

of laughter.

Our wonderful world
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God smiled kindly, "You see, to survive, man will

have to look after the animals, the oceans with all

their life, the plants, from the tiniest to the

largest trees."

"The day he starts destroying the world with his

greed, he will be destroyed."

The animals, the fish and the birds bowed their

heads and hoped they would be safe.

So let us, YOU and I, look after this wonderful

world.

Our wonderful world
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Our wonderful world.
Writer: Herminder Ohri.
Language: English.
© Pratham Books, 2014.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution
(CC-BY) Version 3.0 Unported Licence
Disclaimer: You are free to download, copy, translate
or adapt this story and use the illustrations as long as you
attribute or credit the original author/s and illustrator/s.