When
the White Witch came to live in the forest, everyone in the forest was
happy. Hawa the hare and Dandu Lena the young Rock Squirrel were the first
to visit her.
The witch's name was Nanda. She lived in the cave in which the Devil Woman had lived, but she had cleaned the cave up throughly and had driven out all the evil and darkness.
Now the cave was full of light and brightness. Nariya the jackal said that he had seen a Shining One talking to the White Witch. This was a good thing because the Shining Ones were the best of the good spirits.
If the White Witch was a friend of the Shining Ones, then she must be very good.
When Hawa and Dandu Lena went up to the cave, they were surprised to see a little girl seated on a little bench at the entrance to the cave.
The little girl saw Hawa and Dandu Lena and smiled brightly. "Have you come to play with me?" she asked.
"Are you Nanda the White Lady?" asked Hawa.
"Oh! That is my Amma. I am Amila, and I am looking for some one to play with."
"I am Dandu Lena, the Rock Squirrel and this is my friend Hawa the hare," said the squirrel. We would love to play with you, but we must first meet your Amma, the White Lady."
Amma is a White Witch, you know," said Amila . "A White Witch is a good witch, but we like to call her the White Lady," said Hawa "It is more polite."
"Wait here. I'll call her ", said Amila.
The White Witch was very pretty and she looked very young although she was not so young.
Hawa placed two carrots at Nanda's feet and Dandu Lena placed a large pulpy cashew fruit with the nut hanging under it.
"Thank you very much for these presents," said Nanda the White Witch. "Now what shall I give you in return?"
"We have come to welcome you to the forest," said Hawa. "We are happy now, because we are sure you will drive out all evil from this forest."
"Yes, I shall do that", said Nanda. "I have heard that there was a Black Witch living in this forest who wanted to make all the jungle folk her slaves. I also heard that the tiny little white ants destroyed her before she could start working on her evil plan. That was very good. The smallest of good creatures put an end to an evil monster."
Hawa was very happy to hear what the Nanda said and he wiggled his long ears.
But there was something that worried him
"You seem worried," said the White Witch. "Tell me what worries you."
Hawa thought for a while, and said; "Although we have destroyed the Devil Woman, there is still some of her evil left in the forest. There is the Ulama the Devil Bird which is more evil than the Devil Woman."
"Yes, Yes I have heard its fearful cry," said the White Witch. "But I haven't seen the bird."
"No one has," said Hawa.
"But its cry is terrible," said Dandu Lena. "One evening I heard the cry and I couldn't move for a long time."
"I have chrams that can destroy this Devil Bird, but someone must point it out," said the White Witch.
The two friends were silent. No one had seen the Ulama. So it would not be easy to point him out.
Hawa and Dandu Lena thanked the White Witch for promising to clean up the forest of all the evil that the Devil Woman had brought in to it.
At the entrance to the cave the White Witch's little daughter Amila sat on the bench waiting for them. "Have you met my Ammi and spoken to her?"
"Yes," said Hawa "We had a long chat with her. She promised to clean up the forest of all evil."
"Oh good!" cried Amila "Now you can come and play with me.
"I can do some of the things that I learnt from my Ammi's book of charms. I can make frogs with men's legs and make men have long tails like monkeys. Come let me show you."
Amila went to the little stream that flowed by the cave and caught three small frogs. She then waved a short stick she plucked from a bush growing close to the cave.
She then uttered some strange words and waved the stick over the frogs. Right away the hind legs of the frogs became like those of a man. The legs were very small, but they were just like a man's legs.
Dandu Lena had never seen a thing like this. He looked closely at the frogs. The frogs were more surprised than Dandu Lena. They were jumping around trying to get rid of these new legs.
Hawa became very thoughtful when he saw the frogs. He had seen this happen before. The Devil Woman was planning to do this to all the forest folk. It was very fortunate that the white ant people had destroyed her.
"Something must be done about this," Hawa said to himself. He hopped back in to the cave.
The White Witch was very upset by what Hawa told her. "Don't worry. I'll put everthing right", she said. "You know, Amila has done a very naughty and a dangerous thing."
"She has read a spell from my book of charms. She does not know how serious things could be, if those spells fall in to the wrong hands. She's only s baby. But I'll put things right. Don't worry."
The White Witch went in to the cave and brought a long stick with a shining sstar at one end. She also took a bottle of water.
"Let's go," she said, striding on with Hawa hopping along by her side.
Dandu Lena was watching the frogs dancing around with men's legs. Suddenly he felt a little frightened. "Would this little girl do this to him too?"
When the squirrel saw Amila's Ammi and Hawa comming along he was very happy.
The white Witch went up to her daughter. She tapped her on the head with the star stick and said "Forget. Forget. Forget." The little girl stood stock still. Then the White Witch sprinkled some water from the bottle on her.
Amila opened her eyes and saw Hawa and Dandu Lena. "How nice," she said. "A hare and a squirrel. Come and play with me." She had forgotten everything.
The White Witch sprinkled water from the bottle on the frogs with men's legs and they got their own legs back. They were very happy.
Far away there was terrifying cry. It was the Ulama the Devil Bird.
"Ammi, I'm frightened, said Amila clinging to her mother's cloak.
Hello Children,
The Sunday Times is ten years old this week. So is Junior Times. We have come a long way and continue to thrive in this competeitive world.
If you had read the Junior Times ten years ago you will remember how our pages looked different in broadsheet those days before we launched the magazine format.
Those of you who were our contributors ten years ago and the ones who have won prizes also might fondly remember the by gone happy days when you yelled with joy at seeing your articles and drawings appear. I hope you have got a collection of the items that appeared in the papers years ago.
Looking back, ten years seem a great achievement for us. Junior Times today happily reflects on the thought that some of our junior readers might not be juniors any more.
Untill next week,
Aunty Sunshine.
The moon shines over the giant walls as the world sleeps heavily. Suddenly a scream comes from through a small room disturbing the silent kingdom. Hurried footsteps of a resident can be heard in the distance.
Undoubtedly Galle Fort has a long history. The peninsula first belonged to the Kandyan Kindgdom. Portuguese invaded it in 1589. They built a small fortress to guard the Galle Fort and named it St. Cruise. On the 13th of March in 1640 the Dutch took the Fort after a fierce battle. On that day all the Portuguese women and children were hiding in a small room in front of St. Anthonio Church. When the Dutch forces came in to the fort after the victory, they locked that room with huge stones. All the women and children died. As they say even after four hundred years, their screams still echo on silent nights. The Dutch re-built the Fort according to their architecture. They added more ramparts, bastians, houses and with a complex network of underground channels which enabled the sea to flush away the sewage. They ceded it to the British in 1796. When we entered the Fort passing its huge gateways, we meet two different main streets, the Church Street and the Light House Street. If we walk along the Church Street we first meet the Fort's tallest building, The New Oriental Hotel. It first served as an administration building to the Dutch and later to the British garrisons.
Next to the New Oriental Hotel is the National Museum. It is the oldest building in the Fort. It was built in 1650 as a mansion for the Galle Commander.
Next we meet the Dutch Church which is small in size. It was built in 1752. Commandder Casparus Jongh spent his money to built the church. Only the dead bodies of the officers in the Dutch East India Company and their families were buried there. There we can see many tablets placed in the church walls and the floor.
As we walked we came to another entrance. In the inside we could see the emblem of the Dutch East India Company dated 1669 and the letters VOC.
At the end of the Church Street we can see the Galle lighthouse. It is a new one. The old one was burnt in 1936 and the new one was erected in ther opposite bastion.
We can see many shops and banks inside the Fort. There are 473 houses inside the Fort. Most of them were built during the Dutch period with courtyards and veraendas and especially wood carvings on the doors. Most of the current residents are Muslims.
Galle fort is one of the best preserved colonial sea fortresses in Asia and had been recognised as No. 200 in UNESCO's World's Heritage List.
yet more to be seen.
yet more to be discoverd.
But who is brave enough to creep into the chamber of secrets which are in custody of huge stone walls.
Have you ever watched a cow while it's resting? If you have, then you may also have noted that it usually chews as though it were chewing gum in it's mouth. But it's not chewing gum at all. Then what could it be?
When the cow eats grass, it eats the grass very quickly. It chews the grass a little and swallows it.
When it's swallowed, the food goes to the first part of her stomach. But it comes back again into the mouth like balls of food.
When the cow lies, resting where she will not be bothered she starts chewing the balls of food all over again.
This time she chews it very well and these balls of food that get the second chewing are called a"cud".
Scientists say that this strange habit was once a safety factor for animals like the cow.
Thousands of years ago, when the cows lived in the wild, it was unsafe for them to chew grass in the open fields as other wild animals could catch them easily.
So, they gobbled down their food as fast as possible and chewed it again in their own cool time.
The cow is not the only animal that chews it's food again. There are some other animals too. The ox, sheep, goat and even giraffs and camels are cud-chewing animals.
Animals that eat in this way are called Ruminants and chewing cud is called ruminating.Now you know the secret of the cow, who chews while resting.
So, the next time you see a cow chewing the cud you can be sure that, it's not chewing chewing gum!
Nowadays most schools have more facilities when it comes to sports. More children take part in them than before. The facilites include play grounds, sports materials and qualified teachers. Also there's a chance of participating in several levels which can often lead to international competitions. Many schools hold annual sports meets, big matches and a variety of islandwide competitions. This is a very important part of school life. Education without games and sports by itself does not make a man. Hence the old saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".
However there is criticism against sports in schools now. Some parents and members of the public say that schools spend too much of time on sports. According to them some children neglect their studies and spend most of their time playing or watching others playing. They complain that their children know more about sports and their sport stars than the subjects in their curriculum. There are others who complain that we spend enormous sums of money on sports ignoring other necessities. During the sports season parents spend money lavishly to outshine others.
Our schools have produced a large number of sportsmen and sportswomen. The victories at the last SAF games and cricket matches vouch for the talents of our players. The performance of our cricketers has brought a lot of fame and publicity to our country.
Education should develop the mind as well the body of children. Therefore sports and games are a necessity. Teachers and parents should not mind the time spent on them. If they can maintain a balance between studies and sports, children will get a complete education.
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