KIWI (CHINESE GOOSEBERRY) |
Kiwi: The Symbol of New Zealand |
In olden times in New Zealand there ruled a good king. His queen died during childbirth, leaving him a little daughter. The king dearly loved the baby and let her do anything she wanted. As a result the little girl was spoiled and often threw temper tantrums.
The king's cooks tried with all their might to please the princess: one baked a cake the size of a house, another made a chocolate castle, and then she took a little bite of one and then the other and pulled a face.
One day the king said to his little daughter “If you like, I'll show you the most wondrous bird in the world. It lives only here in New Zealand . This bird hears and smells with its nose better than other animals. People believe that it protects us from harm. It is very difficult to catch sight of it in the forest. During the day the Kiwi hides in holes, but I ordered that a “kiwi house” be built next to the palace so that anyone who wanted to could look at it through a special window.”
Having heard this, the princess deigned to go out into the courtyard and look into the little window of the “kiwi house”. She peeked in, screwed up her face and said,
“Ha! What an ugly little thing. It's just a brown shaggy ball with a long beak. It doesn't have wings, but some kind of bumps instead. It probably doesn't even know how to fly.
“Do not judge, daughter, about that which you do not understand”, the king got angry and left the courtyard, slamming the door behind him.
The princess was very upset. She went to bed and didn't want to get up. All the more so because she felt horrible. Her heart and head hurt.
The king, having found out that his dearest little girl was ill, regretted his angry words and quickly summoned a doctor.
“Heart weakness and high blood pressure. A potassium and vitamin deficiency” was the doctor's diagnosis and he prescribed medicine for the princess. But she pitched a fit and would not drink the medicine.
The king was so worried about his daughter's health that he could not go to sleep. All night he walked back and forth across the throne room and prayed to help the princess. Tired out, he sat down on the throne and dozed off. He dreamed that a kiwi bird entered the throne room carrying some sort of little basket in its long beak. It went up to the throne and, after placing the basket in front of the king, began to croak, "Awkkk." Strange as it may seem, the king clearly understood what it was croaking: "These little fruits that the kiwi brought will cure the princess!"
When the king opened his eyes, it was already morning. He thought to himself, "What a strange dream I just had," but to his great amazement, he discovered a little basket next to the throne filled with dark brown, egg-shaped fruit. Grabbing the basket, he rushed to his daughter.
The princess looked down her nose at the fruit and whined, "I am not going to eat those dirty brown hairy eggs."
"It sometimes happens that marvellous qualities hide behind a modest exterior," the king said gently as he skilfully peeled off the dark brown rind. The green, sweet-smelling flesh of the fruit came to light. The king cut the fruit into little circular slices and quickly put them in his daughter's mouth.
After swallowing the first piece, she exclaimed, "How delicious! I think it's made out of strawberries, bananas, melons, and pineapples." The basket was empty, but the princess still wasn't full.
"The kiwi bird brought me this fruit, but I don't know where it grows," said the puzzled king.
"We have to find it," declared the princess, "It's better than any medicine, and my headache is gone."
All over the kingdom the heralds declared:
“Whoever finds a kiwi plant will get a chest of gold. A whole chest of gold just for a plant!”
To all the quarters of the world went ships to look for a kiwi plant.
A year passed and one day a young sailor came to the king. He took out a little bag of fine dark brown seeds and said:
“I've brought these seeds of kiwi long, long way from China , they called it Actinidius Chinese over there. I don't want any gold or reward, I will grow these fruit all by myself, but only on condition that ...
Read the whole story about KIWI
in the book
'The World of Fruits"
The World of Fruits:
purchase online
This was fragment from the story about BANANA from the book on Healthy Food for kids: 'The World of Fruits', part I >>
For the Book II 'The World of Vegetables' visit project Talking Veggies: Vegetables-for-kids.com
For anyone interested in their child's well-being, “The Storyteller's Guide to Health” series is sure to be of value. Following each selection of delightful stories, games and activities you'll also find recipes for the vitamin-conscious kitchen. The recipes are simple, allowing children to prepare dishes themselves with only minimal supervision, and are also designed to preserve the largest possible share of vitamins and other nutrients in the final serving. Read fragments from our stories: fruits for children
© Maria Skrebtsova,
© Alexandra Lopatina,
Illustration s by Svetlana Jijina.
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