Clever Roofi

This is an old story. There lived a wood-cutter and his wife in a small village. They had seven children, all of them were boys. The wood-cutter and his wife were very poor. The children always felt hungry.

Roofi was the youngest son. He was small but he was very clever. The wood-cutter loved him very much. The wood-cutter had nothing to give to his family. There was nothing to eat for the last two days.

The following night the wood-cutter said to his wife. "We can no longer feed our children. I cannot see them dying with hunger. There is only one thing that we can do. We must take them to the forest and leave them there. May (be some) rich man finds them and takes them home. I hope, he will take better care of them." The poor woman began to 
cry. She was so full of sorrow to hear this. But, at llast she agreed to her husband's plan. After all, she could not see her children die of hunger.

As the wood-cutter and his wife were talking, the little Roofi was not sleeping. He heard every word that they said.

For some time Roofi lay thinking what would be the best thing to do. He got up quickly and crept out of the cottage and ran the forest. He filled his pockets there with small white stones. Then he ran back to the house and was in bed again.

Mother called for her sons, "We are all going to the forest. You must all help your father to collect the firewood. "The boys were very happy and they forgot about their hunger. In no time