Tofu! Tofu!
TOFU! What are you doing here?
Your friends and I were waiting for you at the library
I thought you promised to go with us
and help our librarian Ms. Peters today.
Oh Tia! There are so many of you
I am sure you can manage without me.
But Tofu! You promised!
Why are you so angry, Tia? It’s just the library.
Yes, but you promised us. How can you be so careless, Tofu?
If you behave like this
one day you will have no friends left.
What do you mean?
Haven’t you heard of the bear and the two friends?
No
Okay
Let me tell you the story
Once upon a time
two friends had to travel through the forest.
It was a dangerous forest with many wild animals
There were lions
bears
snakes
and even poisonous spiders in the forest
As the two friends entered the forest
they were gripped with fear of what lay ahead.
I am so scared. I wish we didn’t have to go through this forest
I agree with you. But we have no choice
We must cross the forest to get to the other village.
What if we get into trouble?
Let’s promise that if any of us gets into trouble
the other will not run away.
He will stay and help the one who is in trouble.
Yes, I promise you, my friend
I won’t leave you alone if you are in trouble.
And I promise you the same, my friend
I am feeling less scared now.
I think now I can easily cross the jungle.
I am glad.
Let’s go
After some time of walking through the forest
the two friends heard a rustling sound from the bushes ahead of them
They stopped in their tracks.
What do you think it is?
Shh…I don’t know. I can’t see clearly
can you?
Just then a large, dark figure appeared ahead of them
Oh no! It’s a wild bear!
It hasn’t seen us yet, run!
Saying so the boy climbed up a tall tree and sat on one of its branches
But his friend did not know how to climb a tree
My friend! I don’t know how to climb a tree
Please help me climb it!
But the boy on the tree did not help him
He shook his head and held closely to the tree.
The boy on the ground saw the bear approaching him
and quickly lay down on the spot
He had heard that bears do not attack dead things
so he closed his eyes held his breath and lay very still.
The bear came close to him
It came close to his head and sniffed and smelled his ear
to see if the boy was breathing
but the boy held his breath
Thinking that he was dead, the bear left the boy and moved on.
After the bear had left
the boy from the tree came down.
Are you all right?
Yes, I am.
That was a close call!
True, it was
Tell me, my friend.
I saw the bear come close to your ear and whisper something.
What did it say to you?
It told me to be wary of a false friend and not keep such company
Which of the two friends do you think are behaving like, Tofu?
Like the one who broke his promise and climbed the tree.
Hmmm...What are you going to do about it?
Apologise to you and my friends and go to the library immediately to help
Okay! Shall we go then?