Young scribes

Road to success

"Where there is a will, there's a way"; that is, when we are determined to do a thing, however difficult it may be, and even apparently impossible, we shall find a way to do it.

The real reason why we do not try to do certain things, or fail to do them when we try is often because we do not really want to do them; or, if we really want a thing, our desire for it is feeble.

When we do not really want to do it, we set to work to find excuses, and make mountains out of molehills. Every difficulty is exaggerated, and we so fill our minds with the obstacles in the way, that we think it is impossible of achieving. Our desire is like a thin, feeble stream of water which is turned aside or blocked by every small obstacle. But a rushing torrent simply sweeps rocks, trees and banks out of its way, and forces itself through or over every obstruction.

In the same way, a fierce desire, and a strong determination will make our difficulties less heavy and will discover the way of success.

In the story of a French potter named Pallissy made up his mind to discover a pure white glaze for china. This man was poor and had but little education.

At last he fed wood in the furnace in the final experiment. And he became a famous man. He had a will and he found the way.

Napoleon said 'the word impossible was not found in his dictionary'.

Chulika, Gr 11, Sailan International School, Negombo.

Be busy as a bee, help others as a bee

"Busy as a bee" is not an over statement. The bee literally works itself to death; all for the single teaspoon of honey, spread upon our break-fast toast.

A half-kilo jar of honey on your table represents 80,000 kilometres travelling of the bees.

The bee's dipping into flowers is not a joyous game but obedience to an order of nature arising from instinct. There are now 100,000 species of plants which can never properly form seeds without the bee dipping into their flowers.

Prasanna Adithya, Gr 8, Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa.

Books his best companion

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India is a nuclear scientist. He is engaged in his scientific research so much that he has not seen a movie for the last 50 years.

Do you know that his best companions are children and books. When he is tired from his scientific research, when he is lonely, he goes back to his books. Do you know what his ambition is? Making India the No. 1 country in the world.

He says he has faith in the younger generation of India. According to him, they would help realise his dream and vision of a developed India by 2020.

Queer shaped stamps to delight young collectors

Francis P. Gunasekera

While queer shaped stamps come out from Japan to delight young collectors, fifteen cloud formations appear in fifteen American stamps making all knowledgeable about nature's visible phenomena.

The United States Postal Service has selected the work of 11 photographers to be depicted in 15 new American stamps in order to stress the weather's most visible phenomena. The cameramen have very cleverly brought out these different cloudscapes in sober colours for the first time in philately.

No stamps on similar theme have been issued from any other part of the world to date, a fact which gives them an outstanding position.

After all, rain and sunshine behave the way they are destined to be either for man's benefit or his misfortune and downfall.

The clouds depicted on stamps are reported to have been arranged in rows according to their distances from the surface of the earth. For example, the top row of five stamps pictures clouds that are farthest from the earth.

In each stamp design we see a vivid photograph of a particular type of cloud. Each type of cloud has a different name. They are given in black letters across the bottom of each stamp.

An amateur meteorologist by the name Luke Howard is reported to have laid the foundation for the modern cloud classification system based on Latin names.

The shapes and altitudes of clouds as well as the sequences in which they develop help people forcast the weather. The International Atlas, first published in 1896 is based on this classification system.

The clouds also are classified according to their typical altitudes-high, middle and low. All this information goes to prove that stamps are not only meant for the prepayment of postage, but they are also meant to provide universal knowledge so necessary in one's day to day life in this so called fast moving world which all of us face today.

Folk Tales of Sri Lanka:

Commotion at the palace

Retold by R. S. Karunaratne

One day when Andare was about to leave the palace after his duties he was summoned by the Queen. He obeyed and went to see the Queen.

"Look here, Andare, You've been coming to the palace for a very long time. But you have never brought your wife along with you. Why don't you bring her? I'd like to talk to her."

"Your majesty, I'll obey your command."

"Can you bring her to the palace tomorrow?"

"Yes, your majesty. I can do it, but there's a small problem..."

"What's the problem?"

"My wife is a little hard of hearing. Your majesty may have to speak to her very loudly..."

"It doesn't matter. I can talk to her loudly so that she can hear me."

Andare went home and told his wife that the Queen wished to see her.

"Shall we go now. I am anxious to see the queen."

"No, not now. You can come with me when I visit the palace. But I must warn you that you will have to speak at the top of your voice."

"Why?"

"Her majesty the queen is hard of hearing. That's a defect she had for a very long time. But if you can talk in a very loud voice, she might be able to hear what you say."

On the following day Andare took his wife to the palace.

He saw the queen walking up and down in the Royal compound.

Addressing his wife Andare said, "Now go and talk to the queen at the top of your voice. Then only she will be able to hear what you say."

Then Andare went to meet the king who was addressing his ministers and advisers.

He bowed his head and sat in his usual seat.

After some time the king heard two women talking in a loud voice. In order to find out what the noisy confusion was he visited the royal compound.

The scene confounded him. He saw the Queen and Andare's wife talking to each other in a loud voice. Finding the noise unbearable, the king decided to intervene.

"Look here, what's happening here?" He asked looking at the Queen sternly.

"Your majesty, I'm talking to Andare's wife in a loud voice as she is hard of hearing."

The king then turned to Andare's wife.

"Your majesty, I am also talking in a loud voice because Her majesty is supposed to be hard of hearing," Andare's wife said.

The wise king at once realised who was behind the commotion.

He left the scene trying to suppress his amusement.