Mangoes or nothing!

A baby squirrel sat on the mango branch, crying. When Tin Tin the squirrel saw this, he stopped by to ask the small squirrel 'what was wrong?'

"I am hungry! I want to eat a mango!" sobbed the little squirrel. But it was not the mango season yet. Tin Tin looked at the mango twigs full of blossoms. He knew that it would take a couple RI PRQWKV IRU WKH ÁRZHUV WR WXUQ LQWR mangoes.

"He is hungry! I should get him something to eat," thought Tin Tin and he climbed down the tree trunk towards the bird-feeder. The people in the house below the mango tree always put food on the bird-feeder, for the birds and the squirrels. Tin Tin went to the bird-feeder plate and saw that there were pieces of bread and some fruits.

Tin Tin took a piece of bread and ran towards the small squirrel. "Here, eat this," said Tin Tin, offering the piece of bread to the small squirrel. The small squirrel sniffed it. "Is this mango?" he asked Tin Tin. "No, this is bread," replied Tin Tin and the small squirrel started crying again.

"But I don't want bread. I want a mango! I heard that it tastes very sweet. I have never eaten a mango!" cried the small squirrel. "See these mango ÁRZHUV" SRLQWHG 7LQ 7LQ WKH\ KDYH to grow into mangoes and that will take some time. So till then, you will have to eat something else or stay hungry." "Then I will stay hungry!" cried the stubborn little squirrel.

Kindhearted Tin Tin didn't want to leave the small squirrel feeling hungry. So he went down to the bird-feeder again to see if he could get anything else for the little one. Tin Tin saw the pieces of fruit and he took a round slice of banana, which was also his favourite fruit. "The small squirrel will love this if he takes a bite from this," thought Tin Tin.

The small squirrel sniffed the banana piece for awhile. He liked the smell. "Is this mango?" he asked Tin Tin. "Well, it does taste as good as mangoes..." said Tin Tin, trying to get the small squirrel to like it, "but this is a piece of banana." The small squirrel started crying even louder. "I don't want bread. I don't want bananas. I want a mango!" Tin Tin went away feeling sad.

Tin Tin didn't know what to do. He was also feeling very hungry. So he decided to go to the bird-feeder to eat something.

There was a crow sitting at the feeder enjoying the food. "Hey, Tin Tin," greeted the crow, "why do you look so upset?"

Tin Tin told the crow about everything that happened with the small squirrel. "He refuses to eat anything else other than mangoes."

The crow smirked and said, "Well, he sounds like a stubborn little fellow. Let him cry and stay hungry till he learns a lesson!"

"But we should be kind and help others, Mr. Crow!" said Tin Tin. The crow thought for a while. "Well, has he eaten mangoes before?" the crow asked Tin Tin.

"No he hasn't. Someone has told him that mangoes taste nice. So now he's refusing everything else and asking only for mangoes!" replied Tin Tin. The crow smiled, "Watch what I am going to do," he said as he took a piece of papaw and ÁHZ WR ZKHUH WKH VPDOO VTXLUUHO ZDV

"Hello, little one! Why are you crying?" the crow asked the small squirrel. "I am hungry and I want to eat a mango!" sobbed the little squirrel. "Oh you are lucky because I have a piece of mango with me," the crow lied. He winked at Tin Tin and gave the piece of papaw to the small squirrel.

"Is this really mango?" asked the VPDOO VTXLUUHO VQLIÀQJ WKH SLHFH RI papaw. "Of course it is!" said the crow. Both the crow and Tin Tin were surprised to see the small squirrel eat the piece of papaw in a couple of bites. "That was very nice! Mangoes taste so good and I am not hungry anymore," smiled the small squirrel.

7KH FURZ ÁDSSHG KLV ZLQJV DQG ÁHZ away smiling slyly at Tin Tin.

"Do you know what you ate just now?" Tin Tin asked the small squirrel. "Yes, it was a piece of mango and I loved it!" replied the small squirrel and Tin Tin sighed. He felt bad the crow lied to the small squirrel. Tin Tin knew that lying to others was not a nice thing to do.

"You were being very stubborn and didn't want to even try anything else other than mangoes! But how would you know if you would like the other food or not, without even trying?" asked Tin Tin. "See the fruit that you ate just now and enjoyed was not even a mango. It's a fruit called papaw!" "Really?" asked the small squirrel in surprise widening his eyes. "But that tasted nice and I liked it!"

"You need to understand that although there are times that we want something badly, sometimes it's impossible to get it. At times like that ZH VKRXOG EH ZLOOLQJ WR ÀQG DQRWKHU good option. Crying and being stubborn and asking for something that is impossible to get, is not very wise!" said Tin Tin. And the little squirrel agreed.

"Come along, let's go to the bird-feeder and try out all the other IRRG WKDW LV WKHUH