A Drop of Honey

On a mountainside lived a hunter with his faithful dog. One morning he took a jug of honey and walked to the shop in the next village to sell it.

The shopkeeper opened the jug, tasted the honey, and… drip! One golden drop fell on the floor.

A fly came buzzing and landed on the drop. The shopkeeper’s cat saw the fly and pounced. The hunter’s dog saw the cat and chased it, barking. The cat yowled, the dog barked, the fly buzzed.

“Your dog scared my cat!” shouted the shopkeeper. “Your cat jumped first!” shouted the hunter. The neighbours came running, some shouting one thing and some another. Soon both villages were arguing, and nobody could remember why.

Then a little girl sitting on the shop’s doorstep laughed out loud: “All this noise over one drop of honey?”

Everyone fell quiet. They looked at the floor, at the tiny golden drop. Then they looked at each other and began to laugh. The shopkeeper brought bread, the hunter opened his jug, and the two villages ate bread and honey together.

And the dog and the cat, tired out, lay down in the sun and fell asleep. May your dreams be as sweet as honey. Good night, Ani.