Theme: Love to work

Little Nicolau and Big Nicolau

Little Nicolau was a very skinny boy, pale and discouraged. He just wanted to be lying down or playing with things that didn't make him move around much. He got up late, ate almost nothing, and was always tired.

Now, with such a life, it was only natural that Little Nicolau was a thin boy, pale and discouraged. It was also natural that the neighborhood boys didn't like to play with him. If they invited him for a run, he would immediately say:

- I can't!... I get very tired!...

If they called him to football, he apologized:

- I can't! I feel pain in my legs!...

The very worried parents took Little Nicolau to the doctor. After examining him well, the doctor looked at him very seriously and said:

- So, you don’t want to do anything, huh?... Because you need to move more, act, work... This is the only way that you will be strong...

And he said to his parents:

- He needs some exercises... Need to give him some work...

Since that day, his mother following the doctor's advice, had repeatedly called Little Nicolau to help her with the housework. But it didn’t work. If she sent him to the supermarket, he claimed:

- I can't!... I'm so tired!...

If she asked him to sweep the courtyard, he would say:

- Not now, Mom!... After...

If they woke him up early in the morning to fetch the milk, he would exclaim sleepily:

- I'm so sleepy!...  A little more, yes?...

So was Little Nicolau. Nothing to do! Want to do nothing!

When summer came and as the boy was still without much appetite, his parents decided to take him out of town. They went to the mountains. They rented a nice house with a big yard and settled there.

Little Nicolau was happy. He liked the mountains very much and liked the house very much. His room was spacious, airy and with a window to the backyard.

He slept well the first night he was there. He slept well, but woke up early, very early indeed. The window had been opened and the light of day hitting his face woke him up.

Little Nicolau heard something wonderful! The song of the birds! How beautiful! I had never heard anything like it.

At that moment, he noticed something else. This time it wasn't the birds but someone who singing something like this:

“My hoe

Works well.

Cut the little grass

In a back and forth.”

Who would be singing at this hour so early?

Curious, Little Nicolau stood and peered out the window. There was no one in the yard. Only the birds kept chirping, bouncing on the tree branches. Then he looked at his neighbor's yard. There was a strong, red-haired boy who, with a hoe, weeded a flowerbed. And he was singing:

“My hoe

Works well.

Cut the little grass

In a back and forth.”

Little Nicolau looked at the red-haired boy in wonder, when he, stopping a bit from working, he spotted him in the window.

- Hello! He greeted in a strong voice.- Are you my new neighbor?...

- I am! - Said Little Nicolau weakly - I arrived yesterday with mom and dad!...

The strong boy approached the fence separating the two yards and Little Nicolau noticed that his face was flushed with some freckles that made him very likeable.

- What is your name? - He asked in a smile that showed his large, half-separated teeth.

- Nicolau... but everyone calls me Little Nicolau... And you?

- How funny! - Said the other - Well, I'm Nicolau too, but everyone calls me Big Nicolau...

The two boys laughed together. It was really funny! Little Nicolau and Big Nicolau.

- See you later! Replied Little Nicolau and went back to bed.

He lay down but slept no more. He kept thinking, thinking... He thought the garden in his backyard were very ugly, with the grown grass, so grown that it hid the plants. He thought that his neighbor's yard was well care, his lawn trimmed, and it could see the tomatoes, the beautiful lettuce and other vegetables in the distance. Big Nicolau really took good care of his yard!

Little Nicolau thought, thought and decided: he would ask his father to buy a hoe and weed the yard!... The next morning, very early, Little Nicolau heard the birdsong and Big Nicolau singing again:

“My hoe

Works well.

Cut the little grass

In a back and forth.”

- Ah! Yeah!... - he murmured a little annoyed. - There is Big Nicolau singing!

And turned to the side to get some more sleep. He remembered this: his father had bought him a hoe, a good hoe for weeding... Then he jumped out of bed. He got ready quickly and ran for the yard. He stopped, however, discouraged by those grown grasses. How could I weed all that?

- Hello!... What a beautiful hoe you have!... Are you going to work? - Asked Big Nicolau from the fence.

- I don't know - said Little Nicolau a little sadly - The grass is so big!... I don't think I can...

- Hey, don't be discouraged! - Said Big Nicolau - Wait a minute I'll help you...

And, jumping over the fence, quick, joined Little Nicolau.

At first Little Nicolau did everything wrong, but he was taught by Big Nicolau, gradually got it right.

When his mother called him for coffee, he had such an appetite that he even asked to repeat it! After breakfast, he weeded again. Big Nicolau, with his friendly smile, was already there, wielding the hoe.

At lunchtime, Little Nicolau’s parents were surprised about so much he ate! Then he laid down a little to rest. He was really tired! His arms and back hurt, but he was still not discouraged, and after the nap he weeded again with Big Nicolau.

The other day, barely heard the birds sing, jumped out of bed. He wanted to beat Big Nicolau, he wanted to be the first to arrive in the yard! And he really won! When the strong boy arrived, there was Little Nicolau weeding, weeding and singing:

“My hoe

Works well.

Cut the little grass

In a back and forth.”

- Hello! - Exclaimed the freckled, cheerful redhead - You beat me, huh?...

Little Nicolau was all proud! And both boys very close friends started weeding.

The days went by... The backyard of the summerhouse looked like another. The yard was slowly being kept the grass well-trimmed and the vegetables growing. Little Nicolau worked now, alone, because Big Nicolau also had to take care of his yard.

On one side of the fence, Big Nicolau weeded and sang:

“My hoe

Works well."

And, on the other side, Little Nicolau, very happy, always weeding, answered, also singing:

“Cut the grass

In a back and forth.”

Result: Little Nicolau was now as strong, so flushed and as excited as redheaded Big Nicolau!

Text taken from the book Conte Mais - Volume I by Fergs.

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com