As you all know, Mr and Mrs Noah have a charming puppy called Mango and a scatty, tail-less kitten called Sid (aka Little Sid). They all live in a big, old house called The Ark, next to the sea.
Now, Mr and Mrs Noah have a love of all animals (that is why they live in the Ark) and they spend much of their time feeding the many types of birds that fly into the garden, and putting down food for the numerous cats that wander around. In fact, only a month ago, Mr Noah built a wonderful bird table. He was, rightly, very proud of his bird table! It looked fantastic! He showed it to Mrs Noah, with a large grin on his face, and they choose the ideal spot in the garden to locate it - a place where they could watch the little birds come to eat, safely, out of reach of all the cats and other wildlife!
So up went the table, and on went the food!
Unfortunately, Mr Noah had chosen a rainy day to put up the bird table but, never mind, they could still watch the little birds from the comfort of their lounge through the patio doors.
They went off to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and, after a while, returned to the lounge to watch…
Oh dear, what had happened to the bird table? It was bent in the shape of an umbrella! The little birds couldn’t actually stand on the bird table! Silly old Mr Noah had made it out of laminated wood (any wise person knows that laminated wood bends when it gets wet!) and it was bending over more and more, as it was raining more and more!
The poor little birds were trying to land on the table, but just slid straight off it! “Silly Mr Noah,” said Mrs Noah. “Go and make a proper bird table!”
Now, as you know, The Ark has two large rear patio doors and Mr and Mrs Noah like to leave them open as much as possible so that everyone, including Mango and Little Sid, can enjoy the long, warm, sunny days. Of course, this means that all the wildlife Mr and Mrs Noah have spent so long attracting into the garden, also like to wander in to say “hello”! All sorts of birds have come in to say “Hi” to the Noah family – little robins, colourful weavers and canaries, even large francolins and pigeons all pop into The Ark. Word of how kind and friendly Mr and Mrs Noah are even got out to a bat once, which paid them a visit in the evening and flew up and down, from one end to the other, admiring The Ark.
If Mr and Mrs Noah haven’t heard the latest bird visitor fly in and flutter about, then Mango and Sid will bark and miaow (respectively, of course) to let Mr and Mrs Noah know that they have another little guest in The Ark.
Now, on this particular day, as Mr and Mrs Noah were enjoying yet another cup of tea in their lounge, they heard the sound of little feathery wings fluttering around the lounge and, right on cue, Sid was miaowing loudly. Strangely, for once however, Mango wasn’t making any sound at all!
Mr and Mrs Noah went to investigate and found Sid sitting on the floor looking at Mango intently, who was, herself, standing very still, facing away from Sid. However, Mr and Mrs Noah looked around but could see no sign of any little bird, anywhere.
“Oh no,” said Mrs Noah staring at the floor! “Look, Mr Noah, there are some brightly coloured feathers!” They both turned to Sid and said as one,”You bad cat, Sid! You’ve eaten the bird!
Sid stared back at them and miaowed loudly, “No, I didn’t. It wasn’t me.”
“Sid, it must have been you,” said Mr Noah. “You are a cat, and cats eat birds! You are a very naughty cat!”
“But it wasn’t me, honestly.” Sid said. With that, Sid got up and walked towards Mango indignantly. If she had a tail, it would have been held straight upwards. Mango was still very quiet and turned away even further from Mr and Mrs Noah and Sid. “Look at Mango,” miaowed Sid, “Look at her.”
Mrs Noah (who has always been far more perceptive than Mr Noah) turned to Mango and said, “So what do you know about the little bird then, Mango? Are you going to tell me?” Mango coughed slightly but said nothing, still facing away. “Come on, Mango. You can tell me,” said Mrs Noah. “What has Sid done with the little bird?”
Sid sat up on her hind legs and pointed accusingly at Mango. She was not going to be told off for something she hadn’t done!
Mango really can’t keep quiet about anything for very long and as she turned towards Mrs Noah to speak, Mrs Noah saw something sticking out of Mango’s very firmly closed mouth. The ‘something’ was two long, brightly coloured, tail feathers.
Mrs Noah shrieked,”MANGO!”
Mr Noah yelled, “MANGO!”
Sid miaowed, “MANGO!”
Sheepishly, Mango hung her head, looking down at the floor, refusing to look at Mr and Mrs Noah or Sid, and coughed. She opened her mouth and out popped - a very damp and bedraggled little yellow canary. It dropped to the ground, shook itself, looked accusingly at Mango, and flew out through the open patio doors into the garden.
“Oh my goodness,” Mrs Noah said. “Go and check that the bird is alright. Can you see it, Mr Noah?”
“Um, yes I did,” replied Mr Noah. “Unfortunately, it has tried to land on the bird table, but has slid off the side and disappeared!”
“Mr Noah,” shouted Mrs Noah, “I thought I told you to fix that table!”
Luckily, there are two happy endings to this tale.
1. Mr Noah was banished to the garage to make another bird table out of ‘proper’ wood. He excelled and made a wonderful bird table with a little green roof – The Little Ark - and all the little birds are thrilled with it.
2. The little yellow canary survived unscathed and is now able to enjoy The Little Ark along with all the other little birds.
Now, Mr and Mrs Noah have a love of all animals (that is why they live in the Ark) and they spend much of their time feeding the many types of birds that fly into the garden, and putting down food for the numerous cats that wander around. In fact, only a month ago, Mr Noah built a wonderful bird table. He was, rightly, very proud of his bird table! It looked fantastic! He showed it to Mrs Noah, with a large grin on his face, and they choose the ideal spot in the garden to locate it - a place where they could watch the little birds come to eat, safely, out of reach of all the cats and other wildlife!
So up went the table, and on went the food!
Unfortunately, Mr Noah had chosen a rainy day to put up the bird table but, never mind, they could still watch the little birds from the comfort of their lounge through the patio doors.
They went off to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and, after a while, returned to the lounge to watch…
Oh dear, what had happened to the bird table? It was bent in the shape of an umbrella! The little birds couldn’t actually stand on the bird table! Silly old Mr Noah had made it out of laminated wood (any wise person knows that laminated wood bends when it gets wet!) and it was bending over more and more, as it was raining more and more!
The poor little birds were trying to land on the table, but just slid straight off it! “Silly Mr Noah,” said Mrs Noah. “Go and make a proper bird table!”
Now, as you know, The Ark has two large rear patio doors and Mr and Mrs Noah like to leave them open as much as possible so that everyone, including Mango and Little Sid, can enjoy the long, warm, sunny days. Of course, this means that all the wildlife Mr and Mrs Noah have spent so long attracting into the garden, also like to wander in to say “hello”! All sorts of birds have come in to say “Hi” to the Noah family – little robins, colourful weavers and canaries, even large francolins and pigeons all pop into The Ark. Word of how kind and friendly Mr and Mrs Noah are even got out to a bat once, which paid them a visit in the evening and flew up and down, from one end to the other, admiring The Ark.
If Mr and Mrs Noah haven’t heard the latest bird visitor fly in and flutter about, then Mango and Sid will bark and miaow (respectively, of course) to let Mr and Mrs Noah know that they have another little guest in The Ark.
Now, on this particular day, as Mr and Mrs Noah were enjoying yet another cup of tea in their lounge, they heard the sound of little feathery wings fluttering around the lounge and, right on cue, Sid was miaowing loudly. Strangely, for once however, Mango wasn’t making any sound at all!
Mr and Mrs Noah went to investigate and found Sid sitting on the floor looking at Mango intently, who was, herself, standing very still, facing away from Sid. However, Mr and Mrs Noah looked around but could see no sign of any little bird, anywhere.
“Oh no,” said Mrs Noah staring at the floor! “Look, Mr Noah, there are some brightly coloured feathers!” They both turned to Sid and said as one,”You bad cat, Sid! You’ve eaten the bird!
Sid stared back at them and miaowed loudly, “No, I didn’t. It wasn’t me.”
“Sid, it must have been you,” said Mr Noah. “You are a cat, and cats eat birds! You are a very naughty cat!”
“But it wasn’t me, honestly.” Sid said. With that, Sid got up and walked towards Mango indignantly. If she had a tail, it would have been held straight upwards. Mango was still very quiet and turned away even further from Mr and Mrs Noah and Sid. “Look at Mango,” miaowed Sid, “Look at her.”
Mrs Noah (who has always been far more perceptive than Mr Noah) turned to Mango and said, “So what do you know about the little bird then, Mango? Are you going to tell me?” Mango coughed slightly but said nothing, still facing away. “Come on, Mango. You can tell me,” said Mrs Noah. “What has Sid done with the little bird?”
Sid sat up on her hind legs and pointed accusingly at Mango. She was not going to be told off for something she hadn’t done!
Mango really can’t keep quiet about anything for very long and as she turned towards Mrs Noah to speak, Mrs Noah saw something sticking out of Mango’s very firmly closed mouth. The ‘something’ was two long, brightly coloured, tail feathers.
Mrs Noah shrieked,”MANGO!”
Mr Noah yelled, “MANGO!”
Sid miaowed, “MANGO!”
Sheepishly, Mango hung her head, looking down at the floor, refusing to look at Mr and Mrs Noah or Sid, and coughed. She opened her mouth and out popped - a very damp and bedraggled little yellow canary. It dropped to the ground, shook itself, looked accusingly at Mango, and flew out through the open patio doors into the garden.
“Oh my goodness,” Mrs Noah said. “Go and check that the bird is alright. Can you see it, Mr Noah?”
“Um, yes I did,” replied Mr Noah. “Unfortunately, it has tried to land on the bird table, but has slid off the side and disappeared!”
“Mr Noah,” shouted Mrs Noah, “I thought I told you to fix that table!”
Luckily, there are two happy endings to this tale.
1. Mr Noah was banished to the garage to make another bird table out of ‘proper’ wood. He excelled and made a wonderful bird table with a little green roof – The Little Ark - and all the little birds are thrilled with it.
2. The little yellow canary survived unscathed and is now able to enjoy The Little Ark along with all the other little birds.
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