Story
The
Great Big Enormous Turnip
A Folk Tale
Once
upon a time in a land far, far away, there lived a farmer who
grew turnips. Every year in the dying days of winter, he would
go outside each morning, look up at the sky and sniff the air.
He always knew when spring had arrived because there was a certain
something in the air that spoke of promise. That was the day
to plant new life.
The
day came. The farmer went out into his field, turned over the
damp sweet earth and made rows of holes. Into each one he carefully
dropped one seed. He had got to the end of the last row and
there was just one hole left - but his bag of seeds seemed to
be empty. He shook the bag. He felt the bag. He put his hand
in and scrabbled about in the very bottom of the bag and - yes!
There was one seed left. It felt rather knobbly and rough, but
nevertheless he put it lovingly into the last hole.
"You
may not look like the other seeds, but you deserve a chance
to grow just as much as they do. Blessing on you!" he said.
Time
passed. The sun shone, the rain came. After a while little green
shoots poked upwards through the dark earth. Day by day they
grew taller and stronger. Gradually leaves unfurled, stems stretched
up towards the sky. The farmer looked on approvingly.
At
the end of the last row, the last seed became the last plant.
It looked just like the others, nothing distinguished it from
the rest, but the farmer remembered the strange-looking seed
and smiled quietly to see it grow strong like the other plants.
Now,
a turnip is a root vegetable - that means we eat the part that
grows under the ground. The leaves at the top are there to receive
the sunlight that gives the plant the energy to grow. You can't
really tell how big the turnip is going to be until you pull
it up to harvest it.
One
day, the farmer thought his crop of turnips was probably ready
to harvest. He decided to pull one up to see if he was right.
He had a field full of plants. Which one should he choose?
He
walked to the end of the last row. He took a firm hold of the
stalk of the last turnip, close to the ground so as not to break
it, and pulled. Nothing happened. He pulled again. There was
a slight stirring beneath the ground; a little soil came loose,
but the turnip did not budge.
Puzzled,
he pulled again. He pulled, and he pulled, and he PULLED - but
he still could not shift that turnip. He couldn't understand
it. Nothing like this had ever happened before! He was quite
determined not to give up; there must be something special about
this turnip!
He
tried again. He grabbed the stalk with both hands, took a deep
breath, and he pulled…and he pulled…and he PULLED
- but he still could not shift that turnip. He was getting hot
and sweaty and a bit cross, but he was determined not to give
up.
At
that moment, he heard a voice. It was Jack, one of his neighbours,
on his way to the village shop to buy something to make soup
for lunch.
"You
look as if you could do with a hand!" Jack said kindly.
The
farmer was very relieved and grateful and explained the problem.
"Don't
worry," said Jack. "If I hold on to you tightly and
pull as well, we'll soon have that turnip out of the ground."
So
that's what they did. The farmer held on firmly to the turnip
stalk, Jack held firmly on to his waist and they both pulled…and
pulled… and PULLED - but they still could not shift that
turnip.
Moments
later, Jack's wife, Jill, appeared in the lane. "There
you are!" she called. "I was wondering where you'd
got to. We'll never have any dinner today if I don't get something
to make soup with soon."
"Come
and give us a hand then, please," replied Jack. "The
quicker we can get this turnip out of the ground, the quicker
I can get down to the village shop and buy something for you
to make the soup with."
So
Jill joined in. The farmer held on firmly to the turnip stalk,
Jack held firmly on to the farmer's waist, Jill held firmly
on to Jack's waist, and together they pulled…and they pulled…and
they PULLED…and suddenly with a great POP and a shower
of earth, the turnip came out of the ground and they all fell
over in a heap.
And
what a turnip it was! All unknown and invisible and secret in
the dark earth, the little knobbly, rough seed had quietly grown
in to the biggest, most ENORMOUS turnip ever. The farmer could
hardly pick it up. "I could never eat all this in a month
of Sundays!" he said to Jack and Jill. "Come back
to the cottage and I'll saw it up and you can take half home;
it should make plenty of soup. Thank you for helping me, it
was a tough job."
"That's
all right. Thank you!" replied Jack and Jill.
And
they carried their half of the great big enormous turnip back
home in a wheelbarrow the farmer lent them and it made the most
delicious soup they had ever tasted.
Questions
1.
What would you call this story?
2. What was different about the last seed in the bag?
3. Why did the farmer plant it anyway?
4. What was special about the way he planted it?
5. How did he manage to pull up the turnip?
6. Why did the farmer give half the turnip to Jack and Jull?
7. How did you feel when you heard the story?
8. Did it remind you of anything in your own life?
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........Silent
Sitting Exercise