The Knife

Written by: Mohammad Anwar Andar

First Lane:

Ayaz wants to sharpen Farida’s pencil with a knife. Peddler arrives and avoids him from playing with a knife. Children welcome peddler and ask the reason.

Peddler turns on a talking box. A child says: once I was peeling an apple with a knife, I cut my finger and my father took me to a doctor.

Another boy says: I was cutting a branch from a tree by a knife, I badly hurt my hand.

Ayaz asks the solution. Peddler says that children could ask the help of their elders.

Farida says that she knows a joke about the knife. Peddler asks her to tell the joke. Farida says:

Once an ignorant boy found a knife and showed it to his friend. His friend asked about it. The ignorant boy said that it’s the chick of a saw and doesn’t have teeth yet.

Peddler likes the joke and wants them to find more jokes for next time and he goes to the other alley.

Second Lane:

Zubair says to Rahila that I had 5 walnuts and bought 20 more. I mixed all of them but I think that the shopkeeper has not given me all 20 walnuts.

Peddler arrives and after greeting, they share the problem with him.

Peddler takes the walnuts from Zubair and subtracts one from twenty-five and asks Zubair about the remaining. Zubair says that 24 walnuts remained. Peddler subtracts four more walnuts one by one and Zubair says that 20 walnuts remained. Thus, the children learn subtraction operation and peddler goes to the alley of the story.

Third Lane:

Atal and Razia are waiting for the peddler to come and tells them the new episode of the story.

Peddler comes and children welcome him and ask to tell them the new episode of the story,“ the Letter”.

Peddler asks about the previous episode.

Razia says that Torialai does not allow her sister, Malalai to school.

Peddler says the second episode as follows:

Second Episode of the story “the Letter”

Malalai becomes very sad and goes to her mother and wants her to take permission from her father for going school. Her mother promises to share the issue with Malalai’s father.

When Malalai father comes home, the mother shares the issue with him. The father becomes angry and says that girls should stay at home. Malalai says that if you allow me to school, I would help my mother with house chores too. Malalai’s father becomes angrier and leaves home.

End of the second episode.