Children of wax
Southern African Folktale
Wiehan de Jager
Once upon a time, there lived a happy family.
The children never fought with each other.
They helped their parents at home and in the fields.
But they were not allowed to go near a fire.
They had to do all their work during the night.
Because they were made of wax!
But one of the boys longed to go out in the sunlight.
One day the longing was too strong.
His brother and sister warned him.
But it was too late!
He melted in the hot sun.
The wax children cried to see their brother melting away.
But they made a plan.
They shaped the lump of melted wax into a bird.
They took their bird brother up to a high mountain.
And as the sun rose, he flew away, singing in the morning light.
You are free to download, copy, translate or adapt this story and use the illustrations as long as you attribute in the following way:
Children of wax
Author - Southern African Folktale
Illustration - Wiehan de Jager
Language - English
Level - First sentences
© African Storybook Initiative 2014
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
Source www.africanstorybook.org
