The Fisherman

Uncle Bou Afif set out to sea in his boat. He cast his net into the water and waited for a long time. Each time he would draw it up, he would find a stone or a bottle or a shoe, but never a fish. Bou Afif wasn’t any luckier the next day, as he noticed some cracks in his boat and preferred to return home. It wasn’t until day 3 that he found a small golden fish and decided to offer it to his son, Afif. But the boy wanted to throw it back in the sea and Bou Afif couldn’t deny him his wish. That day, Bou Afif waited from sun rise to

sun set but still returned empty-handed. The next day, he finally managed to trap a great catch into his fishing net, and left for the market to buy it there.

“The moment the sun rose, Bou Afif took his colorful fishing net and headed to the beach. He wet his blue boat and set for sail. He threw his net in the water and waited.

He waited and waited and waited… He needed some fish to sell in the market. He pulled out the net and saw a stone trapped inside it.

He returned it to the water and waited again.

He waited and waited and waited… then drew it up to find a bottle instead of a fish. So he cast it a third time and waited.

He waited and waited… then withdrew the net for the third time. To his surprise, there was a shoe laying

The fisherman returned home and said “I will come back tomorrow to fish”.

Maghrour, the Jellyfish

The Jellyfish, Maghrour (Arabic for conceited) used to look at himself in the mirror all day long. If a starfish swam by, he would brag, saying “naaaah… I am better-looking than the starfish” and he would repeat the same line every time a golden fish or an octopus swirled near him. One day, as the puffed up jellyfish approached the beach, children screamed out at his sight and ran away. Maghrour was annoyed and plunged into deep waters wondering what scared children away. First, he thought they were frightened by the big shell he placed on his head, or the moss he gathered around himself to cover his transparent body form. But even after he got rid of them, children still feared coming near him. Sad and disappointed, he cast away his mirror and dove to a lonely corner deep down the waters. Sea creatures huddled around him and said: “We have all agreed that that you’re the prettiest sea creature.” Happy again, he set out to search for his mirror.

“Maghrour is a jellyfish that lives in the deep sea. He always carries a shiny mirror and keeps looking at it all the time. From sunrise to sunset.

He keeps on looking and looking.

One day, as a starfish was swimming by, Maghrour looked down at her and said: “Naaah… I’m better looking than the starfish.”