Qaffouz the Frog and His Turn on the Leaf Slide

In a wide garden full of colorful flowers there was a small pond with clear water sparkling in the sun. Tall grass grew around the pond, and round green water-lily leaves floated on the water like big plates. In this pond lived a little green frog named Qaffouz. Qaffouz loved jumping. He jumped from stone to stone and from leaf to leaf, saying in his cheerful voice, "Hop hop hop! I'm the fastest frog in the whole pond!" He had big round eyes, a soft white tummy and long, strong back legs.

At the edge of the pond lay a very big leaf that had fallen from the banana tree that morning. It leaned against a smooth rock, so its high end rested on the rock and its low end touched the water. The leaf was smooth and wet and shone like a green slide in a playground. That morning the friends discovered the new slide, and the little duckling Batbouta cried, "How beautiful! It's a slide! Whoever slides down it lands in the water: splash!" Everyone was delighted and gathered around the rock, wanting to try.

Salhoofa came close to the slide, looked at it carefully with her calm eyes and touched the leaf with her little foot. She said, "Before we play, we must make sure the slide is safe. The leaf is strong and won't tear, and the water under it isn't deep and has no sharp stones." Lamma'a swam to the bottom of the slide and went back and forth there, then poked her head out and said, "The water here is soft and gentle, and the landing place is wide." The friends were glad, and Batbouta said, "How clever you both are! Now we can play without worrying."

Besides Qaffouz there were three friends: the little duckling Batbouta with soft yellow feathers, the calm turtle Salhoofa who walked slowly and thought before she spoke, and the goldfish Lamma'a who swam in the pond and poked her head out of the water to watch and laugh. Salhoofa said calmly, "Let's stand in a line and slide one after another. First Batbouta, because she found the slide, then Qaffouz, then me. And Lamma'a will count for us and clap her fins when we land in the water."

But Qaffouz didn't listen carefully. He made one big jump and reached the top of the rock before everyone, shouting, "I'm first! I'm the fastest!" Then he slid down the leaf: whoosh... splash! He landed in the water, and the spray flew everywhere until Batbouta's feathers were wet. Qaffouz laughed loudly, jumped out of the water quickly, ran back to the rock, gently pushed Batbouta out of his way and said, "Again! Me again!"

Batbouta stood sadly with her little head bowed. She said softly, "But Qaffouz, I haven't slid even once." Qaffouz didn't turn around, and he slid a second time: whoosh... splash! Then a third time. Each time he climbed out of the water and hopped in front of everyone. Salhoofa was walking slowly toward the rock, but whenever she came near it she found Qaffouz had beaten her there. And Lamma'a stopped clapping, dived into the water and laughed no more.

On the fourth time, Qaffouz slid into the water, then raised his head, waiting to hear his friends laughing and clapping. But he heard nothing. He looked around and saw Batbouta sitting alone on the grass with wet feathers and sad eyes, Salhoofa with her head tucked inside her shell, and no Lamma'a at all. Qaffouz climbed onto the rock and found the slide all to himself. He slid once, then stopped. He felt something strange. The slide was the same and the water was the same, but playing was no longer fun.

Qaffouz hopped onto a nearby lily leaf and sat thinking. Then Lamma'a appeared from under the water beside him and said kindly, "Why did you stop, Qaffouz? The whole slide is yours." Qaffouz said quietly, "I don't know. Playing alone isn't nice." Lamma'a said, "Do you know why? Because your friends were waiting, and you took their turns. The slide is best when we all play on it and each one takes a turn." Qaffouz was quiet for a moment. Then he remembered Batbouta's sad face, and his heart felt heavy.

Then Lamma'a said, "Let's play a little game, Qaffouz. Imagine you're standing in line, waiting and waiting, your heart beating with longing for the slide. And every time your turn comes, another frog jumps in front of you, pushes you and says, 'I'm first!' How would you feel?" Qaffouz closed his big eyes and imagined it. He saw himself standing alone, watching others laugh and slide while he waited for nothing. He opened his eyes and said, "I'd feel sad, and maybe angry too, and I'd think nobody cared about me." Lamma'a said, "That's exactly how Batbouta felt."

Qaffouz hopped over to the grass where Batbouta sat and said, "I'm sorry, Batbouta. You found the slide and you should have been first, but I pushed you and took your turn." Then he went to Salhoofa and tapped lightly on her shell: tap tap. "I'm sorry, Salhoofa. You were walking to the rock and I beat you every time." Salhoofa slowly poked her head out and smiled, and Batbouta lifted her head, shook her feathers and said, "We accept your apology, Qaffouz."

Salhoofa said, "Let's start again and stand in line as we agreed." This time Qaffouz stood at the end of the line and said, "I'll be last, because I've already slid a lot." Batbouta climbed to the top of the rock, spread her little wings and slid: whoosh... splash! She came out of the water laughing and shouting, "Quack quack! How wonderful!" Qaffouz clapped his hands, Lamma'a clapped her fins, and Salhoofa laughed.

Then it was Salhoofa's turn. She walked very slowly to the top of the rock, one step, then another, then another. Qaffouz was hopping on the spot with excitement and wanted to say, "Hurry up, Salhoofa!" But he remembered, kept quiet, took a deep breath and waited. When Salhoofa finally got there, she sat on the leaf and slid slowly like a little boat, then entered the water gently: bloop! Everyone laughed, because it was the slowest slide they had ever seen, and the funniest too.

Then Lamma'a said, "What about me? I can't climb the rock!" The friends thought together, and then Qaffouz said, "I have an idea! I'll stand at the bottom of the slide and splash water on the leaf to make it smoother, and you can leap out of the water and slide down its low end." Lamma'a jumped out of the water in a shining leap, touched the leaf with her tail and slid back into the pond, and everyone cheered, "Hooray for Lamma'a!" At last it was Qaffouz's turn, and he slid down hearing his friends laugh and clap. It was the best slide of his whole day.

The friends kept playing until the sun turned orange over the garden, each one waiting for a turn and clapping for the others. When it was time to go home, Qaffouz said to his friends, "Today I learned something important. When I played alone I was always first, but I was sad. When I waited for my turn, I was happy with you." A good friend doesn't push his friends or take their turns; he waits patiently, because taking turns makes play fun and fair for everyone.