lesson in kindness: The Little Bear Who Collected Sunshine
In the summer, the sun blazed down, and all the little animals hid in the shade to cool off.
Only the little bear wasn’t afraid of the sun. He carried out jars from his house, opening the lids and placing them under the sun, working so hard he was drenched in sweat.
Curious, the little vole asked, “Little Bear, what are you doing with all those jars?”
Wiping the sweat from his face, the little bear replied, “I’m storing sunshine. It’s summer now, and the sunshine is warm. I’m planning to store it underground, so when it snows in winter, we can dig it up and use it to keep warm.”
The little vole burst out laughing, saying, “Little Bear, you’re such a fool! How can you store sunshine?”
The other animals agreed, thinking it was impossible to keep summer sunshine until winter.
But the little bear didn’t care. He waited until the sun had baked the jars until they were scorching hot, then he carefully covered them and buried them underground.
Time passed, and winter arrived.
As the little bear stood by his window, watching the snow gently fall, he grabbed his shovel and dug up the jars he had buried in the summer. He knocked on the little vole’s door: “Here’s a jar for you. It’s filled with summer sunshine, still warm—hold it, and you’ll feel warm.”
The little vole took the jar, and sure enough, it was warm, just like holding a piece of the sun!
Next, the little bear dug up all the jars he had buried and handed one to each of the animals. The animals were grateful yet puzzled: How could the sunshine stay warm after being buried for so many months?
Just as everyone was wondering, the little bear’s father took a shovel and kept digging where the little bear had dug. Before long, a gush of hot steam burst out.
The little bear’s father chuckled, “This is geothermal steam! It constantly gives off heat and has kept the little bear’s jars warm. With this, we won’t be cold in the winter.”
The little bear’s father rallied the other animals to help. They installed a pipe to bring the steam into every household. With heating in place, the winter felt as warm as spring!
Everyone said that if the little bear hadn’t tried to collect sunshine, they wouldn’t have discovered the underground heat. They also said that what warmed the jars wasn’t just the sun but also the little bear’s kind heart.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
