Emile the Beaver
Emile the beaver was bored. He had no friends to play with and didn't know what to do to keep himself busy.
So, he decided to help others.
He first went to the bees and wanted to help them make honey.
He looked at them for a moment, then set to work.
Flowers were needed, so he gathered a lot of them: blue ones, yellow ones, purple ones in clusters, and fragrant red ones… Soon, in front of the bees' hive, there was a mound of flowers.
"What are you doing, Emile?" one of them asked.
I've come to help you make your honey, so I've picked up plenty of flowers for you to forage. By the way, I need to keep going!
Oh, Emile, stop, it's no use. Look, the flowers are already wilting, and for our honey, we only choose beautiful, fresh flowers. Sorry, but your work isn't helping us... On the contrary, it's taking away our food!
Alright, fine, I'll stop, since you're telling me it's pointless.
"That's it, goodbye," said the bee.
And Emile resumed his journey in search of services to render.
He came across a bird building its nest. Twigs were what he needed.
Emile ran into the forest and broke a lot, really a lot, of branches.
It’s simple: on the tree where the bird had started its nest, only one branch was left—its own!
The bird then insulted Emile.
What have you done, you absolute fool? There's nothing left around my nest; you've destroyed everything! What a stupid, idiotic, and harmful thing you are! Now I have to start all over again. So I'm off, but I never want to see you on my path again!
- "Ashamed, Emile left, no longer daring to look up at the sky for fear of crossing the bird's path."
He came to a pond where a whole flock of pink flamingos had stopped. How beautiful they were; Emile really wanted to help them.
What were those beautiful birds doing? They were apparently fishing! That was awesome!
Emile the beaver was a fishing champion.
The pink flamingos would surely appreciate his help. And Emile set to work.
He plunged into the pond and fished, catching a multitude of fish: small ones, big ones, fat ones, skinny ones, spotted ones, striped ones... of all kinds...
The trouble was, his fishing energy had stirred up quite a few ripples. The pond was now entirely gray and muddy.
Not to mention the noise Emile had made… which had driven off the beautiful birds. All the pink flamingos had now flown off to other places, surely quieter and more restful!
At that point, Emile felt very upset.
- "The ungrateful ones! I who had worked so hard for them, it's truly unfair! That's it, too bad, I will never help others again..."
"Emile, what are you saying?" asked Lupin the duck, who was swimming in the corner. "Your work is not help!"
What? My job, not help? What are you talking about?
“Helping means first listening attentively, and then responding to a request. But you just did whatever you felt like, which is completely different!” said the duck.
"But it's to please them!" Emile replied, scowling.
"Well then, did you notice any pleasure in them?" Lupin asked.
"No, that's true, I have to admit it, but they should have!" Emile insisted.
Emile, if you want to help, that's not the way to go about it. You must not force things. Simply listen to the other person with your heart and make a suggestion. Then, if the other person says yes, you will truly be able to help them. Do you understand?
"Yes, I suppose, well, we'll see!" grumbled Emile, who then resumed his walk.
He came across a family of rabbits on the move.
"Hello, what are you doing?" Emile asked.
"We're going to build a burrow for the night, but the ground is very hard, and we're having trouble digging," said the rabbit father.
"Would you like me to help you?" Emile offered.
Yes, why not, we would like a burrow here, not too big, so that we can snuggle up.
"Very well, I understand," said Emile.
And he set to work, alongside the rabbits. Soon the hole was finished.
Oh, thank you, Emile. Without you, we wouldn't have made it and we would have had to sleep outside, at the mercy of the foxes. It was really kind of you to help us!
Justine, one of the little girls in the rabbit family, then approached Emile and gave him a big kiss.
Emile then felt utterly happy, and set off with his heart rejoicing, ready to offer whatever help they might wish to ask of him.
Marylena