Atemu and Amethyst - CONNECT PRIMARY 6 Term 2 - سادس ابتدائي

UNIT 12 FICTION READER: ATEMU AND AMETHYST 88 BY JENNY FARMER ILLUSTRATED BY MATT WARD

PICTURE DICTIONARY UNIT 12 amethyst carpenter carrier pigeon COO dome dovecotes jewelry order scribe yard 89

UNIT 12 90 Once upon a time, a long, long, time ago, a boy called Atemu lived in the Nile Delta. His home was in a small village, and he lived with his parents and his big sister, Nedjem. Atemu was twelve, but he didn't go to school. His father worked as a carpenter. He was teaching Atemu how to make things from wood. Atemu loved animals, especially birds. He liked to watch the birds that came into his yard. Every day, Atemu gave some grain to the birds. He enjoyed watching them eat. Often, his sister's cat came into the yard and watched the birds, too. It sometimes jumped at the birds, but it never caught them. It was a very slow cat. One day in October, Atemu was in the yard when he heard a strange noise. He looked up and saw something amazing. A huge flock of birds were flying over his village. They were coming down to a field nearby. "Mom! Mom!" shouted Atemu. "There are so many birds! Can I go and see them?" His Mom came out of the house and looked. "Wow!" she said. "Yes, you can go." She filled a bowl with grain. "Here, you are," she said kindly. "You can take this for them."

M UNIT 12 When Atemu got to the fields, he couldn't believe his eyes. There were thousands of birds. Every one of them was light gray, with shiny green feathers on its neck and purple feathers on its chest. They were beautiful! They called to each other with a long "whoo" sounds. Atemu threw the grain to the birds. They ate it hungrily. Then, suddenly, they flew into the sky again. Atemu watched them go. Then he noticed a bird at his feet. It was looking at him. "Coo, coo, coo, coo," it went. "I don't have any grain for you, bird," said Atemu. "Coo, coo, coo, coo," went the bird. The noise was different from the other birds. It looked different too. First, it was bigger. The other birds had yellow beaks, but this bird's beak was dark gray. This bird also had stripes on its wings. Atemu could see something strange on its leg, too. Just then, Atemu heard his mother calling him. Atemu started walking quickly, but he could hear the bird behind him. It was following him! "Why don't you fly with your friends?" said Atemu, but the bird just cooed. 91

UNIT 12 When Atemu got to his yard, the bird came in after him. He watched it while he cleaned vegetables for dinner. Then he saw Nedjem's cat. It was watching the bird, too. Suddenly, the cat jumped on the bird! But the bird didn't fly away. Nedjem ran and picked up the cat. "You should catch rats and snakes, not birds!" she said. "What's wrong with that bird? It can't fly," said their mother. "Is it hurt?" "Maybe!" said Atemu. "It didn't fly with the other birds." Atemu walked to the bird. When he touched its left wing, it made a quiet sound. "I think its wing is hurt," said Atemu. 92 When Atemu's father came home, Atemu showed him the bird. "It has a hurt wing, and there is something on its leg." "Poor bird!" said his father. "What is that?" He took the object from the bird's leg. It was a very small wooden box. Atemu's father opened it. A piece of papyrus paper was inside. "It's a message!" said Atemu's father. "This bird is a carrier pigeon." "What's a carrier pigeon?" asked Atemu.

"It's a bird which carries messages," said his father. "Important people in the city keep pigeons. The pigeons learn where they live. Then people take the pigeons to new places. When there is news from that place, they attach the message to the pigeon. It flies home and carries the message. That's why they're called carrier pigeons." "That's very clever!" said Atemu. "So, what does this message say?" "I don't know," said his father. "I'll take it to my friend, the scribe." W Atemu looked after the pigeon. He made it a high table which the cat couldn't jump onto. He gave it water and grain and talked to it. The pigeon cooed back happily. Atemu's father went to the city. Three days later he came home. "Did you speak to the scribe?" said Atemu. "Yes," said his father. "The message was for a jewelry merchant in the city, Mr Akhon. I took him the message, and he was very happy! It was an order for a lot of gold jewelry from the capital city. It was very important for him." "Mr Akhon also wants his pigeon. We'll take it to him next week." "Yes, father," Atemu said quietly. For the next week, Atemu looked after the pigeon. The pigeon started to fly again. Every morning, it flew to the roof where Atemu slept and cooed to him. Atemu was very happy to have a new pigeon friend. "I don't want you to go home," he said to it quietly. UNIT 12 93

UNIT 12 The next Sunday, Atemu and his father got into their boat to go to the city. The pigeon sat on Atemu's shoulder. Atemu was excited because it was his first trip to the city, but he was also sad. It was his last day with the pigeon. But he forgot about that when he saw the houses of the city. There were so many and some of the houses were very big! Some houses had white domes with many small holes in the yard or on the roof. "What are they?" asked Atemu. "Those are dovecotes." said Atemu's father. "Dovecotes are special houses for pigeons." Finally, they arrived at a large house. "We're here!" Atemu's father said. A smiling man came to meet them. He was wearing a lot of jewelry. Atemu knew it was the merchant. "Welcome to my home!" Mr Akhon said. "Thank you so much for finding my message. It was from my most important customer. And thanks for looking after my pigeon. Her name is Amethyst - because her feathers are the same color as these purple stones. She is my best bird!" "She was hurt," said Atemu. "I see," said the merchant. Can she fly now?" "Yes," said Atemu. "She's much better." "Come with me then. I'll show you where she lives." 94 Atemu and his father followed Mr Akhon into his yard. At one side, there were three tall dovecotes. "My birds will come home soon," the merchant said. "How many do you have?" said Atemu. "Oh, a lot." said Mr Akhon. "They have a lot of babies, so I don't know exactly." Atemu looked into a dovecote. He could see some baby birds. "They're so cute!" Atemu said. "It's time to go, son," said Atemu's father. "Say goodbye to the bird."

"Goodbye Amethyst," said Atemu, softly. He touched her purple feathers, and she cooed. He was very sad, but he tried to smile. The merchant was a kind man. He spoke to Atemu. "You say Amethyst got well again, but she didn't fly home." "Yes" said Atemu. "Well, I think she'll be happy to stay with you now." UNIT 12 "Oh wow!" said Atemu. "Thank you so much." He looked at Amethyst, and she jumped onto his shoulder. "She'll need a small house," said Mr Akhon. "I can make one!" said Atemu. "I'm learning to be a carpenter." "I'll help you," said his dad. 容 On the boat home, Atemu's father said. "Mr Akhon is a very good man. He gave you his best bird!" Atemu said. "Yes. How can I thank him?" "You could ask the scribe to write a thank you letter for you," said his father. "Good idea!" said Atemu!" And Amethyst can take it to him!" 95