Uncle Owl

Author: Binoy Barman

Illustrator: Ariful Islam

Translator: Magdalena Cooper

In a big field next to the village, the villagers gather for a meeting. “Rats have become a big nuisance for the whole village," says one of the villagers. "They are spoiling our wheat and stealing our crops.”

Another villager adds, “These  rats are chewing holes in our clothes and leaving garbage in our yards.”

“What can we do? What can we do?” they all murmur.

Two young men push through the crowd.  “We need to ask Uncle Owl for his help. Only he can save us!" they say.

"He lives far away in the hills beyond the river, but we can find him if you let us."

The villagers quickly talk among themselves. “You must go and bring Uncle Owl to our village right away!"

The young men cross the big river climb up and down many hills.

Finally, they come across a villager.

“Do you know where Uncle Owl lives?" they ask.

The villager tells them that they must search for a big banyan tree called the Banyan of Owls. There, they will find Uncle Owl.

After many hours, the two men find an old man sitting under a huge banyan tree. There are owls sitting on the branches all around him.

"This must be Uncle Owl," whisper the men.

The men tell Uncle Owl how their village has been besieged by rats.

Uncle Owl listens to them carefully. Once they finish, he asks them a question.

“Do you have a banyan tree in your village?”

"Yes!" exclaim the men. "We have one right in the middle of our village.”

Uncle Owl  promises he will come to their village soon.

Relieved, the two men begin their journey back.

HOO HOO HOOOOO!

What's that noise?

The next evening, the banyan tree in the middle of the village is full of owls.

The villagers find an old man in a yellow shawl standing under the tree. The villagers gather around him as the owls hoot loudly from the branches.

"This must be Uncle Owl," they whisper.  “When did Uncle Owl come to the village? Nobody saw him coming along the village road."

Uncle Owl raises his hand. The owls and people fall silent.

Uncle Owl addresses the gathering. “Tonight, all the rats will disappear from this village. But remember, everyone must stay inside their homes. If anyone steps out,” he warns the villagers, “they will be in great danger.”

As the night spreads itself across the sky, two young men are too curious to stay at home. They climb up the branches of a mango tree and wait for darkness to come.

In the dead of night, Uncle Owl hoots loudly. Hundreds of owls fly from the banyan tree filling the night sky with the rush of their wings.

At the end of the night, the owls return to the banyan tree, each with a rat clutched between its claws.

Uncle Owl’s orange shawl has dropped to the ground and Uncle Owl stands beneath the tree. His body is covered with bird’s feathers. His legs look like a bird’s, and head like an owl's. He has two big wings instead of hands.

' HOO HOO HOOOO ', h e calls to the owls.

The owls drop their rats on the orange shawl. As if by magic it folds up and the rats disappear into the soil.

Uncle Owl stretches his wings and flies silently into the sky.

Suddenly, he dives down at the mango tree where the two young men have been watching him secretly.

The next morning, the villagers are delighted to find that there is not a single rat in the village!

But where are the two young men? The villagers search high and low, but the two men are never to be found again. Some say Uncle Owl turned them into owls and took them with him.

What do you think?

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Story Attribution:

This story:Uncle Owlis translated byMagdalena Cooper. The © for this translation lies with Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Based on Original story:'হুতোম চাচা', byBinoy Barman. © Room to Read , 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Other Credits:

This story 'Uncle Owl' has been published on StoryWeaver by Room to Read.

Images Attributions:

Cover page:An owl sitting in the dark under a tree, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 2:Rats near a field, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 3:A man watches rats infesting his home, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 4:Two images of two men raising hands and leaving on a journey, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 5:Two people climbing a mountain, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 6:An old man sitting under a tree, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 7:Two people talk to an old man, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 8:Birds flock to a tree in the evening, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 9:Owls on a tree look on as a man addresses a gathering, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 10:Two people on a tree look at a crowd of people leaving at night, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Disclaimer:https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC-BY-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link .

Images Attributions:

Page 11:A group of people, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 12:Owls fly at night, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 13:Birds flock to a tree, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 14:An owl stands among a pile of dead rats, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 15:An owl swoops towards two people sitting on a tree, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Page 16:A person walking up towards a tree, byAriful Islam© Room to Read, 2014. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.Disclaimer:https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions

Some rights reserved. This book is CC-BY-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Uncle Owl (English)

Rats are everywhere in the village! They are destroying rice paddies, wheat fields and chewing clothes and books to bits. The villagers request Uncle Owl to help them scare off the devilish rats.

This is a Level 3 book for children who are ready to read on their own.

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