By Thelma J. Talloo
Kalu was the only son of a farmer and his wife.
“I wish I had a brother or a sister, to play with,” he told his parents one day. “Everyone has a brother or a sister. I don’t like it when the children who come to play with me, on our farm, go back to their homes at night.”
“Don’t be silly,” said his father. “Their parents love them and want them back.”
But his words had some effect, because within a year, the farmer and his wife were blessed with twin girls. But Kalu was still unhappy. “I’m fond of my baby sisters,” said Kalu. “They are too small to play with me, just yet. Mother is busy with them, as they take up too much of her time. I’m lonely and bored.”
Around that time, it was lambing season. Sheep were giving birth to little baby lambs. They were cute and fluffy. Some sheep had two or three lambs and some had only one.
“A mother sheep got caught in the barbed wire and is dead,” said the farmer. “What am I to do with her baby? It is too little to fend for itself.”
The shepherd knew that the farmer’s wife was much too busy then, to take on the extra burden of feeding the little white fluffy lamb. He too was busy as the lambing season was not yet over .
“If you take it back to the house,” suggested the shepherd, “maybe Kalu could be convinced to help feed it.”
“Convinced?” laughed the farmer, “Kalu will be only too pleased to help. He is always complaining that he has too little to do. He won’t be lonely or bored anymore.”
The solution was a good one. The farmer took the tiny lamb to his farmhouse, followed by the shepherd, who was leading a goat.
“Why have you brought the goat here, Father? Oh, what an adorable lamb!” said Kalu.
“It’s mother died in an accident,” his father told him, “and I’m afraid that it will not live, unless good care is taken of it.”
“Can I take care of it?” asked Kalu.
“We were hoping you’d offer,” said the farmer, with a contented smile. “That’s settled, then. We’ll show you how to milk this goat and feed the lamb, out of a bottle.”
“I’m going to name it Snowy,” said Kalu.
Snowy and her friend Kalu looked deep into one another’s eyes.
The farmer and the shepherd were very happy that they had brought the baby lamb down to the farmhouse.
“I’ll make a bed for it in the straw next to the goat,” said the farmer. “I’ll help you,” said Kalu. “Then maybe the goat will let down some extra milk, so that Snowy will never be hungry .”
“You’ll grow up to be a fine farmer,” remarked the shepherd. “I can see the makings of a good one in you.”
“He has always loved the animals,” said his father. “This is the first time he’ll get a chance to look after one on his own.”
Kalu was a quick learner. He learnt how to fill milk in sterilized bottles and cuddled the tiny lamb, as he fed it from its bottle.
“It’s time for the next feed,” he’d call out to the maid, who helped around the house, and she would fetch the bottles she’d boiled and sterilized and kept ready. Kalu would take the bottle from her and go to milk the goat by himself. He would fill the milk in the bottle and feed Snowy with it. The goat would look on, pleased to be of help to Kalu, in bringing up Snowy.
Soon Snowy was not so little anymore. She began exploring the farm with Kalu her friend. All on the farm loved to see the two of them together.
Snowy also made friends with all the animals there.