PINEAPPLE
Mum silently entered
a room with a huge package in the hands. Her son still
was sleeping, having curled into a lump.
" I shall leave
all gifts on a table,” thought Mum, anxiously looking
at the pale face of her son. “When he wakes up, and
see them then his face will at once cheer up. Today
he is going to be 10 years old, but due to anaemia
he looks as he is only seven," she sighed sadly.
Then she took from
the box a big оrange-brownish scaly fruit with a bunch
of green narrow leaves on top.
Soon the boy appears
on a threshold of the kitchen.
“Mum,
from where does such huge, odorous fruit come?” he
asked, hardly able to hold the heavy fruit.
“It is a pineapple, dear,” answered Mum smiling. “Your
uncle has sent it to you as a gift together with a
note. Here listen: ‘In this pineapple is hidden a
power (strength) of the hot tropical sun. It will
tell you about the wonderful southern countries.’"
“Can pineapples speak?” the boy was surprised.
“I suppose they speak with their appearance and aroma,”
Mum answered. “Your uncle too has written the letter
to me, and I wish to read it to you: ‘Dear sister,
you wrote, that my nephew is getting weak due to his
illness, therefore I’m sending this pineapple. Pineapples
contain wonderful substance - bromelayn. This bromelayn
is like a chimney sweep, which cleans each cell of
our body. Pineapples helped me greatly – when I developed
inflammation of veins. It was in such a bad stage
that even ulcers started to appear. At that time I
worked on a ship and due to my illness they asked
me to resign and leave the ship. And just then our
doctor advised me to eat pineapples, and now I can
run again like young boy.
Do not be surprised, sister, really you will see for
yourself – one who has tried the curative nature of
this amazing fruit on himself, never will forget it.
Your loving brother.’"
“Oh, this is really
a very, very special fruit – this pineapple,” exclaimed
the boy with excitement after listening to his uncle’s
letter. “Perhaps pineapples are the fruits of tropical
pine-trees that grow right up to the sky, and they
have golden flowers.”
“My
dear, what an imagination! Ok, I’ll bring you a special
book about pineapples so that you can read all about
it. And for now – let’s try your gifts,” said Mum,
tenderly petting her son on his head.
When mum cut out a couple of golden-yellow circles,
the aroma coming from the pineapple filled up their
room. The boy happily applauded. And for lunch his
mother allowed him to eat a few pieces of pineapple
instead of rice porridge. And, what a miracle! This
day the boy surprisingly looked very cheerful and
unusually full of energy.
“Interesting,
maybe this is the result of the pineapple?” thought
the mother. “Well, I suppose from now on I’d give
him more fruit and fruit juices.”
In two days his mother brought him the promised book
about tropical fruits. And that evening nothing could
distract him from reading the book.
“Mama, you know, pineapples do not grow on pine-trees.
On the contrary, they are very small plants. On the
short stem grows many hard greenish leaves, and inside
these leaves sits a pineapple!” the boy related with
surprise. “Also the flowers of pineapples are not
golden but bright red with blue-violet raceme,” continued
the boy.
Later on he sighed. “It is such a pity that we have
already eaten up all the pineapple. We should have
taken it by its prongs (cogs). If one can take them
out easily then the pineapple is ripe.”
“Go to sleep rather,” laughed mother. “The ripeness
of our pineapple is without any doubt – see for yourself
how much energy it has given you!”
“Mama, why do you throw away the pineapple’s top with
leaves? We could have grown from it a new pineapple.
It says in the book what kind of soil and what size
of pot one needs for that. And also it requires warm
weather. Pineapples won’t grow if the temperature
is below 20 degrees.
”Verily, a very unusual
pineapple my brother sent me,” thought mother happily
while looking at the pleasant blushing face of her
son. One won’t believe that just a few days ago this
very boy was so pale and weak.”
From that time the
boy’s health started to improve tremendously. His
mother remembered everyday to give him fruits and
juices. He grew up and became a student of agricultural
academy.
Within
10 years in that small Siberian town, from where that
boy was, exotic fruits: pineapples, pomegranates etc
started to appear in the shops. People were very surprised
to see these tropical wonders and asked the salesmen
how these fruits came to their shops. Salesmen cheerfully
replied that one scientist grows all these in local
hothouses.
“Moreover, this scientist gives lectures about the
benefits of all these fruits. And whoever listens
to his lecture will run straight to the shop to buy
these tropical wonders,” explained salesmen.
:::
Questions
and Activities:
What you can say about character of the boy’s mother?
Can one grow pineapples in one’s house?
What kind of person was this young scientist? Why
after listening to his lectures would people run to
the shop to buy these fruits? Imagine that you happened
to be at his lecture on fruits. Try to write down
what he could have said.
Draw hothouses of this young scientist, where he grows
exotic fruits.
How did pineapples spread?
How does one check whether the pineapple is ripe enough?
How can one grow pineapples at home?
What amazing ingredient do pineapple contain? What
kind of can it heal?
Write a letter to you friend about the wonder-pineapple
and try to convince him that it is a very, very beneficial
fruit.
Imagine that someone gifted you with a pineapple,
and that the giver told you his story of healing with
pineapple. Write down this story.
:::
RECIPE
Fruit
Kiddies Salad
Oranges – 4 medium-sized
Pineapple – 300 gram
Walnuts – 4 medium-sized
Wash the oranges,
cut them in halves. Then remove the orange pulp and
cut them into small pieces. Then fill in the oranges’
boxes with pieces of oranges and pieces of pineapples
and the walnuts. Sprinkle over with lemon juice.
Cheese (Curd) Cake with
pineapples and apples
Curd (smooth cottage
cheese) – 500 gram
Pineapple (cut into tiny pieces) – 1 glass
Apples (peeled off and cut into tiny pieces) – 2 medium-sized
Egg – 1
Flour – 2-tablespoonsful
Soda of carbonate – 1 teaspoonful
Honey – 1 tablespoonful
Mix the curd with egg, flour, soda and pieces of apple
and pineapple. Put the mixture in a grease-oil container.
Bake in the oven for about 30 min. When ready – take
out and grease the top with honey.
:::
:::
:::
|
