Colourful BirdsChathurika Jayasooriya

Chathurika Jayasooriya

Once upon a time, all birds were white.’Make me beautiful, Grandfather Magic,’said Woodpecker. ’Come, I will paint you abeautiful colour,’ said Grandfather Magic.

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Woodpecker was now red. A little bird lookedat Woodpecker. She wanted to look beautiful,too.

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’This is my favourite flower,’ said the little birdto Grandfather Magic. ’Will you paint me thesame colour as this flower?’

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Grandfather Magic painted the little bird abeautiful yellow.

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The yellow bird went to Woodpecker. ’Lookhow beautiful I am, Woodpecker!’ said theyellow bird. ’No, no, I am more beautiful thanyou,’ argued Woodpecker.

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Oriole tried to calm them down by holdingthem apart. During the fight, the yellowcolour of the little bird mixed with the redcolour of Woodpecker. Oriole became…orange!

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’O-o-range, o-o-riole! O-o-range, o-o-riole!’The parrots teased Oriole. Oriole chased afterthem angrily.

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’Oh, Grandfather Magic!’ cried the parrots.’Please save us!’ ’Come, let me paint you allgreen,’ he offered.

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The green parrots showed off their colour toKingfisher. ’Where did you get this beautifulcolour, dear parrots?’ ’Go to GrandfatherMagic!’ they chirped. Kingfisher liked thecolour of the sky. So Grandfather Magicturned her blue.

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Kingfisher went to meet Woodpecker. As theywere talking, Pigeon crashed into them. ’Ohno!

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A little bit of red from Woodpecker mixed witha little bit of blue from Kingfisher. Pigeonlooked at the smudge of purple on her.”Purple looks good on me,” she thought.

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While Grandfather Magic painted Pigeonpurple, all the birds joined them. What awonderful rainbow of colours!

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Original StoryColourful Birds, author: Chathurika Jayasooriya . illustrator:Chathurika Jayasooriya. Released under CC BY 4.0.

This work is a modified version of the original story. © The AsiaFoundation, 2019. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY4.0.

For full terms of use and attribution,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/