Mother's Day, Sunday, May 12 - Jewish Home of San Francisco

These two pieces were told to BerniceHunold by Len Cabral, nationallyacclaimed, award-winning storytellerand authorTHINK BEFOREYOU SPEAKI was sitting on a bench in Golden Gate Parkone day, when along came four children – threebrothers and a sister. They decided to play hideand-seek.And of course the three brothers –wouldn’t you know it – made the sister “it.”They tied a bandana around her eyes and offthey went to hide.There were three climbable trees behindme. You know, the kind with lots of branchesstretching out sideways so you could climb tothe top real easy. Each brother climbed up oneof the trees.“Ninety-nine, one hundred. Here I come,ready or not,” called the sister. She tore off thebandana and made straight for the trees.She looked up the first tree. “Who’s upthere?” she called.“To-wit, to-woo. To-wit, to-woo,” calleddown the first brother.“Oh, only an owl.” She looked up the secondtree. “Who’s up there?”“Meeoow, meeoow,” called the secondbrother.“Oh, only a cat.” She looked up the thirdtree. “Who’s up there?”And the third brother called down,“Mooooo. Mooooo.”And that is why you should always thinkbefore you speak.Bernice HunoldPhoto by Ray HunoldWHO’S THE KINGOR EGO TRIPA lion was on an ego trip one day. He wentstriding through the jungle like a mobster witha gun. He saw a zebra.“Stripes,” he called, “come ’ere. Now tell me,who’s the king of the jungle?The zebra said, “Oh, you are, your majesty.”The lion walked on. He saw a leopard.“Spots, come ’ere. Who’s the king of thejungle?”The leopard said, “You are, your majesty.”The lion walked on. He saw an elephant.“Trunks, come ’ere. Who’s the king of thejungle?”The elephant reached down and pickedup the lion with his trunk. He slammed himagainst this tree; he slammed him against thattree. He slammed him on the ground, up anddown, and up and down.When at last he stopped, the lion was toodeflated to move – except for his mouth.He looked up at the elephant and said, “Youdon’t have to get mad just because you don’tknow the answer.”JEWISH HOME5SAN FRANCISCO