Leather-Bound Booklet  

 

The Ugly Braxi

One day a clutch of braxi were born. The other braxi came to look at them and congratulate the parents. The visitors muttered to each other, talking about how unfortunate it was that one of the little braxi was so homely and plain looking.

As the little braxi grew other little braxi made fun of the ugly little braxi. They were mean to it, and made the ugly braxi very sad. One day the ugly little braxi ran away from home to get away from all of the teasing. It wandered into the forest looking for someplace where it would be welcome.

The ugly braxi found a house in the forest where an old wilder lived. The old wilder took the braxi in and fed it. For a few hours the ugly braxi thought it might be happy in the old house in the forest. But the old wilder had a pet goral. The goral asked the ugly braxi what was wrong with its face. Why was it so ugly? The little braxi was sad, but it remained in the house.

Then the grandchildren of the old wilder came to visit. There was noise everywhere. There were feet stomping all over the house. The ugly braxi was frightened and ran away from the house. It went back into the forest to live by itself. It was lonely, but at least nobody was calling it names and telling it how ugly it was.

After many days alone, the ugly braxi realized winter was coming. It got cold and could find no warmth. Food was difficult to find. The ugly braxi was afraid that it might die, and so it tried to find its way home. It was thin and dirty when it finally found its parents and the rest of its family. They did not recognize it when they saw it.

They welcomed the stranger, never once commenting on how ugly it was. The ugly little braxi said nothing about who it really was. It never told its family, and they accepted it as if it was one of their own. They were willing to accept the stranger and never once did they call it ugly.