Secondary Retelling4 min●●○○○'Abdu'l-Bahá's ministry (1892–1921)
Kindness to animals
Baha'i Stories for Children · Read original
Studio narration for this story is coming — it’ll be generated by the cloud-TTS pipeline (voice: auto-selected from the source author).
When in Bahá'í history
1844'Abdu'l-Bahá (1892–1921)2026
One day, when the weather was cold and wet, a seven-year-old
boy was coming home from school. He was alone. None of his classmates were with
him since he had to stay behind at school to finish his work. He had his school
bag on his shoulder and, because of the cold weather, he had his hands deep in
his pockets. It was very cold and very wet.
The boy was walking quickly with his head down. He wanted to
reach home soon and get warm. As he was walking, he was thinking to himself that
when he gets home, his mother would have a warm room and delicious food ready
for him. He imagined that, as he arrived home, he would take off his heavy wet
clothes, and would sit next to the fire drinking hot tea, after which his
mother would bring him a bowl of hot soup.
As he was quickly walking along, deep in thought, he heard
the groaning of an animal, which sounded like the loud cry of a little baby who
had lost its mother. At first, the boy wanted to ignore it and pass by. But when
he heard the cry again, he stopped. When he listened carefully, he realized
that the noise sounded like a little kitten, although it could not be seen. As
he looked around carefully, he saw a beautiful little white kitten lying in the
cold mud meowing (crying).
As the boy went closer, he saw that the animal was shivering, because of the cold. He felt sorry for the kitten and immediately picked it up. He realized that the animal was cold and wet. It had a runny nose and eyes. He took the kitten gently in his arms to take it home.
As soon as the animal felt a little bit of warmth in the
boy's arms, its legs started to move. It looked with great love and
appreciation at the boy, as if it were thanking him in its own language,
saying: "Thank you good boy. You are very kind. If you had not found me, I
would certainly have died at night because of the cold. What a very good boy
you are. More than one hundred people have passed me since morning and have heard
my cry. But none of them was kind to me. It just shows that you are a very good
and a very kind boy. Thank you. I am grateful to you. I will promise to help
and serve you. I will compensate you for your kindness."
The boy could read all these kind words in the kitten's
loving eyes. He kept stroking it on the way home. When he arrived, his mother
saw him putting down a nice white kitten from under his warm coat. She asked him
where he found the kitten. He explained to his mother what had happened. The
mother was proud of her son because of his kind action. She said, "Well
done! My good boy! How kind and nice you are you for showing kindness to
animals. God is also pleased with this action of yours." She prepared a
place for the kitten in a corner of the room. She gave the kitten some milk and
made sure that the animal was comfortable.
The kitten grew up in their home. It protected their home from
mice and, whenever it saw the boy or other members of the household, it would
go and rub its head and body against them, trying to thank them in its own
special way for their kindness.
(by A.A. Furutan, ‘Baha’i Education for Children,
Book 1’)
Source: Baha'i Stories for Children (https://bahaistoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/2014/12/kindness-to-animals.html).
Discuss this story
For adults
- Read the closing lines once more. What single phrase stays with you?
- What might Alí-Akbar Furútán's example ask of us in our own circumstances?
- If you were to share this story aloud at a devotional gathering, which sentence would you read first?
For teens
- If you were in Alí-Akbar Furútán's place, what might you have done?
- What does this story teach about gratitude?
For children
- What is one new word you learned in this story?
- What did Alí-Akbar Furútán do that was kind?
Reflection
- What single image from this story will stay with you?
- Where in your own life are you being asked to practice gratitude?
- Read the passage a second time, slowly. What did you notice that you missed the first time?
Comprehension quiz
Which source is "Kindness to animals" drawn from?
What period of Bahá'í history does this story belong to?
Which historical figure is featured most prominently in this story?
Which virtue does this story most clearly illustrate?
Cite this story
Various. *Baha'i Stories for Children*. https://bahaistoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/2014/12/kindness-to-animals.html
This story shares quotes with 94 other stories
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Also in
- 1844: A lonely youth’s encounter with Bahá’u’lláh by a roadside in Mazindaran and his amazing recognition of His station— Various, Baha'i Stories Blog
- 1848: Baha’u’llah describes the consternation that seized the Bábís when Tahirih suddenly appeared unveiled at the conference of Badasht— Various, Baha'i Stories Blog
- 1851 Karbilá, Iraq: A disciple of the Báb becomes the first person to whom Baha'u'llah confided His Divine Mission – as was prophesied by the Báb in 1848— Various, Baha'i Stories Blog
- A believer’s eagerness to provide financial assistance to Baha’u’llah – but chose a wrong method— Various, Baha'i Stories Blog
- A funny incident while in the company of the Master— Various, Baha'i Stories Blog
- …and 89 more
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