Slide 1 Two Brothers A Tale from the Middle East What do you do to show that you care about the members of your family? How do your family members show that they care about you? Many years ago, two brothers lived on a wheat farm. When their father became too old to work the fields, the two brothers divided the farm in half. Each brother grew wheat in his own fields. Yusef took the land to the east. He stayed in the farmhouse with his parents as he had never married. Yusef was a kind man who took good care of his parents. He had a very generous disposition. Abdul built a house for himself across the wheat fields in the west. He was a hard-working man with a wife and six children. He took good care of his family, and made sure to visit his parents and brother often.

Slide 2 Two Brothers A Tale from the Middle East (Cont.) One night, Yusef sat outside watching the stars and thinking about his brother. “Abdul has six children to feed, while I have none,” thought Yusef. “It’s not just that he has only half of the family farm. I will be gracious and give him some of my grain.” So Yusef went to his silo and poured a large amount of grain into a farm wagon. Then he hitched an ox to the wagon, crossed the wheat fields to his brother’s farm, and dumped the extra grain into Abdul’s silo. Later that night, Abdul lay in bed, not able to sleep. “My wife and I will have grown children to take care of us when we are old, but my brother will have none. He needs to sell more grain than I, so he will have money to take care of himself when he gets old.” So Abdul loaded up some of his grain and took it over to dump in Yusef’s silo.

Slide 3 Two Brothers A Tale from the Middle East (Cont.) In the morning, Yusef looked in his silo and thought, “This is odd. It doesn’t seem that the amount of grain in my silo has changed.” That night, Yusef loaded an even larger amount of grain into his wagon and hauled it over to dump in Abdul’s silo. Abdul, too, noticed that his silo seemed to hold the same amount of grain as the day before. “My brother must be able to provide for himself with dignity in the future,” thought Abdul firmly. So he, too, hitched up his ox and drove a large wagon full of grain to his brother’s silo. In the morning, both silos were full once again.

Slide 4 Two Brothers A Tale from the Middle East (Cont.) The next morning, Yusef was more confused and concerned than ever. “Tonight I’m going to empty my silo and take ALL the grain to my brother,” he thought. That night he shoveled all his grain into the wagon to carry across the fields. At the very same time, Abdul was loading grain into his wagon. “I’ll shovel away this pile of grain in my silo until my shovel hits the floor,” thought a determined Abdul. Both brothers started across the fields. Suddenly, Yusef looked up, thinking he heard the creaking of a wagon wheel. Abdul looked up, too, and saw a shadowy figure coming towards him across the field. The two brothers stopped. Puzzled, they looked into each other’s wagons. Yusef explained what he was doing. Abdul did the same. Both men laughed and embraced, each one thinking how lucky he was to have such a brother. Unit 2, Week 1 1. If you were determined to clean your messy room, would you keep working until you were finished or give up and leave your clothes all over the floor? 2. Who would you expect to act with dignity, a queen or a clown? 3. What kind of disposition does your best friend have? 4. When do you embrace a family member? 5. Who do you think is a generous person? What do they do that is generous? 6. What is a gracious thing to say when someone gives you a present? 7. Do you think it is just for an older sibling to stay up later than a younger one? Why or why not? 8. What materials are provided to you in class? 9. When you go outside at night, do the things that you see look clear or shadowy? 10. What is a silo used for, storing grain or grinding it?