Our Stubborn Dad Our Stubborn Dad by Simon Jenkins

Published by U.N. Our Stubborn Dad by Simon Jenkins Illustrated by Roza Djangaracheva Tolerance Education Series Editor: Simon Jenkins This book has been approved for use in schools by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of the Kyrgyz Republic Published by the UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES in the Kyrgyz Republic 1997

Last Year 4 Last year when Dad went to Bishkek to sell our harvest of watermelons he came home with presents for us. There was one beautiful box with English writing on it. He said it was special and that he would open it later. We couldn't see the sides of the box as it was in his bag. "Show us now! Dad!" we all pleaded. "Not now. I will show it to you later," Dad answered. "Just tell us what it is," my brother replied. "Well it is something very interesting," Dad replied, "but you will know after dinner, okay?" "Okay!" we all sighed. and we started preparing the table.

Can we see what is in the box? 4 I couldn't wait. As soon as the last grain of rice was in my mouth I said, "Can we see what is in the box now?" Dad answered quietly, "No! Patience is a great virtue." My two brothers and I sat and watched him as he slowly scraped his plate clean. We knew that Dad was teasing us, but we had to go along with the game. "I want to lie down for a while, I am so tired," said Dad. My little brother sang outs "But Dad, we are waiting!" Dad replied. "What for?" We all begged, "To see what is in the box!!! Please Dad!! Please!"

Dad Smiled  Dad smiled and put his arms around us all and said, "If you can guess what is inside I will show you, and if not then I won't." I was the oldest so he asked me to guess first. "I think it is a new samovar from America!" I said. Dad laughed and then asked my brother. He answered, "I guess that it is a pair of roller skates!" Our last born brother then said, "I think it is a toy truck for me." My father replied, "Perhaps next time." He then said, "Nobody guessed correctly, but I am going to show you anyway!" Dad pulled the box slowly out of the bag. On the side of the box I could see a colourful picture of a tape recorder. I sang out and clapped my hands as I was so happy.

Tape  Dad then opened the box and took out the shiny black tape He then put the batteries and a cassette tape in and pressed button. The music was so loud and clear. We danced around and sang with the music. Mum came in and sat next to Dad and laughed at us making tools of ourselves. We only had one tape so Dad kept turning it over and over until the batteries were flat

Batteries  Dad kept the tape recorder on a high shelf above the plates. He told us that we were not to touch it. We had that tape recorder for about nine months when one day Dad took it down and pressed the play button. Nothing happened except for a whirring noise inside. Dad was very annoyed and complained, "Well, it's broken now. One of you has been fooling around and wrecked it." We all said, "No, we haven't touched it." I added "Perhaps it needs new batteries." Dad growled, "No ! I bought new batteries. The problem is little fingers !"

Fix it 4 We remained silent. Dad had a screwdriver which he now used to take our precious tape recorder apart. Normally my brothers and I make ' great deal of noise, but we just sat quietly at the table and watched r All this time our father was mumbling about silly kids and how he would never buy us anything again. After about twenty minutes the table was covered with small shiny screws and we could see the inside of our tape recorder.

Broken 4 Suddenly, Dad held up a black rubber belt and said, “Look, this is what you have broken” We looked at each other and said nothing. Dad shook his head slowly and then put the pieces back together and put the tape recorder on the shelf. He had left the broken rubber belt out and put it into an envelope beside the box. He turned to us and growled, "It's no good now!"

Crying  My little brother began to cry, so we took him outside. The tape recorder stayed on the shelf for the next three months. Occasionally Dad would take it down and listen to the radio part which still worked. Sometimes he would press the play button just hoping that would work. Of course, d didn't and then he would remind us how he thought we were to blame for breaking it

At school 4 After our Holidays our teacher asked if anybody could bring a tape recorder for our concert. I thought about ours sitting broken on the shelf. 4 At school I sit next to my friend Alina who lives at the other end of our village. The people there speak a different language.

Two tapes 4 After the teacher asked us for a tape recorder I told Alina about what happened to ours. She then told me that they has a similar thing happen in her family. Her father had bought a tape recorder about a year ago and one day it was left outside an it rained. After that it not work.

Idea 4 Alina then said, "I have an idea. If they are the same then 4 we might be able to take the rubber belt from our tape recorder and put it into yours. What do you think?" "Why not? It’s a really great idea! !" I answered. We then planned how we would do it. After school, 4 Alina asked her father if she could have the broken tape recorder. He agreed and the next day Alina brought it to school. We asked the teacher if we could stay inside after the lessons. She said it was okay as long as we were  quiet. The teacher went out and then Alina took the tape recorder out of her bag and put it on our table.

Disappointed 4 I looked at it and sighed, "Oh no! They are not the same!" "Are you sure?" Alina asked, obviously disappointed. "Yes! I'm sure! What we do?" I replied. Alina sat and stroked her hair with her hand and then she turned and said. "Okay, so it is different, but perhaps this has a similar rubber belt that we can use. What do you think? Show we take it apart anyway?" 4 "Okay, let's do it," I answered smiling. For my part, I had taken the screwdriver and the envelope containing the broken rubber 4 belt from home.

New rubber  After taking out some screws, we removed the cover. We just stared for a minute at the inside of the tape recorder. I could see several rubber belts but none of them looked suitable. Suddenly, Alina cried out, "Look at that one under the others ! It looks as though it might be the same!" I unscrewed a few more parts until we could see it more clearly. Alina then carefully removed the belt and compared it to the broken rubber belt from my father's tape recorder. It was very similar. "I think this will be just right," I said, "but to be sure let's just check to see if there are any others that might tit." We looked, but we didn't find any so we reassembled the tape recorder. Alina put it back in her bag and I put the new rubber belt in my pocket. We then went outside and I ran back to my house.

That night  That night before Dad came home, I took the tape recorder from t shelf. I took it apart and then put the rubber belt from Alina's father’s tape recorder into ours. After reassembling it, I put in a cassette and pressed the play button. Nothing happened! I realized I had forgotten to put the batteries back in. I tried again and the tape recorder sang! ! ! Suddenly, my mother came in and said, "What did you do?"  "Mum, I have to tell you something." I replied. Then I explained what Alina and I had done. Mum, smiled and said, "Don't worry! it's okay. Dad will be so pleased that you managed to fix the tape recorder." I felt very relieved. The next day I took it to school in a plastic bag. The teacher, was very happy and that day we practised for the concert using the tape recorder.

Concert  A few days later all the parents came to the concert. My Dad and Alina's Dad sat at opposite sides of the room. When our Dads saw the tape recorder playing they said nothing, but afterwards I heard Dad saying to a friend, "Whoever bought that tape recorder has wasted their money. I bought one and it only lasted a couple of months and then it broke!" Alina's Dad who was quite close, heard this and then said, "He's right you know, I bought one almost exactly the same. Mine got a bit wet and never worked again!" Just then our teacher stood up and thanked the parents for coming and for allowing their children to bring the tape recorder to school. Alina and I smiled.