A Lazy Boy

Once upon a time, long ago, there lived a boy named Bae who did not like to work -- at
anything. The only thing Bae loved was sleeping. He could sleep all day long, and all night long,
too. The people in his village didn't call him Bae. They called him Lazy.

One morning, Bae's mother woke up and called to her son. "Bae, I'm sick. I can't get out of bed,
please bring me a glass of water."

Bae rolled over in his bed and groaned. How could his mother do this to him? It was early. The
sun was barely above the horizon. The sky was still half-dark. He groaned again and rolled
over, and a moment later he was fast asleep.

"Bae!" his mother called more loudly, and her voice pierced the sweet dream Bae was having.
"Bae, you lazy cow! Bring me some water!"

"Oh," Bae sighed, "a lazy cow. How nice that would be."

Lazy cows, Bae thought, did nothing all day long but laze in the grass. Being a lazy cow would
be much better than being a boy whose mother wakes him from his sweet, dreamy sleep. Yes, it
would be nice to be far away from his mother, who always asked him to bring her water and
wash dishes and clean the barn. It would also be nice to be far away from his father, who asked
him to work in the fields. It would be even nicer to be far away from his teachers, who asked him
to do his work in school.

How nice it would be to live on his own, to sleep whenever he wished, with no one to disturb
him.

That's when Bae decided he was going to run away from home.

He rolled out of bed, carried a glass of water to his mother, waved farewell and set off down the
road. Where would he go? He had no place in mind. Anywhere would be just fine, so long as no
one asked him to work.

So he ambled and daydreamed -- the next best thing to sleep and dreams -- and he whistled
and he hummed and he looked up at the bright blue sky and dreamed of living a nice, lazy life.

He went to the next village and came upon a market, where he happened to walk past an old
man selling masks. When he spied a cow mask, he stopped and smiled. Soon he began to tell
the old man his story.

"Only this morning I was wishing I could be a cow," Bae said. "People call me Lazy, but I only
wish to be left alone, like a cow."

"Why is that?" the old man asked.

"I don't like to work," Bae told him. "In fact, I hate working. My mother calls me a Lazy Cow."

The man smiled. "Well," he said, "why don't you go ahead and take this mask. If you put it on,
you'll be a cow!"

At first, Bae only stared at him. "You're joking, right?" he asked, but the old man shook his head
and pushed the mask toward Bae.

Gingerly, Bae lifted it up and put it on, and to his amazement, the moment he was wearing the
mask, he turned into a cow! He opened his mouth to ask the old man what was happening, but
"moo" was the only word he could utter.

The old man called out to the farmers, "Who would like to buy my cow?"

Soon a farmer bought the cow that had once been the boy named Bae.

"Don't feed him turnips," the old man told the farmer. "Turnips will kill him."

The farmer led his new cow to his farm, and there he put him to work in the fields, hauling the
plow. Whenever the cow stopped to rest, the farmer whipped him.

"Lazy cow!" he called.

Bae began to dream of the days when he had been a boy. If only he could turn back into that
boy, he swore he would never complain about fetching his mother her water, washing the
dishes or working with his dad. As he trudged through the fields under the farmer's whip, he
dreamed of his boyhood, remembering how much he loved his parents and his brothers and
sisters. He couldn't believe it, but he even missed school!

Then one morning, the cow that had been a boy named Bae remembered the old man's
warning to the farmer: Turnips! That was the trick. He knew there were some turnips in a nearby
farmer's field. Before dawn, when no one was looking, he sneaked out of the barn and made his
way to the farm next door. He found a basket of turnips, and he took a big bite.

The moment he did, he felt himself changing, and he looked down and saw he was a boy. To
his amazement and delight, he was a boy standing in his family's fields. He reached for a hoe
and began to work very hard.

"I'll never be lazy again," he whispered. "I'll never be lazy again."

From that morning on, Bae was never lazy for one moment. He worked harder than anyone else
in his village, and no one called him Lazy anymore. Whenever he heard his mother call to him,
"Bae, bring me some water," he whispered prayers of thanks for his loving family, his strong
body, his healthy mind, his teachers, his friends and his neighbors.
I. Introduction
Title: A Lazy Boy
Author: Amy Friedman and Meredith Johnson
Author’s Biography:
Amy Friedman began writing stories at the age of 12, emulating her storytelling
father. Stories formed the heart of her life growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, and she
took her love of writing along with her as she moved to New York City, where she
received her B.A. in literature from Barnard College and an M.A. in creative writing
from City College, City University of New York.
Meredith has been an advertising art director for more than 20 years, creating
and shooting Saturday morning commercials for Barbie. Now that her kids are away
at college, she devotes all her energy to illustrating, including numerous children's
books.
Publication Information: This selection was published on March 08, 2015 through
www.uexpress.com
II. Summary
Settings: Village and Farm
Main Characters:
Bae- was a lazy boy who doesn’t want to do anything. The only thing he loves
was sleeping

Plot:

Once, there was a boy named Bae who doesn’t want to work at all. His
neighbors called him Lazy as what he acts.

One morning, Bae’s mother requested Bae to get her a glass of water but
Bae didn’t obey his mother then he sleep. His mother called him Lazy cow because
Bae did nothing for the whole day. Bae was thinking to live in his own so he can
sleep whenever he wants. After he carried a glass of water to his mother he waved
farewell and he decided to run away from home.

As he went to village and walk toward the market, he saw an old man
selling masks. When he was done scrutinizing a cow mask, he began telling his story
to an old man. Then, an old man gave him the cow mask and explained that if he
take that mask he will be a cow as what he wish. After Bae put the cow mask on his
face he becomes a cow. An old man sell Bae who is now a cow. One farmer bought
him as a coww then the farmer always always commands Bae. As the time goes by,
Bae dream of the days when he was a boy and realized how he missed everything
when he was a boy.

One morning, he remembered the old man’s warning to the farmers that
turnips can kill him and he realized that it was a trick so he find a turnips to eat. As
he ate the turnips he became a boy.

He promised to himself that he will never be lazy again because of that

experienced. Nobody in their village called him lazy cow. He worked harder than
anyone else in his village.
III. Evaluation
a. Strength
The strength of this selection is that people especially teens who might be
reading this, can be encouraged to obey their parents and came upon realizing
that Bae characterized themselves who don’t obey their parents and they should
not be lazy in doing sort of task.
b. Weaknesses
We have different perspective in our lives. The perspective of the Filipino
are different from others because we, Filipino, believe that cow symbolizes being
strong and hardworking of the Filipinos yet this selection is in contrast like what
Filipino believes. The weakness of this story is that when the author used ‘Lazy
Cow’ some of the people cannot even relate by their or our own perspectives.

c. Do you find the selection interesting? Why?

Yes, I find the selection interesting because the selection awaken my
thoughts just from the title that it talks about laziness that I could easily apply it
my life. I had got a lot of realization even just from the beginning that pops in my
mind likewise that I should never be lazy in doing sort of stuffs.

d. What did you get from the selection?

The lesson that I get from the selection is to stop being lazy in doing
variety of stuffs because doing some typical or sort of stuffs is for your own good,
we might also help other people, and lastly, we can also enhance our
individualities. “It's all about taking action and not being lazy. So you do the work,
whether it's fitness or whatever. It's about getting up, motivating yourself and just
doing it.” Kim Kardashian said. That specific quotes can also be applied what I
have learned in this selection. Even laziness came upon us, we should motivate
ourselves and just do it.

e. How would you apply the selection in your life?

I had actually applied it in my life when I was in Grade 5. I don’t usually

obey my mother by her commands yet just like in the selection when I had
overcome the consequence of my action for being lazy, I regret it. I regret when I
don’t even obey my mother that time at once. The consequence was I had
removed from being in a rank place for bringing my laziness in our school for the
2nd quarter and also that time I don’t know how to do household chores.

Bu then the snap of realization snaps me that I should not be lazy

because those things benefit me, and others. When I become in Grade 6,
laziness seldom attacks me because I always motivate myself and also a lot of
people that is surrounding me, they all motivate me to do some sort of stuffs or
important stuffs.