Jonah And The Whale

　　Jonah was a Hebrew. He worshiped the God of Israel. One day God spoke to Jonah.

　　'Jonah，' he said. 'I want you to go to the great city of Nineveh and tell the people about the word of God. They have become very wicked and I am angry with them.'

　　Jonah was frightened to go to Nineveh.

　　He said to himself， 'If they are wicked， then they will probably hurt me. If God is going to forgive them， he can do so without my help.'

　　So Jonah ran away in the opposite direction. He hurried down to Joppa and went on board a ship that was sailing to the port of Tarshish.

　　'I'll go as far as I can away from God and Nineveh，' he thought.

　　But Jonah could not hide from God. When the ship set sail， God sent a fierce wind and a rough storm. The sails of the little ship were torn. The waves rose high above the deck. The masts were broken by the crashing sea. The sailers were afraid.

　　They threw their cargo overboard so that the ship rode higher and more safely on the waves. Then each man Prayed to his own god to save them. But the storm continued and the ship began to drift towards the rocky shore.

　　All this time Jonah had been asleep below the deck. He slept even when the storm was its fiercest， with the wind howling and shrieking in the rigging. The captain went below to wake him up.

　　'Come on， you lazy man！' Get up， get up. The storm will wreck the ship. On deck with you and join the rest. Each man is praying to his god and you must pray to yours. Get up on deck and down on your knees or we will all be drowned.'

　　Jonah went up on deck. The sailors had stopped their prayers. They were grumbling to each other and swearing at the storm. They wondered how to save themselves.

　　'Let's draw lots，' they  said， 'to find out who's to blame for the anger of the gods.'

　　On man took several straws and broke them all off short， except for one. He held them in his hand so that none of the sailors could see which was the long straw and which were the short ones.

　　'Whoever draws the long straw is to blame，' he said.

　　Each man drew one straw from his hand.

　　'Who has the long one？' asked the captain.

　　They laid their straws on the deck.

　　I have it，' Jonah said.

　　They looked at him quickly， with anger in their eyes.

　　'Who are you？' they asked.

　　'Where are you from？' they said.

　　'What have you done？' they asked.

　　'I am a Hebrew，' said Jonah. 'I worshiped the God of Israel.'

　　'What have you done to make him angry？' asked the captain.

　　'I have tried to run away from him，' said Jonah.

　　'That explain it！' said the captain. 'No wonder we have a storm！ No wonder we are going to drown！ Why did you have to come aboard my ship？ If you have a quarrel with your God， that's between your God and you. But now you will kill us all！ What do we do？ How can we save ourselves？'

　　The captain was stamping up and down the deck， shouting and waving his arms， as if he could drive away the storm all by himself.

　　'You are right，' said Jonah. 'I'm to blame for the storm. You must throw me into the sea. That's the only way to calm the waves.'

　　'Nonsense！' said the captain. 'Now we all in the same boat. If we throw you in the sea， you will be drowned at once. Come on， my lads， don't let yourselves be beaten by the wind.'

　　The sailors put out the oars and rowed as hard as they could to keep the ship away from the dangerous rocks. But they were not strong enough to fight against the sea. Slowly but surely the rocks came nearer and nearer.

　　'It's not good，' said the captain. We have tried but we can't help you any more. Overboard you go！ Or we will never save the ship.'

　　Then the captain prayed to God.

　　'Don't blame us， Lord，' he cried. 'We don't want to drown the poor man. But if he does not go， we all will drown！'

　　The sailors picked up Jonah and threw him into the waves. The storm stopped as soon as he entered the water. The waves grew calm and the ship was saved. The sailors watched the empty sea.

　　'He's gone，' they said. 'He's drowned.'

　　But Jonah had not drowned. God sent a great whale which swallowed him up. He stayed safely in the belly of the whale for three nights and days. He prayed to God， and God heard his prayers. God spoke to the whale and the whale swam towards the shore. He opened his mouth and Jonah climbed out on to the dry land.

　　God spoke to Jonah again.

　　'Jonah，' he said. 'Go now to Nineveh and don't try to run away from me this time.'

　　Jonah did what he was told. He walked to Nineveh. He went through the city gate and wandered about the streets.

　　Jonah began to cry out at every street corner.

　　'Nineveh shall be destroyed in forty days！' he cried. 'Nineveh shall be destroyed in forty days！'

　　The citizens heard him and believed him. They stopped their dancing and feasting. They out away their gold and jewels. they took off their rich robes. Even the king took off his splendid cloak and dressed in simple sackcloth. He sat in the cold ashes of the fire in his palace and told his people to stop their wickedness and violence.

　　'May God forgive us！' cried the king.

　　God heard his words and decided not to destroy the city after all.

　　Jonah was furious.

　　'You have made a fool of me，' he said to God. 'That's exactly what I said in the first place. I knew you would forgive them in the end， because you are a kind and merciful god. That's why I tried to run away to Tarshish. What's the point of me warning them if you go and change your mind every time？ No one will ever believe what I say. You might as well kill me. I can't do any good here！'

　　'Jonah，' said God gently. 'You have no right to be so angry.'

　　'I don't know what you mean，' said Jonah crossly.

　　He went and sat down outside the city. He made himself a little hut and waited there.

　　'I'll show you what I mean，' said God.

　　God made a pumpkin grow beside Jonah's hut. The pumpkin grew so large in a single night that its leaves shaded Jonah from the hot sun. Jonah was pleased with the pumpkin and very glad of the shade that it gave him.

　　But God sent a worm the next day to eat the pumpkin. The worm destroyed the pumpkin and it died away completely. When the sun rose on the second day， there was no shade for Jonah. The rays of the sun beat down on his head. He felt faint and dizzy. He grumbled to God.

　　'This is even worse than death！' said Jonah. 'Why did you have to kill the pumpkin？ It was a good plant and a useful one. You might at least have let it live.'

　　'You see，' said God， 'you had pity on the pumpkin， and yet you never did any work for it. You didn't plant the seed. You didn't water it or make it grow. It come up in a single night， and it perished in a single night.'

　　'What do you mean？' asked Jonah. 'I still don't understand what you are trying to say.'

　　'It's simple，' said God. 'If you felt pity for the pumpkin， which you didn't even grow yourself， why can't I have pity on the people of Nineveh， the hundred thousand people whom I have helped for many years？'

　　'I think I see，' said Jonah.

　　'Good，' said God.

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