The Chair

Class 06 English

There was a boy called Mario who loved to have lots of friends. He showed off a lot, always talking about how many friends he had at school, and how he was so friendly with everyone.

One day his grandfather said to him, “Mario, I bet you a fruit chaat. You don’t have as many friends as you think you have. I’m sure many of them are nothing more than companions or partners.”

Mario accepted the bet readily. However, he wasn’t sure how he could test whether his schoolmates were real friends or not. So, he asked his grandpa for help. He suggested, “I have exactly what you need. It’s in the attic. Wait here a minute.”

Grandpa left, soon returning as though carrying something in his hand, but Mario could see nothing there.

“Take it. It’s a very special chair. As it’s invisible, it’s rather tricky to sit on it. But if you take it to school and manage to sit on it, then the magic will work and you’ll be able to tell who your real friends are.”

II

Mario, brave and determined, took the strange invisible chair and set off for school. At break time, he asked everyone to form a circle. He put himself in the middle, with his chair.

“Nobody move. You’re about to see something amazing.”

Mario tried sitting on the chair. Having difficulty seeing it, he missed and fell straight onto his backside. His classmates had a pretty good laugh.

“Wait, wait, just a slight technical problem,” he said, trying again. But again, he missed the seat, causing more surprised looks and laughter. Mario wouldn’t give up. He kept trying to sit on the magic chair and kept falling to the ground until, suddenly, he tried again and didn’t fall. This time he sat, hanging in mid-air.

Then he finally experienced the magic that his grandfather had been talking about. Looking around, Mario saw Guneet, Asma, and Deepa - three of his buddies - holding him up, so he wouldn’t fall. Meanwhile, many others he’d thought of as friends had done nothing but made fun of him, enjoying each and every fall.

Leaving with his three friends, he explained to them how his grandfather had so cleverly thought of a way to show him that true friends are those who care for us. A friend wouldn’t be someone who takes joy in our bad luck.

That evening the four children went to see Mario’s grandpa as he had won the bet. They had a great time listening to stories and eating a lot of fruit chaat. From then on, they used the magic chair test on many occasions and whoever passed became friends for life.