“If we overeat on the first day of Eid Al Fitr, he will surely eat us!”
Many years ago, two boys lived in the desert with their parents in a village called Ajman. During Eid Al Fitr, the boys always ate too many sweets such as algimat, kanfroosh and alaseeda, which gave them stomach pains. Their parents were desperate to solve this problem.
Near the house was an extremely fat camel with long legs and a long neck. The parents told their kids that in the morning of Eid Al Fitr, this camel, Nagat Al Eid, would come and eat all the boys who ate too much. On hearing this, Ahmed, the fat older brother, said, “Really, then I will not eat more than one gimat.” Ali, his smaller brother, whose stomach was as long as a fat goat’s, laughed, “Let him eat me then!”
But that night Ali told Ahmed, “I can’t sleep. I’m afraid. What if Nagat Al Eid really exists? If we overeat on the first day of Eid, he will surely eat us. We better not eat too much.”
In the morning the boys heard a weird noise. They went outside and saw a big fat camel called Nagat Al Eid. They ran away, screaming, “Please don’t eat us! We will not eat a lot of food.”
At breakfast, the boys just ate one meal and didn’t have any sweets. Their father laughed, “That really worked! Now we don’t have to worry about their health.”
Ahmed went outside to play, but Ali was afraid. “What if Nagat Al Eid eats me?” he said, so he stayed inside all day. His parents thought it wasn’t fair for Ali to be at home during Eid Al Fitr, so they sent the camel away. When Ali saw this, he shouted, “Woo hoo! Finally, I can go outside.” He put on his shoes and ran out of the house. When the boys returned and didn’t find the Nagat, they were happy and said, “Finally, the Nagat won’t eat us!” That night the boys went to bed happy and comfortable, and their parents felt happy too.
By: Sarra Ibrahim Mohamed Hasan Al Ali
Illustrated By: Aysha Saif Al Hamrani
