The Country Whose Children Did Not Want to Grow Up

Once upon a time, there was a prosperous country. It had one of the most fertile lands on Earth, and its gardens were full of fruit trees. People lived in beautiful houses, and ate the most delicious food one could ever imagine. There was plenty of sunshine all year round. Despite all these good things, the people in this country never smiled. They worked all day in the fields, and in the evening, they returned their homes unhappily. They never did anything to have fun.

But the children were not like their elders. They played all day with great joy. They did not want to grow up and become unhappy like the elders in the country. One day, the children decided to play they favourite game, treasure hunt. This time they went to a different part of the forest. After following their imaginary treasure map, they started digging under a tree.

What on earth was that? A real chest was standing in the hole that they dug. The children excitedly opened the chest. Inside the chest was a large thing with stretched wires on it. One of the boys was amazed by the sound when he touched one of those strings. They loved the sound that came out as they continued plucking the strings.

The children immediately took this thing to their elders, who started to smile as they listened to the enchanting sound that came out. It seemed that this sound, or the music as they called it later, completed the biggest missing thing in their lives.

The people named this instrument "Qanun", and from that day on, they often gathered to play the qanun and sing songs. Music added great joy to those people’s lives, and the unhappy people of the country lived happily ever after. And the children were no longer afraid of growing up.