The Red Ogre Who Cried

In the mountains, there lived Mr. Red Ogre. Mr. Red Ogre was a very kind ogre. But the villagers thought, “Are ogres scary?” and they would not come close to him. Mr. Red Ogre felt lonely and said, “I wish I could be friends with everyone.”

🤔 How do you think Mr. Red Ogre feels?

Mr. Red Ogre had a good friend, Mr. Blue Ogre. Mr. Blue Ogre thought of a plan for Mr. Red Ogre. “I’ll pretend to do something a little troublesome. If you stop me, the villagers might notice how kind you are.” When Mr. Blue Ogre pretended to cause trouble, Mr. Red Ogre said gently, “Everyone will be surprised, so let’s stop.” The villagers understood and said, “Mr. Red Ogre is kind.”

After that, the villagers began coming to Mr. Red Ogre’s house to visit. Everyone drank tea, ate sweets, and smiled together. Mr. Red Ogre became very happy. “At last, I have friends!” But then, Mr. Red Ogre suddenly thought, “Huh? Where is Mr. Blue Ogre?”

🤔 Mr. Red Ogre is happy, but he notices that Mr. Blue Ogre is not there. Why do you think that bothers him a little?

When Mr. Red Ogre went to Mr. Blue Ogre’s house, there was a letter. The letter said this: “So that you can get along with the villagers, I will go far away for a while.” “But we will always be friends.” Mr. Red Ogre cried and cried. It was because he understood that Mr. Blue Ogre cared about him very much. Mr. Red Ogre’s tears were tears mixed with “thank you” and “I feel lonely.”

🤔 Why did Mr. Red Ogre cry? Was he only sad? Do you think he also felt thankful?