Storyclover
Storyclover
At sunrise, Dara carried a basket to the lake. She stopped beside her family’s house and touched one of its tall wooden legs. “Why does our house stand so high?”
Why Did the House Stand on Tall Wooden Legs?In a lakeside village in Cambodia, a child learns how stilt houses help families live with changing water levels through the seasons.
1. At sunrise, Dara carried a basket to the lake. She stopped beside her family’s house and touched one of its tall wooden legs. “Why does our house stand so high?”
2. Dara asked her cousin Vannak. Vannak peered beneath the floorboards. “Maybe the house is trying to see the lake,” he said.
3. Under the house, they found dry earth, a fishing net, and three sleepy chickens. There was no lake to see. Only dust.
4. Grandmother smiled and opened her bamboo fan. “The lake does not stay the same,” she said. “Wait for the rainy season, and you will see.”
5. Rain tapped the roof for many days. Water spread across the ground and curled around the house’s wooden legs.
6. Soon, the path became a shallow stream. Dara and Vannak stayed high and dry on the porch. Their boat waited below the steps.
7. At sunset, silver fish flickered between the posts. Dara looked down at the water. The house seemed to float above the lake.
8. Grandmother touched a sturdy post. “When the water rises, the legs keep the rooms above it,” she said. “When the water falls, the house still stands.”
9. Weeks later, the water slipped away. The ground returned, the chickens came home, and the tall wooden legs stood ready.
10. Dara finally knew the answer. The house stood on tall wooden legs because the water changed with the seasons, and the family needed a home that could change with it.
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