The Beaver's Floating Clock

In the green pond at the forest's edge, Beaver lives in a snug lodge of sticks and mud and spends his days repairing his dam. He has one persistent trouble: he can never tell what time it is. So he sets out to build a clock that can work underwater, fastening a small wooden bowl to a string and piercing a tiny hole in it so the bowl sinks slowly as water drips inside. Proud of his floating water clock, he shows it to the ducks and frogs, only to find the bowl sinks too fast, then too slow, and cannot be relied upon.

Just as frustration sets in, Muskrat paddles past with her red neckerchief and a satchel of measuring sticks. Together the two friends test the clock over and over, counting drips, narrowing the hole with a twig, trying a larger bowl, raising a little wall against the wind and adding a small stone so the bowl sinks evenly. Each trial exposes one more problem to solve. This gentle tale by Çınar BİBER follows a patient inventor and a helpful friend through the honest work of trial and error, and it can be read on Masalcı Baba.