The Girl and the Quail

Lila finds a quiet meadow near her town where she likes to walk after school. One afternoon, she discovers a plump mottled quail scratching a nest hollow in the earth, while a darker male quail with black and white markings keeps watch from a rock. Lila sits far away, draws the birds in her notebook, and learns their quiet ways, giving them the calm they need.

Day after day, she returns as Mama Quail sits on her cream-colored eggs and Papa Quail stands sentinel. Then a loud rumble breaks the hush: a mower is cutting a wide path through the meadow, straight toward the hidden nest. Lila waves her arms and shouts for the workers to stop, explains that the babies will be lost, and asks them to wait until the eggs hatch. She paints a wooden sign reading QUIET PLEASE — BABY BIRDS and plants it beside the nest like a tiny guard. This gentle tale by Çınar BİBER, which can be read on Masalcı Baba, follows Lila as she keeps her promise to protect the nest.