Tasneem was a beautiful girl and her grandmother was very kind.

Her grandmother spent many hours making a handsome makgabe for Tasneem. Tasneem loved to wear that apron.

The other girls were jealous of Tasneem's makgabe. They thought that it would be better to get rid of it. 

But it is a difficult thing to take a person's clothes when that person is wearing them.

One morning the girls invited Tasneem to go swimming with them in a river nearby.

At the river bank, they all took off their makgabes so that the cloth would not be damaged. Then they jumped into the water and splashed around for some time.

They finished swimming. The leader of the jealous girls threw Tasneem's makgabe into the river, near the place of a large snake. The other girls left Tasneem crying by the river.

The very large snake heard someone weeping. He saw the beautiful Tasneem. He swallowed the makgabe and Tasneem!

Fortunately for Tasneem, the snake did not like the taste of the makgabe. He spat it out. He also spat out Tasneem.

She lay on the river bank, covered with slime from the snake's stomach. This slime smelled very bad.

The smelly Tasneem ran home to her parents. She sang, "Mother, open the door for me, I am smelly. Mother, open the door for me, the smell is very bad."

Her mother heard Tasneem and ran out of the house. She sang back to the girl, "Go away, you are smelly. Go away, the smell is very bad."

Tasneem was very upset. She ran off to the house of her aunt and uncle and sang, "Open the door for me, I am smelly. Open the door for me, the smell is very bad."

They heard Tasneem and ran out of the house. They sang back to the girl, "Go away, you are smelly. Go away, the smell is very bad."

Tasneem had only her grandmother's house to go to. Her heart was heavy. She thought nobody wanted to look after a smelly child.

But she was wrong. Her grandmother did not send her away. She washed Tasneem, and her makgabe. Soon Tasneem was no longer smelly, she was clean.

Tasneem stayed with her grandmother for many years.

One day the son of a rich chief asked her to marry him. Tasneem's parents heard about the marriage. They wanted her to come back to live in their house.

Tasneem told them that she would never go back to their house.

"Parents must love their children," she said, "even if their children are smelly."

Instead Tasneem invited her grandmother to live with her in the house of this rich chief and his son.

Her grandmother was very happy, and very comfortable, and felt very important.