Write a story, real or imagined, which illustrates the saying "Make hay while the sun shines."

Answer Details

Model answer: Story illustrating 'Make hay while the sun shines.'

The saying means that one should seize a favourable opportunity while it lasts, because it may not come again. A good story must show a character who either uses or wastes such an opportunity, and end with a clear moral that fits the proverb.

THE SCHOLARSHIP

Emeka and Bala sat side by side in the final year of Government College. They were equally gifted, but they were as different as day and night in the way they used their time.

Halfway through the year, the principal announced wonderful news. A generous company had offered full university scholarships to the three students who topped the coming promotion examination. The whole school buzzed with excitement, for such a chance had never come before and might never come again.

Emeka understood at once that this was his moment. From that very evening he drew up a strict timetable. While others played football or gossiped under the mango tree, he was bent over his books in the library. He woke before dawn to revise, formed a study group, and pestered his teachers with questions. "The sun is shining now," he told himself, "and I must gather my hay."

Bala, however, kept postponing. "There is plenty of time," he laughed whenever Emeka urged him to read. He spent his evenings watching films and his weekends wandering about town, promising to start serious work "next week." Next week never came.

The examination arrived like a thief in the night. Emeka wrote paper after paper with quiet confidence, for he had prepared thoroughly. Bala stared at the questions in cold panic, wishing he had used the long, idle weeks that were now gone forever.

When the results were pasted on the notice board, Emeka's name stood proudly at the top of the list, and he was awarded one of the coveted scholarships. Bala's name languished near the bottom. As he watched his friend celebrated by the whole school, Bala finally understood, too late, the wisdom of the old saying.

From that day he never forgot the lesson: when opportunity smiles, one must act, for it is folly to leave the hay in the field while the sun still shines.