Gabe and the Hobyas

I read Gabe a short contemporized British folk tale about tiny monsters called Hobyas which eats --- well, many things. The story goes like this:

There was once a farmer, his wife and his daughter who lived in a house of turnips. They also have a loyal dog which keeps watch over the little farmhouse. One night, while all was asleep, the Hobyas came to the house and decided to eat the house, and to capture the little girl for eating later. But the dog heard them and he barked loudly. The hobyas scattered and ran away. The farmer though got irritated by the dog's barking. So the next day, he placed the dog inside a turnip basket. That night, the Hobyas came back, but the dog jumped from the basket and barked again. The Hobyas ran and the farmer got angry again. The next night, he placed the dog in the basket and tied it up and locked it(This was written before PETA, obviously). When the Hobyas came back, no dog scared them away this time so they managed to eat the house and take the little girl.

The farmer and his wife looked for the little girl for a long time, and finally they found her during the day (when the hobyas slept) still unharmed inside a sack. What the farmer did was to let his daughter out, and put the dog inside the sack in her stead. That night, when the Hobyas opened the sack, the dog jumped out, barked and ate 'em all up. The end of the Hobyas.

I told Gabe there's a moral to the story. I was gunning for : Be kind to Dogs like his pet Anid because they will protect you and be loyal. And I was planning to amp it up by introducing him to the concept of "some problems are blessings in disguise", as well as the well-loved but least-heeded "Observe before you act."

But he took the wind outta me by nodding his head sagely, like a small Magi-king, and answered, "Yes, I know."

"What did you learn?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes and replied as if speaking to a dum-dum:

"Ateeeee! DON'T BUILD A HOUSE MADE OF TURNIPS!"

Ah. Oo nga naman. Case closed.