The Rat and the Elephant
Once, a rat was moving along the king’s highway. He was a very proud rat. He was not mild. He had no fear. As he was cutting some grass with his sharp teeth, he heard a noise. It was the king coming in a procession. The rat was safe on the side of the road.
The king rode on a huge elephant. The elephant wore clothes and ornaments. The royal dog and cat were sitting with the king. Many people followed them. They looked at the elephant. They did not even notice the rat. They praised only the big and powerful elephant.
What Fools! The rat cried. Look at me and you will soon forget all about the ele- phant. Is it just his size that makes you blind? I also have eyes and ears and the same number of legs as he! I am also important.
The rat found the royal cat looking at him. The next moment, he fled. He knew the danger. It was better to be away from the cat.
Moral: Similarity is not the proof of greatness.
The Bird with Two Heads
Long, long ago, there lived a strange bird in a huge banyan tree. The tree stood beside a river. The strange bird had two heads, but only one stomach.
Once, while the bird was flying high in the sky, he saw an apple shaped fruit lying on the bank of the river. The bird swooped down, picked up the fruit and began to eat it. This was the most delicious fruit the bird had ever eaten. As the bird had two heads, the other head protested, “I’m your brother head. Why don’t you let me also eat this tasty fruit?”
The first head of the bird replied, “Shut up.You know that we’ve only one stom- ach. Whichever head eats, the fruit will go to the same stomach. So it doesn’t mat- ter as to which head eats it. Moreover, I’m the one who found this fruit. So I’ve the first right to eat it.”
Hearing this, the other head became silent. But this kind of selfishness on the part of the first head pinched him very much. One day, while flying, the other head spotted a tree bearing poisonous fruits. The other head immediately descended upon the tree and plucked a fruit from it.
“Please don’t eat this poisonous fruit,” cried the first head. “If you eat it, both of us will die, because we’ve a common stomach to digest it.”
“Shut up!” shouted the other head. “Since I’ve plucked this fruit, I’ve every right to eat it.”
The first head began to weep, but the other head didn’t care. He wanted to take revenge. He ate the poisonous fruit. As a result both of them died.
Moral:- People living in a family should never quarrel amongst themselves
Story of True Friends
Once there was a farmer . He had two pets a cock and a dog. They were very good friends. One day, dog and the cock made a plan to go on a tour in a jungle. Both were wandering here and there and played the whole day. At night, the cock took rest on the tree. As usual, early in the morning, the cock crowed. A fox heard the cock and immediately came down near the cock. She said,” O cock! “Your voice is very sweet. So kindly come down and we will play together.”
Cock replied, “Thank you! But I am helpless because there is the doorman lying down under the tree. I cannot come down until he wakes up. The Fox thought that there was another cock sitting under the tree. The fox became very happy and excit- edly replied, “I will wake him” so he hawked in dog’s ear. The dog wakes up and started barking at the fox. At this, the fox was frightened and she went away from there.
Moral: Greed leads to grief.
The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf
Once, a shepherd boy looked after his master’s sheep near a dense forest on the outskirts of a village. It was a dull job. He played on his pipe or talked to his dog. One day, he remembered his master told him to shout for help if a wolf came. SO, for pleasure, the shepherd boy called, “Wolf! Wolf!” at the top of his voice al- though there was no wolf.
The villagers left their work and ran towards him to help. But the shepherd boy laughed at them. He enjoyed it a lot. A few days later, the shepherd boy repeated his act and called again, “Wolf! Wolf!” The villagers again rushed to help him but only to laugh at the second time. The villagers were angry.
One evening, a wolf fear came out of the pasture and pounced upon the sheep. The shepherd boy cried again and again at the top of his voice “Wolf! Wolf!” But naught the villagers heard him; they did not come to help him. They thought it to be a false alarm. The wolf killed several sheep. The shepherd boy was injured. His master boxed his ears when he returned back and told him about the incident.
Moral: Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth.
Revenge of a Nightingale
Once there was a nightingale who lived on a tree. For many days she was busy making a nest. She was getting ready to lay her eggs in it.
A pair of snakes who lived in the burrow of the tree was watching the nightingale.
One day, the nightingale laid two eggs. She was very happy and flew here and there. The nightingale did not want to leave them alone. But she had to go outside in search of food. So she left her eggs alone and went outside in search of food.
As soon as the Nightingale left her nest, the snakes came out, climbed up the tree and ate both the eggs. When the nightingale come back she was very sad to see her nest. The eggs were not there and only its shell was there. She understood who had eaten her eggs. The nightingale decided to take revenge on them.
She went to the garden. A king came daily to hear her sweet song. On that day nightingale does not sing a song and flew away. The king realized something was wrong with her. He ordered his guards to follow her.
The nightingale flew from there and reached the tree. The guards also reached their following her. They saw that the nightingale was sitting by the side of her nest. There were three eggs in it. She had laid eggs again. The nightingale already had a small pebble in her she deliberately dropped it at the root of the tree. Thinking that an egg had fallen from the nest, the pair of snakes came out of their holes.
The guards saw the snakes. Now they could understand the nightingale’s problem. They killed them.
On the next morning, when the king came to the garden, he heard the melo- dious voice of the nightingale. She was singing in a very happy mood. The king also became very happy.
The nightingale was extremely grateful to the king, as the king had permanently posted guards to take care of her nest. In order to show her gratitude, she would come to the garden every day and make the king happy with her warbling.
Moral: Tit for tat.
Hello! Cave
Long ago, there lived a lion by the name of Kharanakhara. He had been trying to hunt for his prey for the last two days, but could not succeed due to his old age and physical infirmity. He was no longer strong to hunt for his food. He was quite dejected and disappointed. He thought that he would die of starving. One day, while he was wandering in the jungle hopelessly, he came across a cave. ‘There must be some animal who lives in this cave’; so thought the lion. ‘I will hide myself inside it and wait for its occupant to enter. And as soon as the occupant enters the cave, I shall kill him and eat his flesh.’ Thinking thus, the lion entered the cave and hid himself carefully. After sometime, a fox came near the cave. The cave belonged to her. The fox was surprised to find the foot-marks of a lion pointing towards the cave. ‘Some lion has stealthily entered mycave’, she thought to herself. But to make sure of the presence of the lion inside the cave, the fox played upon a trick.
The fox stood at some distance from the cave to save herself in case of a sud- den attack and shouted, “Hello cave! I’ve come back. Speak to me as you have been doing earlier. Why’re you keeping silent, my dear cave? May I come in and oc- cupy my residence?”
Hearing the fox calling the cave, the lion thought to himself, that the cave he was hiding in, must in reality be a talking cave. The cave might be keeping quiet be- cause of his kingly presence inside. Therefore, if the cave didn’t answer to the fox’s question, the fox might go away to occupy some other cave and thus, he would have to go without a meal once again.
Trying to be wise, the lion answered in a roaring voice on behalf of the cave, “I’ve not forgotten my practice of speaking to you when you come, my dear fox. Come in and be at home, please.”
Thus, the clever fox confirmed the presence of the lion hiding in her cave and ran away without losing a single moment, saying, “Only a fool would believe that a cave speaks.”
Moral:- Presence of mind is the best weapon to guard oneself
The Fox and the Old Lion
Once, there was an old lion. His teeth and claws had worn out. He had grown weak with age. He was unable to catch prey for food. Hunting made him feel tired. So the lion thought of a plan. He pretended to have fallen sick. He took great care to let all his neighbors know about it. He then laid waiting for the visitors.
Whenever an animal came to show sympathy, the lion would eat his plan. One day, a fox called on the lion. A fox is an alert animal. He stood at a safe distance from the lion and enquired about his health. The lion replied that he was very sick. He invited the fox to step into the cave.
The clever fox stayed out. He thanked the lion for the invitation. The fox asked him, “please tell me, how do your visitors find their way out of your den? I see that there are several footprints leading into your cave, but not a single pair coming out.” Without waiting for the reply from the lion, the fox walked away.
Moral: One must look and think before acting a jumping.
WOLF ! WOLF !!
There lived a shepherd in a village. He had many sheep. He took them out every morning for grazing. One day, his wife fell ill and he had to go to the city to purchase some medicines for his ailing wife. ‘There will be no one to take care of the sheep’, he thought to himself. Then he called his son and told him, ” I’m going to the city to purchase some medicines for your mother. It will take me two or three days to come back. So take care of the sheep. Save them from being attacked by the tigers and wolves. There are many wild animals in the nearby forest. They might kill our sheep.”
The boy listened to his father’s advice carefully and the next day, he left for the nearby hillside with his flock of sheep. But he was a mischievous boy. He was feel- ing lonely. So he wanted to have some fun. He stood on a high rock and began shouting “Wolf! wolf!, help.”
The villagers heard the boy crying for help. They ran towards the hillside to help the boy, carrying big sticks in their hands. When they reached there they found that there was no wolf.
The sheep were grazing happily and the shepherd boy was playing a flute. “Where is the wolf?” the villagers asked the boy.
“There is no wolf here. I was joking,” the boy said and laughed. The villagers became very angry and returned to their work in the village.
Next day, the boy played the same trick. The villagers again reached there to help the boy. But when they came to know that the boy was lying, they felt highly annoyed and went back to the village cursing the boy.
But on the third day, a wolf really came there. The boy got frightened to see his red eyes. The wolf was huffing and growling. He began advancing towards the flock of sheep, gnashing his teeth and rolling his tongue. The boy lost his courage and began trembling with fear. He shouted, “Wolf, wolf, please help!” But to no avail.
This time no one came to help him. The villagers thought that the boy was up to his old tricks. The wolf killed many of his sheep. The boy returned home weeping.
Moral:- People do not trust a liar
The Ants and the Grasshopper
Once, several ants were enjoying the morning sunshine. They were drying the grains that they had stored up during the summer.
A Grasshopper was starving. He came to the ants. He had a fiddle under his arms. He played the strings, the ants looked towards him. He begged, “Please give me some grain to eat. I am hungry.”
The ants wondered, “Have you not stored any grain for the winter? What were you doing during the last summer?”
“Oh! I just did not have time to store up any grain” said the grasshopper, “I was busy in composing music. I did not even realize when the summer fled past.”
The ants at once realized that the grasshopper was neither wise nor hard- working. He got plenty to eat during summer so he did not think of the hard and cold winter.
The ants did not like it. An old ant said, “If music was more important to you than play music and live by it. The winter will also pass off soon.”
Moral: Enjoy present with an eye on the future.
The King Cobra And The Ants
There lived a big king cobra in a dense forest. As usual, he fed on birds’ eggs, lizards, frogs and other small creatures. The whole night he hunted the small crea- tures and when the day broke, he went into his hole to sleep. Gradually, he became fat. And his fat grew to such a measure that it became difficult for him to enter and come out of his hole without being scratched.
Ultimately, he decided to abandon his hole and selected a huge tree for his new home. But there was an ant hill at the root of the tree. It was impossible for king cobra to put up with the ants. So, he went to the ant hill and said, “I’m King Cobra, the king of this forest. I order all of you to go from this place and live somewhere else.”
There were other animals, too, around. They began trembling with fear to see such a huge snake before them. They ran for their lives. But the ants paid no heed to his threats. Thousands of ants streamed out of the ant hill. Soon they were swarming all over the body of the king cobra, stinging and biting him. Thousands of thorny pricks all over his body caused unbearable pain to him. The king cobra tried to keep the ants away, but in vain. He wriggled in pain and died atlast.
Moral:- Sometimes even a small person can be a formidable foe
The Thief, The Giant and The Brahmin
Long ago, there lived a poor Brahmin in a village. He used to perform pooja in the nearby villages to earn his living. Once a rich farmer gave him a cow and told him to sell cow’s milk in the market to earn part of his livelihood. But the cow was very weak. The Brahmin then begged for alms and fed the cow. Soon the cow be- came fat and healthy.
Once a thief saw the fat cow of the Brahmin and decided to steal it. One night he headed towards the Brahmin’s house.
A giant also used to live somewhere near the village. He devoured human be- ings. The thief met this giant, while he was on his way to Brahmin’s house to steal his cow.
The thief asked “Who are you and where are you going?”.
The giant replied, “I’m a giant. I eat humans. Today I’m going to devour the Brahmin. But who’re you by the way?”
“I’m a big thief. I steal whatever I like. Today, I’ve decided to steal the Brah- min’s cow.”
“Come on then!” said the giant. “Let’s go together to the Brahmin’s house.”
So, both of them reached the Brahmin’s house together. The Brahmin was deep asleep at that time. The thief whipped out a big knife from his pocket and started walking to the place, where the cow was tethered. But the giant blocked his way.
“Wait friend!” the giant said. “First let me eat this Brahmin.”
“No!” said the thief. “It’s quite possible that while you go to eat the Brahmin, he wakes up and runs away. In that case, there might be quite a commotion here and as a result, neither you’ll get your Brahmin nor will I get my cow.”
And thus, both of them started having a heated argument between themselves. The loud arguments woke up the Brahmin. He soon realized the whole situation.
He recited mantras and burned the giant with his spiritual powers. Then he started beating the thief with a long and thick stick. The thief began to cry and ran to save his life.
Thus, the Brahmin was saved from both of them.
Moral:- Quarreling on any issue always benefits the others
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