Stories of the Day: part 5

🔰 The Cat, the Partridge and the Hare

A long time ago, there lived a Partridge under a big, green tree. One day, he decided to go to the fields and find some food. Seeing plenty of food in the fields, he stayed on for many days.

While the Partridge was away, a Hare started living in his house.

When the Partridge had enough to eat, he decided to return. But, he found a Hare living in his house. “This is my house. It belongs to me. Leave my home,” said the Partridge to the Hare. The Hare replied, “The house belongs to whoever is living in

it.” Soon, both of them started fighting for the house.

There was a Cat in the neighbourhood. They decided to ask the Cat to solve their problem. The Cat acted like

he was helpful. He was actually a cheat.

The Partridge and the Hare explained their problem

to the Cat. The Cat pretended to be hard of hearing. He said, “Sorry! I can’t hear you. Please come closer.”

So, the Partridge and the Hare went closer to the Cat. The wicked Cat grabbed them and ate them up.

💎 When two people fight, the third one takes the advantage.

🍂The Turtle and the Monkey

A turtle went to a shop. He said to the shopkeeper, “Please give me some peanuts. I want to give them to my children. They are hungry.” The shopkeeper took a small bag of peanuts. He gave it to the turtle.

The turtle gave him money for it.

The turtle took the bag. He started to walk to his house. On the way he felt thirsty. He put the bag near the road. Then he went to look for water.

A monkey was coming down the road. He saw the bag of peanuts. “Ah, what luck !” he said. “I shall have lots of peanuts to eat.”

The monkey picked up the bag. Then he climbed up a tree and began to eat the peanuts.

The turtle drank some water and came back. But he could not find the bag of peanuts. Then he heard a sound, ‘Munch-munch, munch-munch. ‘ He looked up and saw a monkey sitting in the tree. He was eating the peanuts.

“Give me my bag of peanuts,” said the turtle to the monkey. “It is mine. I paid money for it.”

“No,” said the monkey. “I found the bag. So it is mine.”

“Please give me the bag,” the turtle said again. “My children are hungry. I want to give them these peanuts to eat.”

“I shall not give you the bag,” the monkey said again. “I found it, so it is mine. I am going to eat the peanuts.”

The monkey had a long tail. It was hanging down. The turtle caught the tail. He gave it a big bite.

“OUCH !” the monkey cried loudly. He pulled his tail. But the turtle would not let go.

The monkey then threw down the bag of peanuts. “Here, take your peanuts,” he said. “Let go of my tail now.”

The turtle left the monkey’s tail and picked up the bag of peanuts. He went home and said, “Children, come and see what I have got for you.”

The children came running. They saw the bag of peanuts and were very happy. They all had a good feed of peanuts.

⛺️ Two Cats

Once there were two cats. One was white, the other was black. They were friends. One day they went for a walk. The white cat saw a roll near the road.

“Ah,” said the white cat. “There’s a roti there. How nice!”( Roti: round, baked at cake made of wholemeal bread, chapatti)

The black cat ran and picked up the roti. She opened her mouth to eat it, for she was hungry.

“Stop !” said the white cat. “I saw the roti first, so I shall eat it.”

“But I picked it up and so I shall eat it,” said the black cat.

Both wanted to eat the roti. So they said, “Let us go to the monkey who lives on the mango tree. He will tell us what to do.”

The two cats went to the monkey. He was sitting on the mango tree. Uncle, said the cats, “please come down from the tree. We want to ask you something.”

“Why don’t you both come up then ?” asked the monkey.

“How can we do that, Uncle ?” said the cats. We have this roti. If we come up, the roti will fall.”

“Oh, very well,” said the monkey. He came down and sat on the ground. “Now what’s the matter”, he asked.

“Uncle,” said the white cat, “this black cat is very greedy. to eat the full roti. But I saw the roti first, so it is mine.

“But I picked up the roti from the road,” said the black Cat. “So it is mine.”

“You tell us who should eat this roti,” said both the cats together.

“Hm,” said the monkey. “Let me think.” He closed his eyes for a minute. Then he said, “Give me the roti. I shall break it into two pieces. Then you can eat one piece each.”

The black cat gave him the roti. The monkey tore it into two pieces. Then he looked at the pieces in his hands and said, “Oh, one of the pieces is bigger than the other. Let me make it equal to the other piece.”

The monkey took a bite from the bigger piece. He looked at the two pieces again and said,

“Oh, now the other piece is bigger. I shall make both equal.” And he took a bite from the second piece.

The cats got worried. They did not want the monkey to eat up their entire roti. So they said, “Uncle, give us the two pieces now. Never mind if they are not equal.”

“How can I do that ?” he said. “That would be cheating. I must give an equal piece to both of you.”

The cats just sat and watched. They saw the monkey take a bite from the two pieces, turn by turn. At last the monkey said, “It’s no use giving you the two pieces now. They are too small.” And before the cats could stop him, he ate up both the pieces.

The poor cats were very hungry. But their roti was gone. They said, “We will not fight again. If we find some more food, we shall shan’t equally.” And they both went away to look for a mouse to eat. One day, king Akbar asked a question in his court that left everyone in the courtroom puzzled. As they all tried to figure out the answer, Birbal walked in and asked what the matter was. They repeated the question to him.

The question was, “How many crows are there in the city?”

Birbal immediately smiled and went up to Akbar. He announced the answer; he said there were twenty-one thousand, five hundred and twenty-three crows in the city. When asked how he knew the answer, Birbal replied, “Ask your men to count the number of crows. If there are more, then the relatives of the crows must be visiting them from nearby cities. If there are fewer, then the crows from our city must be visiting their relatives who live outside the city.” Pleased with the answer, Akbar presented Birbal with a ruby and pearl chain.

✨Moral of the Story⚡️

Having an explanation for your answer is just as important as having an answer.

⛳️Birbal and the Mango Tree 

Ram and Sham were in a fight.  Both of them said they owned the same mango tree. 

They went up to Birbal and asked him to decide the matter, once and for all.  Who was the true owner of the mango tree? 

Birbal said, "There is only one way to settle the matter. First, you must take all of the fruit off the tree.  Each of you should take half the mangos.  Then you must cut down the tree and divide the trunk in half.  Each of you should take half the wood, too.  Then everything will be fair.  That is what I say.”

Who really owned the mango tree?

Ram thought it was all a good idea, and he said so. 

But Sham said, “Your Honor! I have tended that tree for seven years. If you must, give the mango tree to Ram.  But do not make us cut it down!"

"What you have said told me all I need to know," said Birbal.  Then he said that Sham was the true owner of the mango tree.

🍃 Birbal Stories: Birbal Betrays Himself

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal Betrays Himself.

Birbal was missing. He and the emperor had a quarrel and Birbal had stormed out of the palace vowing never to return.

Now Akbar missed him and wanted him back but no one knew where he was.

Then the emperor had a brainwave. He offered a reward of 1000 gold coins to any man who could come to the palace observing the following condition. The man had to walk in the sun without an umbrella but he had to be in the shade at the same time.

"Impossible," said the people.

Then a villager came carrying a string cot over his head and claimed the prize.

"I've walked in the sun but at the same time I was in the shade of the strings of the cot," he said.

It was a brilliant solution. On interrogation the villager confessed that the idea had been suggested to him by a man living with him.

"It could only be Birbal!" said the emperor, delighted.

Sure enough it was Birbal and he and the emperor had a joyous reunion.

🍃 Birbal Stories: Birbal Identifies Thief

💬Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal Identifies Thief.

One fine morning, a minister from Emperor Akbar's court had gathered in the assembly hall.

He informed the Emperor that all his valuables had been stolen by a thief the previous night.

Akbar was shocked to hear this because the place where that minister lived was the safest place in the kingdom.

He invited Birbal to solve the mystery. Akbar said "It is definitely not possible for an outsider to enter into the minister's house and steal the valuables. This blunder is definitely committed only by another minister of that court." Saying so, he arranged for a donkey to be tied to a pillar. He ordered all the courtiers to lift the donkey's tail and say "I have not stolen."

Birbal added "Only then we can judge the culprit." After everyone had finished, he asked the courtiers to show their palm to him. All the courtiers except Alim Khan had a black patch of paint on their palm. Birbal had actually painted the donkey's tail with a black coat of paint. In the fright, the guilty minister did not touch the donkey's tail at all. Thus Birbal once again proved his intelligence and was rewarded by the king with 1000 gold coins.

🍃 Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal Is Brief.

One day Akbar asked his courtiers if they could tell him the difference between truth and falsehood in three words or less.

The courtiers looked at one another in bewilderment.

"What about you, Birbal?" asked the emperor. "I'm surprised that you too are silent."

"I'm silent because I want to give others a chance to speak," said Birbal.

"Nobody else has the answer," said the emperor. "So go ahead and tell me what the difference between truth and falsehood is — in three words or less."

"Four fingers" said Birbal

"Four fingers?" asked the emperor, perplexed.

"That's the difference between truth and falsehood, your Majesty," said Birbal. "That which you see with your own eyes is the truth. That which you have only heard about might not be true. More often than not, it's likely to be false."

"That is right," said Akbar. "But what did you mean by saying the difference is four fingers?'

"The distance between one's eyes and one's ears is the width of four fingers, Your Majesty," said Birbal, grinning.

🍃 Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal Outwits Cheat.

A farmer and his neighbor once went to Emperor Akbar's court with a complaint.

"Your Majesty, I bought a well from him," said the farmer pointing to his neighbor," and now he wants me to pay for the water."

"That's right, your Majesty," said the neighbor. "I sold him the well but not the water!"

The Emperor asked Birbal to settle the dispute.

"Didn't you say that you sold your well to this farmer?" Birbal asked the neighbor. "So, the well belongs to him now, but you have kept your water in his well. Is that right? Well, in that case you will have to pay him a rent or take your water out at once."

The neighbor realized that he was outwitted. He quickly apologized and gave up his claim.

🍃 Birbal Stories: Birbal Returns Home

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal Returns Home.

Birbal was in Persia at the invitation of the king of that country.

Parties were given in his honor and rich presents were heaped on him.

On the eve of his departure for home, a nobleman asked him how he would compare the king of Persia to his own king.

“Your king is a full moon," said Birbal. “Whereas mine could be likened to the quarter moon."

The Persians were very happy. But when Birbal got home he found that Emperor Akbar was furious with him.

“How could you belittle your own king!" demanded Akbar. “You are a traitor!"

“No, Your Majesty," said Birbal. “I did not belittle you. The full moon diminishes and disappears whereas the quarter moon grows from strength to strength. What I, in fact, proclaimed to the world is that your power is growing from day to day whereas that of the king of Persia is about to go into decline."

Akbar grunted in satisfaction and welcomed Birbal back with a warm embrace.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃 Birbal Stories: Birbal Shortens Road

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal Shortens Road.

The Emperor Akbar was traveling to a distant place along with some of his courtiers. It was a hot day and the emperor was tiring of the journey.

“Can’t anybody shorten this road for me?" he asked, querulously.

“I can," said Birbal.

The other courtiers looked at one another, perplexed. All of them knew there was no other path through the hilly terrain.

The road they were traveling on was the only one that could take them to their destination.

“You can shorten the road?" said the emperor. “Well, do it."

“I will," said Birbal. “Listen first to this story I have to tell."

And riding beside the emperor’s palanquin, he launched upon a long and intriguing tale that held Akbar and all those listening, spellbound. Before they knew it, they had reached the end of their journey.

“We’ve reached?" exclaimed Akbar. “So soon!"

“Well," grinned Birbal, “you did say you wanted the road to be shortened."



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃Birbal Stories: Birbal's Sweet Reply

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal's Sweet Reply.

One day the Emperor Akbar startled his courtiers with a strange question.

"If somebody pulled my whiskers what sort of punishment should be given to him?" he asked.

"He should be flogged!" said one courtier.

"He should be hanged!" said another.

"He should be beheaded!" said a third.

"And what about you, Birbal?" asked the emperor. "What do you think would be the right thing to do if somebody pulled my whiskers?"

"He should be given sweets," said Birbal.

"Sweets?" gasped the other couriers.

"Yes", said Birbal. “Sweets, because the only one who would dare pull His Majesty's whiskers is his grandson."

So pleased was the emperor with the answer that he pulled off his ring and gave it to Birbal as a reward



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃 Birbal Stories: Birbal The Child

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal The Child.

Birbal arrived late for a function and the emperor was displeased.

"My child was crying and I had to placate him," explained the courtier.

"Does it take so long to calm down a child?" asked the emperor. "It appears you know nothing about child rearing. Now you pretend to be a child and I shall act as your father and I will show you how you should have dealt with your child. Go on. Ask me for whatever he asked of you."

"I want a cow," said Birbal.

Akbar ordered a cow to be brought to the palace.

"I want its milk. I want its milk," said Birbal, imitating the voice of a small child.

"Milk the cow and give to him," said Akbar to his servants.

The cow was milked and the milk was offered to Birbal. He drank a little and then handed the bowl back to Akbar.

"Now put the rest of it back into the cow, put it back, put in back, put it back..." wailed Birbal.

The emperor was flabbergasted and quietly left the room.



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃 Birbal Stories: Birbal The Servant

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal The Servant.

One day Akbar and Birbal were riding through the countryside and they happened to pass by a cabbage patch.

"Cabbages are such delightful vegetables!" said Akbar. "I just love cabbage."

"The cabbage is king of vegetables!" said Birbal.

A few weeks later they were riding past the cabbage patch again.

This time however, the emperor made a face when he saw the vegetables. "I used to love cabbage but now I have no taste for it." said Akbar.

"The cabbage is a tasteless vegetable" agreed Birbal.

The emperor was astonished.

"But the last time you said it was the king of vegetables!" he said.

"I did," admitted Birbal. "But I am your servant Your Majesty, not the cabbage's."



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃 Birbal Stories: Birbal The Wise

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal The Wise .

Ram and Sham both claimed ownership of the same mango tree.

One day they approached Birbal and asked him to settle the dispute.

Birbal said to them: "There is only one way to settle the matter. Pluck all the fruits on the tree and divide them equally between the two of you. Then cut down the tree and divide the wood".

Ram thought it was a fair judgment and said so.

But Sham was horrified.

"Your Honor" he said to Birbal "I've tended that tree for seven years. I'd rather let Ram have it than see it cut down."

"Your concern for the tree has told me all I wanted to know" said Birbal, and declared Sham the true owner of the tree.



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃 Birbal Stories: Birbal Turns Tables

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Birbal Turns Tables .

Emperor Akbar was narrating a dream.

The dream began with Akbar and Birbal walking towards each other on a moonless night. It was so dark that they could not see each other and they collided and fell.

"Fortunately for me," said the Emperor. "I fell into a pool of payasam. But guess what Birbal fell into?"

"What, your Majesty?" asked the courtiers.

"A gutter!"

The court resounded with laughter. The emperor was thrilled that for once he had been able to score over Birbal.

But Birbal was unperturbed.

"Your Majesty," he said when the laughter had died down. "Strangely, I too had the same dream. But unlike you I slept on till the end. When you climbed out of that pool of delicious payasam and I, out of that stinking gutter we found that there was no water with which to clean ourselves and so guess what we did?"

"What?" asked the emperor, warily.

"We licked each other clean!"

The emperor became red with embarrassment and resolved never to try to get the better of Birbal again.



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃Birbal Stories: Cooking The Khichdi

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Cooking the Khichdi.

It was winter. The ponds were all frozen.

At the court, Akbar asked Birbal, "Tell me Birbal! Will a man do anything for money?" Birbal replied, 'Yes'.

The emperor ordered him to prove it.

The next day Birbal came to the court along with a poor Brahmin who merely had a penny left with him. His family was starving.

Birbal told the king that the Brahmin was ready to do anything for the sake of money.

The king ordered the Brahmin to be inside the frozen pond all through the night without any attire if he needed money.

The poor Brahmin had no choice. The whole night he was inside the pond, shivering. He returned to the durbar the next day to receive his reward.

The king asked "Tell me Oh poor Brahmin! How could you withstand the extreme temperature all through the night?"

The innocent Brahmin replied "I could see a faintly glowing light a kilometer away and I withstood with that ray of light."

Akbar refused to pay the Brahmin his reward saying that he had got warmth from the light and withstood the cold and that was cheating.

The poor Brahmin could not argue with him and so returned disappointed and bare-handed.

Birbal tried to explain to the king but the king was in no mood to listen to him.

Thereafter, Birbal stopped coming to the durbar and sent a messenger to the king saying that he would come to the court only after cooking his khichdi.

As Birbal did not turn up even after 5 days, the king himself went to Birbal's house to see what he was doing. Birbal had lit the fire and kept the pot of uncooked khichdi one meter away from it.

Akbar questioned him "How will the khichdi get cooked with the fire one meter away? What is wrong with you Birbal?"

Birbal, cooking the khichdi, replied "Oh my great King of Hindustan! When it was possible for a person to receive warmth from a light that was a kilometer away, then it is possible for this khichdi, which is just a meter away from the source of heat, to get cooked."

Akbar understood his mistake. He called the poor Brahmin and rewarded him 2000 gold coins.



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃 Birbal Stories: Half The Reward

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Half The Reward.

Mahesh Das was a citizen in the kingdom of Akbar. He was an intelligent young man.

Once when Akbar went hunting in the jungle, he lost his way. Mahesh Das who lived in the outskirts helped the king reach the palace. The emperor rewarded him with his ring.

The Emperor also promised to give him a responsible posting at his court. After a few days Mahesh Das went to the court. The guard did not allow him to enter.

Mahesh Das showed the guard the ring which the king had given him. Now the guard thought that the young man was sure to get more rewards by the king. The greedy guard agreed to allow him inside the court on one condition. It was that Mahesh Das had to pay him half the reward he would get from the Emperor. Mahesh Das accepted the condition.

He then entered the court and showed the ring to the King.

The King who recognized Mahesh asked him "Oh young man! What do you expect as a reward from the King of Hindustan?" "Majesty! I expect 50 lashes from you as a reward." replied Mahesh Das. The courtiers were stunned. They thought that he was mad. Akbar pondered over his request and asked him the reason.

Mahesh Das said he would tell him the reason after receiving his reward. Then the king’s men whipped him as per his wish. After the 25th lash Mahesh Das requested the King to call the guard who was at the gate.

The guard appeared before the King. He was happy at the thought that he was called to be rewarded. But to his surprise, Mahesh Das told the King ,"Jahampana! This greedy guard let me inside on condition that I pay him half the reward I receive from you. I wanted to teach him a lesson. Please give the remaining 25 lashes to this guard so that I can keep my promise to him."

The King then ordered that the guard be given 25 lashes along with 5 years of imprisonment. The King was very happy with Mahesh Das. He called him RAJA BIRBAL and made him his chief minister.



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃Birbal Stories: Identify The Guest

Let us enjoy reading this one of Birbal Stories of Identify The Guest.

Birbal had been invited to lunch by a rich man.

Birbal went to the man's house and found him in a hall full of people. His host greeted him warmly.

"I did not know there would be so many guests," said Birbal who hated large gatherings.

"They are not guests," said the man. "They are my employees, all except one man. He is the only other guest here beside you."

Then a crafty look came on the man's face.

"Can you tell me which of them is the guest?" he asked.

"Maybe I could," said Birbal. "Talk to them as I observe them. Tell them a joke or something."

The man told a joke that Birbal thought was perhaps the worst he had heard in a long time. When he finished everyone laughed uproariously.

"Well," said the rich man. "I've told my joke. Now tell me who my other guest is."

Birbal pointed out the man to him.

"How did you know?" asked his host, amazed.

"Employees tend to laugh at any joke told by their employers," explained Birbal. "When I saw that this man was the only one not laughing at your joke, and in fact, looked positively bored, I at once knew he was your other guest."



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🪵The Last Pearl

Once a beautiful newborn baby girl lay in a room.

The guardian angel of the house and the good angel of the baby watched as the fairies of health, wealth. and love came and gave their pearls as gifts to the newborn baby and blessed the child. The baby had been blessed with everything it could ever want—good health, wealth and love.

The guardian angel said, “All the fairies have come, but one fairy remains.” The good angel asked, “Who is it? Let us go to her and ask her to give her pearl.”

The guardian angel took the good angel to a house in which lay a dead woman. Her family was in sorrow. The angels went to a fairy sitting in the corner of the room.

The guardian angel said to the good angel, “This is the fairy who is yet to give the last pearl. She is the fairy of sorrow.

“The gift of sorrow gives meaning to the other gifts of life.”

🪵The Naughty Clock Winder

The king of Elfland had a large collection of clocks. An elf called Dickory Dock had to wind them up every day. Dickory Dock was a forgetful elf So the king gave Dickory Dock an enchanted key and said. “Now you don’t have to use many different keys. You can wind up all the clocks with this key. In fact, it can wind up anything.”

Alas! Dickory Dock would still forget to wind the clocks. The furious king punished him severely. The naughty elf decided to teach the king a lesson. He wound up all the furniture in the castle! Soon all the chairs and books were dancing. “Mercy on its! This must be Dickory Dock’s doing. Fetch him!” exclaimed the king. He wound Dickory Dock up with the magic key and banished him from the kingdom. And so he goes dancing around to this day.

<

🪵KING & HIS 4 WIVES

Once upon a time, there lived a king who had four wives. The king got seriously ill and was on his death bed.

Afraid to venture into the afterlife alone, he asked his fourth wife whom he loved the most and bought her diamond, gold and elegant clothing — “Would you die with me? And go with me to the afterlife?” The fourth wife replied with a sorry saying she can’t do that and walked away.

He also loved his third wife and was very proud and would show her off to neighboring kingdoms. He called on his third wife and asked the same question — “Would you accompany me to the afterlife”? The third wife replied that she loved her life too much and she cannot go with him and also that she would remarry on his death.

The second wife had always been there for him in the times of his need. So he asked her would she accompany him in the afterlife? The second wife apologetically replied that she would not be able to help him this time but would arrange his funeral and would be there for his funeral.

A voice called out and said that — “I will leave with you and follow you wherever you go, even if it is to the afterlife”. The king looked and it was his first wife. And this was the wife he took care of the least. He felt embarrassed and said that I should have taken better care of you and given you more attention when I was alive.


We All Have Four Wives.

✿ Our fourth wife is our Body. We like to decorate it with nice clothes, sexy hairstyle, nice jewellery. But in the end it cannot follow us to the afterlife.

✿ Our third wife is our Possessions. We spend so much time gathering our possessions — Car, house, guitar, DSLR, gold. But in the end they can’t follow us to the afterlife. It will be given to other people and divided. Just like the third wife is remarrying.

✿ The second wife is our Friends And Family. We trust them, they’re always there for us in times of need. But the farthest they can go is to the funeral and send us off.

✿ Our first wife represents our Soul. We usually neglect taking care of our soul. That is the thing that will follow us to the afterlife.

Care for your body, keep it healthy. Enjoy your possessions and the comfort they provide. Cherish your friends and family for the love that they provide. But don’t forget to take care of your soul. Nourish your soul. Spend some quality time with you. Spend some alone time. Take time to pray, take time to meditate. Because it is the source of all our life and our most faithful friend.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

<

Hole in the Water

A handsome and rich man decided to get married but could not find the right girl.

One day, he met a beautiful lady near a well and fell in love with her. He asked her if she would marry him. She replied. I will marry you but only if you can do one thing. You must make a hole in the water for me!” -That is impossible!” cried the man. She said, “if this is true love. then even miracles can happen.” The man walked away sadly. He really did love the woman but didn’t know how he could make a hole in the water.

Months passed and soon it was winter. All the lakes and ponds, and the water in the well. froze.

Then the man remembered what the woman had asked for. He quickly ran to the well where he had met her and saw her sitting there. lie took a stick and made a hole in the ice. The woman was pleased and agreed to marry him. Fie married her with a lot of pomp and splendour.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌷 The White Squash

Once upon a time there lived a poor couple. They were very sad because they had no children. They always prayed to God to bless them with a child.

The couple was so poor that they hardly had much to eat. They lived on the big white squashes that grew in their garden. But one season. the vine stopped bearing fruits. A lot of flowers bloomed on it but they did not turn into fruits.

One day, the woman was very happy to see a small green squash. After a few days. it ripened and they decided to cut it. As they put the knife in a small voice said, -BL careful!” When they carefully cut the squash they found a small boy in it. The couple was very happy.

The woman took the boy and bathed him with water. But to their astonishment. the water turned into gold as soon as it touched the boy. They realized that the boy was special and they were never poor again.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌷 The Performer and the Flea

Once there was a performer who had trained a flea to perform tricks. He went from place to place with his performing flea to earn money.

One day, they visited a distant country and performed in a king’s court. The princess was delighted with the flea’s performance and wanted to keep the flea. She was very stubborn and refused to eat food if her wish was not granted. The king forced the performer to give him the flea and gave it to his daughter. The princess was very happy once her wish was fulfilled.

Left with no means of earning a livelihood, the performer was very upset and wanted his flea back but didn’t know what to do.

After a lot of thought, he made a plan. He disguised himself and went to the king.

“Sire, I beg permission to make a big cannon for you,” he pleaded. The king happily agreed. The performer asked for a piece of silk cloth, some ropes and a basket. But instead of making a cannon he made a big balloon.

The king who had never seen a cannon or a balloon believed the clever performer. The performer told the king that he needed the help of a flea to cool the cannon. The king called for the flea and handed it to the performer.

The clever performer jumped into the balloon and flew away to his country with his flea.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌷 A Mouse Wedding

Little Johnny was fast asleep when the Sleep Fairy woke him up and said, “Quick! Get dressed! We are going to the mouse’s wedding!”

“Whooosh!” The Sleep Fairy turned Johnny into a tiny boy with a touch of her magic wand. He wore a tin soldier’s uniform and went for the wedding. “Cheesecakes and cheese candies! Even the walls are made of cheese!” squealed Johnny. Even the bride and the groom sat on a cheese couch. All the guests threw pumpkin seeds at the couple instead of rice. They sang and danced to songs about cheese. Little Johnny enjoyed himself and had a wonderful time all night. “Wake up, dear! Time for school.” said Mummy. Little Johnny realised that it had all been a nice dream. Sleep Fairy’s little dream.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌷 The Ice Cream Cart

Anne was a poor girl who lived with her mother. Every day, an ice cream man would pass by her house but she had no money with which to buy one. She would look at other children licking large cones of ice cream and wish she could also be one of them.

One day, the ice cream man took pity on her and gave her the whole ice cream cart. He said. “This is a magic cart. You can ask it to make any kind of ice cream. But when you want it to stop. you must say, ‘Enough now’.’* Anne was very happy; she ate ice cream all day.

One day, while she was away at school, her mother asked the cart to make some ice cream. The cart started doing so. But Anne’s mother did not know how to stop it, so the cart went on making ice cream.

Soon, the whole house was filled with ice cream. When Anne returned and saw ice cream everywhere. she had to lick tier way to the cart and stop it!


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌷 Sly's Ice Cream

Sly the Gnome was walking behind Mr. Wisdom, the wise man. “Clink!” A shining one-pound coin fell out of Mr. Wisdom’s pocket and rolled down the street. Sly picked it up and slipped it into his pocket. He knew that was stealing, but then he was a mean gnome. Walking on he found a group of children crowding round a man. “Why are you all so excited?- he asked. One of the children said, “Oh, don’t you know? It’s the ice cream man. Here, try some ice cream.” Sly took a bite. “Umm . . .” He loved the sweet delicious taste. “Can I get some for a pound?” he asked. “You can get a whole box for a pound,” said the children.

Selfish Sly thought, “I will have it for my tea and won’t share it with anyone.” He paid for the box of ice cream with Mr. Wisdom’s coin and happily whistled as he set off for home.

The day was hot. As Sly walked home, the ice cream began to melt. Slowly it started dripping from a corner of the box. He couldn’t understand what was happening. He peered into the box and saw there was no ice cream. In its place was some cold yellow liquid. “Where is my ice cream?” he cried out loud. He thought the ice cream man had cheated I him. can’t eat this,” fie shouted angrily and flung the box away from him. “Splat!” The box land on Mr. Wisdom who was just turning round the corner! “Oho! I’ll teach you some manners, my boy!” said Mr. Wisdom, wiping the ice cream from his face. He grabbed Sly and gave him a good spanking. Crying, Sly ran home promising never to steal again.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌷 The Two Candles

Once a wax candle and a tallow candle were having a conversation. The wax candle was very vain and boasted, “I will be placed in a silver candle stand at tonight’s party.” The tallow candle answered, “It is certainly better to be made of wax than of tallow but I am happy that I burn in the kitchen where food is cooked.”

Suddenly, a rich lady came and picked up all the candles. Seeing the tallow candle along with the wax candle, the lady gave it to a poor boy who was passing by.

The poor boy took the tallow candle home. Seeing the small cottage. the tallow candle thought, “How lucky the wax candle is to be in its rich home.”

Meanwhile, the mother lit the tallow candle. One of the children said, “Oh, we have light in the house today!” The tallow candle saw the joy in his eyes and was happy to be in the cottage and did not envy the wax candle again.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

- <

🌷 The First Monkey

Once there lived an old woman and her grandson in a hut. The old woman worked hard to feed her grandson and herself but her grandson was a lazy boy. He did not help her in her work and took her money and spent it all on his friends.

One day, he came home hungry. “Where is my food?” he demanded. Alas! The food was not ready. He became angry and finding coconuts lying on the ground, threw them at his grandmother. “Food’ Food! Food!” he chanted stamping his foot. The good behaviour fairy was passing by. “I’ll teach this boy manners!” she thought. She waved her magic wand and whoosh . . . the boy turned into a furry animal with a long tail. When his friends saw him they threw stones at him. Lo! They too turned into animals. The people drove them out of the town.

The boy and his friends then began living on trees and came to be known as monkeys.

🌷 The straw, The Coal, and The Bean

In a village dwelt a poor old woman, who had gathered together a dish of beans and wanted to cook them. So she made a fire on her hearth, and that it might burn the quicker, she lighted it with a handful of straw. When she was emptying the beans into the pan, one dropped without her observing it, and lay on the ground beside a straw, and soon afterwards a burning coal from the fire leapt down to the two. Then the straw began and said: ‘Dear friends, from whence do you come here?’ The coal replied: ‘I fortunately sprang out of the fire, and if I had not escaped by sheer force, my death would have been certain,—I should have been burnt to ashes.’ The bean said: ‘I too have escaped with a whole skin, but if the old woman had got me into the pan, I should have been made into broth without any mercy, like my comrades.’ ‘And would a better fate have fallen to my lot?’ said the straw. ‘The old woman has destroyed all my brethren in fire and smoke; she seized sixty of them at once, and took their lives. I luckily slipped through her fingers.’

‘But what are we to do now?’ said the coal.

‘I think,’ answered the bean, ‘that as we have so fortunately escaped death, we should keep together like good companions, and lest a new mischance should overtake us here, we should go away together, and repair to a foreign country.’

The proposition pleased the two others, and they set out on their way together. Soon, however, they came to a little brook, and as there was no bridge or foot-plank, they did not know how they were to get over it. The straw hit on a good idea, and said: ‘I will lay myself straight across, and then you can walk over on me as on a bridge.’ The straw therefore stretched itself from one bank to the other, and the coal, who was of an impetuous disposition, tripped quite boldly on to the newly-built bridge. But when she had reached the middle, and heard the water rushing beneath her, she was after all, afraid, and stood still, and ventured no farther. The straw, however, began to burn, broke in two pieces, and fell into the stream. The coal slipped after her, hissed when she got into the water, and breathed her last. The bean, who had prudently stayed behind on the shore, could not but laugh at the event, was unable to stop, and laughed so heartily that she burst. It would have been all over with her, likewise, if, by good fortune, a tailor who was travelling in search of work, had not sat down to rest by the brook. As he had a compassionate heart he pulled out his needle and thread, and sewed her together. The bean thanked him most prettily, but as the tailor used black thread, all beans since then have a black seam.

🌷 The Woodman and the Serpent

One wintry day a Woodman was tramping home from his work when
he saw something black lying on the snow. When he came closer he
saw it was a Serpent to all appearance dead. But he took it up
and put it in his bosom to warm while he hurried home. As soon as
he got indoors he put the Serpent down on the hearth before the
fire. The children watched it and saw it slowly come to life
again. Then one of them stooped down to stroke it, but thc
Serpent raised its head and put out its fangs and was about to
sting the child to death. So the Woodman seized his axe, and with
one stroke cut the Serpent in two. “Ah,” said he,

“No gratitude from the wicked.”

🌷 The wolf and the crane

A Wolf had been feasting too greedily, and a bone had stuck crosswise in his throat. He could get it neither up nor down, and of course he could not eat a thing. Naturally that was an awful state of affairs for a greedy Wolf.

So away he hurried to the Crane. He was sure that she, with her long neck and bill, would easily be able to reach the bone and pull it out.

“I will reward you very handsomely,” said the Wolf, “if you pull that bone out for me.”

The Crane, as you can imagine, was very uneasy about putting her head in a Wolf’s throat. But she was grasping in nature, so she did what the Wolf asked her to do.

When the Wolf felt that the bone was gone, he started to walk away.

“But what about my reward!” called the Crane anxiously.

“What!” snarled the Wolf, whirling around. “Haven’t you got it? Isn’t it enough that I let you take your head out of my mouth without snapping it off?”

Expect no reward for serving the wicked.

🌷 The Coachman's Painting

A coachman who served in the king’s palace was also a talented artist. His paintings looked real and alive. Once he painted a portrait of his sister. The painting was so beautiful and life like that he kept it in the royal stable. And whenever he felt sad and lonely. the coachman would talk to the painting. People thought that a woman visited him every night. When the king heard about this he decided to find out the truth for himself. One night. he visited the stable. When he saw the painting, the king fell in love with the beautiful woman. He asked the coachman who it was. He was charmed by the coachman’s sister’s beauty and married her amidst pomp and splendour. The coachman moved into the palace and they lived happily ever after.

🌷 Briar Rose

A king and queen once upon a time reigned in a country a great way off, where there were in those days fairies. Now this king and queen had plenty of money, and plenty of fine clothes to wear, and plenty of good things to eat and drink, and a coach to ride out in every day: but though they had been married many years they had no children, and this grieved them very much indeed. But one day as the queen was walking by the side of the river, at the bottom of the garden, she saw a poor little fish, that had thrown itself out of the water, and lay gasping and nearly dead on the bank. Then the queen took pity on the little fish, and threw it back again into the river; and before it swam away it lifted its head out of the water and said, ‘I know what your wish is, and it shall be fulfilled, in return for your kindness to me—you will soon have a daughter.’ What the little fish had foretold soon came to pass; and the queen had a little girl, so very beautiful that the king could not cease looking on it for joy, and said he would hold a great feast and make merry, and show the child to all the land. So he asked his kinsmen, and nobles, and friends, and neighbours. But the queen said, ‘I will have the fairies also, that they might be kind and good to our little daughter.’ Now there were thirteen fairies in the kingdom; but as the king and queen had only twelve golden dishes for them to eat out of, they were forced to leave one of the fairies without asking her. So twelve fairies came, each with a high red cap on her head, and red shoes with high heels on her feet, and a long white wand in her hand: and after the feast was over they gathered round in a ring and gave all their best gifts to the little princess. One gave her goodness, another beauty, another riches, and so on till she had all that was good in the world.

Just as eleven of them had done blessing her, a great noise was heard in the courtyard, and word was brought that the thirteenth fairy was come, with a black cap on her head, and black shoes on her feet, and a broomstick in her hand: and presently up she came into the dining-hall. Now, as she had not been asked to the feast she was very angry, and scolded the king and queen very much, and set to work to take her revenge. So she cried out, ‘The king’s daughter shall, in her fifteenth year, be wounded by a spindle, and fall down dead.’ Then the twelfth of the friendly fairies, who had not yet given her gift, came forward, and said that the evil wish must be fulfilled, but that she could soften its mischief; so her gift was, that the king’s daughter, when the spindle wounded her, should not really die, but should only fall asleep for a hundred years.

However, the king hoped still to save his dear child altogether from the threatened evil; so he ordered that all the spindles in the kingdom should be bought up and burnt. But all the gifts of the first eleven fairies were in the meantime fulfilled; for the princess was so beautiful, and well behaved, and good, and wise, that everyone who knew her loved her.

It happened that, on the very day she was fifteen years old, the king and queen were not at home, and she was left alone in the palace. So she roved about by herself, and looked at all the rooms and chambers, till at last she came to an old tower, to which there was a narrow staircase ending with a little door. In the door there was a golden key, and when she turned it the door sprang open, and there sat an old lady spinning away very busily. ‘Why, how now, good mother,’ said the princess; ‘what are you doing there?’ ‘Spinning,’ said the old lady, and nodded her head, humming a tune, while buzz! went the wheel. ‘How prettily that little thing turns round!’ said the princess, and took the spindle and began to try and spin. But scarcely had she touched it, before the fairy’s prophecy was fulfilled; the spindle wounded her, and she fell down lifeless on the ground. However, she was not dead, but had only fallen into a deep sleep; and the king and the queen, who had just come home, and all their court, fell asleep too; and the horses slept in the stables, and the dogs in the court, the pigeons on the house-top, and the very flies slept upon the walls. Even the fire on the hearth left off blazing, and went to sleep; the jack stopped, and the spit that was turning about with a goose upon it for the king’s dinner stood still; and the cook, who was at that moment pulling the kitchen-boy by the hair to give him a box on the ear for something he had done amiss, let him go, and both fell asleep; the butler, who was slyly tasting the ale, fell asleep with the jug at his lips: and thus everything stood still, and slept soundly.

A large hedge of thorns soon grew round the palace, and every year it became higher and thicker; till at last the old palace was surrounded and hidden, so that not even the roof or the chimneys could be seen. But there went a report through all the land of the beautiful sleeping Briar Rose (for so the king’s daughter was called): so that, from time to time, several kings’ sons came, and tried to break through the thicket into the palace. This, however, none of them could ever do; for the thorns and bushes laid hold of them, as it were with hands; and there they stuck fast, and died wretchedly.

After many, many years there came a king’s son into that land: and an old man told him the story of the thicket of thorns; and how a beautiful palace stood behind it, and how a wonderful princess, called Briar Rose, lay in it asleep, with all her court. He told, too, how he had heard from his grandfather that many, many princes had come, and had tried to break through the thicket, but that they had all stuck fast in it, and died. Then the young prince said, ‘All this shall not frighten me; I will go and see this Briar Rose.’ The old man tried to hinder him, but he was bent upon going.

Now that very day the hundred years were ended; and as the prince came to the thicket he saw nothing but beautiful flowering shrubs, through which he went with ease, and they shut in after him as thick as ever. Then he came at last to the palace, and there in the court lay the dogs asleep; and the horses were standing in the stables; and on the roof sat the pigeons fast asleep, with their heads under their wings. And when he came into the palace, the flies were sleeping on the walls; the spit was standing still; the butler had the jug of ale at his lips, going to drink a draught; the maid sat with a fowl in her lap ready to be plucked; and the cook in the kitchen was still holding up her hand, as if she was going to beat the boy.

Then he went on still farther, and all was so still that he could hear every breath he drew; till at last he came to the old tower, and opened the door of the little room in which Briar Rose was; and there she lay, fast asleep on a couch by the window. She looked so beautiful that he could not take his eyes off her, so he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But the moment he kissed her she opened her eyes and awoke, and smiled upon him; and they went out together; and soon the king and queen also awoke, and all the court, and gazed on each other with great wonder. And the horses shook themselves, and the dogs jumped up and barked; the pigeons took their heads from under their wings, and looked about and flew into the fields; the flies on the walls buzzed again; the fire in the kitchen blazed up; round went the jack, and round went the spit, with the goose for the king’s dinner upon it; the butler finished his draught of ale; the maid went on plucking the fowl; and the cook gave the boy the box on his ear.

And then the prince and Briar Rose were married, and the wedding feast was given; and they lived happily together all their lives long.

👑The Three Feathery

A king had three sons. Two sons were clever but the third one was so simple that lie was called Simpleton. One day the king said. “The one who brings me the most beautiful carpet shall inherit my kingdom. I shall fly three feathers and you must follow their directions to search for the carpet!” Saying this, he flew three feathers in the air. One son went East and the other, west. But Simpleton remained there. His feather fell on the floor. He saw a trap door beneath the feather and went inside. Simpleton saw a fat toad sitting along with other smaller toads. The toad asked, “What do you want?” He replied, “I want the prettiest carpet in the world!” And the toad gave him a pretty carpet. Simpleton took it to the king and he was made king.

Simpleton’s brothers were jealous and they said, “Father! Simpleton is too simple to rule the kingdom!” The king said. “The one who brings me the most beautiful ring shall inherit my kingdom!” Now, the toad gave Simpleton the prettiest ring in the world. Simpleton’s brothers cried, “Father! Simpleton is too simple to rule!” So the king said, “Bring me the most beautiful woman and you shall inherit my kingdom!”

This time, the toad changed a little toad into a lovely maiden and sent her with Simpleton, The brothers came back with peasant wives. They said, “Father, let’s see whose wife is strongest! The lady who jumps through this ring in the centre of the hall will get the kingdom!” Simpleton’s wife leapt like a deer. while the other ladies broke their legs! Simpleton inherited the kingdom and lived happily ever after.

🐵The Story of a Monkey

A thorn was once stuck to the tail of a mischievous monkey. It went to a barber and asked him to remove the thorn. While removing the thorn with his razor, the barber cut the monkey’s tail. The monkey was very angry and said, “Either put back my tail or give me your razor.” The poor barber gave the monkey his razor.

On its way back, the monkey met a woman cutting wood and said, “Use my razor. You will be able to cut the wood easily.” The woman did but broke the razor. The monkey said. “Either return my razor or give me your Wood.” The old woman gave the wood. At some distance the monkey met another woman baking cakes. The monkey said to her. “Use my wood to bake more cakes.” T e woman was very happy but then the monkey said. -Either return my wood or give me the cakes.” The woman had to give up the cakes.

But alas! Before the monkey could eat the cakes, a dog snatched them away.

🎇The Enchanted Valley

In the Enchanted Valley, during autumn, there was a terrible fire. The people were very troubled.

“Let us go to the powerful magician named Man of Ice. He is sure to help us,” said one man. They went to the magician. The great mail let down his long flowing hair and swung it vigorously. There were huge gusts of wind followed by rain. But the fire was not put out. The rain turned to snow and still the fire did not stop. “Run! The Man of Ice cannot help us,” said the people cursing him. The Man of Ice just shook his head.

In summer, the people of file Enchanted Valley returned. They were amazed to see a lake with sparkling blue lake. This was where the big fire had raged and all the snow had melted. “Look what the plan of Ice has given us!” exclaimed the people. They gave him many gifts as a token of thanks.

🔱 The Crystal Castle

A prince and princess were in love and about to marry. A wicked magician imprisoned the princess in a crystal castle. “No one can climb up the slippery wall!” declared the magician. “Whoever tries will slip and fall to death.”

Heartbroken the prince wandered in the forest. One day. he saved the lives of three fairies. “like these gifts prince. They may help you in future,” said the grateful fairies. The first gift was a cloak with which he could become invisible; the second was a flying horse. while the third was a magic wand that could open any door.

The prince wore the cloak and became invisible. He then sat oil the flying horse and crossed the high walls to reach the castle. Using the magic wand, he opened the door of the room in which the princess was imprisoned. He set her free and brought her back. They got married and all the fairies were invited to the wedding.

🎸The Lute Player

During a war. the enemy captured the king. They asked his queen to pay a ransom if she wanted her husband back.

One day, a lute player came to the enemy king’s court and began to play. The king loved the music so much that he said. “You can ask for anything and I shall give it to you!” The lute player said, “Give me the captured king as my slave!” The enemy agreed and king was set free.

Soon. the lute player and the slave king left the palace and after some distance. the lute player set him free. The king returned to his kingdom and said. “When I was a slave the queen did not care! I shall kill her!” Saying this, he marched into his bedroom. But. lie heard the strains of beautiful lute music. He then saw his queen playing the lute and understood who the mysterious lute player was.

🍀 The Fountain of Youth

An old woodcutter and his wife had spent many happy years together. But now that they were getting old. They were afraid that death would separate them.

One day, the woodcutter went to the forest. He lost his way and came to a fountain. He was very thirsty. so lie drank some water from the fountain. But as soon as fie did that, lie became young again. Now, he just looked twenty years old. He realized that he had found the fountain of youth!

Happily he ran home, to his wife, who at first could not recognise him. But when she was told about the fountain she also wanted to be young again and ran to the forest.

The woodcutter followed her to the fountain of youth only to find a baby girl near it. He realised that his wife had drunk too much of the magic water. But he took the baby girl home and brought her up, and they lived happily for many more years.

🌷The Snowdrop

It was a very cold winter and the snowdrop flower seed lay under the sno•-covered earth. It was not line for it to break through the earth yet.

One day. a drop of rain reached the sleeping flower. “You should see the magical world above!” it said. Snowdrop wanted to go up even though it was not yet summer. “Let me stretch myself,” he thought and grew out above the earth. “Look whose here!” exclaimed the sunbeams happy to see him—he was the first. But soon clouds covered the sun and cold winds began to blow. They said to the snowdrop. “You are too early! You will die.” But the Hover had faith that the summer would come, so it stood tall and strong in the cold.

Then a girl came and plucked the snowdrop. She said. “It is the first flower!” Snowdrop felt proud.

The girl kept it in a glass of water beside the window in a warm room. And soon, the sunbeams shone on it through the window and summer came.

🐌The Happy Family

Once there lived a snail couple in the woods. They were in search of a pretty snail bride for their only son. The buzzing flies in the forest came to them and said, “There is a beautiful snail, who lives just ten minutes flying distance from here! She will be good for your son!”

The snails agreed and told the girl to visit them. The pretty snail took only eight days to reach them and they were very happy that she was this fast. Their son liked her too. The bees made the wedding cake and the fireflies made the lights. The ants were the bridesmaids. There was lots of rejoicing and merrymaking and the snails were married.

The snail family was finally complete and they lived together happily ever after.

👀 The Farmer and His Sons

There was a rich farmer who had worked hard all his life. But now, he had grown old and was ailing. He was oil his deathbed. He wanted to be sure that after his death, his sons would give the same attention to the farm as he had given throughout his life.

He called his sons to his bedside and said, “My sons, I have something important to share with you. There is a great treasure lying hidden in one of my vineyards. If you dig properly, you will find it and will become very rich.”

After the farmer’s death, the sons started digging every portion of file land. They continued to dig for days and days but did not find the treasure. But their labour did not go in vain. This time the vines produced an abundant crop of high quality and they became rich.

They realised the meaning of the treasure their father had talked about.

Real wealth lies in hard work.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌳The Ass in the Lion's Skin

There was once a mischievous ass who put on a lion’s skin. He went off towards the forest trying to scare all the foolish animals lie saw.

The ass was highly amused to see the others run away from him in fear. He continued enjoying himself in this Manner for a few days. Everyone in the forest talked about the lion but the poor animals were helpless because of their fear.

One day, the ass came across a fox an(] tried to frighten him as well. But the clever fox soon heard the ass’s real voice. He laughed and exclaimed, “You silly ass. I too would have been frightened like the others if I had not heard you bray. Didn’t you realise that you would be caught soon?” The fox was too smart to be fooled by outward appearances.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛳️The Good Brother

Once upon a time three princes set out in search of

adventures. The two older brothers made fun of their kind-hearted younger brother, who was called Simon.

On their way, they came across an anthill. The older brothers wanted to destroy it, but Simon would not let them do so. After a while, they wanted to kill the ducks swimming in the lake. Again, Simon stopped them from doing so. A little later. they came to a tree with a big beehive. “Let’s build a fire. This will suffocate the bees and we can get their honey,” suggested one brother. Again. Simon spoiled their plan.

Finally, the princes reached an enchanted castle. “If you want to deliver the castle from enchantment. you have to perform three tasks. You have to collect a thousand pearls lying below the moss. By sunset, even if one pearl is missing, you will be turned into Stone,” said the quaint little man at the castle door. “The key to the princess’s chamber lies at the bottom of the lake. Once the chamber is open you must pick out the youngest princess.” The older brothers failed and were turned into Stone.

When it was Simon’s turn, the ants he had saved, collected all the pearls. The ducks brought the key of the princess’s chamber from the water. The queen of the bees recognised the youngest princess for Simon, by tasting her lips. The princess had had honey before falling asleep.

Simon was very happy. He married the princess and became the king.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛳️The Big Magic Bird

A poor fisherman was able to catch only a few small

fish every day. One day while he was fishing, a big bird came and sat on his boat. It was the magic bird. which helped poor people. The bird promised to bring him a big fish every day.

Soon, the fisherman became rich by selling the fish that the bird brought.

Meanwhile, the king had gone blind. The court physician said that he could only be cured if he washed his eyes with the blood of the magic bird. The king announced that whoever caught the magic bird would get a big reward. When the fisherman heard this, lie became greedy. When the bird came the next day, he caught hold of its feet. But the bird was very strong. It flew away with the fisherman hanging from its feet. The fisherman couldn’t hold on for very long and fell to the ground and died.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛳️lowers from the Moon

Once there lived a handsome prince on a high

mountain. He wanted to go to the moon because he loved [lie gentle moonlight. He loved the moon’s gentle white shine.

One day. he fulfilled his dream and really went to the moon. There he met the Moon King’s daughter. She was a lovely young princess. They fell in love with each other and wandered together all over the moon among the flowers and danced together.

But soon, it was time to go back to earth and the prince felt very sad. The princess gave him a beautiful flower that grew on the moon, so that the prince could always look at it and remember her.

The prince took the flower, bid the princess goodbye and went all the way back to earth. He planted the flower, and soon it covered all the mountains like a lovely white carpet.

It is believed that this is how the alpine flowers reached the earth from the moon!


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛳️The Gold Crown

Robin the fairy was very sad. Two big tears rolled clown his cheeks. “Oh, dear! What’s the matter?” asked Butterfly. “I’m sad because I can’t do the things the other fairies can.- said Robin. A can’t paint the sunset pink or hang dew drops on grasses.” he moaned. “Every year the king gives little silver crowns to fairies who do beautiful work,” he continued. “And I never win one,” he wailed.

“Cheer up.” said Butterfly. “Why do6t you go to the world of boys and girls and help there.” “Good idea!” said Robin and wiped his tears and flew out of Fairyland.

He saw Mr. Wind tugging at a pretty frock on a clothesline. lie sat on the frock and held on to it till an old woman came out and thanked him for not letting the wind blow away her clean clothes. Next lie saw a little boy crying because his balloon had flown away. Off flew Robin into the sky and brought down the balloon. “Thank you, little fairy,” smiled the boy gratefully. Robin was very happy. “I wont mind not winning a crown anymore.” he said. “I’ve found something I can do and it makes me happy.”

Next day, the king held his court and he gave out many silver crowns to all the fairies who had done good work. At the end, he brought out a gold crown. “This is for the fairy who went to the world of boys and girls and did beautiful things there. We are all very proud of him.”

You can imagine Robin’s surprise when he got the silver coin He was very happy and hugged Butterfly.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛳️The Man from the Sky

There was a man who was always fooling others. One day, he meta lady. She asked him, “Who are you?” He said, Don’t you know me? I have conic from the sky!’

She believed him and happily asked him if he had met her husband who had (lied recently. He answered, “Oh, I meet him all the time! But madam, he is in a very bad condition!” The lady was worried. “What happened to my husband?” she asked. The man replied, “He has not found a job and cannot earn a living. So he has no money and is very poor!”

The lady agreed to pack some food and clothes for her husband to send along with this man from the sky. But he said, “No! They won’t allow that and I will be caught and punished for doing so. However, I can sneak in some money and give it to him if you want!” Saying this, he tricked the foolish woman and walked away with all her money.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛳️The Magic Bottle

Mick was a poor farmer. One day, he decided to go to the fair to sell his cow. On the way, he met a dwarf who gave him a magic bottle in exchange for the cow. With the help of the wish-fulfilling bottle. Mick became very rich.

When Mick’s landlord came to know the secret of Mick’s wealth, he forcefully look his bottle away. Mick became poor again and was ultimately left with only a cow. He decided to sell it. On his way to the fair he again met the dwarf. This time the dwarf gave him another magic bottle from which, when Mick made a wish two men came out and started beating him until he ordered them to stop. Mick took the bottle to his landlord and said, “This bottle is better than the first.” When the landlord made a wish, the two men came out and started beating him. Mick ordered them to stop only when the landlord agreed to return the first bottle.

Mick happily took the two bottles home.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌷Clever Elsie

Clever Elsie was a foolish girl. One day, a man called Hans came to their house and said that he would marry Elsie if she proved that she was really very smart. Elsie was sent to the cellar to fetch beer. While filling the pitcher, she saw an axe above her.

Clever Elsie began weeping loudly. The maid was sent to bring her back. “Why are you weeping?” she asked Elsie. “If I marry Hans and if our child comes to this cellar and if the axe falls on my child then he will die!” sobbed Elsie and wept more and more. Hearing her, the maid too started weeping loudly. The same thing happened with Elsie’s parents.

When Hans heard everyone crying and came to enquire what had happened, he heard the story and was convinced of Elsie’s cleverness and married her.

After a few days, Clever Elsie went to the field to cut corn. But soon, she felt tired and went off to sleep under a tree.

In the evening, Hans saw her sleeping in the field. He put a fowler’s net upon her, which had little bells attached to it. But Clever Elsie still did not wake up.

At night Elsie finally woke up. “Why are bells ringing?” she wondered in alarm. “Who is this person in the net?” she thought wondering whether it really was her. When she knocked on her door and asked if Elsie was inside, the answer was yes. Oh, that meant she was not Elsie! Clever Elsie ran away from the village and was never ever seen again.



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🎻The Star Child

Two woodcutters were passing through a pine forest on a winter day. Suddenly, they saw a bright star falling from heaven. They found it to be a little child. “The poor infant will die. I will take him home,” said one. Though poor, he brought up the child with love and care. Ten years passed by. The star child grew up to be a handsome boy with skin like ivory and hair like gold. But he was proud and selfish. One day, he was playing with his friends, when a beggar woman came. “Go away! You are ugly.” said the boy throwing stones at her. When the woodcutter scolded the boy he replied, “Don’t shout at me! You are not my father.” The beggar heard their story in amazement and cried, “You are the son I lost in the forest years ago.” “How can an ugly woman be my mother?” exclaimed the boy running away into the forest. He sat down beside a pond. Lo! When he looked in the water he saw that he had become as ugly as a toad! His cruelty has transformed his beauty into ugliness.


🏰 🏡

🍏The Friend's Pot

A woman once borrowed a pot from her friend. The next day, she returned the pot and a smaller pot along with it.

Her friend was very surprised. When she asked her where the small pot had come from, the woman replied, “Your pot gave birth to a baby pot.” The friend thought the woman was foolish but was happy to have another pot so she did not say anything.

After some days, the woman borrowed the pot from her friend again. This time she did not return it. When the friend asked her to return the pot she said, “Your pot has died.” The friend was surprised, “How can a pot die?” The woman replied, “If it can give birth it can also die.” The friend had no choice but to let go of her pot.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍓The King Who Wanted a Beautiful Wife

A king wanted to marry a maiden as fair and bright as daylight. He ordered his servant to find such a maiden.

Searching high and low, finally the servant arrived at a small house. An old woman, who used to spin wool, lived there. The servant knocked at the door and asked for some water. The old woman handed out a pitcher through a hole in the door. With all the spinning, her hands had become soft and white. When the servant saw them, he thought that she must be a very beautiful maiden to have such soft and gentle hands. He took her to the king.

The old woman put a thick veil and went to the palace. When she removed her veil, the king was surprised to see such an old ugly woman. He threw her out of the palace. A fairy took pity on the old woman and made her young again. In the morning when the king saw her, he fell in love with her and married her.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍒The Two Crows

Two crows decided to have a competition to see who could carry a bag to a greater height in the sky. Each crow was free to choose what to fill in his bag.

Two bags of same size were arranged. The first crow filled it with cotton as he thought it would be the lightest thing to carry. He made fun of the second crow who filled his bag with salt, which was quite heavy. Soon, many birds and animals arrived to watch the competition.

The competition was about to begin when it started to rain. The second crow had expected this. Soon the rain dissolved the salt in his bag and he easily carried it to a greater height. However, the cotton in the first crow’s bag absorbed water and it became so heavy that he couldn’t even get off the ground and had to admit defeat.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍑The Jumping Competition

Once upon a time, a cricket, a frog and a kangaroo decided to have a jumping competition.

The king and his daughter, the lovely princess, came to know about the competition and promised a reward for the one who would jump the highest. The cricket jumped high. He was the one who jumped the highest. He jumped so high that no one ever saw him land. So, the judges disqualified him. The frog was bigger than the cricket. And when he jumped, the people saw him. But sadly, the frog landed right on top of the king’s head! The frog was also out of the competition. The clever kangaroo jumped straight into the princess’s lap! She was very happy with him and the kangaroo won the competition. The king, as promised, rewarded the kangaroo with many gifts.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍳The Little Omelette

Once there was a little woman who had a little hen that laid little eggs. She used to make omelettes with the eggs.

One day, a fly came and ate up her omelettes. The woman went to the magistrate for some help. He gave her a club to hit the fly. Just then, a fly sat on the magistrate’s nose and she hit it with the club. The fly flew away but the magistrate’s nose broke.



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌺Little Match Girl

Once there was a little girl who used to make a living by selling matches ill the street. It was New Year’s Eve and people all around were merrymaking and celebrating.

The little girl was sitting beside a fountain in the freezing cold. She was wearing torn and ragged clothes and had no shoes on her feet. No one had bought her matchboxes that (lay and she was frightened to go home because she knew her father would scold tier for coming back without selling anything. She wanted to light a match to keep herself warm but was scared that her father would scold her for wasting a matchstick. Finally, unable to bear the cold anymore. she took out one matchstick and lit it. Lo! She was sitting in front of a warn) stove. She reached out her hands to feel the heart but the fire soon died out. Then she lit another match and saw a din-[let table with a roast goose on it. She chuckled in delight but after a while. this match also died out. She looked up at the sky and saw a falling star. tier grandmother used to say, “A falling star is a soul that has reached the sky.” When she Struck another match she saw her grandmother.

That night, she burnt all her matchsticks. wishing to keep tier grandmother with her. Finally, together they Hew up to heaven. The next morning, the little match girl lay frozen to death. with a smile on her lips. No one would ever know the wonderful dreams she had had, the previous night.



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍄 The Admonitions

Once a man went to another town to work. After working for some years, he decided to return to his wife and son. Before leaving, his master said, “I will give you two admonitions that will help you—never change your ways, and think before you act.”

The man set out for his hometown. On the way fellow travellers asked, “We are going to take another route, will you come with us?” The man remembered the first admonition and refused to join them. Later, he heard that they were robbed. When he reached home, he was surprised to see his wife dining with a young man. Thinking that his wife had remarried, he wanted to kill them both. But he remembered the second admonition and hid behind the curtains to find out the truth. He heard his wife say to the young man, “Son, let’s pray for your father.”

He realised his mistake and was happily reunited with his family.



🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛳️The Tin Soldier

Once a little boy was given a birthday present of a set of

twenty-five tin soldiers. All the soldiers had shiny red and blue uniforms and gleaming tin muskets.

However, one of the soldiers stood out from the rest because he had only one leg. In the same nursery there were many other toys. There were wax puppets and jack-in-the-boxes. There were playing cards and porcelain dolls. There were colour pencils and bouncing balls. There also lived a beautiful, dancing ballerina doll who stood at the entrance to a cardboard castle which had a small mirror for a lake in front of it.

She balanced herself on one leg so well that the tin soldier thought that she had only one leg. She wore a blue dress with a scarf. The scarf had a tinsel rose pinned on it in the centre. The tin soldier admired the ballerina from .a distance and soon fell in love with her. “But she is so beautiful and she lives in a beautiful castle! She will not like me at all!” thought the poor tin soldier and felt very sad.

A goblin, who also lived in the same nursery, did not like the tin soldier at all. He was jealous of the tin soldier whenever the ballerina smiled at him. The ballerina really liked the one-legged tin soldier in his smart red uniform.

One day, the goblin warned the tin soldier, “You better stay away from the ballerina! She is mine! I am warning you!” But the tin soldier loved the ballerina so much that he just couldn’t stop admiring her.

One day, the puppets were playing together and the ballerina was dancing prettily. It was raining heavily outside. The tin soldier was standing on the windowsill and watching the dancing doll. The window was open. The angry goblin crept behind the tin soldier and pushed him out of the window. Two boys, who were passing by found him on the street and floated him down a gutter in a paper boat. The little tin soldier flowed away in the water, into the drain nearby. He was heartbroken because Ire feared lie would never see his ballerina ever again.

He saw a huge rat but the tin soldier was brave and holding onto his musket he floated away just in time and escaped. In the dark drain, the poor one-legged tin soldier had to fight many rats. The drain led into a canal where the water swirled fiercely, and here the little paper boat was torn. A fish saw the tin soldier and swallowed him. He lay inside the fish for three days, in the dark.

The tin soldier thought that he would die inside the fish. One day, a fishermen caught the fish and sold it in the market. A lady bought the fish from the market. Now this lady happened to be the little boy’s mother. Soon, the fish was being prepared for dinner in their kitchen. When the cook cut the fish, she found the tin soldier. Exclaiming in wonder, she called the boy and gave him the tin soldier.

The tin soldier was very happy to be back in the same house with the same toys! He saw his beautiful ballerina dancing at the end of the table. while he stood at the other end.

But alas! The naughty little boy did not like the tin soldier anymore and he threw the poor tin soldier into the fireplace. Suddenly, there was a gush of strong, cold wind which blew the ballerina as well, into the fire. The tin soldier and the ballerina melted in the fire. The next morning. when a maid cleaned the fireplace of the ashes, she found a tiny red tin heart and tiny red rose. These belonged to the tin soldier and the ballerina. who were finally together.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛳️The Singing Bone

A boar was causing a lot of destruction. The king announced that whoever could free the country of the wild beast would win his daughter’s hand in marriage. Two brothers—one shrewd and the other innocent—decided to kill the boar.

The younger brother was sincere and tried to think of ways to kill the boar. One day. he met a quaint little man in the forest who told him, “Take this black spear. Attack the beast with it.” He did as told and killed the animal.

Meanwhile, the older brother was drinking and making merry, confident that he would kill the boar easily. But when he saw his younger brother carrying the dead boar, he was very jealous. He took his brother to a bridge and pushed him off. He then told the king that he had killed the boar, and won his daughters hand as reward.

But evil deeds do not remain hidden. Years later, a shepherd, while crossing that bridge. found a bone and began to blow it. At once the bone started singing,

“Ali friend thou blowest upon my bone.

Long have I lain beside the water,

My brother slew me for the boar,

And took for his wife the king’s young daughter.”

The shepherd took the bone to the king and it sang the same song over and over again. The king realized what had happened and the older brother’s treachery was revealed to all. He was put in a sack and drowned as punishment.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛳️The Wonderful Veil

A farmer lived in a hut near the woods. Though he was poor, he was very happy because the beauty of nature around him was more precious to him then wealth.

One day, the fanner smelled a sweet fragrance coming from the woods. He followed it and saw a beautiful veil caught in the branches of a tree. The veil was more beautiful than anything he had ever seen before. It was woven with sunlight and moonbeams and studded all over with stars. But the moment he removed the veil from the tree, a fairy appeared and said, “This veil belongs to me! I can’t go to fairyland without it. Please give it back to me.” The farmer said, “You can have your veil but you will have to dance for me the way only fairies know how to.”

The fairy agreed and danced with the veil swirling around her. Thousands of flowers fell from the veil and the farmer was happier than ever before.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛳️Jack and His Goat

Jack lived with his poor parents. One day he set out to earn money. Ile took his goat with him.

After a while, he came to a town where he sold the goat to a merchant. The merchant placed the goat in a yard where lie kept all his other animals. At night. Jack went and stole his goat. Now he had both the goat and the money.

After a few days. Jack returned home. His parents were happy to see the money, but when they came to know that Jack had stolen his goat and cheated the merchant, they were very angry. Jack’s father said, “This goat will bring you misfortune.” After some days. Jack again set out to earn some money. On the way a robber killed him and took away his goat.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌿The Clever Shepherd

Long, long ago there used to live a princess who never laughed. The king declared he would reward anyone who could make her laugh.

A shepherd had a ring that could make people sneeze. He took it to the king. The king put on the ring and started sneezing continuously. Looking at her father, the princess started laughing. The king was furious and took away the ring and imprisoned the shepherd.

One day, the shepherd escaped into the forest. There he saw a strange fig tree with black figs and white figs. When he ate the black figs, two horns grew on his head, which disappeared on eating the white figs. An idea struck the shepherd.

He disguised himself and gave the black figs to the king. As soon as the king ate the figs, two horns grew on his head. The king was frightened and begged for help. The shepherd gave him the white figs in return for his ring and his reward.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🎇The Treasure

A prince learnt magic, with great effort, so that he could dig and find a treasure.

One day, with his magic, the prince found a treasure on the bank of the river Gianquadara, in Italy. He decided to dig the treasure out. For that the prince needed to make ten billion ants cross the river one by one, on a small boat made of half a shell of a nut.

The prince quickly found a nutshell. He also found an anthill with millions of ants inside it. The prince put one ant on the shell and made it cross the river. Then he put the second, then the third and then the fourth.

What happened next? We can only know that when all the ants have finished crossing the river!


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🏹The Happy Prince

High above the city stood the statue of a prince, which was gilded with gold. For eyes he had two bright sapphires and a red ruby glowed on his sword hilt. One night, a swallow came to rest on the feet of the statue. The prince said to the swallow, “Will you give the ruby in my sword hilt to the woman living there as her little boy is very ill.” The woman sewed for a living. The swallow reached the poor woman’s house and laid the ruby beside her thimble. The prince asked the swallow to give one of his sapphire eyes to a man who was feeling cold. Then he asked the swallow to give his other eye to a poor girl who was hungry and had not eaten for days. He told the swallow to take off all his gold and give it to the poor.

In winter, the swallow died and soon the leaden heart of the prince broke and the statue fell down. When God asked his angels to bring him the two most precious things, they brought the leaden heart and the dead bird.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌟Are the Stars Stuck to the Sky?

All the children would go to sleep at night only when Sleep Imp flew over their houses and sang melodious lullabies to them. On a Saturday night, none of the children had gone to sleep because Sleep Imp was late. All the mothers were very angry and finally, one of the mothers went to Sleep Imp to complain about the delay.

Sleep Imp apologised for the delay and said, “I am sorry. I’m late because I had to do so much work. I had to do all the cleaning for tomorrow. Tomorrow is Sunday, a holiday, and everything has to look clean and tidy and pretty. I still have a lot of things to do tonight.”

The mother asked, “What things?” Sleep Imp replied, “I have to bring down the bells and polish them so that they can ring loud and clear. Then, I have to go to the gardens and check whether the wind has blown the dust from the grass and the flowers. Then, I have to go up to the sky, bring down the stars and make them shiny and bright and then put them back in their place.” The mother demanded, “But the stars are stuck in the sky. How can you take them out?” Sleep Imp was angry on hearing this. He said, “I know what I am doing.”

The mother wanted to prove her point but when she peeped through the window she saw that her child was already fast asleep. So there was no point in arguing further with Sleep Imp and she went back. She never found out if at all the stars are stuck in the sky or not.

What do you think?


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

👁Pepper Corn

An old man lived with his wife. They had no children and were very unhappy.

One day, the old woman went to the garden to pick beans. She looked at the beans and sighed, “I wish you were my children.” And lo! Her wish came true. “I don’t know what to do with so many children. I wish all but one would turn into beans.” Again, her wish came true. She took the little child home and named him Pepper Corn. Everybody loved him.

One day, Pepper Corn fell into boiling soup and died. The old man and woman were heartbroken and started weeping, “Pepper Corn has died.” When the dove heard this she pulled out her feathers, the apple tree shook off its apples, and the well emptied out all its water to mourn his death. Pepper Corn would never be forgotten.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

😎The Clever Peasant

A king went to visit a village. He asked a peasant, “How much do you earn in a day?” The peasant replied, “I earn four ounces.” The king said, “What do you do with them?” The peasant replied, “The first I eat, the second one I put on interest, the third I give back and the fourth I throw away.

The king was surprised and asked the peasant for an explanation. The peasant replied. “With the first ounce I feed myself. With the second one, I feed my children so that they take care of me when I get old and I get my interest. With the third one, I feed my father and repay what he has done for me when I was a child. With the fourth one, I feed my wife, which is as good as throwing it away because I don’t get any profit.”

The king was impressed and rewarded the peasant.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

😮Crab the Merchant

The king had lost a precious ring! He declared that he would reward anyone who found it for him.

A clever peasant, named Crab, went to the king and said, “I am an astrologer and will find your ring.” The king told his servants to take Crab to a room and treat him well. As the days passed by, Crab pretended that he knew astrology and pored over books. The servants were very afraid of him. One day, Crab asked his wife to hide in the room and say, “He is the one!” when any servant entered. When one of the servants heard the voice saying, “He is the one,” he was scared and confessed of stealing the ring. He offered Crab money and begged him to leave him alone. Crab asked him to put the ring in the mouth of a turkey in the garden. Then Crab went to the king and declared that a turkey had swallowed the ring. When the turkey was cut, the ring was found. The king rewarded Crab handsomely.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌔Gulliver in Brobdingnag

After escaping from Lilliput, Gulliver returned to England. After a few days he set off on his voyages once again. After some time the adventure was blown off-course by a storm and cast ashore in a new country.

Gulliver became busy exploring the new surroundings and found himself in a cornfield. He realised that he was lost. Finally, a 72 feet tall farmer found Gulliver and took him home. “Where am I?” asked Gulliver. “You are in Brobdingnag, the land of giants,” replied the farmer. “You are so tiny, you will make a good pet for my daughter. She will be very happy,” he said.

The farmer’s daughter adored Gulliver and kept him with her throughout his stay. She treated him like a play thing, dressing and teaching him. One day the farmer decided to make some money and toured with Gulliver all over the country. Poor little Gulliver had to perform as many as ten times a day! Finally the farmer sold him to the king of Brobdingnag.

Gulliver spent two years in Brobdingnag. But poor Gulliver’s woes did not end here. Once barrel-sized apples fell on him, nearly squashing him to death and another time hailstones as big as tennis balls, left him hurt all over with bruises.

Then, one day, on a visit to the seashore, an eagle snatched up the box in which Gulliver was being kept and dropped it in the sea. The sailors on a passing ship picked up the box and Gulliver was very happy to be back home where he was no longer considered a midget.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🦁The Lion's Share

One day a lion went hunting with a fox, a jackal and a wolf in the forest. After hunting for a long time, they killed a stag.

Now the question arose as to how the game would be divided among the four. The lion was very clever and ordered, “Divide the stag into four parts. The first part is mine as I am the king of the jungle, the second is also mine since I am the judge in this case and the third should also be given to me for my part in the chase. The last part is for you both. You can share it equally” He challenged them to try and claim their part. Frightened of the lion’s might, the others didn’t dare.

The fox was very disappointed and grudgingly said to himself, “One may help the great in their mission but cannot claim to get an equal share.”


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌿The One-Eyed Doe

Once a doe used to graze on a cliff by the sea. One day, she became blind in one eye. After that, she always grazed in such a way that her blind eye was towards the sea. With the other eye that was towards land, she kept a watch for hunters. One day, some hunters came in a boat and shot her. This story proves the saying, “You can’t escape your fate.”


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

❄️Salt and Water

Once, a king asked his three daughters, how much they loved him. The first daughter said, “I love you as much as my eyes.” The second daughter said, “I love you as much as my heart.” The king was very happy to hear this and rewarded the daughters for loving him so much. But when the third daughter said, “I love you as much as salt and water,” the king was so angry that he ordered his men to throw her out of the kingdom.

The princess went to live in another kingdom. Meanwhile, the prince of that kingdom fell in love with her and asked her to marry him. The princess invited her father to the wedding. During the dinner, she ordered that the food be served to her father without salt and water. All the guests enjoyed the feast but the princess’s father could hardly eat. Then the princess went to him and said, “Do you realize the importance of salt and water?” The king realised his mistake and asked to be forgiven for punishing her.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

The Evil Cook

Queen Matilda had no children. She was very unhappy and prayed to God. Soon God answered her prayers and blessed her with a son and said that whatever he wished for would be granted.

One day, when the queen was asleep, the wicked cook took the child away from the sleeping queen. “Sire, the queen has allowed the wild beasts to take the child away!” he told the king. As proof, he put hen’s blood on the queen’s apron. The king was furious. “You deserve to be punished for such a cruel deed. How can a mother neglect her child? You will live in the high tower without any food or water!” proclaimed the king to the queen. But God sent two angels who brought food for her twice a day.

Soon the king’s son grew up. “I Wish for a palace and a pretty maiden as a companion,” said the boy to the cook. Fearing that the prince might wish to be with his father one day and thus his wicked deed would be exposed, the cook told the maiden to kill the boy in his sleep. But the girl could not kill an innocent boy. She told the boy about the cook’s evil plan. The boy cursed him and turned him into a black poodle.

He set out in search of his mother. After finding her he declared, “Mother, I will go to Father and tell him the truth.” He presented himself at the king’s court the next day and told him about the cook’s treachery. The king begged for forgiveness and ordered, “Throw the cook into the deepest, darkest dungeon! He shall never see light again.” The three lived in happiness thereafter.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

👑The King of the Lake

A very brave warrior one day decided to go out to look for adventure. Soon, he came to a lake with a bridge over it. On the bridge was a snake, as big as a tree. But the fearless warrior crossed the river by jumping over the snake. Suddenly, the snake took the form of a man. He was the king of the lake.

The king declared, “I have been waiting for a warrior brave enough to face the fierce snake that I had become. I will take you to my kingdom where you will have to perform a task for me.”

The brave warrior agreed and went with the king. The water of the lake parted to make way for them and they went into the water. When they reached the lake kingdom, they found a huge dragon with eyes of fire and a flaming tongue. The king told the warrior to kill the dragon. The warrior aimed a shot at the dragon’s fiery eyes and killed it. The king rewarded him with gold.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

The Carabao and the Snail

Once there was a carabao. One day, the carabao went to a river where he met a snail. He mocked at the snail and said, “You are so slow.” The snail replied, “No, I am not. I can easily beat you in a race.” The surprised carabao said, “Let’s race and see who beats whom.” Soon the race began. The carabao was fast. He covered a long distance and soon the snail was nowhere to be seen. So he called out, “Hey, Snail! Where are you?” Another snail, which was nearby, thought that the carabao was calling him, answered, “Here I am.” The carabao was surprised that the snail could run as fast. He started running faster. Every time he stopped to call, some other snail answered him. So he kept on running until he dropped dead.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🚠Aladdin

Once there lived a poor widow and her son, Aladdin. One day, Aladdin’s uncle, Mustafa, came to visit them. He said, “Sister, why don’t you let Aladdin come and work for me?” They agreed and Mustafa took Aladdin along with him. They walked in the desert and came to a cave. The cave was full of riches and treasures but Mustafa was afraid to go inside. He wanted Aladdin to go in and get him the treasures instead. “Go inside,” commanded Mustafa, “and find me the jewels. You will also find a lamp. Bring it to me.”

Aladdin went inside and found more riches than he could ever imagine. He found a beautiful ring and wore it on his finger. He also collected as many gems as he could, but before he could come out of the cave, Mustafa said, “Quick! Just hand me all, the jewels and the lamp!” Aladdin refused. Angry at the refusal, his cruel uncle blocked the entrance of the cave and left.

Aladdin sat in the dark and cried. Then he saw the old lamp and decided to light it. While cleaning it, he rubbed the lamp and out came a genie! “Master, I shall grant you three wishes,” he said. Aladdin said, “Take me home!” In seconds, Aladdin was with his mother, counting the gems he had brought from the cave. Aladdin also brought the ring along with him and when he rubbed it, out came another genie! “Master, I shall grant you three wishes!” said the genie. “Make us rich and happy!” said Aladdin. And Aladdin and his mother lived happily.

One day, Aladdin saw the sultan’s daughter and fell in love with her. He went to the palace with gems and asked for her hand in marriage. The king agreed to this. After marriage, Aladdin showered the princess with all the riches and gave her a huge palace to live in. When the sultan died, Aladdin ruled the kingdom. He was just and kind hearted and everybody was happy under his rule.

Meanwhile, Mustafa came to know how Aladdin found the magic lamp and became rich. He wanted to take the lamp back. So, one day, when Aladdin was away, Mustafa came to the palace dressed as a trader. He cried out, “Get new lamps for old ones! New lamps for old!” Hearing this, the princess took out the magic lamp and gave it to him. She did not know that the old lamp was indeed magical. She bought a shiny new lamp instead. Mustafa gladly took the lamp and went away. He then commanded the genie, “Send Aladdin’s entire palace into the deserts in Africa!” And saying this, Mustafa, along with the princess in the palace, were sent to Africa. Aladdin, on coming back, found his wife and house missing. He searched for the palace for three long days. Finally, he rubbed his magic ring and asked the genie, “Please take me to my princess!” The genie agreed. When he met his wife, Aladdin and the princess decided to trick Mustafa.

One night, the princess said to Mustafa, “I don’t think Aladdin will ever find me here! I might as well live as your slave for I am certain he is dead now!” Mustafa was very happy and ordered for a feast. During the feast, the princess got Mustafa drunk and he fell into a deep sleep.

In the meantime, the princess took the magic lamp to Aladdin. Together, they asked the genie of the lamp to take the entire palace back to Aladdin’s kingdom. The genie then killed Mustafa and Aladdin and the princess lived happily ever after.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

💰The Piggy Bank

A piggy bank stood on the topmost shelf in the playroom. It was made of shiny porcelain and was so full of coins that it did not rattle.

All the other toys thought that the piggy bank was very rich and respected it for its wealth. The doll always sang lovely songs so that the piggy bank would notice her. The tin soldiers marched up and down in front of the piggy bank to protect it from being robbed.

One day, the little boy who owned the piggy bank brought another coin and put it in. But the piggy bank was so full that as another coin was pushed into it, it broke into pieces and fell on the floor. Somebody came and picked up all the coins.

Soon, another piggy bank was brought and placed on the topmost shelf. The new piggy bank did not rattle either, as it was empty!


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

Robin Redbreast

One year the winter was very cold. There was thick snow on the trees.

The poor birds could hardly find anything to eat. All the birds sat together to discuss the problem.

The robin had an idea, “I will go and ask the people who live in those houses to give us some crumbs.” Saying so, he went to one of the houses nearby. A man was working in the garden. The robin went and perched very close to him. The other birds were afraid to go near humans, but the robin was brave. When the man saw the friendly robin he brought him a tray full of crumbs. The robin felt very happy and called all the other birds to eat with it. In this way all through the winter, the robin arranged food for the other birds.

When the winter season was over, in order to thank the robin, all the birds gave him a red waistcoat and since then, he came to be known as Robin Redbreast.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🐾The Thirsty Ant

An ant was passing through a room full of grain. “Oh, it’s my lucky day!” she said delightedly. She ate as much as she wanted.

After she had eaten her fill, she felt very thirsty and looked around for water. But there was no water around. The ant thought that she would die of thirst. Suddenly, a drop of water fell near her. She lapped it up quickly. That drop of water was a teardrop that had fallen from the eyes of a weeping girl. “Why do you weep?” the ant asked gently. The girl sobbed and replied, “A giant has imprisoned me in this room. He will release me only on the condition that I separate the wheat, barley, and rye from this huge heap of grain. This job will take me at least a month but the giant wants me to do it in one day, otherwise he will kill me.”

“This girl has saved my life,” thought the ant. “Wipe your tears. Don’t worry for I will help you,” she said to the girl. Within a few minutes, she called thousands of her friends. All the ants started working and separated the wheat, barley and rye into three separate heaps. The job was completed in less than a day.

When the giant returned, he was surprised and puzzled to see the work completed in time. He had no other choice but to release the girl. The girl and the ant remained very good friends all their lives.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

⛄️The Cold Snowman

Peter peeped out of the window and exclaimed in delight, “Oh, it’s snowed last night!” He called all his friends. “Let’s build a snowman.” They gave the snowman a grand old hat and gloves. Soon, the children left. “Brrrr . . .” the snowman grew cold. Silly, the little Elf felt sorry. Suddenly, an idea struck him. “Bonfire!” he yelled. He took the snowman as close to the fire as he could. “It’s so nice he-e-ere . . . ” said the snowman his hat slipping to one side and his buttons popping. But he was so cozy he soon went off to sleep, as did little elf.

“Sizzle-sizzle” Hearing the sound, the elf jumped up to find the snowman gone. Only his hat, scarf and gloves remained. “Snowman, where are you?” he cried. He looked high and low. He hunted everywhere but of course did not find Snowman.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

👩🏻‍🦰The Skilful Girl

Once there was an orphan girl. A poor old woman gave her shelter in her house. “She is so kind and thoughtful. I should repay her in some way,” thought the grateful girl.

She took some flax and made it into fine thread. Then she wove a very soft cloth. “Please sell this cloth in the market. The money will help you,” she said. The old woman thought that the cloth was too fine to sell, so she took it to the king as a gift.

The king was very pleased and gave her a big reward in return.

The king wanted to get the cloth sewn but there was not a tailor in the kingdom that could sew such a fine cloth. “Sire, let the person who has woven this cloth sew it too.” Saying this the old woman took the cloth back to the girl. The next day, the girl herself took the garment to the king. Charmed by her beauty and the exquisite garment the king asked her to marry him and they lived happily ever after.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

Battle of the Crabs

A number of crabs used to live along the shore. “The waves make so much noise that we are unable to sleep,” said one crab. “We should fight and defeat them!” declared another. They gathered their army and were on their way when they met a small shrimp. “Oh, you poor things! You think you can fight with the huge waves? You are too tiny,” the shrimp mocked.

The crabs begged the shrimp to fight on their side. While leading the army the shrimp pointed to the spear on his head and said, “This powerful weapon shields me from the waves.” The foolish crabs believed him and kept admiring the shrimp for his courage. Then a huge wave came rushing towards them and killed all the crabs, but the clever shrimp survived. He told the sad tale to the crab’s children.

Till today, one can find crabs scurrying towards the waves to fight it, but when their courage fails they hurry back to the shore.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

The Top and the Ball

A whipping top and a ball were kept in a small box. The ball was made of expensive leather and was multicoloured while the whipping top was made of ordinary wood. The whipping top loved the ball and hoped to marry it one day.

The ball was very proud of its looks. She refused to marry the top. One day, a young boy was playing with the ball. While playing, he kicked it so hard that it flew out of sight, never to be found again. The top was heartbroken and very upset. Five years passed but the ball didn’t return and the top was alone.

Meanwhile, the top was also painted with different colours and looked beautiful. One day, it fell into a garbage dump where it saw something that looked familiar. It was the ball-tattered and torn!

The ball recognised the top and wanted to marry him. But the top said, “You refused to marry me when I looked bad and ugly. Now I shall do the same.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

The Magpie's Nest

Once a clever magpie was building a nest for herself. All the other birds gathered around her to watch her build it and learn how to make one. However, none of them had the patience to watch till the end, and they rushed away to build their own.

The magpie had nearly finished making her nest and needed to add only one more twig, when a turtle dove asked her to add two instead of one. The dove kept bothering her till the magpie got angry and flew away to another tree. The other birds returned to learn the rest of the craft, but unable to find the magpie each bird had to make their own nest.

Their knowledge remained incomplete and this is why different birds have different nests.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

The Wicked Prince

There was once a wicked prince who made the people of his own kingdom suffer and took all their wealth for himself. No one liked the prince.

One day, he decided to put up his own statue in the church. When the priests refused to fulfil his wish, the prince decided to challenge God himself. He flew towards the heavens in his flying ship, which was fitted with guns and a hundred eagles.

When God saw the evil prince, he sent an angel to stop him. However, the wicked prince shot an arrow and killed the angel. But a drop of blood fell from the angel’s body onto the ship, causing it to crash.

However, the prince was unhurt and once again gathered his armies to fight God.

This time God sent one little gnat, which buzzed around the prince and finally stung him. Unable to bear the pain the prince went mad. The people were happy to be free of the wicked prince.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

Mother Holle

Once there lived a widow. She had a stepdaughter who was very pretty and hardworking, but her own daughter was ugly and lazy. The stepmother was very cruel and wicked.

One day while spinning, her stepdaughter’s fingers started to bleed. She dipped the shuttle into the well to wash it but it fell inside. She jumped inside the well to get the shuttle and lost her senses. When she regained her senses, she found herself in a beautiful meadow. Wandering there, she helped a loaf of bread out of the oven when it cried out to her for help. When the apple tree asked her, she shook the apple tree to drop the ripe apples. At last, she reached a house where an old woman called Mother Holle gave her shelter. The girl did all the work but after some time, she longed to go back home. As a reward for her hard work, Mother Holle heaped upon her a shower of golden rain, which clung to her.

When the stepdaughter reached home and narrated her story, her stepmother desired that her own daughter also be blessed with so much wealth. The lazy girl also jumped in the well and soon found herself in a beautiful meadow. But, she neither helped the burning loaf nor did she listen to the apple tree’s request. And when she came to Mother Holle’s house, she worked hard for one day but soon became lazy and refused to move. She was only thinking of the wealth she would get. So when it was time for her to return home, Mother Holle emptied a kettle full of tar on her that never came off!


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

Mistaken Gifts

A boy called Saigon lived in a village with his parents. His parents wanted him to get married and finally decided upon a beautiful maiden who lived in the neighbouring village. A man was sent to the girl’s house to tell her parents that Saigon would like to marry their daughter. When the man reached their house he found them nodding their heads while relishing a meal. The man thought this was a sign that they had agreed to the wedding and rushed home with the news. Overjoyed, Saigon’s parents started planning for the wedding. There was a custom in the village that the groom’s family had to give many gifts to the girl’s family. Saigon’s family bought lovely gifts and set off for the neighbouring village. But when they reached there, the girl’s family said they were not ready to get their daughter married.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

Pea Blossom

Five peas lived inside a green shell. The first four were arrogant while the last one was humble and kind hearted. They were happily spending their days when one day, the farmer came and plucked them. “What will happen to us?” the peas grew unsure of their fate.

One day, they found themselves in the hands of a child who began throwing them in all directions. While one fell into the gutter; the other went flying towards the sun; the other two fell before a pigeon that ate them instantly. The last pea however fell inside a hut where a poor woman lived with her sick child. The mother had given up all hopes for her daughter’s survival.

“Mother, look! There is a pea on the floor,” beamed the child. There was a glow in the girl’s pale cheeks. “Will you plant it outside my window?” As the pea took roots and grew, sprouting new leaves, the child too recovered.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃 The Tree with Agate Beads

One day, a man and his dog went to hunt in the woods. There the man shot an arrow at a beautiful deer but the animal quickly escaped into a cave.

The man followed the animal into the dark cave. The animal went deeper and deeper into the cave and the man followed. Soon he realised that he was hopelessly lost and couldn’t find his way out. A while later, he heard his dog barking. Following the sound, he felt his way in the darkness. His hands touched a tree, which seemed to have berries on it. When the man broke off a branch, the tree began to talk! The frightened man ran out as fast as he could. Outside, he discovered that the berries on the branch were actually precious agate beads.

When the people heard the story they went in search of the tree. Instead they found that evil sprits had taken it away and had left strange carvings on the walls of the cave that are there even today.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍂A Hut in the Forest

A poor woodcutter had four daughters. One day, he went to the forest to get some wood and asked his eldest daughter to bring him his lunch. He told her that he would strew bread-crumbs on the way so that she might follow them and find him.

However, when she set out for the forest, there were no breadcrumbs anywhere! The birds had eaten them and the girl got lost in the forest. While she was wandering about, she came upon a hut in which an old man and his pets used to live. He took pity on her and gave her shelter and asked her to cook a meal for him. But the girl was very rude and ate up all the food that she had cooked. At night the old man asked her to make the bed for the others, but she only made her own bed and went off to sleep. The old man was furious and locked her in a dark room.

Soon, two of the woodcutter’s other daughters went to the forest to look for their sister. They also came upon the same hut and met the old man. When he asked them to cook food and make the beds, they disobeyed his orders. In anger, he locked them up as well.

Finally, the youngest daughter began to worry and went to the forest to look for her elder sisters. When she came to the old man’s hut and was told to cook food and make the beds, she obediently did as she was told.

The next morning, she woke up to find a handsome prince instead of the old man and married him and they lived happily ever after.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃Alan and the Hunters

Two hunters killed a wild pig, but they had no fire on which to cook it. So they went to look for some fire and saw a house nearby. They found a man called Alan and his baby sleeping inside the house. They asked Alan to help them light a fire. Alan helped them and in return, asked them to give him a little meat for his baby after they had cooked it. Saying so, Alan left for work.

The men agreed to do so. But they were very hungry and ate up all the meat themselves. Then the wicked men hid the baby.

When Alan returned home, he found his baby missing. He searched the whole house but didn’t find his baby anywhere. Then he ran to the spot where the two men were. Finding them hiding in a tree, he picked up an axe and chopped the tree. The hunters fell to the ground and died instantly.

Later, Alan discovered a lot of treasure buried where the baby was hidden and became rich.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃Last Dream of the Old Oak

There once was an old oak tree that had lived through centuries. He was proud to be called the oldest tree in the world. He often thought how lucky he was to enjoy the beauty of nature for so long while mortals could enjoy it only for a few decades.

The tree looked back at his life and thought about all that he had seen though the ages–the sun, the moon, the seas and all the animals–bright and beautiful.

He had seen famous kings, beautiful queens and lots of fierce wars. But he had a last wish–he wanted to grow taller, touch the clouds, feel the stars, and see the heavens above.

However, when the harsh winter months approached, the tree lost all his leaves and his roots became frail. Then one Christmas morning as church bells rang, the oak tree died. God had heard the oak tree and fulfilled his wish to touch the sky. He brought the oak tree to heaven.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍂The Singer and the Dolphin

Arion was a handsome singer who lived in the city of Corinth. One day, Arion was returning with precious jewels, which he had won at a competition, when he met some wicked sailors. “Hand over the jewels and you may go,” they said. Arion started to sing, and hearing his voice the pirates fell into a stupor listening to him.

A dolphin too swam up to the ship. “I will carry you on my back to the place you wish to go,” it said. When the pirates regained their senses, they spread the rumour that Arion had stolen their goods. Meanwhile, Arion reached Corinth and gathered his own army. He attacked the pirates and won the battle. In memory of this event, a grand statue of Arion and the dolphin was constructed at Corinth. It is still a famous landmark.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍂The Alligator's Fruit

Two women went to an orchard to pick fruits. This orchard belonged to an alligator. While eating the fruits, one of them said, “Don’t throw any peel with your teeth marks on it as the alligator will see it and will come to know that we were here.” However, the other woman did not listen and did exactly that. The alligator saw the peel and recognised the woman.

The next day, he went to the village and asked the villagers to give her up to him. The villagers asked him to wait a while. They went inside and heated an iron rod over the flames. Coming out they asked the alligator to open his mouth and when he did, they pushed the burning rod in saying, “Here’s your fruit!”


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃Why Dogs Wag Their Tails

Once a merchant had a cat and a dog. The dog had served his master well. But now that it was old, his only task was to guide the young cat. One day, the merchant decided to send his daughter a magic ring. He ordered the cat to carry the ring in his mouth and the dog to guide the cat to his daughter’s house. The cat and the dog obediently left.

On the way, they came across a river that had to be crossed. Thinking that the cat might lose the ring, the dog snatched it from him. However, while crossing the river, the dog himself dropped it midway.

When the cat told the master about the ring, the angry master sent other dogs to bite off the culprit’s tail.

Since then, whenever a dog meets another of its species it asks, “Are you the one who lost the ring?” The dog replies with a wag of its tail to prove that he is not the guilty one.

This is why dogs always wag their tails.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍂Three Little Men in the Wood

Dorothy went to collect strawberries in the forest. On her way, she met three little men in the forest. “We are hungry. Will you share your food?” they asked. Dorothy gave them the bread she was carrying. Impressed by her kindness, the three men gave her a boon each. One said, “You will get prettier every day.” The second said, “You will be very rich.” “You will marry a king,” said the third. Dorothy was very happy. She returned home and told her stepmother what had happened in the forest.

The jealous stepmother sent her ugly daughter with a loaf of bread to the forest. She too met the three men who asked her for food, but she rudely refused to share it with them. Angry, they all cursed her saying that she would get uglier, have two horns on her head and die a miserable death.

Many years passed by and one day, Dorothy met a king passing by. He fell in love with her and married her. He took her away to his kingdom.

The stepmother could not bear this. One night, she killed Dorothy and placed her own daughter on the king’s bed. Before leaving she covered her face so that the king might not see her face. However, the king lifted the cloth and saw the horns.

Meanwhile, the queen had turned into a swan. She was swimming in the palace pond when the king saw her. “Sire, brandish your sword over me,” she bade him. Lo! The king was astonished to see his queen before him. He banished the stepmother and her daughter from his kingdom.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍂The Absent-minded Giant

George was an absent-minded giant. He kept lots of pets but he was so forgetful that he often neglected them. During meals, he would reach for a drink and sip from the goldfish bowl instead. He would push a bread slice between the bars of a cage thinking it was a toast rack. He would flick ash into the poor hamster’s cage. The pets were fed up and decided to teach George a lesson. Next day he picked up his long roll of bread. “Aaargh!” he roared, holding out a horrid, scaly rattlesnake. “Ha! Ha! Ha!” He found his pets laughing at him. He looked around the birdcage and saw it was full of bread; the goldfish had hardly any water; and there was ash all over the hamster. George realised his mistake and hung his head in shame. He promised his pets that he would look after them better.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃The Boy Who Became a Stone

Elonen lived with his grandmother. One day, he was making a bird snare in his courtyard. Suddenly, a small bird appeared and challenged Elonen to catch it. He quickly finished making the snare and ran behind the bird. After a while, he was able to trap the bird and put it inside a large jar.

One day, while Elonen was away, his greedy grandmother ate up the bird. When Elonen returned home and came to know that his bird had died, he was heartbroken. He ran away from the house. On his way, he came across a stone and asked it to eat him up. The stone was magical and did as it was asked to.

Meanwhile, his grandmother started searching for Elonen everywhere.

One day, while walking past the stone, she heard it say, “Your grandson is inside me.” She begged the stone to return her grandson but Elonen remained inside the stone forever.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍂The Loveliest Rose in the World

A beautiful queen grew only roses in her garden. Yellow, white, pink and red, they dotted her garden and spread their sweet fragrance all around.

One day, ‘the queen fell very sick. Many doctors were called. “Bring her the loveliest rose. It is the symbol of the purest and brightest love on earth,” said all. The queen’s courtiers searched the entire earth but could not find any such rose.

Meanwhile, the queen’s health only worsened day by day and she neared her end.

Then one day, the queen’s little son showed her a book that he had just read. He read out the lines from the book and said, “Mother, here is the man whose love was so great that he suffered death to save mankind.” A rosy hue spread across the queen’s cheeks as she listened to the lines. As soon as she laid her eyes on the book, she saw the vision of Jesus springing forth like a red rose.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🌱The Elf of the Rose

Once upon a time an invisible elf used to live inside a bright red rose. One day, when the elf was out it began to snow and the rose closed its petals. Unable to get inside, the elf went and sat on a tree.

A beautiful princess and a man were sitting under the tree. The elf heard the man saying that the girl’s wicked brother would kill him if he found out about their love for each other. The man was about to leave when the princess plucked the rose and gave it to him. Finding the petals of the rose open, the elf quickly went inside. On the way, the lover met the wicked brother who severed his head and buried it in a pit. The elf was horrified to see such a dastardly act and planned to meet the princess and tell her everything. He hid himself inside the brother’s hat and went to the palace with him. At night when the elf buzzed into the princess’s ears, she woke up with a start thinking that she was having a bad dream. The elf introduced himself and told her what had happened to her lover and took her to the same spot.

The princess took the head and plucked .a small jasmine twig that was growing nearby. Every night, as the princesswept in her room, a jasmine flower would appear on the branch.

One day, the wicked brother grew suspicious of his sister and took the branch to his room. As bees swarmed around the beautiful flower every day, the invisible elf told them about the wicked brother.

One night, all the bees gathered around the brother and stung him to death.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🎋 A Shower Injury

Ben leaned over the edge of the tub. He turned on the hot and cold water faucets. The water came out of the spout near the top of the tub. He pushed down on the lever beneath the spout so that the water would drain. He was going to take a shower, not a bath.
 He tested the temperature. It wasn't hot enough. He adjusted the hot water faucet. There was another handle between the hot and cold faucets. This one controlled whether water came out of the spout or out of the shower head. Ben turned it all the way to the right. Now hot water was coming out of the shower head. The temperature was just right.
 Ben took off his robe and stepped over the top of the tub. He pulled the shower door closed. He grabbed the bar of soap out of the soap dish and started scrubbing his face.
 While his eyes were closed to keep out the soap, he put the soap back into the dish. Then he reached for the big plastic container of shampoo on his window ledge. The bottle slipped out of his hands and landed on his left foot.
 "Shoot!" Ben said angrily. That hurt.

THE END

🖼 A room under the ground

Joe was the son of a farmer. His father's farm was poor, and Joe worked on it for a long time, but then his father died, and Joe said, "I needn't stay here now. I'll sell this farm and buy one in a better place. Then I'll soon be rich."
He bought a farm in the east of the country, but then new neighbours said to him, "The weather's often very bad here. The wind's very strong, and it breaks windows and doors. You must build a room under the ground, and then you and your family can go down there, and you'll be safe from the wind."
So Joe built a room under the ground. It was a lot of work, because the ground was hard.
But after that, the weather was good for a very long time. There was no wind, and Joe spoke angrily. He said, "Why did I listen to my neighbours? I didn't have to make that room under the ground. The wind never blows strongly here."
But then one day there was a very strong wind, and Joe and his family had to go down into their room under the ground. They were there for a long time. Then the wind stopped, and they came up. All the windows and doors in their house were broken.
Joe was not angry about his work now. He smiled happily and said, "Ah! I'm glad I built that room!"

🐪🐫17 Camels and 3 Sons

Long ago, there lived an old man with his three sons in a deserted village, located in the vicinity of a desert. He had 17 camels, and they were the main source of his income. He used to rent out camels as a means of shipping in the desert. One day, he passed away. He had left a will, leaving his assets for his three sons.

After the funeral and the other obligations were over, the three sons read the will. While their father had divided all the property he had into three equal parts, he had divided the 17 camels in a different way. They were not shared equally among the three as 17 is an odd number and a prime number, which cannot be divided.

The old man had stated that the eldest son will own half of the 17 camels, the middle one will get one third of the 17 camels, and the youngest one will get his share of camels as one ninth!

All of them were stunned to read the will and questioned each other how to divide the 17 camels as mentioned in the will. It is not possible to divide 17 camels and give half of the 17 camels to the eldest one. It is not possible also to divide the camels for the other two sons.

They spent several days thinking of ways to divide the camels as mentioned in the will, but none could find the answer.

They finally took the issue to the wise man in their village. The wise man heard the problem and instantly found a solution. He asked them to bring all the 17 camels to him.

The sons brought the camels to the wise man's place. The wise man added a camel owned by him and made the total number of camels 18.

Now, he asked the first son to read the will. As per the will, the eldest son got half the camels, which now counted to 18 / 2 = 9 camels! The eldest one got 9 camels as his share.

The remaining camels were 9.

The wise man asked the second son to read the will. He was assigned 1 / 3 of the total camels.

It came to 18 / 3 = 6 camels. The second son got 6 camels as his share.

Total number of camels shared by the elder sons - 9 + 6 = 15 camels.

The third son read out his share of camels: 1 / 9th of the total number of camels - 18 / 9 = 2 camels.

The youngest one got 2 camels as his share.

Totally there were 9 + 6 + 2 camels shared by the brothers, which counted to 17 camels.

Now, the one camel added by the wise man was taken back.

The wise man solved this problem smartly with his intelligence.

Intelligence is nothing but finding a common ground to solve an issue. In short, every problem has a solution.

~ Short Stories

🍂The Giant and the Miser

Once there lived a kindhearted giant. One day, he came to know of a blacksmith who treated his workers unjustly. He decided to teach him a lesson.

The giant went to ask the blacksmith for work. “How much money do I need to pay you?” asked the blacksmith. “Give me whatever you can for each blow of the hammer,” said the giant. The blacksmith was overjoyed for he would pay only a meager amount and get all the work done by the giant.

Once the deal was settled, the giant took the hammer and gave such a blow that the anvil broke into pieces. The blacksmith grew worried and decided to do away with the giant. He asked the giant how much he should pay him for that single blow. “Just this,” said the giant and kicked the blacksmith hard sending him flying over the rooftop.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃How the Rabbit Became White

One day, a Red Indian tribesman, named Eye of the Eagle, decided to go hunting to get food for his tribe. On reaching the forest, he discovered that all the animals had fled to the snow-capped peaks since it was very hot and they were unable to bear the summer heat in the plains.

Worried about how to feed his tribe hence, Eye of the Eagle immediately set out for the mountains to catch some animals.

On his way up the mountains, a blizzard arose and he lost his way. As the snow fell more heavily, he was completely stranded. Suddenly he met a brown rabbit that helped him reach his house.

Eye of the Eagle was so grateful that he chanted a magic spell and turned the rabbit from brown to white to save it from being hunted down in the snow.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍂The Eagle and the Woodcutter

Once upon a time there was a kind woodcutter. One day, when he was returning from the forest after a hard day’s work, he saw a beautiful eagle caught in a trap.

The woodcutter was so overwhelmed by its majestic beauty that he set the eagle free. The eagle flapped its wings happily, looked at the woodcutter in gratitude, and flew away.

A few months later, the woodcutter was sitting on a rock at the top of a steep hill. When he sat down to have his lunch, suddenly an eagle came down at great speed from the sky and flew away with his hat. The man got up at once and ran down the hill after the bird, hoping to get back his hat. Suddenly, he heard a loud crash behind him. The rock on which he was sitting went rolling down the hill and crashed with a thunderous sound.

Then he looked at the eagle. It was the same eagle and had saved the woodcutter’s life.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃The Seven Ravens

A man had seven strong sons but he longed for a daughter. Eventually, a girl was born to his wife. He sent his sons to fetch water for her baptism. On the way back, one of the boys dropped the jug in the well. Now all of them were too afraid to return home. Angry by the delay, the man cursed that all his sons turn into ravens.

Meanwhile, the little girl grew up to be a beautiful and strong girl. One day, she heard people saying, “You had seven brothers. But your father cursed them to become ravens. Now, you are the only one who can save them.” She was determined to find her brothers. She took a ring belonging to her parents and set off.

After some days, she came to the glass mountain where her brothers were locked. Unable to find a key, she cut off one of her fingers to open the lock. When she went inside, she found seven plates of food and seven glasses of water on the table. The little sister ate a morsel of food from each plate and took a sip of water from each glass. But in the last little glass she dropped the ring and then went and hid inside.

Suddenly, she heard the flutter of wings. The ravens had returned. They sat down to eat. “Look at this!” the seventh raven picked up the ring in his glass, and recognised it immediately. “I wish our sister was here. If she touched us we’d be free.” The girl came forward and she touched them lovingly. At once they were restored to their human forms again.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍂The She-Wolf and the Fox

One day, a she-wolf invited a fox to be the godfather to her newborn and for dinner. They decided to look after the little cub together. After the meal was over, the fox told her that the cub was hungry and that they should get some food for it. He took her near a sheepfold and asked her to bring a sheep and said that he would bring a chicken. But the wily fox just sat and rested. When the she-wolf went to the sheepfold, the peasants poured hot water over her. She managed to escape and ran to the fox. He told her that the farmers had beaten him up and made her carry him back to his house. There he jumped off her back and laughed at her and said, “Farewell, I hope your burns have taught you a lesson!”


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍂The One-Eyed Giant

Once there lived a giant who had a long blade of iron called the giant’s knife. He had only one eye in the middle of his forehead. He used to grind the bones of his victims and make bread out of it.

The giant captured a small boy named Jack, one day, but he didn’t grind his bones. Instead, he made Jack his servant. For years Jack served the giant. He tried hard to escape but could not. The giant also kept a ferocious dog.

One day, Jack found the giant sleeping after a heavy meal. His knife lay in his hand but in sleep he had loosened his grip on the knife.

Jack saw this as a good opportunity to get rid of the wicked giant and escape. He quietly took the knife and pierced it into the giant’s eye. The giant howled in pain and died instantly. Jack also killed his dog that was sleeping nearby.

Then Jack quickly opened the door and ran away and never came back.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍃The Sparrows and the Elephant

Two sparrows lived in a nest on a tree. One morning, a wild elephant broke the branch on which their nest was built. All their eggs were destroyed but the sparrows flew away to safety.

The sparrows friend, the woodpecker, consoled them and said that she would think of a way to kill the elephant. She asked the gnat for help who in turn told them to take the frog’s help. The clever frog told the gnat to buzz near the elephant’s ears who would then close its eyes to listen to the music. Then the woodpecker would pluck its eyes out, and the frog would lead the elephant to the pit by its croaking.

The plan was put into action the next day. The elephant, after being blinded by the woodpecker, fell down into the pit and died and the sparrows were very happy.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️

🍂The Two Daughters

Once a man had two daughters. The first one was married to a farmer and the second one married a potter.

One day, the father visited the first daughter and asked her if everything was well with her. The daughter nodded and replied, “We grow a lot of grains and vegetables in our field. Every night I pray to God that it rains so that our crops can have enough water. She said,”Father, please pray for rains.”

Then the father went to the second daughter and asked her if everything was fine. The second daughter happily answered, “We make pots with clay and then keep them for drying in the sun. Every night I pray to God that it does not rain because if it rains our pots would be spoilt. Father, please pray that it does not rain.”

The old man didn’t know what to pray for.


🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️