🌸The Fox and the Wolf
A Wolf lived in a cave. He had stocked up lots of food and did not need too hunting. He then stayed in the cave and enjoyed the food.
When the Wolf did not go out for many days, his friend, the Fox, looked everywhere for him. At long last the Fox found out where the Wolf was. Pretending to ask how the Wolf was feeling, the Fox came to the mouth of the cave and peeped in.
The Fox thought, he would be invited to share the goodies. But, the Wolf replied in a gruff voice, “I am too sick to see you, my dear friend.”
The Fox trotted off, very angry and upset with the Wolf. He went straight to the Shepherd and said, “Get yourself a good stick and come with me, I shall show you where the Wolf lives.”
The Shepherd found the Wolf and killed him with the stick. The Fox then took all the Wolf’s belongings. He did not enjoy the fruits of his betrayal for long! After a few days, the Man was passing by the cave. He saw the Fox there and killed him, too!
🔥Betrayal ends in punishment.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Wolf and the Ass
Once, there lived a pack of Wolves in the forest. The Wolves hunted animals in the forest and the nearby village every day, but they did not have a leader.
Therefore, one day, the Wolves decided to select a leader among them.
Thus, a Wolf was selected as the leader. The leader Wolf lectured others about the deeds they should do, but did not do them himself.
One morning, the leader called all the other Wolves and said, “Dear friends! What I am about to say is very important. All of us should be selfless, because it is evil to be greedy. Therefore, I have made a law. While hunting, if you see that any of our brothers is hungry; then you shall give your food to him.”
The other Wolves were very impressed. They said, “Hear! Hear! We have a fine leader. We should do as he says.”
An Ass who was listening to them said, “O leader Wolf! Let us begin the selflessness with the sheep that you killed last night and hid in your cave.”
The leader Wolf ran away quickly to his cave, so that no one could eat his sheep.
🔥Act according to your words.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Ploughman and Fortune
Once, there was a Ploughman who lived in the village. He ploughed the land by turning over soil with his plough. He earned his living by ploughing the fields of the farmers of the village.
However, the Ploughman was very poor, since he could not earn enough money. Thus, he worked harder and longer on the fields.
One day, the Ploughman was ploughing a farmer’s field. Suddenly, his plough hit something hard in the soil and made a ‘clang’ sound. As he dug further, he an old chest buried in the soil. He pulled the chest out and opened it. There was a huge treasure in the chest! Now the Ploughman was very happy, for he had finally found a lot of money. The Ploughman bent on his knees and said, “Thank you Mother Earth!
Thank you for gifting me this treasure!”
Suddenly, Goddess Fortune appeared before him and said, “O Ploughman! You are thanking Mother Earth because you found your fortune in the soil. If you had lost your fortune, you would have blamed me for taking it away from you!”
The Ploughman understood what Goddess Fortune said and thanked her
🔥If you blame someone for agony, thank them for joy, too.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Swallow and the Crow
Once, a proud Swallow lived on a large tree. He Liked his colourful feathers and his long tail. One day, he saw a Crow and thought, ‘How dull this bird is! All his feathers are black.’ He looked at himself lovingly and admired his own feathers.
Just then, the Crow flew and sat on the same branch as the Swallow. The Swallow said, ‘All your features are black and your tail is so short.”
The Crow smiled and said, “But they help me fly” The Swallow said, “So do mine, but look at how beautiful they are!” He spread his wings and flew a little closer to the Crow. The Crow saw that the Swallow had lots of blue feathers and some white and pink ones, too. He looked at his own feathers and thought, `It’s true, the Swallow’s feathers are really colourful.’
The Crow said, “Swallow, you are right. You have lovely feathers and a long tail, but only in summer. Your beautiful feathers fall off and cannot keep you warm in winters. While you shiver, my feathers are always there. They keep me warm in the cold winters.”
🔥Don’t be proud of something that is of little use.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Lion and the Frog
The Lion was the King of the forest. He had a powerful voice and he roared to please himself and scare others.
All the animals were scared of him. He also knew every corner of the forest and every animal and every sound in it.
Now, there was a pond in the middle of the forest. The Lion would drink water and sleep there for some
time, every day.
One day, the Lion finished drinking water and lay down by the pond. As his eyes were closing, he heard a new sound. It was a hollow, croaky
sound. He opened his eyes, but he didn’t see anyone! Then, he heard it a second, and a third time.
By now, the Lion was scared and thought in fear, `What if it were a ghost?’
After some time, a Frog crawled out of the pond and croaked.
The Lion saw that he had been scared out of his wits by so small a creature!
He grew angry with the Frog and tore it to pieces with his claws. The poor Frog never croaked again!
🔥It is silly to fear anything without complete knowledge of it.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸A Cock and the Horses
Once, a Cock lost his way and went inside a stable. He was very scared. He thought, ‘Lord! Where am I? This place looks so large and strange. I also do not see my family and friends anywhere!’
Just then, he heard a loud neigh. He was even more scared. He looked up and saw a Horse trotting out of the place. He said, “What are you doing in our home? This place is not meant for a small creature like you. Get out of here, soon.”
The Cock then realised that he was inside a stable. He thought, ‘I must find my way out. I feel very lonely, here. These Horses are so different from us!’ The Cock could not ask any Horse about the way out, as they were busy eating their food. The Cock tried to leave, but he almost got trampled. The Horses kept stamping their feet all the time. The Cock became irritable and shouted, “My good friends! Please be more careful. If somebody gets lost in our home, we never crush them!”
The poor Cock found his way out, after facing many difficulties.
🔥Always respect your guests.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸Stay Connected
Mother is flying a kite.
Her son is watching her carefully.
After some time son says “mom.
Because of the string the kite is not able to go any further higher.
“Hearing this, the mother smiles and breaks the string.
The kite goes higher and then shortly after that,
it comes and falls on the ground.
The child is very dejected and sad.
The mother sits next to him and calmly explains:
“Son, in life we reach a certain level and then we feel that there are certain things that are not letting us grow any further like Home, Family, Friends, Culture etc.
We feel we want to be free from those strings which we believe are stopping us from going higher.
But, remember son.”That our home , family, friends and culture are the things that will help us stay stable at the high heights .
If we try to break away from those strings our condition will be similar to the kite.”we’ll fall down soon..
Moral:
”Never go away from Home Culture, Family, Friends and Relationships as they help keep us stable while we are flying high…”
😊Life is Beautiful😊
👥Stay Connected🎎
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Flute Player
Once upon a time, there was a famous flute player in Rome. His name was Prince. At one of the shows, while Prince was playing the flute, he slipped and tumbled down the stage. People came running to carry him out, as he had broken his leg.
His listeners missed him, as he took many months to recover.
One day, an important man from Rome was organising a show. He invited Prince to make an appearance.
On the day of the show, when the curtains parted, a chorus was being played. Prince had not heard this before, as he was away from the theatre for a long time.
The words of the chorus were “Rejoice, 0 Rome: you are safe now that the Prince is well!”
All the people stood up and clapped loudly. The flute player blew kisses to them, thinking that his listeners were happy to have him back.
The audience knew that Prince was making a mistake. Then, he bowed before the people. Suddenly, he lost control and fell off the stage. The song was in fact being played as an honour to the Prince of Rome.
🔥Self importance can be harmful.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸Hard Work and Laziness
In a large house, lived a lazy Young Man. He woke up in the afternoon, ate his meals and then lay in bed again. He had a parrot named Polly. She watched this lazy fellow and was puzzled by him.
One day, Polly asked the Young Man, “Don’t you get tired of lying in bed all day and all night? The sun has been out hours ago, and people have finished half their day’s work.”
“Why are you so lazy?” she asked, as she ruffled her feathers.
The Young Man yawned and answered, “Every morning, when I wake up, two friends whisper in my ears. One friend is Hard Work and the other Laziness.” “Hard Work says, Wake up! There is lots to do today. Time is passing by, don’t waste it by sleeping.’ But Laziness says, Why the hurry to wake up? Sleep some more. Why should you work while there are others to work hard?”‘
The Young Man continued, “I listen patiently to both my friends. All my time goes by like that and so, I keep lying in bed for a long time.”
🔥Just talk does not help; we should get up and work
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸Five Wild Dogs
There was a river in a forest. Once, it rained so much that the water in the river rose over the bank. Soon, there was a flood in that part of the forest.
All the animals’ houses were under water. Then, Five Wild Dogs saved many animals from drowning.
Soon, the rains stopped and the water level in the river fell again.
The King of the Forest, the Lion, was very happy with the Five Wild Dogs. He called all the animals of the forest for a meeting and said, “These are brave and kind Dogs. They will eat with me, in my den, for a week. You must all respect them, too.
All the animals clapped their hands. Then, suddenly, a Rabbit said to the Lion, “Your Majesty, these Five Wild Dogs are not brave or kind. I heard them talking among themselves, this morning. They said that they had saved
the animals so that they could eat them later.”
The Lion was very angry with the Five Wild Dogs
and shouted, “Get out of my forest, you selfish fellows!”
🔥Good deeds done for a selfish motive, are not worthy of praise.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Circus Dog and the Street Dogs
In a certain town, there was a company of circus performers. Many animals were trained in the circus to perform different acts.
A Dog was trained to fight. The trained Dog would fight against a bigger and stronger animal like a lion or a bear. The audience cheered till one of the animals got wounded or even died.
The Dog was scared and did not want to fight the fierce animals. One day, he bit the collar around his neck.
Then, he ran out of the tent and through the streets.
The Dog was as strong as a bull, since he was well fed. So, the Street Dogs saw him and asked, “Dear friend, you look quite strong and healthy, why are you running away?”
The Dog replied sadly, “I get lots of good food to eat and have a comfortable life. However, I am forced to fight with lions and bears and risk my life in the ring.”
The other Dogs said to one another, “We may have little, but we are better-off because our lives are not in danger!”
🔥Better to be safe with little than have more and be in danger.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸Intelligence, Kindness and Beauty
Intelligence, Kindness and Beauty were three friends. One day, they decided to go on a holiday. All three of them decided to go to Great Britain. Before leaving for the holiday, Intelligence said to Kindness and Beauty, “If we three separate during the holiday, how will we find each other?” Kindness was the first to reply. She said, “If I get lost during the holiday, you can find me in the form of a Mother Dog. I would be taking care of stray puppies on the road.” Then, Beauty said to her friends, “If I get lost, you can find me in the form of a Peacock. In the rainy season, when it is wet and cold, I will be dancing in the rain. My dance will entertain everyone.”
At last Intelligence spoke up, she said, “If I get lost, you will find me in the form of an Owl. I will be a wise Owl, who will advise all the animals of the forest.”
Then, all three friends left for Great Britain to enjoy their holiday.
🔥Look for the special quality that everyone has.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Huntsman and the Fisherman
Every day, a Huntsman went to a forest near his villag to hunt. He also took his Dog to give him
company. One day, when the Huntsman was returning home, he met a Fisherman on the way. The Fisherman was
carrying a basket full of fish. The Huntsman wanted to take some fish home. He asked the Fisherman, “Can I take some of your fish? In exchange, I will give you some meat of the fox I killed today.” The Fisherman happily agreed. The Huntsman and the Fisherman were very happy with the exchange. Both of them started exchanging their kill with each other every day. This went on for many days. There was a Man who saw the Huntsman and the Fisherman exchange their kill, every day. One day, he said to both of them, “If you both keep exchanging your kill every day, then soon, you will get bored. One day will come, when the Fisherman will wish to keep his fish and the Huntsman will wish to keep his meat.”
🔥We should enjoy what we have and not wish for what we don’t have.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Owl and the Nightingale
Once, there was an Owl who lived in an old, broken-down temple.
The temple had a large library. It was full of books about history, literature and religion. The Owl studied these books all day. As time passed, he grew very proud of his knowledge. Now, he believed that he was the most intelligent of all creatures.
Thus, the Owl read the library’s books every day, and then pretended to be lost in deep, wise thoughts. One such day, the Owl was sitting on a tree, outside the temple, with his eyes half closed. Suddenly, a Nightingale came and sat on the same tree. Soon, she began singing in her sweet voice.
At once, the Owl opened his eyes and said to the Nightingale, “O proud Nightingale, stop your song! Do you not see that I am thinking of wise things? Your silly song is disturbing me!”
To this, the Nightingale replied, “Foolish Owl! You think that you will become learned just by reading some books and pretending to be wise? Only the intelligent know how sweet my songs are. Only, they can truly admire my voice.”
🔥Learn from books and from everything else around you.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Spectacles
It was a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining warmly, the flowers were blooming and butterflies were flying. God Jupiter was sitting on a cloud. He was enjoying the view from above. He thought, ‘How pretty the Earth looks! Indeed, the sight makes me happy. I must gift the Humans something!’
Thus, Jupiter ordered Momus to deliver his special gifts to the Humans. On Earth, Momus called all Humans and said, “0 Humans! All of you were created differently. Your vision is also different. Some of you can see perfectly, while others have weak eyes. Therefore, great Jupiter has sent presents for you.”
Then, Momus opened the sack. It contained hundreds of pairs of Spectacles. There was one pair for each Human. They were very happy.
However, every pair of Spectacles was differently coloured. There were blue, white, yellow and purple pairs. Yet, every Human was very happy with his pair. Each thought that he owned the best pair. All Humans praised Jupiter.
Today, these Spectacles are known as Opinions. Every Human has a different Opinion. Each one thinks that his Opinion is the best among all the others!
🔥Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸Zeus and Man
A long time ago, when life on Earth was being created, God Zeus was giving out gifts to all the creatures.
God Zeus gave strength to the elephants. That is why elephants can carry large logs of wood with their trunks. He gave speed to the lions, so that they could chase after their prey. The birds were given wings to fly. Thus, in this manner, every bird and beast was blessed with a special gift.
Man heard about the gifts Zeus gave all the animals and went to him. He said sadly, “Zeus, you have given special gifts to all the creatures of the Earth. I am the only one left without a gift.”
Zeus smiled and replied, “Don’t you realise that your gifts are the greatest of all?”
Man was confused and asked, ‘What gifts?”
Zeus replied, “No other creature is able to talk and has a mind to think with. Both these gifts are of more value than those given to any other creature.”
Man bowed before Zeus and said, “Thank you, I now know the true value of what I have.”
🔥Everyone has a special ability and we should be thankful for it.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Wild Doves
One day, a Bird Catcher went to the forest to catch some Wild Doves. He took some of his own Tame Doves and tied them to his net. Next, he spread out the net and hid himself behind a tree.
Soon, the Wild Doves flew into that area. They saw their tame relatives happily sitting among the cords of the net. The Tame Doves did not look as if they were in any danger! So, the Wild Doves flew close to where the Tame Doves were sitting. Suddenly, the knots of the net tightened around their tender feet. The Wild Doves were trapped. They were very frightened and tried hard to escape. However, the Bird Catcher came running out from his hiding place.
The Bird Catcher easily caught the Wild Doves.
The Wild Doves said to the Tame Doves, angrily, ‘Why did you not warn us? Why did you let us get
caught? We are your relatives. Do you not care about us?”
The Tame Doves replied, ‘We wanted to make
our master happy. That is more important to us than pleasing our relatives!”
🔥Good servants are always faithful to their
master.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Bear and the Crabs
Once upon a time, a Bear lived in the forest. He was huge and would eat a lot of food. However, he was very lazy. So, he enjoyed eating the remains of the prey left by the bigger animals.
One day, the lazy Bear felt very hungry. He could not find any food around his den. The poor Bear waited and waited. Then, he started walking in search of food.
He thought to himself, ‘Oh! How I would love to eat some bamboo or fruits! But I would be the happiest if I found a beehive with honey!’
Now, at the end of the forest, there was a rocky shore along the big blue sea. The Bear soon reached the rocky shore. There, he found a firm rock and held on to it. He lowered his furry legs into the cold water and waited. Some Crabs that lived in the sea caught the
Bear’s fur, thinking it was their prey. The Bear, at once, pulled his legs up and shook off the Crabs on the rock. Then he enjoyed the food he had cleverly collected all over his legs.
🔥Even the lazy think of good ideas, when they are hungry.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Bird Catcher and the Cricket
One day, a Bird Catcher went to the forest. He wanted to catch a very special kind of bird. So, he looked everywhere to find a wonderful bird.
Suddenly, he heard a strange sound. It was like loud music, quite different from any bird song.
The Bird Catcher listened for a while and thought, `Oh! This creature has such a strong voice! I am certain it must be quite a large bird that I have never seen before!’
The Bird Catcher planned to catch this loud-voiced bird. He quietly crept towards the sound. The song became
louder and stronger. The Bird Catcher tossed his net out to grab the unseen creature. However, he was shocked!
Instead of catching a big bird with a loud voice, he saw a tiny little Cricket in his net.
Now, the Bird Catcher realised his mistake. He had heard the loud song of the Cricket and thought that a very big bird would be singing such a loud song! He decided that he would never be fooled like that again.
🔥We must not base our opinions on what we hear, alone.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Bees and the Beekeeper
Once, there was a man who kept many Bees on his farm. His farm had many beehives that contained honeycombs.
One day, when the Beekeeper was away, a thief crept into his farm and stole all the honeycombs. Most of the Bees had gone to the meadow to collect honey. The thief took out the honeycombs and put them away in his basket. The Bees that were in the beehive did not sting the thief.
After a few hours, the Beekeeper returned and went to check on the beehives.
Alas! The beehives were empty “Who could have taken the honeycombs?” he said.
The Beekeeper was confused and looked around to see if anyone was there
By evening, the Bees returned from the pastures and found the Beekeeper near their beehive. The Bees
saw there were no honeycombs! So they stung the Beekeeper, fiercely.
The Beekeeper said to the Bees in anger, “You worthless creatures! You let the man who stole your
honeycombs get away with no punishment. I take care of you and you show me your anger!”
🔥We need to know who our friend is, and who our enemy is.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Bride anci the Two Grooms
Once, there were two Men who wanted to marry the same beautiful Girl. One of these Men was rich and the other one was poor. The Poor Man earned his living by renting out his donkey.
The Rich Man liked the Girl only for her beauty, while the Poor Man truly loved her.
However, the Girl chose to marry the Rich Man for his wealth. Now, the Poor Man became sad. At the time of the wedding, the Girl’s parents rented the Poor Man’s donkey for their daughter.
Venus, the Goddess of Love, was looking down from heaven. She decided to help the Poor Man, for he truly loved the Girl.
Thus, as the Rich Man, the Bride and the wedding guests reached the church,
Venus created heavy rains. The Rich Man left the Bride, and ran away, looking for shelter.
The Bride still sat on the donkey. The donkey was scared, and he ran off to his master’s house. When the Poor Man came outside, the Bride saw that he was very sad. Now, she knew that he truly loved her.
Thus, the Girl married the Poor Man and the two lived happily ever after.
🔥Do not choose wealth over love.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
Active English Official:
The Greeks believe that Prometheus is the Potter God. He makes man from clay. One day, he decided to sculpt a statue of Truth, who would control the behaviour of the people.
While he was working, Jupiter suddenly called him. Prometheus had an assistant called Trickery. No cunning Trickery was left in charge of the workshop, while Prometheus was away at Jupiter’s command.
Trickery sculptured a statue of the same size, form and features as Truth. When the statue was almost done, he realised there was not enough of clay to use for the feet. However, just then, Prometheus
returned. Trickery quickly sat down on his seat. He was trembling with fear. He thought his master would get angry to see his work.
Prometheus said, “Oh! This is very good work, both the statues are alike!”
Now, Prometheus wanted to get all the praise for his own skill. He put both statues in the oven to bake. Then he brought them both to life. Truth walked away, but the other statue without feet, kept standing.
The statue, which was indeed a copy was just a result of a trick. Thus, it was named Falsehood.
🔥Truth will always win over falsehood.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Statue of Truth
The Greeks believe that Prometheus is the Potter God. He makes man from clay. One day, he decided to sculpt a statue of Truth, who would control the behaviour of the people.
While he was working, Jupiter suddenly called him. Prometheus had an assistant called Trickery. No cunning Trickery was left in charge of the workshop, while Prometheus was away at Jupiter’s command.
Trickery sculptured a statue of the same size, form and features as Truth. When the statue was almost done, he realised there was not enough of clay to use for the feet. However, just then, Prometheus
returned. Trickery quickly sat down on his seat. He was trembling with fear. He thought his master would get angry to see his work.
Prometheus said, “Oh! This is very good work, both the statues are alike!”
Now, Prometheus wanted to get all the praise for his own skill. He put both statues in the oven to bake. Then he brought them both to life. Truth walked away, but the other statue without feet, kept standing.
The statue, which was indeed a copy was just a result of a trick. Thus, it was named Falsehood.
🔥Truth will always win over falsehood.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
Active English Official:
In the olden days, the Greeks believed Zeus to be the King of all Gods and Prometheus, the God who made man.
One day, Zeus called Prometheus and said, “I command you, Prometheus, to show all human beings the way of freedom and the way of slavery.”
Prometheus said, “The way to freedom will be rough in the beginning, with many blocks and steep climbs. There would be no water to drink. There would be no pathways, only thorns. And there would be dangers on all sides. But the road would become a smooth
plain. There will be fruit trees and streams on both sides of the path. The difficulty will end. People will be able to rest. They will reach freedom.”
Prometheus then added, “The way of slavery will start out as a smooth plain in the beginning. The pathway will be full of beautiful flowers and very -comfortable; just the opposite to the road leading to freedom. But later there will be only blocks, steep climbs and difficulty on all sides.”
🔥Good things in life do not come easy.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸Prometheus and the Two Roads
In the olden days, the Greeks believed Zeus to be the King of all Gods and Prometheus, the God who made man.
One day, Zeus called Prometheus and said, “I command you, Prometheus, to show all human beings the way of freedom and the way of slavery.”
Prometheus said, “The way to freedom will be rough in the beginning, with many blocks and steep climbs. There would be no water to drink. There would be no pathways, only thorns. And there would be dangers on all sides. But the road would become a smooth
plain. There will be fruit trees and streams on both sides of the path. The difficulty will end. People will be able to rest. They will reach freedom.”
Prometheus then added, “The way of slavery will start out as a smooth plain in the beginning. The pathway will be full of beautiful flowers and very -comfortable; just the opposite to the road leading to freedom. But later there will be only blocks, steep climbs and difficulty on all sides.”
🔥Good things in life do not come easy.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
Active English Official:
One day, Zeus, the King of all Gods, was very angry with the people. He called Hermes, who is the Messenger of the Gods, and ordered, “Hermes, your job is to write down a list of all the bad things done by all the people.”
Hermes asked, “But where do you want me to write them down and what shall I do with it?”
Zeus answered, “Write them on Potsherds, Hermes, and then pile them up in a box. Remember, that’s all you have to do and I will do the rest.”
Now “Potsherds” are broken bits of pottery, which the Greeks used to write on in the olden
days. They would pile up these written Potsherds one on top of the other and store them in a box.
Hermes did his job and piled up all the Potsherds. Zeus then picked them one by one, and punished every person according to the bad deeds they had done.
This is why the bad people, whose Potsherds are at the bottom of the pile, get their punishment later. The
ones whose names are on top of the pile get punished first!
🔥Everyone will have to face justice, sooner or later.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸Zeus and the Potsherds
One day, Zeus, the King of all Gods, was very angry with the people. He called Hermes, who is the Messenger of the Gods, and ordered, “Hermes, your job is to write down a list of all the bad things done by all the people.”
Hermes asked, “But where do you want me to write them down and what shall I do with it?”
Zeus answered, “Write them on Potsherds, Hermes, and then pile them up in a box. Remember, that’s all you have to do and I will do the rest.”
Now “Potsherds” are broken bits of pottery, which the Greeks used to write on in the olden
days. They would pile up these written Potsherds one on top of the other and store them in a box.
Hermes did his job and piled up all the Potsherds. Zeus then picked them one by one, and punished every person according to the bad deeds they had done.
This is why the bad people, whose Potsherds are at the bottom of the pile, get their punishment later. The
ones whose names are on top of the pile get punished first!
🔥Everyone will have to face justice, sooner or later.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
Active English Official:
Once upon a time, there lived a Swan near a lake in a forest.
One night, an Owl saw the Swan gliding on the lake in the moonlight. He praised the Swan and soon, the two became friends. They met near the lake for many days.
The Owl soon got bored of the place and told the Swan, “I am going back to my forest. You are welcome to visit me whenever you want to.”
One day, the Swan decided to visit the Owl. It
was daylight when the Swan reached the Owl’s home. She could not find him, as he was hiding in the dark hole of a tree.
The Owl told the Swan, “Please rest till the sun sets. I can come out only at night.”
Early next morning, some people were passing by. On hearing them, the Owl hooted.
The people thought it was not a good sign to hear an Owl hoot. So, one of them wanted to shoot the Owl.
The Owl flew away and hid in a hole near the lake. The poor Swan did not move. The arrow hit the Swan and she died.
🔥Never leave your friends in difficulty.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌸The Swan and the Owl
Once upon a time, there lived a Swan near a lake in a forest.
One night, an Owl saw the Swan gliding on the lake in the moonlight. He praised the Swan and soon, the two became friends. They met near the lake for many days.
The Owl soon got bored of the place and told the Swan, “I am going back to my forest. You are welcome to visit me whenever you want to.”
One day, the Swan decided to visit the Owl. It
was daylight when the Swan reached the Owl’s home. She could not find him, as he was hiding in the dark hole of a tree.
The Owl told the Swan, “Please rest till the sun sets. I can come out only at night.”
Early next morning, some people were passing by. On hearing them, the Owl hooted.
The people thought it was not a good sign to hear an Owl hoot. So, one of them wanted to shoot the Owl.
The Owl flew away and hid in a hole near the lake. The poor Swan did not move. The arrow hit the Swan and she died.
🔥Never leave your friends in difficulty.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
🌴The Lion And The Crane
The Bodhisatta was at one time born in the region of Himavanta as a white crane; now Brahmadatta was at that time reigning in Benares. Now it chanced that as a lion was eating meat a bone stuck in his throat. The throat became swollen, he could not take food, his suffering was terrible. The crane seeing him, as he was perched an a tree looking for food, asked, “What ails thee, friend?” He told him why. “I could free thee from that bone, friend, but dare not enter thy mouth for fear thou mightest eat me.” “Don’t be afraid, friend, I’ll not eat thee; only save my life.” “Very well,” says he, and caused him to lie down on his left side. But thinking to himself, “Who knows what this fellow will do,” he placed a small stick upright between his two jaws that he could not close his mouth, and inserting his head inside his mouth struck one end of the bone with his beak. Whereupon the bone dropped and fell out. As soon as he had caused the bone to fall, he got out of the lion’s mouth, striking the stick with his beak so that it fell out, and then settled on a branch. The lion gets well, and one day was eating a buffalo he had killed. The crane, thinking “I will sound him,” settled an a branch just over him, and in conversation spoke this first verse:
“A service have we done thee To the best of our ability, King of the Beasts! Your Majesty! What return shall we get from thee?”
In reply the Lion spoke the second verse:
“As I feed on blood, And always hunt for prey, ‘Tis much that thou art still alive Having once been between my teeth.”
Then in reply the crane said the two other verses:
“Ungrateful, doing no good, Not doing as he would be done by, In him there is no gratitude, To serve him is useless.
“His friendship is not won By the clearest good deed. Better softly withdraw from him, Neither envying nor abusing.”And having thus spoken the crane flew away.
And when the great Teacher, Gautama the Buddha, told this tale, he used to add:
“Now at that time the lion was Devadatta the Traitor, but the white crane was I myself.”
⛳️The Hospitality of The Pigeon
Once upon a time, there lived two pigeons. They were husband and wife. They spend their day looking for food. In the evening they would come and rest on their favorite tree in the forest.
One evening, the wife returned home early. A usual she was waiting for her husband, when suddenly it started raining. She strated to worry. “Where are you, my dear? You never get so late," she whispered to herself.
Just then she saw a bird-catcher coming towards her. In a cage he had a pigeon. It was her husband. “OH no, what shall I do now" I wish I can help my husband," she said. She desperately tried to distract the bird-catcher by flapping her wings, but all in vain.
Soon, it stopped raining. “Brrr! It is so cold," said the bird-catcher. His clothes were wet. He decided to sit under the same tree where the two pigeons lived.
The poor wife sat by her husband’s cage. And she started to cry. The husband said. “Do not feel sad, dear. We now have a guest. This man is shivering and hungry. He needs your help." Hearing this, the wife flew around getting dry twigs. She made a fire for the bird-catcher. Then she looked at the bird-catcher and said, “You are our guest, since I have no food to offer, I will jump into this fire. In few minutes I will become an edible item for you. You can eat me."
By now, the bird-catcher was overwhelmed by the hospitality of the humble pigeon couple. He at once stopped the wife jumping into the fire.
He opened the cage and set the husband free. “I have been cruel and selfish. I will never trap any bird in my net again," said the bird-catcher and went away. The two pigeons were happy to be reunited.
⛳️The magic fish
Every day, Robert’s grandfather went fishing. One day, Robert asked to go too.
‘Well, I want to catch the magic fish. The first person to eat it will become the cleverest person in the world. Can you help me?’
‘Yes!’ said Robert, and they went fishing.
First, they caught a yellow fish with purple spots. ‘Wow! Is that the magic fish?’ asked Robert.
‘No,’ said his grandfather.
Then they caught a blue fish with red stripes. ‘Is that the magic fish?’ asked Robert.
‘No,’ said his grandfather.
Suddenly, they caught a big, beautiful silver fish with pink and green diamonds. Robert’s grandfather jumped for joy. It was the magic fish! They started to cook the fish, and his grandfather went to get some more wood. He asked Robert to watch the fish, but not to eat any of it.
Robert watched the fish very carefully. He saw a tiny bubble on its tail. He touched it with his finger. Pop! The bubble burst. The fish was very hot and burnt his finger. Ouch! He put his finger in his mouth.
When his grandfather came back, he saw that something was different. ‘Did you touch the fish?’ asked his grandfather.
‘Yes, I’m sorry,’ said Robert.
His grandfather sighed a happy sigh and gave Robert a big hug. ‘The magic fish chose you. You are the cleverest boy in the world, and I am the proudest grandfather ever!’
⛳️The magic paintbrush
Rose loved drawing. She was very poor and didn’t have pens or pencils. She drew pictures in the sand with sticks. One day, an old woman saw Rose and said, ‘Hello! Here’s a paintbrush and some paper for you.’
‘Thank you!’ smiled Rose. She was so happy. ‘Hmmm, what can I paint?’ she thought. She looked around and saw a duck on the pond. ‘I know! I’ll paint a duck!’
So she did. Suddenly, the duck flew off the paper and onto the pond. ‘Wow!’ she said. ‘A magic paintbrush!’
Rose was a very kind girl and she painted pictures for everyone in her village. She painted a cow for the farmer, pencils for the teacher and toys for all the children.
The king heard about the magic paintbrush and sent a soldier to find Rose. ‘Come with me,’ said the soldier. ‘The king wants you to paint some money for him.’
‘But he’s already rich,’ said Rose. ‘I only paint to help poor people.’
However, the nasty soldier took Rose to the king. ‘Paint me a tree with lots of money on it,’ he shouted.
Rose was brave and said, ‘No!’ So the king sent her to prison. But Rose painted a key for the door and a horse to help her escape. The king chased after her. So she painted a big hole, and splat! The king fell in.
Today, Rose only uses her magic paintbrush to help people who really, really need help.
⛳️A Traditional Wedding
Everybody loves a good wedding and I'm no exception. I've been to a load of them in my native Britain and I must say that I usually have a great time. I've also been to a few abroad, including the Caribbean and Spain, and most recently (last week in fact) to one in the mountains of Sardinia. No two weddings are ever the same and I really enjoyed this one for one or two of the differences from those in the UK.
First, the two families spent at least three weeks before the big day preparing all the food, from wonderful home-made delicacies to simple traditional breads and pastas. In my experience, in the UK that onerous task is left to the caterers! In the week leading up to the wedding there is a dinner or some form of celebration every day - training for the stomach I guess. I know that we have the traditional Bachelor party and Bachelorette party, but this is more family orientated and certainly a little less rowdy. This particular ceremony was in a beautiful country church and afterwards the couple was driven to the reception in a wonderfully decorated classic Fiat 500, which was really similar to what happens in the UK, even down to the string of tin cans trailing behind the car!
The reception itself was also very similar until I realized that the seven tables in the hall each sat sixty guests (that's four hundred and twenty, for those of you who didn't study Math), an average number for Sardinia but would be considered a very large wedding where I'm from.
The wine flowed, as did the chatter - the famous Italian exuberance showing itself to the full. There were the five or six courses of wonderful food, screaming kids running wild, the ceremonial cutting of the cake by the bride and groom - but no speeches! Not one. In the UK it's traditional for the father of the bride to propose a toast, followed by the groom and finishing up with that of the best man. His is meant to be he highlight of the lunch \ dinner, generally having a good laugh at the groom's expense, but here the groom was spared that particular discomfort.
Instead there was a delightful custom which I'd never seen before, in which six or seven of the male guests pass round the hall banging trays, drums, pots, pans or basically anything that makes a horrendous noise, selling pieces of the groom's tie which has been cut into tiny bits. The money raised is then given to the happy(!) couple to help them set up their new life together. Really nice. Finally the evening saw a lot of traditional dancing, a little disco dancing and some karaoke. Pretty much the part I like best, and again I wasn't disappointed. Can't wait for the next one.
⛳️The ugly duckling
Mummy Duck lived on a farm. In her nest, she had five little eggs and one big egg. One day, the five little eggs started to crack. Tap, tap, tap! Five pretty, yellow baby ducklings came out.
Then the big egg started to crack. Bang, bang, bang! One big, ugly duckling came out. ‘That’s strange,’ thought Mummy Duck.
Nobody wanted to play with him. ‘Go away,’ said his brothers and sisters. ‘You’re ugly!’
The ugly duckling was sad. So he went to find some new friends.
‘Go away!’ said the pig.
‘Go away!’ said the sheep.
‘Go away!’ said the cow.
‘Go away!’ said the horse.
No one wanted to be his friend. It started to get cold. It started to snow! The ugly duckling found an empty barn and lived there. He was cold, sad and alone.
Then spring came. The ugly duckling left the barn and went back to the pond. He was very thirsty and put his beak into the water. He saw a beautiful, white bird! ‘Wow!’ he said. ‘Who’s that?’
‘It’s you,’ said another beautiful, white bird.
‘Me? But I’m an ugly duckling.’
‘Not any more. You’re a beautiful swan, like me. Do you want to be my friend?’
‘Yes,’ he smiled.
All the other animals watched as the two swans flew away, friends forever.
⛳️Her New Shoes
She is young. Her shoes are old. She wears them to work. She goes to work five days a week. She loves her work. She is a waitress. She works at a restaurant. The restaurant is near her home. She walks to the restaurant. She stands up all day long. She is young and strong. But her shoes are not. They are old.
She saw an ad in the paper. All shoes were on sale at the shoe store. She walked into the store. She looked around. She saw some black shoes. They looked good. She tried them on. They were very comfortable. They felt good. They were only $25. She paid cash. She wore them home. She felt good. She was ready for work the next day.
🍂One Thousand and One Nights
Once upon a time, there was a great king, who had his reign from Persia to Arabia. The king had two sons named Shahryar and Shah Zaman. After the death of the king, Shahryar the elder son ascended on the throne of Baghdad. Whereas the younger son, Shah Zaman ruled over Samarkand.
Both the brothers ruled their respective kingdoms with wisdom and justice. They were loved and respected by their subjects.Thoroughly busy with their administrative responsibilities, the two brothers could not meet each other for twenty long years. Shahryar had a long crave to see his beloved brother. So one day, he sent his Wazir with a letter and numerous splendid gifts to his younger brother Shah Zaman. In his letter to his brother, Shahryar expressed his earnest desire to see him.
After days of long journey through the deserts, the Wazir reached the court of Samarkand. He presented the letter and gifts to the king. The warmth of the letter sent by his beloved brother Shahryar, made him jubilant. He became nostalgic remembering his elder brother. Shah Zaman at once accepted the invitation. He decided to go to Baghdad to see his brother. Shah Zaman requested the Wazir to stay in Samarkand as a royal guest for three days. Meanwhile, Shah Zaman collected a good number of rich gifts for his brother and asked his officers to make the necessary preparation for the long journey.
Shah Zaman was ecstatic at thethought of meeting his brother. On the fourth day, he had to leave for Baghdad. However just before leaving for Baghdad, Shah Zaman chanced to witness the unfaithfulness of his wife. Shah Zaman saw his wife expressing her love to one of her slaves. Raged and shocked by the unimaginable sight, Shah Zaman took out his sword and chopped off his wife’s head at once.
Shah Zaman loved his wife very much. The incident had shattered him. Immediately after the incident, he set out for Baghdad. But all his happiness had vanished. He was thoroughly grief stricken. The sorrow and bitterness turned Shah Zaman pale and weak.
When Shah Zaman reached Baghdad, Shahryar gave him a warm and splendid welcome. The brothers hugged each other passionately. However, the grief stricken pale look of Shah Zaman worried the elder brother Shahryar. When the two brothers sat all alone, Shahryar asked, “Dear brother! Your pale and grieved look is worrying me. What’s ailing you?”
Shah Zaman hid his distress and made an excuse. He said, “Dear brother, I’m not at all worried. The long and tiring journey is the culprit. I’m quite hale and hearty.”
However, Shahryar was not convinced with the reply. So he called the royal physician and asked him to treat his brother. The physician tried various medicines one after another. However, all the medicines and other treatments went in vain. Shah Zaman’s condition did not improve. Most of the time, he would live quietly in the palace and refuse to enjoy different flavours of the life.
One day, Shahryar chalked out a plan for hunting and invited his brother to accompany him. But Shah Zaman showed his unwillingness and chose to stay home.
In the absence of his brother, Shah Zaman witnessed the similar sight. which had shattered him. His brother’s wife was also unfaithful and wicked. She too was involved with one of her slaves and desired to marry him.
This shocking incident proved wonder remedy for Shah Zaman. He overcame from his sorrow. He thought, “I’m not the only one who has unfaithful wife. There are many others like me.” The incident strengthened his belief that women are evil, wicked and unfaithful.
The fact that he was not the only unlucky man who was cheated by his wife, but was one among many unfortunates, helped him in recovering fast.
When Shahryar returned from his hunting trip, he found his brother hale and hearty. Shahryar was very happy to see his brother cheerful.
Later on, Shah Zaman disclosed to Shahryar what he had witnessed in his absence. Shah Zaman also unearthed the ugly secret behind his pale and shattered condition.
Mad out of anger, Shahryar at once rushe
d to his wife and chopped off her head. The angry Shahryar then took a wild oath, “Everyday I’ll marry a maiden for a night. Next day, early in the morning, she will be killed. This way, I will never provide any opportunity to my wife to betray me.” After few days, Shah Zaman returned to his kingdom.
Shahryar remained adamant on his insane oath. He called his Wazir and apprised him about his oath. Shahryar said, “You have to bring one young maiden everyday and make her my bride for the evening. Make sure that she will be killed in the morning.”
The king’s cruel and crazy oath astonished everyone. People were frightened but what they could do. The cruel practice started. Each morning a young beautiful maiden was hacked to death. It went like this for years. Parents of the young girls started fleeing from the kingdom. Soon the kingdom was totally bereft of young girls.
One day, the Wazir returned home anxious. The Wazir had two beautiful daughters named Shahrazad and Dinarazad. Shahrazad, the elder daughter was exceptionally wise, humble and soft spoken. Besides this, she was a voracious reader and a learned person. When Shahrazad noticed her father’s tensed and perturbed face, she asked, “Father, you are looking unusually disturbed. What’s the reason for your worry?”
The Wazir said, “Dear daughter, the king has ordered me to bring a bride for tonight. However, not a single young girl is left there in our kingdom now. Shaken by the possible death, all the parents of the young girls had left the kingdom with their daughters. Now if I go to the king without any bride, he will chop off my head for not obeying his order.”
Shahrazad said, “Father, please don’t worry! Take me to the king as his bride.”
Astonished to hear this, the Wazir exclaimed, “How can I do this? Don’t you know what end do the king’s brides meet?”
Shahrazad said calmly, “I’m fully aware of what fate the brides meet, my dear father! Even then, I emphasize you to produce me as the king’s bride. I am confident that my wisdom, will force the king to change his thought regarding women. In case I fail to do so, I’ll have a satisfaction of dying for a good cause.”
However, the argument laid by Shahrazad was not at all acceptable to the Wazir. He was not ready to send his daughter to meet such a cruel fate. He said angrily, “If you will not obey me, you will have to face the same misfortune, which was faced by the farm owner, the master of the bull and the donkey.” Shahrazad asked, “O father, what’s the tale of the farm owner?” The Wazir began the tale.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
Shahryar remained adamant on his insane oath. He called his Wazir and apprised him about his oath. Shahryar said, “You have to bring one young maiden everyday and make her my bride for the evening. Make sure that she will be killed in the morning.”
The king’s cruel and crazy oath astonished everyone. People were frightened but what they could do. The cruel practice started. Each morning a young beautiful maiden was hacked to death. It went like this for years. Parents of the young girls started fleeing from the kingdom. Soon the kingdom was totally bereft of young girls.
One day, the Wazir returned home anxious. The Wazir had two beautiful daughters named Shahrazad and Dinarazad. Shahrazad, the elder daughter was exceptionally wise, humble and soft spoken. Besides this, she was a voracious reader and a learned person. When Shahrazad noticed her father’s tensed and perturbed face, she asked, “Father, you are looking unusually disturbed. What’s the reason for your worry?”
The Wazir said, “Dear daughter, the king has ordered me to bring a bride for tonight. However, not a single young girl is left there in our kingdom now. Shaken by the possible death, all the parents of the young girls had left the kingdom with their daughters. Now if I go to the king without any bride, he will chop off my head for not obeying his order.”
Shahrazad said, “Father, please don’t worry! Take me to the king as his bride.”
Astonished to hear this, the Wazir exclaimed, “How can I do this? Don’t you know what end do the king’s brides meet?”
Shahrazad said calmly, “I’m fully aware of what fate the brides meet, my dear father! Even then, I emphasize you to produce me as the king’s bride. I am confident that my wisdom, will force the king to change his thought regarding women. In case I fail to do so, I’ll have a satisfaction of dying for a good cause.”
However, the argument laid by Shahrazad was not at all acceptable to the Wazir. He was not ready to send his daughter to meet such a cruel fate. He said angrily, “If you will not obey me, you will have to face the same misfortune, which was faced by the farm owner, the master of the bull and the donkey.” Shahrazad asked, “O father, what’s the tale of the farm owner?” The Wazir began the tale.
🏰 🏡 🏜 🏕 ⛪️
⛳️Digital Heaven
If you had the opportunity to live forever, would you take it? The obstacles to keeping your body alive indefinitely still seem insurmountable, but some scientists think there is another possibility opened up by digital technology: creating a digital copy of your "self" and keeping that "alive" online long after your physical body has ceased to function.
In effect, the proposal is to clone a person electronically. Unlike the familiar physical clones - offspring that have identical features as their parents, but that are completely separate organisms with a separate conscious life - your electronic clone would believe itself to be you. How might this be possible? The first step would be to map the brain.
How? One plan relies on the development of nanotechnology. Ray Kurzweil - one of the prophets of artificial intelligence - predicts that within two or three decades we will have nanotransmitters that can be injected into the bloodstream. In the capillaries of the brain they would line up alongside the neurons and detect the details of the cerebral electronic activity. They would be able to transmit that information to a receiver inside a special helmet or cap, so there would be no need for any wires protruding from the scalp.
As a further step, Ray Kurzweil also envisages the nanotransmitters being able to connect you to a world of virtual reality on the internet, similar to what was depicted in the film 'Matrix'. With the nanotransmitters in place, by thought alone, you could log on to the internet and instead of the pictures coming up on your screen they would play inside your mind. Rather than send your friends e-mails you would agree to meet up on some virtual tropical beach.
For Ray this would be, quite literally, heaven. Once you upload the brain onto the internet and log on to that virtual world the body can be left to rot while your virtual self carries on playing Counter Strike for ever.
Generations of Christians believed in Christ partly because his resurrection held out the promise that we too might be able to enjoy life after death. But why wait for the Second Coming when you can have a shot of nanobots and upload your brain onto the internet and live on as an immortal virtual surfer?
Who needs faith when you've got broadband?
(One snag: to exist on the net you will have to have your neural network parked on the computer of a web-hosting company. These companies want real money in real bank accounts every year or they will wipe your bit of the hard disc and sell the space to someone else. With your body six feet underground how will you pay? Here the anology with heaven really breaks down. God keeps heaven going for free, but the web is something you have to pay for.)
⛳️Nessie – the Loch Ness Monster
Have you heard of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster? Loch Ness is a very large, deep lake in Scotland. Many people think a monster lives in it.
The first report of Nessie was back in the sixth century. A man called St Columba reported seeing a monster in the water, but he told the monster to go back, and he was safe.
‘Go back!’
‘OK, if you insist.’
The next year, a photo was taken of Nessie, which became very famous. It was taken by a doctor – but the photo turned out to be fake.
Since then, there have been several more sightings of Nessie. Some people have tried to take photos and videos, but Nessie is very shy and the pictures are not very clear. ‘The paparazzi are everywhere!’
People have also tried exploring the lake, but it is very deep and very dark. Some people watched the lake, while other people used equipment like underwater cameras, microphones and sonar to scan the lake carefully.
People have even explored the lake in submersibles. No one has found anything definite.
There are lots of possible explanations for what people have seen in Loch Ness. Maybe the monster is just a large bird, a tree or a seal. A few people even think it could be a plesiosaur, which is a type of dinosaur.
So, what do you think? Do you believe that Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, really exists?
⛳️Boudica
Have you heard of Boudica? She was queen of the Iceni, a tribe of people who lived in eastern England, in Britain, almost 2,000 years ago.
Boudica was tall, with very long red hair, and wore a gold necklace and a beautiful brooch. She was very intelligent, and had probably been to ‘warrior school’ so she knew how to fight.
By AD 43, the Romans had conquered southern England. At first, they allowed Boudica and her husband to continue to rule. But when Boudica’s husband died, the Romans took all his land and property. They decided to rule the Iceni and they treated them very badly. So, in AD 60 or 61, Boudica and the Iceni rebelled against the Romans, together with other tribes who were also treated badly by the Romans.
Boudica and her large army defeated one Roman army and destroyed the capital of Roman Britain, Colchester. In Colchester she destroyed the temple built for Emperor Claudius. They also destroyed two more cities. Many people died. ‘Now I am fighting for my freedom. We must win this battle or die. Let the men live as slaves if they want. I will not!’
Finally, Boudica and her army were defeated. The surviving Iceni people ran away, or were turned into slaves. Boudica probably killed herself with poison – her body has never been found.
The rebellion was so shocking to Emperor Nero, the ruler of the Roman Empire, that he wanted to withdraw from Britain!
In the end, the Romans occupied Britain for over 350 years more. But they also treated the British people more fairly and introduced lower taxes.
Boudica has been an inspiration to other female leaders such as Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria. Her rebellion was one of the most significant against the Roman Empire. Now, Boudica is remembered as one of Britain’s greatest heroines.
⛳️Richard Whittington
Once upon a time, there was a poor orphan boy called Richard Whittington. The people in his village believed that the streets of London were paved with gold. So Richard decided to travel there and become a rich man.
Richard walked for many days, but when he arrived in London there were no streets of gold! Tired and hungry, he fell asleep on the steps of a great house.
The house belonged to a rich businessman who found Richard and gave him a job cleaning the kitchen. Richard worked very hard and was happy. He had enough to eat and at night he could sleep by the fire. There was a problem though! At night, rats ran around the kitchen and kept him awake.
So Richard went out and found the fastest rat-catching cat in London! The cat caught all the rats that came into the house and Richard could sleep at night.
The businessman heard about the amazing cat and asked Richard if he could take it on his ship to catch rats on his next journey. Richard agreed, but was very sad to see the cat go.
While the businessman was away, the other servants were very mean to Richard, so Richard decided to run away. But as he was leaving, one of the great church bells rang. It seemed to say, ‘Turn back, Richard Whittington, Mayor of London!’
Richard came back to the house and soon the businessman returned. He was very happy because Richard’s cat had caught all the rats on the ship. He gave Richard a reward and promoted him to his assistant.
Richard worked hard for the businessman and learned everything he could. Eventually he married the businessman’s daughter and started a very successful business of his own. And, yes, he did become Mayor of London!
🌸Sindbad and His Seven Voyages
Long-long ago during the reign of Caliph Harun-Al-Rashid, there lived a poor porter in the city of Baghdad. The porter’s name was Hindbad. Despite his hard life, he was happy and satisfied.
One day, Hindbad was going with a big load on his head. Suddenly the rain lashed and Hindbad rushed to a nearby house to take shelter. It was a sprawling beautiful house. Hindbad sat in a shed and waited for the rain to stop. While sitting there, he was enchanted by the soft melodious music and the rich soothing fragrance of perfume coming from inside.
The beautiful house and its visible luxury caused a tinge of sadness in the heart of the poor porter. He exclaimed loudly, “Why am I poor and why do I lead such a hard life? Whereas, a few others are rolling in the wealth. Why is this discrepancy? Am I not a good person?”
The owner of the house, whose name was Sindbad, overheard the poor porter’s disappointed utterances. He at once sent his servant to call Hindbad inside. When the porter came in, Sindbad offered him a seat with a kind smile.
The house was much more luxurious from inside. Sindbad offered rich meal to the poor porter. After the meal, Sindbad asked pointedly, “Now tell me, why were you expressing resentment at your fate?”
“Sir, when I saw your splendid life, I felt dejected. My poor fate annoyed me and so I expressed my resentment,” said Hindbad.
Sindbad said, “You have every right to think like this at this moment. However, I would like to tell you the story of my adventurous life. The dangers I faced during my bold and dreaded acts. The gravest risk I undertook to earn so much of wealth.”
Sindbad then narrated to Hindbad his various adventurous trips through which he could heap up enormous wealth.
🌸The First Voyage
My father was a rich merchant. When he died, I was still young. He left behind a big wealth. However, I was an inexperienced thoughtless youth and spent all his wealth foolishly.
I returned to my senses only after the loss of all the wealth. I decided to sail for the Persian Gulf with some merchandise. Our group sailed from one country to another, selling the goods. One day, when we were on board, we saw a beautiful small green island. Just to have some fun, we all got down on that green patch. We were hungry and so we decided to cook some food there. As soon as we lit the fire for cooking, we got a jerk. The island was trembling. It was no island. It was the back of a huge animal, which got disturbed when the fire was lit on his back. We were terrified to realize the fact. Everyone jumped into the sea to save his life. Most of them boarded the ship. But a few were not so fortunate. Before they could climb up, the captain started the ship hurriedly leaving behind a few sailors who were still struggling in the sea for their life. I was one among those strugglers. Fortunately, I caught hold of a big floating piece of wood and started floating with it.
I was being tossed by the frequent powerful sea waves. I kept on floating like this for a long time. At last, I was thrown on an island. I was dead tired and extremely hungry. But on the island, there was nothing to eat except for a few herbs. Due to the continuous struggle in the seawater, my limbs became stiff and refused to move. I somehow managed to crawl to get a few herbs. I ate them and quenched my thirst from a spring of the island.
As I walked further in this alien lace, I met a man. The man asked me for my whereabouts. I poured out my misfortune to him. The man felt pity to hear my sad story. He took me inside a cave. There were a number of men present. They were all slaves of the king of the island. Those men were kind. They served good food and wine to me and behaved well with me.
Later on, they produced me infront of the king Mihrjan who was the ruler of the island. I narrated my tale of sufferings and hardship to the king. The king was noble and kind person. He sympathized with me and appointed me as an officer on the port.
The natives of this small island were called ‘Indians’. Soon, I became friendly with them. A number of small islands were there near this island. These islands were under the kingship of king Mihrjan. During my stay, I witnessed a number of conspicuous sights. The seawater around the islands contained huge and horrible fishes. A few were hundred times bigger than the largest ship. Once I saw a fish that had her head like a bull. There, I witnessed many unimaginable wonders.
In this small island kingdom, ships from different parts of the world visited its port regularly. Everyday I would ask the visiting sailors about my city Baghdad, but no one knew about my native place. I longed to go back home.
One day, when I was standing on the port, I saw a ship approaching the port. It was the same ship, which had sailed further after leaving me behind, struggling in the sea water. When the captain of the ship saw me, he was immensely surprised to find me alive. He and the other crewmembers hugged me with happiness. The captain handed over my goods to me, which was left on the ship.
Among my goods, I chose a few valuable items and presented those to the kind king. In return, the king also gave me much more expensive presents. The ship stayed on the island for a few days. Meanwhile, I did a fabulous business there with my goods and earned good money.
At the time of departure, I went to meet the king. I thanked the king for his kind gesture and all his favours extended. The king again gave me many valuable farewell gifts. Finally I returned to my city Baghdad as a rich man.
Sindbad completed the tale of his first voyage. The poor porter Hindbad was listening to the amazing tale of Sindbad with all wonder. Sindbad the sailor then bade good buy to the poor porter and asked him to come on the next day to hear the tale of
his new voyage. But before leaving, he presented Hindbad a purse-full of gold coins. The unexpected riches overjoyed Hindbad. He thanked his rich host and proceeded for home.
🌼 Work, Work, Work
A man was going through a forest. He was tired and sat under a tree to rest.
Near the tree were some bushes. In the bushes he heard a whistle. The man got up and went to look. He saw a bottle lying under a bush. The whistle was coming from inside the bottle.
The man opened the bottle to look inside. Immediately a lot of black smoke came out from the bottle. The smoke rose high in the sky. Then the smoke turned into a ghost. It was a big ghost, as tall as a tree.
The ghost was red in colour. He had red eyes, and large golden earrings in his ears. He roared, “Give me some work or I shall eat you up.” The man was very frightened. “W-what sort of work do you want ?” he asked the ghost.
“Any kind of work,” the ghost replied. “You have let me out from the bottle, so you have to give me work to do. I must keep working, day and night. The moment you stop giving me work, I shall eat you up.”
“Take me to my house,” the man said. The ghost picked up the man. In half a second he reached the man’s house. Again he said, “Give me some work to do or I shall eat you up.” “Make me a big palace,” the man said.
In a few minutes the palace was ready. The ghost again said loudly, “Give me some work or I shall eat you up.”
“Get me plenty of gold and jewels,” the man said. Soon the gold and jewels were there. “Give me some work or I shall eat you up,” the ghost said.
“Get me nice clothes to wear.” At once the ghost brought the clothes. “Give me some work or I shall eat you up,” the ghost said.
“Get me some food.” In a second the man found the table loaded with delicious food. He tried to eat, but he got no time. The ghost again said, “Give me some work or I shall eat you up.”
The man kept on giving work to the ghost. He could not eat at all. When night came the ghost would not let him sleep. “Give me some work or I shall eat you up,” he said.
The man got very worried. How could he eat ? How could he sleep? If he did not find more and more work, the ghost would eat him up.
Then the man had an idea. He told the ghost, “Make me a tall pillar, as high as the sky. And be quick.”
In just a few minutes the ghost was back. “The pillar is ready,” he said. “Now give me some work or I shall eat you up.”
“Now listen carefully,” the man said. “Climb up the pillar till you reach the top. Then climb down till you reach the earth. Then climb up to the top and come down again. Keep on doing so till I tell you to stop. And mind you don’t waste anytime.”
The ghost was very happy, for he now had plenty to do. He went up the pillar, came down, went up, came down. He went on doing so.
The man watched for some time. Then he went inside and ate the food the ghost had brought. After that he went off to sleep.
Next morning he got up and went outside. He saw the ghost going up and down the pillar all the time. The man was very happy.
Many days passed. The ghost kept on going up and down the pillar. At the end of a month he was still doing it. He now felt a little tired. “Please sir,” he said to the man, “may I stop now ? I have been going up and down the pillar for a month.”
“How can you stop ?” the man said. “You cannot stop till I tell you. So keep on going up and down the pillar.”
Another three months passed. Now the ghost was really tired. “Sir,” he said, “I can’t do it any more. I must stop now.”
“You can stop on one condition,” the man said. You must go away from here, and never come back.”
“I promise,” the ghost said.
“Very well, you may stop now. And take away that pillar with you.”
The ghost picked up the pillar and ran away. The man never saw him again.
🌸Trust in God
Abraham and Sarah were happy to have a son of their own. One day, God decided to test Abraham’s faith. “Offer Isaac to me as a Sacrifice,” ordered God. It was difficult for Abraham to choose between God and his son. However, he opted for God’s order.
He took Isaac and two of his servants and set out in the direction showed by God. After travelling
for three days, they stopped at a place. Abraham and Isaac went ahead, while the servants waited with the donkey. On reaching the top of the mountain, Abraham built an altar. He tied his son with rope and laid him on the wood.
His heart cried but he held faith in God. As he took out his knife, an angel of God appeared and stopped him. The angel said, “Stop! You have proved your trust in God. I will bless you with as many descendants as there are stars in the sky.” just then a ram with thorns appeared in a nearby bush.’ Abraham called the place ‘The Lord Will Provide’.
🌜Synopsis
Abraham’s faith and hope supported him during the agonizing journey to Moriah. As the story unveils it becomes clear that God does not want Abraham to kill Isaac
🌼Isaac,s Birth Brings Great Joy
On a starry night, God appeared before Abraham and promised him that he and his wife would have a son. “I will bless her with a son,” said God, .,she will become the mother of nations and kings.”
One day, Abraham was sitting by the door of his tent. He saw three men standing in the hot sun. He ran and greeted them with a bow and invited them for lunch. He told Sarah to make the best bread she could and picked a young calf from his herd and ordered his servant to prepare that for his guests. When the meal was prepared, Abraham served the three strangers with the best of courtesies and the best of food he had.
The three men asked Abraham about his wife. Abraham told them that she was inside the tent. “Nine months from now, I will come back and your wife Sarah will have a son,” said one of the strangers. Hearing this, Sarah laughed at what the stranger said, for she was too old to give birth to a child.
“Why did Sarah laugh?” asked the stranger who was God himself. “Is anything too hard for the Lord? I promise you, nine months from now you will have a son.” Miraculously, nine months later Sarah did have a son and Abraham named his son Isaac. The word ‘Isaac’ means ‘laughter’.
🌜Synopsis
God fulfils his promise. Sarah gives birth to a child. Abraham names his son, Isaac. The woed ‘Isaac’ means ‘laughter’.
🌸Birth of Ishmael
Once there was a hardworking man called Abraham. Even after many years of marriage, Abraham and his wife, Sarah could not have a child. They were now old, disappointed and impatient. Sarah wondered would she really a mother. However, seeing Abraham’s piousness, God had blessed him with a prophecy of having a son, who would further have as many children as the stars in the sky.
Sarah was worried that Abraham would have no children at all, and so one day, she said to him, “May be you should have your children by my servant Hagar. She is younger than I am, and maybe she is the one you are supposed to have your children with.” Somehow, Sarah convinced Abraham to have a child with Hagar. After Hagar became pregnant with Abraham’s first child, trouble began between Sarah and Hagar. The trouble got so bad, that finally ran away.
She came to a cool spring in the middle of a hot desert. She sat down there and began to cry. As she was crying, God appeared before her as a man. He asked Hagar to go back and serve her mistress Sarah. He promised that her she would have so many children that no one would be able to count them. “You will have a son and you will call him Ishmael, which means ‘God hears,’ because God has heard you cry,” said God. From then on, the spring where she talked with God was called ‘The Well of the Living One Who Hears Me’. Hagar went back and the son she had was named Ishmael.
🌜Synopsis
Abraham, a hardworking man, has been married to Sarah for years. However, the two remain childless or a long time. God blesses Abraham with a prophecy that he would have a son. Ismael is born to Abraham and Hagar, who is Sarah,s servant.
🌸Longing for a Son
One of Noah’s descendants was a man called Abraham, who grew up in the city of Ur in Mesopotamia. His wife was Sarah. This couple had no children. After waiting for manyyears, Abraham began to wonder who would take over from him, if he had no son. He thought how the God’s promise of building a great nation through him and his descendants will never be true if he would not have a son.
God heard his voice and appeared to him in a vision and assured him, saying, “Do not worry you will have a son. Look up at the night sky and count the twinkling stars, if that is possible that is how many descendants you have. And look at the land as far as you can see to the north, south, east and west. It will all belong to you and your descendants.”
Abraham was a man who had faith and trust in God, so he believed what God told him but he wanted more assurance.
“How can I know that the land will be mine?”, he asked God.
To show Abraham that his promise will come true, God asked him to sacrifice some animals. Abraham killed a cow, a goat and a ram, and cut them in half and also killed a dove and pigeon to offer to god.
That night, Abraham fell into a deep sleep, but instead of relaxing, he was puzzled with fear because of his strange land. But God would eventually punish the notion that had enslaved them. After that God blessed the descendants of Abraham and they came back to Canaan with enormous wealth. Finally Abraham would live to a ripe old age and die in peace.
Then God sent a cooking pot to Abraham. It was billowing with a smoke and a torch ablaze with fire
through the animal pieces to seal his promise with a visible indication.
🌜Synopsis:
Abraham, Noah’s descendants was childless. He asked God how his promise of building a great nation would fulfill. God appeared and told him that he would have as many descendants as the stars. In order to fulfill his promise, God sent a cooking pot to Abraham
🌼Babbling Tongues
After escaping from the flood, Noah’s family and descendants began roaming from place to place in East. Many years later, one group reached a fertile, plain in Babylonia and decided to settle down there. They held a meeting and planned to build there a large city, so that they could live comfortably.
They began constructing houses. To build houses, they used bricks made of mud, baked hard in the fiercely hot sun and stuck the bricks with tar. The biggest building was to be a spectacular tower. It was to be so tall that its top would reach to the sky.
This achievement made the people very happy and they proudly started saying, “Now we would become very famous. We can do any kind of difficult work.”
However, their pride was their mistake, for which they had to pay. “These people are danger for the nature. Now, they will forget me and will try to control all the things,” said God. He grew angry with the people on earth and decided to stop them by mixing up their words, so that they would not understand each other.
Next day, when the people wanted to talk to each other, they could not speak like they used to talk before.
There was a confused babble of voices. Nobody was able to understand to what the other person said. This halted the construction work. Now, since the people spoke different languages, and were not able to communicate with each other, they decided to leave the place. They went to different places and scattered around the world.
🌜Synopsis:
The people of Babylonia wanted to be like God. They wanted to bulid a tower for their own glory. Their vanity and pride led to their downfall. Because of their pride, they suffered confusion and separation.
🌸Great Ark Made By Noah
When God observed that people were becoming more and more wicked, he decided to teach them a lesson. Among the wicked people, there was a gentleman, named Noah. He was very pious, and so God wanted to save him. “I have decided to destroy the men and women I created,” God told him. “Every living animal shall die soon. So, I want you to make a boat of wood that would save your family, some animals and you. I am going to send a flood to cover the entire world.”
Noah obeyed God and began to build an enormous boat, called an Ark. His three sons helped him make the Ark. When the Ark was complete, God sent two of every kind of animals and birds – one male and one female- to board into the Ark. Finally, God told Noah and his family to board on the boat and he himself came into the boat. Then, God closed the door of the boat tightly.
Suddenly, it began to rain heavily and flood came. Water covered the entire world, but the Ark kept floating.
After a few months, the rain stopped. The dry land was again there. Soon, Noah, his family and the birds and animals left the Ark and spread over the earth.
🌜Synopsis:
God destroyed the world of His own creation, as the men and women grew very wicked. However, He saved Noah, his family and few birds and animals to continue life on earth.
🌼Cain Kills Abel
After being driven out of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve started life on Earth. They had two sons, Abel and Cain. Abel worked as a shepherd, while Cain worked as a farmer.
Once, they were required to give offerings to God. Cain brought a small amount of his harvest crops with a careless attitude, but Abel brought best pieces of meat of his sheep, showing his deep heartfelt trust in God. Seeing this, God was pleased with Abel, but unhappy with Cain. This made Cain angry. Burning with rage and jealousy, he murdered his brother, Abel.
When God came, he asked from Cain, “Where is your brother?” Cain pretended that he didn’t know.
“Look what you have done!” said God to Cain, angrily. “I can see Abel’s blood on the field. You have killed your brother Abel, so now I will punish you,” said God, “From now on, your crops will no longer grow and you will have to wander through the world without a home.”
Realising his mistake, Cain grew scared of the punishment. He asked from God, “How will I survive. When people will come to know that I’ve killed my brother, they will kill me?” Seeing Cain repentant, God assured him, “If someone bothers you, he will suffer seven times than you.”
🌜Synopsis:
Cain’s Jealousy destroyed all bonds of affection and lead to a wicked act. His sin was greater than that of Adam and Eve. God punished Cain and sent to live the rest of his life as a wanderer.
🌼Adam and Eve
After creating the world, God made a beautiful garden, called Garden of Eden. It was a paradise full of animals, fruits and trees. At the centre of the garden, there was a tree with a special power to give the knowledge of good and evil to the person who ate its fruit. Adam was the first man created by God. God told Adam to look after the trees in the garden and warned him, “You may eat fruits from any tree you like, but not from the Tree of Knowledge. If you do not obey, you shall die:”
To give company to Adam, God created a female from his ribs, and named her Eve. Both Adam and Eve lived naked in the Garden of Eden, as they had no sense.
In the same garden, there lived a snake. It advised eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and told her that if she ate the fruit, she would become wise like God. Tempted by this, Eve ate the fruit and made Adam also eat it.
Next day, when God came to the Garden, Adam and Eve hid themselves from Him, as now they had gained knowledge.
God asked them, “Did you eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge?” The two admitted. God became angry and punished them, saying, “You did not obey me. So now, you will have to leave this Garden. You will have to live on Earth. Adam will have to work hard to grow crops and create food, and Eve will have to suffer the pain of giving birth.”
🌜Synopsis:
Adam and Eve are driven out of the Garden of Eden to live on Earth, as they disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.
🔥 40+ Short Stories
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🌸The Origin of the World
Long ago when there was nothing, God created heaven and earth. The earth was completely dark without any shape and hunged over the ocean water. God created everything just by the power of his vocal commands.
The first day God said, “Let the light shine.” The light appeared. He called the day to the light and the night to the darkness.
On the second day, God commanded, “Let the oceans divide.” A great space appeared between the waters. God called this space ‘sky’.
On the third day, God commanded, “Let there be dry ground.” He found a big dry ground called ‘Land’. He also wished to grow up different kinds of trees, crops, vegetables and fruits which a speared on the Land.
On the fourth day, God wished, “Let sky be filled with light”. The sun and the moon came into existence. Uncountable stars and planets also appeared and formed galaxies on the fifth day. God said, “Let the oceans be filled with fishes and water animals and the sky with birds.” This wish was fulfilled the same time.
On the sixth day, God created the animals of different shapes and sizes. And finally he wished to create men and women. He blessed them saying, “Give birth to other men and populate the earth, subject the earth to your will and rule over everything. I have given you my powers so that you can take care of all living and non-living things.”
By the seventh day, God started to take rest as his work was over.
🌼God makes the World
In the very beginning there was God.
And He was all alone. There were no people, no animal, no trees, no flowers, no land, and no sky.
Just God.
God made everything. He made the sky
He made the land.
He planted the first garden.
He made the sun shine in the daytime.
He made the moon and the stars at night.
He made animal to walk on the land.
He made fish to swim in the ocean.
He made birds to fly in the air.
God said: “I have made a good world.
Now I want to share it with someone.”
So God made people.
God made the whole world in six days.
And on the seventh day, God rested.
🌸Noah's Ark
There came a time when there was only one good man in all the world, and his name was Noah. Everybody else was bad. God wanted to start over fresh. So He told Noah to build an ark. And Noah did.
God told Noah to fill the animals—two of every kind. And Noah did. Noah and went aboard too.
Then God made the rain come down. It rained and rained, until there was a great flood that covered the world. Only those who were in the ark were safe and dry. Everybody else was drowned.
Then God made the sun shine and dry up the rain. Everyone in the ark came out. Noah said: “Look! God has sent us a sign in the sky. It means that He will never flood the world again.” The sign in the sky was the very first rainbow.
🌼Joseph and His Brothers
In the land of Canaan there lived a man who had twelve sons. His favorite was Joseph. Joseph was a good boy and very clever. God spoke to Joseph in his dreams.
Joseph told his brothers about his dreams. “I dreamed,” said Joseph, “that we all had bundles of wheat. And your bundles bowed down to mine.”
“I dreamed,” said Joseph, “that the sun and the moon and the stars bowed down to me.”‘ Joseph’s brothers were jealous. “We will never bow down to Joseph,” they said.
One day they sold Joseph to some men who were going to Egypt. Then they told their father that Joseph had” been eaten by wild animals. Joseph’s father was very sad.
Many years later, Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt to get food. Their families were starving because there was no food in Canaan. When they saw the man in charge of food, they all bowed. They didn’t know that he was their brother Joseph. Joseph’s dream had come true. Joseph invited his whole family to come to Egypt, where there was enough food for everyone.
Joseph’s father was so happy. His favorite son was alive, and his family was saved.
🌸Moses
The new king of Egypt was a wicked man. He made the people from Canaan who were called Jews stay in Egypt and do all the work. He even tried to kill all of the Jewish baby boys. But God had a plan.
A Jewish mother hid her baby boy in a basket and set it on the river. The river carried the basket to the king’s house. “Oh, look!” cried the king’s daughter when she found the basket. “It’s a baby!” The princess took the baby home and named him Moses. Moses grew up safe and strong in the king’s own house!
God wanted Moses to lead the Jews out of Egypt. So God sent grasshoppers to eat up the king’s wheat. He sent frogs and other-things to pester the king. God did not stop until the king let the Jewish people go.
A big sea lay between Egypt and Israel. Moses and the people had no boats. So God parted the sea and made a path for them right through the water!
God called Moses up to the top of a mountain. He wrote ten commandments on two big stones and gave them to Moses. The commandments told the Jews how to live. God said: “Tell the people to follow these rules and I will protect them.”
God helped Moses lead the Jews back to the land that became known as Israel.
🌼David and Goliath
David was a shepherd boy who lived in Israel. He took care of sheep. God chose David to take care of the Jewish people.
David played the harp. When the king of Israel was tired of fighting in the war, he asked David to play for him. David’s music made him feel better.
One day a terrible giant named Goliath started bragging to his soldier friends that none of the Jews would dare to fight him. And he was right. The Jewish soldiers were all afraid of big Goliath. What would happen to the Jewish people?
Then little David said: “I’ll fight Goliath. God will help me.” And he went and got some stones for his slingshot.
The giant just laughed at him. David put a stone in his sling and flung it. The stone hit big Goliath on the head. Then David killed him with his sword. All of Goliath’s friends ran away. The little shepherd boy had saved the Jewish people!
🌼Jesus Grows Up
God told Mary and Joseph to go to Egypt. And they did. They lived there with little Jesus for two years. While they were away, King Herod told his soldiers to kill all the baby boys born in Bethlehem. He had heard the stories, and he didn’t want anyone to grow up to be king. But Jesus was safe in Egypt.
When it was safe to go home, Mary and Joseph went back to Nazareth. Jesus was a happy boy. He helped Joseph in his workshop. Mary and Joseph loved him very much. And they took good care of him.
Mary and Joseph took Jesus to a big city called Jerusalem. While they were busy, Jesus went off by himself. Mary and Joseph looked everywhere for went into the temple, and there the boy. Finally they went into temple, and there he was! He was telling the teachers about God. Mary and Joseph took him home he was! He was telling Jesus said- “I wasn’t lost. I was doing my Father’s work.” Even then, Jesus knew that his father was God.
🌸Abraham
There was once a shepherd named Abraham who talked to God. One day God told Abraham to go to a new land. God said He would show the way. Abraham packed his tents, rounded up his sheep, and started off with his wife, Sarah.
After many days Abraham came to the land of Canaan. God said: “This land belongs to you and your family forever.” Abraham thanked God for this great blessing. From that time on, Abraham’s family lived in Canaan and worshiped Abraham’s God.
🌸The Christmas Story
When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, there was no place to stay. They had to sleep in a stable. That night the baby Jesus was born. They had no cradle, so they laid Jesus on the hay in a manger.
Some shepherds were resting nearby with their sheep. God sent an angel to them. The angel said: “The Christ Child is born tonight. You will find him lying in a manger.” Amazed, the shepherds went to see the new baby.
Three wise men came from the East, following a bright star. The star led them to the birthplace of the new king and shone over the little stable.
Bowing down, the wise men gave Baby Jesus gifts.
🌸Jesus' Twelve Friends
Jesus’ cousin John was a preacher. John told people that God’s son was coming to save them, and he baptized people so they would be ready to meet God’s son. One day Jesus asked John to baptize him. John said: “It is you who should baptize me!” But Jesus knew that God had chosen John for a special job. And so John baptized Jesus in the river.
Jesus walked from village to village, telling people about God’s love. One day he saw two fishermen named Peter and Andrew. Jesus said: “Come with me and I will make you fishers of men.” Peter and Andrew went with Jesus. Then Jesus asked two more fishermen to come with him. And they followed Jesus too. Soon Jesus had twelve good friends to help him spread the word about God’s love. They were called disciples.
People loved to listen to Jesus. Once, a big crowd of people waited all day to hear Jesus talk. They were tired and hungry. Jesus turned to the disciples and said, “Bring food.” One of them said, “There are only five loaves of bread and two fishes.” Jesus thanked God for the food and passed out the loaves and fishes. There was enough to feed everyone, with some to spare!
🌸Jesus Tells Stories
Jesus told stories to help people learn about God.
“Once,” said Jesus, “there was a wise man who built his house on a rock. The wind blew and the rain fell, but the house stood strong. Be like that wise man and build your life on God.”
“Don’t collect treasures on earth,” said Jesus. “Collect treasures in heaven. For that is where your heart should be.”
“Heaven,” said Jesus, “belongs to those who are like little children.”
“Once,” said Jesus, “a man’s son left him, but the man welcomed his son when he came home. God is always glad to see you come back to him.”
Jesus taught his disciples a prayer:
“Our Father, Who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors,
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
🌼The Easter Story
Jesus had many enemies who wanted to be rid of him. Jesus knew that he had only a short time left. The Thursday before he died, Jesus invited the disciples to have supper with him. It was their last meal together.
“Remember me,” Jesus told them, “when you eat the bread and drink the wine. I am going to live with my Father in heaven, but I will be with you wherever you go.”
On Friday, soldiers arrested Jesus and nailed him to a cross. Jesus said to God: “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” When Jesus died, his friends placed his body in a cave and covered the cave entrance with a rock.
On Sunday, a friend of Jesus named Mary Magdalene went to the cave. The rock had been rolled away! The cave was empty! An angel appeared and said: “Peace be with you. Jesus is risen from the dead!”
Jesus came back to visit his friends. He told them to teach about God’s love. “Tell the people,” said Jesus, “to believe in me even if they can’t see me.” And then Jesus went up to heaven to live with his Father.
🌸A Beautiful Bride For Isaac
One day, Abraham sent for his most trusted servant and said, “Go to the land where I was born and find a wife for my son. God will help you.”
Receiving orders from his master, Abraham’s servant set out for the journey with ten camels and treasures. On reaching the town of Nahor, he stopped to rest near a well. While resting, he saw a beautiful girl coming to the well. Her name was Rebecca. The servant requested her to give him some water. Rebecca smiled and said, “Drink, my lord.” Later, the servant came to know that she was the granddaughter of Naho
r, Abraham’s brother. He went to her house and told her father and brother the entire story. Rebecca’s father agreed to marry Rebecca with Abraham’s son. Next morning, Rebecca’s brother and father blessed her and sent her with the servant. One evening, Isaac heard camels approaching. He ran to the servant who told him the whole story. He took Rebecca by the hand, and soon after they got married.
Synopsis:
Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac. The servant relies on God to help him and he meets Rebecca, who is the perfect choice in every way.
🌸Two and Three
In a small village in Himachal (A state in northern hilly region in India.) lived an old man and his wife. Both were over seventy and both loved one another. Only five other families lived in this tiny village.
One cold winter evening the old man and his wife were sitting inside their hut. Outside it was snowing. Suddenly the old man looked up and said, “I wish we could have some pakodas (Salty snacks prepared by frying vegetable mixed in gram flour batter). I very much feel like eating pakodas today.”
“I’ll see if there’s any besan (Gram flour) in the house,” his wife replied. She got up and opened the tin of besan. “Oh, there’s only a little bit here,” she said. “It’s too cold to go out and buy more. So I shall make pakodas from this little bit of besan.”
The old woman lighted the fire and made pakodas. She made five. She gave her husband three pakodas and herself took two.
But the old man would not take the palcodas. How can I eat three when you are getting only two ?” he said. “Take one pakoda from me.”
“Two pakodas are enough for me,” his wife replied. “It is you who asked for them. You take three now. Tomorrow I shall get more besan from the shop and make pakodas. I can then take one more than you.”
“We’ll see about that later,” the old man said. “But today you must eat three pakodas.”
They kept arguing like this all evening. Night fell, but they had still not eaten the pakodas. At last they agreed on a plan. “It is quite late,” they said. “So let us go to sleep now. Tomorrow morning, the one who gets up first will have to eat three pakodas.”
So they both went to sleep. Morning came. But still they kept lying in bed, eyes closed. Each wanted the other to get up first, for each wanted the other one to have three pakodas. It grew quite late and the sun rose high in the sky. But still they would not get up. The neighbours saw that their door was still closed. They got worried.
“What is the matter with the old couple ?” they said. “They still have not got up. Let us go and find out if they are all right.”
The neighbours went and knocked at the door. They called out to the old couple, but there was no reply from inside. Then the neighbours hammered at the door with their fists. But still the door remained closed. Now they got really worried. “We shall have to break the door,” they said. “The old people may be ill.”
So they brought an axe and broke open the door. They then went in and saw the old man and his wife lying on their cots with eyes closed. “Oh no,” they said. “They are both dead! Let us take them to the burning place.”
When the old man heard this he shot up in alarm. He realised that they would both be burnt alive. “Oh very well,” he cried. “I shall eat three andyou can eat the other two.” On hearing this the old woman also shot up and cried, “That’s what I’ve been telling you all this time. If you had listened to me, we could have eaten them last night. We wouldn’t have gone hungry all night then. But we can eat them now.”
When the neighbours heard this they were alarmed. They ran out of the door shouting. “Run! Run for your life! The ghosts of the old man and his wife are after us! They are going to eat us all up! The old man’s ghost will eat up three families, and his wife’s ghost will eat up the other two families in the village !”
The old man and his wife were surprised. They ran after the neighbours to tell them that they were not ghosts. At this the neighbours were even more frightened. They ran faster still.
Much later the old man and his wife told the neighbours about the pakodas. When they heard this, they burst out laughing. That day the old woman brought more besan from the shop and made lots of pakodas. Then she invited everyone in the village for a feast of pakodas. You see, she was sorry that she and her old man had given everyone such a fright.
⛺️ ⛺️
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