TWO FRIENDS AND THE BEAR

Vijay and Raju were friends. On a holiday they went into a forest. They were enjoying the beauty of nature. Suddenly, they saw a bear coming at them. They were frightened.  

Raju, who knew climbing trees, ran up to a tree and climbed up quickly. He did not think of Vijay. Vijay did not know tree climbing.

Vijay thought for a second. He had heard animals do not prefer dead bodies. He fell to the ground and held his breath. The bear sniffed him and thought he was dead. So he went away.

Raju asked Vijay, “What did the bear whisper into your ears?”.

Vijay replied, “The bear asked me to keep away from friends like you”, and went on his way.

MORAL: A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED

THE TWO FROGS

Two frogs were playing on a rainy day. Slowly, they hopped and hopped and came into a house. There was a churn of milk. Both the frogs fell into the churn.

Both the frogs tried for some time. But in vain. One of the frogs lost hope and said “I can’t swim any more” and he drowned to the bottom. The older did not lose hope.

He kept on swimming. His movements churned the milk into butter. The frog climbed on to a pat of butter and hopped out of the churn.

MORAL: GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES

BELLING THE CAT

There was a grocery in a town. Plenty of mice lived in that grocer’s shop. Food was in plenty for them. They ate everything and spoiled all the bags. They also wasted the bread, biscuits and fruits of the shop.

The grocer got real worried. So he thought “I should buy a cat and let it stay at the grocery. Only then, I can save my things.”

He bought a nice, big fat cat and let him stay there. The cat had a nice time hunting the mice and killing them. The mice could not move freely now. They were afraid that anytime the cat would eat them up.

The mice wanted to do something. They held a meeting and all of them tweeted “We must get rid of the cat. Can someone give a suggestion”?.

All the mice sat and brooded. A smart looking mouse stood up and said, “The cat moves softly. That is the problem. If we can tie a bell around her neck, then things will be fine. We can know the movements of the cat”.

Yes, That is answer, stated all the mice. An old mouse slowly stood up and asked, “Who would tie the bell?”. After some moments. there was no one there to answer this question.

MORAL: EMPTY SOLUTIONS ARE OF NO WORTH

THE SHEPHERD BOY AND THE WOLF

There was a village on the outskirts of  a forest. A shepherd boy used to take his herd of sheep across the fields to the lawns near the forest.

Oneday, he felt very boring. He wanted to have fun. So he cried aloud “Wolf, Wolf. The wolf is carrying away a lamb”. Farmers working in  the fields came running and asked, “Where is the wolf?”. The boy laughed and replied “It was just a fun. Now, get going all of you”.

The boy played the trick for quite a number of times in the next few days.

After some days, as the boy, perched up on a tree, was singing a song, there came an wolf. Now, the boy cried loudly “Wolf, Wolf. The wolf is carrying  a lamb away.” There was no one to come. The boy shouted “Help! Wolf! Help!” Still no one came to his help. The villagers thought that the boy was playing mischief again.

The wolf carried a lamb away.

MORAL: A LIAR’S TRUTH IS SELDOM BELIEVED

THE KING COBRA AND THE ANTS

Once, there lived a king cobra in a small hole. When he was small he ate little creatures. As he grew up he began to eat eggs, lizard, frogs and rabbits. And when he grew up further he started to eat even other smaller snakes. His pride grew with him.

All small animals began to fear the king cobra. This boosted up his pride. He began to think “Now, I am the most powerful creature. I am the king of the forest. All animals fear me. Let me move from this small hole to a bigger place”. 

He searched for a place to suit his size and status. Finally, he came across a big tree. He selected the tree for his house. He saw an ant hill near the tree.

He thought “Why should there be an ugly ant hill near my royal house?” He hissed aloud “I am king Cobra, the king of the forest. I order the ants to vacate immediately”. There was no reply. He got wild and struck at the ant hill.

What a surprise! In minute thousands of ants swarmed up the king cobra, biting him everywhere. The king cobra could not bear the pain. He ran away.

MORAL: PRIDE GOES BEFORE FALL

THE WISE COCK AND THE WICKED FOX

There lived a wise cock in a village. He did his duties well. He crowed early in the morning, waking up the folks for their daily chores.

Oneday, the cock was taking rest on a tree top. A wicked fox passed that way. The fox looked up and saw the handsome cock perched on the tree. The fox decided to eat the cock. So, he said in as sweet a voice as possible.

“Hello, dear cock! I bring you news from Heaven. There is a new order laid for us. From now on, all birds and animals shall become friends and live together in peace”.

The cock was astonished. He asked “Is it true?”.

The fox replied, “Yes, of course. If you would like to test it, why not come down?”. Now, the cock began to think wise. He said, “Won’t you wait a minute. A few of our friends are coming along”.

It was the fox’s turn to be surprised, “Friends! Who are coming? What do you mean?. The cock answered “I can see some Hounds coming. Let us wait for them”.

On hearing the words ‘Hounds’ the fox got annoyed. He started to run away. The cock asked “Why are you running? What happened to our friendship?”. The only reply was “Forget it”.

MORAL: WISEMEN CAN UNVEIL WICKEDNESS

THE FOX WITHOUT TAIL

A Fox was stealthily crossing a field. But alas, he got trapped. He tried hard to come out of the trap. At last he made it. But his tail got cut off. He was ashamed of his loss.

Back in the jungle a few of his friends saw him without his tail and asked “What happened?”.

The fox did not want to accept his ill fate. He said, “The tail is just an extra weight. I cut it off”. But his clever friends could guess the reality and they asked, “If that is the case, why are you sad”.

The fox did not know what to say now. He went away without giving an answer.

MORAL: EMPTY WORDS CANNOT BECOME FACTS

                                      

THE GREEDY LION

It was a hot summer day. A lion was feeling very hungry. He came out of his den and searched here and there. He could find only a small hare. He caught the hare with some hesitation. “This hare cannot fill my tummy” thought the lion.

As the lion was about to kill the hare, a deer ran that way. The lion became greedy. He thought, “Instead of eating this small hare let me eat the big deer”. He let the hare go and went behind the deer. But, the deer had vanished into the forest. The lion now felt sorry for letting the hare off.

MORAL: A BIRD IN HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH

THE WOLF AND THE CRANE

Once, a wolf was lucky to get hold of a nice dinner. He sat in his place and started to eat. He did not want to share his food with anyone else. He was eating so hurriedly that a small piece of bone got stuck in his throat.

He gurgled hard. He tried to swallow. He tried to spit it out. But, nothing worked out. The bone won’t move. He got afraid.

“If I can’t take the bone out, I can’t eat. I will die of hunger”, he thought sadly.

Suddenly he remembered the crane who lived nearby. He thought, “The crane has a long neck. She can reach and take out the bone”. So off he went to the crane and said, “Please take out the bone from my neck. I will pay good”.

The crane took out the bone and asked for her fees. The wolf replied “Aren’t you happy that you put your head into my mouth and got it out safely? Forget the fees”.

MORAL: GOOD FOR THE EVIL ARE FAST FORGOTTEN

THE CROW AND THE EAGLE

There lived a crow on a tree top. Everyday he used to watch with utter wonder the acts of an eagle.

The eagle had a nest high up on a mountain. He used to swoop down from there get hold of a lamb and fly up again, all in one go.

The crow was amazed by the feat of the eagle.

Oneday, he was so excited that he wanted to imitate the eagle. So up he flew as high as he could. From there, he began to swoop down. He came down and down. But alas, he could not control himself. He crashed on the ground and broke his beak.

MORAL: THOUGHTLESS IMITATION WILL END IN DANGER

                  

                    THE DOG AND THE COWS

The cows used to eat hay from the manager. One day a herd of cows came to the manager to eat hay. They saw a dog lying on the hay in the manager.

One of the cows pleaded, “Please, will you get up! We are hungry. We have to eat our hay”. The dog did not take heed of it.

Once again another cow pleaded, “Please, let us have our hay”. The dog snarled and the cow stepped back.

A wise cow ran up to the bull and told him the matter. The bull came and requested, “Get out, please! Let them have their food”. There was no reply. The bull became angry. He bellowed loudly and stamped his legs. The dog got frightened and ran for his life.

MORAL: IT IS NO GOOD TO BE A DOG IN A MANAGER

THE COWS AND THE LION

There was a village near a jungle. The village cows used to go up to the jungle in search of food.

In the forest there lived a wicked lion. He used to kill a cow now and then and eat her. This was happening for quite some time. The cows were frightened.

One day, all the cows held a meeting. An old cow said, “Listen everybody, the lion eats one of us only because we go into the jungle separately. From now on we will all be together”.

From then on, all the cows went into the jungle in a herd. When they heard or saw the lion, all of them unitedly moo and chased him away.

MORAL: DIVIDED WE FALL, UNITED WE STAND

THE DOG AND THE DONKEY

There lived a dog and a donkey in a house of a rich man. The dog guarded his house and the donkey carried loads for him.

It was a hot afternoon. The dog was sleeping under the shady veranda. There was some noise outside. The dog just lifted up his head and went back to sleep.

The donkey asked, “Why don’t you bark. It could be thieves”. The dog replied, “Mind your own business”. But the donkey would not listen. He wanted to save his master from thieves. He started to bray.

The master who was sound asleep got wild with the donkey and came running out with a stick and gave hard beatings to the donkey.

MORAL: IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO MIND OUR OWN BUSINESS.

THE DISOBEDIENT BOY

There was a boy who was very fond of cashew nuts. His mother gave him a few nuts. The boy always wanted for more nuts. He always asked his mother “Mummy, give me some more nuts”. But his mother always replied “Too many nuts is not good, my son. If you eat too many at a time you will get stomach-pain”.

One day his mother had been to the market and no one was at home except the boy. He went into the kitchen and took the cashew nut jar. He ate and ate up to the last nut.

The next day, he twitched with stomach-pain.

MORAL: ELDERS ARE OUR WELL WISHERS. LET US OBEY THEM

ONE NUT AND TWO BOYS

Two little boys were playing together. One little boy saw a nut on the ground. Before he could pick it the other boy took it.

The first boy demanded, “Give me the nut. It’s mine. I only saw it first”.

The other boy replied, “It’s mine. I only took it”.

This lead to a quarrel among these two little boys. 

Just then a tall boy came that way. On seeing the quarrelling boys he said, “Give me the nut, and I’II settle your quarrel”.

He split the nut into two parts. He took out the fruit-seed. He gave one half-shell to one boy and the other half-shell to the other. He put the fruit seed into his mouth and said, this is for settling your quarrel”.

MORAL: WHEN TWO PEOPLE QUARREL SOME ONE ELSE GAINS.

THE MILKMAID’S DREAM

Radha was a milkmaid. She was carrying a pot of milk. She had to deliver milk to her customers in a nearby village. As she was walking, she kept on dreaming.

She said to himself, “With the money I get from selling this milk, I will buy some eggs. The eggs will hatch into fine chicken. The chicken will grow into hens. I will sell the hens and get lot of money. With that money I will buy nice silk sarees. I will look beautiful. When people ask for the secret of my wealth, I will toss my heard and say, “No”.

When she dreamt of saying ‘No’ She actually tossed her head and down fell the pot of milk and all the milk ran out on the ground.

MORAL: BUILDING CASTLES IN AIR WILL NOT STAND

THE PROUD DONKEY

 

There was a sculptor who carved beautiful idols of gods and goddesses. One day, he had to take an idol of a goddess to a rich man. He mounted the idol on a donkey and started.

As they walked along, people started to admire the idol. Some stopped to admire and some bowed in respect for the goddess. The foolish donkey thought that people were admiring him.

The donkey stopped half way through. He began to bray loudly. The sculptor tried gentle words and actions to pacify him. But, he did not move. At last, the sculptor took a hard stick and thrashed the donkey. He came back to his senses and walked on humbly.

MORAL: A NOD FOR THE WISE AND A ROD

THE BEE AND THE DOVE

Once, a bee fell into a stream. He was struggling to get out of the water. His wings got wet and he could not fly.

A dove was perched on a nearby tree. She saw the struggling bee. She plucked a leaf. She held the leaf in her beak and flew upto the bee. She scoped the bee with the leaf and dropped him out on the shore. After sometime the bee flew away.

A few days later, the dove was perched on the same tree and sleeping. A boy was aiming his sling at her. The bee saw the boy. And when the boy was about to shoot he bit the boy’s hand. The boy cried with pain. The dove woke up and flew away..

MORAL: ONE GOOD LEADS TO ANOTHER

THE MONKEY’S JUSTICE

It was the aftermath of big festival. Two cats were prowling together. One of the cats saw a big cake and mieued. The other jumped up and picked it.

The first cat said, “Give me the cake. It is I who saw it first”.

The other cat said “Keep away from it. It is I who picked it up”.

They were fighting and fighting. But there was no solution. Just then, a monkey passed by. He thought “What foolish cats they must me! Let me make use of this chance”.

He came to the cats and said in a loud voice. “Don’t fight. Let me share the cake among you both”. The cake was handed over the monkey.

The monkey split the cake into two parts. He shook his head and said, “Oho! One is bigger. One is smaller”. He had a bit of the bigger and now said “Oho! This has become smaller now”. He ate from the other. And thus, he went on eating from part to part and finally finished the whole cake.

The poor cats were disappointed.

MORAL: WHEN YOU QUARREL SOMEONE ELSE GAINS

THE DONKEY AND THE DOG

In a small town there lived a potter. He had a dog to guard his house and pottery, and a donkey to carry his load.

Whenever the master came, the dog used to bark a little to welcome him. He ran upto the master and raised his front legs and puts them on the master. The master pets the dog and gives him nice food to eat.

The donkey used to watch this daily routine from a distance. He began to feel jealous of the dog. He thought with jealous, “What an easy life for the dog! He just roams around. He barks at strangers. That’s all this work. Yet, he is being cared with love and affection. But look at me! I carry all the loads. Yet all I get is hard blows and left-over’s for eating”.

So the donkey decided to behave in the same way as the dog, in order to get nice treatment from his master. He roamed here and there and neighed at strangers. When the master returned he neighed a little, ran to him and wagging his tail he started to lift his front legs.

The master got annoyed. He took a long stick and landed heavy blows. Poor donkey!

MORAL: JEALOUSY WILL NOT SERVE GOOD

THE MOUSE AND THE BULL

It was a hot day. A bull was sound asleep under a shady tree. The bull was snoring loudly. This loud noise evoked the curiosity of a small mouse passing that away.

The mouse climbed up to the nose of the bull. As the bull snored, the mouse bit his nose madly for fun’s snake. But the bull woke up and snorted “Who bit me and woke me up?” The little mouse replied “Sorry Mr.Bull! I bit you playfully, but I did not expect to wake you up”.

The bull got wild. He started to chase the small mouse. The mouse began to run for his life. At last he found a small hole in a stone wall. He ran into the hole and waited to see what the bull is going to do.

The bull came dashing upto the wall. He was not able to catch the mouse. He roared “You silly creature! I’II teach you a lesson” and dashed against the wall. The wall was too strong for the bull.

The bull heard the mouse saying “Why are you breaking your heard for so small a thing?” He left the place immediately.

MORAL: MIGHT IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT

THE SMART VENDOR

There was a smart vendor. He used to act smart with people. Once, a small boy bought some berries from the vendor. The vendor gave him berries less in weight.

The boy asked “Why are you giving me less berries?” The vendor replied “lesser the berries, easier will it be for you to carry. Now, give me the money”.

The boy dropped some coins into the vendor’s hand and walked off. The vendor counted and found the money to be less.

The vendor shouted “Hey boy, you’ve given me less money”. The boy’s reply was “Lesser the money, easier to count, isn’t It!”.

MORAL: SMART PEOPLE ARE OUTSMARTED

THE CURIOUS MONKEY

A carpenter was working hard to divide a log into two parts. He was sawing from morning to noon, but was able to cut only half-way through. He was hungry. So he pushed a wedge into the split and went for lunch.

A monkey was watching the carpenter. He became curious of the wedge. He climbed down from the tree and went upto the log. He tried to pull the wedge. It did not yield.

He sat on the log with legs on each side. The tail was dangling down through the split. He tried again and again. All of a sudden, the wedge came out. The log stuck together with a snap cutting off the dancing tail with it.

The monkey lost its tail because of his curiosity.

MORAL: LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP

THE BULL AND THE FROGS

It was a damp rainy day. The pond was full of water. Some small frogs were hopping and playing happily.

A bull came up to the pond to drink some water. After drinking water, the bull bellowed loudly. On hearing the bellowing sound the little frogs got frightened.

They hopped away in a hurry to their Grandpa at home.

On seeing his grandchildren’s hurry, the grandpa asked, “Well children! What is the matter?”

One of the little frogs croaked in a feeble voice, “Grandpa, we saw a very big animal at the pond. He had a terrible loud voice. We were all frightened”.

The grandpa frog spread his legs and puffed his cheeks and asked “Was the animal as big as this?” The answer came “He was much bigger”.

The grandpa puffed still more and asked “Was he still bigger?” The answer was “Much bigger, Much bigger”.

The grandpa puffed, puffed and puffed until his lungs burst he fell down.

MORAL: VANITY IS FOOLISHNESS