Ali Baba and Forty Thieves The story takes place in Baghdad during the Abbasid era. Ali Baba and his elder brother Cassim are the sons of Ali Baba and forty thievesa merchant. After the death of their father, the greedy Cassim marries a wealthy woman and becomes well-to-do, building on their father's business - but Ali Baba marries a poor woman and settles into the trade of a woodcutter. One day Ali Baba is at work collecting and cutting firewood in the forest, and he happens to overhear a group of forty thieves visiting their treasure store. The treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which ... read more

The Hidden Treasure There lived an old farmer with his three sons in a village. The father asked his sons to work in the field along with him. But the young fellows were lazy. They did not want to work in the sun and the rains in the field like their father. One day the farmer fell sick. He was about to die. So he called his sons, and told them, "Sons, before I die, I want to tell you some secret. Under the ground in our field, there are some hidden treasures. If you dig the land properly, you will surely find them." So saying, the old farmer died. The boys performed the funeral ... read more

The Salt Merchant and His Ass A Merchant took his Ass to the shore to buy salt. On the way home the Ass tripped and fell into a stream. On rising, the load of the Ass was lightened because some of the salt had dissolved. The Merchant returned to the shore to replenish the salt and, on returning, this time the Ass fell into the stream on purpose to lighten the load. Again, the Merchant returned to the shore, but this time, knowing what the Ass would do, loaded the Ass down with sponges. On returning home the Ass again fell into the stream but this time the sponges filled with water and doubl ... read more

Grapes Are Sour Once a hungry fox went about in search of food and reached a vineyard. He stopped near one of the trees that bore beautiful ripe grapes which were hang­ing in bunches. His mouth watered. He thought that he would eat the ripe grapes to satisfy his hunger. So he tried to catch hold of the grapes. He jumped as high as possible to hold at least one of the bunches which was not so high. But still it was beyond his reach. When his repeated efforts failed to get even a single grape, he was upset. So he consoled himself by thinking that these grapes must be sour, which he shou ... read more

The Tiger and the Traveller One day the villagers caught a tiger by setting a trap, and placed him inside a cage. They placed the edge by the side of the road for the people to see the wicked tiger who had so far killed many cattle and children by suddenly attacking the villagers. The tiger was now in real problem. He was not given any food nor any drink. He requested each and every passer­by to release him, promising that he would not kill his rescuer. But no one believed the ferocious animal. At last, a kind traveller agreed to help the tiger, after the latter promised not to kill h ... read more