An Honest Woodcutter Once there lived a poor woodcutter. He used to cut trees in the woods. One day he was cutting wood on the bank of a river. His axe fell down into the river. The river was deep. He could not take his axe out. He sat on the bank and began to weep. Mercury, the god of water appeared. He asked the reason of his weeping. The woodcutter told the whole story. Mercury dived into the water and brought a golden axe. The woodcutter refused to take it. Mercury again dived and brought a silver axe. The woodcutter did not take it either. Then he brought an iron axe. The woodcutter ... read more

There were two best friends – an ant and a grasshopper. The grasshopper liked to relax the whole day and play his guitar. The ant, however, would work hard all day. He would collect food from all corners of the garden while the grasshopper relaxed, or played his guitar, or slept. The grasshopper would tell the ant to take a break every day, but the ant would refuse and continue his work. Soon, winter came. The days and nights became cold and very few creatures went out. The grasshopper couldn’t find any food and was hungry all the time. However, the ant had enough food for him to last through ... read more

The Fox and the Crane Once there was a fox. He lived in a jungle. A crane was his best friend. They visited each other's home now and then. One day, the fox invited the crane to dinner. He put the soup in a flat dish. The crane had a long beak. He could not take the soup. The fox licked the dish. The crane felt insulted. Now the crane wanted to take revenge. He invited the fox to dine with him. He served boiled rice in a jug. Its neck was narrow. The fox could eat nothing. The crane enjoyed the food very much. The fox felt sorry for his behavior. Moral: As you sow, so shall you reap?

Ungrateful Tiger There lived in a forest a ferocious tiger who found pleasure in killing animals, even when he was not hungry. Every bird and beast used to avoid him. Once the tiger killed an animal, and while eating it, a small bone stuck to his throat. This gave tremendous pain to him. He crying requested each and every bird and beast in the forest to take out the bone, and announced a reward for the job, as will be desired by the rescuer. But no one dared to come forward to help him, because they knew that the tiger was not at all dependable. As soon as the bone was taken out, he woul ... read more

Lies Beget Danger There was a small village at the foot of a hill, where the villagers lived happily. A shepherd boy also lived there. He used to graze the sheep in the valley from dawn to dusk, and returned home in the evening with his cattle. One day the shepherd boy thought of befooling the villagers." He shouted at the top of his voice. "Wolf, Wolf!" The villagers came running to-the spot with their sticks and weapons in hand to save the boy and his cattle. But they found no wolf there. The shepherd boy began to laugh, as tie was able to befool the villagers. After a few days, ... read more