The Merchant and The Money Lender In a small town, there lived a merchant. He ran a small business. Unfortunately, he lost all his money in business. "I can't stay like this. I have to do something. I will go to the next town and invest in another business," he thought to himself. So he made arrangement for his departure. He took all he had and prepared to leave. There was an iron weighing balance which he could not take along with him. So he took it to his friend the money lender. "Friend, I am going on business to the next town. Will you please keep this iron balance for me till I retu ... read more

Three neighbors were having trouble with their crops. All three fields had crops that were wilting and infested with pests. Each day they would try different ideas to help their crops. The first one tried using a scarecrow, the second used pesticides, and the third built a fence on his field, all to no avail. One day, the village head came by and called all three farmers. He gave them each a stick and asked them to break the sticks. The farmers could break them easily. He then gave them a bundle of three sticks and asked them to break it. This time, the farmers struggled to break the sticks. T ... read more

The Clever Crow It was then summer season. The day was very hot, when a crow became thirsty. He flied hither and thither in search of water. But he could not find water anywhere. After some time, the crow came across a pitcher that was lying under a tree. He peeped into it, and found that there was water, but at a very low level, and it was not possi­ble for him to suck it with his beak. He was disheartened. But he did not leave the place, because the presence of water in the pitcher made him eager to drink it. The crow's eyes suddenly fell on a heap of pebbles which were lying under ... read more

The Donkey and The Load of Salt Once, there lived a peddler. The peddler sold all sorts of goods....sturdy shoes for the farmers and pretty trinkets for their sweethearts, warm, woolly shawls to keep the women warm and sweet, sticky toffees for the children to munch on their way back from school. Some days he sold fruits and on other days, kettles. To carry all his wares, the peddler had a donkey. Every morning, the peddler loaded the donkey with his wares. The two would set out and walk from farmhouse to farmhouse, from village to village and from market to market. The peddler always ... 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