The Apple Tree and the Farmer Once upon a time, there lived a farmer in a village, beside a forest. He had a big garden that had an old apple tree and other plants, trees and beautiful flowers. When the farmer was a little boy, he spent much of his time playing with the apple tree. Those days, the apple tree had given the choicest of apples to him. However, as time passed, the apple tree became old and stopped bearing fruits. Now that the farmer was not getting any apples from the tree, he decided that the tree was useless. Therefore, he decided to cut the tree and use its wood to make s ... read more

Written by Guy de Maupassant With the first day of spring, when the awakening earth puts on its garment of green, and the warm, fragrant air fans our faces and fills our lungs and appears even to penetrate to our hearts, we experience a vague, undefined longing for freedom, for happiness, a desire to run, to wander aimlessly, to breathe in the spring. The previous winter having been unusually severe, this spring feeling was like a form of intoxication in May, as if there were an overabundant supply of sap. One morning on waking I saw from my window the blue sky glowing in the sun above t ... read more

Until Death do us Apart When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I k ... read more

One afternoon, a little boy had lost his kitten. He looked under his bed. He looked all over his house. But still there was no puppy. Finally, he looked for his puppy in the garden. After a few hours, he still could not find the puppy. The little boy was tired and was about to give up. Then he saw his neighbour, Mrs Hardin. “I beg your pardon, Mrs Hardin. Is my puppy in your garden?" asked the little boy. “Oh yes, she is. She is chewing on a mutton bone," replied Mrs Hardin. The little boy climbed the fence and saw his puppy chewing on a mutton bone. He was so happy that his pu ... read more

Father and Sons A father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion. One day he told his sons to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so, he placed the fagot into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. They tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it. He next opened the fagot, took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into his sons’ hands, up ... read more