THE BIRD WITH TWO HEADS Long, long ago, there lived a strange bird in a huge banyan tree. The tree stood beside a river. The strange bird had two heads, but only one stomach. Once, while the bird was flying high in the sky, he saw an apple shaped fruit lying on the bank of the river. The bird swooped down, picked up the fruit and began to eat it. This was the most delicious fruit the bird had ever eaten. As the bird had two heads, the other head protested, "I'm your brother head. Why don't you let me also eat this tasty fruit?" The first head of the bird replied, "Shut up.You know th ... read more

THE MICE THAT ATE BALANCE Once upon a time, there lived a wealthy merchant named Jveernadhana, in a village. He ran a big business. His village was situated near a river. Once, due to heavy rains the river was flooded. One night, the whole village was submerged in neck deep water. The crop, houses and factories in the village were destroyed and hundreds of people and cattle perished in the flood. The merchant had to suffer heavy losses in his business. He decided to shift to some other town to try his luck. His plan was to earn a lot of money and then come back to his native village to s ... read more

THE THIEF, THE GIANT AND THE BRAHMIN Long ago, there lived a poor Brahmin in a village. He used to perform poojas in the nearby villages to earn his living. Once a rich farmer gave him a cow and told him to sell cow's milk in the market to earn part of his livelihood. But the cow was very weak. The Brahmin then begged for alms and fed the cow. Soon the cow became fat and healthy. Once a thief saw the fat cow of the Brahmin and decided to steal it. One night he headed towards the Brahmin's house. A giant also used to live somewhere near the village. He devoured human beings. The thief me ... read more

THE WIND AND THE SUN Long ago, there lived a wolf in a dense forest. The forest was surrounded by hills and gorges. A small river flowed through it. Once the wolf was drinking water at the head of a stream, when he saw a lamb drinking water from the same source down at some distance. The cunning wolf began to think of an excuse for attacking the gentle lamb and eating him. So he shouted down at the lamb, "How dare you make the water dirty I am drinking?" "You must be mistaken, sir," said the poor lamb gently. "How can I be making your water dirty, since it flows from you to me and not f ... read more

THE CLEVER JACKAL Once upon a time, there lived a jackal in a dense forest. His name was Mahachaturaka. He was very clever. One day, while he was wandering in search of food, he came across a dead elephant. He wanted to eat its flesh, but his teeth were not strong enough to cut through the tough hide of the elephant. So, he waited patiently for someone to come around. In the meantime, a lion came there. The jackal said to him, "Your Majesty, please have a taste of the elephant. I have been guarding it for you only." "I eat only fresh animals, not the stale ones," said the lion and went ... read more