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

The Rope The night fell heavy on the heights of the mountains and the man could not see anything. There was zero visibility; the moon and the stars were covered by the clouds. When he was just a few feet below the top of the mountain, he slipped and fell into the air, falling at great speed. He could see only black spots as he went down, and feel the terrible sensation of being sucked in by gravity. He kept falling, and in those moments of great fear, all the good and bad episodes of his life came to his mind. He was thinking now about how close death was getting, when all of a sudden ... read more

The Greedy Mouse A greedy mouse saw a basket full of corn. He wanted to eat it. So he made a small hole in the basket. He squeezed in through the hole. He ate a lot of corn. He felt full and was very happy. Now he wanted to come out. He tried to come out through the small hole. He could not. His belly was full. He tried again. But it was of no use. The mouse started crying. A rabbit was passing by. It heard the mouse's cry and asked, "Why are you crying, my friend?" The mouse explained, "I made a small hole and came into the basket to eat the corn. Now I am not able to get out thro ... read more

Proud Red Rose One beautiful spring day a red rose blossomed in a forest. As the rose looked around, a pine tree nearby said, "What a beautiful flower! I wish I was that lovely." Another tree said, "Dear pine, do not be sad. We cannot have everything." The rose turned and remarked, "It seems that I am the most beautiful flower in this forest." A sunflower raised its yellow head and asked, "Why do you say that? In this forest there are many beautiful flowers. You are just one of them." The red rose replied, "I see everyone looking at me and admiring me." Then the rose looked at a ca ... read more

Patty the milkmaid had just finished milking her cow and had two full pails of fresh creamy milk. She put both pails on a stick and set off to the market to sell her pails of milk. Along the way she started to think of all the milk in her pails and all the money she would get for them. ‘Once I get the money, I’ll buy a chicken’, she thought. ‘The chicken will lay eggs and I will get more chickens. They’ll all lay eggs and I can sell them for more money. Then I’ll buy the house on the hill and be the envy of everyone in the village. They’ll ask me to sell the chicken farm, but I’ll toss my h ... read more