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

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

Tit For Tat There lived in a forest a crane and a fox. They were good friends. They used to kill small creatures and shared the food together. One day the crane invited the fox to his house for din­ner. The fox did hardly eat anything during the day, because he thought that his friend must have arranged for a good feast. But when the food was served by the crane, the fox found that it was inside a narrow-necked jar, from which the fox could not lick to taste the food. He sat idly there, while the crane sucked it by inserting his long neck and beak. After the dinner, the crane asked th ... read more

Nasir found a crystal ball behind a banyan tree in his garden. When the tree old him it would grant him a wish, he thought and thought but could not think of anything he wanted. So he kept the crystal ball in his bag and waited to decide on his wish. Days went by without him making a wish but his best friend saw him looking at the crystal ball. He stole it from Nasir and showed it to everyone in the village. They all asked for palaces and gold but could not ask for more than one wish. In the end, everyone was angry because no one could have everything. They became very unhappy and decided to a ... read more

As Hari walked home after school one day, he suddenly felt faint with hunger and knew his mother would not have any food ready for him at home. He grew desperate and went from house to house asking for food. Finally, a girl gave him a tall glass of milk. When he tried to pay her she refused and sent him on his way. Years later, the girl, now a grown woman, fell very sick and could not find anyone who could cure her. Finally, she went to a large hospital with the city’s greatest doctor. The doctor spent months treating the woman until she was finally cured. The woman was happy but was also afra ... read more