Akbar once put a question to his court that left everyone puzzled. As they all tried to figure out the answer, Birbal walked and asked what the matter was. And so they told him the question. ‘How many crows are there in the city?’ Birbal immediately smiled, went up to Akbar and announced that the answer to his questions was twenty-one thousand five hundred and twenty-three. When asked how he knew the answer, Birbal replied, ‘Ask your men to count the number of crows. If there are more, then the crows’ relatives from outside the city are visiting them. If there are fewer, then the crows a ... read more

A Glass of Milk Once, there was a poor boy who made a living by selling various objects from door to door. This was the way he earned money to pay for his school. One day, as he was walking from house to house as usual, he felt very hungry and weak. He felt that he couldn't walk even a few steps. He decided to ask for food at a house. He knocked on the door and was stunned to see a beautiful young girl open the door. With much hesitation, he asked the girl for a glass of water. The young girl understood his condition and offered him a huge glass of milk. With an astonished look, the b ... read more

There were once two brothers who lived on the edge of a forest. The elder brother was very mean to his younger brother and ate up all the food and took all his good clothes. One day, the elder brother went into the forest to find some firewood to sell in the market. As he went around chopping the branches of a tree after tree, he came upon a magical tree. The tree said to him, ‘Oh kind sir, please do not cut my branches. If you spare me, I will give you my golden apples’. The elder brother agreed but was disappointed with the number apples the tree gave him. Greed overcame him, and he threaten ... read more

There was once a merchant who employed many carpenters and masons to build a temple in his garden. Regularly, they would start work in the morning; The Monkey And The Wedge - Panchatantra Story Pictureand take a break for the mid-day meals, and return to resume work till evening. One day, a group of monkey arrived at the site of the building and watched the workers leaving for their mid-day meals. One of the carpenters was sawing a huge log of wood. Since, it was only half-done; he placed a wedge in between to prevent the log from closing up. He then went off along with the other wor ... 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