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 hungry fox who got caught in the tree trunk Once upon a time, there was a hungry fox that was looking for something to eat. He was very hungry. No matter how hard he tried, the fox could not find food. Finally he went to the edge of the forest and searched there for food. Suddenly he caught sight of a big tree with a hole in it. Inside the hole was a package. The hungry fox immediately thought that there might be food in it, and became very happy. He jumped into the hole. When he opened the package, he saw slices of bread, meat and fruit in it! An old woodcutter had placed the foo ... 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

The Cunning Fox and the Clever Stork Once upon a time, there lived a very cunning and mischievous fox. He used to speak to other animals sweetly and gain their trust, before playing tricks on them. One day the fox met a stork. He befriended the stork and acted like a very good friend. Soon, he invited the stork to have a feast with him. The stork happily accepted the invitation. The day of the feast came, and the stork went to the fox's house. To her surprise and disappointment, the fox said that he could not make a big feast as promised, and just offered some soup. When he brought th ... read more

Gift from Daughter The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy.” The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found out the box was empty. He yelled at her, stating, “Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something ins ... read more