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

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

This is the story of a very greedy rich man who chanced upon meeting a fairy. The fairy’s hair was caught in a few tree branches. Realising he had an opportunity to make even more money, he asked for a wish in return for helping the fairy. He said, ’All that I touch should turn to gold’, and his wish was granted by the grateful fairy. The greedy man rushed home to tell his wife and daughter about his new boon, all the while touching stones and pebbles and converting them into gold. Once he got home, his daughter rushed to greet him. As soon as he bent down to scoop her up in his arms, she t ... read more

One day, a jackal called Gomaya was very hungry, and was wandering about in search of food. The Jackal And The Drum - Panchatantra Story PictureAfter some time, he wandered out of the jungle he lived in, and reached a deserted battlefield. In this deserted battlefield, a battle was fought recently. The fighting armies had left behind a drum, which was lying near a tree. As strong winds blew, the branches of the tree got rubbed against the drum. This made a strange noise. When the jackal heard this sound, he got very frightened and thought of running away, "If I cannot flee ... read more

The Bogey-Beast is a delightful fairy tale about how luck is all relative. From English Fairy Tales, retold by Flora Annie Steel (1922), illustrated by Arthur Rackham. There was once a woman who was very, very cheerful, though she had little to make her so; for she was old, and poor, and lonely. She lived in a little bit of a cottage and earned a scant living by running errands for her neighbours, getting a bite here, a sup there, as reward for her services. So she made shift to get on, and always looked as spry and cheery as if she had not a want in the world. Now one summer evening, as ... read more