EVERYONE CARES FOR HIS ENDS Once a donkey and a dog met on a road. They both had to go in the same direction, so they became friends and traveled together. They had taken just a few steps when they saw a packet lying by the road-side. The dog picked up the packet and giving it to the donkey said, "Open it and read it out for me. " The donkey did exactly what the dog had asked him to do. The packet turned out to be all about the things that donkey eat like grass, barley etc. the dog felt bored hearing what the donkey was reading out and said, "Turn over the pages and see if there is somet ... read more

The Plum Stone One day Vanya's mother bought some plums from the market. She washed them and left them on a big plate in the centre of the dining table. Mother wanted to give the plums to the children after dinner. It was not every day that plums were bought. Vanya had not tasted plums all his life and was very curious about it. First he sniffed the fruit, wrinkled his nose at the pleasing smell, and decided that he liked the fruit. Dinner time was still a long way off and he did not have the patience to wait. He just could not resist his temptation. "No one will notice if I take one," h ... read more

A BRUTE CAN ALSO SEE REASON Once a wicked wolf was in a jovial mood and merrily roaming around. Suddenly, he saw a boy lying on the ground and moved towards him. On seeing the wolf, the boy got frightened and tried to turn away his face. The wolf realized that the boy was terrified. The wolf went up to the boy and said, "Aha! At last, I caught you. But I shall spare your life if you say three things which cannot be challenged in regard to their truth." The boy, though terrified, composed himself and thought for a while. Then he said, "First it is a pity that you saw me; second, I was ... read more

The Slave and the Lion A rich man had a slave. The man was very cruel to him. So the slave became sick of his cruel treatment. He decided to run away from his master. He got a chance and ran away to a forest. There he hid himself in a cave. As he lay there thinking, he heard the groaning of the lion. He was frightened. As the lion came near, he saw that he was limping. The lion approached the slave and held out his paw. The slave saw that his paw was swollen and a thorn was stuck in it. The slave drew out the thorn very gently. The lion was relieved of pain and went away. Afterwar ... read more

Half of the Profit A rich man wanted to give a great feast to his friends. He got all kinds of dishes prepared but he could not get fish. He offered a reward to the man who would bring it. After some time a fisherman brought a big fish. But the gate keeper would not let him in till he had promised to give him half the reward. The fisherman agreed. The rich man was highly pleased and wanted to give him a lot of money, but the fisherman refused to take it. Instead, he demanded a hundred lashes on his back. All were surprised. At last the rich man ordered a servant to give him a hundr ... read more