WISE ARE SELDOM TAKEN IN There were a large number of birds in an aviary. They were well protected over there. Unluckily, an infectious disease broke out in the aviary. As a result, most of the birds fell ill. The keeper felt worried and went looking for a doctor. The time, he was enquiring for a doctor, a cat overheard his talk from which she came to know that the birds in the aviary were unwell. So, the wicked cat started making plans to reach the aviary someway or the other as she knew that, once inside, she could easily kill many birds and eat them up. Thinking hard, she decided t ... read more

The Rat that Bargained too Many Once upon a time, there lived a shrewd rat. The rat was kind; however, he would always bargain for just about anything. One day while walking along the road, he found a broken branch lying under a tree. The rat put it in his bag to use it for his furnace in winter. He continued his journey and came across a poor old man trying to light a fire. Around the man, were three little girls who were crying. The shrewd rat immediately offered his help to the old man. The old man who mistook the rat's intents replied, "Of course you can help. My children are hung ... read more

Once upon a time, there was an old man and an old woman. And all they had in the world was one cat and one rooster. They were very poor and they were very hungry. And they got into a terrible row and they decided that they would separate forever. And the old woman had the cat. And the old man had the rooster. Well, with the cat, the cat would catch small birds and she would roast the birds and she had something to eat. But the old man had nothing to eat at all. Time passed, and one day he went to the rooster and said, ‘I am sorry… I am going to have to cut you in half and eat ha ... read more

THE LITTLE PINE TREE Once there grew a little pine tree deep in the forest. It had needles that were evergreen. Yet it was glum. It said, "My needles are not as pretty as leaves. I wish I had golden leaves." Next morning, it found its wish had been granted. It had shining golden leaves. A man passing by saw the golden leaves and started plucking them. Soon the little pine tree was stripped bare. It again said, "I was wrong. I wish I had glass leaves. They would look pretty and no one would steal them. " The next morning the tree saw that it was covered with glass leaves. They sp ... read more

The Kite IT was the most tiresome kite in the world, always wagging its tail, shaking its ears, breaking its string, sitting down on the tops of houses, getting stuck in trees, entangled in hedges, flopping down on ponds, or lying flat on the grass, and refusing to rise higher than a yard from the ground. I have often sat and thought about that kite, and wondered who its father and mother were. Perhaps they were very poor people, just made of newspaper and little bits of common string knotted together, obliged to fly day and night for a living, and never able to give any time to their ch ... read more