MOST PEOPLE GAUGE THINGS BY THEIR UTILITY Once there was a farmer who owned a large garden with variety of fruit-trees. But one mango tree got barren. Though, it no longer had any fruits, it provided shelter to many birds. Finding the mango tree useless, farmer decided to fell it. The moment, he was about to cut the tree with his axe, the birds living on the tree begged him, "Spare this tree, sir! If you fell it, we will become homeless and have to go elsewhere. Moreover, it will deprive you of our merry notes when you are here at work." But the farmer turned a deaf-ear to the plea of ... read more

AN OLD MAN AND AN ASS Once an old man and his son were going to the market to sell an ass. They walked along beside the ass. A passer-by commented, "How foolish you are! Why don't you ride the ass instead of walking along?" At this, the old man lifted his son onto the ass. A little further, another traveler said to the boy, "You rascal! How can you ride the ass, when your old father trudges along?" The son felt ashamed and made his father sit on the ass. Then they came across a third person, who was shocked that the old man was riding the ass while his little son walked. The father ... read more

BELL THE CAT At a grocer's shop there were a mice everywhere. People didn't want to come to his shop anymore. So, the grocer kept a cat. She chased the mice and ate some each day. The mice had no chance to feed on anything more. Troubled by the cat, mice held a meeting to get rid of the cruel animal as she killed them ruthlessly and their number was falling down. Each mouse suggested his idea but all ideas were rejected, as they were not practicable. At last, a young mouse suggested to tie a bell round the cat's neck when she was fast asleep so that when she would move, the bell sh ... 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

The Wolf and the Shepherd Boy A village was near a forest. A shepherd boy used to graze his sheep there. He was very foolish and a liar. One day he thought to play a joke. He started crying at the top of his voice Wolf! Wolf! it was a white lie. On hearing his cries all the villagers came running with sticks to help him. On reaching there they found no wolf. Instead the shepherd laughed at them. They understood that the boy had befooled them. They returned to their houses. One day a wolf really came there and attacked the boy. He started shouting at the top of his voice Wolf! W ... read more