The Sun and the Wind Once it so happened that there was a beautiful contest between the sun and the wind. It was to see which of the two was stronger than the other. The wind was very proud of itself and its prowess. It said, "Even the mighty clouds bow before me. They know that I can drive them away. And the clouds can envelop you. So you are a small thing before me." The sun said, "It is the time that will tell you who is stronger of the two." Soon they saw a man who was wearing a coat. The sun said, "Let us see who makes the man to take off his coat." The wind tried first. I ... 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 Lost Camel Once two merchants lost a camel. They met a traveller and asked him if he had seen it. The man replied he had not." But was your camel blind in the right eye?" Said he to them. "Yes, he was", replied the merchants. "Was it lame in one left foot?" The man asked again. "Cer­tainly it was", said the merchants. "Was its front tooth missing"? said he to them." Indeed I" said they. "Was it loaded with honey on one side and with wheat on the other?" "That is just how it was loaded," they answered. "Please take us to it." "But I have not seen your camel," said the man "and I ... read more

THE WIND AND THE SUN Once the Wind came to have a false pride of his strength- so much that he challenged the strength of the Sun. The Son tried to smile away the Wind's challenge but the Wind insisted on a trial of strength. The trial was to be upon a traveler. He, who would make the traveler put off his coat, was to be the winner. The Wind had the first attempt. He gathered all his force and came down upon the man trying to blow off his coat off his body. But the man felt colder and wrapped it even harder round himself. Now it was the Sun's turn. The Sun shined brightly. As obvio ... 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