The Selfish Giant Long ago, there was an exquisite garden which not only had lively trees, but also had a collection of flowers that gave out a wonderful fragrance. The birds that used to regularly visit the garden sang the most melodious songs. It was truly a lovely garden. There were some children who regularly played in this beautiful garden. It was their play area, where they used to spend some lovely afternoons after school and the even more time during holidays. The birds that lived in this magnificent garden, used to sing melodious tunes, which even made the kids stop their games ... read more

The Tale Of How The Tiger Got His Stripes Long time ago, ages ago, it was said that the tiger was like a lion without any stripes on his back, and the rabbit had a long tail. The tiger had a big farm that need attending to, as it was overgrown with brush. Therefore, the tiger was searching for workers to clear the undergrowth. The tiger called the animals and said, "I am in need of a good worker to clean this place. I shall offer a buffalo in payment for whoever does this work the quickest." The monkey called in first and said that he would like to do the job. So, the tiger assigne ... read more

An Hour with the Aged AT a time when I had a nice Sunday-school class, of which I was very fond, there was an aged and very eccentric old lady who was quite particular in the selection of her acquaintances. For some reason of her own, she favored me with her friendship, and it became my custom to start so early to Sunday-school that I could spend an hour with her. Her room was very odd to look at ; she had a fancy for putting almost everything into a separate little bag. The hair-brush, coarse and fine combs, were each suspended in a bag just exactly large enough. Even the penholder stuck o ... read more

The Mother's Heart IF children could realize how indifference and disrespect to parents wound the heart, they would never offend in that way. "Honor thy father and thy mother," is one of the first commands, and was intended to be obeyed as much as any other. When one of God's commands is disobeyed, a penalty is sure to follow, whether the transgressor realizes the cause or not. It may be that every disappointment, loss, sickness or affliction is a penalty merci- fully appointed to pay the debt here instead of here-after. If so, what a load we would carry with us into the next life to our gr ... 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