The Tale Of The Clever Peasant Once upon a time in a village in Ukraine, there lived a rich landlord. He owned many farms, fields and forests. He owned so much land, that the peasants of the village treated him as their chief. The chief however was an arrogant and petty minded man, with very little regard for the peasants and poor men who depended on him. He was greedy, very proud of his wealth and considered the peasants, poor and filthy, who smelt like dung. He would never entertain any peasant in his mansion, nor let any poor farmer come near him. The poor farmers and peasants cons ... 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

A DOG IN A MANGER Once a dog saw a cowshed while searching for food.. At that time, the cows were away for work. So, the dog climbed on to a pile of hay in the manger hoping to find something to eat. Being hungry, it sat down to eat the hay but hated the taste and couldn't eat it. In the evening the cows came back to the cowshed. They had worked the whole day and were hungry. When they went to the manger, they found the dog resting on the hay. One of the cows said, Please get off. We want to eat the hay. The dog snarled at them and refused to move. The cows said, How mean you ... read more

Lazy Jack Once upon a time, in a small village, a lazy boy called Jack lived with his mother. He was so lazy that he found it very difficult to move even his fingers. His mother worked as a servant maid in town homes and earned for herself and her son. People started to call him Lazy Jack and Jack's mother was totally irritated and worried about her son. One day, she fell sick and was feeling fever severely. She was bed-ridden for two days and could not go to work. She asked her son to earn something for them; otherwise there won't be anything to eat. Lazy Jack finally understood her ... read more

The Tale Of The Tyrant And The Butler Bernardo Visconti, the despot of Milan was in his day more feared than any other ruler was. Although he was pitiless, there was always a shade of justice in his cruelty. This is the story of a wealthy man and owner of one of the castles given to him by Bernardo. He was well known for his miserliness. One instance he was summoned to the court for having failed to feed his bullmastiffs (dogs), which had become vicious and attacked cattle. Therefore, he was condemned by Bernardo to pay a fine of four florins (gold coins). Upon hearing the amount, the mi ... read more