The Old Farmer & his Sons

             An old farmer had three sons who would often fall out with one another. The father advised them not to do so, but they would never live in peace. The old man was in a great fix. He was at a loss to know what to do. At last he hit upon a clever plan.

             One day the old man called his sons to him and gave them a bundle of sticks.

“Well, my boys,” said he, “now break (he bundle to pieces.”

             Each of his sons tried with all his might to do so, but none succeeded.

             

             The old man then untied the bundle and asked his sons to break the sticks separately. This they could do quite easily.

             Then turning to his sons’, the old man said, “You see my sons, you cannot break the bundle. But you can easily break every stick of the bundle. So, if you live united, none can do you any harm. But if you fall out with one another, you will come to grief”

             The Sons then could understand that union is strength. From that day they began to live together in peace.

Moral: United we stand divided we fall.

Black Beard and White Hair

             There was an old Mahomedan. He was well-known in his locality for his long beard. Both his hair and beard were grey. But he had a wish to look younger than his years. So he was in the habit of dyeing his beard black. But as hair on his head was covered by his turban, he left it as it was.

             One hot day the old Mahomedan fell asleep, and his turban rolled off, leaving his white head exposed. It was indeed a funny sight. It excited laughter from his friends who saw it. One of his friends said to the old Mahomedan, “How funny it is! You have a fine young black beard, but old white hair on your head! “

             But the old Mahomedan had a great presence of mind. He cleverly replied “My friend, there is nothing strange in this. My beard is younger than my hair by some twenty years. So it is young at forty, while my hair is old and white at sixty.”

Two Friends and Bear

             Two friends were once going through a forest. One of them said to the other, “if any beast attacks you, I will stay with you and help you.” The other friend said, “I will stand by you too in your danger.”

             Before they had gone far, a big bear came rushing towards them out of a. thicket. At once one of the friends, in great fear, climbed up a tree. He hid himself among the branches. The other was fat and sound able to get up. So he fell on the ground with face downwards and held his breath; for he had heard that a bear would never touch a dead body.

             The bear came up to him and smelt his face. But the man lay quite still. The bear, supposing him to be dead, went away.

             When all was safe, the man who had climbed up the tree came down to his friend and asked, “What (lid the bear say to you? I saw him putting his mouth close to your ears.” The friend said in reply, “The bear told me not to trust a friend who runs away in time of danger.”

The Sun and The Wind

             Once there was a quarrel between the Sun and the Wind about their power. The Sun said, “I am stronger than you. I can burn the corn and starve the world.” The Wind retorted, “I am the mightiest force on earth. I can blow off trees, break houses and sink ships. In this way each boasted that he was more powerful than the other.

             They agreed to try their power upon a traveller who was just then passing by. It was decided that one who could make the traveller remove his coat was to be the victor. The Wind took the chance. He blew a very cold blast and then brought down a shower of rain. But the traveller wrapped his cloak round him all the tighter. The wind thus failed in his efforts and gave up the attempt in despair.

             Next came the Sun’s turn. He shone forth bright and hot. The traveller felt uneasy and at last was forced to throw off hit cloak. So the Sun became victorious in this struggle of strength.

Moral: Mere force without intelligence is not effective.

HORNS OR LEGS

             On a hot summer day a stag being thirsty, come to a pool of dear water for a drink. He saw his own reflection in the pool as in a looking glass. He could not help admiring his beauty,

             “What a lovely creature I am I” he said to himself. “How fine my pair of branching horns are!“ But the stag felt ashamed of his slender legs. “What a pity!” said he, “that such a fine Creature should have such thin and ugly legs!”

             The stag then drank his fill at the clear pool. Just then a shrill blast of horns and the crashing of horses reached his ears. To his great horror he saw a party of hunters with their hounds rushing to the spot. The stag at once scented danger and ran off in the opposite direction. The hunters pursued him fast.

             By chance his horns got caught with creepers in the bush and he could not run away. Soon the hounds were upon him and tore him to pieces.

             “Alas!” said the dying stag, “I despised my legs that would have saved me, but my horns which were my glory brought about my death.”

The Cats and The Monkey

             Once two cats stole a  piece of cake from a house. They went to a garden to eat it. The old cat broke the piece of cake into two and gave one piece to her friend.

             

             “Your piece is bigger than mine,” said the young cat, “give me a bit from your share.”

             

             “No,” said the old cat. “your piece is bigger. So give me a part of yours.”

In this way they fell out with each other. Just then monkey came to the spot.

             “Good-day,” said the young cat, just tell us if these cakes are of the same size”

             The monkey took one cake in each hand and said, “This one is bigger than that one. So I must make the one equal to the other.” He then had a bite frond the bigger piece.

             “Now, the other piece is too big,” he said, and bit off a portion of it. In this way the monkey went on to make two pieces of cakes equal and there were only two small pieces left.

             “These are my fees for helping you,” said the monkey. So saying, . he put the pieces in his mouth and went away.

Moral: Never call a third person in your own affairs.

The Night before An Examination

             It is the night before my final examination. From tomorrow morning my examination will start. As the evening draws to a close and night approaches, my usually strong nerves seem to be melting. Nothing seems to work right. I keel turning the pages of my text book. But that does not help. Immediately after I have turned one page, I seem to forget what is mentioned there.

             I am at a Loss to explain why this is happening. I am getting more and more restless. One moment I am drinking water and at the next I am checking my fountain pen.—if I have filled ink in it. Though I know it very well that I have already refilled three of my fountain pens.

             I keep checking them over and over again. It again proves that my nervous are falling apart.

I am not a bad student and have fared quite well in all my examinations and there is no real reason for me to feel what I am going through. I keep checking tip the suggestions which our teacher bad given us, those which I had made myself and constantly in my own mind I try to answer those questions. Will this question come flow long should I write if that quest ion does come? These are some of the many questions which seem to plague my mind over and over again. Then, I got with myself. I decided, I must stop it. I might as well put away my books and relax by watching television. But I again start to follow my questions, the possible answers keep coming back to my mind. I get more fed up with myself and ultimately before I go to sleep, I feel like a jumping crow. I hope, this experience does not recur in my life on any other occasion.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

             Subhas Chandra Bose, the great patriot, was born at Cuttack in. the year 1897. As a student he was meritorious. He went to England, appeared at the I. C. S. Examination and came fourth in order of merit, but he did not want to serve the British masters. His aim was to make India free. He joined the Indian National Congress and became its President. He wanted to fight the English and win freedom for his motherland. When the Second World War broke out he was put under house arrest in his home at Elgin Road, Calcutta. But nothing could tame his spirit-he escaped from there and went first to Germany and then to Japan. He organized an army called the Azad Hind Fouz. The soldiers loved him so dearly that they called him ‘Netaji’. Netaji led his army and came to Manipur, but his attempt to free India was not successful at that time. Whether Netaji is dead or alive remains a mystery even today. Dead or alive, Netaji has his seat in our heart.

Our Idea of A Gentleman

             A gentleman is he who maintains ‘gentility’ in all spheres of life. The term ‘gentility’ implies some universal norms. It may be inherent as it can be acquired through careful observation can constant practice till it becomes a habit. Gentility, throughout the world, is considered to be synonymous with politeness, kindness and friendliness — all bunched together. A gentleman is not recognized and acknowledged for his wallet or attire, but for his conduct and natural capacity to translate his conduct into a practical intercourse with whoever he comes across. A gentleman can easily win the heart even of an alien and, thus, can earn the friendship of many. On the other hand, the phenomenal truth has to be admitted that in this age of sophisticated complications and stress it is very difficult to preserve one’s gentleness all the time, especially in the context of the heterogeneous characters a gentleman has to be in communion with in his everyday-life. But a true gentleman, whose gentleness wells up from the core of his character, can maintain this noble code of conduct whatever is the situation. In short, gentility is doubly blessed — blessed with one’s peace of own soul and blessed with other’s love and faith.