Cap-Seller and The Monkeys

          One day a cap-seller was returning home from the market. He sold out almost all his stock, but only ten caps were left. Being tired and hungry, he placed a rug on the ground and sat in the shade of a tree for rest. The day was hot, and there was a gentle breeze. This made him drowsy, and very soon he fell fast asleep with his basket of red caps by his side.
          When he woke up, he was surprised to find that all his caps were gone. Suddenly he heard a sound and looked up. He saw a number of monkeys swinging on the branches, each one with a red cap on his head.
          The cap-seller was now in a fix. To get back his caps, he made various gestures to the monkeys. He even threw stones at them, but to no effect. Then a bright idea dawned on him. In pretended anger he pulled out his own cap and threw it away from him.
          At once the monkeys imitated the cap-seller and threw away all the caps they had stolen. He picked up the caps and went away.
Moral: ‘Necessity is the mother of invention,’

The Father, The Son and The Donkey

          An old farmer and his son were going to a distant fair to sell their donkey. The father was leading the donkey, and the son was beating it from behind. On the way a group of men remarked, “How silly they are! They are walking in the hot sun. One of them can easily ride the donkey and drive it.” So the old man made his son ride the donkey and himself walked by.

          On the way an old man remarked, “Look here! how selfish this stout fellow is  He is riding on the donkey while his old and feeble father is plodding behind it.”

          This remark cut the son to the quick. He got down and the father rode in his place. Some young boys rebuked the father for his selfishness. To please them the old man placed his son also on the donkey’s back.

          They had not gone far when a crowd of people accused them of their cruelty to a dumb animal.

          At this they got down and began to carry the donkey on their shoulder. While crossing a narrow bridge across the river, the donkey fell into the river and was drowned.

The Camel and The Jackal

          In a wild jungle there lived two friends, a camel and a jackal small river flowed in a zigzag course by it. One day the jackal said, “Friend camel, if you carry me across the river, I can show you a fine field of sugarcane. You may.eat to your fill of the sugarcane there and I shall cat crabs on the bank of the river.”

          “What a nice suggestion it is, my friend I” said the camel. “You wish will be fulfilled now.”

          The camel carried the jackal on his back and swain across the river. His joy knew no bounds at the sight of ripe sugar canes.  He entered into the field and began to eat to his heart’s content.

          The jackal ran to the bank of the river. He got plenty of crabs there and soon ate to his fill. To make the camel quickly finish his dinner, he began to run to and fro and howled at the top of his voice.

          The villagers came to the sugarcane field with sticks. They beat the camel mercilessly and drove him out.

          Without a word the camel began to cross the river with the jackal on his back. In the middle of the river the camel began to roll over in deep water. Down went the jackal and he was drowned.


Moral: Tit for tat.

An Old Tiger and The Greedyman

           Once a party of Indians was passing through a jungle. By chance  a tiger sprang upon a lady and ran away with her. He noticed a gold  bangle in her wrist and kept it carefully to serve his purpose in future.

           One day this tiger being very hungry, hid himself by a pool in seareh of food. A thirsty traveller was passing that way. He  saw the transparent water of the pool and began to drink it. To his horror. he saw a tiger in the bushes watching him. But great was his surprise when the tiger greeted him in a mild voice.

           “Ho traveller,” said the tiger, “don’t be afraid of me. I am now old and I have given up leading an unclean life, killing cows and men. I have atoned for my past sinful life. A holy sage has taught me to be kind and charitable to all. Here is a gold bangle for you.”

           The traveller was greedy and his greed soon overcame fear. When he crossed the pool to take the bangle, the tiger lost no time in springing upon the traveller and eating him up.

Moral: Greed leads to ruin,

The Fisherman And His Partner

           Once a rich nobleman lived in a beautiful castle. He arranged to give a grand feast to his friends and relatives. But as the weather was stormy, no fish could be caught. He, therefore, felt worried.

           On the morning of the banquet, a fisherman came with a splendid catch. He asked the fisherman to fix his own price for it. The fisherman said, “The price is one hundred lashes on my bare back.” The nobleman laughed heartily and did not take the man at his word. He said, “I would prefer to give you money, but as we must have the’ fish, we will satisfy you.” He asked his men to strike the fisherman mildly.

           When the fisherman had- received fifty strokes, he cried out, “Stop please. I have a partner and he must have his share.” The nobleman was surprised and said, “Send for the other madcap.”“The other,” said the fisherman, “is your own porter. He let me in only when I promised to give him half the price of my fish.”

           The nobleman called for the greedy porter. He was given fifty lashes and was dismissed. The clever fisherman was then handsomely rewarded.

God is the Only Giver

          In the city of Rome there lived two blind beggars. They would beg in busy streets of Rome every day. One of’ them used to cry, “God alone can make one happy.” The other would cry on the opposite side of the street with the words, “The king alone can make one happy.’ This they did every day.

          The king out of great curiosity called the second beggar and asked, “Well, do you believe that the king can make you happy?”

          “My lord,” said the beggar, “I believe it from the core of my heart.”

The king was flattered by the speech of the second beggar and gave him a big loaf filled with gold coins. The second beggar left the king with a bow. He felt the loaf very heavy. So he sold it to the first beggar for a paltry sum.

          The first beggar brought out a knife to take a slice of the bread, but great was his surprise and joy when he found a number of gold coins in it. He thanked God for His mercy and gave up his old profession.

Innocence and Sin

          Once a young artist wanted to paint a face. He wanted to make it a living symbol of innocence and joy. He took a jolly child for his model and drew his face. The picture became very beautiful and attractive.

          Long years passed on. The artist had become a grey old man. He took into his head to draw another picture as a contrast to his picture of innocence. He wanted to call it ‘guilt’.

          This time the artist went to a dark and damp dungeon for his model. He found an ugly criminal chained there. He was condemned to death for crime. The artist took him as his model for the second picture. The artist asked the jailor the name of the criminal. To his great surprise he discovered a strange fact.

          The criminal was really the child whose picture the artist had painted at first.

The Shoe-Maker and The Monkey

          In a village a shoe-maker worked in his shop for long hours. A monkey lived in a tree nearby. Its great delight was to watch the shoe-maker at his work. At noon the shoe-maker was generally absent from the shop. The monkey would come down from the tree and work with the tools of the shoe-maker. The result was’ that his tools got blunted, leather spoiled and customers’ shoe damaged.

          The shoe-maker was thus very much annoyed with the monkey. He hit upon a plan to put an end to the mischief caused by the monkey. “This will be your last attempt to imitate me,” said the shoe-maker to himself. He brought a razor from his inner room. He sat down in still view of the monkey and pretended to draw the razor across his throat several tunes. Then he left the shop, leaving the razor lying open.

          The shoe-maker guessed correctly. The monkey came down and imitated his work with razor, After a few minutes the shoe-maker came back to find the monkey lying dead in his shop with his throat cut from ear to ear.

A Dumb Beggar

             In a city two beggars were rivals in their trade. One of them bit upon a novel plan to earn more money than the other. He presented to be dumb. He got a plate with the word ‘dumb’ painted on it and kept it hanging down his neck.

             His plate -attracted people. He thus earned much more money than the other beggar. The other earned much less, though he shouted his loudest all the day. So he grew jealous of his rival and tried to expose him.

             One day a kind gentleman saw the dumb beggar on the street. He was about to offer him a silver coin” The rival beggar saw it and cried out, ‘“Sir, he is not really dumb. He is a cheat.” At this the pretender became very angry and shouted at the top of his voice, “You liar, I have been dumb from my birth. I am so even now.”

             The gentleman being astonished, said, “You may be dumb. But I won’t help a dumb man who can talk so well,”