The Clever King

          There was once a king who was active and intelligent. But his subjects were very lazy. Once he hit upon a plan to teach his subjects a lesson. With the help of an architect he built a big stone and had an iron box made. He filled it with many gold coins. At lead of night he had that big stone placed in the middle of the busy road of his capital. He put the iron-box fill of gold coins under the Stone.

          Next day a company of merchants noticed the stone. But they never thought of removing it for the convenience of the passers-by.
Some time after an officer of the king also passed that way. But he did not care to remove the stone. Later on a young soldier went I round the stone and said, “Strange how is it that a big stone lies in the middle of the road to obstruct the passage of men? Is it not the duty of the government to remove it at once from the road? To live under such a government is a curse indeed.” He thus found fault with the government for its negligence of duties and went on his way.

          The king in disguise noticed with great curiosity the behavior of his subjects. The stone remained in the middle of the road for a week.

          Being disgusted with his lazy people the king had the stone removed. People, to their wonder, saw that there was an iron-box under the stone. It was marked with the label, ‘for the man who moves away the stone.’ They were also surprised to find inside it a purse full of gold coins. They were ashamed and they left the place one by one.

Moral: Laziness is the mother of misfortune or ill-luck.

The Inchcape Rock

          There was in the rocky coast of Scotland a submarine rock in the sea called the lnchcape Rock. Many ships struck against it and sank. A pious priest placed a buoy on the rock and tied a bell to it. The bell rang as the waves moved the buoy. The warning sound of this bell helped the sailors to know the perilous rock. So they blessed the good priest for his benevolent work.

          One day a pirate ship becalmed near that rocky coast owing to the absence of wind. The pirate, Ralph the Rover heard the sound of the bell and noticed it from a distance. He was told that the bell was placed there by a good priest. His object was to warn sailors in storms about the presence of a dangerous submerged rock. So to spite the good priest he rowed over to the rock, and then cut the bell loose. “Down sank the bell with a gurgling sound,” The wind rose and the wicked pirate sailed away.

          Years afterwards the pirate, after long voyages in distant seas, sailed back to the same coast of Scotland. The, sea was stormy and covered with a thick sea-fog. There was no warning bell. So the pirate could not know where, lie was. Suddenly there was a shock and crash the ship had struck on the inch-cape Rock. At the moment of his death the pirate cursed himself for his folly.

Moral: Wickedness is punished in the long run.

KING CANUTE AND HIS COURTIERS

          One day Canute, king of England and Denmark was walking on the sea-shore with his courtiers. They were fond of flattery. They said, “Oh king, you are the lord of sea as well as of the land.” Canute wanted to teach these courtiers a lesson. It was then high tide. High waves were dashing towards the beach. He ordered a chair to be placed on the beach and thus addressed the sea, ‘0 mighty ocean, Thou art n’ subject. My courtiers tell me so. I, therefore, order thee to come no further upon my land.’ But the sea rolled on as before. It wetted the skirts of his robe.

          Canute then turned to his courtiers and said, “Vile flatterers. Do you think that I believed in your vile lies? Remember that a king is but a man and a man is but a worm. Shall a man assume the power of great God and expect that elements will obey him? Take away this crown. I shall wear it no more. May kings learn to be humble from this example and let courtiers learn truth from your disgrace.”

The Donkey and His Clever Master

          One day a man was leading his donkey with a load of salt on its back. On the way to the market place there was a little shallow stream with a bridge on it. At the time of crossing the bridge, the load fell into the water. The salt melted into the water. The donkey, being relieved of the burden, went home fresh and gay.

          Next day the master as usual loaded the donkey with salt and made for the market place. The donkey was crossing the same stream with the load. At this time it fell into the stream intentionally and got -rid of the load. ‘The master noticed the trick of the donkey and made up his mind to teach it a lesson. 

          The next time the master bought a load of sponge. He put it on the back of the donkey and drove it home.

          The donkey, while crossing the same stream played its old trick. 
But the master now pulled all the load out of water and placed it again on the donkey’s back. The sponge got wet and now the load was much heavier than the first. From that day the donkey never played such a trick again.

The Revengeful Elephant Elephant

          It was a hot summer day. An elephant-driver was passing through a market place.

He bought a cocoanut from a shop. He was very hungry and thirsty. So he could not wait for going home and cutting the cocoanut. He had not with him any implement wherewith to do it. So lie hit the cocoanut on the elephant’s head and ate the kernel.

          The elephant felt much pain. He bore it all quietly. Rut he could not forget cruel deed of his master.

          The next day the driver was again out on an elephant ride. He was passing through the same market place. The elephant stopped beside the shop of the cocoanut-seller and flicked up a cocoanut with his trunk. All on a sudden the elephant hit the cocoanut right on the head of the driver by way of revenge. As a result the driver died then and there.

Moral: Tit for tat.

The Fox Without A Tail

          One day a hungry fox was caught in a trap. He did his best to get away, but in vain. The farmer cut off his bushy tail and set him free.

          The fox felt very much ashamed for the loss of his tail. He thought that other foxes would laugh at him. After a good deal of thought he hit upon a nice plan.

          One day he called a meeting of all the foxes of the forest. “My friends,” shouted the fox at the top of his voice, “to carry such a bushy tail with you is a disgrace. The tails are unnecessary loads. They are ugly things. Look here, I feel lighter and happier since I cut off my tail.”

          The foxes listened to his speech spell-bound.

          At this, a grave old fox rose and said, “It is a good suggestion indeed, my dear friend, but I think you would not have advised us to cut off our jails if you had not lost yours.”

          All the foxes could now discover the truth. In their anger they drove away the tail-less fox and left the meeting.

Moral : Don’t  blindly follow the advice of others.

The Story of Blue Jackal

          Once upon a time a jackal fell into a washer man’s tub, containing indigo water. So he got dyed in blue and became proud of his complexion.

          In the morning the jackal entered into the forest. At the sight of a strange animal all the beasts of the forest, began to flee away in fear. He hit upon a plan to cheat them. He called them in a meeting and shouted at the top of his voice, “Listen to me, O ye, denizens of the forest I Clod has sent me to rule over thee. Let me, therefore, proclaim myself your king”.

          All animals, even lions, elephants and tigers paid homage to their new king. The blue jackal distributed the offices of the state among different animals. But he treated his own folk with contempt. So the jackals made a plot to ruin him.

          One evening the new king sat in council. All of a sudden all the jackals yelled together. The blue jackal joined in the cry. His game was thus found out and he was killed.

Moral: Too much cunning over-reaches itself.