Hello my name is Amita and welcome back to the series of Panchatantra short stories.
So Panchatantra stories are the oldest surviving fables from ancient India.
These are spread all over the world for centuries especially as bedtime stories for kids.
So I am starting this Panchatantra series of 60 stories.
Hope you like it.
The Cobra and the Crows.
There was a big banyan tree where two crows,
A husband and wife crow,
Had prepared a nice nest and made it their home.
In the hollow of the same tree lived a black cobra.
The crows had a problem because the black cobra would climb up the tree and eat the newborns whenever the female crow hatched her eggs.
They could do nothing to save them.
The crows went to a jackal who lived in the nearby banyan tree to seek his advice.
They narrated everything to him and requested his advice for them to get rid of their problem.
They said,
Oh friend,
It has become dangerous to live here.
Please let us know how we can protect our children from being eaten up by the wicked black cobra.
The jackal replied,
Please don't give up.
Even powerful enemies can be overcome with the use of wit.
On hearing this the crows requested,
Oh friend,
Please tell us how can we overcome and destroy the wicked cobra.
The jackal told them a plan.
Fly into the capital of kingdom not far from here.
Visit the house of someone who is wealthy and careless at the same time.
Notice if something of value is lying around.
If you find so,
Pick it up when the servants are watching you.
He continued,
You will need to fly slowly so that the servants can follow you.
Return back to your tree and drop it in the hollow of the tree where the cobra lives.
When the servants reach,
They will kill the cobra when they see it.
The crows decided to follow the jackal's advice and flew immediately according to his plan.
As they flew above the capital,
The female crow noticed a wealthy woman swimming in a lake.
They had left gold and pearl necklaces on the banks of the lake which was guarded by royal servants.
At once the female crow swooped down and picked up a big necklace in her beak and started flying slowly.
When the royal servants noticed her,
They picked up sticks and stones and started throwing at her and ran to chase her.
As the jackal had mentioned in the plan,
Same thing happened.
The crow dropped the necklace in front of the hollow tree where the black cobra was asleep.
She sat on one of the branches for the royal servants to notice.
When the royal servants arrived,
The black cobra came out of the hollow of the tree to see what was all this noise about.
The black cobra thus confronted the king's servants with swelling hold.
But the servants attacked the cobra with sticks and stones to recover the necklace because they found it unsafe.
They killed the wicked cobra and returned with the necklace and the crows having gotten rid of the cobra now could live happily as the jackal had told them.
So the moral of this story is even a very powerful enemy can be destroyed through wit.
The crafty crane and the craftier crab.
A heron lived near a big lake which was full of fishes and other water creatures.
The heron had grown so old that he could not catch fishes from the lake anymore.
He became lean and weak with every passing day due to lack of food.
Unable to bear the hunger anymore,
He hit upon a plan.
As planned,
He sat at the edge of the lake for everybody to see and began crying.
On seeing this,
A crab took pity on him and went near.
Uncle,
What is the matter?
Why are you crying instead of catching fishes?
Continuing to pretend,
The heron replied,
My child,
I would not touch any fish anymore.
I have decided to renounce all worldly matters and vow to take a fast into death.
The crab asked,
If you indeed renounced worldly matters,
Why is it that you cry?
The heron explained,
My child,
I have been in this lake from my birth.
I have grown here and it now that I have grown so old that I hear this lake will dry up and there will be no more rains for the next 12 years.
The crab was surprised to hear this.
Uncle,
Please tell me if it is true.
Please tell me where you have heard such a thing.
The heron replied,
I have heard the news from a wise astrologer that there will be no rains for the next 12 years.
You see,
There is already not much water in the lake and very soon due to lack of rains,
The lake will dry up completely,
Very,
Very soon.
The crab was taken aback by the news of what is to befall on them and went to tell this to the other water creatures.
On hearing this piece of news,
Everybody started to panic.
They believed the heron and he was not trying to catch any fish at all.
So they met the heron to seek advice.
Please,
Please guide us to save us from this disaster.
The heron said,
There is indeed a lake not far from here.
It is full of water and beautifully covered with lotus flowers.
There is not much water in the lake and that it would not dry even if it did not rain for 24 years.
I can take you there if you can ride on my back.
He had already gained their confidence so they gathered around him and requested to carry them one at a time to the other lake and save them.
The wicked heron had succeeded in his plan.
Every day he would carry one of them on his back,
Pretending to take them to the other lake and flying a little away from the lake,
He would smash them against the rock and eat them up.
He would then return after some time to the lake and relate false messages how they are happy in the other lake.
This happened for many many days when the crabs said to the heron,
Uncle you take others to the lake but it is me who is your first friend.
Please take me to the other lake to save my life.
The heron was happy to hear this.
He thought to himself,
Having a fish every day has become monotonous.
It is good that I will get to eat a crab today for a change.
Having thus decided the heron started carrying the crab to the same rock.
The crab looked down from above and saw a heap of bones and skeletons.
At once the crab understood what the heron was up to.
But still he remained calm and said to the heron,
Uncle the lake seems far and I am quite heavy.
You must be getting tired so let us stop for some rest.
The heron was confident that there was no way the crab can escape from him in the sky.
The heron replied,
There is no lake for real.
This trip is for my own meal as I do every day.
I will smash you against the rock and make a meal out of you.
When the heron confessed the truth the crab got hold of the heron's neck with its strong claws and strangled him to death.
The crab laughed at himself that he had saved himself and the other water creatures from the trick played by the heron.
He dragged the heron back to the lake.
The other water creatures in the lake were surprised to see him back.
They were curious and they asked all sorts of questions to which the crab replied and laughed.
We were being made fools.
The heron was an imposter and what he told about the lake drying up was all false.
He was taking one of us every day for his meal in a rock not far from here.
He proudly said,
I understood what he was up to and have killed that trickster.
There is no need to worry for we are safe in this lake.
It is not going to dry up at all and thus they all lived happily ever after.
Moral of the story,
When things go wrong use your wit to overcome the situation.
The fall and rise of a merchant.
In a city called Varadhamana lived a very efficient and prosperous merchant.
The king was aware of his abilities and therefore made him the administrator of the kingdom.
With his efficient and intelligent ways he kept common man very happy and at the same time he impressed the king on the other side.
Such a person who can keep everybody happy is rarely found.
Later there came a time that the merchant's daughter was getting married.
He arranged for a lavish reception.
The merchant not only invited the king and the queen who obliged by attending but also invited the entire royal household and all the respected people of the kingdom.
During the reception he ensured to provide his guests with the best of the treatments.
He gave out gifts to the guests and to show them respect for attending to his invitation.
A servant of the royal household who used to sweep the palace was not invited but attended the reception.
He took a seat which was reserved for royal nobles not meant for common invitees.
This made the merchant very angry.
He caught him by the neck and ordered his servants to have him thrown out.
The royal servant felt very insulted and could not sleep all night.
He thought if I can have the king to disfavor this merchant I will have my revenge but what can I a common fellow do to harm a powerful person as him.
Thinking such he suddenly had a plan.
Several days later the servant was sweeping the floor near the king's bed early in the morning.
He observed that that the king was still in bed half awake.
The servant started mumbling good heavens the merchant has become so carefree now that he dared to embrace the queen.
When the king heard this lying in his bed he jumped out and asked is it true have you seen the merchant embrace my queen yourself.
The servant at once fell at the king's feet Oh master I was gambling all night I felt drowsy for I didn't sleep last night.
I don't know what I was mumbling but I said anything improper please forgive me.
The king spoke no more but the servant knew he had sowed the seed of distrust.
The king thought it can be true the servant moves about the palace freely and so does the merchant.
It is possible that the servant has seen something.
The king was troubled with jealousy.
From that day on he withdrew his favors from the merchant and even forbade him to enter the palace.
One day when the merchant was entering the gateway to the palace he was stopped by the guards.
The merchant was surprised due to the sudden change in King's attitude.
The servant was nearby and mocking shouted at the guards.
Oh guards that merchant is favored by the king he's a powerful person he can have people arrested or released or even thrown out just like he had me thrown out of his daughter's reception.
Beware for you may suffer the same fate.
On hearing this the merchant understood that the servant has caused all this trouble somehow.
He felt dejected and returned home upset over the incident.
He gave everything a second thought and then he invited the royal servant to his house.
He treated the servant with utmost respect and flattered him with gifts and garments.
He said oh friend that day I did not have you thrown out due to anger but it was improper of me and also of you to occupy the seat reserved for royal nobles they felt insulted and out of compulsion I had to throw you out please forgive me.
The servant was already flattered with all the gifts and he was full of joy he said sir I forgive you you have not only expressed your regrets but also honored me with the utmost respect.
He ensured the merchant I will prove how clever I am I will have the king favorable towards you like he was before and the servant went back.
The next morning when he started sweeping the floors of the palace he waited till when the king was again lying half awake.
When the opportunity came he started sweeping around his bed and started mumbling our king is crazy he eats cucumber in the lavatory.
On hearing this the king was taken aback he got up angrily and shouted at the servant what nonsense do you talk about had you not been any been but royal servant I would have punished you dearly have you ever seen me do such thing yourself.
Once again the servant fell on his knees and prayed Oh master forgive me if I said something improper I was gambling all last night and didn't sleep I felt drowsy and I didn't know what I was mumbling.
The king thought to himself I have never eaten a cucumber in the lavatory what he mumbled about me is ridiculously false surely then what he mumbled about my trusted merchant the other morning must have been ridiculously false as well.
It was improper of me to mistreat that merchant he wondered after all he has been so efficient in the whole administrative system that without him it has become slack.
Thus having considered carefully the king invited the merchant to the palace and flattered him with gifts jewels and garment.
He reappointed the merchant to his previously held position and favored his services as before.
The moral of the story is one should treat one and all even the lowest with respect.
Fighting goats and the jackal one day while a sage was going through jungle he saw two golden rams fighting each other even though both were wounded and blood was oozing out from their heads and bodies they did not stop fighting and rammed at each other.
At the same time a hungry jackal was passing by when he saw all blood he started licking the blood from the ground without caring for the fighting rams.
Watching all this the sage thought to himself the jackal is a fool as it has become greedy by the smell of blood.
If he comes between the fighting rams it will get rammed and get hurt himself.
No sooner had the sage thought of it the jackal craving for more blood came nearer to the fighting rams and got caught in the middle of their fight.
Both the rams rammed into him by mistake.
He got hit on his head and fell down because he was severely wounded.
Moral of the story do not close your eyes to the impending danger due to greed.
The Foolish Sage.
Once upon a time there was a sage called Dev Sharma who lived in a temple in the outskirts of the town.
He was widely known and respected.
People would visit him and offer him with gifts and food and money and garments to seek his blessings.
The gifts that he did not need for himself he would sell off and got rich on the proceeds.
And by nature he trusted nobody.
He never trusted anybody.
So he kept all his money in a bag which he carried under his arm all the time.
He would not part with the bag for a single moment.
One day a swindler came across the sage and he became sure that the bag this holy man was so possessive was certainly contain a lot of treasure.
He planned on stealing the bag from the sage but could not think of a way to do so.
He thought I cannot make a hole in the temple wall or jump over the high gates but I can charm him with the sweet words to accept me as a disciple.
He wondered if I can stay with him as a disciple I can win his confidence and when I get an opportunity I will rob him and leave this place.
Having planned so the swindler approached the holy man with reverence.
Om Namah Shivaya.
I bow before Lord Shiva the God of destruction.
With these words he fell on the sage's feet and said Oh Guruji,
Oh master please guide me to the right path of life.
I'm fed up with life and I want to seek peace.
The sage kindly replied my son I will surely guide you.
You are blessed because you have come to me to seek peace at this young age.
This was the opportunity the swindler was seeking and he at once touched the feet of the sage for blessings.
Oh Guruji,
Oh master please accept me as your disciple.
I will do whatever you ask me to do.
The sage accepted the swindler as his disciple but only on a condition.
He said a holy man as me is recommended to spend the night alone without company.
This helps me to meditate also.
So you will not be allowed to enter the temple at night.
You will sleep in a hut at the gate of the temple.
The swindler agreed.
I shall willingly serve your wishes in every way that you ask me to do.
In the evening the sage initiated the rituals and formally took the swindler as his disciple.
The swindler in return proved himself as obedient disciple.
He massaged his feet and hands and washed his feet,
Helped him with all the rituals along with cleaning the temple.
Although the sage was happy with his disciple the swindler could not gain enough confidence for the sage to part with his bag when he was not around.
As days passed by the swindler started getting frustrated.
He does not trust me enough to leave the bag with me.
I can gain access to the bag if I kill him with a knife or feed him the poison.
When he was thinking all this the swindler saw a young boy visit the sage.
He saw the son of one of the sage's followers.
He invited the sage.
Oh Guruji,
Oh master,
I have come here personally to invite you to our house for the ceremony of a sacred thread.
Please accept the invitation to sanctify the ceremony with your kind presence.
The sage accepted the invitation and after some time started off for the town with the swindler.
On the way they came across a river where the sage thought of relieving himself.
He folded the bag full of money in his robe.
He asked his disciple to look after it.
My child look after the robe until I return.
This was the opportunity that the swindler was seeking all the while.
As soon as the sage went behind the bushes the swindler ran away with the bag full of money.
When the sage returned he did not find the disciple around but found his robe lying on the ground.
Shocked and anxious he peered inside only to find his bag of money was gone.
At once he knew what had happened and began to shout.
Oh where are you?
You robbed me.
The sage then started trailing the swindler's footsteps but he reached town.
He knew that he will not be able to catch hold of him at all from here on.
He stayed the night in the town to return empty-handed to his temple next morning.
Moral of the story do not be taken by the sweet words of a swindler.
Friends in Need.
Once upon a time there lived four friends.
A deer,
A mouse,
A crow and a tortoise.
The mouse lived in a hole beneath a banyan tree.
The deer lived under the same shady banyan tree.
The crow lived on a branch of the banyan tree and the tortoise lived in the nearby lake.
All were good friends.
Every day they would gather under the tree to chat and play together.
One day the deer went to graze in the deep forest and it did not come back till late in the evening.
The worried mouse asked the crow,
It seems our friend is in some trouble.
Please go flying and him out.
The crow was too anxious for his friend.
He immediately flew in search of the deer.
Soon he discovered the deer in the hunter's trap.
The deer was unsuccessfully trying to come out of the net.
However,
The hunter was not visible there.
The crow came down and sat near the deer.
The deer's eyes twinkled to see his friend.
The crow said,
I'm extremely sorry to see you in this trouble.
I don't know.
Don't worry,
I'll do something to free you from here.
First tell me where is the hunter?
The troubled deer replied,
He has gone to bring the rope to tie me.
The crow consoled him and said,
Maintain your calm,
You will soon be back to,
I'll soon be back to you with our friend mouse.
The crow flew back to the banyan tree as fast as he could and he quickly informed the mouse about the mishap.
The crow asked the mouse to ride over his back.
Then the crow swiftly flew towards his friend deer.
On the way,
They met with their fourth friend,
The tortoise.
When the tortoise saw both of them rushing,
He anxiously asked the whereabouts of the lost deer.
But the crow was in a hurry,
So he said in brief,
The deer is in the hunter's nest.
I will tell you the details after coming back from there.
The reply made the tortoise more anxious and worried.
He too proceeded in the same direction at his slow pace.
When the crow reached up to the deer,
The hunter was yet to come back.
The mouse climbed down from the back of the crow and swiftly nibbled the net.
The deer was free.
He thanked his friends.
By the time the tortoise also reached there,
He was happy to see the deer out of the danger.
Suddenly,
They saw the hunter coming back with the rope.
They said to each other,
Let's run fast.
With this,
They all escaped swiftly except for the poor tortoise.
The tortoise tried hard to run but he could not.
When the hunter saw his prey going out of his clutch,
He shouted and ran after him.
However,
It was not so easy to chase a deer.
Suddenly,
He noticed the tortoise crawling on the ground.
The hunter picked him up and roped him to his hunting stick.
While flying,
The crow looked down.
He was shocked to see his friend tortoise tied with his hunter's stick.
All the happiness vanished.
The remaining three friends again gathered.
They discussed how to save their friend tortoise.
After chalking out their plan,
They all reached near the hunter's house.
The hunter reached his house.
He saw the deer standing there.
The happy hunter chased the deer again.
The deer ran away swiftly but he kept on giving his glimpses to the hunter just to elude him.
The crow was following the hunter through the sky while the mouse was running after the hunter on the ground.
After running for some time,
The hunter found it difficult to run along with his bag and the stick.
So,
He dropped the bag and the stick on the ground and then chased the deer as fast as he could.
The deer saw the hunter leaving the stick on the ground and he ran faster than before.
Soon,
The deer drove the hunter far away from there.
When the crow saw the stick on the ground to which the tortoise was tied,
He swooped down and called the mouse.
The mouse started his work again.
However,
The crow flew back to the sky to keep a watchful eye on the hunter.
The mouse cut the rope efficiently and freed the tortoise.
The tortoise immediately slipped into the thick bushes.
The mouse continued on this path.
The crow flew fast and indicated the deer that the work was accomplished when the deer ran with a lightening speed and vanished in the trees.
The hunter returned empty handed.
He consoled himself.
At least I have the tortoise with me for today's meal.
When he reached the place where he had left the stick in the bag,
He found the rope nibbled.
He was shocked and felt sorry to run after the uncertain,
Leaving behind his certain gain.
The Jackal and the Drum.
One day,
A jackal called Gomaya was very hungry and was wandering about in search of food.
After some time,
He wandered out of jungle he lived in and reached a deserted battlefield.
In this deserted battlefield,
A battle was fought recently.
The fighting armies had left behind a drum,
Which was lying under a tree.
As strong winds blew,
The branches of the tree got rubbed against the drum.
This made a strange noise.
When the jackal heard this sound,
He got very frightened and thought of running away.
If I cannot flee from here before I am seen by the person making all this noise,
I will be in trouble.
As he was about to run away,
He had a second thought.
It is unwise to run away from something without knowing.
Instead,
I must be careful in finding out the source of this noise.
He took the courage to creep forward cautiously.
When he saw the drum,
He realized it was only the wind that was causing all the noise.
He continued his search for food and near the drum,
He found sufficient food and plenty of water.
The moral is,
Only the brave succeed in life.
The Lion and the Bull.
Once a merchant was coming back in his bullock-cart from the market.
After doing day's business,
On his way,
He had to pass through a dense forest.
While passing through the jungle,
Suddenly one of his bulls collapsed.
The merchant climbed down from the bullock-cart and went near the collapsed bull.
After examining him,
He found that the bull was stuck by sudden illness and was breathing his last.
The merchant was in daldrums.
Whether to take care of this bull or to move from there,
Leaving the bull behind,
Since it was not safe to stay in the forest after sunset.
The merchant drove away his bullock-cart with the help of the other bull leaving behind the ailing bull in the forest.
The bull had collapsed due to the long stretch of work.
The next morning,
The bull felt better and grazed along the green grass in the jungle.
Slowly and slowly he regained his strength.
Days passed.
The bull roamed freely in the jungle and enjoyed the shrubs.
Now he did not have to work.
Soon the bull became strong and hefty.
One day after enjoying a good meal,
The bull belched loudly.
The loud belching reached the ear of a lion king.
The lion had never before heard such a strange sound.
So he got panicked.
He said to his courtiers,
It seems some strange animal is roaring.
It could be a horrifying monster too.
Eventually the belching caused a good amount of panic and confusion among the lion and other animals.
Finally the king lion ordered two of his courtiers,
The bear and the jackal to inquire the source of this terrible sound.
Both of them proceeded in the direction of the sound.
When they reached there,
They found the abandoned bull.
The bear asked,
Who are you?
Why are you making such a strange sound?
The bull replied,
I am a bull.
Sorry,
I couldn't control my loud belch and it caused inconvenience to you people.
The bear was happy to hear his humble words.
He asked the bull to accompany him.
They all went to the king.
The lion king was happy to know that there was no monster but only a bull.
The lion liked the polite bull and soon they become very good friends.
The jackal who was the right hand of the king and the powerful courtier till then did not like this development.
He decided to sow the seed of enmity between the two friends to revive his subdued power.
One day the evil jackal went to the lion and said,
Your majesty I have heard that the bull wants to kill you and wishes to become the king of the jungle.
The lion roared,
How can you say like this?
The jackal replied,
I have heard him discussing the evil plan with some other animals.
He pretends himself as your friend but actually he's your biggest rival.
The lion fumed and ordered the jackal to call the bull immediately.
The jackal then went to the bull and said,
The lion has summoned you.
He wants to kill you.
The king is threatened of your rising strength.
The bull said,
But I'm his friend.
Why does he think like this?
The cunning jackal said,
You think like this because you are a nice and simple person but I can assure you that you are no less stronger than this cruel lion.
So don't allow yourself to become a prey of his cruelty.
Go and challenge him to fight.
The vicious words took away the wisdom of the bull.
He went to the lion and challenged him to fight.
The lion who was skeptical about the bull's friendship after hearing the cunning jackal did not apply his wit and attacked angrily on the bull.
Soon the lion killed the bull.
The cunning jackal was too happy to succeed in his evil plan.
However,
The losers were the lion who lost a good friend and the bull who lost his life for believing the baseless versions.
Today's story is monkey and the wedge.
There was once a merchant who employed many carpenters and masons to build a temple in his garden.
Regularly they would start work in the morning and take a break from the midday meals and return to resume work till evening.
One day a group of monkeys arrived at the site of the building and watched the workers leaving their midday meals.
One of the carpenters was sawing a huge log of wood.
Since it was only half done,
He placed a wedge in between to prevent the log from closing up.
He then went off along with other workers for his meal.
When all the workers were gone,
The monkeys came down from the trees and started jumping around the site and playing with the instruments.
There was this one particular monkey who got very curious about the wedge that was placed between the logs.
He sat down on the log and having placed himself in between the half split log,
Whoops,
Got hold of the wedge as it started pulling at it.
All of a sudden the wedge came out and as a result the half split log closed in and the monkey got caught in the gap of the log.
As was his destiny,
He was severely wounded.
The wise indeed say,
One who interferes in others work surely comes to grief.
The swans and the tortoise.
There was a lake where a tortoise lived with his two swan friends.
The place was beautiful and the lake had plenty of fishes.
All the three friends lived there happily.
Once the entire region around the lake did not receive any rainfall throughout the rainy season.
So the lake started drying up.
Due to insufficient water in the lake,
The fishes started dying too.
Looking at the adverse situation,
The worried swans said,
We should leave this place as soon as we can.
Otherwise we will die of hunger.
Next day the swans flew in search of another water body.
After flying for some time,
They found a pond near the city.
Both the swans came back happily and informed their friend tortoise.
Oh friend tortoise,
Tomorrow we will leave this place and go to another pond which is full of water and fishes.
Listening to the swans,
The tortoise became sad.
He said,
Dear friends,
You can fly and shift to the pond but I shall be left behind to die without food as I cannot walk up to the pond.
The swans and the tortoise had been living together happily.
So the swans felt so sorry for the tortoise.
They too wanted to take the tortoise there.
At last they found an idea.
The swans brought a strong stick and asked the tortoise to hold the stick tightly in the middle of his mouth.
Then both the swans held the either side of the stick in their beaks and flew in the sky.
Before leaving,
The swans strictly warned the tortoise not to speak while flying in the air,
Lest it would result in his fall.
The tortoise who was flying for the first time was quite ecstatic and enjoying the flight.
After flying for some time,
The swans and the tortoise reached nearby a city.
When they flew above the city,
The people were amazed to watch the scene.
One person said in amazement,
See how two swans are carrying the turtle.
Others said,
No,
No,
It looks like the flying tortoise.
The third person said something else.
The tortoise who had been listening to various conflicting statements since long could not contain himself and opened his mouth to correct the people.
As he opened the mouth,
He could not speak a single word.
Before that,
He fell on the hard ground and died sadly.
The Lion and the Rabbit.
In a jungle there lived an arrogant lion.
The lion was strong and powerful.
Wherever he went in the jungle,
Irrespective of whether he was hungry or not,
He killed the animals.
The callousness of the lion had caused a great amount of anxiety among the animals.
One day,
The worried animals called for a meeting.
They discussed a plan to alleviate their problem.
The animals then decided to send the mighty elephant to the lion to convey their proposal.
The next day,
The elephant went to the lion and said,
Okay,
We animals request you not to kill us unnecessarily.
We are ready to fulfill your requirements.
We animals will send one animal daily to you as your food.
It will satisfy your hunger and the innocent animals will not be killed unnecessarily.
The lion listened to the elephant peacefully and then finally agreed.
However,
He cautioned the elephant,
Be firm on your promise and send me my food in time.
If the promise is broken,
I will kill all of you.
The elephant promised him that there would not be any negligence on their part.
Every day,
Some or the other animal was sent to the lion's den.
The lion was very happy as he was getting his meals without any effort.
Though sending an animal to the lion every day was a sad fact,
The animals were consoled by the thought that they were not being killed senselessly.
One day,
It was the turn of a rabbit to go to the lion's den.
Now,
This was a very clever rabbit.
He started early from his place but did not go straight to the lion's den.
He wandered for a long time in the forest.
While wandering,
He thought of a wonderful plan to just get rid of the lion.
By the time the rabbit reached the lion's den,
It was well past afternoon.
The hungry lion was strolling angrily outside the cave.
When the lion saw the rabbit coming,
He roared,
Is this the time to come?
Moreover,
You're too small for my appetite.
I will not spare a single animal of this jungle.
The short rabbit pretended as if he was very much frightened and said,
Your majesty,
Of course,
I have come late but it's not my fault.
When I was on my way to your den,
I met another lion.
He was not allowing me to visit you.
He claimed himself as the king of the jungle.
Listening to this,
The lion became angry and he roared,
What?
The other lion claimed himself the king?
How dare he?
The clever rabbit instigated him further.
Yes,
Your majesty,
When I said that he was not the king as you were stronger than him,
He threw a challenge and asked me to convey his challenge to you.
A challenge?
A lion roared.
The rabbit said,
Yes,
Your majesty,
He wants to fight with you to prove his claim.
On hearing this,
The proud lion went mad.
He asked the rabbit to take him to the other lion's palace.
The sly rabbit rushed towards the big well.
The angry lion followed him.
When both of them reached the well,
The rabbit said,
Oh great king,
The other lion lives inside the well,
Inside this well.
The lion roared and came near the well to see his rival.
The lion peeped in and saw his own angry image inside.
The lion roared out loud.
His own voice echoed from the deep well.
The foolish lion thought it was his rival that was roaring as well and challenging him.
Out of anger,
He thoughtlessly jumped inside the well to teach the other lion a lesson and now he drowned in the deep water of the well and died immediately.
The happy rabbit came back to his fellow animals and told them everything.
Everyone praised him for his intelligence and they lived happily ever after thereafter.
The mice and the elephants.
Once upon a time,
A deadly epidemic spread in a distant village.
The people of the village deserted it and went away to live in some other place.
A few mice made this village their home.
Soon the deserted village became their fort.
The mice lived there happily and peacefully.
Near the village,
There was a big forest.
In the forest,
There lived a big group of elephants.
The elephants were happy in the jungle until they did not face any acute scarcity of water in the forest.
The elephants,
Who needed a lot of water to drink and bathe,
Found it extremely difficult to survive.
One day,
One of the elephants informed their leader that there was a big lake near a village.
This village was the same village where the mice were living.
The troubled leader immediately instructed his followers to proceed towards the lake.
All the elephants rushed enthusiastically.
They crossed the village running.
While passing through the village,
They unknowingly trampled hundreds of mice under their feet.
After drinking water,
They returned through the same way again and again killed a number of mice along the way.
The worried and grieved mice ran to their king and requested him to do something since it was going to be a daily affair.
The king said,
I have heard that the leader of the elephants is a mice fellow.
If we go there and apprise him of our problem,
He will surely understand it.
So,
The king along with some other mice went to the leader of the elephants.
The leader was indeed an understanding fellow.
He said,
Dear friends,
I did not know that by passing through your village we were causing such a grave harm to you.
I promise that from now onwards we will change our way to reach the lake.
The mice were highly impressed by the friendly gesture of the elephant's leader.
The mouse king thanked the elephants and came back to his place.
Shortly after the incident,
One day when the elephants were passing through the jungle along with their leader,
A few of them fell prey to a poacher's trap.
The elephants knew that after some time the poacher would come and take them away.
All of a sudden the troubled leader remembered the mice who were living in the nearby village.
The leader asked one of his fellow elephants who was out of the trap to rush towards the village and inform the mice about the mishap.
The messenger elephant ran as fast as he could and reached the village.
There he gave his leader's message to the king of the mice.
The mice were grateful to the mighty elephants for their kind gesture.
So in no time,
Hundreds of mice rushed to the rescue of their mighty friends.
After reaching there,
The mice started nibbling the ropes tied on the elephant's feet.
Much before the poachers could come to take the elephants away,
The elephants were freed.
The mighty elephants thanked their small friends for their great help.
Their unique friendship lasted a long time.
Thank you.
The Song of a Donkey.
In a village there lived a washerman.
The washerman had a donkey.
The donkey had to work the whole day.
The donkey carried dirty clothes every day to the village pond and returned home with washed dry clothes.
The donkey was tired of this hard work.
Besides this,
The washerman also did not feed him well.
Fed up with the poor treatment,
One evening the donkey fled from the washerman's house.
The donkey reached a villager's farm.
The farm was full of fruits and vegetables.
There he met a jackal.
The jackal was stealthily eating the cucumbers.
Soon they become friends.
Free from the washerman's slavery,
The donkey was very happy there.
Both the friends roamed in the night and enjoyed the farmer's cucumber and other fruits.
In the morning they returned to their respective places.
Now life is easy and enjoyable for the donkey.
One day when the donkey and the jackal were feasting upon the farm's fruits,
The donkey said,
Oh friend what an ecstatic full moon night is there.
Tonight I feel like singing like a beautiful song.
The jackal said,
How foolish you are.
Do you want to invite trouble for us?
But the donkey remained adamant.
He said,
I am unable to stop my urge for singing.
I would certainly sing a song.
The jackal was wise.
He said,
Okay if you want to sing you can.
However,
Let me first go out of this farm.
With this the jackal sneaked out of the farm.
The stupid donkey then started singing loudly.
When the owner of the farm heard the braying of the donkey,
He rushed to the farm.
Seeing the donkey enjoying in his farm,
The farmer became very angry and beat him brutally.
The farmer then called the donkey's master and charged him for the destruction caused by the donkey.
The washerman roped the donkey and took him to his place.
The angry master also gave a good thrashing to the stupid creature and employed him on the work harder than before.
No doubt that it was the donkey who paid a very heavy price for his own foolishness.
The Talking Cave.
Once there was a lion in a deep forest.
The lion had enjoyed his kingship throughout his life.
Wherever he went,
The animals were scared of his strength and towering stature.
Time passed.
Slowly and slowly he grew old and weak.
His strength did not remain the same.
At times,
He could not even catch a single prey in the whole day.
One day,
The old hungry lion was passing through the jungle.
While walking,
He came across a cave.
Suddenly,
The lion was struck with an idea to catch his prey easily.
The lion entered into the empty cave and sat there hiding inside.
The lion thought,
When the owner of the cave returns in the evening,
I will pounce upon him and kill him.
The cave belonged to a fox.
When the fox returned in the evening,
He noticed footprints of the lion.
All the prints were in the direction of the cave but none of them suggested the exit of the lion from the cave.
The clever fox sensed the danger.
He did not enter into the cave and remained outside.
The fox thought for a while and spoke out loud.
Hello cave,
Why are you not speaking to me today?
You welcome me warmly every day when I come back to you.
What is the matter today?
The cave remained silent and no response.
The fox said again,
If you remain quiet like this,
I shall go to some other cave.
The lion who was witnessing this one-way conversation thought,
It seems this is a talking cave.
Today it's not speaking because it is frightened of me.
I must speak on behalf of the cave else I will lose a good dinner.
The lion spoke loudly,
Welcome my dear fox,
Please do not leave me.
I very much like your company.
Hearing this,
The fox ran away and thus evaded the danger of the king lion's because of his presence of mind.
The wise doves.
Once upon a time a flock of doves lived in a jungle.
One day the doves set out in search of food.
The doves flew for quite some time but unfortunately they could not get any food.
The doves were hungry and exhausted.
Suddenly a young dove saw a pile of grains scattered on the ground.
The happy young dove informed this to his other friends.
The hungry doves rushed in the direction of food.
But the chief of the flock was very wise.
He stopped the young doves and said,
Wait,
In this deep jungle where there is no habitat around,
How can so much grain be scattered?
It must be a trick of some hunter.
However,
The exhausted and hungry young doves did not pay any heed to his warning and settled down to eat the grains.
In no time all the young doves found themselves trapped in the hunter's nest.
The scared young doves called their chief.
Please help out,
We are sorry for ignoring the warning and now we are facing the consequences.
We promise you we will never do this again.
The chief felt pity over the young doves and decided to save them from this unexpected calamity.
The chief said,
All of you exert together and fly with the net.
The doves followed the instructions.
The hunter was hiding behind the bush waiting for the right opportunity to come out.
When he saw them flying with the net he shouted and helplessly ran after them but in vain.
All the doves reached high up in the sky.
The chief of the doves then directed,
Fly up to the temple which is behind the hill.
The doves obeyed him and flew towards the temple.
After reaching near the temple,
The chief said,
Get down here.
One of my old friends,
King of the rats lives here with his family.
He will certainly help us out from the calamity.
The chief then went near the hole in the temple and gave a call.
Oh friend,
Please come out and please help my friends here.
Recognizing the voice of his old friend,
The king of the rats rushed out.
Seeing the other doves in the net,
He at once understood their trouble.
The noble king then rushed to his hole and returned with a number of rats.
All the rats put their efforts together,
Nipped the net and set the doves free.
The relieved doves thanked the rats and flew back home happily.
