A TO Z IN THE WORLD

  The Mad Fisherman The Mad Fisherman : It was market day in the city and carts and animals had arrived from all over the countryside. There were pedlars and merchants, breeders and farmers, noblemen and clowns. Even the arrival of the king was expected. In the stable, a young foal was born. But as soon as it was able to stand, it fled in terror from all the noise and excitement and hid between two oxen that were pulling a plough. The owner of the foal wanted his animal back, but the owner of the oxen said, 'The foal is mine, because it has chosen for itself.' They took their dispute to the king who decided that the foal should remain where it was, as if the two oxen had become its parents from the moment the foal itself had chosen them. The next day, when the king was out in his carriage, he came across the first owner of the foal standing in the middle of the street with a fishing net. He was casting his net as if he were fishing to the amusement of ever...

  The Jealous Tree The Jealous Tree : Once, a man's feet struck against a large stone on a path. He picked it up and placed it under a tree. A while later, a painter came to paint a painting under that tree. As he left, some red paint fell on the stone and looked like vermilion. Sometimes later, a flower seller sat under that tree to make a flower garland. When she got up to leave, some flowers fell near the stone. The people thought that the stone was some God's idol and started worshipping it. The tree grew jealous. He thought, "People come to offer prayers to the stone. Before this, they used to come to sit in my shade." So, the tree picked the stone and flung it far away. When the people came to offer prayers, they found the stone missing. They said, "If God has left this place, then this place must be unholy and so is this tree." So they cut down the tree. With its dying breath, the tree thought, "Ah! Now I am getting punished ...

  The Intelligent Painter The Intelligent Painter : Once, a very old and rich woman lived in the town. She was of a rather eccentric nature. Once, she asked a famous painter to paint her portrait. The painter completed the painting in a month. So she went to get the painting. Her dog accompanied her. The painter unveiled the old woman's portrait and waited for her comment. The old woman turned to her dog and asked, "Sheru, how is my portrait?" But the dog did not look at the painting. The old woman angrily said, "Even my dog does not recognise me. I'll not pay you for this painting." The painter replied, "Come in the morning again and I'll rectify the mistake." In the night, the painter rubbed a piece of meat at the lower edge of the painting. Next day the old woman came with her dog. The dog smelt the meat and he started licking the painting. The old woman thought that the dog liked her portrait and paid money to the painte...

  The Hunting Dog and The Guard Dog The Hunting Dog and The Guard Dog : Aman had two dogs and he trained one as a hunter and another as a guard dog. Whenever the hunting dog caught some game the tastiest morsels were always given to the guard dog. One day the hunter protested to the guard dog. 'It's not fair. I work at hunting all day long and you get your food without doing anything.' 'That must be the way the master wants it,' replied the guard dog. 'Obviously it is more important for him to reward the dog who protects his home than the one who goes out hunting.'

  The Hare and The Fox The Hare and The Fox : “What are you staring at?' said a fox to a hare who was observing him. 'I was wondering,' said the hare, 'if you really are as cunning as people say or is it that you just take advantage of the foolishness of the others?' 'That's an interesting question,' replied the fox. 'Why didn't you come to my house and we can discuss it over dinner?' When the hare reached the fox's house, he realised, although, the table was set, there was no food on it, so he ran off at once. Can you guess what the fox was planning for dinner?

  The Guilty Person The Guilty Person : Akrarn worked as a servant in a rich man's mansion. He used to do various domestic works. But he had a bad habit. Each time he was alone, he would steal something to eat. One day, the owner's family went to attend a wedding. Soon Akrarn was all alone in the house. He went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. There he, drank some juice and ate some sweets. He saw two oranges and ate them. Just then the doorbell rang. Akrarn got scared. He thought, "Oh! May be the owner has come. What do I do with these orange peels? If I stay to hide them I'll be late at the door. If I keep them here I'll be caught." So Akrarn ate up the orange peels too and then he opened the door. But to Akrarns disappointment, there was a postman to deliver a registered letter. When he left, Akrarn thought, "A thief is always afraid of being caught. Today that fear made me eat the orange peels too. I'll never steal ...

  The Greatest Solution The Greatest Solution : Once, a poor beggar lived in a village. One day he thought of going to meet the village head to beg for money. When the beggar reached there, he came to know that the village head had gone to meet the king to ask for grants for village. The beggar thought that as the king was helping the village head, so he must be richer than the village head. So he decided to go and beg from the king. As he reached the capital city, he saw a large crowd outside a temple. He enquired and found out that the king was visiting the temple. The beggar looked in and saw the king asking God to bless him and to keep his treasury full all the time. The beggar thought that God was greater than the king and he should beg from him. Then God appeared before the beggar and said, "The greatest solution to your poverty is hard work. You must start working to earn a living and stop begging." The beggar heeded God's advice and gave up be...

  The Golden Idol The Golden Idol : Once, a very rich man came into a bi city to find some chances to expand his business. He went around the markets and business centres of the city to find out about new business. Then as he was wandering around, he reached at the outskirts of the city where the city ended and the villages began. There were some ruins of ancient temples. As he sat down to rest, he noticed something shining in the ruins. He quickly went there and removed the stones and rocks and found a large golden idol of a lion. He thought, “Oh! I am so lucky. God had given me a chance to become wealthier. This idol is made of solid gold. Should I take this idol home or not?". Then again he thought, "But what is the use of this idol? What if the lion's face scares me at night? I think I should send my servants to fetch it and I will watch it only from a safe distance." So the man walked away. He was like many other rich people who did not know h...

  The Golden Chance The Golden Chance : Once the people said to the king, "Your Majesty, nowadays a cheat has been cheating and stealing from us. Please protect us from him." The king asked his spies to look for the cheat. He was soon caught and brought to the court. But the clever cheat pleaded with tears that he would never cheat again and he would become an honest man now. The king trusted the cheat and forgave him. The cheat went away but he did not change his habit of cheating. Just outside the city, he met a rich merchant. He made him unconscious and threw him in a well. He took his money but while running, the cheat slipped and fell. His head struck a stone and he became unconscious. Some spies saw him. They rescued the merchant and then took the cheat back to the king. The cheat asked for forgiveness again. But king said, "I forgave you once to help you change. It was a golden chance. But now you will be sentenced to death."

  The Fox and Wolf in Court The Fox and Wolf in Court : The wolf accused the fox of having cheated him. The fox, in turn, accused the wolf of having robbed him. They took their dispute to court and it fell to the monkey to judge the issue. Unfortunately, the whole case was so full of contradictions that no-one could make head or tail of it. Finally the monkey lost his patience. 'The wolf is guilty because he falsely accused the fox,' he decided and the fox is guilty because we all know he is a thief by nature. And since the right place for both liars and robbers is prison. It is prison that I will send them both!'

  The Fox and The Snake The Fox and The Snake : Once, a fox lived in a forest. One fine morning, he was roaming around the forest and he was feeling bored. As he was passing by, he saw a huge, thick and long snake lying under some trees. His long body stretched from one comer of the path to the .other. The fox got much impressed by the snake's big size. He thought, "It's such a large snake. It must eat a lot to be so big. I wish I will be as large and long as this snake. I too must lie on the ground and stretch my body. If I crawl on the rough ground and stretch my body end to end, I will surely become as long as him. I must try this at once." So the fox lay down on the path by the snake's side and started stretching his body. He tried hard but his bones and muscles ached, yet he did not grow long enough. At last he stretched so hard that his stomach burst open and he died on the spot. The poor fox did not know that one can be equal to one's ...

  The Fox and Wolf in Court The Fox and Wolf in Court : The wolf accused the fox of having cheated him. The fox, in turn, accused the wolf of having robbed him. They took their dispute to court and it fell to the monkey to judge the issue. Unfortunately, the whole case was so full of contradictions that no-one could make head or tail of it. Finally the monkey lost his patience. 'The wolf is guilty because he falsely accused the fox,' he decided and the fox is guilty because we all know he is a thief by nature. And since the right place for both liars and robbers is prison. It is prison that I will send them both!

  The Fox and The Snake The Fox and The Snake : Once, a fox lived in a forest. One fine morning, he was roaming around the forest and he was feeling bored. As he was passing by, he saw a huge, thick and long snake lying under some trees. His long body stretched from one comer of the path to the .other. The fox got much impressed by the snake's big size. He thought, "It's such a large snake. It must eat a lot to be so big. I wish I will be as large and long as this snake. I too must lie on the ground and stretch my body. If I crawl on the rough ground and stretch my body end to end, I will surely become as long as him. I must try this at once." So the fox lay down on the path by the snake's side and started stretching his body. He tried hard but his bones and muscles ached, yet he did not grow long enough. At last he stretched so hard that his stomach burst open and he died on the spot. The poor fox did not know that one can be equal to one's ...

  The Fox and The Monkey King The Fox and The Monkey King : All the animals of the forest gathered to elect their new king. They chose the monkey because they were amused by his antics. The fox was very disappointed at not being chosen and waited for a chance to get it. One day, he found a piece of meat on a path. He realised at once it was the bait for a trap. But off he went to the monkey and offered to show him where it was as a sign of his loyalty. The monkey king at once fell into the trap and the fox burst out laughing. 'With so few wits, you cannot even rule yourself. Let alone animals.'

  The Fourteenth Man The Fourteenth Man : Mohan was an educated but unemployed young man. So one day, he decided that he would wait at the palace gates for the Prime Minister. Then he would talk to him about a job. So the next day, Mohan positioned himself at the palace gates to wait for the Prime Minister. To pass his time, Mohan started counting the people who went in through the gates. Throughout the day, he counted fourteen strangers going in. By evening, thirteen of them had come out. When the Prime Minister came out of the palace gates, Mohan asked for a job but unfortunately the Prime Minister said no to him. Then Mohan mentioned that only thirteen out of the fourteen strangers had come out of the palace. At once the Prime Minister ordered for a search and soon a man was found, hiding in the king's bed chamber. He was an enemy spy who had come to kill the king. The Prime Minister got impressed by Mohan's alertness and made him the king's bodyguard...

  The Foolish Frog The Foolish Frog : Once there were two frog friends. As they grew up, one of the frogs made his home in the rocks and shrubs that grew by the lake in the forest. But, the second from explored the surroundings for a better place to live in. Soon he found a place just by the edge of a road that ran through the forest. A few months later, the first frog said, "Why don't you come and stay with me near the lake? Many chariots and carts pass on the road. What if someone runs over and killed you?" "Oh! Don't worry about me. I am used to the carts now. I know how to avoid them and I don't like the boring lake." So the second frog stayed by the road. One day as luck would have it, a horse cart came down the round. The frog could not hop away from the road in time so he was crushed under the cart's wheel. The first frog felt sorry. He thought, "One should always be prepared for the worst time. My friend lost his life b...

  The Foolish Dogs The Foolish Dogs : Once, there was a rich shepherd. He had a large number of sheep. He trained two fierce dogs to guard his sheep. The dogs were very loyal and worked well at keeping watch. One night, a wolf saw the sheep in the pen. When he went to get the sheep, the two dogs barked loudly and chased him back into the woods. The wolf thought that he must make some plan to get the dogs away from the sheep. He thought very hard and soon got an idea. He went and tried to make friends with the dogs. He said, "Brother, I see you tied with chains and serving men. Come with me to the woods. You can roam around freely and eat anything you like." The dogs liked the idea and followed the wolf into the woods. The wolf led both the foolish dogs to his cave. There, the other wolves attacked and killed the dogs. Then all the wolves went and ate up the sheep to their hearts content. Due to their foolishness, the dogs caused a loss to their master a...

  The Farmer and His Sons The Farmer and His Sons : A farmer, who realised that he was on his deathbed, called his sons to him. ‘I am about to leave you,’ he murmured,’ but I have something for you. Dig up the vineyard and share everything you find there.’ The son thought that the father had meant a hidden treasure and thus, the moment he died, they began to hoe and dig at a furious pace. They did not find any treasure, for there was none to find, but the earth in the vineyard, hoed and dug so thoroughly, produced that year an enormous quantity of excellent grapes.

  The Enemies The Enemies : Earlier, the mongoose used to be a poisonous animal. All the animals used to fear him. One day all the animals, discussed how all of them were troubled by the mongoose's cruel attacks. It was decided that the mongoose was to be stopped from such acts. Then the snake said, "I can do this task easily." And then the snake told his plan to the others. In those days, the snake was not a poisonous animal. The snake went to the mongoose and said, "My friend, I am here to warn you. All the animals are coming in a large group to snatch away your sack of poison." "Let them come. I'll bite them to death," the mongoose challenged. "You can fight the smaller animals, but not the larger ones," the snake said. So the trusting mongoose gave his poison sack to the snake for safe keep, but the snake never returned it to him. Since then, the mongoose fights with the snake to gain back his poison sack.

  The Eagle and The Crow The Eagle and The Crow : A crow saw an eagle dropped down from the sky on to a lamb, caught it with its claws and flew straight back with it to its nest. The crow thought he would like to do the same. But the lamb was much too heavy for him and what was worse. The crow's little claws got caught in the lamb's thick fur, so the bird was trapped there. The shepherd saw the crow, caught it and put it in a cage. So, the one who thought to imitate an eagle ended up being laughed at by everyone. Think before you act.

  The Dog of A Hunter The Dog of A Hunter : Once, a hunter went to the forest to hunt some rabbits. His fierce faithful dog accompanied him. They had both gone on such hunting trips together many a times. As they passed by a clearing, they saw that a snake and a mongoose were having a fierce fight. The hunter and his dog watched the bloody fight for a few minutes. Sometimes, the poisonous snake would raise his head and strike at the mongoose. At other times, the mongoose would bite the snake. As the fight grew fierce, the hunter thought of stopping it. So he aimed his gun and shot the mongoose dead. Then the hunter sent his dog to get the dead mongoose. The dog obeyed his master and ran to the spot. The mongoose's bloody and motionless body lay on the ground. Just as the dog picked the dead mongoose in his mouth, he let out a painful yelp. The poisonous snake had bit and killed the dog. The regretful hunter thought, "I was wrong to kill the mongoose. The e...

  The Dog and The Donkey The Dog and The Donkey : The dog was awakened by a noise, but went back to sleep at once. 'Why don't you bark?' asked the amazed donkey. 'It could be thieves!' 'You would be better advised to mind your own business,' he told the donkey. The indignant donkey began to bray as loudly as he could. He frightened off the thieves and caused the master to come running. The master was so furious at being woken up that he began to beat the donkey. I warned you, said the experienced old dog afterwards, 'With a master like that, it is better to think only of yourself, first and foremost.'

  The Dishonest Bear The Dishonest Bear : Once, the wolf said some insulting words to the lion king during a conversation and ran away. In anger the lion king started chasing the wolf to kill him. As the wolf ran around the forest he saw a bear. He said, "Please save me. The king is chasing me. He will surely kill me. Can you hide me somewhere?" "Yes, why not?" said the bear. "Come to my cave. You can hide there as long as you want." The wolf went and hid in his cave. A few moments later, the lion came and asked the bear, "Have you seen the wolf?" The bear replied, "No, I haven't, Your Majesty." But he signalled the lion to look in the cave. The lion did not understand the signal and went away. Soon the wolf came out of the cave and started to walk away. "Won't you thank me?" the bear asked. "What for?" the wolf said, "For lying to the lion or signalling him about me. You are not an ...

  The Cunning Wolf The Cunning Wolf : Once, a hungry wolf searched for food all over the forest. He soon reached the edge of the forest. There a stream was flowing. As the wolf was walking around, he heard a strange sound. He strained his ear to hear better. He heard a lamb's bleating. The wolf's heart filled with hope that may be he could have a lamb for lunch and drink the sweet stream water later. Soon he spotted a lamb grazing on a small sloping hill. But when the wolf tried to climb the hill, he slipped and fell. Then to entice the lamb, he said, "What are you doing on this high hill? You will fall in to the deep gorge. Get down here to the meadow to graze the green grass. You can drink the sweet cool stream water too." But the clever lamb knew about the wolf's nature. So he called back, "No, Mr. Wolf, I am alright here. There is enough grass for me on the hill. The wolf went away with a heavy heart. He realized that cleverness was mig...

  The Cricket and The Ants The Cricket and The Ants : It was summer and the cricket sat on an ear of wheat happily singing and enjoying the sun. He felt extremely sorry for the ants who worked ceaselessly looking for grains of wheat to take back to their store. Poor things, they really did not know-how to enjoy life. But soon the winter came and the thoughtless cricket had no food at all to eat. He would surely have died of hunger if it had not been for the generous ants who had given him some of their grain. "Think of keeping something for the rainy days."

  The Correct Solution The Correct Solution : Once, a king wanted to find a wise man to be his Prime Minister. So according to a plan, he made a riddle. "A man has a boat to cross the river. Only two can go in the boat at one time. The man has to take a lion, a goat and a bundle of grass to the other bank so that in a way no one will eat the other. What will he do?" No one in the kingdom could give the answer. Then a young man went to the king and said, "Your Majesty, the man will take the goat to the other bank. Then he will go to get the lion. He will bring the lion to the other bank and take back the goat with him. Then he will take the grass to the lion because lion won't eat the grass. He will row back to get the goat to the other bank." The king was amazed by his cleverness because he had never let the grass and the goat or the lion and the goat to be together. So the king was sure of his intelligence and appointed him as the Prime Minist...

  The Coconut The Coconut : Once, a miser went to buy a coconut. The coconut seller asked for ten rupees for one coconut. "I'll pay you five rupees," said the miser. "Then go to the wholesale market, two miles away. Only there you will get a coconut for five rupees," replied the coconut seller. The miser walked to the wholesale market. He picked a coconut there and said to the coconut seller, "I will pay rupees three for this." The vendor said, "If you want a coconut for three rupees then walk three miles to the seashore." The miser walked to the seashore. "I'll pay rupee one for a coconut," miser said to the coconut seller at the seashore. "I won't sell it for a rupee. Why don't you climb the coconut tree and get it for free?" The miser climbed up the tree, but he slipped and fell on ground and broke his back bone. He had to spend ten thousand rupees on treatment. All this just for a free...

  The Clever Mouse The Clever Mouse : A small mouse was feeling mischievous. He was in a jolly mood. He jumped around everywhere. Just then, he saw a big bull sleeping under a tree. The bull looked huge and had sharp and long horns. His large nostrils were open closing with every breath he took in and let out. The mouse saw the bull breathing. He heard the loud snorts that were coming from his nostrils. The mouse went to the bull and shut his nostrils. The bull was woken up when he could not breathe. He got up and saw the mouse running away. The bull was very angry. He thought of teaching a lesson to the mouse. He chased the mouse to punish him. The tiny mouse was quick on his feet. He ran fast even as the huge bull chased him. Then the mouse ran into a hole in a wall. The bull crashed his head into the wall and started bleeding. The wall crashed from a side but still the mouse did not emerge from the hole. The bull understood that, one must not think that a smal...

  The Clever Merchant The Clever Merchant : One rainy night, two men entered a guest house to rent rooms. There was only one vacant room. So, both of them had to settle to share it. Actually one of them was a thief and the other was a rich diamond merchant. The thief had been following the merchant for sometime. The merchant was carrying a lot of cash and precious diamonds with him. When the guest house owner gave the same room to both of them, the thief’s heart filled with joy. Both of them kept their luggage in the room. A few minutes later, the merchant went out for dinner. The thief searched through the merchant's luggage, but he did not find any diamonds. Soon the merchant returned and both of them went to sleep. Next morning the thief asked the merchant, "Sir, I am a thief. I was trying to steal your diamonds. But I did not find them in your bag." The merchant smiled and said, "The diamonds are kept in your bag. I knew that you would never se...

  The Clever Jester The Clever Jester : Once, a jester worked in a royal court. The king who ruled the kingdom respected the jester a lot. The jester was not only good at cracking jokes but was clever enough to help the king in some official matters. Many a times the jester would make the king the butt of his joke. One day he joked about the king as usual but the king felt insulted by it and grew very angry. In anger he said, "Guards, seize this man. He is making fun of me, the king of this country! Put him in prison. He will be hanged three days from now." Three days later, the jester was brought to court. The king asked, "You will be hanged an hour later. Choose how you want to die? It will be your last wish." The clever jester replied, "Your Majesty, I choose to die of old age." "Ha…Ha…Ha…" After understanding the jester's witty remark, the king laughed loudly. By then his anger had subsided so he forgave the jester. T...

  The Class Monitor The Class Monitor : All the students were excited because they were going for a picnic. The teacher called Amar and said, "Amar, I appoint you as the class monitor. You must make sure that all students get into the bus in a queue. No one must put their hand or head out of the window and keep a count of the number of students." Amar said, "Yes Madam, I'll do as you say." So, everyone enjoyed and had fun on the picnic. Then everyone sat in the bus to go back home. Just then, the teacher saw Amar putting his head out of the window. She got angry and scolded Amar, "How irresponsible you are, Amar! I made you class monitor to control, others, but you yourself are breaking the rule. Shame on you!" But Amar bowed his head and said, "Maam, I was acting per your instructions. I was looking out to see that no students should be left behind." The teacher felt embarrassed for scolding Amar without any fault of h...