Aesop's fable retold - THE WIND AND THE SUN

The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger. Suddenly they saw a traveller coming down the road, and the Sun said: "I see a way to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveller to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger. You begin."

So the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveller. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveller wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give in despair.

Then the Sun came out and shone in all his glory upon the traveller, who soon found it too hot to walk with his cloak on.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Kindness affects more than severity.

"Your wish is heard..."

Once upon a time there lived a stonecutter, who went every day to a great rock in the side of a big mountain and cut out slabs for gravestones or for houses. He understood very well the kinds of stones wanted for the different purposes, and as he was a careful workman he had plenty of customers. For a long time he was quite happy and contented, and asked for nothing better than what he had.
Now in the mountain dwelt a spirit which now and then appeared to men, and helped them in many ways to become rich and prosperous. The stonecutter, however, had never seen this spirit, and only shook his head, with an unbelieving air, when anyone spoke of it. But a time was coming when he learned to change his opinion.

One day the stonecutter carried a gravestone to the house of a rich man, and saw there all sorts of beautiful things, of which he had never even dreamed. Suddenly his daily work seemed to grow harder and heavier, and he said to himself: "Oh, if only I were a rich man, and could sleep in a bed with silken curtains and golden tassels, how happy I should be!"

And a voice answered him: "Your wish is heard; a rich man you shall be!"

At the sound of the voice the stonecutter looked around, but could see nobody. He thought it was all his fancy, and picked up his tools and went home, for he did not feel inclined to do any more work that day. But when he reached the little house where he lived, he stood still with amazement, for instead of his wooden hut was a stately palace filled with splendid furniture, and most splendid of all was the bed, in every respect like the one he had envied. He was nearly beside himself with joy, and in his new life the old one was soon forgotten.

It was now the beginning of summer, and each day the sun blazed more fiercely. One morning the heat was so great that the stonecutter could scarcely breathe, and he determined he would stop at home till the evening. He was rather dull, for he had never learned how to amuse himself, and was peeping through the closed blinds to see what was going on in the street, when a little carriage passed by, drawn by servants dressed in blue and silver. In the carriage sat a prince, and over his head a golden umbrella was held, to protect him from the sun's rays.

"Oh, if I were only a prince!" said the stonecutter to himself, as the carriage vanished around the corner. "Oh, if I were only a prince, and could go in such a carriage and have a golden umbrella held over me, how happy I should be!"

And a prince he was. Before his carriage rode one company of men and another behind it; servants dressed in scarlet and gold bore him along, the coveted umbrella was held over his head, everything his heart could desire was his. But yet it was not enough. He looked around still for something to wish for, and when he saw that in spite of the water he poured on the grass the rays of the sun scorched it, and that in spite of the umbrella held over his head each day his face grew browner and browner, he cried in his anger: "The sun is mightier than I; oh, if I were only the sun!"

And the mountain spirit answered: "Your wish is heard; the sun you shall be."

And the sun he was, and felt himself proud in his power. He shot his beams above and below, on earth and in heaven; he burnt up the grass in the fields and scorched the faces of princes as well as of poorer folk. but in a short time he began to grow tired of his might, for there seemed nothing left for him to do. Discontent once more filled his soul, and when a cloud covered his face, and hid the earth from him, he cried in his anger: "Does the cloud hold captive my rays, and is it mightier than I? Oh, that I were a cloud, and mightier than any!"

And the mountain spirit answered: "Your wish is heard; a cloud you shall be!"

And a cloud he was, and lay between the sun and the earth. He caught the sun's beams and held them, and to his joy the earth grew green again and flowers blossomed. But that was not enough for him, and for days and week he poured forth rain till the rivers overflowed their banks, and the crops of rice stood in water. Towns and villages were destroyed by the power of the rain, only the great rock on the mountainside remained unmoved. The cloud was amazed at the sight, and cried in wonder: "Is the rock, then, mightier than I? Oh, if I were only the rock!"

And the mountain spirit answered; "Your wish is heard; the rock you shall be!"

And the rock he was, and gloried in his power. Proudly he stood, and neither the heat of the sun nor the force of the rain could move him. "This is better than all!" he said to himself. But one day he heard a strange noise at his feet, and when he looked down to see what it could be, he saw a stonecutter driving tools into his surface. Even while he looked a trembling feeling ran all through him, and a great block broke off and fell upon the ground. Then he cried in his wrath: "Is a mere child of earth mightier than a rock? Oh, if I were only a man!"

And the mountain spirit answered: "Your wish is heard. A man once more you shall be!"

And a man he was, and in the sweat of his brow he toiled again at his trade of stone cutting. His bed was hard and his food scanty, but he had learned to be satisfied with it, and did not long to be something or somebody else. And as he never asked for things he did not have, or desired to be greater and mightier than other people, he was happy at last, and never again heard the voice of the mountain spirit.

Costly gifts...

One day a king stepped out of the gates of his palace and found a man standing there. The man had a plump chicken in his hands. On seeing the king he bowed respectfully and said: "Your Majesty, I gambled in your name and won this chicken. It belongs to you. Please accept it."

"Give it to my poultry keeper," said the king.

A few days later the king saw the man standing outside the gates again. This time he had a goat with him. "I won this goat in your name, Your Highness," he said after saluting the ruler. "It belongs to you."

The king was pleased.

"Give it to my goatkeeper," he said.

Some weeks later the man was at the palace gates once again. This time he had two men with him.

"I lost 5000 rupees to each of these men while playing in your name, Your Lordship," said the man. "I have no money to pay them."

The king now realised that he had made a mistake in accepting the man's gifts on the previous occasions. Now he could not refuse to help him. He paid off the two men and warned the gambler never to play in his name again.

Best wishes on the occasion of Diwali - the Festival of Lights...

Today, India celebrates Diwali - the Festival of Lights...



On this auspicious day, may you be blessed with peace and prosperity...

Smart daughter...smart wife...smart woman!

"Help me," the old man begged. "My neighbor has stolen from me."

The king gladly listened. It pleased him that others recognized his wisdom. "What exactly is the problem?" questioned the king.

"My neighbor stole my goats. I'm a poor man, too poor to replace them."

"And what do you have to say?" the king asked the complainant's neighbor.

"I don't know what he is talking about," answered the neighbor. "I have many goats but none of them belong to this man."

This would not be an easy problem to settle. The king would have to rely on his wisdom. It was the kind of problem he enjoyed the most.

"I have a test for you," announced the king. "Whoever passes the test will own the goats. Go home until you can answer this for me. I want to know what is the fastest thing in the world. Do not return until you have my answer."

The two men left shaking their heads. Who could answer that question?

The old man repeated the question to his daughter. She was as beautiful as she was wise. Right away, she whispered the answer that would please the king. The old man returned to the king the following morning.

The king was surprised. "You already have an answer for my question?"

"Yes," replied the old man, "it was not difficult."

"And what is the fastest thing in the world?"

"Time," answered the old man. "We never have enough of it. It always goes too fast. There is never enough time to do all that we want to do."

The answer amazed the king. He wasn't sure if he himself could have answered the question as well. "Who helped you? Who gave you these words?" demanded the king.

"They are my own words, my own thoughts," lied the old man. "There is no one else who helped me."

"If you are not telling the truth, I will punish you," warned the king.

The old man was too afraid to continue the lie. "It was my daughter, who gave me the words," he confessed. "She is a very wise girl."

"She must be!" thought the king. "I would like to meet your daughter," he told the old man.

Not long after that the old man presented his daughter to the king. If the king was amazed with her wisdom, he was captivated by her beauty. "You are indeed a wise and lovely girl. I would be honored to have you as my wife. Will you marry me?"

"The honor is mine," smiled the girl.

Although the king was pleased, he was also concerned about having such a wise wife. He did not want her to interfere with the problems brought before him. He didn't want to share this honor with anyone, not even his wife.

"Everything in my house is yours," declared the king. "I only have one rule for you. You must never involve yourself with the problems brought before me. This is your only warning. If you break this rule, I will send you from my palace."

The king's new wife only smiled at his command.

Things went well for quite some time. The king continued to hear people's problems while his new wife kept herself busy without becoming involved. Usually she agreed with his decisions.

One day, however, the king gave one of his puzzles to two boys who argued over a sheep. The king's new wife knew she shouldn't help the boy who really owned the sheep, but he was so upset. She finally asked him to explain his problem.

"The king has asked for the impossible," he sighed. "He gave us an egg and said that whoever could hatch the egg by tomorrow would own the sheep."

The girl knew she shouldn't help but the solution was so obvious. "Take some rice to the king," she instructed. "Tell him to plant it today so that in the morning you will have rice to feed your chicken. He will know that it is just as impossible to grow rice in one day as it is to hatch an egg that quickly."

The boy ran to the king with the rice. He said exactly the words he was told. The king was not impressed; he was angry! "Who told you this? Who gave you the rice?" he ordered. "These words are too wise for one so young."

"They are my own words, my own thoughts," said the boy too afraid to speak the truth. "There is no one else who helped me."

"If you are not speaking the truth, I will punish you," warned the king.

"It was your wife!" cried the boy. "She knew you'd understand the wisdom."

The king, furious his wife had broken his only rule for her, called her before him and scolded, "Didn't you know all that I have is yours? You have broken the only rule I had for you. Now, go back to your father's home."

"Before I go, may I fix you one final meal?" asked the girl. "Then, I will take what is mine and go."

"Yes," answered the king. "Make whatever you want. Take whatever you want. Just be sure that you do not remain here tonight!"

The king's wife prepared the king's favorite meal. She served it with a generous amount of his favorite wine. Before the meal was finished, the king became very drunk and quietly fell asleep. His wife's plans worked exactly as she had hoped.

With her family's help, she carried the king to her father's home. They placed him on a bed and he slept soundly through the night. In the morning the king's voice boomed throughout the house. "Where am I? What am I doing here?" he demanded.

His wife entered the room and grinned. "You said I could take whatever I wanted from your house. I wanted you and so I took you."

"You are certainly a wise woman," smiled the king. "Come return with me to our home. Only a fool would send away such a woman."

"And you, my husband, are no fool," whispered the clever wife.

A pig's life!

One day, a learned teacher foresaw, in a flash of vision, what he would be in his next life. He called his favorite disciple and asked him what he would do for his teacher in return for all he had received. The disciple said he would do whatever his revered teacher asked him to do.

Having received this promise, the teacher said, "Then this is what I'd like you to do for me. I've just learned that when I die, which will be very soon, I'm going to be reborn as a pig. Do you see that sow eating garbage there in the yard? I'm going to be reborn as the fourth piglet of its next litter. You'll recognize me by a mark on my brow. When that sow has littered, find the fourth piglet with a mark on its brow and, with one stroke of your knife, slaughter it. I'll then be released from a pig's life. Will you do this for me?"

The disciple was sad to hear all this, but he agreed to do as he had promised.

Soon after this conversation, the great teacher did die. And the sow did have a litter of four little pigs. One day, the disciple sharpened his knife and picked out the fourth little pig, which did indeed have a mark on its brow. Just as he was about to bring down his knife to slit its throat, the little pig suddenly spoke. "Stop! Don't kill me!" it screamed.

Before the disciple could recover from the shock of hearing the little pig speak in a human voice, it said, "Don't kill me. I want to live on as a pig. When I asked you to kill me, I didn't know what a pig's life would be like. It's great! Just let me go."

And the shocked disciple let the piglet live...

The miser and his gold...

Once upon a time there was a merchant who had accumulated a lot of wealth in his lifetime by cheating his customers and employees. He was a miser who used to hide his gold at the foot of a tree in his garden. Every week he used to go and dig it up and gloat over his gains.

A robber, who had noticed this, entered the garden one night and dug up the gold and ran off with it. When the miser next came to gloat over his treasures, he found nothing but an empty hole. He tore his hair and raised such an outcry that all the neighbours came around him. He told them how he used to come and visit his gold.

"Did you ever take any of the gold out?" asked one of the neighbours.

"No, replied the miser, "I only came to look at it."

"Then come again and look at the hole," said another neighbour; "it will do you just as much good."

The neighbour was right. After all: Wealth unused might as well not exist!

How a poor boy got his drum...

A poor woman had only one son. She worked hard cleaning houses and grinding grain for the well-to-do families in town. They gave her some grain in return and she lived on it. But she could never afford to buy nice clothes or toys for her son. Once, when she was going to the market with some grain to sell, she asked her son, "What can I get you from the market?" He promptly replied, "A drum, Mother, get me a drum."

The mother knew she would never have enough money to buy a drum for her son. She went to the market, sold the grain, and bought some gram flour and some salt. She felt sad that she was coming home empty-handed. So when she saw a nice piece of wood on the road, she picked it up and brought it home to her son. The son didn't know what to do with it.

Yet he carried it with him when he went out to play. An old woman was lighting her woodstove with some cow-dung patties. The fire was not catching and there was smoke all around and it made the old woman's eyes water. The boy stopped and asked why she was crying. She said that she couldn't light her fire and cook. The boy said, "I have a nice piece of wood and you can start your fire with it." The old woman was very pleased, lit the fire, made some bread, and gave a piece to the boy.

He took the bread and walked on till he came upon a potter's wife. Her child was crying and flailing his arms. The boy stopped and asked her why the child was crying. The potter's wife said the child was hungry and she had nothing in the house to give him. The boy gave the bread in his hand to the hungry child, who ate it eagerly and stopped crying. The potter's wife was grateful to the boy and gave him a pot.

When he walked on, he came to the river, where he saw a washerman and his wife quarreling. The boy stopped and asked the man why he was scolding and beating his wife. The washerman said, "This woman broke the only pot we had. Now I've nothing to boil my clothes in before I wash them." The boy said, "Here, don't quarrel, take this pot and use it." The washerman was very happy to get a large pot. He gave the boy a coat in return.

The boy walked on. He soon came to a bridge, where he saw a man shivering in the cold without so much as a shirt on him. He asked the man what had happened to his shirt, and the man said, "I was coming to the city on this horse. Robbers attacked me and took everything, even my shirt." The boy said, "Don't worry. You can have this coat." The man took the coat and said, "You're very kind, and I want to give you this horse."

The boy took the horse, and very soon he ran into a wedding party with the musicians, the bridegroom, and his family, but all of them were sitting under a tree with long faces. The boy stopped and asked why they looked so depressed. The bridegroom's father said, "We're all set to go in a wedding procession. But we need a horse for the bridegroom. The man who was supposed to bring it hasn't arrived. The bridegroom can't arrive on foot. It's getting late, and we'll miss the auspicious hour for the wedding." So the boy offered them his horse, and they were delighted. When the bridegroom asked him what he could do in return, the boy said, "You can give me something: that drum your musician is carrying." The bridegroom had no trouble persuading the drummer to give the drum to the boy. The drummer knew he could easily buy another with the money he was going to get.

The boy now rushed home to his mother, beating his new drum, and told her how he got it, beginning with a piece of wood from the roadside.

I will return to this blog after five days...

I am leaving for the airport for a five day business trip to Mumbai and Ahmedabad. I will get back to this blog on my return.

International Non-Violence Day...

Today, the world celebrates International Non-Violence Day, on the occasion of the 138th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

His message: "I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life."

The Grateful Deer

Many years ago, there lived a kind warm hearted little boy, who was also a hard worker. He would go deep into the mountains to gather firewood to sell at the market place. His frail elderly parents could barely live on the little money he made. One day, while gathering firewood as usual, the little boy, heard an animal's footsteps crackle on dry leaves. He became frightened. Could it be a ferocious mountain lion? Could it be the tiger that had killed the neighbor's sheep? His ears perked up in terror.

As he turned around he saw a beautiful little deer with colorful spots on his back. Trembling and frightened, he cautiously approached the boy, stopping a few steps away from him, begging for help, "Little boy, please save my life. A hunter is coming after me with a shotgun. I am afraid to run any further. The hunter will surely shoot me. Please help me."

The boy told the deer to dive into a nearby heap of hay. No sooner was the deer covered with hay, than a hunter rushed up. Breathing hard, he asked, "Have you seen a deer run this way."

The boy had never lied before. He felt his stomach turn and his lips quiver at the thought of telling a lie. But, with the image of the frightened deer in his mind, he gained courage. "No sir, I didn't see a deer."

The hunter looked at the boy suspiciously, eyeing him from head to toe. "Looks like he got away... I could have shot him. How unlucky I am to miss him." The hunter walked away in search of his lost prize.

After the boy was certain that the hunter had gone he called out to the deer, "You are safe now. You can come out and run away." The deer did not leave right away, hesitating. "What's the matter? The hunter may come back, please hurry, " said the boy.

"No my friend, I want to do something for you. Follow this trail over the mountain where you will find a flat boulder rock. Behind it you will find a narrow path hidden among bushes. It will take you to a Hidden Valley where you will find acre upon acre of a hundred year old special herbal plant. The water from the boiled leaves has healing properties." So saying, the deer bounded off.

The boy followed the trail the deer had revealed to him. Truly there were the herbal plants. He dug a few which he took and, after boiling the leaves, gave the water to his frail parents to drink. Immediately they regained their youthfulness and strength. Now all three of them worked together to harvest the wild plants which sold for the highest prices once the healing properties became known. They made a large fortune selling them. No longer did the little boy need to pick up firewood on cold mornings. He and his parents lived happily ever after.

I will return to this blog after two weeks...

I am going to Thailand and China on a 17 day trip. I will resume updating this blog on my return.

India celebrates 60 years of freedom today...HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Two sons...

Once upon a time, there was a businessman who showered his younger son with affection and gifts, but neglected his older offspring. While the older son could do nothing right, the younger one could do nothing wrong.

When the boys grew up, they were asked to manage their father's business. The elder son was initiated into the nitty-gritties of the business.

From morning till late in the evening, the elder son was on his toes, trying to figure out how the business ran. His father was a hard taskmaster. Within a few years, the elder son was able to master the ropes of the business and even expand it.

The younger son had had the luxury of a higher education. He didn't have much to do except have a good time at his father's expense.

After some years his father felt obliged to hand the younger son his share of business. He was confident that his favourite son would be a brilliant success. If the elder son could be a successful businessman without the benefit of a higher education, surely the younger one, who the father thought was more gifted, would do much better.

Within a few years, the results of his favouritism became evident. Uninterested in business, the younger son kept up his spending spree and thus went bankrupt.

But, the elder son's far smaller share of business had expanded and he had proved himself to be a good decision maker.

Ashamed at the turn of events the father met the elder son and ranted against the younger one.

"What a scoundrel your younger brother has turned out to be. I gave him everything he wanted, and he ruined it all ! How could I have possibly known that he would turn out like this? A pleasure-loving, incompetent wastrel," he wailed.

The elder son, who was listening to all this quietly, suddenly announced his plan to set up an independent venture. "I want to strike out on my own," he said.

"Why?", asked the dumbfounded father who was hoping to start afresh with the elder son at the helm of affairs.

"I blame one person for the way my brother has turned out, and it's not him. You can't blame children for the faults of their parents, can you?", asked the elder son. And then he left his father's house.

The elder son started a new venture - which grew to become a major industrial empire. His father's business, with no one to run it after the old man became too feeble to manage it, eventually closed down.

The Two Frogs - A Folktale From Japan

Once upon a time in the country of Japan there lived two frogs, one of whom made his home in a ditch near the town of Osaka, on the sea coast, while the other dwelt in a clear little stream which ran through the city of Kyoto.

At such a great distance apart, they had never even heard of each other; but, funnily enough, the idea came into both their heads at once that they should like to see a little of the world, and the frog who lived at Kyoto wanted to visit Osaka, and the frog who lived at Osaka wished to go to Kyoto, where the great Mikado had his palace.

So one fine morning in the spring they both set out along the road that led from Kyoto to Osaka, one from one end and the other from the other. The journey was more tiring than they expected, for they did not know much about traveling, and halfway between the two towns there arose a mountain which had to be climbed.

It took them a long time and a great many hops to reach the top, but there they were at last, and what was the surprise of each to see another frog before him!

They looked at each other for a moment without speaking, and then fell into conversation, explaining the cause of their meeting so far from their homes. It was delightful to find that they both felt the same wish - to learn a little more of their native country - and as there was no sort of hurry they stretched themselves out in a cool, damp place, and agreed that they would have a good rest before they parted to go their ways.

"What a pity we are not bigger," said the Osaka frog; "for then we could see both towns from here, and tell if it is worth our while going on."

"Oh, that is easily managed," returned the Kyoto frog. "We have only got to stand up on our hind legs, and hold onto each other, and then we can each look at the town he is traveling to."

This idea pleased the Osaka frog so much that he at once jumped up and put his front paws on the shoulder of his friend, who had risen also. There they both stood, stretching themselves as high as they could, and holding each other tightly, so that they might not fall down.

The Kyoto frog turned his nose towards Osaka, and the Osaka frog turned his nose towards Kyoto; but the foolish things forgot that when they stood up their great eyes lay in the backs of their heads, and that though their noses might point to the places to which they wanted to go, their eyes beheld the places from which they had come.

"Dear me!" cried the Osaka frog, "Kyoto is exactly like Osaka. It is certainly not worth such a long journey. I shall go home!"

"If I had had any idea that Osaka was only a copy of Kyoto I should never have traveled all this way," exclaimed the frog from Kyoto, and as he spoke he took his hands from his friend's shoulders, and they both fell down on the grass.

Then they took a polite farewell of each other, and set off for home again, and to the end of their lives they believed that Osaka and Kyoto, which are as different to look at as two towns can be, were as alike as two peas.

The elephant's nose

There was a time, when the elephant's nose was not as long as it is today. In fact, it was quite small. But a baby elephant changed all that. He was a curious fellow who asked ever so many questions.

He asked the ostrich why her tail feathers grew just so.

He asked the giraffe what made his skin spotty.

He asked the hippo why his eyes were red, and the baboon why melons tasted as they did.

"What does a crocodile have for dinner?" he asked one day.

"Shushh" said all the animals in a scared voice.

But he would not shushh.

By and by he met the Kolokolo bird. She told him where he could find an answer.

"Go to the grey, green, greasy Limpopo river," said she.

So off he went, carrying a load of bananas and sugarcane and melons. He'd be hungry on the way, you see.

After a week of trudging the baby elephant reached where he had to reach.

At the edge of the river he stepped on what he thought was a log of wood. It winked one eye.

"Excuse me, but have you seen a crocodile in these parts?" asked the baby elephant politely.

The creature winked the other eye and half lifted his tail out of the mud. "I am the crocodile," he said.

The baby elephant grew excited and kneeled down.

"I have been looking for you all these days," he said. "Will you please tell me what you have for dinner."

"Come nearer little one, come nearer and I'll tell you," said the crocodile.

The baby elephant put his head down close to the crocodile's mouth.

And the crocodile caught him by his little nose.

The baby elephant knew he was in BIG trouble. He sat back on his haunches. And he pulled and pulled.

The crocodile splashed in the water and pulled and pulled.

They both pulled and pulled. And the elephant's nose kept stretching and stretching. At last the crocodile let go.

The baby elephant flew back and fell - right on his big broad back.

He looked at his nose. He could not see where it ended! It was so long! So long, he could swish it around. But it hurt him awfully.

So he wrapped the nose in cool banana leaves and waited for it to shrink.

He waited and waited. But nothing happened. He could still swish it all around.

And so it remains to this day. Long. Very long!

The playful monkey – and the lesson he learnt because of his tail

One day, a group of monkeys came upon a construction site of a temple. The workmen had all gone off to eat lunch – only their tools and half finished pieces of sculpture and wooden frames were left behind at the site.

The monkeys started playing with the things the workmen had left behind. One monkey came upon a log of wood, on which a carpenter had been working. Before going for lunch, the carpenter had cut through half of it. He had inserted a wedge, a small piece of wood, inside the half-cut log. That way the two sides of the cut log would not come together again.

The monkey found this very interesting and started to play with it. He wondered what would happen if he took the wedge out. So he started pulling at the wedge. It was stuck. He tried harder. Suddenly the wedge came out and the two sides of the log slammed together – with monkey’s tail stuck in between!

The monkey started shouting loudly. His tail really hurt and he couldn’t get free. His friends rushed to help him. But they could not free the monkey’s tail from between the log.

Finally, some of the workmen heard the shouting and came to see what the noise was all about. As soon as they saw the monkey’s tail stuck in the log, they rushed to help him. After much pulling and tugging, they finally got him free – except that now he was a monkey without a tail. His long tail was still stuck fast between the two pieces of half-cut log!

Moral of the story: If you stick your nose where it does not belong, you will lose your tail.

The Talkative Turtle

One day, a turtle overheard two hunters discussing a plan to catch turtles the very next day.

When the hunters left the area, the turtle asked two cranes to help him escape.

"Beautiful white birds," he said, "if you hold a long stick between your beaks, I'll close my mouth tightly in the middle of it, and then you can fly up and carry me to safety."

"Good idea," said the cranes. "But, for the plan to succeed, you will have to keep your mouth closed tightly on the stick and you must not say a word!"

The turtle agreed and bit on the middle of a stick held in the beaks of two birds. Off flew the birds – carrying the turtle.

When the birds were high in the air with the turtle dangling down from the stick, some people on the ground looked up at the strange sight in the sky and said, "What clever birds! They figured out how to carry a turtle!"

The proud and talkative turtle cried out, "It was my idea!" and fell tumbling down to earth.

The Donkey That Fell Into A Well

One day a farmer's donkey fell into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, the farmer decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

The farmer invited all his neighbors to come over and help him cover the well. They all grabbed shovels and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quietened down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off, stamp the new dirt into the ground with his feet (thus increasing the ground level) and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well (since the ground level had reached the top of the well with all the new dirt) and happily trotted off!

Moral of the story:

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well of our problems is to shake off our troubles and take a step up. Each of our troubles is actually a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest well just by not stopping, never giving up – but learning from our problems to help us take a step up.

Modern times twist to the tale:

After recovering from the injuries he had sustained from falling into the well, the donkey later came back, and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him.

The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

Moral of the twist in the end:

Coming out victorious from problems is all the more sweeter if you can hit back at those who created the problems in the first place!

Their Master's Voice

Once upon a time there lived a very powerful king who loved vegetable gardens and courtiers. One day he had his throne placed in the midst of a patch of brinjals.

"God be praised!" the king exclaimed. "What a beautiful vegetable is this brinjal! What exquisite shape! What smoothness of texture! What colouring!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" chorused the courtiers. "Indeed God has made the brinjal the most beautiful of all vegetables in the world."

"But it does not taste very good," remarked the king. "And doctors say it has very little food value."

"Exactly so!" agreed the courtiers. "It is the foulest of foods. It is better to take poison than eat a brinjal!"

"You are a strange lot," said the king irately. "When I praise the brinjal, you heap superlatives on it. When I say a word in criticism, you run it down in equally strong language. What kind of people are you?"

The courtiers replied in courtly courtesy: "Your Highness, we eat your salt, not that of the brinjal."

The Game

The king sat regally on his throne and glowered at his jester, who he had condemned to death for having committed a crime.

“Well,” asked the king, “do you have any last wish to make?”

The prisoner, who had been staring glumly at his feet, raised his eyes.

“Your Majesty!” he pleaded. “Please spare my life!”

“Impossible!” roared the king. “You have committed a crime and must be punished for it! But,” he added, softening a little, “since you have been my friend, you may choose whether you want to be hanged or beheaded.”

A faint gleam of hope appeared in the jester’s eyes.

“Then let us make a game of it, Your Majesty, as we have enjoyed so many games together in the past,” he said quickly. “I will make a statement, Your Majesty, and you will say whether it is true or false. If you say it is true, then hang me, and if it is false, then behead me.”

The king looked amused. “Certainly, my friend,” he said generously. “If you wish to die by a game, you shall have your wish.”

“That is your Royal Promise?” the jester asked hopefully.

The king smiled and replied: “Yes.”

The jester drew a deep breath. “Then here is my statement, Your Majesty: ‘I shall be beheaded.’”

The king went into a deep thought. Then he frowned. “If I say it is true, I will have to hang you,” the king said at last. “But if I do hang you, the statement will turn out to be false, and I should have beheaded you!”

“And in either case, you would have broken your Royal Promise!” said the jester softly.

For a moment, everybody thought that the king would have an apoplectic fit. Then, all of a sudden, he smiled.

“You are right, my clever friend,” said the king ruefully. “I will have to spare your life, after all! I cannot break my Royal Promise, can I?”

And so the jester’s life was spared – thanks to a clever little game!

Outsmarted!

Shambu sat contentedly cross-legged on a cot and contemplated on the rosy present. Today was his son's marriage! Throughout the house people were busy making arrangements for the evening's ceremony. The hustle and bustle of activity was clearly audible to Shambu from where he sat. Suddenly, the door of his room swung open and a servant rushed in.

"Master, the cook says that our big cauldron is not sufficient!" cried the servant. "We'll need another one!"

Shambu frowned. "The shops are closed today," he said thoughfully. "I'll have to borrow a cauldron!" He scratched his head. "Hmm...let's see now...perhaps Girdhari Lal might give me his..."

But Girdhari Lal proved to be a tough lender. "Ordinarily, I wouldn't have minded giving you my cauldron," he told Shambu when when the latter approached him. "But, now, there's a complication."

"What complication, my friend?" asked Shambu puzzled.

Girdhari Lal cleared his throat in a self-conscious manner, as we all tend to do when about to tell a story that is patently false. "Er...well, you see," he began, averting his eyes from Shambu, "my cauldron will be giving birth to a baby any moment now. You can take it if you promise to return its baby pot along with it."

For a moment, Shambu did not understand. "What are you saying, my friend?" he asked amazed. "How can a cauldron give birth to a baby?"

Girdhari Lal looked Shambu straight in the eyes. "It is as I say," he replied.

Then realisation dawned on Shambu. Girdhari Lal was trying to take advantage of his difficulty! Knowing how badly he needed a cauldron, Girdhari Lal was trying to extract a free pot in return for lending him one!

For a moment, Shambu debated with himself. The marriage function was only a few hours away - and the cook would need all that time to cook the various dishes that were to be served. There was no time to try his luck elsewhere!

Shambu shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "Very well, then, Girdhari Lal," he said. "I'll accept your condition! Please give me your cauldron."

A few days later, Shambu met Girdhari Lal again and handed over to him a small gleaming pot. "Here's the baby pot which your cauldron gave birth to, Girdhari Lal!" he declared. "But I'll need your cauldron for a few more days."

Girdhari Lal looked greedily at the shining pot in his hands. He gave a pleased smile. "It's all right, my friend Shambu! You can return the cauldron later."

A month went by but Girdhari Lal heard nothing further from Shambu. Finally, his patience wore out. Thinking dark thoughts about his neighbour, Girdhari Lal one day set off for Shambu's house. Shambu was standing on the verandah of his house.

Girdhari lal came straight to the point. "My friend, you've had my cauldron for a month, now. Why don't you return it?"

Shambu looked downcast. He gave a big sigh. "I'm really very sorry, Girdhari Lal," he replied in the manner of a prophet of doom. "You'll be sad to know that, unfortunately, your cauldron has died!"

Girdhari lal could not believe his ears. His eyes shot out like a snail's and his face grew purple. "Died?" he shouted. "A cauldron cannot die!"

Shambu's eyes widened. He looked very surprised. "Come, come, don't be ridiculous!" he exclaimed, a triumphant note in his voice. "You believed that your cauldron could give birth. Why will you not believe that it can die?"

Girdhari Lal's mouth fell open. He could only stare dumbly as Shambu, without a backward glance, walked into his house and shut the door behind him. He, Girdhari Lal, had been completely outsmarted!