The Foolish Lion and the clever rabbit

Long time ago there lived a ferocious lion in the forest. It was a greedy lion and started killing all the animals in the forest. Seeing this, the animals gathered and decided to approach the lion with the offer of one animal of each species volunteering i tself to be eaten by the lion everyday. So every day it was the turn of one of the animals and in the end came the rabbits' turn. The rabbits chose a old rabbit among them. The rabbit old was wise. It decided to take its own sweet time to go to the Lion. T he Lion was getting impatient on not seeing any animal come by and swore to kill all animals the next day. The rabbit then went to the Lion by sunset. The Lion was angry at him. But the wise rabbit was calm and slowly told the Lion that it was not his faul t. He told the Lion that a group of rabbits were coming to him for the day but on the way, an angry Lion attacked them all and ate all rabbits but himself. Somehow he escaped to reach safely, the rabbit said. He said that the other Lion was challenging the supremacy of the Lion. The Lion was naturally very enraged and asked to be taken to the location of the other Lion. The wise rabbit agreed and led the Lion towards a deep well filled with water. Then he showed the Lion his reflection in the water of the w ell. The Lion was furious and started growling and naturally its image in the water, the other Lion, was also equally angry. Then the Lion jumped into the water to attack the other Lion and kill it but lost its life in the well. Thus the wise rabbit saved the forest and all animals from the proud Lion. Story moral: Intelligence wins over might.

The Brahmin's gift

Once there lived a pious brahmin in a village. He used to perform religious rituals. On one occasion he was rewarded with a cow by a rich man fo r his service. The brahmin started to bring the cow to his home. On the way, three rogues saw the brahmin bringing the cow. They were lazy and wanted to cheat the brahmin so that they could take away the cow. They hatched a plan. The first person approache d the brahmin and said, "Are you a washer man that you're pulling a donkey." The brahmin was annoyed at being mistaken for a washer man. He went on. A little later he was met by the second of the rogues. The second person asked him why being a brahmin he needed to pull a pig. Now the brahmin was confused but he went on. Some distance later he was met by the third person who asked him why he was pulling along a wild animal. Now the brahmin was totally confused and also afraid. He thought that it was a devil animal which took different forms. He ran away leaving the cow behind. The three tricksters laughed at the brahmin at having cheated the cow from the brahmin. Story moral: Believe your own eyes than what you hear.

The fox reared by the lion

Once upon a time there was a lion and a lioness in a dense forest. They gave birth to two cubs in due course of time. The lion asked the lioness to stay at home and take care of the cubs. One day the lion could not hunt any animal but found a little fox on the way home. He took it home as a gift for the lioness. The lioness brought the fox kid with the same love as her own cubs. The three young animals grew and played together. One day the children saw an elephant. The lion cubs wanted to fight the elephant. But the fox kid was frightened and asked them to run away. So they ran away and went to the mother lioness. The lion cubs told the story to her. She laughed at the fox kid. At this the fox kid was offended and in a rage challenged the lioness as to why she called him a coward. The lioness replied, "W hat's wrong with eating an elephant? You feel like that only because you're not a lion kid. You are the child of a fox. Your breed never eats elephants. If you cannot be bold please leave us and go live with your tribe." Th e fox kid did not want to live there any longer and left for the forest. Story moral: A coward will always remain a coward even if it is in company of the brave.

The Monkey and the crocodile

Long time ago there lived a monkey named Red -face on a tree by t he side of the sea. The tree was an apple tree and the fruits it bore were sweet as nectar. Once a crocodile named Ugly-mug swam ashore, Red -face threw apples at him and asked him to taste them. Ugly Mug started coming everyday ashore to eat the fruits thr own by Red-face and soon they became good friends. Ugly-Mug used to take some fruits to his home to his wife. His wife was a greedy lady and asked him as to where he got the nectar filled apples. Ugly Mug told about his friend the monkey. The lady was gree dy and pleaded with her husband that she would like to eat the monkey's heart, as a person who gave such tasty fruits must have a heart filled with nectar. Ugly -Mug was angered and did not agree to deceiving his friend. But she then insisted on not eating anything till he brought her his friend's heart. Out of desperation, Ugly-mug started making plans for killing his friend. He came back to Red -face and treated him with an invitation to his house for supper stating that his wife would be thrilled to have him home and also that she was very anxious to meet such a nice friend. Poor Red -face believed the story but was asking his friend as to how he could cross the sea to reach the house of the crocodile on the other side. Ugly -mug then offered to carry him on his back and the monkey agreed. In the middle of the sea, Ugly -mug took the crocodile deep into the ocean to kill the monkey. The monkey was frightened and asked the crocodile why he was doing this. Ugly -mug told him that his wife wanted to eat the monkey 's heart filled with nectar. Red -face immediately asked the crocodile to take him back to the tree as he told him that he had left his other heart which was full of nectar back at the tree. The foolish crocodile then swam back to the tree and the terrified monkey jumped up the tree never to return. Upon being asked as to why she was not returning, the monkey answered to the crocodile that he had only one heart and he had been fooled and scolded his friend for misusing his friendship. The crocodile was asham ed at what happened and asked the monkey if he could make any amends. He was also scared that his wife would not let him back in because he had returned without the monkey's heart. Just then he heard that a huge he -crocodile had occupied his house. The monkey advised him to fight the he -crocodile and drive him out of his home and gain his wife's confidence. The crocodile followed the advice and he was back happy with his wife. Story moral: Intelligence wins over might.

The Moon Lake

Once A large herd of elephants lived in a jungle. Their king was a huge, majestic tusker. He looked after them with love and care. Once, a severe drought hit the area. Birds and animals died of thirst. The wild elephants suffered for want of water. Their king knew that if they did not get water soon, many of them would die of thirst. He had to find water as quickly as possible. He asked the elephants to go in different directions to look for water. One of them found a large lake full of water in another jungle far away. The kin g was happy. He ordered all the elephants to make their way to the lake. It was a beautiful lake. Close to it was a colony of rabbits. The elephants had to pass through this colony. Thousands of rabbits were trampled to death and thousands more were injure d. The rabbits were in a panic. Their king called a meeting. "A herd of wild elephants is passing through our colony," he said. "They have already killed or injured thousands of us. W e have to take urgent steps to prevent more deaths. I want all of you to think of a way to save our race." The rabbits started thinking of ways to stop the elephants. One little rabbit stood up. "Your Majesty,"he said,"if you will send me as your messenger to the king of the elephants, I may be able to find a solution." "By all means, go as my messenger and see what you can do." The little rabbit hurried out.

He saw a group of elephants returning from the lake. Right in the middle was the king. To get near him was impossible. I will be crushed to death, thought the rabbit. So he climbed up a huge rock. "O, king of the elephants," he shouted, "hear me, please." The king heard his voice and turned towards him. "W ell, who are you?" he asked. "I am a messenger,"replied the rabbit. "A messenger? From whom?" "I am a messenger from the mighty Moon." "W hat is your business? Is there a message for me from the Moon?". "Yes, yes, your Majesty. But you must not be angry with me. Please remember that a messenger is never punished for what he has to say. He is only doing his duty." "Very well. Say what you have been sent to say. I shall not harm you." "Sir," said the little rabbit, "the Moon has this to say" " You, the king of the elephants, have brought your herd to my holy lake and soiled its waters. You have killed thousands of rabbits on you r way to the lake. You know that rabbits are under my special protection. Everyone knows that the king of the rabbits lives with me. I ask you not to kill any more rabbits. Otherwise something terrible will happen to you and your herd." The king of the ele phants was shocked. He looked at the little rabbit. "You are right," he said. "W e may have killed many rabbits on our way to the lake. I shall see that you do not suffer anymore. I shall request the Moon to forgive me for my sins. Please tell me what I should do." "Come with me alone," replied the rabbit. "Come, I shall take you to the Moon." The little rabbit took the huge elephant to the lake. There they saw the Moon reflected in the still waters. "There, your Majesty, meet the Moon," said the little rabb it. "Let me worship the divine Moon," said the elephant, and dipped his trunk into the water. At once the water was disturbed. The Moon seemed to move to and fro. The rabbit said, "Now the Moon is angrier than ever." "W hy?' asked the king. "W hat have I don e?" "You have touched the holy waters of the lake," replied the rabbit. The elephant bowed his head. "Please ask the Moon to forgive me. Never again will we touch the holy waters of this lake. Never again will we harm the rabbits whom the Moon loves so muc h." And the king and his herd went away. Soon there was rain and the elephants lived happily. It did not occur to them ever that a little rabbit had fooled them. Story moral: Intelligence wins over might.