The Legend of Surabaya

A long time ago, there were two animals, Sura and Baya. Sura was the name
of a shark and Baya was a crocodile. They lived in a sea.

Once Sura and Baya were looking for some food. Suddenly, Baya saw a goat
“Yummy, this is my lunch,” said Baya. “No way! This is my lunch. You are
greedy” said Sura. Then they fought for the goat. After several hours, they
were very tired.

Feeling tired of fighting, they lived in the different places. Sura lived in the
water and Baya lived in the land. The border was the beach, so they would
never fight again.

One day, Sura went to the land and looked for some food in the river. He was
very hungry and there was not much food in the sea. Baya was very angry
when he knew that Sura broke the promise. They fought again.

They both hit each other. Sura bit Baya’s tail. Baya did the same thing to Sura.
He bit very hard until Sura finally gave up and went back to the sea. Baya was
happy.
 True Friends
Once upon a time, there were two close friends who were walking through
the forest together. They knew that anything dangerous can happen any time
in the forest. So they promised each other that they would always be together
in any case of danger.

Suddenly, they saw a large bear getting closer toward them. One of them
climbed a nearby tree at once. But unfortunately the other one did not know
how to climb up the tree. So being led by his common sense, he lay down on
the ground breathless and pretended to be a dead man.

The bear came near the one who was lying on the ground. It smelt in his ears,
and slowly left the place because the bears do not want to touch the dead
creatures. After that, the friend on the tree came down and asked his friend
that was on the ground, “Friend, what did the bear whisper into your ears?”
The other friend replied, “Just now the bear advised me not to believe a false
friend”.
 Fox and A Cat
One day, a cat and a fox were having a conversation. The fox, who was a
conceited creature, boasted how clever she was. “Why, I know at least a
hundred tricks to get away from our mutual enemies, the dogs,” she said.

“I know only one trick to get away from dogs,” said the cat. “You should teach
me some of yours!”.

“Well, maybe someday, when I have the time, I may teach you a few of the
simpler ones”, replied the fox airily.

Just then they heard the barking of a pack of dogs in the distance. The
barking grew louder and louder – the dogs were coming in their direction! At
once the cat ran to the nearest tree and climbed into its branches, well out of
reach of any dog. “This is the trick I told you about, the only one I know”, said
the cat. “Which one of your hundred tricks are you going to use?”.
The fox sat silently under the tree, wondering which trick she should use.
Before she could make up her mind, the dogs arrived. They fell upon the fox
and tore her to pieces.
 The Ant and the Dove
One hot day, an ant was seeking for some water. After walking around for a
moment, she came to a spring. To reach the spring, she had to climb up a
blade of grass. While making her way up, she slipped and fell unintentionally
into the water.

She could have sunk if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her. Seeing that
the ant was in trouble, the dove quickly put off a leaf from a tree and dropped
it immediately into the water near the struggling ant. Then the ant moved
towards the leaf and climbed up there. Soon it carried her safely to dry
ground.

Not long after at that, there was a hunter nearby who was throwing out his
net towards the dove, hoping to trap it in this way.

Guessing what he should do, the ant quickly bit him on the heel. Feeling the
pain, the hunter dropped his net and the dove flew away quickly from this net.
 The Story of Toba Lake
Once upon a time, there was a man who was living in north Sumatra. He lived
in a simple hut in a farming field. He did some gardening and fishing for his
daily life.

One day, while the man was do fishing, he caught a big golden fish in his trap.
It was the biggest catch which he ever had in his life. Surprisingly, this fish
turned into a beautiful princess. He felt in love with her and proposed her to
be his wife. She said; “Yes, but you have to promise not to tell anyone about
the secret that I was once a fish, otherwise there will be a huge disaster”. The
man made the deal and they got married, lived happily and had a daughter.

Few years later, this daughter would help bringing lunch to her father out in
the fields. One day, his daughter was so hungry and she ate his father’s lunch.
Unfortunately, he found out and got furious, and shouted; “You damned
daughter of a fish”. The daughter ran home and asked her mother. The
mother started crying, felt sad that her husband had broken his promise.

Then she told her daughter to run up the hills because a huge disaster was
about to come. When her daughter left, she prayed. Soon there was a big
earthquake followed by non-stop pouring rain. The whole area got flooded
and became Toba Lake. She turned into a fish again and the man became the
island of Samosir.
 Malin Kundang
A long time ago, in a small village near the beach in West Sumatra, a woman and her
son lived. They were Malin Kundang and her mother. Her mother was a single parent
because Malin Kundang’s father had passed away when he was a baby. Malin
Kundang had to live hard with his mother.

Malin Kundang was a healthy, dilligent, and strong boy. He usually went to sea to
catch fish. After getting fish he would bring it to his mother, or sold the caught fish in
the town.

One day, when Malin Kundang was sailing, he saw a merchant’s ship which was being
raided by a small band of pirates. He helped the merchant. With his brave and power,
Malin Kundang defeated the pirates. The merchant was so happy and thanked to
him. In return the merchant asked Malin Kundang to sail with him. To get a better
life, Malin Kundang agreed. He left his mother alone.

Many years later, Malin Kundang became wealthy. He had a huge ship and was
helped by many ship crews loading trading goods. Perfectly he had a beautiful wife
too. When he was sailing his trading journey, his ship landed on a beach near a small
village. The villagers recognized him. The news ran fast in the town; “Malin Kundang
has become rich and now he is here”.

An old woman ran to the beach to meet the new rich merchant. She was Malin
Kundang’s mother. She wanted to hug him, released her sadness of being lonely
after so long time. Unfortunately, when the mother came, Malin Kundang who was in
front of his well-dressed wife and his ship crews denied meeting that old lonely
woman. For three times her mother begged Malin Kundang and for three times he
yelled at her. At last Malin Kundang said to her “Enough, old woman! I have never
had a mother like you, a dirty and ugly woman!” After that he ordered his crews to
set sail. He would leave the old mother again, but in that time, she was full of both
sadness and angriness.

Finally, enraged, she cursed Malin Kundang that he would turn into a stone if he
didn’t apologize. Malin Kundang just laughed and really set sail.

In the quiet sea, suddenly a thunderstorm came. His huge ship was wrecked and it
was too late for Malin Kundang to apologize. He was thrown by the wave out of his
ship. He fell on a small island. It was really too late for him to avoid his curse.
Suddenly, he turned into a stone.
 Pinocchio

In the past, there was a puppeteer whose name is Geppetto. He eager to have
a son very much but his wife passed away several years ago. One day, he got
an idea to make a puppet in order not to be lonely again. He made a puppet
all day long. Finally, in the morning he had finished his work and he named
the puppet Pinocchio. Soon he felt lonely again since Pinocchio couldn’t walk
or talk by itself. One night, Geppetto prayed to the God to become a real boy.
He always thought it on his mind in his dream.

In the next morning, he was surprised that Pinocchio was alive. He taught
Pinocchio how to walk, how to read, how to speak and to do other things as
human. He then studied at an elementary school. One day, Pinocchio felt
bored and it made him go home late. When Pinocchio finally came home,
Geppetto asked him. He said that he was on school but he wasn’t. Instantly,
Pinocchio’s nose grew longer and longer and it meant that Pinocchio has lied.

The next morning, Pinocchio was kidnaped by the owner of circus. Pinocchio
soon became a slave for the circus. He was so famous because he was a
puppet which can talk. Geppetto worried about him because Pinocchio had
not been going home for almost two days. He tried to find Pinocchio
everywhere but he found nothing. When he searched him on the sea, big
wave smashed him. He was then in whale’s stomach when he awoke. He
couldn’t find the way to go out.

In the other side, Pinocchio finally could escape out from the circus. He came
home but nobody was there. Latter on, he searched Geppetto in the sea. He
got the same accident like Geppetto and he met Geppetto in whale’s
stomach. Both of them got out from its stomach by making a fire. In the end
of the story, they went home together and lived happily ever after.
 The Lion and The Mouse
When he was awakened by a tiny Mouse running across his body, a mighty
Lion was sleeping in his lair. The lion then grabbed the frightened mouse with
his huge paws and opened his mouth to swallow him directly. “Please, King,”
begged the Mouse, “Spare me this time and of course I will never forget your
kindness. Someday I may be able to repay you. “The Lion thought that it was
such an amusing idea that he let the poor creature go.

Sometimes later the Lion was caught in a net laid by some hunters. Despite
his great strength, the Lion could not break free. Soon the forest echoed with
angry load roars.

The Little Mouse heard the Lion and ran to see what was wrong. As soon as
he succeeded to make the Lion free “There!” said the Mouse proudly, ” You
laughed at me when I promised to repay your kindness, but now you know
that even a tiny Mouse can help a mighty Lion.”
 Two of Everything
Once upon a time, old and poor Mr. Haktak found a large brass pot in his
garden. He decided to put his purse in it. Then, he carried it home. Mrs.
Haktak was very happy with that pot.
Suddenly, her hairpin fell into the pot. Mrs. Haktak reached and pulled out
two hairpins and two purses. What a magic pot! Then they began to drop
items into it and soon had two of everything.

One day, Mr. Haktak went to a market. At home, Mrs. Haktak did house works
then rested for a while. She stooped over that pot to look inside. At that
moment, Mr. Haktak kicked the door open because his hands were full of
packages. Bang! Mrs. Haktak lost her balance and fell into that pot. Mr.
Haktak found that he had two of Mrs. Haktak. This presented a problem.

Finally, Mr Haktak got an idea. He fell into that pot and soon there were two
Mr. Haktak. Two new Haktaks became husband and wife. All of them became
friends and built two identical houses with identical furniture.
 The Gingerbread Man
A long time ago, there lived an old little couple in a cottage. One day, woman
decided to make a gingerbread man for dinner. As soon as a
gingerbread man was decorated with eyes, nose and mouth, he jumped out
and ran away.
The gingerbread ran as fast as he could. Old woman and her husband tried to
chase him. However, gingerbread man ran too fast for them. Soon, he passed
a hungry pig and that pig wanted to eat him. That pig also tried to catch
gingerbread man.

Gingerbread man said “Run, run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me I’m the
gingerbread man.” Other animals like cow, horse, dogs and cats also wanted
to eat him but they couldn’t outrun him.

Now, gingerbread man came to a river. He was afraid of water. A clever fox
came and offered help to cross the river. Fox asked gingerbread man to climb
on his head. As soon as they reached the other side, Fox tossed up the
gingerbread man in the air, opened his mouth and finally ate him.
 The Magic Mirror
Once, there was a king of Granada kingdom who decided to marry. To find a
worthy woman, court barber told an idea to the king. “I have a magic mirror. If
any woman who is not kind looks into that mirror, there will many spots on
mirror surface.”
Soon, the news was announced to all people in his kingdom. Almost all
women wanted to be Queen of Granada. However, there was no woman
coming to have a look into that mirror. Days and weeks went by, and King
was no closer to get his Queen.

Then, barber told King that there was a brave shepherdess on a mountainside.
King asked him to invite that shepherdess to his palace. Also, the royal hall
was full of ladies and knights.

King told that shepherdess to look into the mirror. Shepherdess answered
that everyone made mistakes. However she wasn’t afraid to look into the
mirror. Many ladies surrounded her and found that it wasn’t a magic mirror.
Those ladies complained and felt being tricked.

Finally, King stated that there was no trick. King wanted to find a bride who
was confident about her character like that shepherdess.
 The Fool and the Donkey
One morning, a fool woke up and thought he needed a donkey. He went to a
town. There were many donkeys in a donkey stall. Then, he decided to buy
one donkey with long, floppy, silky ears. 
Along the way home, two boys saw him. Those boys thought that they could
steal that donkey from the fool. One boy took the rope around donkey’s neck
then put it around his neck and followed the fool. Another boy led that
donkey back to a stall and sold it. The fool didn’t even notice it.

When they arrived at home, the fool shocked. He bought a donkey but he got
a boy; he asked why. That boy told him that he had been rude to his mother.
Then Evil had turned him into a donkey. The fool asked that boy to promise
not to be rude to his mother again then let him go.

Next morning, the fool woke up and thought he needed a donkey. He went to
the town. There were many donkeys in a donkey stall. Among all donkeys he
noticed there was one donkey with long, floppy, silky ears. He knew that
donkey. He went over to it and whispered: “You foolish boy, I said never be
rude to your mother again!”
 Dick Whittington and His Cat
There was once a poor boy named Dick Whittington who lived in a village
without parents. He had heard stories about a big city called London where
everybody was rich; London streets were paved with gold. He wanted to go
there.
One day, he met a friendly wagoner who gave him a lift to the city. He was
amazed at that big city. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find any gold on the street.
He had no money and ate no food few days. He collapsed in front of a kind
rich merchant’s house.

The merchant gave him a job in his kitchen. But a cook didn’t like him; he
used to beat and pinch him. Dick Whittington had to sleep in a tiny room with
many rats and mice which bothered him every night. Then, he decided to buy
a cat by using his saving. Luckily, that clever cat was very good at catching
mice and rats.

One day, the merchant would go on a long voyage and sell everything on his
ship. Dick Whittington asked the merchant to help him sell his cat. After
arriving in a destination, the merchant was invited by King and Queen to a
feast. However, hundreds of rats gobbled all of food there. The merchant
offered the clever cat to help King solve his problem.

King was very happy. He gave the merchant a ship full of gold in return.
Finally, the merchant gave all of the gold to Dick Whittington. He spent
money wisely and helped people.
 Momotaro the Peach Boy
A long time ago, there lived an old and poor couple in a village in Japan. They
didn’t wish for gold or fine clothes. They only wished for a child.
One day, the old woman washed clothes in a river. While washing, she was
also wishing for a child. Then, a giant peach came floating down the river. She
took it home and would cut it.

There was a human voice from that peach saying not to cut it. Suddenly it
split open and a baby boy jumped out of that peach. Those old people were
very happy and named him Momotaro which means Peach Boy.

Time went by and people in that village were afraid of Oni Monsters who
stole their belongings. When Momotaro was about 15 years old, he wanted to
save his village from Oni Monsters. Momotaro’s parents were very proud of
Momotaro. His father gave him a sword; mother gave him a bag of
dumplings.

On the way, Momotaro met a dog, a monkey and a hawk. He shared those
dumplings to them. Those animals joined him to fight Oni Monsters. Being a
good leader, Momotaro encouraged them to work together.

Finally, Momotaro sucessfully forced Oni leader to surrender. Then Momotaro

with his friends took treasure then shared it to all people in the village.
Momotaro’s parents were very happy that Momotaro came back safely.
 The Forbidden Chamber
Once there was an evil wizard who dressed as a beggar. He went from house
to house asking for alms and stealing pretty girls. One day he knocked on the
door of a house. There lived a man with three beautiful daughters. The eldest
daughter opened the door then wizard hypnotized her. He took her to his
house in the midst of woods. Everything was magnificent there. First daughter
had all things she wished for.
One day, wizard had to go on a journey. He left keys of all rooms to her. She
could enter every room except one, otherwise she could die. He also gave an
egg she needed to care.

After wizard left his house, daughter looked into every room and found
beautiful things. Then she was curious to know about the forbidden room.
She entered that room and found hundreds of kidnapped girls who had fallen
asleep. First daughter frightened then ran out of the room. In a hurry, she
dropped the egg that turned red. Wizard came back. He knew what had
happened. Then, he dragged her into that forbidden chamber.

Next day, he went back to same house and took second daughter. But same
thing happened to her. He went back and kidnapped the youngest sister, but
this girl was very wise.

Before entering forbidden chamber, she put the egg in a cupboard. Having
known that there were many girls in that room including her sisters, she had
an idea to release them. Wizard thought that third daughter did what he said.
He decided to marry her.

Before getting married, daughter asked wizard to send a full basket of gold to
her parents. In the bottom of that basket, there were her sisters covered with
gold. While wizard left his house, daughter let all girls free. She also asked
those girls as well as their parents to come to wizard’s house.

When wizard came back, those girls with their parents dragged him into that
forbidden chamber, locked the door and set fire to wizard’s house.
 The Prince and The Snake
The kingdom of Vijaygarh had a wise and kind King. People were happy. But
the King himself was sad and worried. A devilish snake had entered his son’s
body. Neither medicine nor magic worked to cure his son.

When the Prince grew up, he thought, “It is because of me that my father
worried.” And one day, he left the palace. Wandering, he came to another
kingdom. He found a desolate temple and started living there. He begged for
food.

The King of that kingdom was cruel. But he had a kind and beautiful daughter.
The King was unhappy with his daughter. That girl was always ridiculing her
father’s hard work. The King thought, “She is always talking to me low of my
hard work. I must marry her to a beggar. Then she will know what hard work
is.”

So, when the beggar Prince came to beg for food in the Palace, the cruel King
forced him to marry his daughter. The Prince and his new bride started for the
desolate temple. On their way, they stopped to take rest. The Princess went
around in search of food, while her husband went to sleep.

When the Princess came back, she was shocked to see a snake sitting on her
husband’s mouth. On a mount nearby sat another snake. They were talking
among themselves. “Why do not you leave the body of the Prince? He is so
kind and gentle,” said the snake sitting on the mound. “You too are evil! You
attack passers-by. You should not be telling me what to do,” replied the snake
sitting on the mouth of the Prince.

The Princess killed both the snakes with all her courage. When her husband
woke up, she told him about the two snakes. The Prince was happy. Then he
told her who he really was. They set off to the Prince’s palace. The King was
delighted to see his son. When the King learned that the devilish snake was
killed, his joy knew no bounds. The Prince and the Princess lived happily for a
long time. After few years, the Kingdom celebrated the day on which the
Royal couple gave birth to twins of one boy and one girl.
 The Judge Monkey
Once upon a time, two cats were passing through a street. Suddenly they
spotted a loaf of bread lying beneath a tree. Both pounced upon it and
caught the loaf at the same time. “It is mine. I saw it first,” claimed one cat.
While the other said, “I pounced upon it first and so it belongs to me.” After
having fought for a while, one cat said, “Let us divide it into two and take one
piece each.” “Indeed, a good idea,” said the other cat. “But how do we divide
it now?”

A monkey sitting on the branch of the tree had watched all that happened
between the two cats. “That loaf of bread looks good. I could do with it
myself,” he thought. Slowly he came down from the tree and walked up to the
confused cats.

“Yes, my dear friends! Can I help you?” asked the monkey. The cats told the
monkey what the problem was and said, “Why do not you be the judge
between us?” When the monkey nodded, the cats said, “Please divide this loaf
for us.”

The clever monkey smilingly broke the bread into two pieces. But one piece
was a little bigger that the other. “OH no! I will take a little bite of this bigger
piece to make both equal,” said the monkey, slyly. He took a bite from the
bigger piece. But, he had taken a big bite. “Uh oh! Now it has become smaller
than the other piece. I will just have to take a little bite from this piece now,”
said the clever monkey.

The Judge Monkey took another bite. The two cats sat in front of the monkey,
seeing the loaf of bread they had found getting smaller and smaller. When
the whole loaf was eaten by the monkey, the monkey said, “I am sorry. I was
really difficult to divide that loaf. I must be going now.” And the monkey
jumped onto the tree and was gone. “If only we had not quarreled among
ourselves, we would have remained united and we need not have to go to the
monkey and to become hungry now,” said the two cats.
 The Ugly Tree
Long, long ago, in a dense forest there were thousands of tall and beautiful
trees. They were happy, but proud of themselves. Among them there also an
ugly tree whose branches were badly twisted. Its roots had uneven curves. All
the trees made fun of that ugly tree.

“How are you, hunchback?” the other trees always shouted and their laughter
made the ugly tree feel sad. But, he never raised a voice against them. The
ugly tree thought, “I wish I were as beautiful as the other trees. Why did God
do this to me? Neither can I provide shade to the travelers not can the birds
make their nests on me. Nobody needs me.”

One day, a woodcutter came to the forest. He took a look at the trees and
said, “These trees are lovely. I must cut them.” As soon as he picked up his axe
the trees became frightened.

‘Chop, Chop, Chop’ went the woodcutter’s axe and one by one the trees
started to fall. “None of us is going to be spared,” screamed one of the
beautiful trees. Soon that tree too was brought to ground by the woodcutter’s
axe.

By now, the woodcutter had come near to the ugly tree. He had just raised his
axe when suddenly he noticed how crooked the ugly tree was. “Hmm! This
crooked tree seems to be useless for me. I cannot make long straight logs of
this ugly tree,” he thought. And he moved towards another beautiful tree. The
ugly tree heaved a huge sigh of relief. He realized that by making him ugly,
God had actually given him a boon.

From that day the ugly tree never complained. He was happy with his crooked
branches. He never forgot how he was spared from the woodcutter’s axe, only
because he was crooked and ugly.
 The Ungrateful Lion
In a dense forest, lived a fierce lion. He was very cruel. One day the lion was
caught in a hunter’s trap. One by one many animals passed by. “Please helped
me!” pleaded the lion. But none of the animals listened to his plea.

After a while, a man happened to come into the forest. He saw the lion. The
lion said, “I will die of hunger and suffocation. Please help me out, O! kind
man.” The man was thoughtful. “I assure you I will never harm you. Please
help me now. The hunter will be anytime now,” said the lion.

The man felt sorry for the lion and set the beast free. As soon as the lion was
free, he let out a fierce roar. “I have been trapped in the cage for a long time. I
am hungry. I will have to eat you,” said the lion, looking at the man. “But you
promised that you would not harm me,” said the man, in a meek tone. “Yes, I
said that. But only to convince you to free me. Now, I am terribly hungry,” said
the lion.

The terrified man thought quickly. He said, “Alright, you can eat me. But let a
judge decide if you are right in eating the person who has rescued you.”

The lion agreed. He was sure that no animal would speak against him. Just
then a jackal came that way and the lion asked the jackal to be the judge. He
addressed the lion, “Sir, would you please show me how it all happened?” The
lion was only too willing. He entered the cage and closed the cage door. The
jackal immediately bolted the cage from outside.

“Now the lion is trapped again. Run away, you foolish man! And never offer
help to anyone without thinking,” said the jackal. The frightened man ran for
his life. And the ungrateful lion was trapped in the cage again. The hunter
came and took the lion away to his circus.
 Tangkuban Parahu Legend
Long time ago in West Java, there lived a woman named Dayang Sumbi. She
was thirsting for a husband. Along her life she kept praying and praying. At
last, God heard her pray. A male dog picked her up and Dayang Sumbi got
married to the dog and called the dog ‘Tumang’. After years, Dayang Sumbi
gave a birth to baby and named him Sangkuriang. Unfortunately, Dayang
Sumbi never told Sangkuriang who his father was.

One day, Sangkuriang was hunting with Tumang in the forest and he found
nothing except a little animal. He blamed Tumang for the failure and then he
killed Tumang. When Dayang Sumbi knew that she hit Sangkuriang’s head
with a big spoon and expelled him.

Many years later, Sangkuriang wandered and found an old house in the
forest. Sangkuriang came closer to the house and there was an old beautiful
woman. The woman, Dayang Sumbi, recognized the wanderer as Sangkuriang.

Unintentionally, Sangkuriang forced Dayang Sumbi to marry him. Dayang

Sumbi agreed to marry him but Sangkuriang had to build a vast boat, just in
one night.

At night, Sangkuriang called his friends, ghosts and fairies to help him. Feared
with the boat to complete, Dayang Sumbi asked other women in her village to
help her. Then the women punched the grains with grain puncher to make
noise which disturbed the ghosts and fairies.

The morning came before Sangkuriang completed the boat. Unfortunately the
fairies and the ghosts also left Sangkuriang alone. Finaly Sangkuriang got very
angry and kicked away the boat to the downside, which finally turned into a
mountain, called Tangkuban Parahu.
 Apple Tree And a Boy
Once upon a time, there was a huge apple tree which gave tasty apples to the
people around it. There was also a little boy who became a close friend to the
apple tree.
The boy used to play with apple tree, climb its branches, sleep under its
shadow, and pluck its apples. Every day he visited the apple tree, and ate
some apples. One day, the boy joined in school and didn’t have a time to
spend with apple tree.
After several days, the boy came to the tree. The apple tree was so happy to
see the boy. It asked the boy to play. Unfortunately, the boy said that he was
not a child anymore. He didn’t want to play with the tree. But he asked
another request to the apple tree. The boy said he needed toys, but his
parents didn’t have money to buy it for him. The tree said, “Dear my boy, i
don’t have any money to buy it for you, but you can pick my apples, then sell
them, get money and buy the toys you want.”
The boy went happily to his home after plucking apples. The tree was waiting
to see the boy return. But he never came back for many years. The apple tree
was sad and it didn’t produce any apples anymore.
 A Cap Seller and The Monkeys
Once, a cap seller was passing through a jungle. He was very tired and
needed to rest. Then, he stopped and spread a cloth under a tree.
He placed his bag full of caps near him and lay down with his cap on his head.
The cap seller had a sound sleep for one hour. When he looked up the sky, he
was very surprised to see monkeys sitting on the branches of a tree, each of
the monkeys is wearing a cap of on its head. They had evidently done it to
imitate him.
Then he decided to get his caps back by making a humble request to the
monkeys. In return, the monkeys only made faces of him. When he begun to
make gesture, the monkeys also imitated him. At last he found a clever idea. ”
Monkeys are a great imitator,” he thought. So he took off his own cap and
threw it down on the ground. And as he had expected, all the monkeys took
off the caps and threw the caps down on the ground.
Quickly, he stood up and collected the caps, put them back into his bag and
went away.
 Maura and Three Sheiks
Once upon a time there was a queen of Arabia named Maura. Maura is the
most beautiful lady who had many suitors.
Three were young and handsome sheiks. They were strong and also rich. The
queen was hard to decide who would be the only one being the best. One
night, Maura disguised herself and went to the sheiks’ camps near her castle.
Maura had an idea to made a dinner for them, “Would you have something to
eat, sheiks?” Maura asked. The first sheik gave her some left in the table over
food. The second one gave her something strange, some unappetizing
camel’s tail. The last one who named Hakim, offered the most tasty meat and
tender.
After that, Maura invited those three sheiks to have a dinner at her castle. She
ordered as same as the foods which is given to her on the day before. The
first sheiks who gave all over the food ate all the menu by himself. The second
one who gave the unappetizing camel’s tailalso ate by himself. The third one ,
hakim, get the same menu as he gave to the queen, but he didn’t want to eat
it if all the people around him could not get the same manu too.
The queen was smiling. “Hakim, you are the person who I am searching for,
now I announce that Hakim the person I will marry with!”
 Cinderella

Once upon a time, in a village there lived a beautiful girl named Cinderella
with her wicked stepmother and two step sisters. She worked hard all day.
One day, they all went to a ball in the palace, leaving Cinderella behind.
Cinderella was feeling sad. Suddenly there was a burst of light and the fairy
mother appeared.

With a flick of the magic she turned Cinderella into a beautiful princess with
glass slippers and a horse carriage appeared at the door. The fairy godmother
warned Cinderella to return before midnight. Cinderella arrived at the ball, the
prince saw her and fell in love with her.

They danced together all night. as the clock struck twelve, Cinderella rushed
out to her carriage leaving one of her slippers behind.

The prince went to every house in the town with the slipper until he found
Cinderella. The prince and Cinderella lived happily ever after.
 Snow White

A long time ago, a child was born to a queen and king and she was called
Snow White. When the queen died, the king married again. This new queen
was wicked and hated Snow white. The queen gave orders that Snow White
was to be treated as a servant.

Snow White grew very beautiful and one day a Prince riding by, saw her at
work and fell in love with her.

The queen was beautiful too, and every day she asked her Magic Mirror, “Who
is the fairest in the land?” and the mirror always answered, “You are the fairest
one of all”.

But one day the mirror answered Snow White was the fairest in the land, and
in a rage the queen gave orders to one of her Huntsmen to take Snow White
into the woods and kill her.

The Huntsman had a kind heart and couldn’t do the deed so told her to run
away. She fled into the woods where Seven little dwarfs lived. Their house was
small and strange.

Snow White entered the little house and finding it very untidy, started to
clean up. Upstairs she found seven little beds. She was very tired and
stretching out on one of the beds, was soon asleep.

When the Dwarfs came home they were surprised to find Snow White and
after some argument, decided to let her stay. She promised to cook and look
after them.

The Queen discovered where Snow White was living and disguising herself as
a witch, took a poisoned apple and set out for the Dwarfs cottage. She gave
Snow White the poisoned apple to eat and as soon as she bit the apple, she
sank into unconsciousness.

Thinking she was dead, the Dwarfs built a glass coffin and put her in it. For
days she lay in the forest in her glass coffin. One day, the Prince was riding
through the forest looking for Snow White and found her. He leaned over and
kissed her. She opened her eyes and sat up with a smile. Everyone was happy.
The Prince took Snow White to his palace where they were married and lived
happily ever after.

The Smart Monkey and The Dull Crocodile

One day there was a monkey. He wanted to cross a river. There he saw a
crocodile so he asked the crocodile to take him across the other side of the
river. The crocodile agree and told the monkey to jump on its back. Then the
crocodile swam down the river with the monkey on his top.

Unluckily, the crocodile was very hungry, he stopped in the middle of the river
and said to the monkey, “My father is very sick. He has to eat the heart of the
monkey. So he will be healthy again.” At the time, the monkey was in
dangerous situation and he had to think hard. Then he had a good idea. He
told the crocodile to swim back to the river bank. “What’s for?” asked the
crocodile. “Because I don’t bring my heart,” said the monkey. “I left it under a
tree, near some coconuts in the river bank.” The crocodile agreed and turned
around. He swam back to the bank of the river. As soon as they reached the
river bank, the monkey jumped off the crocodile’s back. Then he climbed up
to the top of a tree.
“Where is your heart?” asked the crocodile. “You are foolish,” said the monkey
to the crocodile. “Now I am free and I have my heart.”
 The Ugly Duckling And New Friend

One upon time, a mother duck sat on her eggs. She felt tired of sitting on
them. She just wished the eggs would break out. Several days later, she got
her wish. The eggs cracked and some cute little ducklings appeared. “Peep,
peep” the little ducklings cried. “Quack, quack” their mother greeted in return.
However the largest egg had not cracked. The mother duck sat on it for
several days. Finally, it cracked and a huge ugly duckling waddled out. The
mother duck looked at him in surprise. He was so big and very gray. He didn’t
look like the others at all. He was like a turkey.

When the mother duck brought the children to the pond for their first
swimming lesson. The huge grey duckling splashed and paddled about just as
nicely as the other ducklings did. “That is not a turkey chick. He is my very
own son and quite handsome” the mother said proudly. However, the other
animals didn’t agree. They hissed and made fun of him day by day. Even his
own sisters and brothers were very unkind. “You are very ugly” they quacked.
The little poor duckling was very unhappy. “I wish I looked like them” he
thought to himself. One day, the ugly duckling run away and hid in the
bushes. The sad duckling lived alone through the cold and snow winter.

Finally the spring flowers began to bloom. While he was swimming in the
pond, he saw three large white swans swimming toward him. “Oh, dear, these
beautiful birds will laugh and peck me too” he said to himself. But the swans
did not attack him. Instead, they swam around him and stroked him with their
bills. As the ugly duckling bent his neck to speak to them, he saw his
reflection in the water. He could not believe his eyes. “I am not an ugly
duckling but a beautiful swam” he exclaimed.

He was very happy. From that day on, he swam and played with his new
friends and was happier than he had never been.
 The Mouse Deer And The Tiger

One day, there was a mouse deer. He was thirsty so he wanted to drink on the
river.
When the mouse deer came next to the river, a tiger approached him and
wanted to eat him. Of course the mouse deer tried to escape, but the tiger
run faster and caught him. In that dangerous situation the mouse deer
thought hard how to escape the tiger. Then he got idea and said to the tiger,
“Listen! Your mightiness and toughness are all great! But I have my own king.
He has a greater strength than yours! I am sure that nobody can match his
powers!”  Because the tiger felt taunted, he declared that he would challenge
the mouse deer’s king.

Next the mouse lead the tiger to the river, and said, “Now Look at the water.
You will see my king” Foolishly the tiger looked in the river and surely saw
another tiger in the water. Then he growled, but the tiger in the river imitated
to growl too. Because of his too high self-pride, the tiger jumped into the
water, and wanted to fight. He was believing there was another tiger in the
water.
The mouse deer took that opportunity to escape. After fighting with himself in
the river, the tiger realized that he was fooled by the mouse deer.
 The Mouse Deer and the Elephant

One day, there was a mouse deer. He was trapped in a hole that had been
made by a group of hunters. The mouse deer screamed for help but no one
heard him. It was hopeless for him to escape from the trap. He waited and
waited and finally an elephant came. He was happy and asked for help but the
elephant was not smart enough to help him. The elephant did not know how
to do.

In the end, the mouse deer got a bright idea. He said to the elephant, “Come
down here! Come down to this hole so you can help me get out!” Foolishly
the elephant agreed and followed the mouse deer’s order. The elephant
jumped down to the hole.

Of course the mouse deer quickly hopped on the elephant’s body and then
hopped out of the hole. He was free and leaving the elephant trapped in the
hole in turn.
 The Rabbit and the Bear

Once upon a time, there lived as neighbors, a bear and a rabbit. The rabbit
was a good shot. In contrary, the bear was always clumsy and could not use
the arrow to good advantage.

One day, the bear called over the rabbit and asked the rabbit to take his bow
and arrows and came with bear to the other side of the hill. The rabbit was
preventing to arouse the bear’s anger so he could not refuse it. He consented
and went with the bear and shot enough buffalo to satisfy the hungry family.
Indeed he shot and killed so many that there was lots of meat left after the
bear and his family had loaded themselves and packed all they could carry
home.
The bear was very gluttonous and did not want the rabbit to get any of the
meat. The rabbit could not even taste the blood from the butchering as the
bear would throw earth on the blood and dry it up. The poor rabbit would
have to go home hungry after his hard day’s work.

The bear was the father of five children. The youngest child was very kind to
the rabbit. He was very hearty eater. The mother bear always gave him an
extra large piece of meat but the youngest child did not eat it. He would take
it outside with him and pretended to play ball with the meat. He kicked
toward the rabbit’s house and when he got close to the door he would give
the meat with such a great kick. The meat would fly into the rabbit’s house. In
this way, the poor rabbit would get his meal unknown to the papa bear.
 The Mouse Deer And Crocodile

Once upon time there were a smart mouse deer. He lived near a river. The
mouse deer used to go to the river to drink.

One day, the mouse deer was thirsty. He wanted to drink in the river but he
knew that crocodiles were staying and waiting underwater to eat him. He
thought hard and got bright idea. He said out loudly. “I will put in my leg and
find out whether the water is warm or not” Of course the mouse deer did not
do what he said. He did not put his leg but the mouse deer took a wood stick
and put one end into the water. Blurrr…! Surely a crocodile grabbed the wood
stick and pulled it underwater. Seeing that, the mouse deer laughed and said
“Stupid crocodile! Can’t you see the difference between a wood stick and a
leg?” Then the mouse deer ran to another side of the river and drink some
water.
On the following day, the mouse deer was hungry. He wanted to eat some
grass on the side of the river so he had to cross the dangerous river which
was full of crocodiles. Again he thought hard and found another smart idea
and said loudly “Crocodiles come up!” then some crocodiles rose from the
water. They looked happy and saw their sharp teeth and said “Hello, Mouse
Deer. Do you come to be my lunch? We are hungry” The mouse deer just
smiled and replied. “Sorry, Crocodiles, not today, I come to you to bring an
invitation from the king. You are invited to the party. The king ordered me to
count all crocodiles in this river so he knew how to prepare enough meal for
you. “All the crocodiles felt happy and said “Really…? Tell us what to do,” said
a crocodile. “You have to line up from this side of the river to the other side,”
said the mouse deer. Not long after that the crocodile got all his friends and
family. He ordered to line up across the river.

The mouse deer then jumped on the Crocodile’s back. “One,” the mouse deer
counted. He jumped onto the next crocodile, “Two.” And he jumped again on
the next crocodile, “Three.” he kept jumping until he arrived on the other side
of the river. “Just enough,” said the mouse deer. “I have counted all of you”
He laughed and ran to the field of grass.

The Crow and the Jug

On a hot day, a thirsty crow flew over a field looking for water. For a long
time, she could not find any. She left very exhausted. She almost gave up.
Suddenly, she saw water jug below her. She flew straight down to see if there
was any water inside. It was surprised because there was some water inside
the jug.
The crow tried to push her head into the jug. Sadly she found that the neck of
the jug was too narrow. Then she tried to push the jug down for the water to
flow out but she found that the jug was too heavy.

The crow thought hard for a while. Then she was looking around. She saw
some pebbles. She suddenly had a good idea. She started picking up the
pebbles one by one, dropping it into the jug. As more and more pebbles filled
the jug, the water level kept rising. Soon it was high enough for the crow to
drink. “It’s working” she said.