1.

The Needle Tree

There were once two brothers who lived at the edge of a forest. The elder brother was very
mean to his younger brother. He ate up all the food and took all his brother’s good clothes. One
day, the elder brother went into the forest to find some firewood to sell in the market. As he went
around, chopping the branches of tree after tree, he came upon a magical tree.
The tree said to him, ‘Oh kind sir, please do not cut my branches. If you spare me, I will give
you golden apples’. The elder brother agreed, but was disappointed with the number of apples the
tree gave him. Greed overcame him, and he threatened to cut the entire trunk, if the tree didn’t
give him more apples. The magical tree, instead, showered upon the elder brother, hundreds upon
hundreds of tiny needles. The elder brother lay on the ground crying in pain as the sun began to
lower down the horizon.
The younger brother grew worried and went in search of his elder brother. He found him
laying in pain near the tree, with hundreds on needles on his body. He rushed to his brother and
removed each needle with painstaking love. After he finished, the elder brother apologised for
treating him badly and promised to be better. The tree saw the change in the elder brother’s heart,
and gave them all the golden apples they could ever need.

Moral Of The Story

It is important to be kind and gracious, as it will always be rewarded.
 2. Counting Wisely
Akbar once put a question to his court that left everyone puzzled. As they all tried to figure
out the answer, Birbal walked in and asked what the matter was. They repeated the question to
him.
‘How many crows are there in the city?’
Birbal immediately smiled, went up to Akbar, and announced that the answer to his questions
was twenty-one thousand, five hundred and twenty-three. When asked how he knew the answer,
Birbal replied, ‘Ask your men to count the number of crows. If there are more, then the crows’
relatives from outside the city are visiting them. If there are fewer, then the crows are visiting
their relatives outside the city.’ Pleased with the answer, Akbar presented Birbal with a ruby and
pearl chain.

Moral of The Story

Having an explanation for your answer is just as important as having an answer.
 3. The Boy Who Cried Wolf
There was once a boy whose father one day told him that he was, now, old enough to watch
over the sheep while they were grazing. Every day, he had to take the sheep over the grass fields
and watch them as they grazed to become strong with thick wool. The boy was unhappy though.
He wanted to run and play, not watch the boring sheep. So, he decided to have some fun instead.
He cried ‘Wolf! Wolf!,’ until the entire village came running with stones to chase away the wolf
before it could eat any of the sheep. Once they saw that there was no wolf, they left muttering
under their breath about how the boy was wasting their time and giving them a good fright while
at it. The next day, the boy cried once more,‘Wolf! Wolf!’ and, again, the villagers rushed there
to chase the wolf away.
As the boy laughed at the fright he had caused, the villagers left, some angrier than the others.
The third day, as the boy went up the small hill, he suddenly saw a wolf attacking his sheep. He
cried as hard as he could, ‘Wolf! Wolf! WOLF!’, but the villagers thought he was trying to fool
them again and did not come to rescue the sheep. The little boy lost three sheep that day, all
because he falsely cried wolf.

Moral of The Story

Do not make stories up for attention, for no one will help you when you actually need it.
 4. The Golden Touch
This is the story of a very greedy rich man who chanced upon meeting a fairy. The fairy’s
hair was caught in a few tree branches. Realising he had an opportunity to make even more
money, he asked for a wish in return for helping the fairy. He said, ’All that I touch should turn to
gold’, and his wish was granted by the grateful fairy.
The greedy man rushed home to tell his wife and daughter about his new boon, all the while
touching stones and pebbles and converting them into gold. Once he got home, his daughter
rushed to greet him. As soon as he bent down to scoop her up in his arms, she turned into a gold
statue. He realised his folly and spent the rest of his days searching for the fairy to take away his
wish.

Moral of The Story

Greed will always lead to downfall.
 5. When Adversity Knocks
This is a story explaining how adversity is met differently by different people. Asha’s father
placed an egg, a potato, and some tea leaves in three separate vessels with boiling water. He
asked Asha to keep an eye on the vessels for ten minutes. Once these ten minutes were over , he
asked Asha to peel the potato, peel the egg and strain the tea leaves. Asha was left puzzled.
Her father explained , ‘Each of these items was put in the same circumstance of boiling
water. See how they’ve responded differently. The potato is now soft, the egg is now hard, and
the tea has changed the water itself. We are all like one of these items. When adversity calls, we
respond in exactly the way they have. Now, are you a potato, an egg, or tea leaves?’

Moral Of The Story

We can choose how to respond to a difficult situation.