The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers and friends. The title of my
story is The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

Once, there was a boy who became bored when he watched over the village
sheep grazing on the hillside. To entertain himself, he sang out, “Wolf! Wolf! The
wolf is chasing the sheep!”

When the villagers heard the cry, they came running up the hill to drive the wolf
away. But, when they arrived, they saw no wolf. The boy was amused when seeing
their angry faces.

“Don’t scream wolf, boy,” warned the villagers, “when there is no wolf!” They
angrily went back down the hill.

Later, the shepherd boy cried out once again, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the
sheep!” To his amusement, he looked on as the villagers came running up the hill
to scare the wolf away.

As they saw there was no wolf, they said strictly, “Save your frightened cry for
when there really is a wolf! Don’t cry ‘wolf’ when there is no wolf!” But the boy
grinned at their words while they walked grumbling down the hill once more.

Later, the boy saw a real wolf sneaking around his flock. Alarmed, he jumped on
his feet and cried out as loud as he could, “Wolf! Wolf!” But the villagers thought
he was fooling them again, and so they didn’t come to help.

At sunset, the villagers went looking for the boy who hadn’t returned with their
sheep. When they went up the hill, they found him weeping.

“There really was a wolf here! The flock is gone! I cried out, ‘Wolf!’ but you didn’t
come,” he wailed.

An old man went to comfort the boy. As he put his arm around him, he said,
“Nobody believes a liar, even when he is telling the truth!”
The Milkmaid and her Pail

Good morning to the honorable judges, teachers and friends. The title of my
story is The Milkmaid and her Pail

One day, Molly the milkmaid had filled her pails with milk. Her job was to milk the
cows, and then bring the milk to the market to sell. Molly loved to think about
what to spend her money on.

As she filled the pails with milk and went to market, she again thought of all the
things she wanted to buy. As she walked along the road, she thought of buying a
cake and a basket full of fresh strawberries.

A little further down the road, she spotted a chicken. She thought, “With the
money I get from today, I’m going to buy a chicken of my own. That chicken will
lay eggs, then I will be able to sell milk and eggs and get more money!”

She continued, “With more money, I will be able to buy a fancy dress and make
all the other milkmaids jealous.” Out of excitement, Molly started skipping,
forgetting about the milk in her pails. Soon, the milk started spilling over the
edges, covering Molly.

Drenched, Molly said to herself, “Oh no! I will never have enough money to buy a
chicken now.” She went home with her empty pails.

“Oh, my goodness! What happened to you?” Molly’s mother asked.

“I was too busy dreaming about all the things I wanted to buy that I forgot about
the pails,” she answered.

“Oh, Molly, my dear. How many times do I need to say, ‘Don’t count your
chickens until they hatch?’”
A Wise Old Owl

One day, a farmer was looking for a water source for his farm, when he bought a
well from his neighbor. The neighbor, however, was cunning. The next day, as the
farmer came to draw water from his well, the neighbor refused to let him take
any water.

When the farmer asked why, the neighbor replied, “I sold you the well, not the
water,” and walked away. Distraught, the farmer went to the emperor to ask for
justice. He explained what had happened.

The emperor called on Birbal, one of his nine, and wisest, courtiers. Birbal
proceeded to question the neighbor, “Why don’t you let the farmer take water
from the well? You did sell the well to the farmer?”

The neighbor replied, “Birbal, I did sell the well to the farmer but not the water
within it. He has no right to draw water from the well.”

Birbal said, “Look, since you sold the well, you have no right to keep the water in
the farmer’s well. Either you pay rent to the farmer, or take it out immediately.”
Realizing that his scheme had failed, the neighbor apologized and went home.
 Elephant and Friends

Good morning to the honorable judges, teachers and friends. The title of my
story is Elephant and Friends.

A lone elephant walked through the forest, looking for friends. She soon saw a
monkey and proceeded to ask, ‘Can we be friends, monkey?’

The monkey quickly replied, ‘You are big and can’t swing on trees like I do, so I
cannot be your friend.’

Defeated, the elephant continued to search when it stumbled across a rabbit. She
proceeded to ask him, ‘Can we be friends, rabbit?’

The rabbit looked at the elephant and replied, “You are too big to fit inside my
burrow. You cannot be my friend.”

Then, the elephant continued until she met a frog. She asked, “Will you be my
friend, frog?”

The frog replied, “You are too big and heavy; you cannot jump like me. I am
sorry, but you can’t be my friend.”

The elephant continued to ask the animals she met on her way, but always
received the same reply. The following day, the elephant saw all the forest
animals run in fear. She stopped a bear to ask what was happening and was told
the tiger was attacking all the small animals.

The elephant wanted to save the other animals, so she went to the tiger and said,
“Please, sir, leave my friends alone. Do not eat them.”

The tiger didn’t listen. He merely told the elephant to mind her own business.

Seeing no other way, the elephant kicked the tiger and scared him away. Upon
hearing of the brave tale, the other animals agreed, “You are just the right size to
be our friend.”