Part-1

Contents
The Tortoise and the Hare .............................................. 3
The Thirsty Crow ............................................................. 6
The Fox and the Grapes.................................................. 9
The Ant and the Dove ..................................................... 12
The Wise Lamb ................................................................ 15
The Dreamy Girl ............................................................. 18
The Lion and the Mouse .................................................. 21
The Greedy Dog ............................................................
............................................................24
24
The Fox and the Turtle ..................................................
..................................................27
27
Story of Goodheart and Badheart.................................
Badheart.................................30
30
United We Stand ............................................................ 38
The Lion and the Greedy Jackals ..................................
..................................44
44
Wealthy Merchant and the King’s Attendant ..................
..................50
50
The Sage and the Cheat ................................................ 56
The Monkey’s Revenge ..................................................... 61
The Foolish Lion and the Wise Hare ............................. 68
 The Tortoise and the Hare
One day as a hare was walking in the jungle, he met a tortoise.
“Move to the side!” exclaimed the hare.
“Give me a minute,” the tortoise requested.
“A minute? You will take the whole day, you slowcoach!” replied the hare.
Angrily the tortoise retorted, ’’I am not a slowcoach!”
The hare laughed, “Really? Let us race then!”

3
“Sure dude!” agreed the tortoise, flexing his arms.
”Over two hills, across the banks of the river and down the forest path.
Alright?”
“Yeah...” sneered the tortoise.
The race began.
The hare ran fast and on reaching the top of the second hill turned to
look at the tortoise.
“He is still at the base of the first hill! I will waste my whole day waiting
for him at the finishing line. Let me take a nap now,” the
hare decided.

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The tortoise chugged on slowly, without resting, till he reached the river
bank.
When the hare woke, he saw the tortoise at the finishing line!
The tortoise had won the race!

Moral: Slow and steady wins the race.

5
 The Thirsty Crow
It was a hot summer day. The people were all inside their houses.
Not a man on the roads. Not a beast in the fields. Not a bird in the sky.
But wait. What was that? A crow!
The poor crow was very thirsty. He was looking for water.
He saw a pot of water below. He quickly flew down
and peeped in.

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The crow was delighted to find water!
He put his beak into the pot but the neck of the pot was too narrow and
the water far below. His beak could not reach the water.
He tried to push the heavy pot down for the water to flow out. The pot did
not even move a bit.
He banged his head against the wall of the pot in anger.

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Suddenly the crow jumped with excitement and exclaimed, “What an
idea!”
He picked up a few pebbles and dropped them into the pot and peeped
inside. Sure enough, the water level had risen! The crow continued to
drop more pebbles. Soon the water reached the brim of the pot.
At last, the crow drank the water and flew away.

Moral: Try, try never say die.

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 The Fox and the Grapes
Willy, the fox, was looking for something delicious to eat
to give himself a good start for the day.
Soon he came upon a vineyard.
Suddenly Willy saw something and exclaimed, “I can’t believe
this!”
Right on top of him was a bunch of juicy grapes.
He looked around and murmured, ”No one is here. Now is my
chance!”

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 Willy quickly stood up on his hind
legs to pluck the grapes. ”Oh no,
they are higher than I thought.” He
then crouched down and sprang
up to reach the grapes.
Thud!
Willy fell face down. He stood up, dusted himself and took
a deep breath. He jumped up and again fell down. His
body was paining and now he could hardly stand.
He looked up at the juicy grapes and murmured, “I must
have them.”
Willy walked back a few steps, bolted forward and then
lunged up. He missed it again.

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Willy looked at the grapes and growled
angrily, “Those grapes are mine!”
Willy got up and limped a few steps and
tried to jump. But he fell down again.
He now muttered to himself as he walked
away, ”Only a fool would want to have these
sour grapes!”

Moral: Sometimes when we cannot get what we

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 The Ant and the Dove
It was a beautiful spring morning. The orange sun had just begun to
peep out from behind the mountains.
Dash, the ant, was on his way to the spring
to drink water. He had to be careful because
one wrong step and he would drown.
As he climbed up a blade of grass to drink
water, the wind shook it violently and Splash!
Dash fell into the water.

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There was water everywhere – around him, over him,
below him. Dash was swirling uncontrollably in water.
A dove, who was sitting on a nearby tree, quickly plucked
a leaf and dropped it in front of Dash.
He hurriedly grabbed the leaf and climbed
onto it. The leaf floated to the side and
Dash found his way onto the solid ground.

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But before Dash could fully recover, he saw a hunter
standing nearby getting ready to throw his net on
some poor creature. Dash turned to see who that poor
creature was.
“Oh no! That’s the dove,” cried out Dash.
Without wasting a moment he stung the
hunter’s leg. The hunter’s hand shook as
he felt a wave of pain and the net
missed its prey.
The dove flew to safety.

Moral: Live for others.

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 The Wise Lamb
Dew, the lamb, was out grazing with the rest of the sheep. She had a tiny
silver bell tied around her neck. Every time Dew jumped, the bell tinkled.
At the far end of the field she saw a tuft of sweet green grass. Soon Dew
was there beside the grass.
“Hmmmmm… delicious,” Dew mumbled with her mouth full.
Dew moved from one sweet juicy tuft of grass to another, till she was far
away from others.

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Suddenly a wolf pounced on Dew.
She found herself pinned down by the wolf. She knew she had to think
fast to save herself.
“Oh! Mighty wolf, please do not eat me yet. My stomach is full of grass
and I may taste bitter. Wait a while, then I will taste juicy and delicious,”
pleaded Dew.
“Alright!” exclaimed the wolf.
Dew then suggested the wolf, “If you allow me to dance then the grass in
my stomach will digest faster.”
The wolf thought, ”A delicious lunch is worth the wait!” and allowed her
to dance.
After dancing for a little while, she then said, “Please remove the bell
from my neck and ring it as loud as you can. The faster I dance the faster
my food digests. Soon you will be able to eat me!”

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The wolf removed the bell and started ringing it loudly.
Far away, the shepherd heard the bell ringing and immediately sent his
dogs to fetch Dew.
The wolf heard the barking of the approaching dogs and quickly ran
towards the jungle.

Moral: The gentle and weak can sometimes be cleverer than the
fierce and strong.

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 The Dreamy Girl
Meghan, the milkmaid, lived with her family. They had a cow which gave
them milk. Every day she carried a jug of milk to the market to sell.
One day, on her way to the market, Meghan saw a brood of chickens.
They looked like fluffy balls of yellow cotton. Meghan wondered if she
could buy them.

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“Not only can I buy them, I can rear them in the backyard and later
sell them at a good price,” she thought and started walking faster in
excitement.
Meghan told herself that she would then buy two young
goats and when they had grown she would sell them
and make even more profit than now.
As Meghan wanted to become richer, so she
decided to buy another cow. Then she would have
two jugs of milk to sell every day.

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“I will become very rich,” shrieked Meghan in joy.
“But then we would need a wheelbarrow to carry two jugs of milk to the
market.”
She felt as if she was already pushing the wheelbarrow. With a smile on
her lips she started running.
Craaassshh… The jug fell onto the ground. The milk lay splashed all around.
Meghan had tripped and fallen.
”No more day dreaming now,” she promised herself as she sat there
sobbing.
Moral: Do not count your chickens
before they are hatched.

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 The Lion and the Mouse
A lion was about to eat Cherry, the mouse. His cries for help fell on deaf
ears.
Cherry mustered up courage, puffed up his chest, cleared his throat and
said, “Jungle king, do not kill me. Perhaps, tomorrow you may need my
help. Let me go.”
The lion shook his big shaggy head in disbelief and roared, ”I do not
need anybody’s help. However, I am impressed by your courage! Here,
you can go.”
Without wasting a minute, Cherry ran away.

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One afternoon, Cherry heard the lion roaring in pain. He hurried to find
out.
Cherry was shocked to see the lion trapped under a hunter’s net! He was
desperate to escape but the net was way too strong for him.
Cherry quickly went under the net, up the lion’s leg, got lost in his mane
and finally emerged near the lion’s ear. “Don’t worry dude! I will let you
free in a minute,” said Cherry.

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Cherry nibbled the strings of the net till there was enough space for the
lion to escape. The lion crawled out, but his tail got stuck in a nearby
bush.
Cherry said, “You have two options – leave the tail or take the bush.”
The lion tugged hard and with the bush dragging behind him ran
towards his den.

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 The Greedy Dog
A hungry dog was sitting near the shop of a grocer.
A little boy and his mother came out of the shop
carrying heavy, overfull bags. As they walked past
the road in a hurry, a big piece of meat dropped out.
The dog quickly grabbed it and ran away.

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The dog decided to take the meat to the other side of the stream to eat.
As he was crossing the bridge, he looked down. There, in the stream, he
saw another dog with a piece of meat in his mouth.
He decided to scare the other dog and steal his meat.
The greedy dog cocked his ears. The dog in the stream cocked his ears
too. The greedy dog tilted his head. The dog below tilted his head as
well. The greedy dog wagged his tail. The dog below wagged his tail
too. The greedy dog still holding the meat with his teeth, growled. The
dog below growled, just like him.

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The greedy dog lost all his patience. He barked ferociously and out fell
the meat from his mouth into the stream.
“Oh no!”
He looked down but could not see the meat. He could not see the other
dog either. It was just his reflection in the water. He realized his mistake,
but it was too late now.
The dog was left with nothing to eat.

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 The Fox and the Turtle
Silvie, the fox, was old and could not hunt like before
anymore.
One day, she was trying to find some food when she
tripped over Milo, the turtle.
“I am so sorry ma’am,” said Milo in his deep voice.
Silvie couldn’t believe her luck. “No Mr Turtle, in fact such
a pleasure to meet you. Just what I needed, a delicious
turtle for lunch!” said Silvie as she pounced on Milo.

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Milo, sensing danger, retreated into his
shell. And Silvie bit his rock hard shell.
“Ouchhhh! “
Silvie yelped in pain as two of her loose
teeth fell out. But she was determined
to feast on the turtle and would not let
him go.

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Witty Milo had a great idea. He said, ”My dear friend, I am 200 years old,
my bones pain, my muscles are weak. I do not mind being your food. You
can soak me in water to make my shell soft.”
Silvie readily agreed. She took Milo to the stream and immersed him in
water. Milo came out of the shell and swam farther midstream. He yelled,
“Foolish fox, didn’t you know we turtles are very good swimmers? Bye
bye!”
Milo laughed and swam away.

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 Story of Goodheart and Badheart
Two friends, named Goodheart and Badheart, lived in a city. One day,
Badheart told Goodheart, “My friend, to earn wealth and knowledge, we
must travel. Let’s go round the world together.’’
And they both began their journey.

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On returning back, as they were entering their town, Badheart said, “It is
not safe to take home all this wealth. We must bury most of our money
in some secret place in this forest. Whenever we need money, we can
come here together and take whatever we need.”

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Goodheart agreed and they hid all their money in a pit under a mango
tree near the pond before going home.
At night, Badheart returned to the forest and stole all the money.

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Next morning, Badheart went to Goodheart and
requested that they go to the pit in the forest because
his father was ill and he was in urgent need of money.
On reaching the forest, they found the pit empty. At
once, Badheart began shouting, “Goodheart, you
stole the money! Nobody else knew about this secret
hiding place. I want my money back.”

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Goodheart was shocked and pleaded innocence. But Badheart took the
dispute to the king of their town.
The king heard the matter and said, “In the absence of a witness, it is
very difficult for me to arrive at a decision.”
Promptly, Badheart said, “The God of the forest will be my witness.”

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Intrigued, the king asked both the parties to be present near the
mango tree the next morning.
Badheart hurried home to his father and said, “Father, go and
hide in the hollow of the mango tree. When the king asks, declare
Goodheart the thief.”

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Next morning, in the presence of the king, his ministers and
Goodheart, Badheart shouted, “O God of the Forest! Declare,
who amongst us is guilty.”
Badheart’s father shouted from his hiding place, “Goodheart
stole the money.”
As the king and his ministers huddled together to decide the
punishment, Goodheart filled the hollow of the mango tree
with dry leaves.

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Then, Goodheart threw a burning matchstick onto the leaves. The dry
leaves caught fire. There was thick smoke billowing out of the hollow
of the tree. Badheart’s father rushed out of the hollow, gasping and
coughing.
The king’s men, at once, arrested Badheart and put him in jail.

Moral: A wise man should not only be resourceful but also

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 United We Stand
There, in the city of Moyali, was a huge mango
tree. Many species of birds lived on the tree.
One day, Crooz, the crow, saw a wicked hunter
coming towards the tree. He immediately
alerted the birds on the tree, “Friends, beware
of this wicked hunter. He will lure you with
seeds. Avoid them like poisonous berries.’’

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The hunter came and spread the seeds over his hunting net.
He, then, hid himself behind some bushes.
Warned by Crooz, the birds stayed away from the seeds as
though they were poisonous berries.
Chany, the king of doves, and his flock came to eat the seeds.
They were on their way back from their home and were not
aware of Crooz’s warning.

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As the birds started pecking at the seeds, they found their claws stuck in
the net beneath the seeds.
Somehow, Chany escaped the net but his flock got trapped. He kept his
cool and appealed to his fellow doves not to panic. He announced, “Let
us fly together and land somewhere the hunter cannot reach. We will
then plan a strategy to get out of this net. We must fly together now or we
are all doomed.”

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With one upward thrust, they flew, carrying the net with them.
The hunter, taken aback by the unity and clever thinking of the doves,
followed them. He was hopeful that their unity would break and then
they would fall to the ground. But the hunter’s chase soon came to an
end. The clever birds purposely flew across a stream, to get rid of him.
Chany, shouted over the din of the flapping wings, “Onwards to Moyali!
To the fort of Chu Chu.’’

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The birds, heeding the advice of their king, flew to the fort of Chu
Chu in Moyali.
Once the birds had landed safely outside the fort, Chany shouted,
“Chu Chu, my friend, please come out. We need your help.”
Chu Chu, the king of rats, came out with his army of rats. They were
in all shapes and sizes.

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Delighted to meet Chany, Chu Chu said, “Don’t worry buddy! We take on
from here.”
And with the help of his army, he nibbled the entire net and freed all the
doves.

Moral: United we stand, divided we fall.

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 The Lion and the Greedy Jackals
Once an injured bullock, Harsha, was abandoned by his owner. He then
came to a forest to rest and recover. Harsha fed on the fresh and tender
grass in the forest and soon recovered. He often sang loudly with joy as
he explored the jungle.

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One day, Leebo, the lion king, went to the river bank to drink water.
Suddenly, he heard a frightening bellow of a bullock. In panic, the lion
withdrew into the forest.
He called his two assistants, the jackals, Toby and Zylo, and said, “Find
out what caused this frightening sound.”
They returned and reported, ”Your majesty, it is only a bullock who was
singing loudly. If you want, we can bring him here.”
“Hmm... do that,” Leebo, nodded in approval.

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The jackals got Harsha to meet Leebo. Both, Leebo and Harsha, quickly
became good friends.
Zylo and Toby did not like this at all. Both were worried that if the King
remains friends with Harsha, he might give up hunting. They feared that
they might starve as they lived on the lion’s leftovers.
Zylo thought of a plan, “I will create a rift between the two.”

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One day when Leebo was alone, Zylo visited him and said, “My lord,
Harsha is planning to kill you tomorrow to become the king.”
While Toby went to Harsha and said, “Dear friend, I just heard Leebo
is planning to kill you tomorrow so that he can serve you as a feast for
everyone.” I am so worried for you.
Harsha furiously said, “I am not a coward. I will fight the king.”

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The next day, Harsha went to see Leebo and sat down without greeting
him. The lion was surprised at the bullock’s behavior and recalled what
Zylo had told him about Harsha.
Seething with anger, Leebo pounced on Harsha tearing him with his
claws.

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“Good my lord,” said Zylo, with greed on his face.
“A fitting end to an unthankful and unfaithful being,” added Toby as he
patiently waited for his turn to eat.

Moral: When wicked people surround the king, good men should
not serve such masters.

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Wealthy Merchant and the King’s Attendant
Pradhan was a rich merchant. He lived in the city of Silwan. Everyone in
the city respected Pradhan for his wisdom. He was also the King’s most
trusted advisor.
When Pradhan’s son got married, he held a big reception. The King,
along with his family members, attended the celebrations.
Pradhan attended to all his guests like a good host. But when he came
across Kashi, the King’s attendant, sitting on a chair reserved for the
nobles, he was very angry. He got Kashi thrown out of his house.

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Kashi, bitter with this treatment, thought to himself, “I will avenge my
insult. I will see to it that Pradhan falls out of favor with the King.”
Next morning when the King was still in bed, Kashi came inside the
King’s bedroom. As he cleaned the room he murmured loudly, “Oh, that
arrogant Pradhan! He boasts that he is wealthier than the King!”
When the King heard this, he demanded to know the truth.
“Oh Your Majesty! I do not remember anything. I am so drowsy, after
having spent the entire night looking after my sick goat,” Kashi told the
King.

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As the King sat on his bed, he recalled his grandfather once telling him
that men were likely to talk in their sleep about what they had seen or
heard during the day.
Convinced that Kashi was telling the truth, he barred Pradhan from
entering the royal household.
Pradhan was surprised and wondered about the reason behind the
King’s displeasure. He tried to meet the King to sort things out, but the
guards refused to let him in.

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As Pradhan stood at the palace gate, requesting the guards to let him in,
Kashi walked past. Kashi advised the guards loudly, “Fortune is fickle. He
is out of favor today but may not be so tomorrow. Be nice to the mighty
Pradhan, lest he treat you like the way he treated me.”
Pradhan understood what Kashi was referring to. He immediately
apologized to Kashi for his behavior and invited him home for a meal.

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The next day, Kashi repeated the same drama of pretending to talk in his
sleep. He murmured, “The King is planting potatoes in the field.”
The King understood that there was no truth in Kashi’s murmurings. He
realized his mistake in punishing his good friend and advisor, Pradhan.

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The King immediately called Pradhan. He apologized and gave him an
even higher position in his court than before.

Moral: One should respect everyone.

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 The Sage and the Cheat
A great sage, Sukhdev, lived alone in a village. His disciples respected
him and offered him many gifts. Sukhdev had no use of these gifts and
so sold them off. Over the years, he gathered a lot of wealth. He kept all
his money in a bag. Never for a moment, would he let the bag out of his
sight.

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Partho a thief, noticed this. He was sure that the bag contained
something valuable. He decided to steal the bag.
Partho went to meet the sage in his monastery. When Sukhdev came out,
Partho fell on his feet. He said, “O master, please show me the correct
path that will lead me to become a good human being.”

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Sukhdev, pleased with Partho’s humility, said, “I shall accept you as my
disciple. You will live in the hut at the entrance of the village. You will
water the plants and keep the compound clean. But you will never enter
my hut.”
Partho thanked the sage and set forth to carry out his tasks.
Partho began discharging his duties very sincerely and Sukhdev was
very happy. But, he was always on a look out to steal the bag.

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One day, a disciple invited Sukhdev to his village, to perform a ceremony.
The sage accepted the invitation and set out for the village along with
Partho.
On the way, they had to cross a river. Sukhdev, cleverly hid his money
bag inside a holy mattress he always carried. Then he handed it to
Partho and said, “I am going to bathe in the river. After which, I shall say
my daily prayers. Guard this holy mattress till I return. You must not leave
it unguarded, even for a second.”

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This was the moment Partho had been waiting for so many months. As
soon as Sukhdev left, Partho fled with the money bag.
When Sukhdev returned, he could not find Partho anywhere. He
panicked when he found the mattress lying on the ground. The money
bag was missing. Sukhdev was shattered. His lifelong savings were all
lost. But he soon came out of his sorrowful state. He was ashamed of his
love for wealth and took the incident as a lesson from God.
“I have lost nothing but gained a lot of wisdom,” said Sukhdev to himself
as he continued on his journey.

Moral: One has to take responsibility of one’s own actions.

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 The Monkey’s Revenge
King Prithvi, a mighty emperor, lived in a big palace surrounded by
beautiful gardens. At one end of the garden was the royal kitchen and
on the other end were a stable for horses and a room for goats. There
were many monkeys in the garden too.
The King was very fond of animals. The animals were well taken care
of, and there was enough food for all. However, a greedy, brown goat
would often sneak into the royal kitchen to steal food. The cook, there,
would then throw something at it to scare it away.

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An old monkey watched this everyday and thought, “This tussle will lead
to the ruin of my tribe.”
A couple of weeks later, the greedy brown goat, as usual, sneaked into
the royal kitchen. The royal cook, who was preparing a royal feast, was
furious and threw a piece of burning wood to chase it away. The goat’s
fur afire, it ran out in panic. It ran into the stable, setting ablaze the hay
stacked there.

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The old monkey who was watching all this, summoned all the monkeys
and said, ”Leave the palace at once, or you are doomed!”
But the monkeys refused to leave the good life of the palace. Finally, the
old monkey left the palace alone.
Meanwhile, several horses in the stable suffered severe burns. Veterinary
doctors advised the King, “The wounds on the horses must be saved from
infection. Remove all monkeys from the garden immediately.”
It was difficult to chase the monkeys away. So the King ordered that they
be caught and caged. As the servants were busy looking after the horses,
the monkeys were left without water and food for many days and died.

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When this news reached the old monkey, he was deeply pained. He
vowed to take revenge.
Sad and restless, the old monkey went into the forest. He went near a
lake to quench his thirst, but stopped short as he sensed danger. There
were many footprints leading to the lake, but none returning from the
lake. So, he drank water with the stem of a lotus.

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SPLAAAASH
Out came a crocodile wearing a pearl necklace.
The crocodile said, “Wise monkey, I am impressed by your intelligence.
I shall grant you a wish.”
The monkey narrated his sad story. The crocodile gave him his necklace
and suggested, “Lure the King’s family members to enter the lake. I will
trap them all.”

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The old monkey went back to King Prithvi. He showed him the
necklace and said, “I found a lake in the forest, full of priceless
ornaments like this pearl necklace.”
The King was impressed and decided to visit the lake. The old
monkey led the King and his family to the lake in the forest.
All, except the King, entered the lake in search of the treasure.
When nobody came out of the water for a long time, the King
became suspicious. He demanded an explanation from the
old monkey.

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The old monkey sneered, “O King, the crocodile inside the lake has
trapped all your loved ones. Just like you caged all the monkeys in your
palace garden, and left them to starve. It will teach you to respect and
love all God’s creations equally.”

Moral: As you sow, so shall you reap.

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 The Foolish Lion and the Wise Hare
Simba, the lion, was the king of the jungle. The animals in his kingdom
were unhappy because every day Simba killed more animals than what
he could eat.
Finally, the animals got together for a meeting. It was decided that the

68
animals should meet the lion and find a solution to this problem. The
next day, the animals collected near Simba’s den. Then one of them
stepped forward and said, “O, lord! Why do you kill so many animals
every day, when only one is enough to satisfy your hunger? Let us come
to an understanding. From today, we will send an animal to you every
day as your food. That will spare you the trouble of hunting, and us–our
lives.”
“Not a bad idea!” Simba said to himself.

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Then he roared in warning, “However, if you fail to send an animal on
any day, I shall kill all of you.”
“Agreed,” said the animals and returned back home. They started
sending one animal to the lion everyday.
One day, it was the turn of a hare. Teary eyed, he bid farewell to
everybody and started on his last journey. On his way to Simba’s den, he
stopped under a tree to thank God for his beautiful life. He then decided
to enjoy his last day. He walked leisurely, inspecting anything new that
came his way.
When the hare was passing by a big, deep well, he peeped down and
saw his own reflection.

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It was late in the evening, when the hare reached Simba’s den.
“Rrrrrrr…” Simba roared in rage.
He was both, very hungry and very angry.
The hare came and knelt before him, and said, “Please eat me, Your
Majesty.”
Simba bellowed, “You are too small for my lunch. I shall kill you and all
the others too.”
“My lord, four hares were sent for your meal. On our way, a lion, near the
well, ate the rest three. He said that he was the new king. I could reach
somehow,” said the hare, pretending to be scared.

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“Show me that lion. I will kill him and have him for dinner,” roared Simba
as he stood up, flexing his muscles in anger.
The hare led the lion to the well. Simba peeped into the well and saw his
own reflection. He thought it was the other lion. He jumped into the deep
well to fight with him. And that was the end of the foolish lion.
The animals in the jungle lived happily ever after.

Moral: The wise is stronger than the big.

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