FABLES

The Lion and the Mouse

Once upon a time, a little mouse ran across the nose of a sleeping lion. The lion woke up and
caught the mouse in his paw, ready to eat him. The mouse begged for mercy and promised to
repay the lion’s kindness in the future. The lion laughed at the idea of a tiny mouse helping him,
but he was generous and let the mouse go.
Later, the lion was caught in a hunter’s trap and couldn’t free himself. The mouse heard the
lion’s roar and came to his rescue. The mouse gnawed through the ropes that bound the lion and
set him free. The lion realized that even small creatures can be helpful and grateful. From that
day on, the lion and the mouse became good friends.

The Fox and the Grapes

Once upon a time, a fox was strolling in the “Sundervan” forest someplace in Asia on a hot
afternoon. After strolling alone for a while, he got hungry.
Soon, he reached a lush green garden with beautiful trees and flowering plants. Then, he abruptly
noticed a sizable bunch of grapes on a grapevine. A luscious bunch of grapes suspended from a
tree limb made him drool. The fox’s mouth watered as he peered longingly at the grapes, which
appeared ready to burst with juice.
The thirsty fox exclaimed, “Wow, the grapes look so juicy! They seem ready to be eaten.” The
fox wanted to eat them since he was so hungry and thirsty.
The grapes were high, yet the fox jumped up with full force and confidence. He backed up a bit
before running and jumping to reach the grapes.
The first time he jumped, he missed it by a long way. After that, he was not even close to being
able to touch them.
He gathered all the courage and said, “Let’s try again,”
Again, he tried, but all went in vain. He again fell short. The grapes were still out of his reach.
The confident fox declared, “Third and the last time, this time grapes will be mine,” but despite
his best efforts, the grapes remained entirely out of his reach.
Disappointed, the hungry fox remarked, “What a fool I am; this is not the correct season. Grapes
must be sour for sure,”
He walked away, trying to console himself.

The Hare and the Tortoise

A long, long time ago, there lived a hare in the forest who always boasted of his running speed.
He would often tease the tortoise for being the slowest animal around. One fine day, he dared the
tortoise to a race in order to exhibit his skills in front of other animals in the forest. Fed up with
the hare’s bragging, the tortoise finally accepted the challenge and decided to compete him in a
race.
On the day of the race, all the animals of the forest gathered to watch the competition between
the hare and the tortoise. Just as they were about to begin the race, the hare mocked the tortoise
for accepting the challenge. Further, he also mentioned that soon after he wins the race, the
tortoise would be ridiculed by other animals for accepting the dare. The tortoise kept silent and
didn’t pay heed to the hare’s words.
The race began at the count of one, two and three! The hare immediately started running and the
tortoise started at its usual slow pace. Soon the hare reached a long way ahead almost a few
yards from the finish line. He looked back to check if the tortoise was anywhere nearby.
However, the tortoise was left far behind and almost could not be seen.
The hare decided to pause and take some rest on the way before he completed the race. He
looked around and to his left, he noticed a field of cabbages and carrots. He decided to snack on
cabbage and take a short nap so that he would quickly run past the finish line in a fresh mood.
Soon the hare fell into a deep sleep and dreamt of winning the competition. Time passed and the
sun was already setting when he suddenly woke up. He quickly jumped to check if the tortoise
was around. To his dismay, the tortoise was just a few steps away from the finish line.
Seeing the tortoise close to the finish line, the hare rushed towards it as fast as he could.
However, it was too late and the tortoise finally crossed the finish line, thereby winning the
competition.
When the hare reached the point where the race ended, all the animals were laughing at him for
losing the race to the tortoise. That day, he learnt a lesson that bragging about something doesn’t
win you accolades, hence you should never mock others for their own pace.

The Wolf and the Crane

A Wolf had been feasting too greedily, and a bone had stuck crosswise in his throat. He could get
it neither up nor down, and of course, he could not eat a thing. Naturally, that was an awful state
of affairs for a greedy Wolf.
So away he hurried to the Crane. He was sure that she, with her long neck and bill, would easily
be able to reach the bone and pull it out. “I will reward you very handsomely”, said the Wolf, “if
you pull that bone out for me”.
The Crane, as you can imagine, was very uneasy about putting her head in Wolf’s throat. But she
was grasping in nature, so she did what the Wolf asked her to do. When the Wolf felt that the
bone was gone, he started to walk away.
“But what about my reward!” called the Crane anxiously.
“What!” snarled the Wolf, whirling around. “Haven’t you got it? Isn’t it enough that I let you
take your head out of my mouth without snapping it off?”

The Sparrow and the Eagle

A sparrow was once hovering over a sheep-fold, when he saw a great eagle swoop down upon a
lamb and carry it off in his claws. Thereupon the sparrow clapped his wings and said, “I will do
even as the eagle hath done;” and he conceited himself and aped a greater than he. So he flew
down forthright and lighted on the back of a fat ram, with a thick fleece that was become matted,
by his lying in his dung and stale, till it was like felt. As soon as the sparrow lighted on the
sheep’s back, he clapped his wings and would have flown away, but his feet became tangled in
the wool and he could not win free. All this while the shepherd was looking on, having seen as
well what happened with the eagle as with the sparrow; so he came up to the latter in a rage and
seized him. Then he plucked out his wing-feathers and tying his feet with a twine, carried him to
his children and threw him to them. “What is this?” asked they and he answered, “This is one
that aped a greater than himself and came to grief.”