THE LION AND THE MOUSE

Once when a lion, the king of the jungle,

was asleep, a little mouse began running up
and down on him. This soon awakened the
lion, who placed his huge paw on the
mouse, and opened his big jaws to swallow
him.
"Pardon, O King!" cried the little mouse.
"Forgive me this time. I shall never repeat it
and I shall never forget your kindness. And
who knows, I may be able to do you a good
turn one of these days!”
The lion was so tickled by the idea of the
mouse being able to help him that he lifted
his paw and let him go.
Sometime later, a few hunters captured the
lion, and tied him to a tree. After that they
went in search of a wagon, to take him to
the zoo.
Just then the little mouse happened to pass
by. On seeing the lion’s plight, he ran up to
him and gnawed away the ropes that bound
him, the king of the jungle.
"Was I not right?" said the little mouse, very
happy to help the lion.
MORAL: Small acts of kindness will be
rewarded greatly.
THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
There once was a speedy Hare who bragged
about how fast he could run. Tired of
hearing him boast, the Tortoise challenged
him to a race. All the animals in the forest
gathered to watch.
The Hare ran down the road for a while and
then paused to rest. He looked back at the
tortoise and cried out, "How do you expect
to win this race when you are walking along
at your slow, slow pace?"
The Hare stretched himself out alongside
the road and fell asleep, thinking, "There is
plenty of time to relax."
The Tortoise walked and walked, never ever
stopping until he came to the finish line.
The animals who were watching cheered so
loudly for Tortoise that they woke up the
Hare. The Hare stretched, yawned and
began to run again, but it was too late.
Tortoise had already crossed the finish line.
Moral of the story: Slow and steady
wins the race.
 THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER
One summer’s day, in a field, a Grasshopper
was hopping about, chirping and singing to
its heart's content. An Ant passed by,
bearing along with great effort an ear of
corn he was taking to his nest.
"Why don’t you come and chat with me,"
asked the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling
your life away?"
"I am helping to store up food for the
winter," said the Ant, "and I recommend you
to do the same."
"Why bother about winter?" said the
Grasshopper. "We have got plenty of food at
present."
But the Ant went on its way and continued
its toil.
When winter came, the Grasshopper found
itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants
distributing, every day, corn and grain from
the stores they had collected in summer.
Then the Grasshopper knew...
Moral of the story: Prepare for the
future and work hard when it matters.
 THE GOLDEN EGG
Once upon a time, a farmer had a goose
that laid one golden egg every day. The egg
provided enough money for the farmer and
his wife to support their daily needs. The
farmer and his wife continued to be happy
for a long time.

But, one day, the farmer thought, “Why

should we take just one egg a day? Why
can’t we take them all at once and make a
lot of money?” The farmer told his wife his
idea, and she foolishly agreed.

Then, the next day, as the goose laid its

golden egg, the farmer was quick with a
sharp knife. He killed the goose and cut its
stomach open, hoping to find all its golden
eggs. But as he opened the stomach, he
only found guts and blood.

The farmer quickly realized his foolish

mistake and proceeded to cry over his lost
resource. As the days went on, the farmer
and his wife became poorer and poorer
because of their foolishness.

Moral of the story :Never act before

you think.
THE BEAR AND THE TWO FRIENDS
One day, two friends were walking through
the forest. They knew the forest was a
dangerous place and that anything could
happen. So, they promised to remain close
to each other in case of any danger.
All of a sudden, a big bear approached
them. One of the friends quickly climbed a
nearby tree, leaving the other friend behind.

The other friend did not know how to climb

and instead used common sense. He laid
down on the ground and remained there,
breathless, pretending to be dead.

The bear approached the friend lying on the

ground. The animal started to smell his ear
before slowly wandering off again because
bears never touch those who are dead.

Soon, the friend who hid in the tree came

down. He asked his friend, “My dear friend,
what secret did the bear whisper to you?”
The friend replied, “The bear simply advised
me never to believe a false friend.”

Moral of the story a true friend will

always support and stand by you in any
situation.
THE DOG AT THE WELL
A mother dog and her pups lived on a
farm. There was a well on their farm.
The mother dog always told her pups
never to go near or play around it.

One day, one of the pups was overcome

by curiosity, wondering why they
weren’t allowed to go near the well. He
decided he wanted to explore it.

He went down to the well and climbed

up the wall to peek inside. He saw his
reflection in the well water but thought
it was another dog. The little pup got
angry when his reflection imitated him,
so he decided to fight it.

The little pup jumped into the well, only

to find there was no dog. He began to
bark and bark until the farmer came to
rescue him. The pup had learned his
lesson and never returned to the well
again.

Moral of the story always listen to

what elders say, and don’t defy
them.
THE CUNNING FOX AND THE CLEVER
STORK
Once upon a time, there lived a very
cunning and mischievous fox. He used to
speak to other animals sweetly and gain
their trust, before playing tricks on them.
One day the fox met a stork. He befriended
the stork and acted like a very good friend.
Soon, he invited the stork to have a feast
with him. The stork happily accepted the
invitation.
The day of the feast came, and the stork
went to the fox’s house. To her surprise and
disappointment, the fox said that he could
not make a big feast as promised, and just
offered some soup. When he brought the
soup out of the kitchen, the stork saw that it
was in a shallow bowl!
The poor stork could not have any soup with
its long bill, but the fox easily licked the
soup from the plate. As the stork just
touched the soup with the tip of its bill, the
fox asked her, “How is the soup? Don’t you
like it?”
The hungry stork replied, “Oh it is good, but
my stomach is upset, and I can’t take any
more soup!”
“I’m sorry for troubling you,” said the fox.
The stork replied, “Oh dear, please don’t say
sorry. I have some health problem and
cannot enjoy what you offer.”
She left the place after thanking the fox,
and inviting him to her house for dinner.
The day arrived and the fox reached the
stork’s place. After exchanging pleasantries,
the stork served soup for both of them, in a
narrow jar with a long neck. She was able to
have the soup very easily with her long bill,
but the fox obviously could not.
After finishing hers, the stork asked the fox
if he was enjoying the soup. The fox
remembered the feast he himself had given
the stork, and felt very ashamed. He
stammered, “I…I’d better leave now. I have
a tummy ache.”
Humiliated, he left the place running.
Moral of the story, one bad turn begets
another.
THREE SONS AND THE BUNDLE OF
STICKS
Once upon a time, an old man lived with his
three sons in a village. The three sons were hard
workers. Still, they quarrelled all the time. The
old man tried a lot to unite them but he failed.
Though the villagers appreciated their hard work
and efforts, they made fun of them on their
fights.
Months passed by and the old man fell sick. He
told his sons to stay united, but they didn’t listen
to him. So, he decided to teach them a practical
lesson so that they would forget their differences
and stay united.
The old man called his sons. He told them, “I will
give you a bundle of sticks. Separate each stick
and you will have to break each stick into two.
The one who breaks the sticks quickly will be
rewarded more.”
The sons agreed.
The old man gave a bundle of 10 sticks to each of
them and asked them to break each stick into
pieces. They broke the sticks into pieces in
minutes.
And again they started to quarrel among
themselves as to who came first.
The old man said, “Dear sons, the game is not
over. Now I will give another bundle of sticks to
each of you. You will have to break the sticks as a
bundle, not as separate sticks.”
The sons agreed and tried to break the bundle of
sticks. Though they tried their best, they could
not break the bundle. They failed to complete the
task.
The three sons reported their failure to their
father.
The old man replied, “Dear sons, See! You could
easily break the single sticks into pieces, but you
were not able to break the bundle! So, if you stay
united, nobody can do any harm to you. If you
quarrel every time with your brothers, anyone
can easily defeat you. I request you to stay
united.”
The three sons understood the power of unity
and promised their father that whatever be the
situation, they would all stay together.
Moral of the story, unity is strength!