The Foolish Deer

One day, when a deer was grazing in a jungle, some hunters arrived there and shot an arrow at him. The poor animal got scared and hid behind a bush.

The hunters started searching for him. The deer couldn't control his patience and started nibbling the leaves of the bushes. The hunters heard the rustling sound of the leaves.

One of them saw the deer behind the tree and shot an arrow at him and the deer fell down dead.

So, it's always said that at the time of danger, one should keep patience and behave intelligently.

The Discontented Dog

Once a dog was relaxing in a garden when it saw a cat on the top of a high wall. It thought, "It must be so nice to be high above the ground. If only I could climb?" this feeling of envy made it so bad-tempered, that it didn't even wag its tail at its master, who came to give it some milk.

Then it saw a goldfish in the river and wished that it too could live in the cold water. Envy made it angry once again.

Just then it heard the fish say, "It looks so nice and warm on the grass. I wish I could lie down on it."

After some time, a sparrow flew past. Seeing the dog lazing around, it said aloud, "I wish I could play the whole day like this dog. I wish I didn't have to build a nest for myself, search for food and tire my wings."

Listening to them, the dog realized its folly for not appreciating what it had.

A Monkey And Two Cats

Once upon a time two cats found a piece of cheese and cut it into two pieces. But one piece was slightly bigger than the other. Both the cats wanted the bigger piece. Then they went ton a monkey and asked to sort out the matter.
The monkey said, "Don't worry. I'll make both the pieces equal. Then it took a bite from the bigger piece. But this made the other piece larger. So it took a bite from the other piece. This continued till the pieces became very small.

Seeing this, the cats pleaded, "Sir! We are satisfied. Let us have the pieces now."

The shrewd monkey replied, "This is my fee for sorting out the problem." Saying this, it gobbled up the remaining cheese.

 

Look Before You Leap

Once a fox was roaming around in the dark. Unfortunately, he fell into a well. He tried his level best to come out but all in vain. So, he had no other alternative but to remain there till the next morning.

The next day, a goat came that way. She peeped into the well and saw the fox there. The goat asked "what are you doing there, Mr. Fox?"

The sly fox replied, "I came here to drink water. It is the best I have ever tasted. Come and see for yourself."

Without thinking even for a while, the goat jumped into the well, quenched her thirst and looked for a way to get out. But just like the fox, she also found herself helpless to come out.

Then the fox said, "I have an idea. You stand on your hind legs. I'll climb on your head and get out. Then I shall help you come out too."

The goat was innocent enough to understand the shrewdness of the fox and did as the fox said and help him get out of the well.

While walking away, the fox said, "Had you been intelligent enough, you would never have got in without seeing how to get out."

That's why we say, "Look before you leap".

Greed A Curse

Once upon a time there lived a cloth merchant in a village with his wife and two children. They were indeed quite well-off. They had a beautiful hen which laid an egg everyday. It was not an ordinary egg, rather, a golden egg. But the man was not satisfied with what he used to get daily. He was a get rich-trice kind of a person.

The man wanted to get all the golden eggs from his hen at one single go. So, one day he thought hard and at last clicked upon a plan. He decided to kill the hen and get all the eggs together.

So, the next day when the hen laid a golden egg, the man caught hold of it, took a sharp knife, chopped off its neck and cut its body open.

There was nothing but blood all around & no trace of any egg at all. He was highly grieved because now he would not get even one single egg.

His life was going on smoothly with one egg a day but now, he himself made his life miserable. The outcome of his greed was that he started becoming poorer & poorer day by day and ultimately became a pauper. How jinxed and how much foolish he was.

So, the moral of the story is- one who desires more, looses all. One should remain satisfied with what one gets.

The Right Choice

Once upon a time, a wise and generous king ruled Burma. One day, his prime minister retired. Now the king had to find his replacement. There were two names for the post- Leuk and Batuk.

Leuk was lazy but Batuk was hard working as well as intelligent. The king organized a boat race. But suddenly something seemed to disturb the calm waters of the river.

Leuk said that it was some monster and returned to the shore. Batuk dived into the river and took the culprit out. It was just a coconut, which the king himself had placed there.

Batuk was chosen as the prime minister.

A Hunter And A Rabbit

A hunter once caught a rabbit and was carrying it home for his evening meal.

After trying very hard to escape, the rabbit said to the hunter, "If you let me go, I'll show you where the rest of my companions are hidden, so your catch will be larger."

The hunter said, "Now you must die for betraying your friends." Saying this, the hunter killed the rabbit.

Two Travellers and Some Money

Two travelers were journeying together when one of them found a bag and said to another, "Look, I have found a bag of money."

The other man said, "Remember we are traveling together. So, don't say I've found it, say we have found it."

After some time, they heard that the police were looking for the thieves who had stolen a bag of money.

The man holding the bag said, "We are undone."

The other man said, "Don't say we are undone but I'm undone. When I wouldn't share any money, I'll not have any punishment."

How selfish the man was!

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

A Town Mouse was invited by his cousin who lived in the countryside to spend a few days in her company. They had a very modest dinner, with wheat stalks, roots, acorns, and fresh water. After the meal, the Town Mouse began to describe the throbbing and charming life of the town, with all the luxuries and delights that anyone could desire. So, the next day when the Town Mouse asked the Country Mouse to go home with her to the city, she accepted.
When they reached the Town Mouse’s home, they found the most tempting food the Country Mouse could have imagined. But, no sooner had they started to eat, than a fierce Cat attacked them. They managed to hide, but soon after, a Man with a Dog came in and they had to hide again. The scared Country Mouse decided to return home immediately.
“You may have luxuries that I have not,” she said as she hurried away,” but I prefer my plain food and simple but peaceful life.”

The Dog and His Reflection

A Dog, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of meat in his mouth, saw his own reflection in the water. Thinking it was another dog with a bigger piece of meat, he growled and frowned at it, wishing to have that morsel, too.
He, then, opened his mouth to get the other piece of meat, but at that moment, his own fell into the water with a splash and the stream swept it away. He thus lost both.

The Stag at the River

A Stag, very thirsty because of the heat, came to a river in a forest to drink some water. He saw his shadow reflected in the water, and greatly admired the size of his horns, but felt ashamed of his weak and thin legs. 
“I wish my legs were as beautiful as my horns,” he sobbed.
While he was lost in these thoughts, a Lion appeared at the river. The Stag fled from the river in an instant, but his horns soon became entangled with the branches and he found himself stuck
The Lion quickly caught up with him and captured him. 
“How wrong I was to despise my legs which could have saved me now, had it not been for my horns which I so admired!” he cried.

The Bear and the Two Travelers

Two Friends were traveling together, when a Bear suddenly appeared before them. One of them, thinking of his own safety climbed up quickly into a tree, without trying to help his friend do the same. The other, not having time to hide, fell flat on the ground, without moving at all, as if he were dead. The Bear came up and smelled him all over, and after a while, thinking he was dead, walked away. When the danger was gone, the other Traveler climbed down from the tree, and, laughing at his friend asked him: 
“What did the bear whisper in your ear?”
“He gave me this advice," the other replied. "Never travel with a friend who leaves you in the lurch." 

The Fox and the Crow

A Crow, having stolen a bit of meat, sat in a tree and held it in her beak. A hungry Fox, seeing this, envied the crow and wished to have the meat for himself. So he came up with a cunning plan.
“How gracious you are,” he exclaimed, “how beautifully your feathers shine! Oh, if only your voice were equal to your beauty, you would deserve to be called the Queen of Birds!”
The Crow was really flattered by these words, so, anxious to be called the Queen of Birds, she gave a loud caw and dropped the meat. The Fox quickly picked it up, and thus addressed the Crow: 
“My dear Crow, you have a nice voice, indeed, but I’m afraid you have no wits.”

The Ass in the Lion's Skin

One day, an Ass found a Lion's skin left in the forest by a hunter, and wishing to amuse himself and to feel powerful, put it on, scaring all the animals he met on his way. He was very proud of himself and felt like a real king. But in his delight, he opened his mouth and brayed in triumph.
The moment he heard the Ass’s voice, a Fox who was running frightened as well, stopped suddenly and began to laugh. Approaching the Ass, he exclaimed:
“You could have fooled me, too, had I not heard your bray.”

My Bed is a Boat

 

  

My bed is like a little boat;

Nurse helps me in when I embark;

She girds me in my sailor's coat

And starts me in the dark.

At night I go on board and say

Good-night to all my friends on shore;

I shut my eyes and sail away

And see and hear no more.

And sometimes things to bed I take,

As prudent sailors have to do;

Perhaps a slice of wedding-cake,

Perhaps a toy or two.

All night across the dark we steer;

But when the day returns at last,

Safe in my room beside the pier,

I find my vessel fast.

Strong or Weak

There was a proud teak tree in the forest. He was tall and strong. There was a small herb next to the tree.

The teak tree said, “I am very handsome and strong. No one can defeat me”. Hearing this the herb replied, “Dear friend, too much pride is harmful. Even the strong will fall one day”.

The teak ignored the herb’s words. He continued to praise himself.

A strong wind blew. The teak stood firmly. Even when it rained, the teak stood strong by spreading its leaves.

At the same time, the herb bowed low. The teak made fun of the herb.

One day there was a storm in the forest. The herb bowed low. As usual the teak did not want to bow.

The storm kept growing stronger. The teak could no longer bear it. He felt his strength giving way.

He fell down. This was the end of the proud tree. When everything was calm the herb stood straight. He looked around. He saw the proud teak had fallen.

The Greedy Mouse

A greedy mouse saw a basket full of corn. He wanted to eat it. So he made a small hole in the basket. He squeezed in through the hole. He ate a lot of corn. He felt full. He was very happy.

Now he wanted to come out. He tried to come out through the small hole. He could not. His belly was full. He tried again. But it was of no use.

The mouse started crying. A rabbit was passing by. It heard the mouse’s cry and asked: “Why are you crying my friend?”

The mouse explained: “I made a small hole and came into the basket. Now I am not able to get out through that hole.”

The rabbit said: “It is because you ate too much. Wait til your belly shrinks”. The rabbit laughed and went away.

The mouse fell asleep in the basket. Next morning his belly had shrunk. But the mouse wanted to eat some corn. So he ate and ate. His belly was full once again. He thought: “Oh! Now I will go out tomorrow”.

The cat was the next passerby. He smelt the mouse in the basket. He lifted its lid. He ate the mouse.

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so it put it on over its own pelt and strolled down among the sheep. The Lamb that belonged to the sheep, whose skin the Wolf was wearing, began to follow the Wolf in the Sheep’s clothing; so, leading the Lamb a little apart, he soon made a meal off her, and for some time he succeeded in deceiving the sheep, and enjoying hearty meals.

Appearances are deceptive.

True Wealth

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing his son how the poor people live so he could be thankful for his wealth.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?” “It was great, Dad.” “Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked. “Oh yeah” said the son. “So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.” “We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.” “Our patio reaches to the
front yard and they have the whole horizon.” “We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.” “We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.” “We buy our food, but they grow theirs.” “We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them.”

With this the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are.”

The Monkey and the Dolphin

One day long ago, some sailors set out to sea in their sailing ship. One of them brought his pet monkey along for the long journey.

When they were far out at sea, a terrible storm overturned their ship. Everyone fell into the sea, and the monkey was sure that he would drown. Suddenly a dolphin appeared and picked him up.

They soon reached the island and the monkey came down from the dolphin’s back. The dolphin asked the monkey, “Do you know this place?”

The monkey replied, “Yes, I do. In fact, the king of the island is my best friend. Do you know that I am actually a prince?”

Knowing that no one lived on the island, the dolphin said, “Well, well, so you are a prince! Now you can be a king!” The monkey asked, “How can I be a king?”

As the dolphin started swimming away, he answered, “That is easy. As you are the only creature on this island, you will naturally be the king!”

Those who lie and boast may end up in trouble.

 

The Fox and the Grapes

One afternoon a fox was walking through the forest and spotted a bunch of grapes hanging from over a lofty branch. "Just the thing to quench my thirst," quoted the fox.

Taking a few steps back, the fox jumped and just missed the hanging grapes. Again the fox took a few paces back and tried to reach them but still failed.

Finally, giving up, the fox turned up his nose and said, "They're probably sour anyway," and proceeded to walk away.

MORAL: IT'S EASY TO DESPISE WHAT YOU CANNOT HAVE.

The Ant and the Dove

One hot day, an ant was searching for some water. After walking around for some time, she came to a spring. To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass. While making her way up, she slipped and fell into the water.

She could have drowned if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her. Seeing that the ant was in trouble, the dove quickly plucked off a leaf and dropped it into the water near the
struggling ant. The ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up there. Soon it carried her safely to dry ground. Just at that time, a hunter nearby was throwing out his net
towards the dove, hoping to trap it.

Guessing what he was about to do, the ant quickly bit him on the heel. Feeling the pain, the hunter dropped his net. The dove was quick to fly away to safety.

One good turn deserves another.

Friends

Bunny rabbit lived in the forest. He had many friends. He was proud of his friends.

One day Bunny rabbit heard the loud barking of the wild dogs. He was very scared. He decided to ask for help. He quickly went to his friend deer. He said: “Dear friend, some wild dogs are chasing me. Can you chase them away with your sharp antlers?” Dear said: “That is right, I can. But now I am busy. Why don’t you ask bear for help?”

Bunny rabbit ran to the bear. “My dear friend you are very strong, please help me. Some wild dogs are after me. Please chase them away,” he requested the bear.

Bear replied: “I am sorry. I am hungry and tired. I need to find some food. Please ask the monkey for help”.

Poor Bunny went to the monkey, elephant, goat and all his friends. Bunny felt sad that nobody was ready to help him.

He understood that he has to think of a way out. He hid under a bush. He lay still the wild dogs went their way.

Fools

It was a cold and silent night. The weather was freezing. A group of monkeys were on a tree. They were clinging to its branches. One of the monkeys said, “I wish we could find some fire. It will help us to keep warm”.

Suddenly they noticed a flock of fireflies. One of the young monkeys thought it was fire.

He caught a firefly. He put it under a dry leaf and started blowing at it.

Some other monkeys also joined in his effort.

A sparrow came flying to its nest. The monkeys were sitting on the same tree. She noticed what they were doing. The sparrow laughed. She said, “Hey silly monkeys that is a firefly, not real fire”.

The sparrow continued: “I think all of you should take shelter in a cave”. The monkeys did not listen to the sparrow. They continued to blow at our poor firefly.

After some time the monkeys became very tired. Now they realized what the sparrow had said was correct.

They set free the firefly and moved to a nearby cave.

A Merchant and his Donkey

One beautiful spring morning, a merchant loaded his donkey with bags of salt to go to the market in order to sell them. The merchant and his donkey were walking along together. They had not walked far when they reached a river on the road.

Unfortunately, the donkey slipped and fell into the river and noticed that the bags of salt loaded on his back became lighter.

There was nothing the merchant could do, except return home where he loaded his donkey with more bags of salt. As they reached the slippery riverbank, now deliberately, the donkey fell into the river and wasted all the bags of salt on its back again.

The merchant quickly discovered the donkey’s trick. He then returned home again but re-loaded his donkey with bags of sponges.

The foolish, tricky donkey again set on its way. On reaching the river he again fell into the water. But instead of the load becoming lighter, it became heavier.

 

The merchant laughed at him and said: “You foolish donkey, your trick had been discovered, you should know that, those who are too clever sometimes over reach themselves.”

The Thirsty Crow

One hot day, a thirsty crow flew all over the fields looking for water. For a long time, she could not find any. She felt very weak, almost giving up hope.

Suddenly, she saw a water jug below her. She flew straight down to see if there was any water inside. Yes, she could see some water inside the jug!

The crow tried to push her head into the jug. Sadly, she found that the neck of the jug was too narrow. Then she tried to push the jug down for the water to flow out. She found that the jug was too heavy.

The crow thought hard for a while. Then looking around her, she saw some pebbles. She suddenly had a good idea. She started picking up the pebbles one by one, dropping each into the jug. As more and more pebbles filled the jug, the water level kept rising. Soon it was high enough for the crow to drink. Her plan had worked!

If you try hard enough, you may soon find an answer to your problem.

The Devoted Mother

A mother duck and her little ducklings were on their way to the lake one day. The ducklings were very happy following their mother and quack-quacking along the way.

All of a sudden the mother duck saw a fox in the distance. She was frightened and shouted, “Children, hurry to the lake. There’s a fox!”

The ducklings hurried towards the lake. The mother duck wondered what to do. She began to walk back and forth dragging one wing on the ground.

When the fox saw her he became happy. He said to himself, “It seems that she’s hurt and can’t fly! I can easily catch and eat her!” Then he ran towards her.

The mother duck ran, leading the fox away from the lake. The fox followed her. Now he wouldn’t be able to harm her ducklings. The mother duck looked towards her ducklings and saw that they had reached the lake. She was relieved, so she stopped and took a deep breath.

The fox thought she was tired and he came closer, but the mother duck quickly spread her wings and rose up in the air. She landed in the middle of the lake and her ducklings swam to her.

The fox stared in disbelief at the mother duck and her ducklings. He could not reach them because they were in the middle of the lake.

The Bundle of Sticks

A father had a family of sons who were always quarreling among themselves. When he failed to solve their fights with his advice, he decided to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks.

When they had done so, he placed the bundle into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. They tried with all their strength, but were not able to do it.

Next, he opened the bundle, took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into his sons' hands, and asked them to break it, and they could do so very easily.

He then told them: "My sons, if you stay together and help each other, you will be as strong as this bundle, and no enemy can beat you; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks."

The sons understood the message, thanked, and promised the father to always be together no matter what.

Moral: Union gives strength.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

In a field one summer's day 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 the nest.

"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling away?" "I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and 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 the 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 the summer.
Then the Grasshopper knew..

MORAL: WORK TODAY AND YOU CAN REAP THE BENEFITS TOMORROW!

Sand and Stone

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: “TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.”

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: “TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.”

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”

The other friend replied: “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Learn to write your hurts in the sand, and to carve your benefits in stone.

The Milkmaid and her Pail

Patty the Milkmaid was going to market carrying her milk in a pail on her head.

As she went along, she began calculating what she would do with the money she would get for the milk. I'll buy some fowls from Farmer Brown," said she, "and they will lay eggs each morning, which I will sell to the parson's wife..

With the money that I get from the sale of these eggs, I'll buy myself a new dimity frock and a chip hat; and when I go to market, won't all the young men come up and speak to me!

Polly Shaw will be so jealous; but I don't care. I shall just look at her and toss my head like this." As she spoke that, she tossed her head back and the pail fell off it, and all the milk was spilt!

MORAL: DO NOT COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED.

The Fox who got cought in the tree trunk

Once upon a time, there was a hungry fox that was looking for something to eat. He was very hungry. No matter how hard he tried, the fox could not find food. Finally he went to the edge of the forest and searched there for food. Suddenly he caught sight of a big tree with a hole in it.

Inside the hole was a package. The hungry fox immediately thought that there might be food in it, and he became very happy. He jumped into the hole and when he opened the package, he saw there were a lot of food, bread, meat and fruit in it!

An old woodcutter had placed the food in the tree trunk while he cut down trees in the forest. He was going to eat it for his lunch.

The fox happily began to eat. After the fox had finished eating, he felt thirsty and decided to leave the trunk and drink some water from a nearby spring. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not get out of the hole. Do you know why? Yes, the fox had eaten so much food that he became too big to fit through the hole.

The fox was very sad and upset. He told himself, “I wish that I had thought a little before jumping into the hole.”

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 and 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 Hare. The Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was already over the line.

MORAL: SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

 

The Wolf and the Lamb

A lamb was grazing with a flock of sheep one day. She soon found some sweet grass at the edge of the field. Farther and farther she went, away from the others.

She was enjoying herself so much that she did not notice a wolf coming nearer to her. However, when it pounced on her, she was quick to start pleading, “Please, please don’t eat me yet. My stomach is full of grass. If you wait a while, I will taste much better.”

The wolf thought that was a good idea, so he sat down and waited. After a while, the lamb said, “If you allow me to dance, the grass in my stomach will be digested faster.” Again the wolf agreed.

While the lamb was dancing, she had a new idea. She said, “Please take the bell from around my neck. If you ring it as hard as you can, I will be able to dance even faster.”

The wolf took the bell and rang it as hard as he could. The shepherd heard the bell ringing nd quickly sent his dogs to find the missing lamb. The barking dogs frightened the wolf away and saved the lamb’s life.

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

 

Christmas Surprise

It was two days before Christmas. Harry, Cornelius, Monty  and I were busy building a snowman when Fritz appeared with his little niece Emily and introduced her. “Emily is from the South and has never seen snow before,” Fritz told us. “She doesn’t know much about our winters.” It turned out Emily also didn’t know much about Christmas.”Who is Santa Claus, Waldo?” she asked me, shivering in the cold air. “Santa Claus,” I explained, “brings presents and toys to human children at Christmas time.” “Does he also bring presents to animal children?” Emily asked. “Well,” I said, “he hasn’t been around this part of the forest for many years. I guess he is too busy visiting all the human children to have much time left for animals.” “Do you think he will come if I write to him?” Emily asked. “I don’t think so,” said Monty. “I’ve never seen him, myself.” “Neither have I,” Harry added, shaking his head. “You see. Santa Claus is only for human children,” Fritz said to Emily. “So forget about the whole idea. Let’s go home now before you catch a cold.”

Butterfly and Cocoon

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther.

Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. 

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What this man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly...

Don't Change the World

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather. Definitely, this would need thousands of cows’ skin, and would cost ahuge amount of money. Then one of his wise servants dared himself to tell the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don’t you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?” The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a “shoe” for himself. There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story: to make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.

A Hole in the Fence

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence....

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The day passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence.”

The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Friends and loved ones are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Water your relationships with kindness… and they will grow. So be careful little lips what you say…! And you won't chase friendships away.

The Fox and the Stork

A selfish fox once invited a stork to dinner at his home and for a joke put nothing before her but some soup in a very shallow dish. The fox could easily lap this up, but the Stork could only wet the end of her long bill in it, and stayed hungry.

“I am sorry that the soup is not to your liking," said the fox with a sly smile.

"Oh, please do not apologise," said the Stork. "I hope you will return this visit, and come and dine with me too sometime." So a day was appointed when the Fox should visit the Stork.

 

Finally, when they were seated at the table, the Stork served them both some soup in a very

long‑necked jar with a narrow mouth. The stork drank the soup easily but the fox could not insert his snout into the tall jar. This time it was the Fox’s turn to go hungry.

MORAL: ONE BAD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER.

The Goose with the Golden Eggs

Once when a Lion was asleep, a little

Once upon a time, a man and his wife had the good fortune to have a goose which laid a golden egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough.

They imagined that if the bird must be able to lay golden eggs, its insides must be made of gold. And they thought that if they could get all that precious metal at once, they would get mighty rich very soon. So the man and his wife decided to kill the bird.

 

 However, upon cutting the goose open, they were shocked to find that its innards were like that of any other goose!

MORAL: THINK BEFORE YOU ACT