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The Plum Stone One day Vanya's mother bought some plums from the market. She washed them and left them on a big plate in the centre of the dining table. Mother wanted to give the plums to the children after dinner. It was not every day that plums were bought. Vanya had not tasted plums all his life and was very curious about it. First he sniffed the fruit, wrinkled his nose at the pleasing smell, and decided that he liked the fruit. Dinner time was still a long way off and he did not have the patience to wait. He just could not resist his temptation. "No one will notice if I take one," he said to himself. As soon as he was alone in the room, he seized a big plum and ate it quickly. Vanya exclaimed, "Hmmm.. plums are very delicious indeed!" When it was time for dinner, his mother counted the plums and found that one was missing. She informed her husband about it. The whole family sat around the table to eat and in the course of the meal, father enquired,...

The Indigo Jackal In a jungle there lived a pack of jackals. They would hunt together to eat from the left-overs of the lion's meal. One of the jackals was getting a little old. All the younger jackals bullied him and did not allow him to share the food. "I have to do something to satisfy my hunger. Like this, I will not survive for very long," thought the jackal to himself. He decided to leave his pack and go in search of food. He wandered around for many days but could not find any food. Everywhere he went, other animals chased him away. Finally he decided to venture into the village in search of food. After nightfall, the jackal walked down the village streets in search of food. Suddenly a pack of dogs began to chase the jackal. Scared for his life, the jackal ran as fast as his weak legs could carry him. Finding no way of escape, the jackal jumped into the first open house he found. Suddenly he found himself in a vat of foul smelling liquid. It was a vat of...

The Faithful Mongoose Once there lived a kind Brahmin in a small village with his wife. They had a little son. One day, as he was returning home from a nearby village, he came across a baby mongoose crying next to its mother's dead body. "Oh! poor creature," thought the Brahmin. "If I leave it here it will surely die." He picked it up and took it home with him. "Gowri, I found this little creature on my way home. Let us take care of him," he said to his wife. "Very well along with our son, I will take care of the mongoose also," replied his wife. The mongoose grew up with a lot of love and care in the Brahmin's house. He slept next to the Brahmin's son in the cradle, drank milk and played with the boy everyday. The baby mongoose's days were full of joy in the Brahmin's house. As both the boy and the mongoose grew up, their friendship changed to a relationship between two brothers. The mongoose grew up fast and as da...

The Crow and The Necklace Once a crow and his wife built their nest atop a huge banyan tree beside a river. They were very happy there. But when the female crow laid her eggs, they were in for an unpleasant shock. A huge snake who lived in a hole at the bottom of the tree came up and ate all their beautiful eggs. The crows were helpless with anger and pain. "You can't let this wicked snake eat our children anymore," cried the female crow bitterly. "You have to find a way to save them from him,' she said. "Let us go to our friend the jackal. He is very clever. He will surely be able to help us with a solution," said the male crow. They both flew to the cave in the forest where their friend the jackal lived. The jackal saw them coming. "Hello my friends. Why do you look so sad and worried? Can I help you in any way?"he asked. "Every time my wife lays eggs in our nest, a wicked snake living at the foot of the tree eats them up,...

Information Please When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother used to talk to it. Then discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person – her name was “Information Please” and there was nothing she did not know. “Information Please” could supply any body’s number and the correct time. My first personal experience with this genie_in_the_bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there didn’t seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly...

Until Death do us Apart When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her! With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent...

The Wicked Barbers Plight As we all know, Birbal was not only Emperor Akbar’s favorite minister but also a minister dearly loved by most of the commoners, because of his ready wit and wisdom. People used to come to him from far and wide for advise on personal matters too. However, there was a group of ministers that were jealous of his growing popularity and disliked him intensely.They outwardly showered him with praise and compliments, but on the inside they began to hatch a plot to kill him. One day they approached the king’s barber with a plan. As the barber was extremely close to the king, they asked him to help them get rid of Birbal permanently. And of course, they promised him a huge sum of money in return. The wicked barber readily agreed. The next time the king required his services, the barber started a conversation about the emperor’s father who he also used to serve. He sang praises of his fine, silky-smooth hair. And then as an afterthought he asked the king that as...

Tenali Rama and the Brinjal Curry Sri Krishna Devaraya was the emperor of Vizayanagra. He had eight advisors. Tenali Rama was one among them. He was very clever and spontaneous. Sri Krishna Devaraya had some special kind of brinjal plants in his garden. The brinjal was very rare kind and curry made out of it was very tasty which was loved by the emperor. As it was a rare kind, thegarden was very guarded and no one was allowed to view the plants without the emperor’s permission. Once the emperor had arranged dinner for his advisors and the brinjal curry was served. Tenali Rama had enjoyed the brinjal curry very much and went home. But he was unable to forget the taste. He told his wife about the taste of curry. Tenali Rama’s wife also liked brinjal curry, she asked Tenali Rama to bring few brinjals so that she can prepare a curry. But Tenali Rama knew that the emperor was taking extreme care about the Brinjal plants and he can easily detect a missing of even one brinjal from his ga...

Aladdin And The Magic Lamp Long time ago in China, there lived a poor boy, whose name was Aladdin. Aladdin lived with his mother. One day a rich and distinguished looking man came to their house and said to Aladdin's mother, "I am a merchant from Arabia and want your son to come with me. I will reward him handsomely." Aladdin's mother instantly agreed. Little did she know that the man pretending to be a rich merchant was in reality a magician. Next day, Aladdin having packed his belongings left with the 'merchant'. After many hours of traveling the 'merchant' stopped. Aladdin too stopped, surprised that they should stop in such a desolate spot. He looked around; there was nothing in sight for miles. The 'merchant' pulled out some colored powder from his pocket and threw in the ground. The next instant the whole place was filled with smoke. As the smoke cleared, Aladdin saw a huge opening in the ground; it was a cave. The 'merchant...

ALADDIN STORY-2 Aladdin showed the African magician the house, and carried the two pieces of gold to his mother, who went out and bought provisions; and, considering she wanted various utensils, borrowed them of her neighbors. She spent the whole day in preparing the supper; and at night, when it was ready, said to her son, "Perhaps the stranger knows not how to find our house; go and bring him, if you meet with him." Aladdin was just ready to go, when the magician knocked at the door, and came in loaded with wine and all sorts of fruits, which he brought for a dessert. After he had given what he brought into Aladdin's hands, he saluted his mother, and desired her to show him the place where his brother Mustapha used to sit on the sofa; and when she had done so, he fell down and kissed it several times, crying out, with tears in his eyes, "My poor brother! how unhappy am I, not to have come soon enough to give you one last embrace!" Aladdin's mother des...

ALADDIN STORY-1 There once lived, in one of the large and rich cities of China, a tailor, named Mustapha. He was very poor. He could hardly, by his daily labor, maintain himself and his family, which consisted only of his wife and a son. His son, who was called Aladdin, was a very careless and idle fellow. He was disobedient to his father and story of aladin mother, and would go out early in the morning and stay out all day, playing in the streets and public places with idle children of his own age. When he was old enough to learn a trade, his father took him into his own shop, and taught him how to use his needle; but all his father's endeavors to keep him to his work were vain, for no sooner was his back turned than he was gone for that day. Mustapha chastised him; but Aladdin was incorrigible, and his father, to his great grief, was forced to abandon him to his idleness, and was so much troubled about him that he fell sick and died in a few months. Aladdin, who was now ...

The story of fisherman.The arabian nights Sire, there was once upon a time a fisherman so old and so poor that he could scarcely manage to support his wife and three children. He went every day to fish very early, and each day he made a rule not to throw his nets more than four times. He started out one morning by moonlight and came to the sea-shore. He undressed and threw his nets, and as he was drawing them towards the bank he felt a great weight. He though he had caught a large fish, and he felt very pleased. But a moment afterwards, seeing that instead of a fish he only had in his nets the carcase of an ass, he was much disappointed. Vexed with having such a bad haul, when he had mended his nets, which the carcase of the ass had broken in several places, he threw them a second time. In drawing them in he again felt a great weight, so that he thought they were full of fish. But he only found a large basket full of rubbish. He was much annoyed.  O Fortune,  he cried...

Sire, there was once upon a time a merchant who possessed great wealth, in land and merchandise, as well as in ready money. He was obliged from time to time to take journeys to arrange his affairs. One day, having to go a long way from home, he mounted his horse, taking with him a small wallet in which he had put a few biscuits and dates, because he had to pass through the desert where no food was to be got. He arrived without any mishap, and, having finished his business, set out on his return. On the fourth day of his journey, the heat of the sun being very great, he turned out of his road to rest under some trees. He found at the foot of a large walnut-tree a fountain of clear and running water. He dismounted, fastened his horse to a branch of the tree, and sat by the fountain, after having taken from his wallet some of his dates and biscuits. When he had finished this frugal mean he washed his face and hands in the fountain. When he was thus employed he saw an enormous Genie, whi...

1.The Well Dispute Once there was a complaint at King Akbar's court. There were two neighbours who shared their garden. In that garden, there was a well that was possessed by Iqbal khan. His neighbour, who was a farmer wanted to buy the well for irrigation purpose. Therefore they signed an agreement between them, after which the farmer owned the well. Even after selling the well to the farmer, Iqbal continued to fetch water from the well. Angered by this, the farmer had come to get justice from King Akbar. King Akbar asked Iqbal the reason for fetching water from the well even after selling it to the farmer. Iqbal replied that he had sold only the well to the farmer but not the water inside it. King Akbar wanted Raja Birbal who was present in the court listening to the problem to solve the dispute. Birbal came forward and gave a solution. He said " Iqbal, You say that you have sold only the well to the farmer. And you claim that the water is yours. Then how come you can ke...

The Foolish Brahmin Once upon a time a foolish brahmin came to visit Birbal with a strange request. He wanted to be addressed aspandit. Now, the term 'pandit' refers to a man of learning. But unfortunately this poor brahmin was uneducated. Birbal tried to explain the difference to him saying that it was not correct to call an uneducated man a pandit and because of this very reason it would be improper to call him so. But the silly brahmin had his heart set on this title. So, as usual, Birbal had a brilliant idea. He said that as the brahmin was an une- ducated man he should hurl abuses and stones at anyone who dared to address him by the very same title he wanted. Then Birbal called all his servants to him- self and ordered them to call this lowly brahmin a pandit. The brahmin was very pleased. But the moment the servants started calling out to him as 'pandit he pretended to be very angry and started to abuse them loudly. Then he picked up a few s...

The Cracked Pot "A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you asha...

Looking at the mirror __________________ One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on the door on which it was written: "Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym . In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that man who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the Company itself. The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought: "Who is this guy who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he died!" One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood nearby...

The Dreaming Priest Long time ago there lived a priest who was extremely lazy and poor at the same time. He did not want to do any hard work but used to dream of being rich one day. He got his food by begging for alms. One morning he got a pot of milk as part of the alms. He was extremely delighted and went home with the pot of milk. He boiled the milk, drank some of it and put the remaining milk in a pot. He added slight curds in the pot for converting the milk to curd. He then lay down to sleep. Soon he started imagining about the pot of curd while he lay asleep. He dreamed that if he could become rich somehow all his miseries would be gone. His thoughts turned to the pot of milk he had set to form curd. He dreamed on; "By morning the pot of milk would set, it would be converted to curd. I would churn the curd and make butter from it. I would heat the butter and make ghee out of it. I will then go to that market and sell that...

How Akbar meet Birbal? Akbar loved hunting and used to escape to go for hunting even from his studies. Well, later he became a better rider and hunter than any one of his courtiers. One day when Akbar went for hunting, he and his some of the courtiers went so fast that they left the others behind. As the evening fell, everybody got very hungry and thirsty, they found that they had lost their way and now did not know where to go. At last they came to a junction of three roads. King was very happy to see the roads that now he could go reach his capital through one of these roads, but which road was to go to his capital- Agra. They were all thinking about it and could not decide it. In the mean time they saw a young boy coming along one road. The boy was summoned and Akbar asked him, "Hey young boy! Which road goes to Agra? The boy smiled and spoke, "Huzoor, everybody knows that road cannot move so how these roads can go to...

The jealous courtiers King Akbar was very fond of Birbal. This made a certain courtier very jealous. Now, this courtier always wanted to be chief minister, but this was not possible as Birbal filled that position. One day Akbar praised Birbal in front of the courtier. This made the courtier very angry and he said that the king praised Birbal unjustly and if Birbal could answer three of his questions, he would accept the fact that Birbal was intelligent. Akbar always wanting to test Birbals wit readily agreed.The three questions were 1. How many stars are there in the sky 2. Where is the centre of the Earth and 3. How many men and how many women are there in the world. Immediately Akbar asked Birbal the three questions and informed him that if he could not answer them, he would have to resign as chief minister.To answer the first question, Birbal brought a hairy sheep and said .There are as many stars in the sky as there is hair on the sheep's body. My fr...

1.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 a leaf and dropped it into the water near the struggling ant. The ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up onto it. Soon, the leaf drifted to dry ground, and the ant jumped out. She was safe at last. Just at that time, a hunter nearby was about to throw his net over 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. moral- One good turn begets another. 2.The Milkmaid and her PailPatty  The Milkmaid ...