The Hospitality of The PigeonOnce upon a time, there lived two pigeons. They were husband and wife. They spend their day looking for food. In the evening they would come and rest on their favorite tree in the forest.

One evening, the wife returned home early. A usual she was waiting for her husband, when suddenly it started raining. She started to worry. Where are you, my dear? You never get so late, she whispered toherself.

Just then she saw a bird-catcher coming towards her. In a cage he had a pigeon. It was her husband. OH no, what shall I do now I wishI can helpmy husband, she said. Shedesperatelytried to distract the bird-catcher byflappingher wings, but all in vain.

Soon, it stopped raining. Brrr! It is socold, said the bird-catcher. His clothes were wet. He decided to sit under the same tree where the two pigeons lived.

The poor wife sat by her husbands cage. And she started to cry. The husband said. Do not feel sad, dear. We now have a guest. This man is shivering and hungry. He needs your help. Hearing this, the wife flew around gettingdry twigs. She made a fire for the bird-catcher. Then she looked at the bird-catcher and said, You are our guest, since I have no food to offer, I will jump into this fire. In few minutes I will become an edible item for you. You can eat me.

By now, the bird-catcher was overwhelmed by the hospitality of the humble pigeon couple. He at once stopped the wife jumping into the fire.

He opened the cage and set the husband free. I have beencruel andselfish. I will never trap any bird in my net again, said the bird-catcher and went away. The two pigeons were happy to be reunited.

Advising A FoolOn a mango tree in a jungle, there lived many birds. They were happy in their small nests. Before the onset of the rainy season, all theanimalof the jungle repaired their homes. The birds also made their homes more secure.

Many birds brought twigs and leaves and others wove their nests. We should also store somefood forour children, chirped one of the birds. And they collected food, until they had enough to see them through the rainy season. They kept themselves busypreparing for the tough times.

Soon the rains came. It was followed by thunder and lighting. All the animals and birds stayed in their homes.

It continued raining for many days. One day, a monkey wet in the rain came into the forest. He sat on abranch, shivering with cold, water dripping from its body.

The poor monkey tried his best to get shelter, but in vain. The leaves were not enough to savehim from the rains. Brrr! It is so cold! said the monkey.

The birds werewatchingall this. They felt sorry for the monkey but there was little they could do for him. One of them said, Brother! Our small nests are not enough togive you shelter.

Another bird said, All of us prepared for the rainy season. If you had, you would not be in this piteous situation.

How dare you tell me what to do? said the monkey, growling at the bird. The monkey angrily pounced on the birds nest, tore it and threw it on the ground. The bird and her chicks were helpless.

The poor bird thought, Fools never value good advice. It is better not to advise them.

TheBondedDonkeyIn a small village, there lived a potter. He had adonkey. Everyday hisdonkey would carry soil fromthe fieldto his house. Sincethe fieldwas quite far off,the potterwould rest under a tree midway, tying hisdonkeynearby.

One day,the potterforgot to take the rope with which he tiedthe donkey every day. When he reached the tree, he thought, How do I tie thisdonkey today? He might run away if I sleep. The potterdecided to tie down holdingthe donkeys ears so thatthe donkeywould not run away.

But this way neitherthe donkeywas comfortable northe potterwas able to take rest. A saint, who happened to be passing by, sawthe potterholding on tothe donkeys ears. Then the saint wanted to know what the problem ofthe potter was. Whenthe pottertold the saint what the problem was, the wise saint said, Takethe donkeyto the place where you tie him every day. Pretend to tie him using an imaginary rope. I assure you he wont run away.The potterdid what the saint had said.

He leftthe donkeyand went to take a nap. When he woke up, to his surprise and relief, he foundthe donkeystanding in the same place.

Soonthe potterprepared to leave for home. Butthe donkeydid not move. What is wrong with thisdonkey! exclaimedthe potterin frustration.

Luckily,the pottersaw the wise saint again. He ran up to the saint and told him about the donkeys strange behavior. The saint said, You tied up the donkey, but did you untie him? Go and pretend to untie the rope with which you had tied the donkey.The potterfollowed the saints advice.

Nowthe donkeywas ready to leave for home.The potterunderstood thatdonkey was thebondeddonkey.The potterthanked the wise saint and went home happily with hisdonkey.

The Donkey and TheCotton There once lived a salt merchant. He had a monkey for his assistance. Every morning, he would load a sack of salt on the donkey and go to the nearby town to sell it. On the way, they had to walk across a pond.

One day, whilecrossing thepond, the donkey thought, Ooh! This load is so heavy that I become exhausted very soon. I wish I could get some of this load taken off my back. Just then the donkey tripped and fell into the water.

Fortunately, the donkey was not hurt. But the sack of salt on the donkeys back fell into the water. Both the donkey and the salt became wet. Some of the salt in the sack gotdissolved, making the load on the donkeylighter. The donkey felt very happy about the reduction in the weight of the sack of salt on its back. The merchant did his best to help the donkey toget upand they carried on their journey.

From that day, it became a regular practice for the donkey to slip and fallin the pondwhenever they crossed the pond to the market. This would dissolve some salt in the sack thus reducing the weight and relieving the donkey of some load. The merchant was not aware of the donkeys cunningness. This continued for a few days.

One day, the merchant noticed the donkey deliberately slipping and landing with the sack into the water. Oh! So this is the way I am losing my salt everyday he thought. He decided to teach the donkey a lesson.

Next morning, instead of loading a sack of salt, the merchant loaded a sack of cottonon the donkeys back. As usual they had decided to reach the market by crossing thesame pond. Whilecrossing thesame pond, the donkey, as usual, slipped and fell into the pond, hoping that after some time the weight of the sack would go reduced. As usual, both the donkey and thecottonwould become wet. But this time, when he got up, the load on his back seemed heavier. Ooh! The Load seems to have gotten heavier, thought the donkey. The donkey was astonished at what had taken place against the usual result.

The merchant looked at the donkey and said, Dear friend, I saw you fall into the water of the pond deliberately every day with themaliciousintention of reducing the weight of the salt. So, I loaded a sack ofcottontoday.Cottonwhen wet gets more weight and becomes heavier. Now you will have to carry it to the town. The poor donkey had learnt his lesson.

The Golden Swan

Long time ago, there liveda King. He was lazy and liked all the comforts of life. He never carriedouthis duties asa King. Our King does not take care of our needs. He also ignores the affairs of his kingdom. The people complained.

One day, the King went into the forest to hunt. After having wandered for quite sometime, he became thirsty. To his relief, he spotted a lake. As he was drinking water, he suddenly saw a golden swan comeoutof the lake and perch on a stone. Oh! A golden swan. I must capture it, thought the King.

But as soon as he held his bow up, the swandisappeared. And the King heard a voice, I am the Golden Swan. If you want to capture me, you must come to heaven.

Surprised, the King said, Please show me the way to heaven. Do good deeds, serve your people and the messenger from heaven would come to fetch you to heaven, replied the voice.

The selfish King, eager to capture the Swan, tried doing some good deeds in his Kingdom. Now, I suppose a messenger will come to take me to heaven, he thought. But, no messenger came.

The King then disguised himself and wentoutinto thestreet. There he tried helpingan old man. But the old man became angry and said, You need not try to help. I am in this miserable state because ofoutselfish King.He hasdone nothing for his people.

Suddenly, the King heard the golden swans voice, Do good deeds and you will come to heaven. It dawned on the King that by doing selfish acts, he will not go to heaven.

He realized that his peopleneededhim and carryingouthis duties was the only way to heaven. After that day he became a responsible King.

The Golden EggHaria, a poor barber lived alone in his small hut. He was dedicated to his work. And whatever he earns was enough to fulfill his needs.

One evening, after returning from work, Haria was hungry. What shall I cook tonight? he thought. Just then he heard a hen clucking outside his hut. That hen would make a great feast for me, thought Haria andpreparedtocatchthe hen.

With a little effort he was able tocatchthe hen. As he was about to kill the hen, it squeaked, Please do not kill me, O kind man! I will help you. Haria stopped. Though he was surprised that the hen spoke, he asked, How can you help me?

If you spare my life, I will lay a golden egg everyday for you, said the hen. Harias eyes got widened indelight. Haria was surprised to hear this promise. A golden egg! That too everyday! Butwhy shouldI believe you? You might be lying, said Haria. If I do not lay a golden egg tomorrow, you can kill me, said the hen. After this promise, Haria spared the hen and waited for the next day.

The next morning, Haria found a golden egg lying outside his hut and the hen sitting beside it. It is true! You really can lay a golden egg! exclaimed Haria with greatdelight. He did not reveal this incident to any one, fearing that others wouldcatchthe hen.

From that day onwards, the hen would lay a golden egg everyday. In return, Haria took good care of the hen. Very soon, Haria became rich.

But he became greedy. He thought, If I cut open the hens stomach, I can get out all the golden eggs at once. I do not have to wait for the hen to lay the golden eggs one by one.

That night, he brought the hen to the interior portion of his house and killed the hen. But to his dismay, he found no golden eggs. Not even one.

What have I done? My greed had made me kill the hen, he wailed. But it was too late.

The Magic Pot

Once upon a timeafarmer, Gopi, lived in a village. He had few acres ofland. One hot afternoon, the poorfarmerwas digging his field. All of a sudden, his spade hit something. Then he continued his digging. It is a big metal pot, said Gopi. It was big enough to boil rice for more than hundred people. It does not seem to be of any use to me. I will dig deeper. May be I will find something else, thought Gopi. He continued to dig.

After he had dug for a long time, Gopi felt tired. It is of no use. There is nothing in this field he thought. Then at once, he threw the spade into the pot in frustration and sat under a tree to takerest fora while.

After a while, whenhe gotup to leave, he could not believe his eyes. There were one hundred spades in the pot. This is a magical pot. I will put this mango inside the pot and see what happens, Gopi thought. Then Gopi put a mango into the pot. To his astonishment, he found one hundred mangoes in the pot. Gopi carried the pot to his home and kept in a secret place so that no one would become aware of it.

After that, he put many things in that and everything became hundred folds. With that pot, he became a rich man. The King came to know of the pot and its whereabouts. The King was curious toknow aboutit and he was a greedy King. I want to find outthe secretof the magical pot. If it is valuable, it should be in the King treasury, the King thought. Then at once, the King ordered his men to bring thefarmerand his pot.

When the magic pot was brought to the Kings chamber, he did not know what to do. The King thought, Let me see what is there inside this pot which makes this pot so magical? He peered inside. Inadvertently, he slipped and fell inside the pot. When he climbed out of the magic pot, he was shocked to find that there were one hundred Kings.

All the kings then started to climb the throne. They fought among themselves and died. The magic pot lay in the Kings treasury. The foolish King took away the magic pot from me out of curiosity and eventually he died. This magic pot has killed the King himself, said thefarmerand he tobe safeleft the magic pot at the treasury of the King itself.

The Selfish CrowsOnce upon a time, there was a very big forest. There on a hugebanyan tree lived many crows. They were selfish and arrogant. They always quarreled with other birds. This behavior irritated other birds. They had no friends, as no one liked them.

When the rainy season came, dark clouds gathered in the sky. A small mynah was returning to her nest. When she was passing by thebanyan tree, it started raining. I will stay here for a while until it stops raining, thought the little mynah. And I took rest on thebanyan treefor a while.

The selfish crows saw her perching on the tree. One of them shouted, Get off the tree. This tree belongs to us. The mynah humbly pleaded, The weather is bad and my nest is far off from this forest. Please let me take a rest for a while on this tree, brother. As soon as it stops raining, I will return to my nest.

Leave thisbanyan treeat once. Or we will peck you, said the other crows. The merciless tendency of the selfish crows scared the mynah. The mynah found no other way except to fly off. Then immediately the mynah flew off to a nearby tree, where luckily she found a hollow in a brokenbranch. She took her shelter there.

Shortly after, the rain became heavyfollowedby thunderstorm. The wind was in high speed. Even the leaves and branches were not enough to give shelter to the crows. Many of the branches of many tree in which the crows had taken shelter weredamagedand hurt by the hailstones. But the mynah was safe inside the hollow place in the tree.

One of the crows said, Look at the mynah! How comfortable she is. Let us go there. Another crow said, I do not think she will let us share the hollow. We did not have sympathy for her when she was in need of this tree. Then another crow said, We should not have been so rude. Weforgotthat we may need help someday.

Suddenly the mynah calledout, Come! My friends! Come to this hollow. Or you willget hurt. The rain is not going to stop soon. It seems that it may rain for a long time

The crows flew down to the hollow. They thanked the mynah. We are sorry for having unkind, dear friend! Now we will never be so selfish.

Then the crows took shelter in the hollow place of the tree in which the mynah had taken her shelter. After some time, it stopped raining. All the birds flew to their respective nests happily as new friends.