Elephant and friends

A lone elephant walked through the forest, looking for friends. She soon
saw a monkey and asked, “Can we be friends, monkey?”

The monkey quickly replied, “You are big and can’t swing on trees like I do,
so I cannot be your friend.”

Deflated, the elephant continued to search and stumbled across a rabbit.

She asked him, “Can we be friends, rabbit?”

The rabbit looked at the elephant and replied, “You are too big to fit inside
my burrow. You cannot be my friend.”

The elephant continued until she met a frog. She asked, “Will you be my
friend, frog?”

The frog replied, “You are too big and heavy; you cannot jump like me. I am
sorry, but you can’t be my friend.”

The elephant continued to ask the animals she met on her way but always
received the same reply. The following day, the elephant saw all the forest
animals run in fear. She stopped a bear to ask what was happening and
was told the tiger was attacking all the small animals.

The elephant wanted to save the other animals, so she went to the tiger
and said, “Please, sir, leave my friends alone. Do not eat them.”

The tiger didn’t listen. He merely told the elephant to mind her own
business.

Seeing no other way, the elephant kicked the tiger and scared him away.
After hearing the brave tale, the other animals agreed, “You are just the
right size to be our friend.”

The Moral

Friends come in every shape and size.

The bundle of sticks

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived in a village with his three
sons. Although his three sons were hard workers, they quarrelled all the
time. The old man tried to unite them but failed.

Months passed by, and the man became sick. He asked his grown sons to
remain united, but they failed to listen to him. At that moment, the man
decided to teach them a lesson — to forget their differences and come
together in unity.The man summoned his sons.

When they had gathered, he said, “I will provide you with a bundle of sticks.
Separate each stick, and then break each into two. The one who finishes
first will be rewarded more than the others.”

And so, the sons agreed. The man provided them with a bundle of ten
sticks each and then asked the sons to break each stick into pieces. The
sons broke the sticks within minutes, then proceeded to quarrel among
themselves again.

The old man said, “My dear sons, the game is not yet over. I will now give
you another bundle of sticks. Only this time, you will have to break them
together as a bundle, not separately.”

The sons readily agreed and then tried to break the bundle. Despite trying
their best, they could not break the sticks. The sons told their father of their
failure.

The old man said, “My dear sons, see! Breaking every single stick
individually was easy for you, but breaking them in a bundle, you could not
do. By staying united, nobody can harm you. If you continue to quarrel,
then anyone can quickly defeat you.”

The old man continued, “I ask that you stay united.” The three sons then
understood that there’s power in unity and promised their father they would
all stay together.

The Moral There’s strength in unity.

The fox and the grapes

One day, a fox became very hungry. He went out to search for some food.
He searched high and low but couldn’t find anything to eat.

Finally, as his stomach rumbled, he stumbled upon a farmer’s wall. At the

top of the wall, he saw the biggest, juiciest grapes he’d ever seen. They
were a rich purple, telling the fox they were ready to be eaten.

To reach the grapes, the fox had to jump high in the air. As he jumped, he
opened his mouth to catch the grapes, but he missed. The fox tried again
but missed once more.

He tried a few more times but kept failing.

Finally, the fox decided to give up and go home. While he walked away, he
muttered, “I’m sure the grapes were sour anyway.”

The Moral

Never despise what we can’t have; nothing comes easy.

The Milkmaid and her pail

One day, Molly the milkmaid had filled her pails with milk. Her job was to
milk the cows and then bring the milk to the market to sell. Molly loved to
think about what to spend her money on.

As she filled the pails with milk and went to market, she again thought of all
the things she wanted to buy. As she walked along the road, she thought of
buying a cake and a basket full of fresh strawberries.

A little further down the road, she spotted a chicken. She thought, “With the
money I get from today, I’m going to buy my own chicken. That chicken will
lay eggs; then I can sell milk and eggs and get more money!”

She continued, “With more money, I can buy a fancy dress and make all
the other milkmaids jealous.” Out of excitement, Molly started skipping,
forgetting about the milk in her pails. Soon, the milk started spilling over the
edges, covering Molly.

Drenched, Molly said to herself, “Oh no! I will never have enough money to
buy a chicken now.” She went home with her empty pails.

“Oh, my goodness! What happened to you?” Molly’s mother asked.

“I was too busy dreaming about all the things I wanted to buy that I forgot
about the pails,” she answered.

“Oh, Molly, my dear. How many times do I need to say, ‘Don’t count your
chickens until they hatch?’”

The Moral

Don’t count on your good fortune before it has come about.

A Wise Old Owl

There was an old owl who lived in an oak tree. Every day, he observed
incidents that occurred around him.

Yesterday, he watched as a young boy helped an older man carry a heavy

basket. Today, he saw a young girl shouting at her mother. The more he
saw, the less he spoke.

As the days went on, he spoke less but heard more. The old owl heard
people talking and telling stories.

He heard a woman saying an elephant jumped over a fence. He heard a

man saying that he had never made a mistake.

The old owl had seen and heard what happened to people. Some became
better, and some became worse. But the old owl in the tree had become
wiser each day.

The Moral

Be more observant. Talk less and listen more. This will make us wise.
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.

The Moral

Never act before you think.

The Needle Tree

Once, there were two brothers who lived at the forest’s edge. The oldest
brother was always unkind to his younger brother. The older brother took
all the food and snatched all the good clothes.

The oldest brother would go into the forest in search of firewood to sell in
the market. As he walked through the forest, he chopped off the branches
of every tree he passed until, one day, he came upon a magical tree.

The tree stopped him before he chopped its branches and said, ‘Oh, kind
sir, please spare my branches. If you spare me, I will provide you with
golden apples.’

The oldest brother agreed but was disappointed with how many apples the
tree gave him.

Overcome by greed, the brother threatened to cut the entire tree if it didn’t
provide him with more apples. Instead of giving him more apples, the tree
showered him with hundreds of tiny needles. The brother fell to the ground,
crying in pain as the sun began to set.

Soon, the younger brother became worried and went to search for his older
brother. He searched until he found him at the trunk of the tree, lying in
pain with hundreds of needles on his body.

He rushed to him and started to painstakingly remove each needle with

love. Once the needles were out, the oldest brother apologized for
mistreating his younger brother. The magical tree saw the change in the
older brother’s heart and gifted them with all the golden apples the brothers
could need.

The Moral

Kindness will always be rewarded.

When Adversity Knocks

Asha was getting frustrated and tired of life, so she asked her father what
to do. Her father told her to bring an egg, two tea leaves, and a potato. He
then brought out three vessels, filled them with water, and placed them on
the stove.

Once the water was boiling, he told Asha to place the items into each pot
and keep an eye on them. After 10 minutes, he asked Asha to peel the
egg, peel the potato, and strain the leaves. Asha was left confused.

Her father explained, “Each item was placed into the same circumstance:
boiling water. See how each responded differently?”

He continued, “The egg was soft but is now hard. The potato was hard but
is now soft. And the tea leaves, they changed the water itself.”

The father then asked, “When adversity calls, we respond in the same
manner as they have. Now, are you an egg, a potato, or tea leaves?”

The Moral

We can choose how we respond in difficult situations.