There lived a lion in a forest bush. Near the bush lived a mouse in a hole. It was a hot day and the lion was taking a rest after a long hunt. The playful mouse came out of his hole and started climbing up and down the lion. The running of the mouse tickled the lion and he woke up. He caught the mouse and said. “You silly fool! You disturbed my sleep. I am going to kill you”.
The mouse looked at the lion and plea in his face and replied humbly. “Oh king of the forest! Please do have mercy on this small creature! I have committed a mistake. If you excuse and pardon me I will surely repay you in the future”. The lion was astonished by the bravery of the mouse and he let the mouse free. Days Passed.
Once, when the lion went for a hunt he got trapped in a net. He started roaring. The mouse heard the roaring and thought, “The lion must have been trapped. I should help him”. He ran to the net and started gnawing. Soon, the net gave away and the lion got free. They became good friends.
2. The Greedy Dog
The greedy dog made a plan to snatch away the bone from the other dog. It opened its mouth for snatching away the bone. Alas!, the bone in its mouth fell down into the river. The poor dog lost its bone and went home crying.
3. The Talkative Tortoise
Once there was a tortoise living in a pond. Two Swans used to visit the same pond every day. The tortoise was very talkative. It used to talk to swans for a very long time. Tortoise and Swans become good friends. All of them were happy. Once there was a drought and it lasted for a long time.
As a result, the water in the pond got dry. There was no water for them to drink. The swans decided to move out to some other place. The tortoise asked the swans to take him alone with them. The swans suggested a plan, according to which the tortoise would have to hold a piece of stick by its mouth and the swans will hold the two ends of that stick.They told the tortoise not to speak otherwise it would fall and die. The tortoise understood and promised them not to open its mouth during that journey. while crossing a village, many saw the tortoise and got surprised.
They shouted at the tortoise and made fun of him. Tortoise got angry and opened its mouth to speak. But as it opened its mouth, it fell down on the ground. The swans were very shocked to see their friend’s end. The tortoise died because of its impatience and foolishness.
4. The Hare and the Tortoise
Once there was a hare, he felt very proud because he could run very fast. One day, he saw a slow-moving tortoise. The hare laughed at the tortoise and said, “You’re moving very fast, shall we have a running race.”
The tortoise knew that he could not run fast like the hare. He thought, “Why not have some fun? I am not worried about failure. ” So he said, ” I am ready for the race” and accepted the challenge. The forest friends fixed a day for the race.
On the Fixed day, both the hare and the tortoise arrived at the starting point. They had to run up to a big banyan tree, nearly a mile away. It was really a long distance for the tortoise. The race started. The tortoise began to move forward slowly. The hare ran at great speed.
After running for some time, the hare stopped to take a rest. The tortoise was far behind. “It will take him a
long time to catch me”, thought the hare. He lay down under a shady tree and soon fell asleep. Meanwhile, the tortoise kept moving slowly and steadily. On the way, he saw the hare in deep sleep.
He continued to move and finally reached the winning point. The hare woke up after some time and began to run fast. But it was too late now. When he reached the endpoint, he saw the tortoise waiting, with a smiling face. The hare hung his face in shame.
5. The Honest Woodcutter
A woodcutter lived in a small village on the riverbank. He used to cut the trees on the river bank every day and sell them in the village. One day, while cutting a tree, he dropped his axe in the river.
The Woodcutter immediately searched, but could not see the axe. He sat down on the river bank and started crying. He said, “Dear god I dropped my axe in the water. It was my only source of lively hood. Please help me, god please give me back my axe back.”
The woodcutter saw the god mercury rising from the river. He heard the woodcutter’s prayer and went back to the river to find the axe.
He came back with a gold axe and asked, woodcutter, is this your axe?” the woodcutter refused. Mercury went back in and got a silver axe. “Is this your axe?”, the woodcutter refused again. The third time, Mercury returned with an iron axe. The woodcutter took his axe happily and profusely thanked Mercury.
Mercury was happy with the honesty and gave him all three aces. The woodcutter went home happily. Soon village heard about his good fortune story.
One greedy friend of Woodcutter went to the river bank the next day and hide his axe behind the tree near the river bank. As he sat on the river bank crying, god mercury appeared.
Mercury asked him why he was crying. He told Mercury that he had lost his axe. Mercury went back to the river and returned with a gold axe. The man took the axe. Mercury was upset with his dishonesty and took back the gold axe from him and scared him. He ran back to the village without taking his axe.
