1.

THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF

Once, there was a boy who became bored when he watched over the village
sheep grazing on the hillside. To entertain himself, he sang out, “Wolf! Wolf! The
wolf is chasing the sheep!” When the villagers heard the cry, they came running
up the hill to drive the wolf away. But, when they arrived, they saw no wolf. The
boy was amused when seeing their angry faces.

“Don’t scream wolf, boy,” warned the villagers, “when there is no wolf!” They
angrily went back down the hill.

Later, the shepherd boy cried out once again, “Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the
sheep!” To his amusement, he looked on as the villagers came running up the hill
to scare the wolf away.

As they saw there was no wolf, they said strictly, “Save your frightened cry for
when there really is a wolf! Don’t cry ‘wolf’ when there is no wolf!” But the boy
grinned at their words while they walked grumbling down the hill once more.

Later, the boy saw a real wolf sneaking around his flock. Alarmed, he jumped on
his feet and cried out as loud as he could, “Wolf! Wolf!” But the villagers thought
he was fooling them again, and so they didn’t come to help.

At sunset, the villagers went looking for the boy who hadn’t returned with their
sheep. When they went up the hill, they found him weeping.

“There really was a wolf here! The flock is gone! I cried out, ‘Wolf!’ but you didn’t
come,” he wailed.

An old man went to comfort the boy. As he put his arm around him, he said,
“Nobody believes a liar, even when he is telling the truth!”

The Moral : Lying breaks trust — even if you’re telling the truth, no one believes
a liar
2. THE BUNDLE OF STICK

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

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

The old man summoned his sons, then proceeded to tell them, “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 old 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.” Then, the three sons
understood there’s power in unity, and promised their father they would
all stay together.

The Moral : There’s strength in unity.

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 used to 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, until 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 feeling 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. But, instead of giving 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 treating his
younger brother so badly. The magical tree saw the change in the older
brother’s heart and gifted them with all the golden apples they could need.

The Moral : It’s important to be kind, as it will always be rewarded.

A lone elephant walked through the forest, looking for friends. She soon
saw a monkey and proceeded to ask, ‘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.’

Defeated, the elephant continued to search when it stumbled across a

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

Then, 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.
Upon hearing of 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.

One day, a farmer was looking for a water source for his farm, when he
bought a well from his neighbor. The neighbor, however, was cunning. The
next day, as the farmer came to draw water from his well, the neighbor
refused to let him take any water.

When the farmer asked why, the neighbor replied, “I sold you the well,
not the water,” and walked away. Distraught, the farmer went to the
emperor to ask for justice. He explained what had happened.

The emperor called on Birbal, one of his nine, and wisest, courtiers. Birbal
proceeded to question the neighbor, “Why don’t you let the farmer take
water from the well? You did sell the well to the farmer?”

The neighbor replied, “Birbal, I did sell the well to the farmer but not the
water within it. He has no right to draw water from the well.”

Birbal said, “Look, since you sold the well, you have no right to keep the
water in the farmer’s well. Either you pay rent to the farmer, or take it out
immediately.” Realizing that his scheme had failed, the neighbor
apologized and went home.

The Moral : Cheating will not get you anything. If you cheat, you’ll pay
soon enough
 5. THE MISSER AND HIS GOLD

There once was an old miser who lived in a house with a garden. The old
miser used to hide all his gold coins under stones in his garden.

Every night, before he went to bed, the miser went out into his garden to
count his coins. He continued the same routine every day, but he never spent
a single, golden coin.

One day, a thief saw the old miser hiding his coins. Once the old miser went
back into his house, the thief went to the hiding place and took all the gold.

The following day, as the old man came out to count his coins, he found it
was gone and started wailing loudly. His neighbor heard the cries and came
running, asking what had happened. Upon learning what had occurred, the
neighbor asked, “Why didn’t you just save the money inside your house
where it would’ve been safe?”

The neighbor continued, “Having it inside the house would make it easier to
access when you need to buy something.” “Buy something?” answered the
miser, “I was never going to spend my gold.”

When hearing this, the neighbor picked up a stone and threw it. Then, he
said, “If that’s the case, then save the stone. It’s as worthless as the gold
you’ve lost.”

The Moral : A possession is as important as what it’s used for.