Short Stories (ESL)

The Judge Monkey Once upon a time, two cats were passing through a street. Suddenly they spotted a loaf of bread lying beneath a tree. Both pounced upon it and caught the loaf at the same time. “It is mine. I saw it first," claimed one cat. While the other said, “I pounced upon it first and so it belongs to me." After having fought for a while, one cat said, “Let us divide it into two and take one piece each." “Indeed, a good idea," said the other cat. “But how do we divide it now?" A monkey sitting on the branch of the tree had watched all that happened between the two cats. “That loaf of bread looks good. I could do with it myself," he thought. Slowly he came down from the tree and walked up to the confused cats. “Yes, my dear friends! Can I help you?" asked the monkey. The cats told the monkey what the problem was and said, “Why do not you be the judge between us?" When the monkey nodded, the cats said, “Please divide this loaf for us." The clever monkey smilingly broke the bread into two pieces. But one piece was a little bigger that the other. “OH no! I will take a little bite of this bigger piece to make both equal," said the monkey, slyly. He took a bite from the bigger piece. But, he had taken a big bite. “Uh oh! Now it has become smaller than the other piece. I will just have to take a little bite from this piece now," said the clever monkey. The Judge Monkey took another bite. The two cats sat in front of the monkey, seeing the loaf of bread they had found getting smaller and smaller. When the whole loaf was eaten by the monkey, the monkey said, “I am sorry. I was really difficult to divide that loaf. I must be going now." And the monkey jumped onto the tree and was gone. “If only we had not quarreled among ourselves, we would have remained united and we need not have to go to the monkey and to become hungry now," said the two cats.

The Fragrance This Short Story The Fragrance is quite interesting to all the people. Enjoy reading this story. In a small town lived a wealthy merchant. He was very kind and charitable. He had a son, who had unfortunately fallen into a bad company. Many times the merchant advised his son not to go with the bad company. But all in vain. “Please, do not advise me what to do, my father. I know what is good for me and I know what to do," said the son. One day, a great saint came to the town. The merchant went to the saint, sought his blessings and said, “My spoilt son is the only cause of my worry. Please help me." After few minutes of contemplation, the saint replied, “Send your son to my Ashram tomorrow morning. I will talk to him." Next morning, the merchant sent his son to the Ashram of the saint. There the saint asked the son to pluck a flower of rose from the garden of the Ashram. The son did as asked by the saint. Then the saint asked the son,"Smell it and feel its fragrance, my son." The boy did so. Then saint showed the son a sack of wheat said, “Keep the rose near the sack." The boy followed the instructions. After an hour, the saint asked the boy to smell the rose again. “How does it smell now?" the saint asked the boy. The boy smelt the rose and said, “It smells as good as before." Then the saint said, “Hmm! Now keep the rose near this sack of jaggery." The boy did so. After an hour, the saint asked the boy to smell the rose again. “Is there any change in the fragrance?" the saint asked the boy. “No. it smells as fresh as before," replied the boy. Then the saint said, “Boy, you should be like this rose, giving the fragrance to everyone but at the same time not letting the bad smell rub on to you from anyone. Your good qualities are your strength. You should not lose them in bad company." The boy understood the saint’s words and wisdom. “I am grateful to you, O Saint, for opening my eyes," said the merchant’s son. From that day onwards, he was honest and charitable like his cultured father.

The Golden Swan Long time ago, there lived a King. He was lazy and liked all the comforts of life. He never carried out his duties as a 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 come out of 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 swan disappeared. 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 went out into the street. There he tried helping an old man. But the old man became angry and said, “You need not try to help. I am in this miserable state because of out selfish King. He has done nothing for his people." Suddenly, the King heard the golden swan’s 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 people needed him and carrying out his duties was the only way to heaven. After that day he became a responsible King.

The Ungrateful Lion In a dense forest, lived a fierce lion. He was very cruel. One day the lion was caught in a hunter’s trap. One by one many animals passed by. “Please helped me!" pleaded the lion. But none of the animals listened to his plea. After a while, a man happened to come into the forest. He saw the lion. The lion said, “I will die of hunger and suffocation. Please help me out, O! kind man." The man was thoughtful. “I assure you I will never harm you. Please help me now. The hunter will be anytime now," said the lion. The man felt sorry for the lion and set the beast free. As soon as the lion was free, he let out a fierce roar. “I have been trapped in the cage for a long time. I am hungry. I will have to eat you," said the lion, looking at the man. “But you promised that you would not harm me," said the man, in a meek tone. “Yes, I said that. But only to convince you to free me. Now, I am terribly hungry," said the lion. The terrified man thought quickly. He said, “Alright, you can eat me. But let a judge decide if you are right in eating the person who has rescued you." The lion agreed. He was sure that no animal would speak against him. Just then a jackal came that way and the lion asked the jackal to be the judge. He addressed the lion, “Sir, would you please show me how it all happened?" The lion was only too willing. He entered the cage and closed the cage door. The jackal immediately bolted the cage from outside. “Now the lion is trapped again. Run away, you foolish man! And never offer help to anyone without thinking," said the jackal. The frightened man ran for his life. And the ungrateful lion was trapped in the cage again. The hunter came and took the lion away to his circus.

The Ugly Tree Long, long ago, in a dense forest there were thousands of tall and beautiful trees. They were happy, but proud of themselves. Among them there also an ugly tree whose branches were badly twisted. Its roots had uneven curves. All the trees made fun of that ugly tree. “How are you, hunchback?" the other trees always shouted and their laughter made the ugly tree feel sad. But, he never raised a voice against them. The ugly tree thought, “I wish I were as beautiful as the other trees. Why did God do this to me? Neither can I provide shade to the travelers not can the birds make their nests on me. Nobody needs me." One day, a woodcutter came to the forest. He took a look at the trees and said, “These trees are lovely. I must cut them." As soon as he picked up his axe the trees became frightened. ‘Chop, Chop, Chop’ went the woodcutter’s axe and one by one the trees started to fall. “None of us is going to be spared," screamed one of the beautiful trees. Soon that tree too was brought to ground by the woodcutter’s axe. By now, the woodcutter had come near to the ugly tree. He had just raised his axe when suddenly he noticed how crooked the ugly tree was. “Hmm! This crooked tree seems to be useless for me. I cannot make long straight logs of this ugly tree," he thought. And he moved towards another beautiful tree. The ugly tree heaved a huge sigh of relief. He realized that by making him ugly, God had actually given him a boon. From that day the ugly tree never complained. He was happy with his crooked branches. He never forgot how he was spared from t he woodcutter’s axe, only because he was crooked and ugly.

The Prince and The Snake The kingdom of Vijaygarh had a wise and kind King. People were happy. But the King himself was sad and worried. A devilish snake had entered his son’s body. Neither medicine nor magic worked to cure his son. When the Prince grew up, he thought, “It is because of me that my father worried." And one day, he left the palace. Wandering, he came to another kingdom. He found a desolate temple and started living there. He begged for food. The King of that kingdom was cruel. But he had a kind and beautiful daughter. The King was unhappy with his daughter. That girl was always ridiculing her father’s hard work. The King thought, “She is always talking to me low of my hard work. I must marry her to a beggar. Then she will know what hard work is." So, when the beggar Prince came to beg for food in the Palace, the cruel King forced him to marry his daughter. The Prince and his new bride started for the desolate temple. On their way, they stopped to take rest. The Princess went around in search of food, while her husband went to sleep. When the Princess came back, she was shocked to see a snake sitting on her husband’s mouth. On a mount nearby sat another snake. They were talking among themselves. “Why do not you leave the body of the Prince? He is so kind and gentle," said the snake sitting on the mound. “You too are evil! You attack passers-by. You should not be telling me what to do," replied the snake sitting on the mouth of the Prince. The Princess killed both the snakes with all her courage. When her husband woke up, she told him about the two snakes. The Prince was happy. Then he told her who he really was. They set off to the Prince’s palace. The King was delighted to see his son. When the King learned that the devilish snake was killed, his joy knew no bounds. The Prince and the Princess lived happily for a long time. After few years, the Kingdom celebrated the day on which the Royal couple gave birth to twins of one boy and one girl.

The Foolish Fish In a huge pond, there lived many fish. They were arrogant and never listened to anyone. In this pond, there also lived a kind-hearted crocodile. He advised the fish, “It does not pay to be arrogant and overconfident. It could be your downfall." But the fish never listened to him. “There is that crocodile, advising us again," they would say. One afternoon, the crocodile was resting beside a stone near the pond, when two fishermen stopped there to drink water. The fishermen noticed that the pond had many fish. “Look! This pond is full of fish. Let’s come here tomorrow with our fishing net," said one of them. “I am surprised we have not seen this place before!" exclaimed the other. The crocodile heard all this. When the fishermen left, he slowly slipped into the pond and went straight to the fish. “You all had better leave this pond before dawn. Early morning those two fishermen are going to come to this pond with their net," warned the crocodile. But the fish just laughed and said, “There have been many fishermen who have tried to catch us. These two are not going to catch us either. Do not you worry about us, Mr. Crocodile," they said in a mocking voice. The next morning, the fishermen came and threw their net in the pond. The nets were big and strong. Very soon all the fish were caught. “If only we had listened to Mr. Crocodile. He had only wanted to help. For our arrogance we have to pay with our lives," said the fish. The fishermen took the foolish fish to the market and sold them for a good profit.

The Palace and The Hut King Vikramaditya was known for his justice and kindness. Even Gods sought his help in setting issues. In his kingdom, no one was unhappy. His people loved him and were proud of him. Once, the Vikramaditya decided to build a palace on the riverbank. He ordered his ministers to survey the site and start the work. The laborers were put to work and in a few days the palace was ready. Before bringing the King to show the palace, the minister decided to take a final look. “Splendid!" the minister exclaimed, looking at the palace. Then suddenly his eyes fell on something and he shouted, “What is that? I did not see that before." All the laborers and the soldiers turned around. There was a hut just a few steps away from the palace gate. “What is this hut doing here?" shouted the minister and added, “And whom does it belong to?" “Sir, it belongs to an old woman. She has been living here for a long time," replied a soldier. The minister walked up to the hut and spoke to the old lady. “I want to buy your hut. Ask for anything," he said. “I am sorry, Sir. I can not accept your offer. My hut is dearer to me than my life. I have lived in it with my late husband and I want to die in it," the old lady said. The minister tried to tell her that her hut would spoil the charm of the newly constructed palace. But the old lady was strong in her stance and she was ready to face any consequences and any punishment. She refused to sell her hut to the King. The matter was then taken to the King. The wise and generous king thought for a while, and then said, “Let the old lady have her hut where it is. It will only add to the beauty of the new palace." Then turning to the minister, the King said, “Let us not forget that what seems ugly to us may be precious to someone else." The people then realized why their king was so highly respected by all the people and by all other neighboring kingdoms.

The Arrogant Swans In a far away kingdom, there was a river. This river was home to many golden swans. The swans spent most of their time on the banks of the river. Every six months, the swans would leave a golden feather as a fee for using the lake. The soldiers of the kingdom would collect the feathers and deposit them in the royal treasury. One day, a homeless bird saw the river. “The water in this river seems so cool and soothing. I will make my home here," thought the bird. As soon as the bird settled down near the river, the golden swans noticed her. They came shouting. “This river belongs to us. We pay a golden feather to the King to use this river. You can not live here." “I am homeless, brothers. I too will pay the rent. Please give me shelter," the bird pleaded. “How will you pay the rent? You do not have golden feathers," said the swans laughing. They further added, “Stop dreaming and leave once." The humble bird pleaded many times. But the arrogant swans drove the bird away. “I will teach them a lesson!" decided the humiliated bird. She went to the King and said, “O King! The swans in your river are impolite and unkind. I begged for shelter but they said that they had purchased the river with golden feathers." The King was angry with the arrogant swans for having insulted the homeless bird. He ordered his soldiers to bring the arrogant swans to his court. In no time, all the golden swans were brought to the King’s court. “Do you think the royal treasury depends upon your golden feathers? You can not decide who lives by the river. Leave the river at once or you all will be beheaded!" shouted the King. The swans shivered with fear on hearing the King. They flew away never to return. The bird built her home near the river and lived there happily forever. The bird gave shelter to all other birds in the river.

The Clever Fox There once lived a crow. One day he was very hungry. He had not been able to get any food the previous day. “If I do not get anything to eat I will starve to death," he thought. As the crow was searching for food, his eyes fell on a piece of bread. He quickly swooped down, picked it up and flew off. Far away in a lonely place he sat on a tree to enjoy the bread. Just then a hungry fox saw the crow sitting on the tree holding the bread in his mouth. “Yummy! That bread looks delicious. What I would give to get that piece of bread," the fox thought. The fox decided to use all his cunning means to get the piece of bread from the mouth of the crow. He sat under the tree. The crow saw him and thought, “I guess this fox wants to eat my bread. I shall hold it carefully." And he held on to the bread even more tightly. The clever fox spoke to the crow politely. He said, “Hello friend! How are you?" But the crow did not say anything. “Crows are such lovely birds. And you are very charming too," said the fox, flattering the crow. Then the fox said," I have heard that besides being beautiful you also have a sweet voice. Please sing a song for me." By now the crow started to believe what the fox was saying. “The fox knows true beauty. I must be the most beautiful bird in this whole world. I will sing him a song," thought the crow. As soon as the foolish crow opened his mouth to sing the bread fell from its beak and into the ground. The Clever fox, which had just been waiting for this very moment, caught the bread in his mouth and gulped it down his throat. The crow had paid a heavy price for his foolishness.

Advising A Fool On 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 the animal of 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 some food for our children," chirped one of the birds. And they collected food, until they had enough to see them through the rainy season. They kept themselves busy preparing 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 a branch, 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 save him from the rains. “Brrr! It is so cold!" said the monkey. The birds were watching all 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 to give 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 bird’s 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."

Foolish Imitation Long ago, a hawk lived on the top of a hill. At the foot of the hill there was a banyan tree on which a crow used to perch everyday. The crow was very foolish. He would imitate everyone. The hawk atop the hill would fly down everyday in search of food. The crow watched the hawk circling in the air for long hours and swooping down when he saw his prey. The hawk gifted with eyes that could see long distances would spot his prey from the hill top and then fly down to pounce upon the prey. The crow watched the hawk thinking, “Hunh! If the hawk can do that, I too can. What does he think? One day, I will show the hawk that I can do the same thing." A few days later, as the hawk was circling in the air, the crow decided to do the same. Suddenly a baby rabbit came out of the bushes. The hawk saw it and the crow too saw the rabbit. Before the crow could move, the hawk swooped down, caught hold of the rabbit in his strong sharp talons and flew away. “Swoosh!" was all the crow heard as the hawk disappeared in the sky with his prey. “Hmmph! That is no great skill," thought the crow, angrily. Next moment he spotted a big fat mouse coming out of a hole. Without wasting time, the crow swooped down. Like the hawk he tried to catch the mouse in his claws. But the mouse saw the crow and moved away, the crow crashed against the hill. “Eeeaaa!" cried the crow in pain. Just then the hawk came flying down. “I hope, now you know it is not easy to hunt and it is not easy to imitate, either," said the hawk and flew away. There after, the crow never imitated any one in its life. It lived happily with the god-given abilities.