Short Stories: General

Once a wicked wolf was in a jovial mood and merrily roaming around. Suddenly, he saw a boy lying on the ground and moved towards him. On seeing the wolf, the boy got frightened and tried to turn away his face. The wolf realized that the boy was terrified. The wolf went up to the boy and said, "Aha! At last, I caught you. But I shall spare your life if you say three things which cannot be challenged in regard to their truth." The boy, though terrified, composed himself and thought for a while. Then he said, "First it is a pity that you saw me; second, I was a fool to let myself be seen by you and third, everyone hates wolves because of their unprovoked attacks". The wolf was satisfied with his reply, spared his life and left. ~ "A BRUTE CAN ALSO SEE REASON" -General

Once a dog saw a cowshed while searching for food.. At that time, the cows were away for work. So, the dog climbed on to a pile of hay in the manger hoping to find something to eat. Being hungry, it sat down to eat the hay but hated the taste and couldn’t eat it. In the evening the cows came back to the cowshed. They had worked the whole day and were hungry. When they went to the manger, they found the dog resting on the hay. One of the cows said, "Please get off. We want to eat the hay". The dog snarled at them and refused to move. The cows said, "How mean you are? You can't eat the hay and don't let us eat either. We are hungry and tired after the day's work". But the dog ignored the plea of the horses. Just then came the master of the horses. He gave a sound thrashing to the dog with a stick. The dog repented and went away. ~ "A DOG IN A MANGER" -General

It was a hot summer day. A fox and a goat were very thirsty. Looking around for a place to quench their thirst, they came across a well that had very little water in it. They both were so thirsty that they got down into it and quenched their thirst. Having had their fill, the goat wondered how they would get out of the well. The fox said, "Don't worry. You leave that to me. All you have to do is stand firm, while I'll climb up with your help. Once I get out, I'll pull you up." The goat unaware of the fox's shrewdness, agreed and soon the fox was out. Once out, it went its way, leaving the poor goat behind. ~ "A FOX AND A GOAT" -General

Once a wild horse while grazing on a grassland was enjoying its food and its freedom. After some time it saw a stag coming and nibbling on the same grassland. There was sufficient grass for both of them but the horse didn't want to share the grass and thought of a plan to get rid of the stag. It saw a man passing by, told him its plan and asked his help to kill the stag. The man agreed, but said that to fulfill the plan, he would have to mount the horse in order to chase the stag. The horse agreed and very soon the man killed the stag. The horse now waited for the man to get off but the man refused. The horse got mad with rage and began to kick and fling, but all it got was a good whipping. At last, it had no other alternative but to submit itself to the man and work for him on his farm. ~ "A HORSE AND A STAG" -General

Once, a rich lady, having no child of her own, decided, to adopt a girl child. For this, she gave advertisements in various newspapers. Many poor women came to sell their daughters to her. The rich lady gave some money to all girls and asked them to go to the market and buy their favourite things. . On returning, all the girls showed the rich lady, the things they had bought. Most of them had bought ribbons, clothes and other things for themselves but one poor girl had bought a prayer book and a needle. The lady got impressed with the poor girl and adapted her saying that the girl really knew the essence of worship and hard work. ~ "A POOR LITTLE GIRL" -General

Once a wolf was roaming about in a field of grass where a flock of sheep came grazing everyday. He was hiding behind a bush. Getting a chance, he carried away a lamb to eat it at a safe place. Unfortunately, a lion came there, snatched the lamb and went to his den to eat it at leisure. When the lion had walked just a few steps away, the wolf said, "It is down daylight robbery- so unjust for a lion to snatch my morsel from me. It is below his dignity." Hearing the wolf's grumble, the lion laughed and replied, "A thief is questioning a robber- how strange! Did you get this lamb as a gift from a friend? You stole it out of a flock. Was that fair?" A sin is a sin- whether big or small. ~ "A THIEF CAN'T QUESTION A ROBBER" -General

Once there were two mice. One lived in a country and the other in a town. One day, the country mouse invited the town mouse to dine with him and served him the best food. But the town mouse said that the food was tasteless and invited the country mouse to his mouse. At the town's mouse house, the food was very delicious but all the time, while eating, the two mouse was on the look-out for human-beings and the cats they kept to kill mice. The country mouse exclaimed, "What a miserable life you lead!" At least in the country, I can eat my meals in peace. The country mouse thanked the town mouse for his hospitality and went back home. ~ "A TOWN MOUSE AND A COUNTRY MOUSE" -General

Once a cock and an ass were sitting under a tree sharing a meal. Suddenly, a lion came there. Seeing the cock and ass there he said, "I don't need to hunt far and wide. Under the tree sits my next meal." Seeing the lion, the cock flew on to a branch of the tree and crowed in fear. Hearing this strange sound, the lion got scared and ran away. The ass, thinking that the lion was frightened of it, started following him without realizing that it was the cock's crow that had scared the lion. When the lion and the ass went out of hearing of the cock, the lion turned upon the ass and tore it into pieces. ~ "AN ASS, A COCK AND A LION" -General

A poor woodcutter accidentally dropped his axe into the river. He was very upset, as he had no money to buy another axe. Just then a fairy appeared in the river holding out a golden axe to him. "I found this axe in the river. Is this yours?" "That's not mine", replied the woodcutter. The fairy then brought out a silver axe. The woodcutter disowned this one too. Finally, the fairy held out a wooden axe. Smiling with happiness, the woodcutter said, "That's mine. Thank you very much." The fairy felt very happy seeing his honesty and said, "Such honesty deserves a reward." She gave the poor man all the three axes and disappeared. ~ "AN HONEST WOODCUTTER" -General

Once an old man and his son were going to the market to sell an ass. They walked along beside the ass. A passer-by commented, "How foolish you are! Why don't you ride the ass instead of walking along?" At this, the old man lifted his son onto the ass. A little further, another traveler said to the boy, "You rascal! How can you ride the ass, when your old father trudges along?" The son felt ashamed and made his father sit on the ass. Then they came across a third person, who was shocked that the old man was riding the ass while his little son walked. The father and the son then tied the ass's legs together and carried it on a pole. This amused everyone present there. Angry at being mocked at, they threw the ass into the river. Another man, who saw this, saved the ass and took it home. ~ "AN OLD MAN AND AN ASS" -General

Blind people have a sense of touch that helps them see what they can't see with their eyes. Once there was a blind man who had a super-sense of touch. By and by the fame of his extra-keen sense of touch spread far and wide and one day reached the king's court as well. The king didn't believe it. He said that he would test it personally. So, the blind man was summoned to the court for the test. He was given a seat and on the king's bidding, a wolf-cub was placed on his lap. The blind man caressed every part of the cub's body to know it's reality. The king asked, "What is this baby-animal?" Blind man replied, "Your Honour! It may be a wolf-cub or a fox-cub. But certainly, I can say that it won't be safe to trust it in a sheep-fold." The king was highly pleased at the blind man's reply and rewarded him handsomely. ~ "BEGINNING SHOWS THE END" -General

At a grocer's shop there were a mice everywhere. People didn't want to come to his shop anymore. So, the grocer kept a cat. She chased the mice and ate some each day. The mice had no chance to feed on anything more. Troubled by the cat, mice held a meeting to get rid of the cruel animal as she killed them ruthlessly and their number was falling down. Each mouse suggested his idea but all ideas were rejected, as they were not practicable. At last, a young mouse suggested to tie a bell round the cat's neck when she was fast asleep so that when she would move, the bell shall ring and warn them of the danger. So, they will run to safety. Everybody approved the idea but the question was- who will bell the cat? All the mice looked at each other in despair and the meeting got over. ~ "BELL THE CAT" -General

Once upon a time there was a trader who had a large flock of goats. People used to come from distant and nearby places to buy goats from him. Thus the trader was earning a lot from his trade. He had also employed a goat-herd who drove the flock to a pasture in the morning and after sunset, drove them back and shut them up in the fold. One day, the goat-herd was about to drive the flock back home as usual when he saw that some goats had strayed aside. So, he tried to get them back by calling and whistling. All the strayed goats returned and joined the flock but one stubborn goat didn't obey him. So, he threw a stone at her. It hit one of her horns and it was broken. The goat-herd got scared and begged the goat not to tell anything about it to the trader. But he was silly because the horn itself would have revealed the reality. ~ "CERTAIN THINGS CAN'T BE HIDDEN" -General

Jenny was very fond of reading books. One day, she went to a bookstore and was wondering which book to buy. Just then a lady standing beside her told that there was a fascinating novel in the next shelf. Jenny got so excited that she put her purse on the counter and went to have a look at the novel. She found the book very interesting and decided to buy it. When she looked out for her purse, it was missing. In its place was a note saying, "Goodbye. Read the novel. It's very interesting." The helpful lady had helped herself to Jenny's purse. ~ "DUPED WITH A BOOK" -General

One night Patrick saw a horror movie with his parents. He felt thirsty and went to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. Too lazy to put on lights, Patrick groped his way to the kitchen. At that very moment, his mother too had got up to quench her thirst. Because of darkness, Patrick walked straight into his mother. His mind was still busy with the horror movie. He thought that he was face to face with a ghost and started screaming. His father came running and switched on the lights. When he saw his mother standing in front of him, he felt relieved and went to his room to sleep. ~ "ENCOUNTER WITH A GHOST" -General

Once a donkey and a dog met on a road. They both had to go in the same direction, so they became friends and traveled together. They had taken just a few steps when they saw a packet lying by the road-side. The dog picked up the packet and giving it to the donkey said, "Open it and read it out for me. " The donkey did exactly what the dog had asked him to do. The packet turned out to be all about the things that donkey eat like grass, barley etc. the dog felt bored hearing what the donkey was reading out and said, "Turn over the pages and see if there is something about the things I am fond of such as meat, bones etc. The donkey glanced through the entire packet but couldn't find anything of the dog's sort. The dog became sadder and asked the donkey to throw it away because he found the packet useless for him. ~ "EVERYONE CARES FOR HIS ENDS" -General

If you ever see a crab walking on land, you will find that, it walks tilted to one side. It’s body is such that it cannot walk straight. This fact is true for all the crabs on earth. One day a mother-crab was sitting on the bank of a river. Her young son was playing nearby. Suddenly, the mother noticed that, her son was not walking straight rather, he was walking tilting his body sideways. She got worried and advised her son, "You ought to walk straight, not sideways." The young crab retorted, "Mother! Show me, how to walk straight. I will follow your example." The mother crab tried her level best to walk straight but could not make it and realized her folly. ~ "EXAMPLE IS BETTER THAN PRECEPT" -General

Once a fox-cub was roaming alone in the forest. He had heard about lions, tigers and leopards from his parents but had never seen them. Anyhow he had been told some clues in order to recognize them. The fox-cub knew that a lion has thick and long hairs on his neck; leopard has spots all over its body while a tiger has stripes on its body. All of a sudden, the cub heard the roar of a lion. He was extremely scared and hid himself behind a bush. Soon, the lion appeared and the cub was almost half-dead seeing his fearful eyes. Few days later, the cub saw the lion once again. Still he was scared but nominally. But when the cub saw the lion for the third time, his fear had totally vanished. So, he went to the lion and said, “Good morning, sir. I am your humble servant- the fox.” The lion returned the wish in a friendly manner. ~ "FAMILIARITY ENDS FEAR" -General

Once there was a trader who was often out on business trips. When he grew old, his son started handling the business but he was very boastful by nature. When he went on his first business tour, he was thrilled to see many new things. Returning home he felt impatient to tell about his experiences to his mates. When they all gathered around him, he told them many surprising things among which, he boasted of an exploit of his own. He said, "Friends! When I was in Canada, I participated in boxing competition and none could beat me. I was praised by all and became the talk of the town. If you don’t believe me, better go to Canada and enquire." Suddenly, one of his friends said, "Why go to Canada, you show your feat here itself." The trader had no words to reply and got trapped in his own words. ~ "MERE BOASTS DON�T MAKE BIG" -General

Once there was a boy called Pat who had a habit of laughing at every small thing. One day, he went to a bank with his mother. When she was depositing money, three robbers entered the bank. They opened fire. All the people in the bank got scared. Suddenly, Pat started laughing loudly. The robbers thought that there must be some trap laid for them in the bank. Their minds got distracted and in the meantime, the guards overpowered them. The robbers were handed over to the cops. Everybody praised Pat. When his mother asked him that why he laughed, he replied, "The mole on one of the robber's face was very funny." ~ "LAUGHING STOCK" -General

Once there was a trader who was often out on business trips. When he grew old, his son started handling the business but he was very boastful by nature. When he went on his first business tour, he was thrilled to see many new things. Returning home he felt impatient to tell about his experiences to his mates. When they all gathered around him, he told them many surprising things among which, he boasted of an exploit of his own. He said, "Friends! When I was in Canada, I participated in boxing competition and none could beat me. I was praised by all and became the talk of the town. If you don’t believe me, better go to Canada and enquire." Suddenly, one of his friends said, "Why go to Canada, you show your feat here itself." The trader had no words to reply and got trapped in his own words. ~ "MERE BOASTS DON�T MAKE BIG" -General

The sun-god was getting married. The happy news spread far and wide and reached the earth too. Most of the creatures were happy with the news except the frogs. They called a meeting and decided to have the marriage stalled. One of the young frogs asked, "But how to do that?" Another said, "We will request god Jupiter." So, the frogs started croaking day and night. Their croak reached the skies and the gods informed Jupiter of it. Immediately, he made for the earth to see the frogs. Reaching there, he asked, "What is you problem?" The frogs replied, "The sun is terrible even when single. He dries up our homes with his scorching heat. What will happen if he gets married and begets two or three more suns?" Jupiter laughed and said, "Don't worry; we shall send the new suns away from this part of the sky." ~ "NATURE OBSERVES HER LAWS" -General

Once an eagle came flying and sat on the branch of a tree that stood by a pool. At that time, a tortoise was basking on the bank of the pool. He was very dissatisfied with his life on the ground. He wanted to fly in the air like birds. So, he wished the eagle and said, "Sir! I have to make a request." The eagle asked, "What it is?" The tortoise said, "Please teach me, how to fly. I am fed up of my life on ground." The eagle advised the tortoise not to go against the rule of nature, as she hasn't given you wings to fly. But the tortoise didn't listen to him and requested so hard that the eagle had to agree to teach him flying. So, the beagle picked up the tortoise in his claws and flew high in the sky. The tortoise felt puffed up. Suddenly, the eagle let him go. Down came the tortoise to fall head-long on a rock and dashed to pieces. ~ "NEVER CHALLENGE THE NATURE" -General

Once a flock of sheep was grazing in a field of grass. Suddenly, a deer came there and began grazing there. Some sheep saw it and began to bleat. Hearing his bleat, the shepherd got alert and looked at the flock closely. Seeing the deer, he went up to it and lifted it in his arms. He then carried it to a butcher. The deer seeing that it's death was near started barking out of terror and struggled to be free. The sheep saw the deer making a fuss and rebuked it saying, "Why this to-do, after all? Our master often catches us like that and drags us off too. But we never make any fuss. " The deer replied, "You don't know what this to-do is for? Your master catches you only for wool but I have been caught for my flesh." Never make light of the danger others are in. ~ "NEVER DISPARAGE OTHERS DANGERS" -General

Once a watch-dog was sleeping in a farm-yard in the sun. Somehow a wolf got into the farm and attacked the sleeping dog. Taken aback, the dog begged for mercy. He said, “Sir! I am very thin and weak as I am new here. Let me get fat after feeding on rich food that I get here. Then you can come and eat me up.” The wolf was taken by the dog’s words and went away leaving it free. The dog thanked his stars and decided not to sleep in an unsafe place. After few days, the wolf re-visited the farm and looked for the dog. This time the dog was lying very safely on the roof of the stable. Seeing the dog, the wolf said, “Hope you remember your commitment. So, come down and be my meat.” The dog said, “Who makes agreements for death? Get lost Mr., wolf.” The wolf went away repenting over his folly. ~ "ONCE BITTEN TWICE SHY" -General

One upon a time there was a fat man. He had a strong hefty body- so much so that he had to struggle a lot to get through the door of his house. One day a young boy happened to came that way and saw the man forcing himself inside the house. The boy couldn't control his laughter and said, "If you step aside for a moment, I will show you how to get in." The man was amused to hear the words of the young boy and said; "I knew the way even before you were born." The young boy had no words to say and realized his folly that he should not have advised the man who was quite older than him. ~ "RESPECT THE WISDOM OF ELDERS" -General

One day, an old lion felt hungry. Being unable to hunt, he thought of a plan and started limping. A monkey sitting on a tree saw him and asked, "Why are you limping?" At this the lion replied, "I have committed many sins in my life. Now I am old and want to repent for them. I am walking carefully so that I might not kill any ant on the way." The monkey came down from the tree to meet the noble lion. The lion at once caught hold of him. But the monkey was very clever. He suddenly started laughing. When the lion asked the reason for laughing, the monkey said, "One who will laugh at this moment will go to the abode of god." The lion himself at once started laughing. The monkey got an opportunity and immediately climbed the tree. The lion repented for his foolishness. ~ "THE ABODE OF GOD" -General

Once there lived many wild beasts in a jungle. One day they came across a very strange object. It was a man's boot. They had never seen such a thing before. "I am sure it's the shell of a fruit", said the bear. The monkey, pointing to the long laces said, "Look here, these are roots. So, it is a plant." The wolf said, "Can't you see it's a nest? Here is the hollow in which the bird lays its eggs." A bird, sitting on a nearby tree, was listening to their argument. It said, "It's not a nest. I've been to a land where men live and this thing you see is called a boot. Men wear it on their feet." "You keep out of it. We haven't seen any such thing and so we can't believe you." "Believe what you want to, but remember that you can't know everything", saying this, the bird flew away. ~ "THE BOOT IN THE JUNGLE" -General

One day, Peter's father gave him money to buy a clock from the market. So, he went to a showroom and bought a beautiful clock. When he got back home, it was 12 o'clock in the afternoon. So, one hand of the clock was over the other. The whole family including Peter thought that the shopkeeper had given him a defective piece. So, he went to the shop for replacement. By that time, two hands had been separated and were visible. When Peter realized his folly, he felt embarrassed and returned home. When his family members came to know about their foolishness, they also felt very embarrassed. ~ "THE DEFECTIVE CLOCK" -General

One day, Peter's father gave him money to buy a clock from the market. So, he went to a showroom and bought a beautiful clock. When he got back home, it was 12 o'clock in the afternoon. So, one hand of the clock was over the other. The whole family including Peter thought that the shopkeeper had given him a defective piece. So, he went to the shop for replacement. By that time, two hands had been separated and were visible. When Peter realized his folly, he felt embarrassed and returned home. When his family members came to know about their foolishness, they also felt very embarrassed. ~ "THE DEFECTIVE CLOCK" -General

Once a stray dog while searching for food came to a butcher's shop. There he got a bone with some meat on it. So, he lifted it and ran to a safe place to enjoy it at ease. He chewed the bone for a very long time and this made him quite thirsty. So, he went to a river to quench his thirst. It took the bone along, as it was worried that some other dog might not take it away. As the dog stood on a bridge across the river, it looked around to see if it could safely put the bone down while it quenched its thirst. By chance, he saw his reflection in the water from over the bridge. He could not follow that it was his shadow. Rather, he thought it to be another dog with a bone in his mouth. Being greedy by nature, he wanted that bone too. So, he barked at the other dog, hoping to scare it into giving it that bone. But alas! The bone that he held in its mouth fell into the river. ~ "THE DOG AND THE BONE" -General

Once in a city there were two neighbours Harry and Danny. Harry would always remain tense as the hens of his neighbour daily used to enter his garden and ruin it. One day Harry came to know that Danny was away. So, he placed some eggs in the garden. When Danny returned home and saw Harry picking up the eggs, he asked him, "Harry, you have no hens. Then where did you get these hens from?" Harry innocently replied, "Some hens come in my garden and lay eggs. I am lucky to get free eggs daily." Since that day, the hens of Danny never entered the garden of Harry. ~ "THE EGG PLOY" -General

Long time ago, giraffe's neck used to be short. One day, some animals of the jungle decided to play hide and seek. Monkey said that he would seek all the animals. All the animals ran to hide themselves but giraffe couldn't find a proper place to hide. He saw a hollow in a tree and tried to get inside. But his neck got struck in there. He tried hard to free himself but all went in vain. The giraffe started screaming. On hearing the cries, all the animals came out of their hideouts. They pulled the giraffe out by his neck and it got elongated. Since then giraffe's neck is long. ~ "THE GIRAFFE'S NECK" -General

Once a king got the news that his neighbouring country was planning an attack on his country. In his kingdom, there lived an old lady who on hearing this news went to the royal palace. She met the king and said that she wanted her only son to take part in the battle. The king was stunned to see the patriotism of the woman. He gave her the permission. A vicious battle took place. The old lady's son sacrificed his life for the motherland. When the old lady went to the palace weeping, the king tried to console her. She said, "I am not crying because my son died, but because I had only one son. Now I won't be able to give any help to the kingdom at the time of crisis." ~ "THE GREAT SACRIFICE" -General

Once there grew a little pine tree deep in the forest. It had needles that were evergreen. Yet it was glum. It said, "My needles are not as pretty as leaves. I wish I had golden leaves." Next morning, it found its wish had been granted. It had shining golden leaves. A man passing by saw the golden leaves and started plucking them. Soon the little pine tree was stripped bare. It again said, "I was wrong. I wish I had glass leaves. They would look pretty and no one would steal them. " The next morning the tree saw that it was covered with glass leaves. They sparkled in the sunlight and tinkled gently. But along came a storm, and the glass leaves were all broken. Once more the little tree was bare. Now it said, "Leaves of gold and grass are pretty. But I wish I had green leaves." Again its wish was granted and it was covered with pretty green leaves. But then a hungry goat came and ate up all the leaves. "What a fool I've been!", sighed the little pine tree. "My needles were the best for me. I wish I could have them back again." Fortunately, the little pine tree was granted its wish once again and it got back its pretty needles. ~ "THE LITTLE PINE TREE" -General