A Barber Outwitted!

Once upon a time, there was a Prince who loved to listen to his barber talking. Every morning while
shaving, the barber used to tell him all the different stories and gossips that he heard in the town.
But, somehow, the barber did not like the court Pundit (priest), whom everybody else respected and
admired. One morning the barber came up with a plan to get rid of the Pundit. When he went to the
Prince that morning, he did not talk like he used to. Whats wrong with you today? Why dont you
talk? asked the Prince.
At last he said, Sire, last night I had a dream. I was in the paradise where I met your noble father and
loving mother. Both of them had a big problem.
Why? What was troubling them? asked the prince.
The cunning barber made a sad face and replied, Sire, they were in great need of a priest to look after
their spiritual needs. They have asked me to tell you if you could send the court Pundit to paradise to
help them solve this problem.
"But how?"
"That should not be too difficult, Sire," replied the barber. "He simply has to be put into a coffin and
then into the grave. He will soon awake in paradise".
"Oh, I see. I will do that."
The priest came to know about this and was worried. But he was very wise and clever. He made a
request to the prince to give him a month's time to make preparations for his heavenward journey.
He chose a suitable spot in his garden for his grave, and employed a dozen faithful men to dig an
underground tunnel from there to the bottom of his house. Then he covered place with wooden planks,
grasses and weeds to hide the tunnel.
When the great day arrived, the priest was laid down in a coffin and the coffin was lowered into the
grave. Once the coffin was covered with earth, the priest opened the coffin using a secret device, and
escaped through the tunnel into his house.
Three long years passed. All this time, the priest allowed his hair, beard and nails grow as long as they
could. One day, he emerged from the house and presented himself before the prince - to the utter
shock and amazement of everybody present in the court.
"When did you return from Paradise?" - asked the prince, adding, "and why are you looking so untidy
with unkempt hair, face, beard and so very long nails?"
"That is exactly why I am here today," replied the priest. "For, who would otherwise leave the pleasures
of paradise return to this miserable earth, if it were not for a special reason? You see, till about a year
ago, your respected father had an excellent barber who was for some reason sent away from paradise
some months ago. Finding nobody to replace him, your honorable father ordered me to return to you,
and to ask you to send off your own barber immediately to help him meet his daily toilet requirements."
As expected, the prince ordered his barber to proceed to the paradise right then and there!
The barber was so shocked at this sudden change of events, he was speechless for a long while. But, of
course, he was very scared to ignore the prince's orders. Besides, the soldiers started preparing the
grave for him the very next moment, the poor fellow was laid into a coffin and buried alive!

The Woodcutter and Death
Once upon a time, there lived an old woodcutter. He was very poor and sometimes he did not even have
anything to eat. One day he went to the forest and gathered a lot more woods than he usually did.
When he bent down to pick up the bundle, he found that he was too weak to carry the heavy weight. He
sighed deeply and cursed his old age saying, if only I were dead. Suddenly someone stood next to him
and asked Did you call me? The scared woodcutter lied, No, I did not.
Ignoring the old mans lie, Death introduced himself. He explained that he had come simply because he
was called. The woodcutter became less frightened and looked at Death. He found it very hard to
believe that this was really Death himself. Seeing his doubt, Death pointed at an old woman who bathed
in the nearby pond. The woman suddenly fell and died. The woodcutter soon realized why he wanted to
die asked Death if he could please help him lift the bundle of wood onto his shoulders. Death gladly
helped. The woodcutter was ready to go home when he suddenly remembered something. He asked
Death how much longer he had to live. Five years to a day Death replied and left.
That night many thoughts haunted the woodcutter and he could not sleep well. Early next morning he
went to the forest. He looked for a great big tree and when he found it, he cut a single hole in the
bottom of the tree. Then he started carving out the inside of the trunk. He carved for five whole years.
Then Death returned just as he said he would. The old woodcutter promised to come along but he said
he wanted to show Death what he had carved as a gift for the people who lived long after he had died.
So they went into the woods. Death climbed into the tree trunk where the woodcutter proudly showed
him around. When Death was in the top of the tree-trunk house, the woodcutter quickly came down,
shut the hole from the outside and went home.
Time passed. People and animals gave birth, but Death came to no one. Many people were hungry and
ill but no one died. Even the gods became worried. They approached the Lord Shiva, the great one, who
decided to come to earth disguising like a human. He went immediately to the old woodcutter and
asked him if he still wanted to go on living.
The poor woodcutter was by now even older and weaker, and so ill that he could hardly leave his home.
Quietly the old woodcutter said that, at last, he was ready to die. Then the Lord Shiva helped the old
man to get up and slowly they walked to the forest. They went deep into the woods where he opened
the tree and released Death. Death was shaken by his ordeal in the tree. He pleaded with the Lord Shiva
to make him invisible, so that people could no longer devise ways to shut him off. So be it, Lord Shiva
said.
From that day onwards no human can see Death, though he sees all of us. And the woodcutter, he died.

Honest Woodcutter
Ramhari was a poor but a very honest woodcutter. Everyday he used to go to the forest to collect woods
for his living. One day, he came across a big tree in the middle of the forest. He decided to cut down
some of its branches. He climbed the tree, settled on a branch and started to cut it down. Suddenly his
axe fell down into the nearby pond.
The pond was very deep so it was impossible for him to get his axe back. He sat at the bank and started
to cry. He cursed himself and his bad luck. Hearing him cry, an angel appeared from the pond. She asked
him why he was crying. He told her everything. She felt pity on him and asking him to wait there, she
dived back into the pond. Few minutes later, she came back with a golden axe and asked him if it was his
axe.
No. This axe is not mine he sadly replied.
Down she went again and returning with a silver axe this time, she asked, Is this your axe?
No. This isnt my axe. I am a poor woodcutter. I cannot afford to have such expensive axes. Please help
me find my old axe.
She went back the third time and returned with the woodcutters axe this time. Is this your axe? she
asked for the third time. Yes. It is my axe. Oh! Thank you very much, he said happily.
You are very honest person Ramhari. I am very proud of you. Here, take these two other axes as a gift
from me. She handed him his axe and also gave him the other two axes for his honesty. He happily
went home with three axes and the woods he had collected. When he narrated all this to his wife, his
greedy neighbor heard it all.
Next day, his neighbor went to the same place and knowingly dropped the axe. Hearing him cry, the
angel appeared and asked him what was wrong. He told the same thing as his neighbor did. The angel
went back into the pond and few minutes later came with the golden axe and asked him, Is this your
axe?
Seeing the golden axe, the greedy woodcutter began to scream Yes. This is my axe. This is my axe. The
angel got angry with him for lying and she said dryly, You liar! This is not your axe. You are greedy and
all you think about is wealth. You shall be punished for your deeds. Saying that, the angel dived back
into the pond and didnt appear again. His cries and screams went in vain. He not only lost the golden
axe but also his own axe. He paid price for his lies and greed.

Reap as you Sow
Kesari was a middle aged widow living all alone. She was very kind and generous towards others even
though she was poor. She always liked to help others in every way she could. One day when she was
returning from the temple, she found a parrot trembling on the ground. She came towards the parrot to
take a closer look and saw that it had hurt its left wing. Her heart melted at the sight of the poor bird
and she took it home where she cleaned its wound, treated and fed it. Within a couple of days, the
parrot was better and it flew away to his home. One day, early in the morning, she saw the parrot
coming towards her home. It dropped something in the ground and flew away. She went closer and saw
that it was a pomegranate seed. She planted it in her front yard. Next morning she was surprised to see
a pomegranate tree standing exactly where she had planted the seed. It was covered with fruits that
looked ripe and ready to eat. She plucked one fruit and opened it to eat. She couldnt believe her eyes.
He thought she must be dreaming but she was wide awake. The fruit had no ordinary seeds but gold,
diamonds and other valuable stones and jewels. She opened another fruit and then another. Every fruit
contained more and more jewels. She was transformed into a rich lady within a day.
Seeing her donned in valuable clothes and jewels, her greedy and envious neighbor Kamali asked her
Kesari, where did you get all these fine clothes and jewelries? Where did you get the money from?
Kesari narrated everything to her neighbor. So the greedy woman went in search of a hurt parrot. She
searched for many days and weeks but couldnt find one. So the cruel woman caught a parrot, broke its
leg and then treated and cared for it. The parrot flew away and returned after few days with the
pomegranate seed. She planted it in her yard and went happily to get a goodnight sleep. But she didnt
sleep. She kept thinking about the wealth she will have tomorrow, the fine clothes she will wear and
how she will show off her jewelries to other women.
Oh! How envious they will be of my good fortune. Every men and women will look at me with
amazement. They will ask how I became so rich. But Ill tell them nothing. I will just toss my head and
ignore them she thought and drifted into the world of her dreams.
Next morning, when she came outside, there was a pomegranate tree covered with ripe fruits. She
happily plucked out a fruit and opened it apart. She was shocked to see what was inside. She broke
another and another and then another again. All contained deadly insects and snakes. No matter how
many she opened, the result was the same. What is happening? Where are my jewels and valuable
stones? she shouted. At this, the snakes hissed and came towards her. She ran for her life.

The Sage and the Mouse
Once upon a time, there lived a Sage in a hut on the outskirts of the Gautam forest. He was very
talented and powerful man. He had learned many art forms and was very skilled but he never was proud
of his powers. He was very kind and helpful to others.
One day when he was returning from his regular bath at the river, he found a mouse which looked weak
and starving. He pitied it and took it home. There he fed it and cared for it like a son. One morning he
found the mouse being chased by a cat. It looked so scared that the Sage thought of helping it. So he
turned it into a cat with his powers. Few days later, the mouse-cat was being chased by a dog, so in
order to help it the Sage changed it into a dog this time. The dog followed him everywhere and came
wagging its tail whenever it saw the Sage coming. It went towards the jungle one day and was nearly
killed by a tiger. So thinking that the mouse-dog will be safe if it were a tiger, the Sage cast a spell and
transformed it into a tiger. He kept it tied whenever others came to visit. They looked at the tiger warily
and were often reluctant to enter the boundary. He always assured them that it simply was a mouse and
he had changed into a tiger with his wisdom and power. After hearing that, they often made fun of the
mouse-tiger.
The Mouse-Tiger felt offended at those insults and one day it jumped towards the Sage in order to kill
him. But the Sage changed it back to its real form and the tiger was once again the same little helpless
mouse. Now no one feared it and once again the mouse ran for its life whenever it saw a cat. The Sage
also realized that one should not try to change the course of nature just because they have the power to
do so.

Parrot Learning
Once upon a time there lived a teacher. He owned a parrot named Hariya. Hariya used to repeat
everything his master taught him. He often recited the poems and proverbs that the students used to
read. Teacher was proud of Hariya as he could recite those poems so well, sometimes even better than
his students. But Hariya was naughty and often wandered around the forest sometimes.
The teacher used to teach him one thing everyday. He used to say Dont enter into others field. You
might be trapped and killed. Hariya had learned it by heart and pleased that his parrot was now wiser
than any other bird, the teacher set Hariya free. He asked Hariya to warn his friends about the dangers
of the wild. Hariya happily flew to his friends eager to share his knowledge. While flying, Hariya repeated
what his master had taught him. Other parrots followed his suit. All of them repeated Dont enter into
others field. You might be trapped and killed. Just then they saw a rice field and all of them including
Hariya flew towards it. They ate and sang Dont enter into others field. You might be trapped and
killed. And they ate and sang. They did it for few minutes when the farmer heard the parrots chanting
and came with a net and caught all of them.
Even though the parrots were taught about the dangers and they knew the warning by heart, they were
trapped. It is because they only repeated the sentences without understanding them.