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[STORY COLLECTION]

ASHFAQ TABRAZE
GHS KATTAYA. HASSAN TALUK.

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 GOVERNMENT HIGH SCHOOL. KATTAYA. HASSAN TALUK.

A THIRSTY CROW

One hot day, a thirsty crow flew all over the fields looking for water. For a long
time, he could not find any. He felt very weak, almost lost all hope. Suddenly, he saw a
water jug below the tree. He flew straight down to see if there was any water inside.
Yes, he could see some water inside the jug!

The crow tried to push his head into the jug. Sadly, he found that the neck of the
jug was too narrow. Then he tried to push the jug to tilt for the water to flow out, but
the jug was too heavy.

The crow thought hard for a while. Then, looking around it, he saw some pebbles.
He suddenly had a good idea. He started picking up the pebbles one by one, dropping
each into the jug. As more and more pebbles filled the jug, the water level kept rising.
Soon it was high enough for the crew to drink. His plan had worked! The crow drank the
water happily and flew in the sky singing his favorite song.

Moral: Think smart, you may find a solution to any problem.

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 The Woodcutter and the Axe

Long ago, there lived a woodcutter in a small village. He was sincere in his work
and very honest. Every day, he went into the nearby forest to cut trees. He brought the
woods back into the village and sold them to a merchant and earned his money. He
earned just enough to make a living, and he was satisfied with his simple living.

One day, while cutting a tree near a river, his axe slipped out of his hand and fell
into the river. The river was so deep, he could not take it on his own. He had only one
axe that fell into the river. He started to worry. He will not be able to earn his living now!
He was very sad and prayed to the God. He prayed sincerely and God appeared in front
of him and asked, “What is the problem, my son?” The woodcutter explained the
problem and requested the God to get his axe back.

The God stretched his hand deep into the river and took out a silver axe and
asked, “Is this your axe?” The Woodcutter looked at the axe and said “No”. So, the God
put his hand back deep into the water again and took a golden axe and asked, “Is this
your axe?” The woodcutter looked at the axe and said “No”. The God said, “Take a look
at it again Son, this is a very valuable golden axe. Are you sure, this is not yours?” The
woodcutter said, “No, It’s not mine. I cannot cut trees with a golden axe. It’s not useful
to me”.

The God smiled and finally put his hand into the water again and took out his iron
axe and asked, “Is this your axe?” To this, the woodcutter said, “Yes! This is mine! Thank
you!” The God was very impressed with his honesty and she gave him his iron axe and
also the other two axes as a reward for his honesty.

Moral: Always be honest. Honesty will always be rewarded.

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 A Fox and A Goat

Once upon a time, a fox was roaming around in the dark. Unfortunately, he fell
into a well. He tried his level best to come out, but was not able to come out. So, he had
no other alternative but to remain there until the next morning. The next day, a goat
came that way. She peeped into the well and saw the fox there. The goat asked, “What
are you doing there, Mr. Fox?”

The sly fox replied, “I came here to drink water. It is the best I have ever tasted.
Come and drink yourself.” Without thinking even for a while, the goat jumped into the
well, quenched her thirst and looked for a way to get out. But just like the fox, she also
found herself helpless to come out.

Then the fox said, “I have an idea. You stand on your hind legs. I’ll climb on your
head and get out. Then, I shall help you also to come out.” The goat was innocent and
did not realize the cunningness of the fox, and so did as the fox said and helped him to
get out of the well.

While walking away, the fox said, “Had you been intelligent enough, you would
never have jumped in without thinking how to get out.”

Moral: Look before you leap. Do not walk blindly into anything without thinking.

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 The Bear and the Two Friends

Once upon a time, two friends were walking through the forest. They knew that
any danger can happen to them at any time in the forest. So, they promised each other
that they would remain united in any case of danger.

Suddenly, they saw a huge bear approaching them. One of the friends at once climbed a
nearby tree. But the other one did not know how to climb. So, being led by his common
sense, he lay down on the ground breathless, pretending to be a dead man.

The bear came near the man lying on the ground. It smelt him with his nose, and left
the place. It is because, bears do not touch dead creatures. Now, the friend on the tree
came down and asked his friend on the ground, “Friend, what did the bear tell you in
your ears?” The other friend replied, “The bear advised me not to believe a false
friend.”

Moral: True Friend is the one who always supports and stands by you in any situation.

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 The Golden Egg

Once upon a time, there lived a cloth merchant in a village with his wife and two
children. They were indeed quite well-off. They had a beautiful hen which laid an egg
every day. It was not an ordinary egg, but a golden egg. But, the man was not satisfied
with what he used to get daily. He was a greedy person.

The man wanted to get all the golden eggs from his hen at one single go. So, one day he
thought hard and at last came with a plan. He decided to kill the hen and get all the
eggs together.

So, the next day when the hen laid a golden egg, the man caught hold of it, took a sharp
knife, chopped off its neck and cut its body open. There was nothing but blood all
around and there was no trace of any golden egg. He was very sad, because now he
would not get even one single golden egg.

His life was going on smoothly with one golden egg a day, but now, he himself made his
life miserable. Just because of his greediness, he became very poor.

Moral: One who desires more, loses all. One should remain satisfied with what one
gets

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 Unity is Strength

Once upon a time, there was a flight of doves that flew in search of food led by
their king. One day, after flying for a long distance and they were feeling very tired. The
dove king encouraged them to fly a little further. The smallest dove picked up speed
and found some rice scattered beneath a banyan tree. So, all of them landed on the
ground and began to eat.

Suddenly a net fell over them, and they were all trapped. They saw a hunter was
approaching them, and he was carrying a huge club. The doves desperately fluttered
their wings trying to get out, but they could not. The king had an idea. He advised all
doves to fly up together carrying the net with them. He said that there was strength in
unity.

Each dove picked up a portion of the net and together they flew off carrying the net
with them. The hunter looked up in astonishment. He tried to follow them, but they
were flying high over hills and valleys. They flew to a hill near a city of temples where
lived a mouse who could help them. He was a faithful friend of the dove king.

When the mouse heard the loud noise of their approach, he went into hiding. The dove
king gently called out to him, and then the mouse was happy to see him. The dove king
explained that they were caught in a trap and they needed the help of the mouse to
gnaw the net with his teeth and set them free.

The mouse cut the net and one by one all the doves were free. They all thanked the
mouse and flew away together.

Moral: When you work together, you are stronger.

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 The Fox and the Grapes

One afternoon a fox was walking through the forest and spotted a bunch of
grapes hanging from a lofty branch. “Just the thing to quench my thirst,” he thought.

Taking a few steps back, the fox jumped and just missed the hanging grapes. Again, the
fox took a few paces back and tried to reach them but still failed.

Finally, giving up, the fox turned up his nose and said, “They’re probably sour anyway,”
and proceeded to walk away.

Moral: It’s easy to hate what you cannot have. Nothing comes easy without hard
work. So, Work Hard and reach your goals.

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 The Rabbit and the Turtle

One day a rabbit was boasting about how fast he could run. He was laughing at
the turtle for being so slow. Much to the rabbit’s surprise, the turtle challenged him to a
race. The rabbit thought this was a good joke and accepted the challenge. The fox was
the umpire of the race. As the race began, the rabbit raced way ahead of the turtle, just
like everyone thought.

The rabbit reached the halfway point and he could not see the turtle anywhere. It
was very hot. The rabbit felt very tired and so decided to take a break and take a (short)
nap. Even if the turtle passed him, he would be able to race to the finish line and run
ahead of him. All this time, the turtle kept walking step-by- step. He decided not to quit
no matter how hot or tired he was. He just kept going.

However, the rabbit slept longer than he had thought. When he woke up, he
could not see the turtle anywhere! He raced at full speed to the finish line but he found
the turtle there waiting for him.

Moral: Never underestimate anyone.

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 Two Frogs

A group of frogs was traveling through the woods and two of them fell into a
deep pit. When other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they
were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored their comments and tried to jump out of
the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, and that they were
as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what other frogs were saying and
gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of
frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally
made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog
explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him, the entire
time.

Moral: There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone
who is down can lift them up and help them to make it. Also, we should do our best and
don’t mind the discouragement.

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 Never Give Up

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried for hours as the
farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old and the
well needed to be covered up anyway it just wasn’t worth to retrieve the donkey. He
invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and
began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and
cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he kept quiet.

A few shovels load later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at
what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that fell on his back, the donkey was doing
something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors
continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well
and trotted off!

Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick is to not to get
bogged down by it. We can get out of the deepest wells by not stopping. And by never
giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

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 Who will Bell the Cat?

Once, a huge number of mice lived in a grocer’s shop. They ate the fresh, tasty
wheat, rice, bread, cheese and biscuits that were kept in the shop. They were having a
great time and living easy, comfortable lives, growing fatter day-by- day.

But, the grocer was concerned about the loss that he was suffering, because of
the damage done to his stock by the mice. So, he thought of a solution and bought a big,
fat cat to keep in his shop.

From that day onwards, the cat began to catch the mice every day. The mice were
terrified of even stepping out of their holes. They could not reach the food anymore.
This was a great cause of worry for them. They decided to call a meeting of all the mice
in the shop to discuss this problem.

They got together and started thinking. One of them suggested that they must
get rid of the fat cat but no one could think of a way of doing so. So, they kept thinking
of other ways. Finally, one mouse spoke up, “We should tie a bell around the cat’s neck.
That way, whenever the cat is near or is coming in our direction, we would get to know
by the ringing of the bell and we can quickly run back to our holes.”

This idea was much appreciated by the other mice. They thought that this was
the best plan. They began dancing and celebrating with joy. But their celebration did
not last very long, for an old and experienced mouse said, “You fools! Stop celebrating
and first tell me, who will bell the cat?”

None of the mice had an answer to this question. They had not thought about
this major problem in their plan. This is why it is said that making a plan is one thing but
executing it is an entirely different thing.

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 The Fox and the Crow

Once upon a time, there was a very clever fox that lived in the forest. One day,
the fox was hungry. He really wanted to eat something sweet, like a cookie. Just then,
he saw a crow sitting on a branch. The crow had a cream biscuit in his beak which he
had snatched away from a little boy. The fox’s mouth started watering on seeing the
biscuit. He started thinking of a way of getting the biscuit for himself.

The fox said to the crow, “Dear crow, the lion king told me that you sing beautifully. But
I have never heard your voice. Will you sing a song for me?” The crow was so pleased
on hearing the flattering words of the fox, he immediately opened his beak and began,
“Caw, caw, caw.” As soon as the crow opened his beak, the cream biscuit fell down. The
cunning fox immediately munched it up and went off.

The next day, the fox came across the crow again. This time, the crow had a piece of
cake in his mouth. The fox also wanted that cake. He said, “Dear crow, please forgive
me about yesterday. Your song was so sweet and I really wanted to hear the whole song
but I spotted a rabbit nearby, so I ran away. Please sing that song for me again.” But the
crow understood the trick of the fox. He flew off towards his nest with the piece of cake
in his beak. After keeping the cake safely in his nest, he returned to where he was
sitting and began singing loudly, “Caw, caw, caw.” The fox could not bear to listen to the
crow’s voice and ran away.

Moral: We cannot fool someone every time.

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