The clever farmer

One night, four theives went to a farmer's house to steal.There was light in the house.So, the thieves hid themselves among the plaintain tree.Farmer heard them talking.He knew that there were thieves hiding in the compound.He planned a trick to fool them.He called his wife and said,"You see there are so many thieves these days".

  "Yes, but what should we do ?" asked his wife.

  "We will fool them", said Farmer

  "How ?" asked wife.

  "I will put the ornaments and gold coins in a box and throw it in the well.The thieves will get nothing from our house".

  "Very good idea", said his wife.

  The thieves were listening to all these.They thought Farmer did not know about them.They sat quietly in their hiding place.

  Farmer took a wooden box and put a few stones in it.When his wife asked the reason, he signed her to keep quiet.Next, he closed the box and locked it.Both the husband and wife carried the box to the well.He whispered to her to say "Yes!" when he asked anything.

  "All our gold is in the box,isn't it ?" Farmer asked loudly.

  "Yes, it is", said the wife.

  Then farmer threw the box into the well.It fell with a loud noise.

  The thieves were listening to all these.They thought all the gold was in the box.

  Farmer and his wife went inside the house and slept.The theives decided to empty the well and take the box.They drew all the water by dawn and took the box.With great difficulty,they broke the lock and opened the box.There were only stones in it.

  Next morning,Farmer and his wife came out to see what happened .They had a hearty laugh.The thieves had watered all the plants !

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Think before you speak

Once upon a time in a forest, a hare called Pinky was resting under a banyan tree. He thought to himself, "What would happen if the earth started to break up?" Suddenly, there was a loud creaking sound. He jumped up and said, "The earth is really breaking up".

He ran through the forest and met another hare, Rosie. Rosie asked Pinky, "Where are you going in such a hurry?" The earth is splitting into pieces. You better start running too". Pinky replied. Soon, the other hares joined them in running.

Seeing so many hares running through the forest, the other animals got frightened. The news of the earth splitting into pieces spread like wild fire and soon all the animals got to know about it. It wasn't too long before all the animals joined the hares in running wildly. All creatures, whether reptiles or birds,insects or four-footed animals, everyone was trying to escape and their cries of fear filled the air.

The king of forest, Zara the lion, was standing on the top of a hill. He saw the animals running. "What is the matter?" He thought himself. He ran down the hill and positioned himself in front of the crowd. He shouted, "Stop! Stop!" The animals stopped as the lion was their king. A parrot yelled, "The earth is breaking into pieces". Zara asked, "Who told you so?" The parrot replied, "The monkey told me so".

Zara asked the monkey about it. They replied that they heard it from the tigers. The tigers in turn said that the elephants had told them. The elephant cited buffaloes as their source. At last, the hares were rounded up and they all pointed to pinky.

Zara asked Pinky, "What made you think that the earth is breaking into pieces?" The small hare replied fearfully," Your Majesty, I heard the cracking sound with my own ears". Zara investigated the matter and explored the sound that Pinky had heard. Ultimately, he came to know that the sound had been lying down.

Zara told all the animals, "Go back to your homes. The earth is absolutely safe. Next time you hear a rumour, check before you run". He told Pinky, "Look at the panic that wrong information can create. Next time, think before you speak".

The animals felt foolish and at the same time relieved as the earth was safe. They went back to their homes.

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His First Flight

Once a young seagull was standing alone on a rock in the sea, he was afraid of flying. His parents taught his sister and two brothers how to fly and dive for fish into the sea. They strove their level best to teach the young seagull to fly but in vain.

One day his parents thought a plan to teach him flying. All the members of his family flew away to another rock and left him alone. They did not give him anything to eat. Twenty-four hours passed. The young seagull walked to the edge of the rock. He stood there on one leg and closed his eyes. Now he was very hungry. He saw his mother tearing a piece of fish. He begged his mother to give him food.

The mother of the seagull knew that it was the time to hit upon the nail. She decided to exploit the hunger of the young seagull for his betterment. She took a piece of fish in her beak and came flying over him. When she reached over him, she become motionless in the air. She did not get down on the rock. She wanted to give the young seagull an incentive to fly.

The young seagull bent forward and jumped at the fish. But his mother flew upward. So he lost his balance and flew down from the rock into the space. He becomes much frightened. But to save his life he began to flap his wings. As soon as he flapped his wings, he started to fly. In this way, he learnt how to fly.

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The Two Kids

It was another escapade of Gopi and Gargi into the forest. The two were playing in the courtyard of the ruined castle when they heard strange sounds, as if someone ringing tiny bells in a temple. But there was none in the sort had happened during any of their early visits. Was the castle haunted? Were there any ghosts?

Suddenly, this thought had a vice like grip on their minds. Naturally enough, both were terrified but neither wanted to admit it. Presently the sounds become louder and louder and the duo would have fled had Gargi's sharp eyes not caught a glimpse of a herd of goats grazing behind the thickest nearby. 'So, those are ghosts!' said Gargi and the both burst into laughter. They rushed to the spot to have a closer look and found that there were thirteen goats in all and each had a tiny brass bell dangling from its neck. Four goats were black and the rest were brown.

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