Once there were two kings ruling adjacent lands. One was unjust and cruel, and the other just and kind. The unjust king never allowed any trader to pass by without taking all his merchandise. The traders tolerated all the cruelty of the unjust king because they were getting precious stones and gems from the land. […]
There lived a man in a small village in China. He was an eccentric man. His old shoes were worn out. So, he decided to buy a new pair of shoes. Before he went to the marketplace, he drew a detailed picture of his feet on a piece of paper, carefully measured them, and wrote
Once there were two friends, one blind and another crippled. They begged for alms together and made a living. One day, they were near a garden and the master of the garden feeling pity for the two, allowed them to take rest inside the garden on the condition that they would not pluck fruit or
Once there were seven thieves who went about stealing to make a living. They saw a small orphaned boy who was loitering about. They asked him if he would join them so that he might have good food. The boy agreed and the thieves took him along. They entered a garden of walnut trees and
One day, King Solomon’s servant came breathlessly into the court, “Please, let me borrow your fastest horse!” he said to the King, “I must be in a town ten miles south of here by nightfall!” King was perplexed what the reason was. “Why?” asked King Solomon. “Because,” said his shuddering servant, “I just met Death
Once there was a pack of jackals that happened to see a dead camel and were very happy that their food problem for many days was solved. Then they also thought that they needed a judge so that they might not fight amongst themselves for food. They wanted to see that even the weak jackal
Chapter 3 There came to him, stirred by the warmth of the fire and the gentle aroma of tea, a thousand tangled recollections of old times. Spring—the spring of 1896. He was forty-eight—an age at which a permanence of habits begins to be predictable. He had just been appointed housemaster; with this and his classical
There lived a man and a woman, happily married for over 60 years. They had shared or talked about everything with each other, leaving no secrets held, except about the shoe-box the old woman had kept atop her closet. She had cautioned her man never to open it or discuss about it. One day when
Once a man and his wife received a letter from their son who was working in another country. In the letter, he informed them that he loved and missed them a lot but was unsure when he could come back home due to the work pressure. However, until then, he was sending a bottle of
This story is about a mother who had a 5-year old son. Once her son was trying to remove a milk-bottle from the upper shelf of their bedroom, when he lost his grip on the bottle and the milk spilled over the entire floor. Soon there was an out-and-out sea of milk. When his mother
Chapter 2 Across the road behind a rampart of ancient elms lay Brookfield, russet under its autumn mantle of creeper. A group of eighteenth-century buildings centred upon a quadrangle, and there were acres of playing fields beyond; then came the small dependent village and the open fen country. Brookfield, as Wetherby had said, was an
There lived a serpent-charmer in a town with his wife, mother and his children. He had three serpents with him which he had kept in a pannier in his house. He did not tell anyone in the house including his wife that he had three serpents in the pannier. He took the snakes daily, showed
In a certain desert, there was a beautiful oasis full of water, trees and fruits. All the birds sang the praise of the Allah, the Creator. Among all birds, there was a group of crows who particularly led a happy life. They had chosen a wise crow as their king and all were happy with
Chapter 1 When you are getting on in years (but not ill, of course), you get very sleepy at times, and the hours seem to pass like lazy cattle moving across a landscape. It was like that for Chips as the autumn term progressed and the days shortened till it was actually dark enough to
Caliph Haroon Al-Rashid was taking a walk with Jaafar, the Barmecide, when he spotted a few women drawing water from a well. The Caliph was thirsty, so he approached one of the girls. The prettiest of them started reciting a beautiful poem on seeing the Caliph. The Caliph was amazed and asked the girl if