The hunter looked around and saw no other hunter or wild animal that might attack him. He put the tortoise down and went up to the deer. He was examining him to check if he was, in fact, dead. Meanwhile, Nibbles ran to where Slow-Toes lay tied to the hunter’s stick. He bit through the […]
Slow-Toes was going along slowly to the new place when a hunter saw him. He quickly picked the tortoise up and strung him up on a stick. The hunter had found a good dinner and walked towards his home. By then Nibbles, Wise-Eye and Dapple had rushed in search of Slow-Toes and saw him being
The Prince understood the advice. He called the merchant’s son, Charudatta, and appointed him as his personal attendant. One day, he told Charudatta that he had to offer worship every evening for pleasing a goddess for which he needed a lady of good family and birth to help him with the rituals. Accordingly, Charudatta brought
Once upon a time, an elephant lived in a forest. There were also many jackals and they looked greedily at the elephant. “What a feast we would have if we could kill this elephant,” whispered the jackals to one another. An old jackal said he would get the elephant for all of them. The old
King Virasena ruled the kingdom of Kannauj. He had a handsome son whom he made the viceroy of Virapura city. One day as the Prince was riding through the city, he saw a beautiful woman. She was Lavanyavati, the wife of a merchant’s son. He fell in love with her, and on getting back to
There lived a crow couple on a banyan tree. In the same tree, there was a hole. A snake lived in it. He would climb up to the nest to eat the newly hatched babies. But Mother Crow would peck at him and drive him away. The crow couple went in search of food every
“Staying hidden in the lake may be wiser and easier for Slow-Toes,” suggested Nibbles. “Why do you say that, Nibbles?” asked his friends, “Isn’t it better for him also to come away with us to another part of the forest?” “Slow-Toes cannot move fast on land, my friends,” observed Nibbles, “Trying to go across land,
“A hunter was chasing me!” said Dapple, “So I had to run away. I am glad to have found friends like you.” Dapple had also brought some news that he shared with the others. He had heard that Rukmangada, the Prince of Kalinga, was going with his army to defend the borders against enemies. “He
Wise-Eye, Slow-Toes and Nibbles became friends and were very happy living in the forest and sharing stories and their ideas. One day, a deer with dappled skin came running through the forest where the three sat. It seemed to be running away from something. The three friends, sensing danger, promptly hid themselves. Slow-Toes slid into
The moment he saw the scrap of meat on the bow, the jackal wanted to eat that too. Why should he let even that little bit of meat go? In spite of having plenty of food available, the jackal was so mean and greedy that he did not wish even that small scrap of meat
One day, a great hunter, wishing to eat venison (deer’s meat), went hunting in the forest. He killed a deer. As he was going home, a huge wild boar attacked him. He shot an arrow at it, but the wounded boar killed him. But the boar itself had been injured by the hunter’s arrow. Soon
Nibbles said he had learnt that a healthy mind and body and the company of good people is better than wealth and that true knowledge is to know the difference between good and evil. He was happy in the forest and glad to have the crow and the tortoise for friends. They discussed the merits
There was a crane who lived near a pond full of fish. But as he was old, it was difficult for him to catch them. So he came up with a plan. Standing by the pond, he wailed, “Soon, this lake will dry up and no one will survive. I will have to live by
Nibbles said that there was a town called Champaka which had a college where students came from far and wide to study. One of the students was a young priest named Chudakarna who begged for alms daily. When he had eaten, he put his begging bowl with leftover food on a shelf and went to
“So you see,” said the Mouse King. Wise-Eye, the Crow, however, told Nibbles that he would sit on his doorstep till he became a friend of his. Gradually, Nibbles became sure of Wise-Eye being a good creature and they became friends. They discussed life in the forest and various other things. One day, Wise-Eye told