Once Bhupendra Prasad asked his daughter-in-law, “Can you guess how much I spent on your wedding?” “About the cost of a sack of rice,” she replied. He thought she was a nitwit. He asked her to explain it. “What you spent on the essentials of the marriage amounted to a few hundred rupees only,” answered […]
A king was told that a man who had made a career of flattery was coming to his palace. “Be on your guard,” warned his advisers, “This fellow wins the favour of everyone through his flattery and then gets them to part with costly gifts.” “I am too hard-headed to fall for such tricks,” said
There was an old hermit in Korea. One day, a woman pleaded with the hermit to help her regain her husband’s affection. The hermit said that he could make a potion that could kindle love in the person who consume it but he lacked a tiger’s whisker that was one of the ingredients to go
Mr. Kitchom loved to listen to stories, but at the end of each tale, he always exclaimed, “That cannot be true.” One day, he asked his teacher to tell him a story. He agreed on a condition that Mr. Kitchom should not say ‘That cannot be true’ at the end otherwise he would have to
In a school, there was a teacher who loved to have a snack and a nap afterwards. Every time, before the lessons, he ate and after the beginning of the lessons, he slept until the bell for the end of the lessons sounded. One day, a student named Lee asked the teacher why he slept
Once a stranger went to a blacksmith and gave him a gold bar to make a horseshoe from it. He promised to pay a great amount but the blacksmith must promise not to tell anyone. The blacksmith agreed. When the horseshoe was made, the stranger took him to a cave. Inside, an army of knights
Once upon a time, the dogs arranged a party. Everything had been arranged with the utmost care. All the good things to eat were spread. The sun was shining brightly and a soft gentle little breeze was blowing. There was a cross fussy old dog who came to the party. Nothing ever suited him. Whenever
Once a weaver was busy making a blanket. A saint came and told the weaver that he wanted to stay there in order to see how he made a blanket. The weaver allowed and turned back to his work. The saint, secretly, pulled out several tufts of his long hair and mixed them with the
Lisheng, a young man, had just married a beautiful woman. One day, she thought that a coat of fox-fur would look attractive on her. So, she asked Lisheng to get her coat of fox-fur. But the coat was rare and costly. The husband felt helpless and went on the hillside in search of a fox.
Once there was a king of Granada. He decided to get married. The news spread throughout the kingdom. The king had a magic mirror into which if any woman, not being thoroughly good, would look, the blemishes on her character would appear in the form of many spots on its surface. So, it was decided
Once there was a girl who went in the forest and lost her way. She arrived at a hill and saw a door and went in. There was a table covered with tasty food. There was a bed in which lay a great snake. The snake said to the girl, “Sit down, if you choose.
Once there were a rooster and a hen who were very good friends. They were more like brother and sister. The rooster was careless and often did foolish things while the hen was sincere and always advised the rooster not to do so. One day, they went to a garden and saw green gooseberries. The
Once there was a lady who had an ugly daughter named Holena. She also had a beautiful step-daughter named Marushka. The lady and Holena behaved in evil manner with Marushka. Once during January, Holena sent Marushka to bring her violets. Marushka wandered in the cold and saw twelve men sitting. They were the Twelve Months.
Once there was a widow who had two daughters. The eldest resembled her mother as both were disagreeable and proud. The youngest resembled her father as both were courteous, sweet and beautiful. Mother loved her elder daughter and disliked the younger. She made her work hard a lot. One day, the younger daughter gave water
Once a man and his wife exchanged their work. The wife went out with the mowers and the man began churning the butter. He felt thirsty, so he turned on the tap. A pig came into the kitchen and knocked the churn over. He began churning again. But he had to draw water from the