151 Folk Tales

Once, there was a severe drought in a certain village. People started leaving their houses to places where there was water. Now, some thieves saw this and took the opportunity. They started robbing their houses. One day, they came to a man’s house who was the king’s minister. He was very intelligent. He saw the […]

Once, there was a blind lion. A woodcutter healed the blind lion with some herbs. Both became very good friends. The lion hunted every day and gave a major share to the woodcutter. The woodcutter was very happy. He did not have to work anymore and enjoyed life. Time passed by. One day, the lion

Once, a woman had three sons. She loved the eldest the most though he was her stepson. The boy was hardworking and the family prospered under him. But their neighbours did not like this. They poisoned the younger sons’ ears against the elder son. Under her sons’ insistence, she told her eldest son that there

Once, there was a merchant. He had many donkeys. But these donkeys were very lazy and did not like to work. One day, the merchant loaded a donkey with the sacks of salt. While crossing a river, the donkey slipped. All the salt got dissolved in the water. The donkey was happy as he had

Once, two boys went to pick some cherries. They climbed up the cherry tree, looking for the best ones. One of the boys was stronger and was able to reach the ripest cherries. Suddenly, he noticed that the cherries his friend was eating were not quite ripe. He said to his friend, “I will bend

One day, a man was tilling his patch of land when a hunter came riding up. He asked the man, “Did you see a boar run past?” The man thought for a while and replied, “Yes!” Then he went on doing his work. The hunter got impatient and asked, “Which way did it go?” The

A villager was going to the city. He was travelling with his wife and son. On the way, they decided to take a rest. They saw a banyan tree and took shelter under it. The wife started preparing food. The villager started making rope to while away his time. Now, a giant lived on that

Once, a man wanted to cross a river. He was a scholar. He saw a boatman and asked him, “Can you take me across the river?” The boatman agreed to do so immediately. Soon, they were sailing away. On the way, to make a small conversation, the scholar asked the boatman, “Have you gone to

Once, a young pig was drinking water from a lake. Suddenly, a lion also came there to drink water. The young pig saw the lion and grunted. The lion growled and stepped back. Thinking that the lion was afraid of him, the pig challenged the lion to a fight. The lion went away saying he

Once, a man was begging. Suddenly, a rich man came there in a chariot. The poor man thought the rich man would give him alms. But to the poor man’s surprise, the man got down from his chariot and demanded, “Give me some alms.” The poor man was too shocked to say anything. He handed

An old couple had a son no larger than a grown man’s fingertip. So, he became known as Issun-boshi (issun is a unit measuring about 3 centimetres). One day, Issun-boshi went off to seek his fortune in the city. His parents gave him a sword made of a sewing needle. He was employed by a

One day, a king asked a peasant about his welfare. The peasant replied, “I earn four coins in a day. I keep one coin for myself. I give one in gratitude; I return one coin and I give one coin on interest. The coin, which I keep, I divide into four. One part for myself,

Once, there was a boy. He was walking towards the village when he caught sight of a fox fast asleep. The fox did not know that the boy had seen him. The boy started thinking, ‘If I kill that fox and sell his skin, I will get a lot of money. Then, I shall buy

A hyena had two slaves, a dog and a ram. The hyena wanted to eat them both. But he waited for the right time. Suddenly, he saw some men eating honey. The hyena scared the men away. The ram had a little gourd in which he put the honey. The dog picked the sandals of

Once there was a poor woodcutter. He was cutting wood along the banks of a river. Suddenly, his axe fell into the river. The poor woodcutter was shattered. He thought, ‘What will I do now? I will not be able to cut and sell wood. My wife and children will starve.’ The river god heard