151 Folk Tales

A merchant was very handsome but he was bald. One day, he went to Troy for trading. While he was trading, he met a Trojan scholar. They chatted a while and became friends. The scholar invited the merchant to dinner at his home. The merchant agreed. He wore his finest outfit and arrived at the […]

Once, there was a village. The people there were so poor that they had never seen a gold coin. But one day, suddenly, a man found a gold coin on the road. The village headman decided to present the coin to the king. It was to be placed in a palanquin and carried to the

Once, two cats saw a piece of cake at the same time. Both started fighting over it. They did not want to share the cake. They saw a monkey near by and decided to ask him to divide the cake equally for them. They took the cake to the monkey and said, “Please divide the

Once there was a poet. He wrote a poem in praise of the king. The king was very happy and wanted to reward the poet. He asked the poet, “What do you want as a reward?” The poet replied, “I want a hound.” The king was surprised to hear this but granted the wish. Then

Once, there was a king called Midas. He was a very religious man. Pleased by his worship, one day, God appeared before him. He said, “I am pleased with you. Ask me anything you want.” Now, King Midas had a weakness. He loved gold. So, he said, “Please grant me the boon that anything I

Once, a villager saw some huge footprints on the ground near his hut. Soon, all the villagers gathered there. No one had seen such big footprints before. One said, “They must be a demon’s.” Another decided to call a so‑called wise man for help. The wise man bent over the prints and studied them. Then

Once, a man gambled away everything so he decided to end his life. A golden deer saw him and saved him. The golden deer said to the man, “Though I have saved your life, never tell anyone I saved you or where I live.” Then, the deer went away. The man went away thinking about

Once, there was a peaceful city. One day, a witch took possession of its tower and terrorised the people. Many brave warriors fought against her and gave up their lives. The people whispered, “All our warriors are dead. If only Watanabi were still here, the bravest of them all! But all that remains is his

Once, a jackal was looking around for some food in the jungle when he saw the lion. The jackal was scared of the lion, for he had played many tricks on the lion. He was sure that the lion would take his revenge. So, the jackal thought of a plan. “Help!” he cried. The lion

King Shibi was known all over for his word and generous nature. Once, he saw an eagle chasing a dove. The king hid the dove. The hawk demanded, “Give me my bird.” The king replied, “Please spare the dove.” The hawk replied, “I will. But you must give me the exact amount of flesh as

One day, a man went to the king and gifted him a big fat hen. The man said, “Sir! I gambled in your name and won this hen.” The king was very pleased. After a few days, the man came again and said to the king, “Sir! I gambled in your name and won this

Once, a poor man was very generous. But his wife did not like it. One day, two men came to her house. The wife guessed that her husband had invited them to lunch. She cleaned a mortar and pestle, applied saffron paste to it and garlanded it. The men entered the hut and saw the

Long ago, there was a school. In that school, a schoolteacher used to teach some children. Every day, after lunch, the teacher used to give some work to the students and take a short nap after that. When his students asked him why he took a nap, the teacher replied, “I go to dreamland to

Once, a farmer used to live with his parents. One day, the farmer became very rich. So, he collected all his valuables and left his poor parents for greener pastures. When his parents asked him for food and money, he drove them away. The poor parents were full of grief. Suddenly, they met an elf.

A Sultan had a beautiful daughter, Salma, but she was ill-tempered and proud. Once, a prince, Jehangir, wished to marry her but she rejected him. One day, a bearded man came to the Sultan’s palace. He wished to paint the princess’s portrait. But he had a condition. Nobody should be permitted to see the painting