151 Folk Tales

Once, a man had two sons. The man loved the younger son more and was partial towards him. He neglected the elder son. When the sons grew up, the father divided his business between the sons. But here, too, he was partial to the younger son and gave him a larger share. The elder son […]

A long time ago, a goddess and a giant were studying under the same hermit. The hermit possessed a magic ball. He wanted to give it to one of his students. So, he put a challenge before them. The two were told to collect the morning dew. The first of them to present the hermit

Once, a donkey was moving about in the forest. Suddenly, a lion appeared before him. The lion’s mouth started watering at the sight of the donkey. He wanted to eat the donkey. The donkey understood the lion’s desire. He decided to fool the lion. He quickly said to the lion, “Oh Lion! A thorn has

Long ago, a young boy wanted to learn sword-fighting. He went to a teacher to teach him sword-fighting. The teacher agreed. Many days passed by but the boy was not given any training. He was told to do small things like mopping the floor, cooking food and so on. The boy asked the teacher, “Why

Once, a cat and a dog were a couple. One day, the dog brought a chunk of meat and told the cat, “Cook this meat. I am going out and will come back and eat it.” The cat took the meat out of the bag. She could not resist tasting it. But as soon a

Once, there was a very rich man. Though he was rich yet he wore torn clothes and moved around like a beggar. He believed that there were people waiting to rob the rich, so he pretended to be a poor man to save himself from being robbed. Now, one day, he bought some gold with

There were three young merchants. They had heard about people making profits going to distant lands. So, they too decided to travel to distant lands and try their luck. They had a long voyage and visited many cities. Unfortunately, they spent more than they earned. There was no profit. Once, while they were walking along

Once, a princess always told lies. The king wanted to mend his daughter’s ways. He declared that whosoever could make her speak the truth could marry his daughter and have half of his kingdom. Many young men tried their luck but failed. One day, three brothers tried their luck. The elder brothers failed. Then the

Once, the king of sharks fell in love with a girl. He transformed himself into a man and married her. Soon they had a son. The child had the mark of a shark’s mouth on his back. The king put a feathered cape about his shoulders and returned to his kingdom. As the boy grew

Once, a man visited his sister in the village. The man had to pass a jungle while going to the village. So, while in the jungle, he took a rest. He climbed up a tree and sat on it. Suddenly, he heard a tiger talking to another tiger. The tiger said, “Let us go to

Long ago, turtles used to live on land. But one day, a turtle was caught by some hunters. They took him to the village chief. He asked the hunters, “How shall we cook him?” The turtle was quick to answer, “You will have to kill me first and take me out of this shell.” The

Once, a moneylender became the neighbour of a tanner. The tanner would spend the whole day converting hide into leather by treating it with tannin. The moneylender did not like the smell of the tannin. One day, he decided to buy the tanner’s house so that he might not have to bear the unpleasant smell.

Once, an old banyan tree was home to many swans. One wise swan saw a creeper growing near the roots of the tree. He warned the swans, “This small creeper will grow in due course. A hunter will be able to climb the tree by means of this creeper. Let us uproot it.” But the

Once, there was a big tree in a forest. It protected people from the sun and provided shelter to innumerable birds. At the foot of the tree there grew a little plant. The plant was very delicate, and bent over at the touch of the slightest breeze. One day, the big tree said to the