151 Panchatantra Tales

There was an elephant in a village. All the villagers loved him. The elephant would visit the temple daily. On the way, he would stop at the florist’s shop, who would give him a garland. The elephant would then visit the temple and offer the garland to the deity’s idol. The people loved to watch […]

Once, there lived a group of unruly monkeys in the mountains. They thought no one else was so wise as they. During winter, a young monkey said, “Let’s make a fire.” He had seen some people lighting a fire with twigs and red balls. The monkey mistook the burning coal for red berries. He went

Once, there was a wise and generous king, who had an ill-mannered son. One day, a sage visited the king. The king welcomed him and offered him a hermitage near the palace. One day, the king visited the hermitage and said, “My son is ill-mannered. Please change his ways so that he may be a

Once, there was a large cobra, who lived in a hole in the tree. He ate frogs, lizards and birds’ eggs. All the small creatures were afraid of him. He would hunt them at night and creep into his hole in the morning. As he grew in size, he could no longer fit into the

Deep in the jungle, there was a lake. A swan lived there. One day, an owl saw the beautiful surroundings of the lake. He decided to stay there. Soon, the owl befriended the swan. During the hot summer, the lake dried up. The owl said, “Dear friend, I’m going back to the banyan tree by

Once, there lived a strange bird in the forest. He had two heads. One day, the bird found a rare golden fruit by the lake. The left head began eating the fruit, when the right head tweeted, “The fruit looks tempting. Let me have a taste of it too.” The left head tweeted haughtily, “Since

A poor Brahmin lived in a village. He used to beg for alms and kept it in a pot beside his cot. One day, a rich merchant gave him a pot of cooked rice. He ate a little and kept the rest near his cot. Then, with his eyes on the pot, he fell asleep.

Once upon a time, there lived a flea in a king’s bed. She fed on his blood and was happy and content. One day, a bug entered the king’s bedroom. The flea said, “You cannot stay here. Leave immediately.” The bug said, “I’m just a guest. Once I have a taste of the king’s blood,

Once, there was a villager who had many camels. He would sell their milk for a living. There was a baby camel he was particularly fond of.The camels went grazing in a jungle every day. But the baby camel would stray away. He had a habit of roaming around everywhere. Since the villager was worried

Once, a partridge lived under a tree in a beautiful house. One day, while searching for food, he found a field full of grains. He stayed there eating to his heart’s content, and returned after a few weeks. While the partridge was away, a hare had occupied his house. The partridge asked him to go

Deep in the jungle, a jackal found a dead elephant. But he could not pierce the elephant’s thick skin and eat it. Soon, a lion walked by. The jackal said, “Your Majesty, I have been guarding your meal.” The lion replied, “I do not eat animals killed by others. Feast on it.” The lion went

Once, a group of monkeys lived near a temple in a village. One day, a carpenter was busy splitting wooden logs outside the temple.A young monkey was intrigued by the carpenter’s work. When the carpenter went for lunch, the young monkey wanted to split the wooden logs. His friends said, “Those tools look dangerous. Keep

A group of monkeys was relaxing in a forest, when they saw a woodcutter cutting a tree with an axe. After a while, the woodcutter went to have lunch. He covered his axe with a piece of green cloth and left it under the tree. Soon, a naughty monkey came there. He removed the cloth

In a forest, there lived four friends – a deer, a mouse, a turtle and a crow. Every day, they would meet by the lake. One day, the deer did not come. When the crow flew over the forest, he found the deer trapped in a hunter’s net. He came back and told the mouse

There was a poor farmer. Although he worked hard, his fields were barren. One day, while resting under a tree, he saw a snake in a hole in the tree. He thought, ‘This snake must be the guardian of the field. If I serve him, my field will become fertile.’ The next day, he brought