One day, a teacher was going to another village. Suddenly, some dacoits blocked his way. The chief dacoit asked, “Who are you?” “I’m a school teacher,” replied the man. The chief taunted, “Do you test your students regularly? I think it is time somebody tested you too!” The others agreed. So, the chief picked up […]
Once, Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops, led by four of his finest commanders, won a great battle. He said, “Ask for anything and I’ll grant it.” The first asked for a house in Paris. The second wanted a hotel. The third wanted a brewery. Finally, the fourth asked for a fortnight’s leave. The other three commanders were
Once, there was a very clever deer. One day, he saw some apple trees with juicy apples across the river. He wanted to taste them. But that was not easy as the river was full of crocodiles. Yet, the deer did not give up. He had an idea. He called out to a crocodile and
Once upon a time, there was a man named Jim. One day, he went to the library. There, he chose a book entitled ‘How to Ride a Horse’. He started reading the book. It was so interesting that he finished reading it at one go. One day, he went to see a friend. Now, this
Tenali Raman was a very wise man. Once, a sage visited his village. The villagers were excited as the sage was known to have performed many miracles. They gathered at the temple with specially prepared delicacies as offerings to the sage. Tenali Raman too went to see the sage. He sat near the sage. The
Madhusudan became a devotee and wandered from one village to another in search of peace. One night, while roaming from one village to another, he came across a house. He asked the owner if he could stay there for a few days. The owner said yes immediately. Madhusudan was sleeping soundly when he was woken
Once, there was a rich old lady. She used to live in a big mansion. She was very fond of birds. So, one day, she went to the market and bought a lovely parrot. She taught the parrot to tell her the time. So, every day, the parrot used to tell her the time. Every
All the three members of the family started thinking about the issue. They could not find a solution. Ultimately, they decided to leave the decision to Madhumalti. She would select her own husband from the three suitors. On the appointed day, all the three would-be grooms arrived at Keshav’s house. It was a tough choice
Keshav’s wife was very surprised. She said, “You should have talked to me before consenting for the alliance. As it is, I too have found a match for Madhumalti. The groom-to-be is a handsome young man named Vaman. His parents have also consented.” Keshav could not say anything after hearing this. But there was more
One day, Keshav was invited to perform a religious ceremony in a client’s house. While he was performing the ceremony, he came across a young Brahmin named Madho. He was a student of the Vedas and the Shastras, and had topped in the Gurukul. Keshav developed an instant liking for Madho. He told Madho about
A long time ago, there was a school. In that school, there was a certain teacher who had a habit of taking a short nap every afternoon. One day, a student got up and asked him, “Sir, why do you sleep every day?” The teacher replied, “I go to dreamland to meet the ancient sages.”
Once upon a time, there was a merchant. One day, he was going on a matter of business. His servant was also accompanying him. As they were walking along a road, they saw a labourer carrying a heavy sack coming from the opposite side. As the labourer passed by, the merchant was hit by the
Once, a king of a certain kingdom woke up dreaming about losing all his teeth. He summoned a well-known fortune teller to interpret his dream. “Your Majesty, losing all the teeth means the death of the whole family!” the fortune teller interpreted. Hearing this, the king got very angry. He ordered, “Punish this fortune teller
Once upon a time, there was a peaceful little village. In that village lived a shepherd. He had some lovely sheep. Every day, the shepherd used to take his sheep for grazing. He had bought bells for each of them. He tied a bell to each of the sheep so that he might know where
Once, a soldier went to a hospital. The nurse took him to see an old man and said, “Your son is here.” Heavily medicated, the old man dimly saw the young soldier. He reached out his hand. The soldier wrapped his fingers around the old man’s. All night, the soldier sat there holding the old