Once upon a time, there was a girl whose mother died and her father married again, bringing home a stepmother who really didn’t like her stepdaughter. Her stepdaughter was pretty and this made the woman dislike her so much that she finally decided to get rid of her. She told the girl that she needed […]
A king was famous for his wickedness. He tortured his people and used power to control them. The people of his kingdom were very unhappy. One day, as he lay fast asleep, a spirit came to him. It said, “O king! How can you sleep peacefully when the people of your kingdom are unhappy? Your
Jack was quite fed up of his father’s cruelty, so he ran away from home. Running blindly, he knocked down an old woman, and apologised. “Young fellow, you can apologise by working for me!” said the woman. Jack agreed, for he was tired and hungry. When he had served her for a year, she gave
Once, fishermen set traps for fish in rivers. One day, in a certain river, many fish got caught in a trap. A snake, seeing the fish trapped in the net, went into the trap himself with the aim of eating the fish. But he was in for a surprise as the fish got united and
Once, a Brahmin had two parrots – a male and a female. The Brahmin took great care of them. But the Brahmin’s wife was very wicked and immoral. One day, the Brahmin had to go out of town. He told the parrots to keep an eye on his wife. Now, as soon as the Brahmin
Once upon a time, a King and a Queen lived happily at Bamborough Castle with their son, Childe Wynd, and daughter, Margaret. Childe Wynd went to seek his fortune in the world. Sometime later, the Queen died. The King was sad but he met a beautiful lady while out hunting and married her. When he
A King had a daughter, Anne, who was pretty, and his Queen had another daughter, Kate, who was clever. The girls loved each other very much though the Queen felt rather envious of Anne’s beauty. She wished to make Anne look plain and wondered what to do about it. Then, she consulted the hen-wife who
A king loved his wife very much. He loved her to the extent of being jealous and possessive about her. After a few years, the queen bore a son. The son had a god-like beauty about him. The queen loved her son and spent most of her time with him. The king realised this. He
A poor man and his wife had a lot of children and couldn’t feed them. So, they abandoned three of their girls in a forest, hoping they would look after themselves. As night fell, the girls were tired and hungry. They found a house and knocked at the door. The woman who opened it said,
The Bodhisattva was once born as an ascetic. A monster used to come to listen to the Bodhisattva’s teachings but never followed them.One day, a beautiful lady was going to her parents’ house through the forest. The monster liked her and locked her in a box, fearing she might run away. He would swallow the
A rich nobleman had three daughters. One day, he asked each of them to show how much they loved him. “I love you as much as I love my life,” said the eldest. “I love you more than the whole world!” said the second. Both the answers pleased their father. Then the youngest said, “I
There was a rich wise merchant. Once, he set off with his servants and carts of goods to sell them. After travelling a great distance, they reached a forest. The merchant had heard a lot about this forest. He called his servants and warned them, “Do not eat anything of this jungle as a demon
Long ago, in a jungle, there lived a stag. The stag was very wise and the leader of his herd. In that herd, was the wise stag’s nephew as well. The wise stag taught the nephew all that was needed to survive in the jungle. The nephew was a good learner and followed his uncle’s
Jack Hannaford was an old soldier who had just been discharged from the army. He did not know how he was going to find any work, nor did he have much money. He reached a farmhouse, not knowing that a foolish couple lived there. The farmer had gone to the market, giving ten pounds to
Lady Mary was beautiful and had two brothers. She lived in her father’s mansion in the countryside. There were many suitors for her hand, but she was in love with Mr Fox who came often to meet her at her father’s house. Although he seemed brave and rich, and spoke about his castle, he did