Once, a sage came to a village. A rich man gave him a place to stay. Now, the rich man had a lot of gold. He was scared of thieves. So, he kept the gold under the sage’s care. After a few days, the sage came to the merchant and said, “I have spent enough […]
Michael’s birthday was coming soon, so he asked his dad for a bicycle so that he might not need to walk to school any more. Michael got a book instead but he did not complain. One day, Michael saw a big boy named William on a bike. As the boy was turning around a corner,
Long ago, on the Scheldt River in Belgium, was a rich port to which ships came from all over the world carrying sugar, wine, olives, oranges, wool and many more goods. And rich merchant ships sailed from Holland and France down the river to other countries with timber, flax, linen, fish, cheese, bread and iron.
Peter Klaus was a goatherd of Sittendorf; he took his goats to the Kyffhauser Mountain to graze. He lay about while his dog ran around chasing the goats. He noticed that his largest goat would wander away and return only late in the evening. He followed him through a crack in the rocks to a
Once, a hermit and his disciples were the guests of a king. After some days, the hermit decided to go back to his hermitage. The king requested him to extend his stay. The ascetic accepted but the disciples went back. One day, the chief disciple came back to pay homage to the hermit. He did
There was a great treasure at Klumhoi, guarded by a dragon! Three men in the village heard about it and decided to dig for it. “It’s necessary to be completely silent,” said one of them, “Otherwise, the dragon will wake up!” So determined to remain quiet, they took their spades to dig up the treasure.
The hens were roosting in their coop, when one feather dropped from a little white hen. Two hens sitting below saw the feather fall and one of them said, “Did you see that? The white hen is making herself pretty by pulling out some of her feathers!” The other hen exclaimed, “She thinks she’s prettier
A young man set off on Captain Hamilton’s ship for the East Indies, taking with him his dog, a pointer named Tray. Pointers are used by hunters as they can always sniff out where game animals, usually some birds, can be located to hunt. When they were far out at sea, Tray began to sniff.
A nobleman loved to collect birds. One day, he caught a nightingale. The bird pleaded with him to let her go. “Why should I let you go?” he asked. “I will give you very useful advice, sir!” replied the nightingale. He laughed and let her go, asking, “So, what’s the advice?” The nightingale sat on
Wandering from one town to another, two brothers met an old man with a long grey beard, carrying a sack. They told him that they were seeking happiness. He smiled and pulled out a handful of gold coins. “Will this help you?” he asked. “Oh, yes!” said the elder brother, taking the coins. Then he
King Vessantara was very famous for his generosity. When he was a baby, a young white elephant had been brought to the palace. The prince and the elephant grew up together. Many people said that the kingdom was prosperous because of the presence of the white elephant. One day, Vessantara lent the elephant to the
Once, an ascetic was taking a walk in the city when he saw something strange. He saw a Brahmin running very fast with a very expensive piece of cloth in his hand. The ascetic asked him, “My dear friend! Where are you going in such a hurry?” The Brahmin replied, “Sir! I am going to
Once, a teacher had a disciple who was from the countryside. He fell in love with a city girl and married her. But after some days, the disciple found out that his wife was very moody. When she was in a good mood, she was very sweet to him but when she was in a
Once, in a certain kingdom, people were immoral. There was chaos everywhere. Thieves grew in number. Well, the king too had strayed from his path. Now, God was watching all this from heaven. He disliked what he saw. He wanted to teach those people a lesson. So, he disguised himself as a forester and took
Once upon a time, a rich man was famous for his generosity. In those days, a sage was meditating in the forest. While meditating, he remained without eating or drinking. When he returned to his ordinary state, he was in danger of dying from starvation. So, he went to the rich man to get food.