Viravara’s family went to the temple and he sacrificed his son and offered his head to the goddess. Miserable without his son, Viravara killed himself also with his sword. His unhappy wife too did not wish to live without her husband and her son, so she too killed herself with the same sword. Shudraka was […]
Viravara went into the dark streets to find out who was crying. The King was worried, so he too followed Viravara. The warrior, Viravara saw a beautiful lady dressed in fabulous clothes and jewels crying. Viravara asked her who she was and why she was weeping. “I am Shudraka’s Fortune,” said the lady, “I have
“I heard this story from the flamingo’s daughter whom I loved long ago,” said the King, “Sometimes strangers turn out to be more loyal than dear ones.” A warrior named Viravara came to King Shudraka looking for work. He said he would have to be paid five hundred gold coins every day. He would serve
The parrot returned to Jambudweepa and gave a glowing account of Karpuradweepa. It was worth conquering, decided King Jewel Plume and stated his minister Doordarshi, the vulture. The King checked with the astrologer what would be a good time to go into battle. The army must be inspected and the strength of the enemy noted.
Silver Plume understood that it was wiser to examine the outsider from a distance before deciding whether to make friends with him or not. “The parrot has come first, Sir. So, let us call him in first and then invite King Meghavarna,” advised Chakravaka. So, the parrot was called and then Meghavarna was invited. The
All the jackal consulted with one another about a suitable way to punish the blue jackal. A wise old jackal came up with a plan. “We know the nature of jackals, my friends,” said the old jackal, “We know that even if he is blue in colour, he is actually a jackal. This is not
Once upon a time, a washerman had a donkey. He would make him carry loads of clothes, but never gave him enough food. At night, the donkey would roam around, eating whatever he could find. One night, the donkey met a jackal, who took him to a field of watermelons. The donkey was happy to
A jackal strayed into a town on the outskirts of a forest. Trying to hide himself, he fell into a large vat of indigo. He was a bright blue colour when he jumped out. ‘Ah!’ he thought as he looked at himself, ‘I look so elegant and different now. I won’t go and live with
A visitor was announced while Silver Plume discussed the details with his minister. Meghavarna, the King of Crows, had come from the island kingdom of Sinhala and wished to pay homage to Silver Plume. King Silver Plume was very happy. Meghavarna, he knew, had travelled far and wide and would, therefore, be very experienced and
King Silver Plume heard all that Long-Bill said. And they waited along with Chakravaka, the goose who was the prime minister, for the parrot to come. But Chakravaka wished to speak privately to the King. He advised the King to send a spy into the enemy’s kingdom before going into a war. The spy should
Mandamati decided to check up how his wife behaved in his absence. So one day, he told her he had work in another city and would return late. But he came back and hid under the bed in his house. When he left, the wife invited her lover home. They sat chatting on the bed,
“Sir,” said Long-Bill, narrating this to King Silver Plume, “I tried to tell the parrot that I wasn’t the wicked fellow! But he was not ready to trust me.” The parrot said that people who are wicked often speak very sweetly and then he told a story about a foolish man who trusted his wife’s
All the birds were going on a pilgrimage to the sea-shore to worship the King of Birds, Garuda. A quail decided to go along in the company of a crow. On the way, there was a cowherd walking along with a pot of curds on his head. The crow would swoop down and dip into
Once, a sage lived in a dense forest. He had divine powers by praying to God for many years. One day, a mouse was wandering in the forest for food, when he was attacked by a fox. The mouse ran to the sage to save his life and the fox followed him. The sage transformed
He was a kind-hearted bird, so he looked around to see how he could protect the traveller from the direct heat of the sun’s rays. He tried to hold a leafy twig to provide him with shade, but it was heavy and he couldn’t hold it for long. Besides, the sun was moving along the