“So now what do you propose to do?” asked Karataka. “We must find out what has frightened the King,” suggested Damanaka, “even if we have to risk going to him. I will see what his mood is, and then put across some plan to make him pleased with me.” “Be very careful, Damanaka,” warned his […]
“I agree that this is the Prime Minister’s job, Karataka,” admitted Damanaka after hearing the story, “But we must rise to high positions. We can only do that if we make some effort!” Karataka was not very convinced, so Damanaka gave a lot of arguments to persuade him. “People work to achieve different things, my
There was a huge banyan tree in the jungle, providing shelter to the animals. A sparrow couple lived there. Mrs Sparrow had laid eggs. One afternoon, an evil elephant broke the branch of the tree where the sparrows lived. Their nest fell down and the eggs were broken. The sparrows went to the woodpecker, who
In Banaras, there lived a washerman who had an ass and a dog. The ass was always complaining because he was kept tied to a post, whereas the dog was free to walk around wherever he pleased. One night, when the washerman was fast asleep, a thief crept into the house. The ass was very
Karataka said, “So it is better not to interfere, Damanaka.” “It is for us who serve the king to assist him with the right advice,” said Damanaka. “You know very well that this is a task for the King’s Prime Minister, not us!” argued Karataka. “We should not try to do the work that is
Once upon a time in a town in south Bihar, a man found a clearing on the banks of the Dhurma river and decided to get a temple constructed on it. He gave the task to a man named Shubhadatta. In the afternoon, all the workers of Shubhadatta stopped work to eat their lunch. One
The Lion King was worried as he didn’t know where the sound came from. So, he went to his den and waited. In his court were two very cunning and wicked jackals, Karataka and Damanaka. Damanaka saw the Lion King’s anxiety and wondered why he had returned from the stream without drinking. Karataka was a
Long ago, there lived a prosperous merchant in Swarnapura, a city in south India. He saw people richer than himself and wanted to become more rich. The merchant realised that hard work would make him richer gradually. So he loaded his cart with lots of goods for sale and yoked his two strong bulls, Trusty
Vishnu Sharma, the wise teacher, had told the Princes all about winning friends. The Princes thanked him and asked him if people who were friends remained so always. “No,” explained the Master, “Sometimes you have friends who fall apart or fight and separate. This can happen on one’s own, through a misunderstanding or it can
A monkey lived on a cherry tree by the river. One day, a crocodile asked him, “I am hungry, please give me something to eat.” The monkey gave him cherries. This went on every day and soon, they became good friends. One day the crocodile took some cherries for his wife too. She said, “How
The hunter looked around and saw no other hunter or wild animal that might attack him. He put the tortoise down and went up to the deer. He was examining him to check if he was, in fact, dead. Meanwhile, Nibbles ran to where Slow-Toes lay tied to the hunter’s stick. He bit through the
Slow-Toes was going along slowly to the new place when a hunter saw him. He quickly picked the tortoise up and strung him up on a stick. The hunter had found a good dinner and walked towards his home. By then Nibbles, Wise-Eye and Dapple had rushed in search of Slow-Toes and saw him being
The Prince understood the advice. He called the merchant’s son, Charudatta, and appointed him as his personal attendant. One day, he told Charudatta that he had to offer worship every evening for pleasing a goddess for which he needed a lady of good family and birth to help him with the rituals. Accordingly, Charudatta brought
Once upon a time, an elephant lived in a forest. There were also many jackals and they looked greedily at the elephant. “What a feast we would have if we could kill this elephant,” whispered the jackals to one another. An old jackal said he would get the elephant for all of them. The old
King Virasena ruled the kingdom of Kannauj. He had a handsome son whom he made the viceroy of Virapura city. One day as the Prince was riding through the city, he saw a beautiful woman. She was Lavanyavati, the wife of a merchant’s son. He fell in love with her, and on getting back to