The Clever Fox & A Foolish Crow

There once lived a crow. One day he was very hungry. He had not been able to get any food the previous day. “If I do not get anything to eat I will starve to death,” he thought.

As the crow was searching for food, his eyes fell on a piece of bread. He quickly swooped down, picked it up and flew off. Far away in a lonely place he sat on a tree to enjoy the bread.

Just then a hungry fox saw the crow sitting on the tree holding the bread in his mouth. “Yummy! That bread looks delicious. What I would give to get that piece of bread,” the fox thought.

The fox decided to use all his cunning means to get the piece of bread from the mouth of the crow. He sat under the tree. The crow saw him and thought, “I guess this fox wants to eat my bread. I shall hold it carefully.” And he held on to the bread even more tightly.

The clever fox spoke to the crow politely. He said, “Hello friend! How are you?” But the crow did not say anything.

“Crows are such lovely birds. And you are very charming too,” said the fox, flattering the crow.

Then the fox said,” I have heard that besides being beautiful you also have a sweet voice. Please sing a song for me.”

By now the crow started to believe what the fox was saying. “The fox knows true beauty. I must be the most beautiful bird in this whole world. I will sing him a song,” thought the crow.

As soon as the foolish crow opened his mouth to sing the bread fell from its beak and into the ground. The Clever fox, which had just been waiting for this very moment, caught the bread in his mouth and gulped it down his throat.

The crow had paid a heavy price for his foolishness.

Unity Is Strength

Once, an old man was very ill and lay dying in his bed. He had four sons who were al­ways fighting with each other. He always worried about them and wanted to teach them a lesson and asked his sons to come to him. When they came, the old man gave them a bundle of sticks and said, “Can you break these sticks?”

The first son tried to break the bundle but nothing hap­pened. He tried very hard and finally gave up. Then it was the turn of the second son to try his luck. He thought it would be an easy task and picked up the sticks easily. He tried his best to break the sticks but nothing happened. Then, the third son tried to break the bundle of sticks, but he couldn’t do anything either.

Meanwhile, the youngest son jeered at his brothers and thought they were very incom­petent. He thought he was very clever and took one stick at a time and easily broke all of them.
The old father then smiled at his sons and said, “Children, do you understand what hap­pened? It is always easy to break the sticks one by one. But when they are bundled to‑ gether, none of you could break them. In the same way. you four brothers should always be together. No one will be able to hurt you then.” The four brothers realised what their father was trying to teach them and forgot all their enmity and learnt that unity is strength.
From that day onwards, they never fought with each other and lived together in peace and harmony.

The Greedy Dog

Once there lived a dog. He was very greedy. There were many times that he had to pay for his greed. Each time the dog promised himself, “I have learnt my lesson. Now I will never be greedy again.” But he soon forgot his promises and was as greedy as ever.

One afternoon, the dog was terribly hungry. He decided to go look for something to eat. Just outside his house, there was a bridge. “I will go and look for food on the other side of the bridge. The food there is definitely better,” he thought to himself.

He walked across the wooden bridge and started sniffing around for food. Suddenly, he spotted a bone lying at a distance. “Ah, I am in luck. This looks a delicious bone,” he said.

Without wasting any time, the hungry dog picked up the bone and was just about to eat it, when he thought, “Somebody might see here with this bone and then I will have to share it with them. So, I had better go home and eat it.” Holding the bone in his mouth, he ran towards his house.

While crossing the wooden bridge, the dog looked down into the river. There he saw his own reflection. The foolish dog mistook it for another dog. “There is another dog in the water with bone in its mouth,” he thought. Greedy, as he was, he thought, “How nice it would be to snatch that piece of bone as well. Then, I will have two bones.”

So, the greedy dog looked at his reflection and growled. The reflection growled back, too. This made the dog angry. He looked down at his reflection and barked, “Woof! Woof!” As he opened his mouth, the bone in his mouth fell into the river. It was only when the water splashed that the greedy dog realized that what he had seen was nothing but his own reflections and not another dog. But it was too late. He had lost the piece of bone because of his greed. Now he had to go hungry.

A Bird in Hand is better Than two in the Bush

Once there lived a jackal in a jungle. One day, while prowling for a prey, he saw a lamb. He approached him stealthily and grabbed hint. The lamb was very ingenious. Seeing that the jackal was going to kill him he said to him, “Mr. jackal! I am small and so lean, thin and skinny  that my flesh will not satisfy your hunger. If you allow me to go today, I will come tomorrow with my brother who is fat and fleshy. Then you can make a hearty meal of us.” Stupid and greedy as the jackal was, he spared the lamb and instructed him to come to the spot the next day definitely. The lamb promised on oath and went away briskly. Next day the jackal waited for the lamb and his brother from the dawn till it was dusk but none of them came. A fox passed by saw the jackal. She asked him what he was doing there. The jackal told the fox the whole story. The fox laughed and said to him, “You are a blockhead. Your greed betrayed you. You should know that a bird in hand is better than two in the blush. Go your way. They will never come.”

A Bad Man Always Finds an Excuse for Doing Wrong

Once there lived a volt. One  day while prowling a prey he a small lamb drinking water down the stream.  As a pretext for killing him he said to him, “You rascal you are making the water meant for me to drink dirty. You must be punished for this.” The lamb said, “Sir, the water is coming from you to me, how can make the water meant for you drinking dirty? ”  Then the wolf said, “Last year you called me names.”  The lamb replied, “Last year, I was not born even, how could I have called you names?” The wolf said, “Then he must been your father.” Saying this he jumped upon the lamb and devoured him as a bad man always finds an excuse for during wrong.