The Moneylender and his Purse

Once a village moneylender lost his purse. He announced a reward of hundred rupees to the person who found it and returned it to him. A poor farmer who found it and returned it to him. A poor farmer found it. It contained one thousand rupees. The farmer was poor and needy but, at the same time, he was a  honest man. He went to the moneylender and returned the purse to him.

                  The moneylender opened the purse  and counted the money in it. It was one thousand rupees. Then he said to the farmer,"You are a smart fellow.You have taken your reward beforehand."

              The farmer angrily asked,"What do you mean?"

 The moneylender said," I mean what I say. The purse contained eleven hundred rupees.But now there are one thousand rupees in it. This means that you have already taken the reward money from purse."

 The farmer said," I have not taken any money from the purse. Let us go to the Sarpanch and settle the matter."

So they went to the Sarpanch. The Sarpanch heard both the parties. He felt sure that the moneylender was dishonest.

  He asked the moneylender," Are you sure that your purse contained eleven hundred rupees?"

The moneylender said,"Yes, sir."

The Sarpanch said,"Then this purse is not yours."

And the Sarpanch gave away the purse to the farmer.

 A WRONGDOER HAS TO PAY A HEAVY PRICE FOR HIS WRONG ACT

The Donkey and the Dog

A dog and a donkey worked for a potter. The dog guarded the master's pottery and house which stood close to each other in a big compound. The donkey carried heavy loads for the master.

    The donkey felt very jealous of the dog. He thought ,"What an easy and comfortable life the dog lives! His only duty is to stroll about in the compound and bark at strangers. And yet, the master pats him lovingly and gives him nice food to eat. And  look at poor me! I slog all through the day under heavy loads. And what do I get from the master? Hard blows on my back and wretched leftovers my belly. This is very unfair. Very,very unfair, of course."

                               One day the donkey was thinking," i must try the dog's tricks to please the master. When the master comes home, he barks a little welcome him. He runs to him wagging his tail. He raises his front legs and puts them on the master's body."

Just then, the donkey saw the master entering the house. So he brayed a little to welcome him. Then 

  he ran to him wagging his tail. He raised his front legs to rest them on the master's body.

                The donkey's unusual behavior frightened the master. He thought the donkey had gone crazy. He picked up a big stick and rained heavy  blows on the donkey.

              Poor donkey! He tried to please the master and received hard blows in return.

NEVER FEEL JEALOUS OF ANYBODY'S GOOD POSITION.

Chintu and the Vendor

Chintu was a very clever and bold boy. Once he bought berries from a vendor. The vendor gave him the berries less in weight. As Chintu was watchful, the vendor could not outsmart him. The boy immediately pointed out,"why are you giving me less berries?"

                          The vendor cunningly said,"Because the less will be easier for you to carry."

                     Chintu quickly put some money in the vendor's hand and walked off. The vendor counted the money. He found it short. He called Chintu  back and said," You have given me less money."

              Chintu sharply replied,"Isn't it easy to count, sir?"

THOSE WHO PLAY SMART ARE LIKELY TO BE OUTSMARTED BY SMARTER PEOPLE

THE TWO POTS

There was a heavy flood in a river. After three days the flood subsided. Among many other things, a copper pot and earthen pot were floating side by side in the river.

                                       The copper pot saw the earthen pot and said," My friend, you are made of soft mud, and are weak. Come closer to me, if you wish. I will protect you from harm."

             "Thanks for your good feelings for me," said the earthen pot."But I dare not come closer to you. You are so strong and sturdy. I am so weak and fragile. By chance, if we crash into each other, I will shatter into a thousand tiny bits. If you are really my well-wisher, please keep away from me."

                      Saying so, the earthen pot smoothly floated away from copper pot.

 

KEEP OVER-POWERFUL NEIGHBOURS AT A SAFE DISTANCE

The Villager and spectacles

There was a villager. He was illiterate. He did not know how to read and write. He often  saw people wearing spectacles for reading books or papers. He thought ," If I have spectacles, I can also read like these people. I must go to a town and buy a pair of spectacles for me."

                 So one day he went to a town. He entered a spectacles shop. He asked the shopkeeper  for  a pair of spectacles for reading. The shopkeeper gave him various pairs of spectacles and a book. The villager tried all the spectacles one by one. But he could not read  anything. He told the shopkeeper that all those spectacles were useless for him. The shopkeeper gave him a doubtful look. Then he looked at the book. It was upside down. The shopkeeper said,"Perhaps you don't know how to read." 

The villager said ,"No , I don't. I want to buy spectacles so that  I can read like others. But I can't read with any of these spectacles."

                  The shopkeeper suppressed his laughter with great difficulty when he learnt the real difficulty of his illiterate customer.

                        He explained to the villager,"My dear friend, you are very simple and ignorant. Spectacles don't help to read and write. They merely help you to see better. First of all you must learn to  read and write."

                          IGNORANCE IS BLINDNESS  

STICK TO WORDS

One day, two friends Nancy and Jenny were sitting in a restaurant. Nancy asked jenny about her age. First, Jenny tried to hide her age but when Nancy compelled her, she said,"I am   just sixteen  years old."

       At this Nancy said,"Last year you said that your age was sixteen and now again you are saying you are sixteen years old. What's this?"

               Jenny laughed and said,"I always stick to my words."  Both the friends started laughing at this witty comment.  

The Rich Man and his Travels

A rich man was very fond of travelling. Most of the time he remained away from his house.Occasionally, when he came home, he gathered around him the young people of the locality. He would tell them the wonderful experiences of his wandering life.

                                     Often he would ask them:

                            "Have you seen the Eiffel Tower of Paris?"

                             "Have you seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa?"

                              "Have you seen the Taj Mahal  of Agra?"

                               "Have you seen the Qutub Minar of Delhi?"

                   Every time the young people would say 'No' and the traveller would say,"You people always remain at home. You are missing the charm of life."

                   One day the young people asked him,"Have you ever visited the junk shop in the city? Come,  let's pay to visit it."

 

When they visited the junk shop,the rich man was surprisedbto find there many valuable articles missing from his own house. He asked,"How come  my belongings are here?"

The young people retorted."You hardly remain at home.So you are losing the hard-earned wealth of your father."

 

THE TWO FRIENDS

One fine morning two friends set out on a boating trip. They sailed the boat in the calm sea  and talked merrily. Soon they were far away from the shore.

 All of a sudden, the sky grew dark. A high wind started blowing hard. The sea became rough. The boat tossed up and down in the stormy sea.

                          Luckily, the two friends saw a plank floating on the sea. So they jumped into the sea and caught it. But the plank was too small to bear the weight of two.

"You are a married man. You must live for your wife and children. Iam single and so I must go," said one friend to other.

"But you have mother and sister. Who will take care of them?" argued the married man.

"Indeed you!" said the young man and let off the plank. He was drowned.

After the storm was over, the married friend reached home safely. He took care of the mother and the sister of his noble friend who was no more in this world.

TRUE FRIENDS SHARE EACH OTHER'S JOYS AS WELL AS SORROWS. 

The Rich and Lady and the Artist

Once a rich old lady asked a well-known artist to  paint her portrait. The artist worked hard on the portrait for many days. When the portrait was ready, he invited the lady to his studio.
                         The old lady  came to the studio. She had her pet dog with her. She was very fond of the dog. She believed that it was the cleverest little animal in the world.
                      The lady showed her  portrait to the dog."Look, Tomy darling," she said,"here is your mistress." But the dog showed no interest.
                             The wealthy lady turned to the artist and said, "I don't want this portrait. It does not look like me at all. Even my clever animal  cannot recognize me in the portrait."
                                           The artist was a man of worldly  wisdom. He knew about the strange ways of wealthy people. So he did not argue. He simply said ,"Madam, please come again tomorrow. I will  make the portrait look so real that your Tommy will wag its tail and lick it."
 

The next day the lady visited the studio again. The dog wagged its tail and ran to the portrait. It licked it with great interest.  The lady said,"How wonderful! How beautiful! My Tomy  likes the portrait so I,too, like it. Please wrap it up." The artist asked for a big price and she paid it willingly.

The artist had a hearty laugh at her back. He had rubbed the portrait with a juicy  piece of meat. Its smell had made the dog lick it.

TACT CAN TURN A BAD BUSSINESS INTO A GOOD BUSSINESS 

TWO FRIENDS AND A BEAR

Once there were two fast friends in a village. Their names were Rahim and Salem. One day both of them set out on a journey. They promised to help each other is trouble. Their way lay through a forest. As they were passing through a forest, they saw a big bear. The bear was coming towards them. They were much frightened to see such a deadly sight.

                                  Rahim at once climbed up  a nearby tree to save his life. He was unaware of his friend's safety. Salem did not  know how to climb up a tree. But he was and intelligent.He had heard that bears do not touch the dead, so he lay on  the ground,held his breath and appeared to be dead. The bear came near him and sniffed the whole body of Salem. Thinking him of dead, the bear went away.

          When the bear had gone quite far, Salem got on  his feet. Rahim also came down the tree. He asked Salem to tell him what the bear had whispered in his ear. Salem said that the bear had advised him to beware of false friends like him.

            

                                             MORAL_ Beware of false friends   

A BAD COMPANY

A man had only son. The son fell into a bad company.He adopted many bad habits.The man was very rich. He became worried about his spoil son.One day he hit upon to mend his son.
                  He went to the fruit-seller,Then he bought a basket full of fresh apples and a rotten one.He came back home and sent for his son.He asked him to place the rotten apple among the fresh ones in the basket.The son obeyed his father. After a few days the father asked his son to bring the basket of apples. The basket was brought. The son was surprised to find that all the apples had become rotten.The father then advised him to give up bad company or he would be completely spoil.The son listened to the advice,changed his ways and become a good boy.

MORAL_ Avoid bad company