An Ass having heard some Grasshoppers chirping, was highly enchanted; and, desiring to possess the same charms of melody, demanded what sort of food they lived on to give them such beautiful voices. They replied, “The dew.” The Ass resolved that he would live only upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger. … Read more
Once upon a time, there lived a herd of eighty thousand elephants at the bottom of the majestic Himalayas. Their leader was a magnificent and rare white elephant who was an extremely kind-hearted soul. He greatly loved his mother who had grown blind and feeble and could not look out for herself. Each day this … Read more
As we all know, King Brahmadutta of Benaras was extremely fond of hunting. Luckily for him, on the outskirts of the city was a huge forest filled with deer and a mighty stag. One fine day, when he was out hunting, he warned his courtiers not to allow a single deer to escape or he … Read more
In a forest glade, by the side of River Ganges, high on the mountains there lived about eighty thousand monkeys along with their giant monkey king. And by the side of the clear gushing water stood a tall shady tree bearing big beautiful juicy golden fruits commonly called mangoes. All the monkeys just loved these … Read more
Once upon a time there lived a queen in the city of Benaras. Her name was Khema and she was the wife of King Bahuputtaka, which means ‘father of many sons’. One night, the Queen had a dream of a beautiful golden goose that spoke with great wisdom, almost as if he was a sage. … Read more
In a forest, on the outskirts of Benaras, there lived a beautiful golden deer. He was called King Banyan Deer and was the leader of a herd of five hundred deer. Not very far off, in the same forest was King Branch Deer who was also the leader amongst another five hundred deer. He was … Read more
Once upon a time, there was a flock of doves that flew in search of food led by their king. One day, they had flown a long distance and were very tired. The dove king encouraged them to fly a little further. The smallest dove picked up speed and found some rice scattered beneath a … Read more
Once upon a time, there was a rich merchant called Naduk. But times were bad and his business was suffering. He decided to leave the city and find his fortune in a new place. He sold off all his possessions and paid off his debts. All that he had left was a heavy iron beam. … Read more
Once upon a time, there lived a Brahmin and his wife who had no children. They prayed to God every day in the hope that they would be blessed with a child. One fine day, the Brahmin’s wife did give birth to a baby, but it was a snake! All the villagers, their friends and … Read more
Once upon a time, there lived an old lion who was, of course, the king of the jungle. However, he was old and he could not hunt for food. With each passing day he grew weaker and weaker. He realized that he needed an assistant to bring him his food, else he would surely die. … Read more