Story : 1
The Meaning of True Wealth

There was a girl whose family was very wealthy. One day her father took her on a trip to the country where he aimed to show his daughter how poor people live. So they arrived at a farm of a very poor family. They spent several days there. On their return, the father asked his daughter, if she liked the trip.

Oh, it was great, dad - the girl replied.

Did you notice how poor people live? - the father asked.

Yeah, I did. - said the girl.

The father asked his daughter to tell in more detail about her impressions from their trip.

Well…we have only one dog and they have four of them. In our garden there is a pool while they have a river that has no end. We've got expensive lanterns, but they have stars above their heads at night. We have the patio and they have the whole horizon….the daughter replied in delight.

She further added…. We have only a small piece of land while they have the endless fields. We buy food, but they grow it. We have a high fence for protection of our property and they don‘t need it, as their friends protect them.

The father was stunned. He could not say a word.

Then the girl added…Thank you, dad, for letting me see how poor we are.

This story shows that true wealth as well as happiness is not measured by material things. Love, friendship and freedom are far more valuable.

Story : 2
The Monkey and The Juggler

In a mango orchard outside a village there lived a mischievous monkey. The whole day, he would jump from one tree to another. Thus the monkey kept on eating the ripe mangoes. The orchard-keeper tried to trap the monkey. But every time the monkey escaped the trap.

One day, the monkey wandered out to the nearby town. “The town people are so busy. There is so much crowd here," the monkey thought. Soon the monkey was sneaking into houses and running away with eatables. By evening, he had made life difficult for the town people. “The town is more fun than the orchard. I will live here," he thought.

Days went by and the monkey was looked upon by the town people with terror. “Here he comes again," they screamed when they saw the monkey.

One day, a juggler came to the town. The people of the town approached him. “We want you to help us get rid of that mischievous monkey," they said to the juggler. The juggler said in return, “Do not worry. Get me some jars with narrow necks,"

When the jars of the size were brought to him, he put peanuts into the jars and placed them out on a field.

The monkey became curious when he saw the jars. When he went and peeped inside the jars, he saw peanuts. “Yummy! Let me quickly grab the peanuts and run," he thought. He put his hand inside the jar and grabbed a big handful.

But he could not pull out his clenched fist, as the neck of the jar was so narrow. If the monkey dropped some peanuts back into the jar, he could have pulled his hand out. But he was greedy. So he did not drop some peanuts into the jar.

The town people trapped the monkey with his hand inside the jar. They got hold of the rope and tied him in a post. Then the monkey was sold to a zoo. That was the end of the greedy monkey.

Story : 3
The Palace and The Hut

King Vikramaditya was known for his justice and kindness. Even Gods sought his help in setting issues. In his kingdom, no one was unhappy. His people loved him and were proud of him.

Once, the Vikramaditya decided to build a palace on the riverbank. He ordered his ministers to survey the site and start the work. The laborers were put to work and in a few days the palace was ready. Before bringing the King to show the palace, the minister decided to take a final look.

“Splendid!" the minister exclaimed, looking at the palace. Then suddenly his eyes fell on something and he shouted, “What is that? I did not see that before." All the laborers and the soldiers turned around. There was a hut just a few steps away from the palace gate. “What is this hut doing here?" shouted the minister and added, “And whom does it belong to?"

“Sir, it belongs to an old woman. She has been living here for a long time," replied a soldier.

The minister walked up to the hut and spoke to the old lady. “I want to buy your hut. Ask for anything," he said.

“I am sorry, Sir. I can not accept your offer. My hut is dearer to me than my life. I have lived in it with my late husband and I want to die in it," the old lady said.

The minister tried to tell her that her hut would spoil the charm of the newly constructed palace. But the old lady was strong in her stance and she was ready to face any consequences and any punishment. She refused to sell her hut to the King. The matter was then taken to the King.

The wise and generous king thought for a while, and then said, “Let the old lady have her hut where it is. It will only add to the beauty of the new palace." Then turning to the minister, the King said, “Let us not forget that what seems ugly to us may be precious to someone else."

The people then realized why their king was so highly respected by all the people and by all other neighboring kingdoms.

Story : 4
The Lion and The Cows

Once upon a time, there lived four cows in the forest.

Every day, they used to graze together in a particular place.

One day a lion passed that way and saw the four cows.The lion went near the cows.

When the cows saw the lion coming near to them, all of them fought together against the lion.

The Lion ran away.

After some days, the cows quarrelled with each other and began to graze in different directions and all alone.

This was noticed by the lion.The lion thought that its turn had come and came there.

The lion killed all the four cows one by one.

Moral : Unitey is strength.

Story : 5
The Magic Pot

Once upon a time a farmer, Gopi, lived in a village. He had few acres of land. One hot afternoon, the poor farmer was digging his field. All of a sudden, his spade hit something. Then he continued his digging. “It is a big metal pot," said Gopi. It was big enough to boil rice for more than hundred people. “It does not seem to be of any use to me. I will dig deeper. May be I will find something else," thought Gopi. He continued to dig.

After he had dug for a long time, Gopi felt tired. “It is of no use. There is nothing in this field" he thought. Then at once, he threw the spade into the pot in frustration and sat under a tree to take rest for a while.

After a while, when he got up to leave, he could not believe his eyes. There were one hundred spades in the pot. “This is a magical pot. I will put this mango inside the pot and see what happens," Gopi thought. Then Gopi put a mango into the pot. To his astonishment, he found one hundred mangoes in the pot. Gopi carried the pot to his home and kept in a secret place so that no one would become aware of it.

After that, he put many things in that and everything became hundred folds. With that pot, he became a rich man. The King came to know of the pot and its whereabouts. The King was curious to know about it and he was a greedy King. “I want to find out the secret of the magical pot. If it is valuable, it should be in the King treasury," the King thought. Then at once, the King ordered his men to bring the farmer and his pot.

When the magic pot was brought to the King’s chamber, he did not know what to do. The King thought, “Let me see what is there inside this pot which makes this pot so magical?" He peered inside. Inadvertently, he slipped and fell inside the pot. When he climbed out of the magic pot, he was shocked to find that there were one hundred Kings.

All the kings then started to climb the throne. They fought among themselves and died. The magic pot lay in the King’s treasury. “The foolish King took away the magic pot from me out of curiosity and eventually he died. This magic pot has killed the King himself," said the farmer and he to be safe left the magic pot at the treasury of the King itself.

Story : 6
The Lost Wallet

I stumbled on a wallet someone had lost in the street. Wanting to find the owner, I opened it, but it only contained 3 dollars and an old crumpled envelope. I opened the letter and saw a return address and dateline...1924. It had been written 60 years ago. It was signed Hannah.

I called information, maybe there was a phone listing for the address. The operator hesitantly told me there was a number, but the best she could do was call it and see if they wanted to be connected. I learned that Hannah was now living in a Nursing Home. And was given the number.

It seemed silly, wanting to contact someone over a letter written 60 years ago, but I felt impelled. I was told that Hannah was there and though it was fairly late I followed my instinct and went to see her.

She was a sweet silver-haired lady with a warm smile and a twinkle in her eye. 1 told her about finding the wallet and showed her the letter.

She took a deep breath and said, "Young man, this letter was the last contact I ever had with Michael."

She said softly "I loved him very much. But I was only 16 at the time and my mother felt I was too young. "If you should find him, tell him I still love him."

With tears in her eyes she told me she had never married because no one had matched up to him in her heart.

I thanked her and left. As I was waiting by the elevator the nurse there asked, "Was Hannah able to help you?"

I'd taken out the wallet as she was speaking and she said "Hey, wait a minute that's Michael Goldstein's wallet. I'd recognize it anywhere, he's always losing it."

My hands began to shake. "Who's Michael Goldstein?" I asked.

"One of the residents on the 8th floor. That's his wallet for sure."

I dashed up to the 8th floor and the nurse on duty told me he was still in the day room.

We went into the day room and as soon as Michael saw the wallet a smile of relief crossed his face. I confessed I'd read the letter in an attempt to find the owner of the wallet. The smile on his face disappeared.

"But I think you'll be happy I did," I said. I think I know where Hannah is.

He grew pale. "Where is she? How is she? Please tell me he begged. "She's fine I said quietly." "I was so in love with that girl and when that letter came, my life came to a halt. I never married. I guess I've always loved her."

I asked him to come with me and took him down to the 3rd floor where Hannah was sitting alone, watching television. The floor nurse pointed to Michael. "Do you know this man Hannah?" She adjusted her glasses but didn't speak. Michael whispered, "Hannah it's me, Michael. Do you remember me?"

She gasped. "Michael. Michael, I don't believe it. It's you! My Michael."

They walked towards one another and embraced. The nurse and I left with tears streaming down our faces.

About three weeks later I got a call from the nursing home. "Can you break away on Sunday to attend a wedding? Michael and Hannah are going to tie the knot!"

It was a beautiful wedding with all the people at the nursing home joining in the celebration. I was the best man!

The hospital gave them their own room and if you ever wanted to see a 76-year-old bride and a 79-year-old groom acting like two teenagers, you had to see this couple.

A perfect ending for a love affair that had lasted nearly 60 years.

Story : 7
The Lion and The Pig

One day a lion felt very thirsty and came to a pond to drink water.

At the same time a pig also came to the same pond to drink water.

They stared at each other. “Who should drink first" was the question between them.

They started fighting with each other.They fought heavily and soon became tired. They went to rest.

At the same time they saw the eagles flying eagerly above them. The eagles were waiting for a dead body.

Both The lion and the pig realized that if they fought with each other, one of them would die certainly. And they realized their mistake.

They said to each other, “it is better to be friends again than fall a prey to the eagles."

Then they became friends again forever.

“Challenge, fights are always dangerous." They realized the truth at last.

Story : 8
The Ant and the Grasshopper

One summer's day, in a field, a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great effort an ear of corn he was taking to his nest.

"Why don't you come and chat with me," asked the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling your life away?"

"I am helping to store up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and I recommend you to do the same."

"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper. "We have got plenty of food at present."

Short StoriesBut the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.

When winter came, the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing, every day, corn and grain from the stores they had collected in summer.

Then the Grasshopper knew...

Moral : Work Today And You Can Reap The Benefits Tomorrow!

Story : 9
The Hidden Treasure

Once, there was an old man who had four sons. All four of them were very lazy.

One day, the old man fell sick and was counting his last days in bed. He worried a lot about his sons' future as the young men hesitated a lot to work. The sons believed that luck would favour them.

The old man's health deteriorated every day and he decided to talk to his sons about their future. However, his sons did not listen to him.

Finally, the old man decided to play a trick to let his sons realize the importance of work. He called all his sons and let them sit near him on his bed. He said that he had a treasure box with gold coins and expensive gems for them and wanted to share the treasure equally among the four of them.

The young men were very happy and asked where his father had placed the treasure. The old man replied, "I cannot exactly remember the place where I have hidden the treasure. However, the treasure box is buried in our land. I'm really not sure about the place where I have hidden the treasure box."

Even though the lazy young sons were happy, they were sad that the old man had forgotten the place where the treasure was hidden. After a few days, the old man died. The sons decided to dig the land to find the treasure box.

They worked very hard and dug their land. They could not find any treasure box in the land. Finally, they decided to dig a spot in their land that was a bit different from the rest of the area. The sons believed that the treasure was buried in that spot. They dug the specific spot deeply, but got nothing but water.

A passerby who noticed the land and the water flowing from the spot talked to the sons about farming. Upon his advice, the four sons sowed vegetable seeds, and planted greens and flowering plants in their land. Since the land was very fertile with abundant water, within a few weeks, it became a fertile garden with nutritious vegetables and greens. The four sons sold the vegetables at a good price and earned a good amount of money.

Then they realized that it was hard work that was referred to as 'Treasure Box' by their father. Gradually, the four sons overcame their laziness, worked hard, earned more money and lived happily.

Hard Work Always Pays.

Story : 10
A Farmer and His Wife

A farmer said to his wife, “you are lazy. You work slowly and lethargically. You waste your time."

The wife was angry at the words of her husband.

She said to her husband, “You are wrong. Stay at home tomorrow. I will go to field. I will do your work there. Will you do my works at home here?"

The farmer said happily, “Very well. I will do your works back at home."

The wife said, “Milk the cow. Feed the pigs. Waste the utensils. Take care of our hen. Spin the yarn."

The woman went to the field. The farmer stayed back at home. He took a vessel and went to the cow to milk it. He tried to milk the cow. He received a good kick. He then went to the pig-sty. He hit his head against the beam. He went to feed the hen. He forgot to spin.

The wife returned from the field when it turned evening. The farmer hung down his head in shame. Thereafter, he did not find fault with his wife. They lived happily together for a long time.

-- The End --