Category Archives: INDIA
40. THE ELEPHANT AND THE MICE
Once upon a time there lived a group of mice under a tree peacefully. But once a group of elephants came that way and destroyed the homes of all the rats as a result of which many of them were crushed to death. Then the king of rats decided to approach the elephant chief and request him to guide his herd through another route. The elephant king agreed to this and took another route to the water. And so the lives of the rats were saved.
One day a group of elephant-hunters came and trapped the group of elephants in huge nets. Then the elephant king suddenly remembered the king of the rats. He summoned one of the elephants of his herd which had not been trapped, to go and contact the king of rats. On listening to the elephant, the rat king took his entire group of mice and they cut open the nets which trapped the elephant herd. So the elephant herd was totally set free.
❖ A friend in need is a friend indeed.
❖ Sometimes a weak looking person may prove stronger than others.
39. THE DOVE AND THE HUNTER
A wicked bird hunter, with the appearance of Yama, the God of death, used to roam about in the jungle. He had neither friends nor relatives. He was deserted by everyone because of his cruel deeds. One day, while the hunter was wandering about in the jungle, he caught a female dove and threw her into a cage. It was now evening. Suddenly a storm accompanied by heavy rain broke loose, so ferociously that it seemed as if the end of the world was at hand.
38. THE DONKEY IN THE LION’S SKIN
There was a washerman. His name was Shuddhapata. He had a donkey. The donkey had an insatiable appetite for food, but was least interested in doing his master’s work. And Shuddhapata was very poor. It was not possible for him to feed his always-hungry and lazy donkey. Therefore, as a result the donkey became lean and thin.
Once the washerman had to go to the town to purchase soap etc. for washing clothes. He had to pass through a jungle on his way to the town. While returning from the town, he found a lion’s skin in the jungle. He immediately thought of a plan to feed his lazy donkey.
When the night fell, he donned his donkey with the lion’s skin and drove him to the nearby fields. The farmers were frightened to see a lion roaming in their fields and ran away. The donkey ate his fill and returned home in the early hours of morning. This continued for months together. Soon the donkey became fat and healthy. No farmer ever dared come near him. The donkey passed his days and nights happily.
One night, as the donkey was feeding itself in a neighbouring field, it heard another donkey braying in a nearby village. The donkey became very happy to hear it and instinctively started braying in reply, “Dheechoon, Dheechoon”. Soon the farmers realised that the animal they were frightened of was not a lion but a donkey. They became very angry. They came out of their houses with lathis in their hands and beat the donkey so badly that it died on the spot.
❖ You cannot fool all the people all the time
❖ He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.
❖ Do not pretend to be what you are not.
37. THE DOG IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY
Long, long ago, in a town, there lived a dog by the name of Chitranga. Once there was a famine in the country. Due to lack of food the animals began to starve and die. Chitranga too began to starve. So he went to a foreign country for food and water.
Reaching the foreign country, Chitranga began to wander in search of food. At one place because of the negligence of the lady house holder the door of a house was left without being locked properly. Chitranga got into the house and fed himself on various kinds of delicious food. This became his daily routine. But, after he would come out of the house, the other dogs on the street would chase him and bite him all over his body.
Chitranga became very sad. He thought to himself: “It’s better that I return to my own country and live in peace, in spite of the famine.”
So, Chitranga decided to return to his own country. When Chitranga arrived in his country, his friends and relatives surrounded him with curiosity and asked him many questions relating to his foreign travel.
Then Chitranga said, “In foreign countries the housewives are in a habit of leaving the doors of their houses open. One can enter the house freely and eat a lot of food in the kitchen. But there is one disadvantage; your own relatives and friends bite you to death.”
❖ Our nation is always welcomed to our nation members whether they cheat to our own nation.
❖ The outsiders may tolerate your lapses but not your own kith and kin.
