Monthly Archives: October 2013
106. THE SWAN AND THE OWL
Long time ago there lived a swan who used to spend time in various playful activities on a lake. Once an owl visited him in the forest and requested him to be friends after praising the swan a lot. The swan agreed to be friends with him and they used to spend time near the lake for many days.
But the owl soon got bored of the place and told the swan, “I am going back to my home in the Lotus wood, and if you ever want to visit me you can visit me there.” The swan, after many days once decided to pay a visit to the owl in the Lotus wood. On reaching Lotus wood, it could not find the owl, who was hiding in the dark hole. The owl asked the swan to take rest till daylight was over and told him that he could come out only at night. The swan decided to take rest.
It so happened that a group of merchants were passing by the wood the next day early morning. The merchants chanted some hymns, and to that the owl replied with a hoot. Thinking that this was a bad omen, the merchants decided to shoot the owl down. The owl sensing danger had fled and took refuge in a nearby hole near the shore of the lake. But the swan did not move. The arrow from the merchants came and hit the swan and it was killed.
❖ Friendship has to be between equals.
❖ Make friends among people who are like you.
105. THE STAG AND HIS ANTLERS
Once upon a time, there lived a stag in a dense forest. One day, he went to a nearby lake to quench his thirst. There he saw his reflection in the water and thought to himself; ‘I’ve got beautiful antlers, but my legs are ugly. I can’t understand, why God has given me such thin legs.’
Just then, he heard a lion roaring at a short distance. The stag knew that if he stayed there, the lion will kill him. So he started running. The lion too started chasing the stag.
The stag ran faster and faster and soon he outdistanced the lion. But alas! all of a sudden, the antlers of the stag got entangled with the overhanging branches. of a tree. The stag struggled hard, but could not free his antlers from the branches. He thought to himself, ‘My thin legs helped me get away from the danger, but my antlers proved dangerous for me.
By that time the lion had already reached there. He pounced upon the stag and killed him.
❖ A beautiful thing might not be useful also.
104. THE SPARROW AND THE MONKEY
Somewhere in the jungle, there grew a huge tree. On its long branches, a pair of sparrows had made their home. One day, in winter, whilst the pair was sitting happily together, a light rain began to fall. After some time, a monkey, battered by the strong winds, came and stood under the tree, his teeth chattering with cold.
When the female sparrow saw him in this state, she said to the monkey,’With your hands and feet, you look like a human being. So why don’t you make a home yourself?’
The monkey got angry and shouted, “Why don’t you shut your mouth, you wicked woman?”
But the female sparrow kept on advising the monkey.
Then the monkey said to himself, ” What a cheek this female bird has, giving me advice! This insolent woman thinks, she is an educated woman and won’t stop yapping. She makes me want to kill her!”
Then the monkey said ,”Why should you worry?”
But the female sparrow kept chattering ceaselessly.
Without hesitation the monkey climbed up the tree and tore up the nest in thousand pieces.
❖ Give your advice only to those who deserve it else you will come to grief.
❖ It’s better not to advise others in their personal matters.
103. THE SNAKE IN THE ANTHILL AND THE SNAKE IN THE BELLY OF THE PRINCE
In a certain town, there lived a king, by the name of Devashakti. He had a son, who grew leaner and leaner everyday, for he had a snake in his stomach. In spite of several treatments by well-know physicians, he was not cured at all. Thoroughly fed up with his life, the prince went to a town in another kingdom, where he lived in a temple and maintained himself by begging for alms.
