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.
102. THE SNAKE AND THE CROW
Somewhere in the country, under a banyan tree, there lived a pair of crows, husband and wife. Now, whenever the female hatched her eggs, a snake would come out of the hollow of the tree, climb up, and make a meal of them. Nearby, under another banyan tree, there lived a jackal.
The crows told jackal everything. ‘Friend. The snake creeps out of the hollow of the tree, climbs up and eats up our children. Tell us, what can we do to protect our children ? It’s become dangerous for us to live here.’
