The Farmer and the Well
A farmer bought a well from his neighbour to water his farm. The
neighbour sold him the well but did not allow him to draw water from
it. The farmer went to the emperor for justice. His courtier questioned
the neighbour, who said that he had sold the well but not the water
within it. The neighbour was told to either pay rent for the water to
remove it all immediately. Realising that his trick didn’t work, he
apologised and went home.
Moral: Cheating will get you nowhere.
Elephant and Friends
A lonely elephant was looking for friends in the forest. The monkey
declined to be the elephant’s friend because the elephant could not
swing in the trees. The rabbit turned the elephant because it was too
big to fit in the burrow. The frog refused to be the elephant’s friend
because it could not jump. Every other animal said no to the poor
elephant. The next day, all the animals in the forest were running away
in fear. The elephant stopped a bear who said that the tiger was
attacking them all. The elephant nicely asked the tiger to stop, but the
tiger told the elephant to stay out of the way. The elephant proceeded
to kick the tiger and scare it away. The other animals then realised that
the elephant was the perfect size to be their friend.
Moral: Friends can be any shape or size.
When Adversity Knocks
There once was a girl who was frustrated with life and asked her father
for advice. He asked her to bring an egg, two tea leaves, and a potato.
He then started boiling water in three separate vessels. He put the egg,
potato, and tea leaves in one vessel each. After a few minutes, he asked
her to peel the egg and potato and strain the leaves. He explained to
his daughter that:
The soft egg was now hard.
The hard potato was now soft.
The tea had changed the water itself.
When adversity is at our door, we can respond to it in different ways.
Moral: We decide how to respond to difficult situations.
The Needle Tree
There were two brothers; the older one was always mean to the
younger one. The older one would chop firewood in the forest and sell
it in the market. One day, he stumbled across a magical tree. The tree
begged him not to cut him down and promised him golden apples in
exchange. The older brother felt disappointed with the number of
apples he received. He decided to cut down the tree anyway, but the
tree showered him with hundreds of needles. The boy was left lying on
the forest ground in pain. His younger brother finally found him and
carefully took out every needle. The older brother finally apologised
for treating his brother badly. The magical tree saw this exchange. It
decided to give them more golden apples.
Moral: Kindness will always be rewarded.
A Glass of Milk
There was a poor boy who would sell newspapers to pay for school.
One day, he was ravenous and decided to ask for food at the next
house he visited. Several people denied him food. However, a girl at
one house offered him a glass of milk. She refused to take payment for
it. After many years, this girl fell sick. No doctor wanted to help her.
She decided to go to the best doctor in the town. The doctor spent
months treating her, though she could not afford the service. When
she received the hospital bill, it read ‘Paid in full, with a glass of milk.’
Moral: Good deeds are always rewarded.
