The Ant and the Grasshopper

On one fine summer's day in a field a Grasshopper was hopping about in a musical mood. An ant passed
by bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

The grasshopper invited the ant to sit for a chat with him. But the ant refused saying that "I’m storing up
food for winter".

" Why don’t you do the same?" asked the ant to the grasshopper.

"Pooh! Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got enough food at present." But the
Ant went on its way and continued its toil.

Finally, when winter came, the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants
distributing corn and grain from their storage.

Then the Grasshopper understood that…

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

Tortoise and The Hare

The hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. "I have never yet been beaten," said
he, "when I put forth my full speed. I challenge anyone here to race with me."

The tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge."

"That is a good joke," said the hare. "I could dance around you all the way."

"Keep your boasting until you've beaten," answered the tortoise. "Shall we race?"

So a course was fixed and a start was made. The hare darted almost out of sight at once, but soon
stopped and, to show his contempt for the tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The tortoise plodded on
and plodded on, and when the hare awoke from his nap, he saw the tortoise nearing the finish line, and
he could not catch up in time to save the race.

Plodding wins the race.

One day, a lion, a fox, a jackal, and a wolf went hunting together. All day long they tried hard, but could
not find anything satisfactory. It was only in the late afternoon that they could catch a deer. The four
beasts surrounded the poor animal and killed it as fast as they could. Then they decided to share their
food.

The lion was the lord of the jungle and superior to all in strength. Hence, the other creatures agreed
when he proposed to share the food for all.

Placing one of its paws upon the dead animal, the lion said,

"You see, as a member of the hunting party, it is my right to receive one of these portions."

The others nodded in agreement.

"But then, I am also the King of Beasts. So I must receive a little bit more". he declared.

The others looked uneasily at each other.

"And besides, I was leading the hunt. So I deserve a little more extra". he proclaimed.

The others mumbled something, but it could not be heard.

"As for the fourth share, if you wish to argue with me about its ownership, let's begin, and we will see
who will get it."

"Humph," the others grumbled. They walked away with their heads down. They knew it was pointless to
argue about their shares.

You may share the labors of the great, but you can not share the spoil.
 The Man and the Serpent

Years ago, there was a small village by a beautiful river. The people of this village were mainly poor folks
who farmed in others' lands or in whatever land each of them had themelves. Among them was a man
who was richer than the others. He had more land than the others, ten cows, twelve sheep and a little
orchard. He had a loving wife and three sons to look after him.

But he was always worried about his youngest son, who happened to be naughtier than his siblings, and
was always full of mischief. This boy seemed to be full of an inexhaustible supply of energy and was
always out of the house, roaming in the fields, jumping into ponds and climbing hills and mountains,
whatever the time was.

But misfortune struck one day, when the boy mistakenly trod upon a serpent's tail during one of his
adventures. The furious snake hissed and bit on his foot. The boy limped back to his parents, crying out
of pain. But his helpless family members could do nothing to save the poor boy, for the lethal venom
killed him within minutes. However, the boy informed his father about the whereabouts of the snake
and how he had been bitten before he took his last breath. The incensed father took out his axe and
hunted down the serpent, who happened to reside in a small hole beside a tree.

Again and again did his axe fall upon the serpent who somehow managed to escape each blow until one
powerful stroke cut off part of its tail. Bleeding and crying out of pain, the snake carried its body with
great difficulty and slithered into one of the holes between the roots of the huge tree.

"First they trampled my tail. Then they dared to cut it off?" muttered the creature painfully. It vowed
revenge against the man.

Thereafter, the snake began to cause losses to the farmer. In a fit of rage, it began to sting several of the
Farmer's cattle leading him to suffer a huge loss.

"I had already lost my son, now I have to see my cattle dying. It is best to reconcile with the serpent
before it does any more harm to me or any of my family members." the man thought.

With this purpose, the farmer went to the serpent's lair with food and honey and offered him the treats
saying,

"You know, we should let bygones be bygones. There was no enmity between us as such. So why don't
we forget and forgive each other and be friends?"

"It can't be", replied the snake, "take your gifts away. Neither can you forgive me for the death of your
son, nor can I forget the loss of my tail."

Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten.