Once there was a boy. Not the brightest of boys, to be sure. One day when he was returning from the fields, he met a man leading a mare. The boy suddenly had a great desire to own the mare. So he asked the owner, “What will you ask for this mare? I would like [...]
In the eastern part of India lies the State of Orissa. The area around the Mahanadi’s delta is a very fertile one with rich rice fields, forests and lush green grass which gives ample food for cattle. Long ago there lived a Mahajan’s wife with her three sons and their wives. Theirs was a happy [...]
There was a wild sow in the jungles of Tripura. She lived happily with her children. One day, while she was searching for food for her children in the jungle, she noticed a weeping tiger cub near a bush. Finding no trace of the cub’s mother, she thought that the tigress might have been killed [...]
Long ago Maharaja Krishna Chandra reigned in Bengal. He had several jesters in his court. The most popular one among them was Gopal. He was a barber by profession. Everyone called him Gopal Bhand. Shand’ means a buffoon, someone who can make people laugh. Gopal’s jokes and actions, his unexpected comments and the way he [...]
In a distant village of Bengal, a poor Brahmin and his wife lived a miserable life. Both begged from house to house and were somehow able to manage a square meal a day. Days passed into years and one day their village had a new zamindar (landowner). The Brahmin thought of paying court to the [...]
Many years ago, a gang of four thieves lived in a dense forest. They hid their stolen money in an innocent-looking vessel which they guarded carefully. After a while, they grew fed up with their thieving activities. “I am tired of this lifestyle. We have to be alert constantly in case we are caught!” one [...]
Once there lived a man and his wife. They were very good people and very simple too. So simple that they were almost stupid in many ways. One night they woke up to hear some noise in the house. “Sounds as if there are thieves in the house,” whispered the husband. “Can you hear them, [...]
The area around Raipur in Madhya Pradesh is known as Chhattisgarh. A large number of tribal people live here, as they do in other parts of the State, such as Bastar and Jhabua. The tribal way of life is different from the way the other villagers live, although they are usually neighbours. While the villagers [...]
Early one morning King Birbhadra went out hunting. While he was returning to his palace he felt very tired, hungry and thirsty. Suddenly by the roadside he saw a field of watermelons. What else could be more desirable to a thirsty person? Be ordered his attendants to bring some good watermelons. While they were proceeding [...]
In a dense forest lived a little kid in a cave with his father ram and mother goat. The forest had plenty of leaves for the three to feed on. Life would have been very happy for this family only if there had been no fear of predators. There were the big tigers and the [...]