telling story

God and Man

God created animals. Some animals could run very fast. To some, he gave unusual size and strength. He made some flying creatures and we call the birds. These birds could fly from one place to another in search of food. Some animals became crawlers while others were given the power to become excellent swimmers.

God created man at the end of his creations. He made him strong enough to take care of himself and the animals around him. But man asked God, "God, you have given various powers to other creatures. But I have no special powers or quality like them. Why are you partial to me?"

God smiled and said, "Oh! Man, the power I have given you is the most precious of all. It is the power of speech. You are using this power right now to express your wish to me. No other creature has this power. What more do you want me to give you?"

Man realized that speech was indeed the greatest gift of God to man. He understood that we should be happy with what we have and not be sad for what we do not have.

Hungry Wolf.

Once, a wolf was very hungry. It looked for food here and there. But it couldn't get any. At last it found a loaf of bread and piece of meat in the hole of a tree.

The hungry wolf squeezed into the hole. It ate all the food. It was a woodcutter's lunch. He was on his way back to the tree to have lunch. But he saw there was no food in the hole, instead, a wolf.

On seeing the woodcutter, the wolf tried to get out of the hole. But it couldn't. Its tummy was swollen.

The woodcutter caught the wolf and gave it nice beatings.

Greedy dog

Once there lived a dog. He was very greedy. There were many times that he had to pay for his greed. Each time the dog promised himself, “I have learnt my lesson. Now I will never be greedy again.” But he soon forgot his promises and was as greedy as ever.

One afternoon, the dog was terribly hungry. He decided to go look for something to eat. Just outside

his house, there was a bridge. “I will go and look for food on the other side of the bridge. The food there is definitely better,” he thought to himself.

He walked across the wooden bridge and started sniffing around for food. Suddenly, he spotted a bone lying at a distance. “Ah, I am in luck. This looks a delicious bone,” he said.

Without wasting any time, the hungry dog picked up the bone and was just about to eat it, when he thought, “Somebody might see here with this bone and then I will have to share it with them. So, I had better go home and eat it.” Holding the bone in his mouth, he ran towards his house.

While crossing the wooden bridge, the dog looked down into the river. There he saw his own reflection. The foolish dog mistook it for another dog. “There is another dog in the water with bone in its mouth,” he thought. Greedy, as he was, he thought, “How nice it would be to snatch that piece of bone as well. Then, I will have two bones.”

So, the greedy dog looked at his reflection and growled. The reflection growled back, too. This made the dog angry. He looked down at his reflection and barked, “Woof! Woof!” As he opened his mouth, the bone in his mouth fell into the river. It was only when the water splashed that the greedy dog realized that what he had seen was nothing but his own reflections and not another dog. But it was too late. He had lost the piece of bone because of his greed. Now he had to go hungry.

In a small town lived a wealthy merchant. He was very kind and charitable. He had a son, who had unfortunately fallen into a bad company. Many times the merchant advised his son not to go with the bad company. But all in vain. “Please, do not advise me what to do, my father. I know what is good for me and I know what to do,” said the son.

The Fragrance

One day, a great saint came to the town. The merchant went to the saint, sought his blessings and said, “My spoilt son is the only cause of my worry. Please help me.”

After few minutes of contemplation, the saint replied, “Send your son to my Ashram tomorrow morning. I will talk to him.”

Next morning, the merchant sent his son to the Ashram of the saint. There the saint asked the son to pluck a flower of rose from the garden of the Ashram. The son did as asked by the saint. Then the saint asked the son,”Smell it and feel its fragrance, my son.” The boy did so. Then saint showed the son a sack of wheat said, “Keep the rose near the sack.” The boy followed the instructions.

After an hour, the saint asked the boy to smell the rose again. “How does it smell now?” the saint asked the boy. The boy smelt the rose and said, “It smells as good as before.” Then the saint said, “Hmm! Now keep the rose near this sack of jaggery.” The boy did so.

After an hour, the saint asked the boy to smell the rose again. “Is there any change in the fragrance?” the saint asked the boy. “No. it smells as fresh as before,” replied the boy.

Then the saint said, “Boy, you should be like this rose, giving the fragrance to everyone but at the same time not letting the bad smell rub on to you from anyone. Your good qualities are your strength. You should not lose them in bad company.”

The boy understood the saint’s words and wisdom. “I am grateful to you, O Saint, for opening my eyes,” said the merchant’s son.

From that day onwards, he was honest and charitable like his cultured father.

A Farmer and His Wife :

A farmer said to his wife, “you are lazy. You work slowly and lethargically. You waste your time.”

The wife was angry at the words of her husband.

She said to her husband, “You are wrong. Stay at home tomorrow. I will go to field. I will do your work there. Will you do my works at home here?”

The farmer said happily, “Very well. I will do your works back at home.”

The wife said, “Milk the cow. Feed the pigs. Waste the utensils. Take care of our hen. Spin the yarn.”

The woman went to the field. The farmer stayed back at home. He took a vessel and went to the cow to milk it. He tried to mi8lk the cow. He received a good kick. He then went to the pig-sty. He hit his head against the beam. He went to feed the hen. He forgot to spin.

The wife returned from the field when it turned evening. The farmer hung down his head in shame. Thereafter he did not find fault with his wife. They lived happily together for a long time.

The Diamond Ring :

AN old man gave his money and gold to his sons. He showed them his diamond ring and said to them, “I am not giving this ring to you now. Go out and do some noble deeds. Then come to me. Tell me your deeds. Then I will give this diamond ring to one of you. The ring will be the reward for the noblest-deed.”


The sones went out. They did noble deeds. After some time, they returned to their father.


One of the sons said, “Father… Give me the ring. I have done a great and noble deed. A man left all his money with me. He traveled many countries. Then he came to me. He wanted his money back. I returned his money to him.”

Another son said, “A child fell into a river. The water was carrying the child away. I jumped into the river. I saved the child.”

The third son said, “Father….please listen to me. My enemy was sleeping on the edge of a huge rock. I went to him and woke him up.”

The father said, “All the people love their friends. But you loved your enemy. You saved him from his death. Yours is the noblest deed. Take this ring.”

The Ant and The Dove :

Once a dove lived in an oak tree by the side of a pond.

An ant was living under the oak tree. Both the dove and the ant were friends.

One day a strong wind was blowing across the tree.

The ant could not withstand and fell into the river. It could not get out.

The dove saw this and wanted to save his friend. So, it threw a leaf into the water.

The ant got on the leaf. It was saved.

One day a hunter came that way and tried to shoot the dove.

The ant saw the hunter and bit his foot. The hunter missed his aim.

He could not shoot the dove. The dove flew away. So the ant saved the dove.

It repaid the dove for the kind act.

The Ant and The Grasshopper :

The ants worked hard in summer.
They sorted food for winter.
AT that time, a grasshopper remained idle.
When winter came, the ants had enough to eat.
But, the grasshopper had nothing to eat.
He had to starve.
He went to the ants and begged for foods.
The ants asked in return, “What did you do in summer?”
He replied, “I ildled away my time during summer.
The ant replied, “Then you must starve in winter.”