Bedtime Stories

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. Wash 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 milk 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.

Once upon a time there was a little boy who became very ill. He had to spend all day in bed, unable to move. Because other children weren't allowed to come near him, he suffered greatly, and spent his days feeling sad and blue. There wasn't much he could do except look out of the window. Time passed, and his feeling of despair just grew. Until one day he saw a strange shape in the window. It was a penguin eating a sausage sandwich. The penguin squeezed in through the open window, said "good afternoon" to the boy, turned around, and left again. Of course, the boy was very surprised. He was still trying to work out what had happened, when outside his window he saw a monkey in a nappy, busy blowing up a balloon. At first the boy asked himself what that could possibly be, but after a while, as more and more crazy-looking characters appeared out the window, he burst out laughing and found it hard to stop. Anyone wanting to stop laughing would never be helped by seeing a pig playing a tambourine, an elephant jumping on a trampoline, or a dog wearing a pair of glasses and talking about nothing except politics. The little boy didn't tell anyone about this because who would have believed him? Even so, those strange characters ended up putting joy back in his heart, and in his body. Before long, his health had improved so much that he was able to go back to school again. There he got to talk to his friends, and tell them all the strange things he had seen. While he was talking to his best friend he saw something sticking out of his friend's school bag. The boy asked his friend what it was, and he was so insistent that finally his friend had to show him what was in the bag: There, inside, were all the fancy-dress suits and disguises that his best friend had been using to try to cheer the little boy up! And from that day on, the little boy always did his best to make sure that no one felt sad and alone.

Gail the Whale lived in a small salty lake. She was the only whale in that territory, and she led a very comfortable life. In fact, this easy life made her a bit fussy. But, one year, there was such an incredibly hot summer that the lake's water really warmed up. Gail, used to such an ideal existence, could hardly stand the hot water. A little fish, which had spent some time in a child's goldfish bowl, told Gail that humans used fans to cool themselves down in summer. From then on, Gail the Whale couldn't think of anything else apart from how to build her very own fan. Everyone told her that she was overreacting, and that the hot weather would soon pass, but Gail got to work, constructing her enormous fan. When it was finally finished, she started fanning away at herself. Unlucky for the fish! The giant fan beat the little lake's waters so strongly that huge waves rolled right across it. The waves crashed onto the lakeshore, leaving the lake half empty, and Gail stranded in only a few inches of water. "You couldn't just hang on for while. You had to empty the lake," some unhappy-looking fish berated her. "So impatient! So selfish!" others shouted. But the worst of it for Gail was not the insults, but the fact that with so little water around her, the heat was becoming unbearable. Preparing herself to die of heatstroke, she said her goodbyes to all her friends, and they asked for her forgiveness. She assured them all that if she were to live again she would be stronger and learn to put up with life's discomforts. Yet, once again, Gail the Whale was overreacting. She managed to survive those hot days without dying, although, of course, she suffered. When the next rains arrived, the lake filled up again, and the weather improved. Naturally, Gail had to keep her promise, and show everyone that she had learned not to be so dependent on comfort, so impatient, and so fussy

A boy and a girl were playing together. The boy had a collection of marbles. The girl has some sweets with her. The boy told the girl that he would give her all his marbles in exchange for the sweets with her. The girl agreed. The boy kept the most beautiful and the biggest marbles with him and gave her the remaining marbles. The girl gave him all her sweets as she promised. That night the girl slept peacefully. But the boy could not sleep as he kept wondering if the girl has hidden some sweets from him the way he had hidden the best marbles from her.

There was once a boy who would never get dressed when his parents told him to, nor would he put on what they wanted him to after his bath. He preferred to dress in a much stranger manner, but above all, he liked to take his time. His parents were always in a rush, and wanted him to be a lot quicker, but the boy didn't like this, and he would slow down even more. One day, his parents were in their usual hurry, and they got so angry when he refused to dress, that they told him that he would have to go out naked. The boy didn't mind this in the least. So out they went. While the boy was standing naked outside his house, waiting for his parents to bring the car, along came the local pig farmer. The pig farmer was hard of hearing and had poor eyesight. Not only that, but he'd also forgotten to put his glasses on that day. When he saw the little boy's pink skin, he thought it was one of his pigs. And, with a bit of shouting, prodding, and pushing, the farmer managed to get the boy safely back to a pigsty. The boy protested the whole way there, but as the farmer was almost deaf, his complaints didn't help him. And there he was for the whole day, living amongst the pigs, thought to be a pig, and sharing their food and home. Finally, though, his parents found him. The boy had had such a regrettable day that never again did he want to be mistaken for anything other than a human being. Nowadays he's the first to get dressed, and look perfectly neat and tidy, just like those children in the clothes catalogues

Once upon a time there was a river. This river was rather unfriendly and lonesome. The river could not remember how long ago he had decided that he no longer wanted to put up with anything or anyone. He lived alone, refusing to share his water with any fish, plant or animal. And so his life went on, sadly and filled with loneliness, for many centuries. One day, a little girl with a goldfish bowl came to the bank of this river. In the bowl lived Scamp, her favourite little fish. The girl was about to move to another country, and she wouldn't be able to take Scamp with her. So she had decided to give Scamp his freedom. When Scamp fell into the river, he immediately felt the river's loneliness. Scamp tried talking to the river, but the river told Scamp to go away. Now, Scamp was a very happy little fish, and he wasn't going to give up so easily. He asked and asked, swam and swam, and finally he started jumping in and out of the water. The river, feeling all the jumping and splashing, started to laugh. It tickled! After a while, this put the river in such a good mood that he started talking to Scamp. Almost without knowing it, by the end of that day, Scamp and the river had become very good friends. The river spent that night thinking about how much fun it was to have friends, and how much he had missed by not having them. He asked himself why he had never had them, but he couldn't remember. The next morning, Scamp woke the river with a few playful splashes... and that was when the river remembered why he had decided to be such an unfriendly river: He remembered that he was very ticklish, and that he wouldn't have been able to stand it! Now he remembered perfectly how he had told everyone to scoot, that he wasn't going to put up with all that tickling. But, remembering how sad and lonely he had felt for so many years, the river realised that although it may sometimes be a bit inconvenient or uncomfortable, it was always better to have friends and to try to be happy.

Once upon a time, a hippopotamus lived in a river next to a big and solitary tree. One day, a bird came and nested in the tree. The songs and the flight of the bird caused such envy in the hippo that he couldn't think of anything else. Every day he would lament the fact that he had been born a hippo. This, despite the many times the bird told the hippo he was so lucky to be so big and such a good swimmer. Finally, the hippo made his mind up that he would come out of the river, climb the tree, go out to perch on a branch, and start singing. However, when he tried to climb the tree it was all too clear that the hippo didn't have wings, nor claws to climb with, and neither could he hop. Realising that he would never manage it, he angrily rammed his whole weight against the tree until it came crashing to the ground. Then, triumphantly, he stepped onto the leaves of the fallen tree, and began singing. Unfortunately, hippos can't sing either. All that came from his mouth were horrible noises, and when the other animals heard this they all gathered round to make fun of the hippo standing on the branch of a fallen tree, trying to sing like a bird. He was so embarrassed by this that he decided to never again regret being a hippo. He also felt bad about having knocked the tree over. He used all his strength to raise the tree back up again, replant it, and look after it until it had completely recovered.

Once upon a time lived on a cloud that was grown up over a very beautiful country. One day, she saw another much bigger cloud and she felt so much envy, than the cloud decided that in order to get bigger and grow more, her water would never abandon her, and will never start raining again. Indeed, the cloud grew up, while his country was getting dried. First, rivers dried up, then people, animals, plants, and finally, the whole country became a desert. The cloud did not care much, but she also did not realize that by being over a desert there was no place where she could obtain new water to keep growing. So slowly, the cloud began to lose size, and was unable to do anything to stop it . The cloud then realized her mistake, and that her greed and selfishness were the cause of her vanishing; but just before evaporating, when she was just a sigh of cotton, there started blowing a gentle breeze. The cloud was so small and weighed so little that the wind took her far away, to a faraway beautiful country, where once again she recovered her original size. Having learned this lesson, our cloud remained small and modest, but she became so generous when raining, that her new country became even greener, giving away to all people there the most beautiful rainbow in the world.

Once there lived a grumpy king. He never used to laugh nor allow anyone in the kingdom to laugh. One day, a small boy couldn't control his laughter. Later, scared of the punishment, he thought of a plan. He wrote a funny story and converted it into a drama. Then he went to the palace and asked the king, "May I present my drama to you?" the king let him do it. Then the boy started the play. In the end, he came to the funniest part of the story which made the king laugh. All people present in the court were amazed. The king then allowed everybody to laugh. Everyone then lived happily thereafter.

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time. This story teaches two lessons: 1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day. 2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words… it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the Eyes of a little boy. Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.” “Well,” said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.” The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?” “Sure,” said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle, “Here, Dolly!” he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this One noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up…. “I want that one,” the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.” With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see sir, I don’t run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.” The world is full of people who need someone who understands.

A Man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: "You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?" So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: "See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides." So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn't gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: "Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along." Well, the Man didn't know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: "Aren't you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey of yours and your hulking son?" The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the donkey's feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore- feet being tied together he was drowned. "That will teach you," said an old man who had followed them: Please all, and you will please none

A farmer had five sons. They were strong and hardworking. But they always quarrelled with one another. Sometimes, they even fought. The farmer wanted his sons to stop quarrelling and fighting. He wanted them to live in peace. Plain words of advice or scolding did not have much effect on these young people. The farmer always thought what to do to keep his sons united. One day he found an answer to the problem. So he called all his sons together. He showed them a bundle of sticks and said, “I want any of you to break these sticks without separating them from the bundle.” Each of the five sons tried one by one. They used their full strength and skill. But none of them could break the sticks. Then the old man separated the sticks and gave each of them just a single stick to break. They broke the sticks easily. The farmer said, “A single stick by itself is weak. It is strong as long as it is tied up in a bundle. Likewise, you will be strong if you are united. You will be weak if you are divided.”

Once the Wind and the Sun had an argument. “I am stronger than you,” said the Wind. “No, you are not,” said the Sun. Just at that moment they saw a traveler walking across the road. He was wrapped in a shawl. The Sun and the Wind agreed that whoever could separate the traveller from his shawl was stronger. The Wind took the first turn. He blew with all his might to tear the traveller’s shawl from his shoulders. But the harder he blew, the tighter the traveller gripped the shawl to his body. The struggle went on till the Wind’s turn was over. Now it was the Sun’s turn. The Sun smiled warmly. The traveller felt the warmth of the smiling Sun. Soon he let the shawl fall open. The Sun’s smile grew warmer and warmer... hotter and hotter. Now the traveller no longer needed his shawl. He took it off and dropped it on the ground. The Sun was declared stronger than the Wind.

A sly fox tried to trick a rooster into coming down from his perch. "Brother Bird," the fox said, "come down and have a friendly chat!" "No," said the rooster, "I'm sure you'd eat me." "Oh, I wouldn't," said the crafty fox, "Haven't you heard? Everyone has agreed to live in peace." "Is that so?" said rooster, who was just as crafty. Stretching his neck, the rooster pretended to look at something far off in the distance. "What are you looking at?" asked the fox curiously. "Oh...Just a pack of hungry fox hounds headed right this way." Upon hearing this, the fox trembled in his tracks and ran off. "Come back!" crowed the rooster, "Why are you running away? I thought you said that everyone has agreed to live in peace." "Well, perhaps those hungry hounds haven't heard about it yet," said the fox, and he bounded away.

Once there was a crocodile. He was really hungry. He saw a boy. The boy had some meat in his hand. He decided he wanted to eat both the boy and his meat. He would trick the boy. The crocodile said, "Oh! Little Boy! could you please give me some meat?" The boy said, "Oh no, you will eat me" The crocodile said, "I promise, I won't eat you." So the boy went near the crocodile to give him the meat. But, instead the crocodile tried to catch the boy. It caught just his arm. There came a rabbit. It wanted to help the boy. It did help the boy. The crocodile wanted to eat the rabbit first, so he let go of the boy's arm. The boy ran away and escaped and the rabbit too fled away. The cunning crocodile didn't get his dinner.

There once was a mouse who liked his country house until his cousin came for a visit. "In the city where I live," his cousin said, "we dine on cheese and fish and bread. Each night my dinner is brought to me. I eat whatever I choose. While you, country cousin, work your paws to the bone for humble crumbs in this humble home. I'm used to finery. To each his own, I see!" Upon hearing this, the country mouse looked again at his plain brown house. Suddenly he wasn't satisfied anymore. "Why should I hunt and scrape for food to store?" he said. "Cousin, I'm coming to the city with you!" Off they went into the fine town house of the plump and prosperous city mouse. "Shhh! The people are in the parlor," the city mouse said. "Let's sneak into the kitchen for some cheese and bread." The city mouse gave his wide-eyed country cousin a grand tour of the leftover food on the table. "It's the easy life," the city mouse said, and he smiled as he bit into a piece of bread. Just as they were both about to bite into a chunk of cheddar cheese, in came the CAT! "Run! Run!" said the city mouse. "The cat's in the house!" As the country mouse scampered for his life out of the window, he said, "Cousin, I'm going back to the country! You never told me that a CAT lives here! Thank you, but I'll take my humble crumbs in comfort over all of your finery with fear!"

There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!" The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces. "Don't cry 'wolf', shepherd boy," said the villagers, "when there's no wolf!" They went grumbling back down the hill. Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!" To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the wolf away. When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there is NO wolf!" But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more. Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!" But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come. At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him weeping. "There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, "Wolf!" Why didn't you come?" An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village. "We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," he said, putting his arm around the youth, "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!"

Once there lived a poor woodcutter. He used to cut trees in the woods. One day he was cutting wood on the bank of a river. His axe fell down into the river. The river was deep. He could not take his axe out. He sat on the bank and began to weep. Mercury, the god of water appeared. He asked the reason of his weeping. The woodcutter told the whole story. Mercury dived into the water and brought a golden axe. The woodcutter refused to take it. Mercury again dived and brought a silver axe. The woodcutter did not take it either. Then he brought an iron axe. The woodcutter took it gladly. Mercury was much pleased. He rewarded the woodcutter with the other two axes.

There was a greedy hippo. He ate everything in sight. From cheese to peas, chips and cake, he always had a bite. Now Hippo he was selfish. He ate everybody’s food. He ate the cat’s, the dog’s, the cow’s. He was very, very rude. One morning after breakfast, he jumped into the lake. One big splash and he was stuck. That was a big mistake. The hippo he sank deeper, then began to shout. ‘Help, please help, I’m sinking. Won’t someone pull me out?’ The animals all pulled and pulled, as hard as they were able. Out he popped, ran past them all and ate everything on their table. The animals were angry, and thought they’d play a trick. They made a pie from fish and soap to make old Hippo sick. ‘Here you are, we’ve made a pie, especially for you.’ ‘Thanks,’ he said, ‘I’ll eat it now. I’ve nothing else to do.’ First a nibble, then a bite, then a great big swallow. He then went back into the lake, the place he loved to wallow. But something wasn’t right, thought Hippo, ‘I feel quite odd inside.’ Now he had a tummy ache as the cooks looked on with pride. Hippo learned his lesson. It was the end of all their troubles. He was last seen leaving town, blowing fishy bubbles

Little Red Riding Hood lived in a wood with her mother. One day Little Red Riding Hood went to visit her granny. She had a nice cake in her basket. On her way Little Red Riding Hood met a wolf. ‘Hello!’ said the wolf. ‘Where are you going?’ ‘I’m going to see my grandmother. She lives in a house behind those trees.’ The wolf ran to Granny’s house and ate Granny up. He got into Granny’s bed. A little later, Little Red Riding Hood reached the house. She looked at the wolf. ‘Granny, what big eyes you have!’ ‘All the better to see you with!’ said the wolf. ‘Granny, what big ears you have!’ ‘All the better to hear you with!’ said the wolf. ‘Granny, what a big nose you have!’ ‘All the better to smell you with!’ said the wolf. ‘Granny, what big teeth you have!’ ‘All the better to eat you with!’ shouted the wolf. A woodcutter was in the wood. He heard a loud scream and ran to the house. The woodcutter hit the wolf over the head. The wolf opened his mouth wide and shouted and Granny jumped out. The wolf ran away and Little Red Riding Hood never saw the wolf again.

Once upon a time there lived a poor widow and her son Jack. One day, Jack’s mother told him to sell their only cow. Jack went to the market and on the way he met a man who wanted to buy his cow. Jack asked, “What will you give me in return for my cow?” The man answered, “I will give you five magic beans!” Jack took the magic beans and gave the man the cow. But when he reached home, Jack’s mother was very angry. She said, “You fool! He took away your cow and gave you some beans!” She threw the beans out of the window. Jack was very sad and went to sleep without dinner. The next day, when Jack woke up in the morning and looked out of the window, he saw that a huge beanstalk had grown from his magic beans! He climbed up the beanstalk and reached a kingdom in the sky. There lived a giant and his wife. Jack went inside the house and found the giant’s wife in the kitchen. Jack said, “Could you please give me something to eat? I am so hungry!” The kind wife gave him bread and some milk. While he was eating, the giant came home. The giant was very big and looked very fearsome. Jack was terrified and went and hid inside. The giant cried, “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!” The wife said, “There is no boy in here!” So, the giant ate his food and then went to his room. He took out his sacks of gold coins, counted them and kept them aside. Then he went to sleep. In the night, Jack crept out of his hiding place, took one sack of gold coins and climbed down the beanstalk. At home, he gave the coins to his mother. His mother was very happy and they lived well for sometime. Climbed the beanstalk and went to the giant’s house again. Once again, Jack asked the giant’s wife for food, but while he was eating the giant returned. Jack leapt up in fright and went and hid under the bed. The giant cried, “Fee-fifo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!” The wife said, “There is no boy in here!” The giant ate his food and went to his room. There, he took out a hen. He shouted, “Lay!” and the hen laid a golden egg. When the giant fell asleep, Jack took the hen and climbed down the beanstalk. Jack’s mother was very happy with him. After some days, Jack once again climbed the beanstalk and went to the giant’s castle. For the third time, Jack met the giant’s wife and asked for some food. Once again, the giant’s wife gave him bread and milk. But while Jack was eating, the giant came home. “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!” cried the giant. “Don’t be silly! There is no boy in here!” said his wife. The giant had a magical harp that could play beautiful songs. While the giant slept, Jack took the harp and was about to leave. Suddenly, the magic harp cried, “Help master! A boy is stealing me!” The giant woke up and saw Jack with the harp. Furious, he ran after Jack. But Jack was too fast for him. He ran down the beanstalk and reached home. The giant followed him down. Jack quickly ran inside his house and fetched an axe. He began to chop the beanstalk. The giant fell and died. Jack and his mother were now very rich and they lived happily ever after.

Once upon a time there was an old mother pig who had three little pigs and not enough food to feed them. So when they were old enough, she sent them out into the world to seek their fortunes. The first little pig was very lazy. He didn't want to work at all and he built his house out of straw. The second little pig worked a little bit harder but he was somewhat lazy too and he built his house out of sticks. Then, they sang and danced and played together the rest of the day. The third little pig worked hard all day and built his house with bricks. It was a sturdy house complete with a fine fireplace and chimney. It looked like it could withstand the strongest winds. The next day, a wolf happened to pass by the lane where the three little pigs lived; and he saw the straw house, and he smelled the pig inside. He thought the pig would make a mighty fine meal and his mouth began to water. So he knocked on the door and said: Little pig! Little pig! Let me in! Let me in! But the little pig saw the wolf's big paws through the keyhole, so he answered back: No! No! No! Not by the hairs on my chinny chin chin! Then the wolf showed his teeth and said: Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down. So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down! The wolf opened his jaws very wide and bit down as hard as he could, but the first little pig escaped and ran away to hide with the second little pig. The wolf continued down the lane and he passed by the second house made of sticks; and he saw the house, and he smelled the pigs inside, and his mouth began to water as he thought about the fine dinner they would make. So he knocked on the door and said: Little pigs! Little pigs! Let me in! Let me in! But the little pigs saw the wolf's pointy ears through the keyhole, so they answered back: No! No! No! Not by the hairs on our chinny chin chin! So the wolf showed his teeth and said: Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down! So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down! The wolf was greedy and he tried to catch both pigs at once, but he was too greedy and got neither! His big jaws clamped down on nothing but air and the two little pigs scrambled away as fast as their little hooves would carry them. The wolf chased them down the lane and he almost caught them. But they made it to the brick house and slammed the door closed before the wolf could catch them. The three little pigs they were very frightened, they knew the wolf wanted to eat them. And that was very, very true. The wolf hadn't eaten all day and he had worked up a large appetite chasing the pigs around and now he could smell all three of them inside and he knew that the three little pigs would make a lovely feast. So the wolf knocked on the door and said: Little pigs! Little pigs! Let me in! Let me in! But the little pigs saw the wolf's narrow eyes through the keyhole, so they answered back: No! No! No! Not by the hairs on our chinny chin chin! So the wolf showed his teeth and said: Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down. Well! he huffed and he puffed. He puffed and he huffed. And he huffed, huffed, and he puffed, puffed; but he could not blow the house down. At last, he was so out of breath that he couldn't huff and he couldn't puff anymore. So he stopped to rest and thought a bit. But this was too much. The wolf danced about with rage and swore he would come down the chimney and eat up the little pig for his supper. But while he was climbing on to the roof the little pig made up a blazing fire and put on a big pot full of water to boil. Then, just as the wolf was coming down the chimney, the little piggy pulled off the lid, and plop! in fell the wolf into the scalding water. So the little piggy put on the cover again, boiled the wolf up, and the three little pigs ate him for supper.

Once there lived a goat along with her seven kids near a forest. She loved her kids very much. One day while the goat was going to collect food for her kids, she said to them, "Kids! I am going to the forest to bring food. You should not quarrel. And listen! Do not open the door for anyone except me. The Wolf always eyes you greedily." She kissed her kids and bade goodbye. The wolf was already waiting for the goat to depart. He was very fond of the lamb’s flesh. He went to the hut of the goat and knocked at the door, "Hello kids! Here is your mother. Open the door. I have brought good food for you." The kids were intelligent, they recognized the voice of the wolf and said, "O wicked wolf! Do not try to fool us. Go away!" Then the wolf practiced speaking like the goat and came again. This time, he spoke in a loud voice, "Hello kids! Open the door. It is your mother here. Be quick." The kids were intelligent. They peeped through the magic glass of the door cautiously. Seeing the feet of the wolf, they said, "No! We will not open the door. We have recognized you. Your feet are different from those of our mother’s. The color of her feet is white." Hearing the kids made the wolf go to a grocer’s shop and ask him to cover his feet by the white flour. The shopkeeper was surprised to hear the strange demand of the wolf. But out of fear, he sprinkled some flour on his feet. Thus, the feet of the wolf became white. He came back to the hut of the goat and knocked at the door, "Hello! Dear children, I have come, open the door quickly." The kids peeped through the magic glass and found the color of the feet white. They  opened the door. But seeing the wolf, made them run here and there to save their lives. Some went under the bed, while some hid behind the curtains. But the cunning wolf caught and ate up all of them except one who had hidden himself in the big clock of the house. The wolf just could not guess that hide out. After some time when the goat returned to the hut, she was surprised to see the door wide open. She had thought that the kids would be very happy to eat the fresh food. But her happiness vanished soon. She found that the whole house had been ransacked and none of her kids could be seen. She wept and cried bitterly and said, "Oh kids! What happened to you all? Why did you open the door for a stranger. The wolf has won the fight and I have lost to him." At this moment, the kid who was inside the clock spoke, "Mother! Are you listening to me, the youngest of all? Take me out of the clock." The goat immediately picked her little kid and kissed her again and again. The kid narrated the whole incident. Then they heard the snoring of the wolf. The goat said, "It appears that the wolf is still here. Bring the long scissors." The kid brought the scissors. They both went to the garden. They found the wolf sleeping there. The goat went up to the wolf slowly and cut open his belly. She found the kids alive and took them out one by one from the wolf’s belly. The goat hugged the kids warmly. Then she asked all the kids to fill stones in his belly. Thereafter, the goat stitched the belly and they all came back to their hut. Soon the wolf awoke and felt thirsty. He got up and went to the well to drink water. As there were stones in his belly, he could not balance himself and fell into the well with a loud noise. He died by drowning in the deep water. The goat and her kids were observing everything from the window. Now they all came out of the hut and danced. They needn’t be afraid of the wolf anymore.

Grady was a little, grey kitten. He had a white spot on his back and a black spot on his nose. Grady lived with his mum and two sisters on a farm. Grady’s sisters were white with black spots. Both of his sisters were very good. Grady was the naughty one. He was always getting into trouble. Grady was very adventurous. He wanted to explore the farm. One day he went out into the farmyard to see what was in the big wide world. Grady said to himself, “I am not afraid of anything!” Suddenly a big monster roared out of the garage and sent Grady spinning into the bushes. He did not know what had roared past. He picked himself up and decided it was time to go home. Grady looked left and he looked right, but there was nowhere that looked like home. He was lost. ‘Oh dear,’ Grady thought. ‘Now what shall I do?’ He walked across a field and suddenly he stopped! There in front of him was a furry, white animal with spots on its back. Grady thought it must be one of his sisters. Grady ran up to the furry, spotted animal. “Can you take me home?” asked Grady. “No,” said the furry animal. “You do not belong in my home. “Look at you, you do not have big ears and you do not hop like me,” said the furry animal. Grady realized he did not belong with this animal. Grady ran to the farmyard where he saw another spotty animal. It was a bit bigger than Grady, but it had spots on its back. Grady ran up to the spotty animal. “Can I come home with you? You look just like me with all those spots,” said Grady. The big animal grunted and jumped into a mud puddle. “I have mud spots on my back. Come and roll in the mud if you want mud spots,” said the muddy spotty animal. “No thanks,” said Grady. He did not want to get muddy. Grady ran away again. Grady was getting worried. He was hungry too. Then Grady saw another spotted animal. This animal had a loud voice. “Ruff, ruff,” said the voice. “Can I help you?” Grady just nodded. He felt himself being lifted up and carried away. A spotty dog had found Grady. He scratched at the front door. A little girl opened the door. She jumped up and down. She was so happy to see the spotty dog and the kitten. She took Grady right back to his mother. She was lying in a basket in the kitchen. Grady saw his mum and his two sisters. Grady listened to their soft purring. “Purr, purr,” said the other kittens. They were happy too. Grady was put back in his basket. He felt happy as he snuggled up with his family. He was safe now and he was going

Samson, the big black cat, lay across the mat fast asleep. He was a very big, fat cat. Samson looked as if he was asleep, but he really had one eye open all the time. Samson’s one eye was looking right at the hole in the wall where a family of rats lived. One, two, three, four and five little rats. Five little frightened rats were peeping out from behind the hole in the wall. The five rats wanted to get away from the big, black cat. Samson yawned and stretched and turned over to sleep a bit longer. The rats were quivering with excitement.  Now was their chance to escape. One rat tiptoed out to cross the room. He started to run towards the door. Suddenly the door opened! In walked a tall man wearing a top hat. The man threw the top hat onto a chair but it missed the chair and fell on the floor. Samson jumped up and hissed. The rat ran back to his hole with the other rats. The chance to escape had gone. Slowly Samson went back to sleep. The rats looked at the cat and then they noticed the top hat lying on the floor and it gave them an idea. The rats nodded to each other as they made a plan. They would hide under the hat and see if they could sneak past the big, black cat. Carefully, one by one, they wriggled under the hat and waited. The rats heard Samson snoring. They thought they would start to walk towards the door under the shelter of the hat. Slowly the hat slid across the floor. The cat did not wake up. The rats reached the door. It was open just enough for them to slip out and go on down the road. The hat, with the rats, went out of the door. At the same time Samson woke up. His greedy eyes saw the hat moving across the steps and out of the door.  He jumped up and started to walk towards the door. The rats knew they would have to start to run. The cat was getting closer and the rats could see no escape. Behind them was the cat and in front of them was the road and it led to a duck pond. Oh, what should they do? Whoosh, a sudden gust of wind blew down the road. It tipped the hat over and the rats fell inside. They hung on tightly.  What would happen now? The hat blew down the road and into the pond. The rats peeped over the edge. They saw that they were floating on the pond. Now the hat was a boat! Samson looked at the rats floating on the pond. He was very angry. He could not swim. The rats had escaped in their funny top hat. The little rats laughed at the cat. Samson hissed and went home.

It was a hot, sunny day in Africa.  Elephant was walking down the path on his way to his favourite water hole. He was looking forward to the cool water and a mud bath. Lion was also walking along the path. Lion was on his way to the grassy plains. He was going to lie down and wait for his lunch. Elephant turned the corner and lifted his trunk in the air. He smelt the water at the water hole. Lion turned into the same corner. He was getting closer to his favourite hunting spot. Suddenly the two animals met in the middle of the path. “Out of my way,” roared the lion. “Out of my way,” trumpeted the elephant. “Make way for the king of the jungle,” growled the lion. “Certainly not! Where shall I go?” answered the elephant. The path was blocked. The two strong animals stood facing each other. The elephant would not move. The lion would not move. Other animals began to walk along the path. Some were standing behind the elephant and others behind the lion. Lion and elephant just stared at each other and refused to move. A monkey came running past. He greeted the other animals. Then he reached the lion and the elephant. He looked at the fierce lion. He looked at the enormous elephant. The monkey started to chuckle. He ran off into the jungle to get some ‘monkey vine’ that hung from the trees. He rushed back to the lion and the elephant. “I know how to solve your problem,” said the monkey. All the animals behind the elephant and the lion wanted to get a look at what was going on. They saw the monkey arrive with a long piece of monkey vine. He tied one end around the elephant and the other around the lion. He stood on an anthill nearby and shouted! “Friends, we are going to have a tug of war. When I say ‘heave’ then it is time for the lion and the elephant to pull the monkey vine!” “May the best animal win,” shouted the monkey. Elephant was very strong and pulled hard at the rope. Lion dug his extra sharp claws into the path and pulled hard too. Suddenly there was a clap of thunder! The animals looked up into the sky. They saw huge dark rain clouds. A storm was on its way. Then lion felt the first drops of rain. He let go of the monkey vine and ran off into the bushes. “My mane, my beautiful mane. I combed it as smooth as silk this morning!” he cried. Lion ran to hide under the tree. “I win,” cried elephant, as he stood in the rain. Elephant’s thick skin was like a raincoat. He was not worried about getting wet. Monkey hopped about with delight. He wanted elephant to win. Suddenly all the animals heard a mighty roar! “No, rain stopped play, there is no contest.” Lion did not want the animals to think he had lost. No contest meant there was no winner. Elephant nodded his head and walked down the path. He did not care if he got wet and he was looking forward to getting muddy too.

Two little bears peeped out of their cave. Winter was over and they could smell the fresh spring air. It was time to get up and play after their long sleep. “Let’s run under the trees,” said Ben. “I want to roll in the grass,” said Bessie. “We’d better ask mum,” said the bears together. Ben and Bessie went into the cave where they had slept with their mum. There she was in the far corner. Mother bear was still fast asleep. The two little bears tiptoed over to their mum and shook her gently. “Wake up mum. The snow has melted and it is time to play,” said Ben. Mother bear did not even move. She grunted and rolled over to carry on sleeping. “What can we do?” asked Bessie. “We need our mother to wake up and take us into the forest to have some fun.” The two little bears sat outside the cave and tried to think of a way to wake up their mum. “I know, let’s get some tickly spiders and see if they will wake up our mother,” said Ben. The two bears went to find some tickly spiders. Bessie was feeling a bit scared of the spiders but Ben collected them on a big leaf. He took them to where his mum was lying. The spiders walked off the leaf and across mother bear’s back. Mother bear giggled in her sleep, but she did not wake up. “I think we should ask a noisy cuckoo,” said Bessie. The bears went out to the trees near the cave. Sitting in the tree was a cuckoo. “Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo,” sang the bird. The two bears asked the cuckoo to follow them back to the cave and call out to their mom. “Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo,” sang the bird but mom just rolled over and carried on sleeping. The two little bears did not know what to do. They had tried tickling, making a loud noise and calling out to mum. “I know,” said Ben. “What about something she likes to eat?” “Honey!” said the bears together. Off they ran to a beehive. They talked politely to the bees and the bees gave them some honey. They ran back to the cave and tiptoed in to see if their mum would smell the honey. Mum’s big brown bear nose began to twitch. Then her nose began to wiggle and she opened one eye. The baby bears took a few steps backwards. Mother bear opened both her eyes and blinked. The baby bears took a few more steps back. Now they were up at the opening of the cave. Mother bear sat up and gave a big sniff. “I smell honey,” she said. Mother bear was awake at last.  Ben and Bessie were so happy. The little bears took a few more steps out of the cave and happily mother bear followed them. At last they had found the best way to wake up mum! Three happy bears skipped into the forest to enjoy the spring and have fun together.

Dylan the young, blue dragon lived deep in the Rockstone  Mountains of Scotland. Everyday the  playful, young dragon woke up early  in the morning and flew all around  the mountains and valleys looking for  something to do. When he was hungry he would  go home to his cave where  Mummy dragon would have hot  soup ready for his dinner. “Wash your wings and get ready for tea. I’ve made your favourite today, darling… pea and toad soup” said mummy dragon. Dylan sighed, “Ehhh…Thank you mum.” he said sadly “Whatever is the matter, son? Everyday you come back home happily for your tea but today you look so sad.” inquired mummy dragon. “I’m lonely, mum. I can’t find anyone to play with. In all the lakes, mountains and valleys in Rockstone, there isn’t a single dragon for me to play with.” he grumbled “Well, how about this for an idea? Why don’t you fly down to the village playground and see if the children there want to play with you? Dylan woke up bright and early the next day. He was very excited that he would soon have friends to play with everyday. He put on his baseball cap and school tie and flew past the valleys and mountains until he reached the little village. Not long after, Dylan the dragon came in for a swift landing in the centre of the playground. The playground was filled with smart young children in bright red and grey uniforms with their school ties. Dylan tugged at his tie and cleared his throat, He felt very well dressed for the occasion. He was about to open his mouth to introduce himself when he suddenly heard… “AAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!! ruuuunnnnnnnnn It’s a dragon, he’s going to burn us ALIVE!!!!!!!” yelled one of the young boys. All the children ran frantically towards the exits and disappeared in no time. Dylan sighed sadly. All he wanted was some friends to play with but clearly humans were very scared of dragons. Dylan sighed sadly. All he wanted was some friends to play with but clearly humans were very scared of dragons. The next day Dylan decided to try and make friends with the children in the playground again. He tucked his white handkerchief in his left gill and scooped up a large branch lying on the floor. He made it into a white surrender flag… He crossed his claws and hoped the children would give him a another chance. Down he flew again into the centre of the playground with his white surrender flag clenched in his jaw. “I just want to play and be friends.” he said softly.“But how will you play with us?” shouted one of the girls. “Your’re too big for our swings and slides. You won’t fit in our roundabout. “Well, why don’t I take you all for a ride to the valleys and the mountains of Rockstone?”“Yay!!” squealed all the children at once. They climbed onto Dylan’s back and off the children went on a very exciting flight. From that day Dylan and the playground children were friends and every day Dylan, the dragon would take the children on the best playground ride ever.

Just as he was about to move towards it, someone called both the animals from the farm and the animals went away. The mouse also returned. After reaching home, he told his tales of adventure to his friends and family about the two interesting animals he had seen. “Today I saw very interesting animals in the farm. One of them was really scary and the other one looked very friendly to me,” the mouse said. “The animal you thought was scary was a rooster and would have never harmed you and on the other hand, the one you wanted to talk to was a cat and he would have eaten you up in a minute.” That day, the young mouse realised that he was lucky to be alive after what he was about to do.

Once upon a time, there lived a cat and a mouse in partnership in the same house. They were best of friends and shared a great bond of friendship. They shared every household work and everything was equally divided amongst them. Soon as the winters were approaching, they decided to store up some food for themselves. On the very next day, they went to the market and bought a little pot of fat. But they did not know where to put it. After thinking for a while, the cat suggested to hide it behind the shrine of the church. They both agreed and went to hide it away from the other cats and mice. But, the cat had a great longing for it and soon she made a plan to steal the entire pot of fat One day, the cat went to the mouse and said, “My cousin has a little son and has invited me to the godmother of that little kitten.” The mouse trusted the cat but she went straight to the church, slunk to the little pot of fat, began to lick it and licked the top off. This was her first steal. In the evening, she returned home happily. When the mouse curiously asked the child’s name, the cat replied, “Top-off!” The mouse was shocked at the name. A few days later, the cat again started to crave for the pot of fat. Whenever she thought about the little pot of fat, she licked her lips. This time, the cat said, “I have been asked to be the godmother to another child!” The kind mouse agreed. The cat hurried to the church and ate up half of the pot of fat. When the cat returned, the mouse was very excited to know the name of the second child. The cat told the mouse, this time the child was named as “Half-gone!” The mouse was again surprised at the name. Not long after this, another great longing came over the cat. Like always, the cat made the same excuse and went to the church. She ate up all the remaining fat in the pot. At that night, she came home sleek and satisfied. The mouse asked at once after the third child’s name. This time, the name of the child was “Clean-gone!” The mouse was totally confused at the cat’s behavior but he did not utter a word. From then on, no one called the cat to be the godmother anymore. Soon as the winters came and there was nothing left at home to eat, the mouse remembered their provision and said, “Come cat, let’s bring the pot of fat that we had stored away!” They went to the church and found the little pot of fat empty. At last, the mouse understood the trick of the greedy cat. In that very moment, the unkind cat jumped onto the poor mouse, seized and swallowed him.

Once upon a time, on a mountain lived a mighty lion. This lion was strong and courageous. One day, when the lion was sleeping in his den, a little mouse came out to play. The mouse saw the lion’s beautiful, beautiful mane. “Look at it shine! So bright, so brilliant!” the mouse thought. The moment the mouse looked at the lion’s mane, he could not take his eyes off it! Then, he set to nibbling the mane. He nibbled and nibbled, and took the broken mane hair to his little den. The mouse was happy with his job. Soon, the lion awoke. And when he saw his uneven mane, he became angry. He roared and roared! Who dared to do this?” the lion yelled in anger. “Whoever it was, will pay for this!”The lion, then, inspected his mane carefully. Though saddened and angry, he realized the uneven form of cutting was done by no other animal than a mouse. The lion then decided to go to a nearby village. “I will get some help. The mouse will surely pay,” the lion thought. Reaching the village, the lion looked for the mouse’s worst enemy. “A cat will take care of this situation in no time.” The lion found a cat and took the cat back to his cave. Once the cat was inside the cave, the lion instructed the cat to keep the mouse away from him. The lion fed the cat and made sure the cat was healthy. When the mouse saw the cat, he could not come out. “If I go now, I am sure to die,” the mouse thought. The mouse stayed hidden for several days. But hunger struck, the mouse finally ventured out. The moment the mouse came out, the cat picked it the mouse up and ate it. Once the mouse was dead, the lion had no use of the cat. So, he stopped feeding the cat. Soon, the cat grew weak and passed away. MORAL OF THE STORY: YOU SHOULD TREAT EVERYONE WITH RESPECT, NOT ONLY WHEN YOU NEED THEM.

Once upon a time, there was a hungry fox. He was looking something to eat. He was very, very hungry. No matter how hard he tried, the fox could not find food. The hungry fox explored the entire forest but in vain. Finally, he went to the edge of the forest and started searching for food. Suddenly, he caught sight of a big tree with the hole in it. Inside the hole, there was a package. The hungry fox immediately thought that there might be food in it and became very happy, He jumped into the hole without thinking the later consequences.  When he opened the package, he saw slices of bread, meat, and food in it. He was very amazed. His mouth was watering already. An old woodcutter had placed the food in the tree trunk. Before he began to cut down the trees in the forest, he was going to eat it for his lunch. The fox went deep inside the tree trunk and began to eat the food. After the fox finished, he felt very thirsty and decided to leave the hole. He decided to bring some water from the nearby spring. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not get out of the hole. The hungry fox had eaten so much food that he became too big to fit through the hole. The fox was very sad and upset. He sadly said to himself, “I wish I had thought a little before jumping into the hole.” The fox went deep inside the tree trunk and began to eat the food. After the fox finished, he felt very thirsty and decided to leave the hole. He decided to bring some water from the nearby spring. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not get out of the hole. The hungry fox had eaten so much food that he became too big to fit through the hole. The fox was very sad and upset. He sadly said to himself, “I wish I had thought a little before jumping into the hole.”

Once upon a time, a mouse and a frog were close friends. The frog often visited the mouse at his home and they both shared the food and provisions the mouse had stocked in abundance. One day, the frog invited the mouse to his house. “Dear Mouse, I come to your house all the time. Now, I invite you to mine!” “I would love to my dear friend,” the mouse replied, “but your house is across the stream. I don’t know how to swim and I am afraid I will drown.” “Don’t worry, I have a plan. You can climb on my back and I can tie you to me with a strong blade of grass. That way, you will be safe to cross the stream,” said the frog. To this, the mouse immediately agreed and they set forth.Halfway across the steam, however, the frog started to get wicked thoughts. “If I were to let the mouse drown, I can get all his food stock and never have to worry about being hungry for a long, long time!” the frog thought. So, the wicked frog dive for the bottom of the stream.The mouse realizing too late the betrayal of the frog started to cry for help. “Help me! Help me!” cried the mouse. A hawk flying above the stream saw the scene and swooped down upon the mouse. The hawk picked him up with its beak and started to fly high into the sky. The frog tied to the mouse was also taken away. The frog realized his mistake. In his greed to get more food, he had not only his good friend, the mouse down but also put his own life into danger.

Once, as a lion lay sleeping in his den, a naughty little mouse ran up his tail, and onto his back and up his mane and danced and jumped on his head … …so that the lion woke up. The lion grabbed the mouse and, holding him in his large claws, roared in anger. ‘How dare you wake me up! Don’t you know that I am King of the Beasts? Anyone who disturbs my rest deserves to die! I shall kill you and eat you!’ The terrified mouse, shaking and trembling, begged the lion to let him go. ‘Please don’t eat me Your Majesty! I did not mean to wake you, it was a mistake. I was only playing. Please let me go – and I promise I will be your friend forever. Who knows but one day I could save your life?’ The lion looked at the tiny mouse and laughed. ‘You save my life? What an absurd idea!’ he said scornfully. ‘But you have made me laugh, and put me into a good mood again, so I shall let you go.’ And the lion opened his claws and let the mouse go free. ‘Oh thank you, your majesty,’ squeaked the mouse, and scurried away as fast as he could. A few days later the lion was caught in a hunter’s snare. Struggle as he might, he couldn’t break free and became even more entangled in the net of ropes. He let out a roar of anger that shook the forest. Every animal heard it, including the tiny mouse. ‘My friend the lion is in trouble,’ cried the mouse. He ran as fast as he could in the direction of the lion’s roar, and soon found the lion trapped in the hunter’s snare. ‘Hold still, Your Majesty,’ squeaked the mouse. ‘I’ll have you out of there in a jiffy!’ And without further delay, the mouse began nibbling through the ropes with his sharp little teeth. Very soon the lion was free. ‘I did not believe that you could be of use to me, little mouse, but today you saved my life,’ said the lion humbly. ‘It was my turn to help you, Sire,’ answered the mouse.