The Lion and a Clever Fox

Long ago, there lived a lion in a dense forest. One morning his wife told him that his breath was bad and unpleasant. The lion became embarrassed and angry upon hearing it. He wanted to check this fact with others. So he called three others outside his cave.
First came the sheep. The Lion opening his mouth wide said, “Sheep, tell me if my mouth smells bad?” The sheep thought that the lion wanted an honest answer, so the sheep said, “Yes, Friend. There seems to be something wrong with your breath”. This plain speak did not go well with the lion. He pounced on the sheep, killing it.
Then the lion called the wolf and said, “What do you think? Do I have a bad breath?” The wolf saw what happened to the sheep. He wanted to be very cautious in answering a question. So, the wolf said, “Who says that Your breath is unpleasant. It’s as sweet as the smell of roses”. When the lion heard the reply, he roared in an anger and immediately attacked the wolf and killed it. “The flatterer!” growled the lion.
Finally, came the turn of the fox. The lion asked him the same question. The fox was well aware of the fate of the sheep and the wolf. So he coughed and cleared his throat again and again and then said, “Oh Dear Friend, for the last few days, I have been having a very bad cold. Due to this, I can’t smell anything, pleasant or unpleasant”.
The lion spared the fox’s life.

Moral:  Do not involve yourself in a bad company or a bad situation else you may end up getting punished for no fault of yours.  Sometimes, It’s wise to stay away from certain situations.

The Lion and The Mouse

A Mouse running over his face awakened a Lion from sleep. Rising up angrily, he caught him and was about to kill him. Then the Mouse piteously entreated, saying:

“If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness.” The Lion laughed at him but allowed him to go. It happened shortly after this that some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground, caught the Lion. The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came and gnawed the rope with his teeth, and set him free, exclaiming:

“You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, never expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor,  Now you know that it is possible for even a Mouse to confer benefits on a Lion.”

Moral: It is possible for even a Mouse to confer benefits on a Lion.

Learning from Mistakes

Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing, Not sure if we can use an electricity properly.”
Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb.”
Moral: We can also learn from our mistakes.

The Seven Wonders

Anna was a 9-year-old girl from the small village.  She finished attending elementary school till 4th grade at her village.  For the 5th grade onwards, she will have to get an admission in a school at a city nearby.  She got very happy knowing that she was accepted in a very reputed school in a city.  Today was the first day of her school and she was waiting for her school bus.  Once the bus came, she got in it quickly.  She was very excited.
Once the bus reached to her school, all students started going to their classes.  Anna also made it to her classroom after asking fellow students for direction.  Upon seeing her simple clothing and knowing she is from a small village, other students started making fun of her.  The teacher soon arrived and she asked everyone to keep quiet.  She introduced Anna to the class and told that she will be studying with them only from today.
Then the teacher told the students to be ready for the surprise test now!  She told everyone to write down the 7 wonders of the world.  Everyone started writing the answer quickly.   Anna started to write the answer slowly.
When everyone except Anna had submitted their answer paper, the teacher came and asked Anna, “What happened Dear?  Don’t worry, Just write what you know as other students have learned about it just a couple of days back”.
Anna replied, “I was thinking that there are so many things, which 7 I can pick to write!”   And, then she handed her answer paper to the teacher.  The teacher started reading everyone’s answers and the majority had answered them correctly such as The Great Wall of China, Colosseum, Stonehedge,  Great Pyramid of Giza, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Tajmahal, Hanging Gardens of Babylon etc.
The teacher was happy as students had remembered what she had taught them.  At last the teacher picked up Anna’s answer paper and started reading.

“The 7 Wonders are – To be able to See, To be able to Hear, To be able to Feel, To Laugh, To Think, To be Kind, To Love!”

The teacher stood stunned and the whole class was speechless.  Today, a girl from the small village reminded them about the precious gifts that god has given us, which are truly a wonder.

Moral:  Value what you have, use what you have, trust what you have.  You don’t always have to look away to find an inspiration.  God has given you all the strength to reach your goals.

The Four Friends

Four friends live in a village which has been struck by famine. Three of them are extremely clever and learned and consider their friend Shivanand a lazy but practical fool.

The four decide to go a place called Manasa, which is considered an asylum for scholars. On their way, they have to pass through a forest. There they come across bones of a lion. Satyanand decides to show his knowledge by recreating the lion’s skeleton. The other friend reconstructs the lion’s muscles and structure. Vidyanand then wants to show his superior powers by breathing life into the lion.

Shivanand tries to stop them and warns them of the consequences of their plans. But they do not stop. Shivanand climbs a tree before Vidyanand foolishly proceeds with his plans. The lion comes to life and devours the three learned fools.

Shivanand’s practical nature saves him.

Moral: It is better to be practical than learned.

The Bear and The Two Friends

Once two friends were walking through the forest. They knew that anything dangerous can happen to them at any time in the forest. So they promised each other that they would remain united in any case of danger.
Suddenly, they saw a large bear approaching them. One of the friends at once climbed a nearby tree. But the other one did not know how to climb. So being led by his common sense, he lay down on the ground breathless, pretending to be a dead man.
The bear came near the man lying on the ground. It smelt in his ears, and slowly left the place. Because the bears do not touch the dead creatures.Now the friend on the tree came down and asked his friend on the ground, “Friend, what did the bear tell you into your ears?” The other friend replied, “The bear advised me not to believe a false friend.”

Moral: True Friend is the one who always supports and stands by you in any situation.

Think Before You Judge

A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call asap, changed his clothes and went directly to the surgery block.  He found the boy’s father pacing in the hall waiting for the doctor.
On seeing him, the father yelled, “Why did you take all this time to come? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger? Don’t you have any sense of responsibility?”
The doctor smiled and said, “I am sorry, I wasn’t in the hospital and I came as fast as I could after receiving the call and now, I wish you’d calm down so that I can do my work”.
“Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son dies while waiting for the doctor than what will you do??” said the father angrily.  The doctor smiled again and replied, “We will do our best by God’s grace and you should also pray for your son’s healthy life”.
“Giving advises when we’re not concerned is so easy” Murmured the father.
The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy, “Thank goodness! your son is saved!” And without waiting for the father’s reply he carried on his way running by saying, “If you have any questions, ask the nurse”.
“Why is he so arrogant? He couldn’t wait some minutes so that I ask about my son’s state” Commented the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left.  The nurse answered, tears coming down her face, “His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was at the burial when we called him for your son’s surgery.  And now that he saved your son’s life, he left running to finish his son’s burial.”

Moral: Never judge anyone because you never know how their life is and what they’re going through.

Who is Happy? The Peacock and The Crow

A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.”
He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colors. I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation.” The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors.”
The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. “Dear peacock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.”
The peacock replied, “I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on the planet. But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. I have examined the zoo very carefully, and I have realized that the crow is the only bird not kept in a cage. So for past few days, I have been thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere.”

That’s our problem too. We make unnecessary comparison with others and become sad. We don’t value what God has given us.  This all leads to the vicious cycle of unhappiness.  Learn to be happy in what you have instead of looking at what you don’t have.   There will always be someone who will have more or less than you have.  Person who is satisfied with what he/she has, is the happiest person in the world.

Bond of Love and the Truth

A very loving couple had been married for over 10 years without any child and it was becoming their 11th year.  Steve and Sarah stayed with each other and greatly hoped that they will have a child before their 11th year of marriage runs out because they were under persuasion from friends and family members to get a divorce.  But they couldn’t let go because of the strong bond of love between them.  Months passed and one day, while Dave was returning from work, he saw his wife walking down the road with a man.
Months passed and one day, while Dave was returning from work, he saw his wife walking down the road with a man.  The man had his arms around her neck and they looked very happy.  For over a week, he saw the same man with his wife at various places and one evening while Dave was returning from work he saw the man drop her off at the house after giving her a kiss on the cheek.  Dave was angry and sad but he didn’t spoke of it with his wife.
Two days later after a hectic day at work, Dave was taking water with a glass jug from the dispenser when the phone rang.  He picked it up and the person said, ”Hello dear, I’ll be coming to your house this evening to see you as promised.”  Dave hung up the phone.  It was a male voice and he was sure the person was the man he had always seen his wife with.  He suddenly became shaky with the thought that he has lost his wife to another man.  The glass jug fell from his hand and shattered into pieces.
His wife came running into the room asking, ”Is everything okay?”  In anger, he gave his wife a push and she fell.  She wasn’t moving or getting up.  Dave then realized that she fell where he broke the glass jug.  A large piece of glass had pierced her.  He felt her breath, pulse, and heartbeat but there she lay lifeless.  In a total confusion, he saw an envelope in her hand.  He took it, opened it and was shocked by its content – it was a letter.  It read:

“My loving husband, words can not express how I feel so I had to write it down. I have been going to see a doctor for over a week and I wanted to be sure before I give you the news.
The doctor confirmed it that I am pregnant with a twin and our baby is due 2 months from now.  The same doctor is my long lost brother whom I lost contact with after our marriage. He has promised to take care of me and our baby and give us the best without collecting a dime.
He also promised to have dinner with us today.  Thanks for staying by my side.
Your loving wife.

The letter fell from his hand.  There was a knock at the door and the same man he had seen with his wife came in and said, ”Hello Dave, I suppose I’m right. I am Max, the brother of your wife”  Suddenly, Max noticed his sister lying in a pool of her blood.  He rushed her to the hospital and she was in a coma.  She had lost her twins.

Moral: We should not be too quick to take unnecessary actions in our relationship or marriage when we haven’t questioned our partner or spouse on what we saw or heard about them.  We all have our faults.  We shouldn’t be too fast to judge others.  Not everything you see, hear or believe about someone is true.  Always learn to control yourself under any condition or situation, irrespective of what you’ve heard or seen.

Your Chance of a Greater Good

It was an early morning.  Mr. Khanna was getting ready for his office when His wife asked him to put just a few clothes out for a laundry today.  He asked his wife, “Why?”  She told him, “Because our maid is planning to visit her Grand Daughter today, she will have to leave early to catch the bus and she will not be coming for two days”.  Mr. Khanna asked her, “Where is she going for two days?”  She told him, “Tomorrow is the Birthday of her Grand Daughter, so she is going to spend time with her and celebrate.”   Mr. Khanna told her, “Ok, no problem”.
But then his wife asked him, “Oh one more thing!  Should I give her Rs. 500 as a bonus?”   Mr. Khanna said, “Why now?  We will give her during the Christmas”.  His Wife said, “Well, She is hardly able to manage her expenses and she is visiting her Grand Daughter, so not sure how she will be able to manage as these days inflation is high.  I feel she can use a little bonus”.
Mr. Khanna said, “Oh dear, I feel you are getting too sensitive and worrying too much”.  His wife said, “Don’t Worry, I will cancel our plan to go out and have a pizza, that way we can give her extra Rs. 500 as a bonus”.   Mr. Khanna said with a smile, “You are ready to take the pizza out of my mouth…   Well, do as you feel if you willing to let go of 6 sliced pizza, it’s fine”.
So, after a couple of days, when the maid had returned, she was cleaning the floor.  Mr. Khanna was sitting on his chair.  He asked her, “Did you enjoy a good time with your Grand Daughter?”  The Maid replied, “Yes Sir, I enjoyed a lot, I spent whole Rs. 500 in 2 days!”  Mr. Khanna said, “Oh really!  How did you spend Rs. 500 so quickly?”
The Maid replied with a happy smile, “For Rs. 150, I bought a Dress for my Grand Daughter, bought sweets for Rs. 50, Paid Rs. 100 for Bus Tickets, bought bangles for Rs. 50 for my daughter, for my son in law I bought a belt for Rs. 50 and last Rs. 100, I gave to my Grand Daughter to purchase pencil and papers for her school”.
Mr. Khanna was surprised.  He started thinking about the 6 slices of pizza.  Each slice started hitting in his mind.  He started comparing the cost of the pizza with his maid’s expense.  He was lost in thoughts that how she bought something for everyone in her family and spent a quality time with them for her Grand Daughter’s birthday.   And all these just for the cost of the pizza.  He realized something that day.

Moral:  We have a right to do what makes us happy and spend our hard earned money as we like for our happiness.  No one has right to envy at how you spend money earned by your hard work.   But, if you feel you had wasted your hard earned money for something to gain nothing even if it was occasionally, you have a chance to do something of a greater good for someone by following above story.  You may not be obligated to do so, but your little goodwill can light up someone’s life in many ways.

The King and Macaw Parrots

 

Once upon a time, there was a king who had gone to visit neighboring kingdoms. He was gifted a pair of baby Macaw Parrots by the king of the last kingdom where he was visiting. They were the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. So, upon returning to his kingdom, he called for a bird trainer and asked him to train macaw parrots.

The king also arranged a place in the palace garden for the parrots. He often looked at them from his palace window. As time passed, one day the trainer came to the palace and informed the king that though one of the parrots was flying majestically high in the sky, the other one was not moving from its branch since the day it had arrived.

Upon hearing this, the king summoned trainer and healers from the nearby kingdoms. They all tried their best, but couldn’t make the parrot fly! He even asked his courtiers to try to find a way to make the parrot fly but they all failed. The parrot was not moving from his branch at all. Finally, after trying everything, the king thought that maybe he needs someone who may be more familiar with natural habitat. He asked his courtier to get a farmer from the countryside and take him to the parrot to see if he can understand the problem with the parrot.

The next morning, the king was thrilled to see the parrot flying high above the palace gardens. He asked his servant to call that farmer to meet him. The servant quickly went and located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, “How did you make the parrot fly?”

With his hands folded with respect, the farmer said to the king, “It was very easy, your majesty. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting.”

Moral: We are all gifted with energy to find a success in our life, but fail to gather a courage which is required to reach heights of success and end up clinging to the things that are familiar to us. We need to free ourselves from our comfort zone to explore new opportunities and find a success beyond our capacity.

A Man with a Lamp

Once upon a time, there was a small town. There lived a man by himself who couldn’t see. He was blind. Yet, he carried a lighted lamp with him whenever he went out at night.
One night as he was coming home after having a dinner outside, he came across a group of young travelers. They saw that he was blind, yet carrying a lighted lamp. They started passing comments on him and made a fun of him. One of them asked him, “Hey Man! You are blind and can’t see anything! Why do you carry the lamp than?!”
The blind man replied, “Yes, unfortunately, I am blind and I can’t see anything but a lighted lamp which I am carrying is for the people like you who can see. You may not see the blind man coming and end up pushing me. That is why I carry a lighted lamp”.
The group of travelers felt ashamed and apologized for their behavior.

Moral: We should think before judging others. Always be polite and learn to see things from others point of view.

The Needy King and a Sage

A Sage was passing through the capital city of the famous king. While he was walking, he noticed a single currency coin on the road. He picked it up. He was satisfied with his simple living and he had no use of that coin. So, he planned to donate it to the one who is in need of it. He strolled around the streets throughout the day but didn’t find anyone such. Finally, he reached the rest area and spent a night there.
Next morning, he wakes up in the morning for his daily activities and sees that a king is going for his invasion of another state with his war ready army. When the king saw the sage standing, he ordered his army to be stopped. He came to the Sage and said, “Oh Great Sage, I am going to war to win another state so that my state can be expanded. So bless me to be victorious”.
After thinking, Sage gave a single currency coin to the king! The king was confused and annoyed with this because what use he has for a single coin while he is already one of the richest kings! He curiously asked a sage, “what’s the meaning of this one coin?”
A Sage explained, “Oh Great King! I found this coin yesterday while strolling around the streets of your capital city. But I had no use of it. So, I had decided that I will donate it to someone needy. I strolled around till the evening in your capital, but found no one such. Everyone was living a happy life. It seemed that they were satisfied with what they had. So I found no one to give this coin. But today, the king of this state, still have the desire to gain more and not satisfied with what he already has, I felt you were in need of this coin.”
The King realized his mistake and gave up the planned war.

Moral: We all should learn to be happy with what we have. Yes, we all desire more or better than we already have, but do not waste a chance of enjoying what you already have. There are those who may not have what you have, and there will be some who have lots more than you have. Do not always compare, be happy and lead a healthy life.