The Lion's Share

The Lion's Share

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

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

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

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

The others nodded in agreement.

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

The others looked uneasily at each other.

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

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

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

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

You may share the labors of the great, but you can not share the spoil.

The Man and the Serpent

The Man and the Serpent

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

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

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

The incensed father took out his axe and hunted down the serpent, who happened to reside in a small hole beside a tree. 
Again and again did his axe fall upon the serpent who somehow managed to escape each blow until one powerful stroke cut off part of its tail. Bleeding and crying out of pain, the snake carried its body with great difficulty and slithered into one of the holes between the roots of the huge tree. 

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

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

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

With this purpose, the farmer went to the serpent's lair with food and honey and offered him the treats saying, 
"You know, we should let bygones be bygones. There was no enmity between us as such. So why don't we forget and forgive each other and be friends?"

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

Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten.

The Classic Friendship Story of the Lion and the Mouse

The Classic Friendship Story of the Lion and the Mouse

Once in a dense jungle far far away there lived a mighty lion whom all the other creatures used to fear very much. King of the jungle as he was, the terrible beast knew no fear and he loved the respect he received from all and sundry in the forest. He used to spend half his day in hunting and the other half in sleeping. No creature dared to come near his den at any time of the day, specially when he was asleep for the mighty beast got terribly angry if his sleep was disturbed in any way. 

But one day it so happened that a little mouse got curious to see how the lion's den looked like. So he set out for the cave where the lion rested. When he got near, he could not see the lion.

"He has gone somewhere. Is he going to come back soon? Nah...I don't think so." thought the mouse. It ran and sneaked into the cave. It was a dark, desolate place but big enough for the lion to live. The mouse felt small and a little afraid when he saw the large footprints of the lion on the ground. 

"Maybe I should turn back." thought he. 

Just then he heard the sound of the footsteps of the lion. 

"Oh no, he is coming back. Now what do I do?" the mouse trembled anxiously.

The lion had only gone to quench his thirst from a river close by and he was coming back to take rest.

The mouse hid himself in the dark inside of the cave and saw the huge shadow of the lion falling on the floors. The lion sat near the entrance of the cave and rested his head on his huge paws. Soon he was fast asleep. The whole cave seemed to tremble with the loud snoring of the jungle king. 

The mouse tried to creep out as stealthily as he could. Soon he was near the entrance. But as he tried to cross the lion, his little tail grazed against the left paw of the beast and the lord of the jungle woke up with a start. Imagine his anger and the roar he gave when he saw the puny mouse in his den. 

The frightened mouse lost his mind and began to run up and down upon the lion. The lion placed his huge paw upon its tail and opened his big jaws to swallow the mouse when the latter cried out, 

"Pardon, O King, please forgive me. I did not mean to wake you, I was only trying to leave this cave which I had entered out of curiosity. Kindly let me go this time, I shall never forget your nobility: if destiny gives me a chance I will assist you in whichever way I can on one of your bad days." 

The lion was amused at this thought. How can the little mouse help him? But he let him go and roared with laughter. The mouse ran for his life, thanking his stars. 

A few days, as the lion was prowling majestically through the jungle, it was suddenly caught in a hunter's snare. He struggled furiously to break free. But for all his efforts, he only found himself getting even more entangled in the net of ropes. He roared out of anger and helplessness. The whole jungle began to shake due to the terrible sound and every animal heard the cries of the beast. The mouse heard it too.

"The lord of the jungle is in trouble." thought the mouse. "It is my chance to be of help to him now". 

Thinking so, the mouse ran as fast as he could to the place where the sounds were coming from. Soon he found the lion
trapped in the hunter's snare. 

"Don't move, Your Majesty, I'll cut your ropes and you will soon be free" squeaked the mouse. Without wasting a second, he began nibbling through the ropes with his sharp little teeth. Very soon the lion was free. 

"I did not believe that even you could help me. But I was wrong" said the lion humbly. And the two creatures became the best of friends from that day. 

No matter how weak and small a creature is, he may be of help if time comes.

The Tortoise and the Hare

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

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

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

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

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

Plodding wins the race. 

The Ant and the Grasshopper

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

The grasshopper invited the ant to sit for a chat with him. But the ant refused saying that "I’m storing up food for winter". " Why don’t you do the same?" asked the ant to the grasshopper.

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

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

Then the Grasshopper understood that…

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity. 

Moral Stories - Birbal Caught the Thief

Birbal caught the Thief

Once a rich merchant’s house was robbed. The merchant suspected that the thief was one of his servants. So he went to Birbal and mentioned the incident. Birbal went to his house and assembled all of his servants and asked that who stole the merchant’s things. Everybody denied.

Birbal thought for a moment, then gave a stick of equal length to all the servants of the merchant and said to them that the stick of the real thief will be longer by two inches tomorrow. All the servants should be present here again tomorrow with heir sticks.

All the servants went to their homes and gathered again at the same place the next day. Birbal asked them to show him their sticks. One of the servants had his stick shorter by two inches. Birbal said, “This is your thief, merchant.”

Later the merchant asked Birbal, “How did you catch him?” Birbal said, “The thief had already cut his stick short by two inches in the night fearing that his stick will be longer by two inches by morning.”

Moral: Truth will always Prevail.

Moral Stories - Birbal's Wisdom

Birbal’s Wisdom

One fine day, Akbar lost his ring. When Birbal arrived in the court, Akbar told him "I have lost my ring. My father had given it to me as a gift. Please help me find it.”  Birbal said ”do not worry your Majesty, I will find your ring right now.”

He said, ”Your Majesty the ring is here in this court itself, it is with one of the courtier.  The courtier who has a straw in his beard has your ring.”   The courtier who had the emperors ring was shocked and immediately moved his hand over his beard.  Birbal noticed this act of the courtier.  He immediately pointed towards the courtier and said, ”Please search this man.He has the emperors ring.”

Akbar could not understand how Birbal had Managed to find the ring.  Birbal then told Akbar that a guilty person is always scared.

Moral: A Guilty Conscience need No Accuser.