The Banker and The Pauper

Once upon a time there lived a pauper and a banker. The first was as poor
as the second was rich. It was inevitable that the rich man will be happier than the
pauper. But their natures were opposite, for the poor man was happy whereas
the banker was not. The banker was annoyed of the fact that while he tossed and
turned in his bed at night, the pauper slept peacefully and always awoke rested
and full of energy.

One day the banker could stand it no longer. He decided to find out why the
pauper was a happy man despite of his poverty. He summoned him to his house
and asked him his yearly income because he believed that happiness could only
be measured in terms of wealth.

"I don't count too well, nor do I really care. I live each day as it comes and never
worry about the next."

"Well, then, just tell me how much you earn in one day," insisted the rich man.

"I earn what I need. And even that would be too much were it not for all the
Sundays and holidays when I must close my shop."

The banker liked the pauper. He wished to thank him for coming to his
house, so he presented the poor man with a bag of hundred gold coins.

Now, to the pauper these coins, which meant so little to the banker, seemed
a great fortune. He decided to hide the bag, so that he would have the money if
ever he should need it. So, when he returned to his house, he dug a big hole in a
secluded corner of the garden, threw the bag into it, and covered it with dirt.

But from that day on, the poor man's life changed- he began to worry
about the safety of his money. Every night he slept a little less, and each
time he heard the slightest sound, he became anxious about the safety of
his coins.

Finally, he could bear his unhappiness no longer. He went to the

garden, dug up the coins and returned them to the banker.

The pauper had learned an important lesson, and so has the banker.
 Love and Time

Once upon a time, in an island there lived all the feelings and
emotions: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including
Love. One day it was announced to them that the island would sink! so all
constructed boats and left, except for Love.

Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

Richness was passing by Love in a boat. Love said,

"Richness, can you take me with you?"
Richness answered, "Sorry Love, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in
my boat and so there is no place here for you."

Love next asked Vanity who was also sailing by. Vanity was also ready with
the same answer.
"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity
answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, take me along with you."
"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!", sadness said in a
sullen voice.

Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so preoccupied with her
happiness that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an
elder. An overjoyed Love jumped up into the boat and in the process forgot
to ask where they were going. When they arrived at a dry land, the elder
went her own way.

Realizing how much was owed to the elder, Love asked Knowledge
another elder, "Who Helped me?"
"It was Time," Knowledge answered.
"Time?" thought Love. Then, as if reading the face of Love, Knowledge
smiled and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how
valuable Love is."
 The Bad Girl
Written by: W.K. Clifford

She was always called the bad girl, for she had once, when she was
very little, put out her tongue at the postman. She lived alone with her
grandmother and her three brothers in the cottage beyond the field, and the
girls in the village took no notice of her. The bad girl did not mind this, for
she was always thinking of the cuckoo clock. The clock stood in one corner
of the cottage, and every hour a door opened at the top of its face, and a
little cuckoo came out and called its name just the same number of times
that the clock ought to have struck and called it so loudly and in so much
haste that the clock was afraid to strike at all.

The bad girl was always wondering whether it was worse for the clock
to have a cupboard in its forehead, and a bird that was always hopping in
and out, or for the poor cuckoo to spend so much time in a dark little prison.
"If it could only get away to the woods," she said to herself, "who knows but
its voice might grow sweet, and even life itself might come to it!" She
thought of the clock so much that her grandmother used to say—

"Ah, lassie, if you would only think of me sometimes!" But the bad girl would
answer—

"You are not in prison, granny dear, and you have not even a bee in your
bonnet, let alone a bird in your head. Why should I think of you?"

One day, close by the farm, she saw the big girls from the school gathering
flowers.

"Give me one," she said; "perhaps the cuckoo would like it." But they all
cried, "No, no!" and tried to frighten her away. "They are for the little one's
birthday. To-morrow she will be seven years old," they said, "and she is to
have a crown of flowers and a cake, and all the afternoon we shall play
merry games with her."

"Is she unhappy, that you are taking so much trouble for her?" asked the
bad girl.

"Oh, no; she is very happy: but it will be her birthday, and we want to make
her happier."

"Why?"

"Because we love her," said one;

"Because she is so little," said another;

"Because she is alive," said a third.

"Are all things that live to be loved and cared for?" the bad girl asked, but
they were too busy to listen, so she went on her way thinking; and it
seemed as if all things round—the birds, and bees, and the rustling leaves,
and the little tender wild flowers, half hidden in the grass—answered, as she
went along—

"Yes, they are all to be cared for and made happier, if it be possible."

"The cuckoo clock is not alive," she thought. "Oh, no; it is not alive," the
trees answered; "but many things that do not live have voices, and many
others are just sign-posts, pointing the way."

"The way! The way to what, and where?"

"We find out for ourselves; we must all find out for ourselves," the trees
sighed and whispered to each other.

As the bad girl entered the cottage, the cuckoo called out its name eleven
times, but she did not even look up. She walked straight across to the chair
by the fireside and kneeling down kiss her granny's hands.
 On the way to the Sun
Written by: Mrs. W.K. Clifford

He had journeyed a long way and was very tired. It seemed like a
dream when he stood up after a sleep in the field, and looked over the wall,
and saw the garden, and the flowers, and the children playing all about. He
looked at the long road behind him, at the dark wood and the barren hills; it
was the world to which he belonged. He looked at the garden before him, at
the big house, and the terrace, and the steps that led down to the smooth
lawn—it was the world which belonged to the children.

"Poor boy," said the elder child, "I will get you something to eat."

"But where did he come from?" the gardener asked.

"We do not know," the child answered; "but he is very hungry, and mother
says we may give him some food."

"I will take him some milk," said the little one; in one hand she carried a
mug and with the other she pulled along her little broken cart.

"But what is he called?" asked the gardener.

"We do not know," the little one answered; "but he is very thirsty, and
mother says we may give him some milk."

"Where is he going?" asked the gardener.

"We do not know," the children said; "but he is very tired."

When the boy had rested well, he got up saying, "I must not stay any
longer," and turned to go on his way.

"What have you to do?" the children asked.

"I am one of the crew, and must help to make the world go round," he
answered.

"Why do we not help too?"

"You are the passengers."

"How far have you to go?" they asked.

"Oh, a long way!" he answered. "On and on until I can touch the sun."

"Will you really touch it?" they said, awestruck.

"I dare say I shall tire long before I get there," he answered sadly. "Perhaps
without knowing it, though, I shall reach it in my sleep," he added. But they
hardly heard the last words, for he was already far off.

"Why did you talk to him?" the gardener said. "He is just a working boy."

"And we do nothing! It was very good of him to notice us," they said,
humbly.

"Good!" said the gardener in despair. "Why, between you and him there is a
great difference."

"There was only a wall," they answered. "Who set it up?" they asked
curiously.

"Why, the builders, of course. Men set it up."

"And who will pull it down?"

"It will not want any pulling down," the man answered grimly. "Time will do
that."

As the children went back to their play, they looked up at the light towards
which the boy was journeying.

"Perhaps we too shall reach it someday," they said.

 The Two Goats

Over a river there was a very narrow bridge. One day a goat was
crossing this bridge. Just at the middle of the bridge he met another goat.
There was no room for them to pass.

"Go back," said one goat to the other, "there is no room for both of us".

"Why should I go back?", said the other goat. "Why should not you go
back?"

" You must go back", said the first goat, "because I am stronger than you."

"You are not stronger than I", said the second goat.

"We will see about that", said the first goat, and he put down his horns to
fight.

"Stop!", said the second goat. " If we fight, we shall both fall into the river
and be drowned. Instead I have a plan- I shall lie down, and you may walk
over me."

Then the wise goat lay down on the bridge, and the other goat walked lightly
over him, so they passed each other, and went on their ways.