17 Camels and 3 Sons:

Long ago, there lived an old man with his three sons in a deserted village, located in the vicinity of a
desert. He had 17 camels, and they were the main source of his income. He used to rent out camels
as a means of shipping in the desert. One day, he passed away. He had left a will, leaving his assets
for his three sons.

After the funeral and the other obligations were over, the three sons read the will. While their
father had divided all the property he had into three equal parts, he had divided the 17 camels in a
different way. They were not shared equally among the three as 17 is an odd number and a prime
number, which cannot be divided.

The old man had stated that the eldest son will own half of the 17 camels, the middle one will get
one third of the 17 camels, and the youngest one will get his share of camels as one ninth!

All of them were stunned to read the will and questioned each other how to divide the 17 camels as
mentioned in the will. It is not possible to divide 17 camels and give half of the 17 camels to the
eldest one. It is not possible also to divide the camels for the other two sons.

They spent several days thinking of ways to divide the camels as mentioned in the will, but none
could find the answer.

They finally took the issue to the wise man in their village. The wise man heard the problem and
instantly found a solution. He asked them to bring all the 17 camels to him.

The sons brought the camels to the wise man's place. The wise man added a camel owned by him
and made the total number of camels 18.

Now, he asked the first son to read the will. As per the will, the eldest son got half the camels,
which now counted to 18 / 2 = 9 camels! The eldest one got 9 camels as his share.

The remaining camels were 9.

The wise man asked the second son to read the will. He was assigned 1 / 3 of the total camels.

It came to 18 / 3 = 6 camels. The second son got 6 camels as his share.

Total number of camels shared by the elder sons - 9 + 6 = 15 camels.

The third son read out his share of camels: 1 / 9th of the total number of camels - 18 / 9 = 2 camels.

The youngest one got 2 camels as his share.

Totally there were 9 + 6 + 2 camels shared by the brothers, which counted to 17 camels.

Now, the one camel added by the wise man was taken back.
 Change Yourself and not The World:

Long ago, people lived happily under the rule of a king. The people of the kingdom were very
happy as they led a very prosperous life with an abundance of wealth and no misfortunes.

Once, the king decided to go visiting places of historical importance and pilgrim centres at
distant places. He decided to travel by foot to interact with his people. People of distant places
were very happy to have a conversation with their king. They were proud that their king had a
kind heart.

After several weeks of travel, the king returned to the palace. He was quite happy that he had
visited many pilgrim centres and witnessed his people leading a prosperous life. However, he
had one regret.

He had intolerable pain in his feet as it was his first trip by foot covering a long distance. He
complained to his ministers that the roads weren't comfortable and that they were very stony.
He could not tolerate the pain. He said that he was very much worried about the people who
had to walk along those roads as it would be painful for them too!

Considering all this, he ordered his servants to cover the roads in the whole country with
leather so that the people of his kingdom can walk comfortably.

The king's ministers were stunned to hear his order as it would mean that thousands of cows
would have to be slaughtered in order to get sufficient quantity of leather. And it would cost a
huge amount of money also.

Finally, a wise man from the ministry came to the king and said that he had another idea. The
king asked what the alternative was. The minister said, "Instead of covering the roads with
leather, why don't you just have a piece of leather cut in appropriate shape to cover your feet?"

The king was very much surprised by his suggestion and applauded the wisdom of the minister.
He ordered a pair of leather shoes for himself and requested all his countrymen also to wear
shoes.

Moral: Instead of trying to change the world, we should try to change ourselves.
 Greedy Boy:

Sam and Tom were identical twins. They were so identical that even their mother found it
difficult to distinguish one from the other, at least during their initial days on earth.

However, they were very different from each other when it came to everything other than
their appearance. Sam had no friends, while Tom was a great friendship maker. Sam loved sweets,
but Tom loved spicy food and detested sweets. Sam was mommy's pet and Tom was daddy's pet.
While Sam was generous and selfless, Tom was greedy and selfish!

As Sam and Tom grew up, their father wanted to share his fortune equally amongst them.
However, Tom did not agree and he argued that whoever proved to be more intelligent and strong
would have to get a bigger share of the wealth.

Sam agreed. Their father decided to organize a competition between the two. He asked the
two sons to walk as long as they could, and return home before sunset. The wealth would be
divided in proportion to the distance covered. As a rule of the competition, they were not permitted
to carry a watch to keep track of the time.

The following day, Sam and Tom set out to walk. It was a rather sunny day. Sam walked
slowly and steadily, while Tom broke into a sprint as he was bent on winning the race and also
winning a greater portion of his father's wealth.

Sam knew that it would be ideal to walk as far as possible till noon and start for home at
noon as it would take the same amount of time to walk back home. Knowing this, Sam decided to
turn back for home at noon so as reach home on time.

However, Tom, with his greed to earn more wealth, did not attempt to return home even
after mid-noon. He walked twice as long as Sam, and thought he would still be able to return home
before sunset. He hurried back when he saw the sun turn orange. Unfortunately, he could not even
make it half way home as the sun started to set. Slowly darkness engulfed his path and he had to
drag his tired feet back home.

He had lost the race. Only because of his greed. Greed leads to loss.
 The Apple Tree and the Farmer:

Once upon a time, there lived a farmer in a village, beside a forest. He had a big garden that
had an old apple tree and other plants, trees and beautiful flowers. When the farmer was a little
boy, he spent much of his time playing with the apple tree. Those days, the apple tree had given the
choicest of apples to him. However, as time passed, the apple tree became old and stopped bearing
fruits.
Now that the farmer was not getting any apples from the tree, he decided that the tree was
useless. Therefore, he decided to cut the tree and use its wood to make some new furniture. He felt
that since the tree was old and huge, he did not have to cure it, and it would make great furniture.
He forgot that as a boy, he had spent his entire childhood climbing the tree and eating its apples.
Now the apple tree was home to several little animals in the neighborhood. This included
squirrels, sparrows and a huge variety of birds and insects. When the farmer took his axe and began
chopping the tree, all the little animals came rushing down.
They all began to plead with the farmer. They gathered round the farmer and said, "Please
don't cut the tree. We used to play with you when you were small, under this very tree. This is our
home and we have no other place to go".
The farmer was adamant. He raised his axe and the commotion grew.
"Please don't chop and destroy my home and kids," cried the squirrel.
"Please don't chop and destroy my nest," cried the little birds.
"Please don't cut the apple tree," cried the grasshopper.
The farmer, however, forgot his childhood and his animal friends. He began to chop the tree
harder. All the little animals became desperate, and wanted to protect the apple tree at any cost.
The little animals said, "We will sing for you when you are toiling away in the fields. We will
look after your little boy. He will not cry, but instead will be entertained and happy. You will like our
songs and will not feel tired."
However, their cries for help fell on deaf ears. Despite all their requests, the farmer
continued to chop down the tree.
All of a sudden, he noticed something shiny. On inspecting it, he realized that it was a
beehive, full of honey. He took a little and put it in his mouth. The taste of the honey woke up the
little boy in him. Suddenly, the memories of his childhood came rushing back. The honey tasted so
good that he wanted more. It brought a sense of happiness to him. He smiled and exclaimed, "This
tastes amazing."
Realizing the change in the farmer's attitude, the little animals spoke in unison: The bee
said, "I will always provide you with sweet honey." The squirrel said, "I will share any amount of
nuts that you want." The birds cried, "We will sing as many songs as you want."
Finally, the farmer realized his folly, and put down his axe. He understood that the tree was
home to many lovely animals that provided him with so many things. He wanted his little boy to
have the childhood that he had.
The farmer realized that the apple tree was not that fruitless. The little boy in him saved the
apple tree.
He threw away the axe and said to the little creatures, "I promise that I would never cut this
tree. I have realized my mistake and you all can now live in peace and harmony."
The little creatures thanked the bee profusely. If the farmer had not found the beehive, they
would have been homeless by now. They continued living happily in the old apple tree.
 The Cunning Fox and the Clever Stork:

Once upon a time, there lived a very cunning and mischievous fox. He used to speak to
other animals sweetly and gain their trust, before playing tricks on them.

One day the fox met a stork. He befriended the stork and acted like a very good friend.
Soon, he invited the stork to have a feast with him. The stork happily accepted the invitation.

The day of the feast came, and the stork went to the fox's house. To her surprise and
disappointment, the fox said that he could not make a big feast as promised, and just offered some
soup. When he brought the soup out of the kitchen, the stork saw that it was in a shallow bowl!

The poor stork could not have any soup with its long bill, but the fox easily licked the soup
from the plate. As the stork just touched the soup with the tip of its bill, the fox asked her, "How is
the soup? Don't you like it?"

The hungry stork replied, "Oh it is good, but my stomach is upset, and I can't take any more
soup!"

"I'm sorry for troubling you," said the fox.

The stork replied, "Oh dear, please don't say sorry. I have some health problem and cannot
enjoy what you offer."

She left the place after thanking the fox, and inviting him to her house for dinner.

Cunning Fox and the Clever Stork StoryThe day arrived and the fox reached the stork's
place. After exchanging pleasantries, the stork served soup for both of them, in a narrow jar with a
long neck. She was able to have the soup very easily with her long bill, but the fox obviously could
not.

After finishing hers, the stork asked the fox if he was enjoying the soup. The fox
remembered the feast he himself had given the stork, and felt very ashamed. He stammered, "I...I'd
better leave now. I have a tummy ache."

Humiliated, he left the place running.

Moral: One bad turn begets another.

 Foolish Monkeys

Before several centuries, there was a very large, dense and dark forest. A group of monkeys
arrived at the forest. It was winter season, and the monkeys struggled hard to survive the freezing
cold nights. They were hunting for fire to get warm.

One night, they saw a firefly and considered it a dab of fire. All the monkeys in the group
shouted 'Fire, Fire, Fire, Yeah we got fire!'

A couple of monkeys tried to catch the firefly and it escaped. They were sad as they could
not catch the fire. They were talking to themselves that they couldn't live in the cold if they didn't
get the fire.

The next night, again they saw many fireflies. After several attempts, the monkeys caught a
few fireflies. They put the fireflies in a hole dug in the land and tried to blow the flies.

They blew the flies very hard without knowing the fact that they were flies!

An owl was watching the activities of the monkeys. The owl reached the monkeys and told
them, 'Hey those are not fire! They are flies. You won't be able to make fire from it!'

The monkeys laughed at the owl. One monkey replied the owl, 'Hey old owl you don't know
anything about how to make fire. Don't disturb us!'

The Owl warned the monkeys again and asked them to stop their foolish act. 'Monkeys, you
cannot make fire from the flies! Please hear my words.'

The monkeys tried to make fire from the flies.

The Owl told them again to stop their foolish act. 'You are struggling so much, go take your
shelter in a nearby cave. You can save yourself from the freezing cold! You won't get fire!'

One monkey shouted at the owl and the owl left the place.

The monkeys were simply doing the foolish activity for several hours and it was almost
midnight. They were very tired and realized that the words of the owl were correct and they were
trying to blow a fly.

They sheltered themselves at the cave and escaped from the cold.

We may go wrong many times and should seek and accept the advice / suggestions
provided by others.
 Real Solution to Problems

A group of employees was working in a software company. It was a team of 30 employees.

This was a young, energetic and dynamic team with keen enthusiasm and desire to learn and grow.
The management decided to teach the employees about finding real solution to the problems.

The team was called to play a game in a banquet hall. The group was quite surprised as they
were called for playing game. All reached the venue holding various thoughts. As they entered the
hall, they found the hall decorated beautifully with colourful decorative papers and balloons all over
the place. It was more like a kid's play area, than a corporate meeting hall.

Everyone was surprised and gazed at each other. Also, there was a huge box of balloons
placed at the centre of the hall.

The team leader asked everyone to pick a balloon from the box and asked them to blow it.
Every one happily picked a balloon and blew it.

Then the team leader asked them to write their names on their balloon, carefully so that the
balloons didn't blow up. All tried to write their names on the balloons, but not everyone was
successful. A few balloons blew up due to pressure and they were given another chance to use
another balloon.

Those who failed to mark their names even after the second chance were ruled out of the
game. After the second chance, 25 employees were qualified for the next level. All the balloons
were collected and then put into a room.

The team leader announced the employees to go to the room and pick the same balloon
that had his name on it. Also, he told them that no balloon should blow up and warned them to be
very careful!

All 25 employees reached the room, where the balloons carrying their names were thrown
here and there. They were searching for the respective balloons carrying their names. While they
were in a rush to find the respective balloons, they tried not to burst the balloons. It was almost 15
minutes and no one was able to find the balloon carrying his own name.

The team was told that the second level of the game was over.

Now it is the third and final level. They asked the employees to pick any balloon in the room
and give it to the person named on the balloon. Within a couple of minutes all balloons reached the
hands of the respective employee and everyone reached the hall.

The team leader announced; this is called real solutions to the problems. Everyone is
frantically hunting for solutions to the problems without understanding the ideal ways. Many times,
sharing and helping others give you real solutions to all problems.

Help out each other to ease things.

 The Most Beautiful Heart

One day, in a heavily crowded place, a young man began shouting.

"People, look at me. I have the most beautiful heart in the world."

Many people looked at him and were stunned to see his beautiful heart in a perfect shape,
without any flaw. It looked quite amazing. Most of the people who saw his heart were mesmerized
by the beauty of his heart, and praised him.

However, there came an old man who challenged the young man, "No my son, I have got
the most beautiful heart in the world!"

The young man asked him, "Show me your heart, then!"

The old man showed his heart to him. It was very rough, uneven, and had scars all over. In
addition, the heart was not in shape; it appeared like bits and pieces joined in various colours. There
were some rough edges; some parts were removed, and fitted with other pieces.

The young man started laughing, and said, "My dear old man, are you mad? See, my heart!
How beautiful and flawless it is. You cannot find even a bit of imperfection in my heart. See, yours?
It is full of scars, wounds, and blemishes. How can you say your heart is beautiful?"

"Dear boy, my heart is just as beautiful as your heart is. Did you see the scars? Each scar
represents the love I shared with a person. I share a piece of my heart with others when I share
love, and in return I get a piece of heart, which I fix at the place from where I have torn a piece!"
said the old man.

The young man was shocked.

The old man continued, "Since the pieces of heart I shared were neither equal nor in the
same shape or size, my heart is full of uneven edges and bits and pieces. My heart is not in shape
because sometimes I do not get love in return from those to whom I gave it. Your heart that looks
fresh and full with no scars indicates that you never shared love with anybody. Isn't that true?"

The young man stood still and did not speak a word. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He
walked to the old man, tore a piece of his heart and gave the piece to the old man.

Many give importance and respect to physical beauty. Yet, real beauty is not physical!
 Four Friends

Once upon a time in a small village lived four Brahmins named Satyanand, Vidhyanand,
Dharmanand and Sivanand. They had grown up together to become good friends. Satyanand,
Vidhyanand and Dharmanand were very knowledgeable. But Sivanand spent most of his time
eating and sleeping. He was considered foolish by everyone.
Once famine struck the village. All the crops failed. Rivers and lakes started to dry up.
The people of the villages started moving to other villages to save their lives.
"We also need to move to another place soon or else we will also die like many others,"
said Satyanand. They all agreed with him.
"But what about Sivanand?" Asked Satyanand.
"Do we need him with us? He has no skills or learning. We cannot take him with us,"
replied Dharmanand. "He will be a burden on us."
"How can we leave him behind? He grew up with us," said Vidhyanand. "We will share
what ever we earn equally among the four of us."
They all agreed to take Sivanand along with them.
They packed all necessary things and set out for a nearby town. On the way, they had to
cross a forest.
As they were walking through the forest, they came across the bones of an animal. They
became curious and stopped to take a closer look at the bones.
"Those are the bones of a lion," said Vidhyanand.
The others agreed.
"This is a great opportunity to test our learning," said Satyanand.
"I can put the bones together." So saying, he brought the bones together to form the
skeleton of a lion.
"Dharmanand said, "I can put muscles and tissue on it." Soon a lifeless lion lay before
them.
"I can breathe life into that body." said Vidhyanand.
But before he could continue, Sivanand jumped up to stop him. "No. Don't! If you put
life into that lion, it will kill us all," he cried.
"Oh you coward! You can't stop me from testing my skills and learning," shouted an
angry Vidhyanand. "You are here with us only because I requested the others to let you come
along."
"Then please let me climb that tree first,' said a frightened Sivanand running towards
the nearest tree. Just as Sivanand pulled himself on to the tallest branch of the tree Vidhyanand
brought life into the lion. Getting up with a deafening roar, the lion attacked and killed the
three learned Brahmins.
 The Clever Crab

There lived a heron by a big lake. He used to catch fish and eat them. But he had become
old and could not catch fish like before. He went without food for many days together.

"I have to think of a plan. Otherwise I won't live for long," thought the heron. Soon he came
out with a clever plan. The heron sat at the water's edge looking depressed and thoughtful. In the
same lake lived a crab who was friendly and thoughtful. As he went past, he noticed how the heron
looked and asked him, "Why are you looking depressed my friend?"

"What can I say," said the heron in a sad voice. "Something terrible is going to happen."
"What is that?" asked the crab anxiously.

"When I was on my way here this morning, I heard an astrologer say that there will be no
rains in these parts for the next twelve years. The lake will dry up and we will all die. I am quite old.
It does not matter if I die. But you all are so young. There is so much for you to see and enjoy," said
the heron.

The crab went to the fishes in the lake and told them what the heron had told him. They
were all filled with fear. "O no! What do we do? We will all die." they cried.

"There is a very big lake some distance from here. I can take you all there one by one."
offered the heron. All the fishes were comforted and they agreed to be carried to the bigger lake
one by one.

Every day, the heron would fly the fishes one by one. He would hold one gingerly between
his long beak and fly away. But instead of taking them to any lake, he would land on a rock some
distance away and eat them. Then he would rest till evening and return to the lake.

After some days, the crab went up to the heron. "You have been taking the fishes to the
other lake. When will you take me?" he asked.

The heron thought to himself, "I am tired of eating fish. Crab meat should be a pleasant
change." The heron agreed to take the crab to the other lake.

But the crab was too large for the heron to carry in his beak. So the crab climbed on to the
heron's back and they started the journey. After a while, the crab grew impatient.

"How far is the lake?" he asked the heron.

"You fool," laughed the heron. "I am not taking you to any lake. I am going to dash you
against those rocks and eat you like I ate all those fishes."

"I am not a fool to allow you to kill me," said the crab.

He held the heron's neck in his powerful claws and strangled the wicked heron to death.
 Thinking Out of the Box (Creative Thinking):

In a small Italian town, hundreds of years ago, a small business owner owed a large sum of
money to a loan-shark. The loan-shark was a very old, unattractive looking guy that just so
happened to fancy the business owner’s daughter.

He decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the debt he
owed him. However, the catch was that we would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the
businessman’s daughter.

Needless to say, this proposal was met with a look of disgust.

The loan-shark said that he would place two pebbles into a bag, one white and one black.

The daughter would then have to reach into the bag and pick out a pebble. If it was black,
the debt would be wiped, but the loan-shark would then marry her. If it was white, the debt would
also be wiped, but the daughter wouldn’t have to marry the loan-shark.

Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan-shark bent over
and picked up two pebbles.

Whilst he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he’d picked up two black pebbles
and placed them both into the bag.

He then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and pick one.

The daughter naturally had three choices as to what she could have done:

Refuse to pick a pebble from the bag.

Take both pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan-shark for cheating.
Pick a pebble from the bag fully well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her
father’s freedom.
She drew out a pebble from the bag, and before looking at it ‘accidentally’ dropped it into
the midst of the other pebbles. She said to the loan-shark;

“Oh, how clumsy of me. Never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will
be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

The pebble left in the bag is obviously black, and seeing as the loan-shark didn’t want to be
exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped was white, and clear her
father’s debt.

Moral of the story:

It’s always possible to overcome a tough situation throughout of the box thinking, and not
give in to the only options you think you have to pick from.
 The Power of Silence

Joe was an old man aged 75 years. He lived very happily and formed a beautiful family. His
children grew up and moved to different cities in pursue of good career and future. He lived in a
small village carrying the memories of his deceased wife. Joe had 4 grand
children and they used to visit him during their holidays.
And it was the vacation time and Joe was eagerly waiting for the arrival of his grandchildren.
He was preparing his home for the kids, cleaning the home, mowing the garden, rearranging the
household items, buying the favourite foods, dresses for the children, etc. In the busy
arrangements, he lost his favourite watch. old-watch.
The watch was gifted by his dead wife when their first child was born. Joe treasured the
watch and it became his sole companion after his wife's death.
He forgot the watch missing and was happy receiving the kids at home. It was only the next
day when he was about to take bath, he remembered that the watch was missing. He saw the
watch last when he was arranging things in the barn. He was shocked and very upset.
His grandchildren asked him why he was so dull and asked him what troubled him.
Joe said, 'Dear children, I lost the most precious watch I have ever had and I ever got in my
life. It was gifted by your grandma and I lost it while cleaning the home! I feel like I'm missing my
heart.'
Joe was on tears and the children promised him that they would search the watch for him.
One granddaughter asked 'grand pa, do you remember when you saw the watch last before
it was missing?'
Joe told, 'I guess when I was cleaning the barn!'
The children decided to search for the watch in the barn. The barn was full of waste
materials, books, scraps, broken furniture, etc.
The children searched for more than 2 hours with help of Joe and a servant, but could not
find it. Joe was completely shattered and asked the children to stop searching as they could not find
anything.
The kids were also too sad, and consoled the grandfather.
One grandson again moved to the barn, and Joe asked why he was going there again. The
little boy requested others not to follow him and remain silent.
While the others were little surprised, they still followed what he said. The little boy went to
the barn and sat there in silence.
The other children reached him and asked him what he was doing and the little boy asked
them not to make noise.
He sat there for about 15 minutes and then rushed to his grandfather. Yes, he got the watch
and happily gave it to Joe.
He was surprised and asked how he was able to find it. The little boy replied, 'I sat there
without making a noise and the barn was so silent. After a few minutes, I heard the 'tick tick' sound
and found the watch.
Joe hugged him and thanked the little boy.

This is the power of silence. If we stay calm, we can find the solution very easily!
 How a Boy Went Fishing

ON the morning of Decoration-day, Harry declined attending the celebration with the family,
saying that he preferred to go fishing, "lots of other fellows were going." So Harry gathered up his
fishing outfit, his gun, dinner pail, matches, and an umbrella for sultry sun or summer shower, and set
them outside the door while he hunted for a few angleworms.

The parents bade him good-by, to take care of himself, and not go too far up the canyon, for the
walk home after pleasure is over is always a longer one than that of going.

When the parents and two youngest ones returned from the celebration that afternoon, the
good house- keeper had a nice, plain dinner ready; the two children left in her care were asleep after
their dinner, and the house seemed peaceful and cool after the long ride and exercises in the open air.

Just before lamp-light, Harry came home, all his trim outfit looking very dusty and out of order;
the umbrella was broken, the dinner pail dented and cover lost, and his clothing both torn and dirty. But
Harry proudly showed a trout that he had brought home for mother's own supper no one else must ask
for a taste or even accept a proffered portion, or cast admiring glances that way. The trout was about
five inches long and had a peculiar, ragged appearance. "You see," explained Harry, "the line got tangled
after he swallowed the bait, and I shot him for fear he'd get away." " There was no danger of that," said
Harry's father. The proud son now expressed a de- termination to. make a fire and cook the trout. " O
Harry, don't make a fire to-night and heat the house; the trout will do for breakfast! " " Mother, the
house-keeper might eat it herself; little bites; trout is tempting." "No, Harry, she wouldn't do that."
"Well, then, mother, I'll dig a hole in the garden and bury the fish to keep it cool all night." "Very well,"
said she, and Harry spent half an hour in the garden, then came in satisfied with the labors of the day.
Throwing himself upon the lounge, he recounted the rambles he had made, how encumbered he had
been with so much luggage, the loss of his ramrod, then the theft of his dinner by a hungry dog, and
finally how blistered his feet were with so much walking; but he had enjoyed himself. Suddenly he
asked, " Do you suppose cats or dogs could burrow under that box?" He rose, looked out of the window
and spied a neighbor's dog sniffing at the fresh earth. That roused him thoroughly and he forgot that he
was tired. The dog was chased for a block away; the trout was dug up, the protecting wrappers of paper,
cloth, and leaves were removed, a hot fire kindled, and the trout put into the oven. " Baked trout,
mother, is a delicacy enjoyed by epicures." "Thank you, Harry, but I'm afraid I can't eat it to-night." "Yes
you can, I want you to know what a real fresh brook trout tastes like. I'll practice on my flute while it
bakes, and call you when it is done. You go walk in the garden." She had not the heart "to refuse his
pleading smile, and, glad also to get out of the warm kitchen, she strayed into the front yard, and, oh,
what a sight met her gaze! Geraniums, verbenas, and over there the strawberry bed, turned upside
down! Holes and mounds of earth, and, lying crossways of a pansy bed, a hoe and long- handled shovel.
"What does it mean?" she asked the housekeeper, who was just returning from an errand up town. " He
said it was searching for angle- worms, ma'am." Harry's mother re-entered the house after a serious
conflict with self, whether to scold or not to scold, and there was he upon the lounge fast asleep after
the weariness of the day. She went to the oven; the trout was done like a chip.

When Harry was awakened for bed-time, he said: " Mother, I enjoyed your having that trout
more than though I had eaten it myself." " I know it, my son, and now won't you eat some raspberry pie
and sweet milk, for I am sure you must be faint?" " Faint! I'm starved! Mother, I couldn't love you more
if you were an angel! " Harry concluded this declaration with a rapturous hug, and turned with a boy's
own appetite to his tempting meal.
 The Little Girl And Mushrooms

It was a fine summer morning, perfect to be outdoors. Two sisters had been out mushroom
picking, and were on their home with heavy baskets full of mushrooms. They sang songs on the
way, and played with each other.

Soon they reached a point where they had to cross a railway track. They did not think twice
about crossing it since there was no train coming, and they could not hear any whistle. They slowly
climbed the embankment to cross the track, taking care not to drop the baskets. They were very
near the track and the little sister was about the cross it, when they heard the distinct horn of a
train.

The older sister got frightened and ran back. She thought that the young one was following
her. She turned back and was shocked to see her little sister still crossing the track. "Come back
here, run back fast," she screamed.

It seemed that the little girl could not hear her sister. She was still concentrating on stepping
over the track with her little feet, and holding on to the basket. Then she tripped and fell on the
track, scattering her mushrooms around. She sat down and began picking them up and putting in
her basket.

In the meanwhile the elder sister had become hysteric. She cried and screamed, calling her
little sister to leave the mushrooms and run back, but it seemed as though the little one could not
hear her.

The engine driver panicked on seeing the girl and blew his whistle with all his might, but she
appeared not to hear the whistle. Her sister was now crying loudly, overcome by panic, as the little
sister crawled between the tracks on her hands and knees, to pick the rest of the mushrooms.

The engine driver was helpless as it was not possible for him to stop the engine suddenly.
He blew the whistle as hard as he could, but the engine rolled over the little girl. The older sister
clasped her face with her trembling hands and cried bitterly. The passengers too panicked at the
thought of the sight they would have to witness. The guard ran down to the end of the train to see
what happened to the little girl. When the train passed, everybody saw her lying very still between
the tracks with her face down.

Then she raised her head, sprang to her knees and began gathering the remaining
mushrooms. The big sister ran towards her, tears streaming down her face. They hugged and kissed
each other, crying out of happiness, tears of joy flowing down their little cheeks. Never were two
souls so happily united as at that moment. She promised her little sister that thereafter she would
hold her hand tightly while crossing the railway line.

The two sisters then picked all the remaining mushrooms, and hand in hand, solemnly
walked back home. They were indeed two souls who had become wiser than their years, in the span
of a few minutes.
 What is For Dinner

Sammy always worried about his wife Dolly. They were married for almost 15 years.
While, Dolly was a village girl, Sammy was raised in a city. Although, they had a lot of cultural
differences in life, Dolly managed everything to perfection.

The latest worry about Dolly was that she was losing her hearing. Sammy was worried
that due to aging, Dolly was gradually losing her hearing capacity.

It happened one day, when Sammy was in the living room and asked for a cup of tea
from Dolly. Dolly did not respond. He increased his voice and once again asked her for some
tea. Still, he heard nothing from Dolly. He got up and slowly walked to the kitchen and asked
Dolly for some tea. Dolly was a bit surprised and said that she would bring it in 10 minutes.

A few days after that incident, Sammy had to leave town for a week. After his return, he
decided to find out the extent of his wife's hearing loss. He discussed this matter with a doctor,
prior to taking Dolly to the doctor. The doctor told him an easy way to find the extent of her
hearing loss.

Sammy reached home and called for his wife, Dolly as he entered. Dolly was in Kitchen,
preparing dinner. He heard nothing from her. Then he asked her from the entrance door, 'Dolly
what's for dinner?'

Surprise! No response! All was silent.

He went to his room and asked her, 'I am here, what's for dinner Dolly?'

He sat on the sofa and asked her again, 'Dolly what's for dinner?' Again, it was silent...

He asked, her, 'What's for dinner' as he washed his face.

He then moved a few steps ahead towards kitchen and asked the same.

He tried with the question, 'What's for dinner' standing at different places at home to
identify the extent of hearing loss.

He heard nothing from her. He then moved to kitchen and asked her, 'Dolly, what's for
dinner?'

Dolly became furious at him and said, "I am saying it for the eight time. It is chicken,
can't you hear it?'

Sammy went speechless. Sammy realized that one should not get into conclusions or
blame others without knowing the truth.
 Aladdin And The Magic Lamp

Long time ago in China, there lived a poor boy, whose name was Aladdin. Aladdin lived with his
mother. One day a rich and distinguished looking man came to their house and said to Aladdin's mother,
"I am a merchant from Arabia and want your son to come with me. I will reward him handsomely."
Aladdin's mother instantly agreed. Little did she know that the man pretending to be a rich merchant
was in reality a magician.

Next day, Aladdin having packed his belongings left with the 'merchant'. After many hours of
traveling the 'merchant' stopped. Aladdin too stopped, surprised that they should stop in such a
desolate spot. He looked around; there was nothing in sight for miles.

The 'merchant' pulled out some colored powder from his pocket and threw in the ground. The
next instant the whole place was filled with smoke. As the smoke cleared, Aladdin saw a huge opening in
the ground; it was a cave. The 'merchant' turned to Aladdin and said, "I want you to go inside this cave;
there will be more gold than you have ever seen; take as much as you want. You will also see an old
lamp; please bring that back to me. Here, take this ring; it will help you." Aladdin was very suspicious but
the decided to do as was told.

He lowered himself into the cave, thinking all the while that it would be difficult to climb out
without help. Aladdin entered the cave and just like the 'merchant' had said saw gold, jewelry, diamonds
and other valuables. He filled his pockets. When this was done, he looked for the lamp; it was lying in
the corner, full of dust and dirty. He picked it up and ran to the cave's opening and shouted to the
'merchant', "I have your lamp. Can you please pull me out?" "Give me the lamp," said the 'merchant'.
Aladdin was not sure that he would be pulled out if he gave back the lamp; so he said, "First, please pull
me out."

Aladdin and The GenieThis angered the 'merchant'. With a loud cry, he pulled out the same
colorful powder and threw it on the cave opening, sealing it with a huge boulder. Aladdin was
depressed. He thought, "That was no rich merchant; he was surely a magician. I wonder why this lamp
was so important to him." As he was thinking he rubbed the lamp. All of sudden a strange mist filled the
room and from the mist emerged a stranger looking man. He said, "My master, I am the genie of the
lamp, you have rescued me; what would your wish be?" Aladdin was scared but he said in quivering
voice, "Ta.. Take me back home."

And the next moment Aladdin was home hugging his mother. He told her of the magician and
the lamp. Aladdin again summoned the genie. This time when the genie appeared he was not scared. He
said, "Genie, I want a palace, not an old hut." Again to Aladdin and his mother's amazement in front of
them was a magnificent palace.

Time passed. Aladdin married the Sultan's daughter and was very happy. It so happened that
the evil magician got to know of Aladdin's good fortune. He came by Aladdin's palace pretending to
exchange old lamps for new. The princes, Aladdin's wife, not knowing the value of the lamp to Aladdin
called out to the magician to wait.

As soon as the magician saw the lamp he grabbed it from the princess' hand and rubbed it. The
genie appeared, "you are my master and your wish is my command," he said to the magician. "Take
Aladdin's palace to the great desert faraway from here," ordered the magician.
 The Friendship of a Lion and a Mouse

There lived a tiny mouse in a big dense forest that was always in search of food. While searching
in the forest, one day, it came near a lion's den. The good smell coming from the lion's den drew the
little mouse inside it. The mouse found several pieces of animal meat on the floor. Those were all the
leftovers of the animal the lion had eaten. Therefore, the mouse ate few pieces.

Later, it decided to eat the other pieces at night, so it stayed back in the den. Due to over eating,
the mouse fell asleep inside the den. The lion returned to its den at dark but could not see the sleeping
mouse as it was dark inside the den. The lion ate the entire piece of lamb it had brought and left the
bones lying on the floor. After a sumptuous filling meal, the lion slept off and started snoring aloud. The
loud snoring sounds woke the mouse up with a sudden jerk. When the mouse saw the lion sleeping in
the den, he got scared and puzzled, and accidentally bumped in to the lion's leg. The mouse felt the
smooth fur of the lion's body. While exploring it, the mouse reached the lion's ear and this led to waking
up the lion. The disturbed lion, agitated, snorted loudly. "Who is it?" The frightened mouse declared his
identity with a feeble voice. The lion was furious as it got disturbed during his sleep. So he said, "How
dare you disturb my sleep and where are you?"

When the mouse responded, the lion had to light up a lamp as it was very dark inside the den
and he could not possible see a tiny creature like a mouse. With the light, the lion looked at his clean
den. It was devoid of any bones or leftover meat. Moreover, there was no usual stink in the den due to
the animal leftover meat and other stuff. He was quite amazed.

In one corner, the lion looked at the petty little mouse. The mouse was shivering with fear. So
the lion pondered for a while about how the mouse had managed to keep the den clean. Therefore, he
decided that he would keep the mouse in his den so that it can have the leftover meat and bones. That
much food will be more than sufficient for the mouse and this will also keep his den stink-free and tidy.

Then the lion in a grumpy and angry voice asked the mouse, "Why have you entered my den?"
Petrified, the mouse retorted with folded hands and honestly told the lion that he had reached the den
in search of food. He could not resist the good smell of the meat and was extremely sorry for his action.
Hence, the mouse apologized and asked the lion to let him go. The lion told the mouse that he could
stay in the den only if he allowed the lion to sleep properly. The mouse was too scared and did not
understand what the lion meant. He kept begging the lion to leave him.

Looking at the terrified mouse, the lion lowered his voice and said in soft tone, "Oh tiny mouse
do not be scared and frightened. Just listen to me carefully. I go hunting every day and bring the carcass
of some animal as part of my daily meal. I do not eat it completely. You are a small and tiny animal and
hence you can easily eat the leftovers and make yourself happy. If you like eating the leftovers without
searching for food, you can stay here and help me keep this place clean." This revealed the soft and
humble side of the lion's gigantic character. The mouse was taken aback with unlimited joy. To this he
said, "Yes Mr. Lion, I shall stay in the den."

However, the lion put forth one simple condition for the mouse. The lion said that he would
have to keep the den clean. The mouse can eat the leftover meat and bones. If the mouse failed to
complete the leftovers, he must throw the remaining away from the den. So the task of cleanliness of
the den was given to the mouse in exchange of his stay and food. The mouse was more than happy to
accept the offer.
 The four friends and the hunter:

Long, long ago, there lived three friends in a jungle. They were-a deer, a crow and a mouse.
They used to share their meals together.
One day, a turtle came to them and said, "I also want to join your company and become
your friend. I'm all alone. "
"You're most welcome," said the crow. "But what about your personal safety. There are
many hunters around. They visit this jungle regularly. Suppose, a hunter comes, how will you save
yourself?"
"That is the reason why I want to join your group," said the turtle

No sooner had they talked about it than a hunter appeared on the scene. Seeing the hunter,
the deer darted away; the crow flew in the sky and the mouse ran into a hole. The turtle tried to
crawl away fast, but he was caught by the hunter. The hunter tied him up in the net. He was sad to
lose the deer. But he thought, it was better to feast on the turtle rather than to go hungry.

The turtle's three friends became much worried to see his friend trapped by the hunter.
They sat together to think of some plan to free his friend from the hunter's snare.

The crow then flew high up in the sky and spotted the hunter walking along the river bank.
As per the plan the deer ran ahead of the hunter unnoticed and lay on the hunter's path as if dead.

The hunter saw the deer from a distance, lying on the ground. He was very happy to have
found it again. "Now I'll have a good feast on it and sell its beautiful skin in the market," thought the
hunter to himself. He put down the turtle on to the ground and ran to pick up the deer.

In the meantime, as planned, the rat gnawed through the net and freed the turtle. The
turtle hurriedly crawled away into the river water.

Unaware of the plot of these friends, the hunter went to fetch the dear for its tasty flesh
and beautiful skin. But, what he saw with his mouth agape was that, when he reached near, the
deer suddenly sprang up to its feet and darted away in the jungle. Before he could understand
anything, the deer had disappeared.

Dejected, the hunter turned back to collect the turtle he had left behind on the ground in
the snare. But he was shocked to see the snare lying nibbled at and the turtle missing. For a
moment, the hunter thought that he was dreaming. But the damaged snare lying on the ground
was proof enough to confirm that he was very much awake and he was compelled to believe that
some miracle had taken place.
The hunter got frightened on account of these happenings and ran out of the jungle.
The four friends once again started living happily.
 The sage and the mouse:

There lived a famous sage in a dense forest. Everyday, the animals of the forest came to him to
listen to his spiritual preachings. They would gather around the meditating sage and the sage would tell
them the good things of life. There was also a little mouse living in the same forest. He too used to go to
the sage daily to listen to his preachings.

One day, while he was roaming in the forest to collect berries for the sage, he was attacked by a
big cat, who was watching him from behind the thick bushes. The mouse was scared. He ran straight to
the ashram of the sage. There he lay prostrate before the sage and narrated to him the whole story in a
trembling voice. In the meantime, the cat also arrived there and requested the sage to allow him to take
his prey.

The sage was in a fix. He thought for a moment and then with his divine powers transformed the
mouse into a bigger cat. Seeing a huge cat before him the other cat ran away. Now the mouse was
carefree. He began to roam about in the forest like a big cat. He meowed loudly to frighten other
animals. He fought with other cats to take revenge on them and in this way killed many of them.
The mouse had hardly enjoyed a few carefree days of his life, when one day, a fox pounced
upon him. This was a new problem. He had never taken into acount that there were yet bigger animals
who could easily maul him and tear him into pieces. He,ran for his life,- He, somehow, saved himself
from the fox and ran straight to the sage for help. The fox too was in his hot persuit. Soon both of them
stood before the sage.

The sage seeing the plight of the mouse this time, transformed the mouse into a bigger fox.
Seeing a big fox before him the other fox ran away. The mouse became more carefree and began
roaming about in the forest more freely with his newly acquired status of a big fox. But, his happiness
was short-lived.

One day, while he was moving around in the forest freely, a tiger pounced upon him. The
mouse, somehow, managed to save his life and as usual ran to take shelter in the ashram of the sage.

The sage, once again, took pity on the mouse and transformed him into a tiger. Now, the mouse,
after acquiring the. status of a tiger, roamed fearlessly in the forest. He killed many animals in the forest
unnecessarily.

After having been transformed into a tiger, the mouse had become all-powerful for the -forest
animals. He behaved like a king and commanded his subjects. But one thing always bothered his mind
and kept him worried; and that was, the divine powers of the sage. "What, if, one day for some reason
or the other, the sage becomes angry with me and brings me back to my original status," he would think
worriedly. Ultimately, he decided something and one day, he came to the sage roaring loudly. He said to
the sage, "I'm hungry. I want to eat you, so that I could enjoy all those divine powers, which you do.
Allow me to kill you."

Hearing these words the sage became very angry. Sensing tiger's evil designs, he immediately
transformed the tiger back into the mouse. The worst had happened. Now the mouse realised his folly.
He apologised to the saint for his evil actions and requested him to change him again into a tiger. But
the sage drove the mouse away by beating him with a stick.
 Appreciation of Hard Work

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big
company. He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made the last decision. The
director discovered from the CV that the youth’s academic achievements were excellent all the way,
from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, Never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, “Did you obtain any scholarships in school?” The youth answered “none”.
The director asked, “Was it your father who paid for your school fees?” The youth answered, “My father
passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees”. The director
asked, “Where did your mother work?” The youth answered, “My mother worked as clothes cleaner.
The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were
smooth and perfect”. The director asked, “Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes
before?” The youth answered, “Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books.
Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me”.

The director said, “I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother’s hands,
and then see me tomorrow morning”. The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When
he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange,
happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid. The youth cleaned his mother’s hands
slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother’s hands were so
wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother
shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes
everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother’s hands were the price that the
mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future. After finishing the cleaning of
his mother’s hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother. That night,
mother and son talked for a very long time. Next morning, the youth went to the director’s office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth’s eyes, asked: “Can you tell me what have you done
and learned yesterday in your house?” The youth answered, “I cleaned my mother’s hand, and also
finished cleaning all the remaining clothes”. The Director asked, “please tell me your feelings”. The
youth said, “Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not the
successful me today. Number 2, By working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how
difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and
value of family relationship”.

The director said, “This is what I am looking for to be my manager. I want to recruit a person
who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done,
and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired”. Later on, this young
person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked
diligently and as a team. The company’s performance improved tremendously.

Moral: If one doesn’t understand and experience the difficulty it takes to earn the comfort
provided by their loved ones, than they will never value it. The most important thing is to experience the
difficulty and learn to value hard work behind all the given comfort.
 Little Boys Love for his Family

I was walking around in a Big Bazar store making shopping, when I saw a Cashier talking to a boy
couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 years old. The Cashier said, I’m sorry, but you don’t have enough
money to buy this doll. Then the little boy turned to me and asked, Uncle, are you sure I don’t have
enough money?
I counted his cash and replied, You know that you don’t have enough money to buy the doll, my
dear. The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him
who he wished to give this doll to. It’s the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much . I wanted
to Gift her for her Birthday. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister
when she goes there. His eyes were so sad while saying this.
My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too,
so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister. My heart nearly stopped. The
little boy looked up at me and said, I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I
come back from the mall. Then he showed me a very nice photo of him, where he was laughing. He then
told me I want mommy to take my picture with her so my sister won’t forget me, I love my mommy and
I wish she doesn’t have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.
Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly. I quickly reached for my wallet and
said to the boy. Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll? He said,
OK, I hope I do have enough. I added some of my money to his with out him seeing and we started to
count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money.
The little boy said, Thank you God for giving me enough money! Then he looked at me and
added, I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this
doll, so that mommy could give It to my sister. He heard me! I also wanted to have enough money to
buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn’t dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to
buy the doll and a white rose. My mommy loves white roses.
I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn’t get the little boy
out of my mind. Then I remembered a local news paper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk
man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away,
and the mother was left in a critical state.
The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life sustaining machine, because the
young woman would not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy? Two
days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the news paper that the young woman had passed
away. I couldn’t stop myself. I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the
body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before her burial. She
was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and
the doll placed over her chest. I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed for
ever…
The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine.
And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him…

Moral: Respect life, Follow and Obey Rules. Don’t make anyone else to pay and bear for your mistakes.
Do not make the mistakes which cost others something that can never be replaced. Always have a giving
hand and extend your help to those in need and sorrow.
 The Wicked Barbers Plight

As we all know, Birbal was not only Emperor Akbar’s favorite minister but also a minister dearly
loved by most of the commoners, because of his ready wit and wisdom. People used to come to him
from far and wide for advise on personal matters too. However, there was a group of ministers that
were jealous of his growing popularity and disliked him intensely. They outwardly showered him with
praise and compliments, but on the inside they began to hatch a plot to kill him.

One day they approached the king’s barber with a plan. As the barber was extremely close to
the king, they asked him to help them get rid of Birbal permanently. And of course, they promised him a
huge sum of money in return. The wicked barber readily agreed. The next time the king required his
services, the barber started a conversation about the emperor’s father who he also used to serve. He
sang praises of his fine, silky-smooth hair. And then as an afterthought he asked the king that as he was
enjoying such great prosperity, had he made an attempt to do anything for the welfare of his ancestors?

The king was furious at such impertinent stupidity and told the barber that it was not possible to
do anything because they were already dead. The barber mentioned that he knew of a magician who
could come of help. The magician could send a person up to heaven to enquire about his father’s
welfare. But of course this person would have to be chosen carefully; he would have to be intelligent
enough to follow the magicians instructions as well as make on-the-spot decisions. He must be wise,
intelligent and responsible. The barber then suggested the best person for the job – the wisest of all
ministers, Birbal.

The king was very excited about hearing from his dead father and asked the barber to go ahead
and make the arrangements immediately. He asked him what was needed to be done. The barber
explained that they would take Birbal in a procession to the burial grounds and light a pyre. The
magician would then chant some ‘mantras’ as Birbal would ascend to the heavens through the smoke.
The chanting would help protect Birbal from the fire. The king happily informed Birbal of this plan. Birbal
said that he thought it a brilliant idea and wanted to know the brain behind it. When learning that it was
the barber’s idea, he agreed to go to heaven on condition that he be given a large some of money for
the long journey as well as one month’s time to settle his family so that they had no trouble while he
was gone. The king agreed to both conditions. In the duration of this month, he got a few trustworthy
men to build a tunnel from the funeral grounds to his house. And on the day of the ascension, after the
pyre had been lit, Birbal escaped through the concealed door of the tunnel. He disappeared in to his
house where he hid for a few months while his hair and beard grew long and unruly.

In the meantime his enemies were rejoicing as they thought that they had seen the last of
Birbal. Then one day after many, many months Birbal arrived at the palace with news of the king’s
father. The king was extremely pleased to see him and ready with a barrage of questions. Birbal told the
king that his father was in the best of spirits and had been provided with all the comforts except one.
The king wanted to know what was lacking because now he thought he had found a way to send things
and people to heaven. Birbal answered that there were no barbers in heaven, which is why even he was
forced to grow his own beard. He said that his father had asked for a good barber.

So the king decided to send his own barber to serve his father in heaven. He called both the
barber and the magician to prepare to send him to heaven. The barber could say absolutely nothing in
his own defense as he was caught in his own trap. And once the pyre was lit he died on the spot.
Nobody dared to conspire against Birbal again.
 Young Girl Love for Prince

In ancient china, It was tradition that if prince has to be married before he can become crowned
emperor. There was a prince who was about to be crowned. So he needed to find a young woman
whom he could trust and get married to.

Once there was a who had to be crowned in few days so Prince decided to summon all the
young women from his kingdom in order to find most worthy candidate. There was an old lady who
used to serve at palace. When heard the news she got sad because she knew her daughter nurtured a
secret love for prince. After getting home she told her daughter about it. Her daughter decided that she
would go to palace. Old lady got worried after knowing her decision.

Old lady said to her daughter, “What will you do there?? There will be all beautiful and rich girls
from kingdom will be present there..” Daughter replied, “Mother I know i won’t be chosen but it’s my
only chance to spend time with prince and that makes me happy. I will go to palace tomorrow.”

Next day when young girl reached palace, she saw young women from all around kingdom were
present there wearing beautiful cloths and jewelry, prepared to do anything to seize this opportunity to
marry prince. In presence of all members of court and girls prince announced a challenge. He said, “I will
give you each a seed. After six months time, young woman who brings me the loveliest flower will be my
wife and future empress.”

All girls took seed and left. Poor young girl also took her seed and planted it in a pot. She
nurtured and took care of it with love. She believed that her love is true and flower will grow as large as
her love for prince.

Girl saw that no shoot appeared even after three months have passed and nothing had grown in
her pot. Young girl consulted farmers, peasants but nothing happened. With each days he felt that her
dream have moved father away. At last six months were over and still nothing had grown in that pot.
She knew she had no flower to show still she decided to go back to palace with that pot. She reached
palace on final day.

On final day all court member and girls arrived. She saw that all other candidates had wonderful
results and each one had lovely flower, she was the only one holding a flowerless pot.

Finally, prince entered courtroom and inspected all candidates pot and announced result. He
chose Servant’s daughter poor young girl as his would be wife. All other girls present there got angry
and protested that she had nothing in her pot and prince had chosen someone who had not managed to
grow anything at all.

Prince calmed them down and explained the reason. Prince said, “This young woman was the
only one who cultivated the flower that made her worthy of becoming the empress: the flower of
honesty. All the seeds I handed out were sterile and nothing could ever have grown from them.”

Moral:
We should not feel Disappointed if Things doesn’t go Way we think it should be. We should have
Confidence and Stay Honesty and True because Honesty is best Policy.
 Solution for Empty Boxes

Once a toothpaste factory had a problem with its packaging and because of packaging problem
some empty boxes were shipped without tube inside.

Production line designing engineers knew it was quiet difficult to have exact precision of packing
tube into pack with perfection every time. They also knew it was very necessary to sort out this problem
so that people buying product don’t get frustrated.

CEO new that unsatisfied customers may lead to lower market value of product in market and
company will face huge loss. So her gather all engineers from all departments and after all discussion
they decided to hire external engineering company to solve this problem of empty boxes.

After spending a huge amount and 6 months time the problem was solved. A high-tech precision
scale was installed on production line. Once the boxes are filled with tube then it would be sent on that
precision scale and would sound a bell and flash light whenever a box weighted less than required
weight.

Process was like when ever scale rang bell because of empty box then line would stop and
someone had to go over there and move the defective box off the line and then press start button to
restart the line.

Few days after installing that precision scale, CEO decided to take a look on how it was going as
he wanted to know if it was good enough. Scale was working fine and it was detecting empty boxes
perfectly and now even market share were gaining.

After sometime again when he reviewed about working of production line he found out that
number of defected boxes picked by that scale were zero.

Previously it would pick at least a dozen defected boxes per week but now it was zero. He
thought that there must be some mistake with report. He filed a report for bug in that scale and asked
engineers to check.

After some investigation engineers reported that the statistics were indeed correct and scale
was not picking defects because all the boxes that got to scale were good.

Perplexed, CEO went to factory and walked to part of production line where scale was installed.
He saw that there was a desk fan placed just few feet before the place where scale was installed and
that desk fan was blowing off all the empty boxes into the bin. Curious he asked workers around about
that.

One of the worker stated, “Oh that, it was placed by that guy who had to keep check on that
scale and start line again because of which he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang..!!”

Moral:
Every Problem have Solution but Because of always Thinking in particular way, We sometimes
are not able to See around that Problem and Think of Easier and Better Solution.
 Banished Son Saves His Brothers:

In Arabia there was a prosperous kingdom. It was ruled by a Sultan who had three queens. But
no one bore him a child. The Sultan was worried as he had no heir. One night when he was sleeping a
good fairy appeared before him in his dream and said, "If you give the seeds of the pomegranate to your
queens, they will give birth to sons to you".
The Sultan woke up suddenly. "Is it true, why not I try" he thought. The next morning, the Sultan
gave the three queens pomegranates. All the three queens ate the pomegranates. Only two queens
gave birth to children. The third one did not become pregnant. So the Sultan got angry on her and
banished her to the forest nearby. But after some months the third queen also gave birth to a hand
some child in the forest. She named him as Ahamud. As days and years passed, Ahamud grew young and
he became a good fighter. He got training in war fare and improved his knowledge. Once he asked his
mother. 'Who is my father?" His mother replied that the Sultan of the kingdom was his father and that
he hated her as she had no child then.

"You don't worry. I will go to my father and win his heart and then tell him. Who I am," Ahamud
said. So he decided to join the army. He won the heart of the Sultan by doing courageous deeds. He won
many battles for the Sultan. So the Sultan gave him a high position in his army.

The two princesses, his brothers, became jealous of Ahamud. So they argued with his father not
go give more importance to Ahamud. One day the two princes went for hunting in the forest. They
didn't turn up late in the evening. The Sultan got worried and sent soldiers in all directrons. But they
returned without the prince. So Sultan asked Ahamud to find his two princes at any cost. Ahomud went
out in search of the two princes. He went through the thick forest and thorny bushes and on the way he
had to fight with many wild animals. In the forest he happened to see a young beautiful maiden sitting
under a tree. She was weeping and her face looked terrified. He moved near her and asked. "Who are
you? Why are you here’"

She replied, “I am the princess of Cairo kingdom A wicked wizard captured me imprisoned me
here and guards me." Ahomud said to her, 'O princess you don't worry. I will fight with him and free you
from here." She asked him to go away because he was cruel and would capture him also. Suddenly he
heard a strange noise behind him. So he hid himself behind a tree and waited.

The wizard came with anger and asked the maiden. "Did any body come here?" Suddenly
Ahamud sprinkled some magic water and killed him with his sword. He said to the maiden. "Come quick!
We shall move fast".

But the young maiden didn't move from there. "Many others are in the near by cave as captives.
You free them also", she pleaded.Ahamud ran fast to the cave and freed all inside the cave. Amoung
them, he found the two princes, his two brothers. He became very happy and said, "Your father. Sultan
sent me for you. Let us go quickly and make him happy."

When Ahamud came back with the two princes, the Sultan became relieved of fear. The two
princes said, "We are so grateful to you Ahamud. We were jealous of you. But you have saved us". “Here
are your three sons Oh…Sultan"Ahamud cried in a loud voice Who is the third7" the Sultan said in
wonder… Ahamud said. “In front of you your majesty. O father I am the third son of you. I am the son of
the third queen that you banished. I was born to you in the forest.".
 Our Solar System:

The solar system is the Sun and all the different objects that orbit around it. These objects
include the eight planets, their moons and asteroids and comets.

Circling The Sun :

The Sun is a star - which means it is a huge, spinning ball of hot gas. It is the only star in our solar
system and it provides light and heat to the planets. The Sun's gravity is the force that holds the solar
system in place and keeps the planets traveling around the Sun.

The Planets :

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are the four planets closest to the Sun. They are rocky planets
with a metal core. The next four planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are gas planets.

They have rocky cores covered by liquid or ice with layers of gas clouds on the outside. Moons
are large rocky satellites that orbit a planet. Each planet has at least one moon, except for Mercury and
Venus which don't have any. Asteroids are pieces of rock that orbit the Sun. Most asteroids are grouped
together in a belt between Mars and Jupiter. Comets are made of ice, dust and rock.

AMAZING FACTS about The Solar System :

The inner solar system is separated from the outer by the asteroid belt. The solar system is port
of the Milky Way galaxy which is a barred-spiral galaxy.

There were 9 planets in the Solar System until 2006 when the International Astronomical Union
decided that Pluto could no longer be considered a plonet due to its size being smaller than our moon. If
all the planets were joined together, the Sun would still be more than 700 times bigger. It contains over
99% of the solar system's mass. It takes two million years for gamma rays produced in the core of the
Sun to reach its surface. The Sun is the largest object the solar system. It is about 332 950 times more
mossive than Earth.

The relationship between the Sun and the Earth drives the seasons, currents in the ocean,
weather and climate. The Sun has been burning for about five billion years and will bum for another five
billion. If you stood on Venus, the atmospheric pressure would be the same as if you were 900 metres
underneath an ocean on Earth.

Much of the surface of Venus, including craters, has been covered in lava from previous
eruptions. Mercury and Venus are the only two planets in our solar system that don't have moons.
Mercury has the greatest variation in surface temperature of any planet in the solar system — can be
over 600 degrees Celsius.Because there is no wind or rain on the Moon, any footprints left by the
astronauts should remain for millions of years.It is thought that Earth was hit by a lorge object and the
debris that was ejected into space joined together to form the Moon.The official Latin name for planet
Earth is Terra. It is named after the Roman goddess of fertility and growth - Terra Mater.

The Moon is the only other planet or satellite in the solar system that humans hove set foot
upon.
 Reshaping Destiny:

As you walk on your way to school, you find a small purse with five five-hundred rupee notes in
it. The owner's name and address are written in the purse. What would you do? Would you return the
purse or not? Here is a story of a man who found himself in such a situation. Read the story with your
friend and find out what he did.

Once there was a woodcutter. He had a small family - his wife and two daughters, Kanu and
Manu. He sent his daughters to school. He used to say, “I could not study, but I want my daughters to
study and have a good future."

The woodcutter's ambition was great but not his luck, for he never had enough money for his
family. However hard he tried, he was hardly able to make ends meet. At times, he felt very unhappy
but he never gave up hope.Though he was poor, he had a heart of gold. One day, a sadhu came to his
house. The woodcutter gave the sadhu food to eat. The sadhu blessed him and said, "I am pleased with
you, but I cannot change your destiny. You will never have any money, and you will die in poverty, no
matter how hard you try. If you become rich, you'll have a short life."

One day, when the woodcutter was returning from the forest with a load of wood on his head,
he found a big wooden box. It was full of gold coins. There was so much money in it that he could live in
comfort without working for the rest of his life. He was overjoyed to see the money. The very moment
when he was thinking about becoming rich with the wealth in the wooden box, he recalled what the
sadhu had told him. All his joy of finding the gold disappeared. He left the box and walked away.

Hardly had he walked a few steps ahead than he thought that the box would be of no use to
anyone, as it was lying hidden in the forest. If he took it, he could do so much with it, even if he had to
die soon afterwards! So he went back, left the wood in the forest, picked up the box and carried it home.

On his way, he met the grocer of his village. The grocer asked, "What is in the box? Did you not
bring any wood today?" The woodcutter replied, "The box is full of gold coins. I found it in the forest. As
I had to carry it, I left the wood in the forest." The grocer laughed loudly. What the woodcutter said was
just not possible! The woodcutter was very confused. He did not understand what made the grocer
laugh that way. So he left hurriedly.

Now, it so happened that whoever met him on his way, asked him the same question, and they
all found his reply funny. None of them believed him.

When he reached home with the box, his wife asked him about it. He told her the whole story
and about his plan of using the money for their family. His wife said that they should not use the gold
coins for themselves as the money did not belong to them. So they kept the box in the corner of their
room. The family never gave in to the attraction of easy money.

The woodcutter did not give up his occupation. He earned his money by cutting wood and selling
it in the market as usual. Over the years, his hard work paid off. He became rich and enjoyed all the
comforts in life. His daughters had a good education and got good jobs. It was a surprise for all of them
that the sadhu's forecast had not come true. The woodcutter lived a long, happy and healthy life. As for
the gold coins in the box, he spent the money on those who needed it in the village.
Jack and the bean-stalk:
 ONCE upon a time there was a poor widow who lived in a little cottage with her only son Jack.

Jack was a giddy, thoughtless boy, but very kind-hearted and affectionate. There had been a
hard winter, and after it the poor woman had suffered from fever and ague. Jack did no work as yet, and
by degrees they grew dreadfully poor. The widow saw that there was no means of keeping Jack and
herself from starvation but by selling her cow; so one morning she said to her son, `I am too weak to go
myself, Jack, so you must take the cow to market for me, and sell her.'

Jack liked going to market to sell the cow very much; but as he was on the way, he met a
butcher who had some beautiful beans in his hand. Jack stopped to look at them, and the butcher told
the boy that they were of great value, and persuaded the silly lad to sell the cow for these beans. When
he brought them home to his mother instead of the money she expected for her nice cow, she was very
vexed and shed many tears, scolding Jack for his folly. He was very sorry, and mother and son went to
bed very sadly that night; their last hope seemed gone.

At daybreak Jack rose and went out into the garden. At least,' he thought, I will sow the
wonderful beans. Mother says that they are just common scarlet-runners, and nothing else; but I may as
well sow them.' So he took a piece of stick, and made some holes in the ground, and put in the beans.
That day they had very little dinner, and went sadly to bed, knowing that for the next day there would
be none and Jack, unable to sleep from grief and vexation, got up at day-dawn and went out into the
garden.

What was his amazement to find that the beans had grown up in the night, and climbed up and
up till they covered the high cliff that sheltered the cottage, and disappeared above it! The stalks had
twined and twisted themselves together till they formed quit a ladder.`It would be easy to climb it,'
thought Jack. And, having thought of the experiment, he at once resolved to carry it out, for Jack was a
good climber. However, after his late mistake about the cow, he thought he had better consult his
mother first.

WONDERFUL GROWTH OF THE BEANSTALK

So Jack called his mother, and they both gazed in silent wonder at the Beanstalk, which was not
only of great height, but was thick enough to bear Jack's weight. I wonder where it ends,' said Jack to his
mother; I think I will climb up and see.'His mother wished him not to venture up this strange ladder, but
Jack coaxed her to give her consent to the attempt, for he was certain there must be something
wonderful in the Beanstalk; so at last she yielded to his wishes. Jack instantly began to climb, and went
up and up on the ladder-like bean till everything he had left behind him--the cottage, the village, and
even the tall church tower--looked quite little, and still he could not see the top of the Beanstalk.

Jack felt a little tired, and thought for a moment that he would go back again; but he was a very
persevering boy, and he knew that the way to succeed in anything is not to give up. So after resting for a
moment he went on.After climbing higher and higher, till he grew afraid to look down for fear he should
be giddy, Jack at last reached the top of the Beanstalk, and found himself in a beautiful country, finely
wooded, with beautiful meadows covered with sheep. A crystal stream ran through the pastures; not far
from the place where he had got off the Beanstalk stood a fine, strong castle.

After a storm comes a calm

All good things come to he who waits
All good things must come to an end
All is grist that comes to the mill
All publicity is good publicity
All roads lead to Rome
All that glisters is not gold
All that glitters is not gold
All the world loves a lover
All things come to those who wait
All things must pass
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All you need is love
All's fair in love and war
All's for the best in the best of all possible worlds
All's well that ends well
A miss is as good as a mile
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
An army marches on its stomach
An Englishman's home is his castle
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
Another day, another dollar
Any port in a storm
Appearances can be deceptive
April is the cruellest month
April showers bring forth May flowers
As thick as thieves
As you make your bed, so you must lie upon it
As you sow so shall you reap
Ashes to ashes dust to dust
Ask a silly question and you'll get a silly answer
Ask no questions and hear no lies
Attack is the best form of defence
Bad money drives out good
Bad news travels fast
Barking dogs seldom bite
Be careful what you wish for
Beat swords into ploughshares
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Beauty is only skin deep
Beggars should not be choosers
Behind every great man there's a great woman
Better late than never
Better safe than sorry
Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't
Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
Beware the Ides of March
Big fish eat little fish
Birds of a feather flock together
Blessed are the peacemakers
Blood is thicker than water
Blue are the hills that are far away
Boys will be boys
Brevity is the soul of wit
Business before pleasure
Caesar's wife must be above suspicion
Carpe diem (Pluck the day; Seize the day)
Charity begins at home
Charity covers a multitude of sins
Cheaters never win and winners never cheat
Cheats never prosper
Children and fools tell the truth
Children should be seen and not heard
Christmas comes but once a year
Cleanliness is next to godliness
Clothes maketh the man
Cold hands, warm heart
Comparisons are odious
Count your blessings
Cowards may die many times before their death
Crime doesn't pay
Cut your coat to suit your cloth
Dead men tell no tales
Devil take the hindmost
Discretion is the better part of valour
Distance lends enchantment to the view
Do as I say, not as I do
Do as you would be done by
Do unto others as you would have them do to you
Don't bite the hand that feeds you
Don't burn your bridges behind you
Don't cast your pearls before swine
Don't change horses in midstream
Don't count your chickens before they are hatched
Don't cross the bridge till you come to it
Don't cut off your nose to spite your face
Don't get mad, get even
Don't keep a dog and bark yourself
Don't leave your manners on the doorstep
Don't let the bastards grind you down
Don't let the cat out of the bag
Don't let the grass grow under your feet
Don't meet troubles half-way
Don't mix business with pleasure
Don't put new wine into old bottles
Don't rock the boat
Don't shoot the messenger
Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar
Don't sweat the small stuff
Don't throw pearls to swine
Don't teach your Grandma to suck eggs
Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater
Don't trust anyone over thirty
Don't try to run before you can walk
Don't try to walk before you can crawl
Don't upset the apple-cart
Don't wash your dirty linen in public
Doubt is the beginning not the end of wisdom
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
East is east, and west is west
East, west, home's best
Easy come, easy go
Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die
Empty vessels make the most noise
Enough is as good as a feast
Enough is enough
Even a worm will turn
Every cloud has a silver lining
Every dog has its day
Every little helps
Every man for himself, and the Devil take the hindmost
Every man has his price
Every picture tells a story
Every stick has two ends
Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die
Everything comes to him who waits
Failing to plan is planning to fail
Faint heart never won fair lady
Fair exchange is no robbery
Faith will move mountains
Familiarity breeds contempt
Feed a cold and starve a fever
Fight fire with fire
Fight the good fight
Finders keepers, losers weepers
Fine words butter no parsnips
First come, first served
First impressions are the most lasting
First things first
Fish always stink from the head down
Fish and guests smell after three days
Flattery will get you nowhere
Beauty and the Beast:
 Once upon a time, in a very far-off country, there lived a merchant who had been so fortunate in
all his undertakings that he was enormously rich. As he had, however, six sons and six daughters, he
found that his money was not too much to let them all have everything they fancied, as they were
accustomed to do.

But one day a most unexpected misfortune befell them. Their house caught fire and was
speedily burnt to the ground, with all the splendid furniture, the books, pictures, gold, silver, and
precious goods it contained; and this was only the beginning of their troubles. Their father, who had
until this moment prospered in all ways, suddenly lost every ship he had upon the sea, either by dint of
pirates, shipwreck, or fire. Then he heard that his clerks in distant countries, whom he trusted entirely,
had proved unfaithful; and at last from great wealth he fell into the direst poverty.

All that he had left was a little house in a desolate place at least a hundred leagues from the
town in which he had lived, and to this he was forced to retreat with his children, who were in despair at
the idea of leading such a different life. Indeed, the daughters at first hoped that their friends, who had
been so numerous while they were rich, would insist on their staying in their houses now they no longer
possessed one. But they soon found that they were left alone, and that their former friends even
attributed their misfortunes to their own extravagance, and showed no intention of offering them any
help. So nothing was left for them but to take their departure to the cottage, which stood in the midst of
a dark forest, and seemed to be the most dismal place upon the face of the earth. As they were too poor
to have any servants, the girls had to work hard, like peasants, and the sons, for their part, cultivated the
fields to earn their living. Roughly clothed, and living in the simplest way, the girls regretted unceasingly
the luxuries and amusements of their former life; only the youngest tried to be brave and cheerful. She
had been as sad as anyone when misfortune overtook her father, but, soon recovering her natural
gaiety, she set to work to make the best of things, to amuse her father and brothers as well as she could,
and to try to persuade her sisters to join her in dancing and singing. But they would do nothing of the
sort, and, because she was not as doleful as themselves, they declared that this miserable life was all
she was fit for. But she was really far prettier and cleverer than they were; indeed, she was so lovely that
she was always called Beauty. After two years, when they were all beginning to get used to their new
life, something happened to disturb their tranquillity. Their father received the news that one of his
ships, which he had believed to be lost, had come safely into port with a rich cargo. All the sons and
daughters at once thought that their poverty was at an end, and wanted to set out directly for the town;
but their father, who was more prudent, begged them to wait a little, and, though it was harvest time,
and he could ill be spared, determined to go himself first, to make inquiries. Only the youngest daughter
had any doubt but that they would soon again be as rich as they were before, or at least rich enough to
live comfortably in some town where they would find amusement and gay companions once more. So
they all loaded their father with commissions for jewels and dresses which it would have taken a fortune
to buy; only Beauty, feeling sure that it was of no use, did not ask for anything. Her father, noticing her
silence, said: "And what shall I bring for you, Beauty?"

"The only thing I wish for is to see you come home safely," she answered. But this only vexed
her sisters, who fancied she was blaming them for having asked for such costly things. Her father,
however, was pleased, but as he thought that at her age she certainly ought to like pretty presents, he
told her to choose something. "Well, dear father," she said, "as you insist upon it, I beg that you will
bring me a rose. I have not seen one since we came here, and I love them so much."

Snow White:
 ONCE upon a time, in the middle of winter when the snow-flakes were falling like feathers on
the earth, a Queen sat at a window framed in black ebony and sewed. And as she sewed and gazed out
to the white landscape, she pricked her finger with the needle, and three drops of blood fell on the snow
outside, and because the red showed out so well against the white she thought to herself:

`Oh! what wouldn't I give to have a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as
ebony!'

And her wish was granted, for not long after a little daughter, was born to her, with a skin as
white as snow, lips and cheeks as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony. They called her Snow White,
and not long after her birth the Queen died. After a year the King married again. His new wife was a
beautiful woman, but so proud and overbearing that she couldn't stand any rival to her beauty. She
possessed a magic mirror, and when she used to stand before it gazing at her own reflection and ask:

`Mirror, mirror, hanging there, Who in all the land's most fair?'it always replied:

`You are most fair, my Lady Queen, None fairer in the land, I ween.'

Then she was quite happy, for she knew the mirror always spoke the truth. But Snow White was
growing prettier and prettier every day, and when she was seven years old she was as beautiful as she
could be, and fairer even than the Queen herself. One day when the latter asked her mirror the usual
question, it replied:

`My Lady Queen, you are fair, 'tis true, But Snow White is fairer far than you.'

Then the Queen flew into the most awful passion, and turned every shade of green in her
jealousy. From this hour she hated poor Snow White like poison, and every day her envy, hatred, and
malice grew, for envy and jealousy are like evil weeds which spring up and choke the heart. At last she
could endure Snow White's presence no longer, and, calling a huntsman to her, she said:

`Take the child out into the wood, and never let me see her face again. You must kill her, and
bring me back her lungs and liver, that I may know for certain she is dead.'

The Huntsman did as he was told and led Snow White out into the wood, but as he was in the
act of drawing out his knife to slay her, she began to cry, and said:

`Oh, dear Huntsman, spare my life, and I will promise to fly forth into the wide wood and never
to return home again.'

And because she was so young and pretty the Huntsman had pityon her, and said:
Well, run along, poor child.' For he thought to himself: Thewild beasts will soon eat her up.' And his
heart felt lighter because he hadn't had to do the deed himself. And as he turned away a young boar
came running past, so he shot it, and brought its lungs and liver home to the Queen as a proof that
Snow White was really dead. And the wicked woman had them stewed in salt, and ate them up, thinking
she had made an end of Snow White for ever.