1

The Tortoise and The Hare

A long, long time ago, there lived a Hare in the forest who always boasted of his running
speed. He would often tease the tortoise for being the slowest animal around. One fine day,
he dared the tortoise to a race in order to exhibit his skills in front of other animals in the
forest. Fed up with the hare’s bragging, the tortoise finally accepted the challenge and
decided to compete him in a race.
On the day of the race, all the animals of the forest gathered to watch the competition
between the hare and the tortoise. Just as they were about to begin the race, the hare
mocked the tortoise for accepting the challenge. Further, he also mentioned that soon after
he wins the race, the tortoise would be ridiculed by other animals for accepting the dare.
The tortoise kept silent and didn’t pay heed to the hare’s words.
The race began at the count of one, two and three! The hare immediately started running
and the tortoise started at its usual slow pace. Soon the hare reached a long way ahead
almost a few yards from the finish line. He looked back to check if the tortoise was
anywhere nearby. However, the tortoise was left far behind and almost could not be seen.
The hare decided to pause and take some rest on the way before he completed the race.
He looked around and to his left, he noticed a field of cabbages and carrots. He decided to
snack on cabbage and take a short nap so that he would quickly run past the finish line in a
fresh mood.
Soon the hare fell into a deep sleep and dreamt of winning the competition. Time passed
and the sun was already setting when he suddenly woke up. He quickly jumped to check if
the tortoise was around. To his dismay, the tortoise was just a few steps away from the
finish line.
Seeing the tortoise close to the finish line, the hare rushed towards it as fast as he could.
However, it was too late and the tortoise finally crossed the finish line, thereby winning the
competition.
When the hare reached the point where the race ended, all the animals were laughing at
him for losing the race to the tortoise. That day, he learnt a lesson that bragging about
something doesn’t win you accolades, hence you should never mock others for their own
pace.
 2
‘The Two Goats’
Once upon a time, there was a large river in a village that cut across a deep gorge. The
town’s people built a small, narrow bridge across the river to cross it now and then. The
bridge being narrow, could only accommodate one person crossing it at a time.
One day a goat was crossing the bridge. At the other end of the bridge, he saw that there
was another goat coming from the opposite direction. Since the bridge could only
accommodate one person at a time, it was impossible for both the goats to cross it
simultaneously.
The goats stood in their place and waited for the other to retreat. But neither of them was
willing to back down to let the other pass. The first goat then said, ‘I am the older goat, so
you should allow me to pass first.’ The other goat denied and said, ‘I am the stronger one, so
I can cross the bridge faster. You will only amble along because you are old.’
The first goat took offence to what the other one said and continued, ‘Although I am older,
I am stronger than you.’ The second goat did not want to accept that, and both the goats
soon got into a fight to prove to each other their strength.
The goats locked horns and fought fiercely on the narrow bridge. In no time, they lost their
balance and fell into the river. The strong currents swept the goats away, causing them to
drown and disappear into the deep waters.
After the incident, two other goats faced one another in a similar situation. These goats
also got into an argument about who should be the one to cross the bridge first. Just when it
looked like things would take a turn for the worse, one of the goats stops the argument. He
said, ‘Stop! This bridge is too narrow for us to settle our dispute with a fight. If we continue
this, we will both fall into the river and die instead. I have a plan.’
The wise goat went on to explain the plan. He said, ‘I will lie down on the bridge while you
walk over me. That way, we can both make it to the other end.’
The other goat understood the logic behind the idea and realised it was the sensible thing
to do. He did exactly as the first goat instructed, and both of them made it across safely.
 3
The Ugly Duckling
It was a warm summer day. A mother duck had her nest hidden in the long grass, safe from
weasels and the fox. She sat on her eggs, waiting for the eggs to hatch. Finally, the eggs
hatched, with a pop and peep! peep! Bunch of golden ducklings appeared.
The mother duck was so happy to see her ducklings. But the largest egg in the nest was still
there. The mother duck didn't remember laying such a huge egg. Suddenly the large egg
cracked open, the baby bird was big, Grey and ugly. He had huge feet and a broad beak and
didn't look like a duckling.
Other ducklings don't like him as he was ugly. A few days later the mother duck took her
ducklings for a swim. The big grey duckling also joined other ducklings.
After a great swim, the duck family waddled (walked with slow steps) on they into the yard.
As the Grey duckling entered the yard, all the birds started talking about him.
Every day he was pecked and pushed by ducks and even by the chickens.
One day the poor ugly duckling couldn't take it anymore, so he ran far away from his home.
At last, he ended up in a swamp where only wild ducks lived. The wild ducks told him
"you're an ugly fellow, you cannot stay here, go away".
The duckling moved away from those ducks. The poor duckling felt very lonely. He didn't
even move from that place. As it was winter, the water was so cold, and he got stuck in the
swamp as it froze. In the morning a farmer who came that way rescued the duckling and
took him to his house.
But the duckling was terrified, he fluttered into the milk vessel and splashed it all over the
room.
The farmer's wife got furious and chased him out into cold. The duckling went back to the
swamp, he spent a long and lonely winter, struggling to survive.
At last, the snow melted away. It was spring and the duckling was big and stronger than
before. He flew high in the air, and he landed by a lovely lake surrounded by magnificent,
white and graceful swans.
The ugly duckling thought that if the swans see him they will also make fun of his
appearance. He was ashamed of himself and bowed his head low. When he bent his head,
he saw his reflection in the water and was astonished.
His ugly feathers were now snowy white. His neck was curved and slender. He had grown
into a swan. The other swans came towards him and stroked him with their beaks.
Nearby children shouted with joy at the sight of him and threw him some bread crumbs.
He felt very happy to be with his friends.
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THE GOLDEN SLUG
In the ancient time, lived a young man named Galoran. He was respected because of his
wealth and honour. His parents were nobleman so he could live with luxury. However, he
was very wasteful and every day just squandered the wealth of his parents.
One day, his parents died, but he did not care and continued to spend money as well as
before. Because his life was so extravagant, all the treasure that he had was running out and
he became an unemployed person. Many people sympathized with him and offered a job.
But every time he got the job, he just dallied and it made him always be fired. Several
months later, there was a wealthy widow who interested him. He married the widow and of
course, he was very happy to be living in luxury again.
The widow had a daughter who was very diligent and clever to weave. Her name is
Jambean, a beautiful girl and had been famous because of her weaving. However, Galoran
did not like the girl, because the girl often scolded him because of his laziness. Finally, he
threatened to torture and kill Jambean. He revealed the plan to his wife and the wife was
very sad to hear of the threat.
Hearing the news, Jambean was very sad but she volunteered herself to be killed by her
father. She told that she wanted to be dumped into a dam and did not burry under the
ground after the death. The mother agreed and did all of her wants. In the dam, her body
and head suddenly turned into the golden slugs.
Several years later, there are two widows who were looking for firewood. They were
kindred, the first widow named Mbok Sambega Rondo and the second called Mbok Rondo
Sembagil. When looking for the firewood in the jungle, they were very surprised because of
finding the beautiful golden slugs. They brought it and maintained at home.
Once they brought the snails, there was always a miracle every day. Their kitchen was
always filled with the delicious food when they came home from work. They were very
surprised, and wanted to know the person who made those foods. They pretended to go to
work and hid in the back of the house. A few moments later, there was a beautiful girl came
from the inside of the conch and she began to cook the delicious meals.
Both widows then secretly held and did not let the girl to get into the snail anymore. The girl
apparently was Jambean who had been killed by her father. Both widows then allowed her
to stay with them. Because of their versatility in weaving, she got her famous back and
made a handsome prince attracted. In the end, she married the prince and lived happily.
 5
Princess Rose and the Golden Bird
Most of us remember and cherish Cinderella as our most favourite character for decades.
There are many more fabulous and cherishing fairy tales featuring beautiful characters.
There are many unforgettable and cherishing imaginary characters live forever in everyone’s
heart. One such beautiful and attractive girl is Princess Rose. Princess Rose and the Golden
Bird is one of the unforgettable fairy tales. The tale of the Princess Rose is here.
Once upon a time there lived a beautiful Princess named Rose. She had long, wavy and shiny
golden red hair! She was named perfectly as she loved and adored the roses. She had one
glowing golden bird who will visit her in the evenings.
The princess and the golden bird will sing mesmerizing song, where all people in the
kingdom peacefully sleep with sweet dreams. The bird will begin making the sounds seeing
the beautiful hair of the princess and she will join with the bird. Both of them used to sing
lullaby to make people sleep and keep singing the lullabies until sun rise.
While people lived peacefully, a wicked witch came to know about the golden bird and the
hair colour of the princess rose. She cursed the princess and her hair turned ugly black!
As usual, the bird started singing seeing the black hair of the princess and she continued.
While people fell asleep, none of them had sweet dreams; rather they were terrible and
fearful. Princess heard about the nightmare dreams and was so worried!
She asked the golden bird what she should do to turn her hair red. The bird asked her to dip
her hair in rose water and she did. Surprisingly, the hair turned beautiful red with the usual
glow. Undoubtedly, everyone fell asleep hearing the lullaby and had sweet dreams. Knowing
this, the witch cursed again and now removed all rose flowers and petals from the kingdom.