The Reward

One day a farmer went to his field to work and came across a huge pumpkin that grew in his field. He was delighted at the huge size of it and decided to present it to the king. So he carried the pumpkin and started towards the king’s palace. 

  

All the villagers who saw the pumpkin praised him for growing such a large fruit. When the farmer presented the pumpkin, the king was delighted and congratulated him for his hard work.

            Then he called his treasurer and said, ‘give this poor farmer a thousand gold coins, he deserves this for his labor’. The poor farmer became rich.

            The poor farmer became rich. This news reached a rich villager, who was also a big miser. ‘A thousand coins for just a mere pumpkin’ he thought. Then he took a diamond necklace from his chest and said, ‘I wonder how many coins the king will give me if I present him this necklace.’ He thought, the king might give him a cart-load of coins for the expensive gift. So dreaming his fortune, he set out for the king’s palace with the diamond necklace.

            The king admired the shining diamonds and said, ‘you must be very rich to possess this’. The rich miser nodded. The king looked around for his ministers and said, ‘he doesn’t need any coins, but I think I have a surprise for him.’ Then he pointed at the huge pumpkin that lay there and said’ yes, I want you to take that home and admire the work behind it’.

            The villager was shocked. He quietly lifted the pumpkin and slowly walked out of the palace repenting for his greed and folly.

            He felt the king had taught him a lesson.

The Old ‘‘Panta (Cold Rice Soaked in Water)’’ Lady

            Once there was an old lady who was very fond of cold rice and so she ate cold rice everyday for breakfast.

  

Cooked rice soaked in water overnight is called cold rice or ‘panta’ in Bangladesh, and is a popular food in breakfast for the rural people. The people in the village called the old lady ‘panta lady’.

            One day, the old lady woke up to find that someone had been in her kitchen and finished with the pot of cold rice. Furious at not having panta for breakfast, the old lady spent a troubled day. The next day, too, she found her rice pot empty and unable to bear it any longer, she set out for the king’s palace to complain about the rice thief.

            On her way, she passed by a tree bearing ripe wood apples. One of the fruit spoke out, ‘old lady, where are you going in such a hurry?’ The old lady answered, ‘I am going to tell the king about a rice thief who is stealing my rice for breakfast’. Then the fruit spoke,’ on your way back home, you could pick one fruit, perhaps it can be of some help to you’. ‘Very well’ answered the old lady’ and resumed her journey.

            Pretty soon she came across a cow grazing. The cow lifted her head and asked where she was going. The old lady told her about the rice thief and where she was going. Then the cow said, ‘I will save some cow dung, on your way back home you can take it, it could be of some help to you’. The old lady thanked her and started to walk. On her way towards the palace, she had to cross a brook, and a fish called ‘shingy’ lifted her head and said, ‘old lady where are you going? Again she told the fish where she was going and why. Then the fish said, ‘I will be waiting for you, perhaps you could pick me up on your way back home. I could be of some help to you’. The old lady thanked the fish and started to walk.

            When she reached the king’s palace at the end of the day, she was disappointed to learn that the king had left for hunting with his men and would not be back for several days. She decided not to wait and so started to walk back home.

            As she passed by the brook, she picked up the fish and put it inside a bag. Then she neared the meadow where the cow was grazing. The cow gave her the cow dung, which she wrapped in a banana leaf. When she came near the wood apple tree, she picked a fruit and thanked the free and started to walk.

On reaching her house, she put the cow dung on the door steps, the fish inside the rice pot and the wood apple in the earthen hearth. Then she put some hot charcoal in the hearth and went to sleep.

          

          Late that night, the thief came, and went near the rice pot as usual. As soon as he put his hand inside the pot, the fish stung his hand with its sharp fins. Groaning with pain, he ran towards the blazing hearth to warm his hand when the roasted wood apple burst out, sending pieces of hot chunks over his face and body. All this noise awoke the old lady and when she saw the thief, she let out a loud cry. The thief, frightened out of his wit’s end, ran towards the door and stepping on the cow dung, slipped and fell with a loud bump. But he managed to get up and run never to steal the old lady’s rice. Thus the old panta lady got rid of the thief.

The Noble Cow

Once a tiger went hungry for days and so he decided to go outside the jungle and catch animals there. He hid behind some hills and waited patiently. The day was nearing to an end. As he was about to return to his den, he heard the jingling

Of bells and spotted a herd of cows heading towards the village. He also noticed a cow walking far behind the herd and as soon as the cow came closer, the tiger sprang on her. ‘Oh please, lord tiger’ pleaded the cow, ‘allow me to go home and feed my baby, I promise to come back and then you can eat me’. ‘What!’ exclaimed the hungry tiger, ‘let you go now after I am starving for days,? never. I can not let my meal go thus’. ‘Please my lord’ cried the cow, ‘have mercy on my child. I will leave him with my friends and I promise to come back’. The tiger thought for a moment and then said, ‘very well, I will wait for you here, but don’t be late’. The cow did not even let the tiger finish, she ran as fast as she could.

            When she reached home, she nursed her young one and cried, ‘drink, my little one, drink, drink, for you won’t see me any more’. Then she took her calf to her friends and said, ‘my dear sisters, please take care of my baby in my absence’. Her friends told her not to go back. But she said that she must keep her promising.

            Meanwhile it was getting dark and the hungry tiger was getting impatient. ‘I must not have let her go, she will never come back’. he muttered. He was about to give up hope when he heard the jingle of bells and saw the cow coming.

            A she stood in front of the tiger, she said, ‘here I am, lord tiger, you can eat me now’. The tiger could not believe his eyes, ‘eat you, never’ he said, how can I eat a noble cow like you. You kept your promise even though your life was in danger, I will set you free’. The tiger turned his back and headed for the jungle.

The Greedy Hunter

There once lived a female parrot in a big banyan tree. In the hole of another nearby tree lived a venomous serpent. One day, the parrot laid some eggs and sat tenderly on them, waiting for the little ones to hatch. Unknown to her,

  

  

A hunter was carefully watching from another tree and one day he heard the cheep of fledglings. ‘Ah, this is my lucky day, the little ones will bring good sum’ he said.

Pretty soon, the little birds began to cry for food, so the mother parrot moved out of the nest. When the parrot flew off in search of food, the hunter climbed the tree and grabbed the little ones. Just then the mother parrot returned and seeing the hunter cried out, ‘please do not take them, they have not yet opened their eyes, why should anyone want to harm them?’

‘Why do you fear?’ said the hunter, ‘I am not going to kill them, I am only going to keep them as pets’. ‘Not only is he heartless, but also he is lying’, thought the parrot. ‘I must teach him a lesson’.

            Then the parrot set an idea.

            ‘If money is what you want’, she said to the hunter, ‘then leave my little ones, I will show you a place full of gold to keep you rich for the rest of your life.’ The hunter was very happy. He said ‘Where is the place, just show me now’. The parrot replied, but first you must leave my little ones in the nest, then you should follow me’.

After placing the fledglings in the nest, the hunter followed the bird. She led him to the tree where the serpent lived and then pointed towards the hole and said’ put your hand inside and take all the gold you want.’

As soon as the hunter put his hand inside the hole, he screamed with pain, ‘ah-ah, I have been bitten by a serpent.’ Within minutes, his poisoned body lay motionless and dead. The parrot watched this from her nest and whispered to the little ones, ‘it is a pity he had to die, but that was the only way I could save my little ones from him.’

           

What We Learn?

This story reveals that crime never go unpunished as it is committed by the greedy one.

The Generous Host

            Once there was a villager who was quite poor but he was so kind and generous that he offered food to any one who came to his door, His wife was very unhappy about it,

  

  

‘Why are you always giving away your food when we have hardly anything for ourselves?’ she often complained. But the villager paid no attention to this and so his wife looked for an opportunity to teach him a lesson.

           

One day, when the villager was returning home, he met some travelers who were looking for a place to rest and eat.

           

At once the villager invited them to his house. When his wife saw this, she was furious, ‘there is not a grain of rice in the house, what shall we offer them?’ she yelled. ‘S-S-S-Sh, So saying, he grabbed a gunny bag and set out for the bazaar. His wife was upset,

  

‘Whatever food he brings will be served to those men and again we will have only rice to ear’ she thought, ‘I must find out a way to drive those men before he returns’.

           

She laid the grinding stone on the kitchen floor as if to grind spices for cooking and at the same time she let out a loud cry, ‘oh my God, oh my God what will become of these men, oh my God’. The travelers heard her cry from the next room. They went inside the kitchen and asked her what the matter was.

           

‘Oh my God’ she pretended to cry, ‘I do not know, but I have to tell you this. My husband said that he is going to knock you all in the head with this stone after he returns from the market’ she said.

           

As soon as the men heard this, they looked at each other’s faces and whispered, ‘let’s get out of here, brothers, before he returns, this is a mad house’. So they left as fast as they could.

           

In the mean time the villager returned home. Unable to find the guests he asked his wife, ‘where are they?’ His wife replied, ‘they asked for the grinding stone and I didn’t give it to them, so they left’. ‘You refused to give our guests an ordinary stone, shame on you’ exclaimed the villager. Then he grabbed the stone and ran out of the house muttering, ‘I will run after them and give them the stone’.

           

Pretty soon he spotted them walking. Then he shouted, ‘come back my friends, here is the grinding stone you can have’. As soon as the men heard this, they started to run faster. When the men heard this, they started to run faster. When the men reached the town, they told their fellow men about what had happened at the villager’s house. After that, much to his wife’s relief, no one accepted the villager’s invitation or accepted food from his house.

The foolish Crane

A crane lived all by himself near a small lake on the sides of which grew tall coconut trees. The lake being almost dry for the summer, there was just enough fish for the crane alone to live. But the old crane was vain about his place, the lake, the trees, ‘how I wish other cranes would come and see how lucky I am’ he thought.

            Then one day he saw a flock of cranes flying past the lake. ‘Stop, stop, be my guests’ he shouted. When the leader of the flock came near, the old crane felt very proud and said, ‘you can perch on the coconut trees and eat the fish in the lake. The old crane went around showing the place. The leader thought for a moment and then said, ‘we are pleased by your hospitality, but we are so many of us, so permit us to go our way’. The old crane felt insulted and began to lament, ‘if you do not accept my hospitality, then I will give up my life’ The wise crane had no choice but to accept the crane’s proposal.

            So the crane’s took him at his word and began feasting on the fish. The old crane felt quite proud and strutted about in his vanity. Soon the cranes started to bet with one another, ‘I bet I can eat more’ said one crane.’ I have eaten six fishes already, I bet I can eat more, said the other crane. With all their betting, they soon finished all the fish in the lake.

            That evening the leader of the crane came to the old crane and said, ‘there is nothing here for our evening meal, we are grateful for your hospitality, but we must leave now’.

            The old crane began to repent for his folly but it was too late. As the flock flew away, the leader felt sorry for the crane, ‘if only he had listened to us’ he said, this wouldn’t have happened to him, because he is not going to live for long.

            A few days later, weak and hungry, the old crane died.

What we learn?

Pride or vanity never be better.

The Clever Old Lady

Once there was an old lady who had a grand daughter by the name of Chadni meaning moon light. One day she decided to visit her grand daughter, so she packed some foods and set out early. By midday, she entered into a jungle and picking up courage she started to walk when a tiger spotted her and came ahead on nose with her. ‘Aha, old lady, you are just in time for my lunch’ howled the tiger. But the old lady answered without any fear, ‘what do you want to eat of me, I am only skin and bones.

Wait till I return from Chadni’s place. I will be fat and plump and you can then enjoy my flesh’. The tiger looked at the bony legs and nodded.

            When the old lady reached the middle of the jungle, she came face to face with a ferocious bear who blocked her way saying, ‘old lady, you are just in time for my lunch’. The old lady picked up courage and said, ‘wait a minute, I am only skin and bones, let me come back from my grand daughter’s house and then you can eat me’. The bear looked at her bony arms and said, ‘very well, I will wait for you here’.

As the old lady neared the end of the jungle, a sly wolf jumped in front of her and bared his teeth saying, ‘I have been starving for days and you are just in time, old lady’. But the brave old lady replied in a cool voice, ‘surely you would not enjoy a skinny, bony body. Let me come back from my grand daughter’s house and then you can eat me for I will be fat and plum’. The wolf looked at her wrinkled skin and said, ‘That is true, but I will wait for you here and guard you that you do not deceive my eyes’.

            By this time it was afternoon and the old lady hurried through a bazaar. There she bought a necklace made of conch shell to present if to Chadni. Then she sat down to eat her meal.

            After she finished eating, she looked around for things. She enjoyed looking at a pair of snake charmers and was amazed at the snake uncoiling and dancing to the tune. The pretty girl sang a beautiful song. I the evening she reached her grand daughter’s house. There she related to her every thing that had happened on her way.

            Chadni  treated her old granny very well. Everyday she gave lots of rice and curry to her granny so she would gain some weight. After a few weeks, the old lady became fat and plump.

            When it was her time to go, she called Chadni  and said, ‘there are enemies in the jungle and there is no other way that I can take to go home. So bring a big pumpkin shell and hide me inside it’. The grand daughter did as she was told. Once the old lady was snug inside the shell, the grand daughter kicked it and so it started to roll down the path.

            Pretty soon the pumpkin rolled inside the jungle where the tiger was waiting. When he saw the pumpkin instead of the old lady, he kicked it with disgust and thus the pumpkin started to roll even faster. Then the bear saw the shell rolling and kicked it again but near the end of the jungle, the clever wolf was waiting. The wolf wanted to see what was inside the shell, so he tore it open and out popped the old lady, fat and plump. ‘Now I am going to eat you’ shouted the wolf with hungry eyes.

In the meantime, the tiger and the bear came over and each of them wanted to eat the old lady. The clever old lady thought of a plan and said, ‘wait, do not fight among yourselves. The three of you cannot eat me at the same time’. ‘That is true’ said the tiger.

            ‘Then what shall we do?’ asked the bear.

            The old lady stepped back a little and said, ‘I want the three of you to fight and wrestle, and whoever wins the fight will be able to eat me’. As soon as the animals heard this, they sprang on each other and began tearing themselves. The tiger fell on to of the bear, the bear scratched off the eyes from the wolf. In the meantime, the old lady, quietly slid into the thicket and ran home as fast as she could. When the villagers heard the story, they hailed the brave old lady.

Swimology

Swimology

Once there was a learned man, who was well read in almost all areas of science and arts and astrology. That is why the people of the village respected him and called him ‘master’ as a mark of respect. One day he wanted to go to the other side crossing the river, so he called a boatman. The boatman agreed to take him to the other side of the river.

  

A little later, the learned man started to converse with the boatman.

‘O boatman, how far did you study in school?’ he asked.

‘How sad and awful’ lamented the learned man. ‘surely you do not know the mystery of ‘science and nature’ of ‘biology and psychology’

‘No, I know nothing about those’ was the simple reply from the boatman.

            ‘Well if you know nothing about these, then you are in the dark’ said the learned man, ‘what good are you then?’ The boatman felt ashamed for his ignorance, but still he kept quiet.

            When they reached the middle of the river, the learned man noticed black clouds gathering in the eastern sky. Sensing the storm, he asked, ‘O boatman, do you know that a storm is coming?’ The boatman looked up at the troubled face of the master and said calmly, ‘have no fear, master, this is a common experience for us’. But the master was not assured, so he asked, ‘what if the river water starts to swell and the boat overturns, we will drown in the river?

            This time the boatman lost patience and said, ‘so what if the boat overturns, don’t you know how to swim or anything about swimology? ‘No I am afraid I know nothing about this, I spent my time reading but never realized to learn this’ was the san reply from the learned man.

            ‘Then your life is a waste’ the boatman said and he began to row faster for the river bank.

What we learn?

The person who does what thing is well practiced and known to that things.

Fool’s Paradise

Fool’s Paradise

In Bangladesh and India a wise and a learned man is referred as a ‘guru’ meaning master. Such gurus are looked upon with great respect and they usually have several followers also called devotees. They help them spread the virtues of wisdom among people.

            One such guru was traveling with his young follower from one place to another when they came to a land where everything costs the same, for example- a glass of mild costs the same as a pot of chicken curry.

The follower was delighted, ‘we must never leave this place’ he said, ‘this place is like a paradise’. The guru thought hard for a moment and then said, ‘no we cannot stay long in this place where everything costs the same. There is no difference between rich and poor, wise and fool, cheap or costly’. But the follower did not want to leave this place, ‘I am tired of traveling with you and carrying your stuff, I think I will stay here’ he said.

            When the guru failed to convince him, he left but warned him, ‘Pretty soon you will find out why this is a fool’s paradise and then you will be sorry’.

            The follower spent his days going to the bazaar and eating lots of rice, sweets and other rich foods to his heart’s content. Within a few months, he became fat and plump.

            One day in that land, a woman came crying to the king’s palace and complained that her husband who was a thief had fallen from a broken roof and had lost his life. At once the king summoned the owner of the house, who came trembling and said, ‘O king, it’s not my fault, it’s the fault of the mason who built the roof’. Then the king called for the mason. When the guards brought the mason, he fell on the king’s feet and said, ‘your majesty, it’s not my fault, it’s the fault of the laborer who mixed the sand and clay’.

            The king’s men went out to look for the laborer and they brought a thin skinny man before the king. The king looked at the man and said, ‘do you know that because you did not mix the sand and clay properly, the roof was not strong and the thief fell and died’ The laborer nodded. Then the king added, ‘now according to the rules of this land you must pay for the life of the thief by giving up your life’.

            The king ordered his men to put the laborer on top of the ‘soul’ which is a sharp iron rod and was used in those days to punish the guilty. The rod pierces through the body and thus

The person meets his life’s end. But the laborer was thin like a bay leaf and the king’s men complained that he would end up sitting on top of the soul. ‘Then bring a fat, plump man immediately’ shouted the king.

            The king’s men set out to look for a fat man and they brought the follower before the king. The king looked up at the follower and said, ‘you are the right type of person to be put on the soul and so you must pay for the life of the thief that he lost’. A large crowd had gathered around the soul. It so happened that the guru was passing by and seeing a crowd stopped to inquire. He was shocked to see that his follower was being dragged towards the soul. The guru thought of ways to help him escape this scandal.

            Then he ran towards the king shouting, ‘O raja, put me on the soul instead of that man, for today is the holy day and whoever gives up his life today will be born as a king’.

            As soon as the king’s ministers heard this, they rose on their feet and shouted, ‘put me on the soul, put me on the soul’.

There was a loud uproar. Then the king rose on his feet and raised his hand for every body to be quiet. When the crowd silenced, he said in a loud voice, ‘I am the king of this land and every body must listen to me. I was born as a king and I want to be born he stepped towards the soul.

            The guru crept towards the follower, caught hold of his ear and dragged him out of the crowd, ‘this is a fool’s paradise and the faster we get out of here the better’ he said.

The Silly Crocodile

A clever fox decided to set up a nursery school for the baby animals of the jungle and so one day he put on a pair of looking glass, hung a sign board and sat beside a stream waiting for his students. A crocodile had seven kids and she wanted her kids to be able to read and write and so she spoke with cunning fox. ‘Very well’ answered the fox thorough his glasses, ‘but you have to leave them with me’. 

           

The following day, the mother crocodile brought her seven kids and left them in the fox’s den. The fox gathered the kids in a secluded corner and said, ‘I am your master and every body must listen to me’. Then he took one kid near him and said, ‘everybody repeat with me, urugud, burugud, baby crocodile tastes good’ so saying he ate that crocodile. Now there were six crocodiles left. That evening when the mother crocodile came to see her kids, the fox stood in front of the hole, took out one baby crocodile and counter ‘one’. Then he put it back, took out another one and counted ‘one’. Then he put it back, took out another one and counted ‘two’. Thus he counted five crocodiles. The sixth crocodile, he counted it twice, making it appear that there are seven crocodiles. As all the baby crocodiles looked the same, the mother could not figure out the missing one.

            The next day, too, the fox took the kids inside the hole and ate another crocodile, leaving only five. That night, when the mother crocodile came, the fox as before, stood in front of her hole and counted the fifth crocodile three times, again making it appear that there are seven kids. After eating the last crocodile, the fox left her hole and went away. That night, when the mother crocodile could not find anyone, she entered the hole and found it littered with bones. She vowed to punish the fox and teach him a lesson.

            After days of searching, the crocodile found the place where the fox was hiding; it was near a brook and the fox often came to the brook to drink water. So the crocodile hid under the marshy water and water for the fox. Around noon time, the fox stepped into the water, the crocodile moved fast and grabbed his leg. Sensing the danger, the fox said, ‘hey friend, what are you doing? don’t you know I can’t see very well these days, so I carry my stick with me, now if you only let it go, I can get up’.

   

The crocodile quickly let the leg go in order to catch the leg, when whosssh! the fox jumped out of the water and ran away. Once more the crocodile was fooled by the fox, but still she did not give up.

            The crocodile found out that the fox visits the sea shore often accompanied by his wife and thought of a novel way to catch the fox pair. Then on e day, she lay down on the sand motionless, eyes closed as if appearing dead. The fox and his wife came to the shore and seeing the crocodile lying on the sand without even moving, the fox halted at a distant and said, ‘wife, I wonder whether this crocodile is alive or dear, for a dead crocodile always wags it’s tail, and this one is not’ The crocodile did not want to be fooled and so as soon as she heard this, she started to wag her tail. Seeing this, the fox laughed aloud, ‘see, I knew she was just pretending’ and then they left for another place. But the crocodile never gave up chasing the fox and even to this day foxes do not go to drink water, where crocodiles are present.

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