THE FOX AND THE GRAPES

It was a sunny day and fox was walking across the fields. Soon he came to a vineyard.
As he came nearer, he could see some bunches of juicy grapes.
The fox looked carefully around him. He had to make sure that he was safe from the hunters.
He decided to steal some before anyone came along.
He jumped upwards but he could not reach the grapes. He jumped
again as high as he could. He still could not reach them. The grapes
were just too high for him!
He was not ready to give up. He backed off, took some running steps
and leapt into the air towards the grapes. Again he failed to reach
them.
It was getting dark, and he was getting angry. His legs hurt with all
that running and jumping. At last he stopped trying.
As he walked away, he said to himself, “I don’t really want those
grapes. I’m sure they are too sour to eat.”

Sometimes when we cannot get what we want,
we pretend that it is not worth having.

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB

A lamb was grazing with a flock of sheep one day. She soon found
some sweet grass at the edge of the field. Farther and farther she went,
away from the others.
She was enjoying herself so much that she did not notice a wolf
coming nearer to her. However, when it pounced on her, she was quick
to start pleading, “Please, please don’t eat me yet. My stomach is full of
grass. If you wait a while, I will taste much better.”
The wolf thought that was a good idea, so he sat down and waited.
After a while, the lamb said, “If you allow me to dance, the grass in my
stomach will be digested faster.” Again the wolf agreed.
While the lamb was dancing, she had a new idea. She said,
“Please take the bell from around my neck. If you ring it as hard as you
can, I will be able to dance even faster.”
The wolf took the bell and rang it as hard as he could. The shepherd heard the bell ringing and
quickly sent his dogs to find the missing lamb. The barking dogs frightened the wolf away and
saved the lamb’s life.
The gentle and weak can sometimes be cleverer than fierce and strong.

THE FOX AND THE STORK

A selfish fox once invited a stork to dinner at his home in a hollow tree. That evening, the stork flew
to the fox’s home and knocked on the door with her long beak. The fox opened the door and said,
“Please come in and share my food.”
The stork was invited to sit down at the table. She was very hungry and the food smelled delicious!
The fox served soup in shallow bowls and he licked up all his soup very quickly. However, the stork
could not have any of it as the bowl was too shallow for her long beak. The poor stork just smiled
politely and stayed hungry.
The selfish fox asked, “Stork, why haven’t you taken your soup? Don’t you like it?”
The stork replied, “It was very kind of you to invite me for dinner.
Tomorrow evening, please join me for dinner at my home.”
The next day, when the fox arrived at the stork’s home, he
saw that they were also having soup for dinner. This time
the soup was served in tall jugs. The stork drank the soup
easily but the fox could not reach inside the tall jug. This
time it was his turn to go hungry.

A selfish act can backfire on you.

THE MONKEY AND THE DOLPHIN

One day long ago, some sailors set out to sea in their sailing ship. One of
them brought his pet monkey along for the long journey.
When they were far out at sea, a terrible storm overturned their ship.
Everyone fell into the sea, and the monkey was sure that he would drown.
Suddenly a dolphin appeared and picked him up.
They soon reached the island and the monkey came down from the
dolphin’s back. The dolphin asked the monkey, “Do you know this place?”
The monkey replied, “Yes, I do. In fact, the king of the island is my best
friend. Do you know that I am actually a prince?”
Knowing that no one lived on the island, the dolphin said, “Well, well, so
you are a prince! Now you can be a king!”
The monkey asked, “How can I be a king?”
As the dolphin started swimming away, he answered, “That is easy. As you are the only creature on
this island, you will naturally be the king!”

Those who lie and boast may end up in trouble.

THE ANT AND THE DOVE

One hot day, an ant was searching for some water.
After walking around for some time, she came to a spring.
To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass.
While making her way up, she slipped and fell into the water.
She could have drowned if a dove up a nearby tree had not
seen her. Seeing that the ant was in trouble, the dove quickly
plucked off a leaf and dropped it into the water near the
struggling ant. The ant moved towards the leaf and
climbed up there. Soon it carried her safely to dry ground.
Just at that time, a hunter nearby was throwing out his net
towards the dove, hoping to trap it.
Guessing what he was about to do, the ant quickly bit him on
the heel. Feeling the pain, the hunter dropped his net. The
dove was quick to fly away to safety.

One good turn deserves another.

THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

A tortoise one day met a hare who made fun of her. “My, my, you move so slowly, you will never get far!” The tortoises, upset by the hare’s manner, said, “Let’s have a race and see who is faster.”

The hare laughed and said, “You must be joking! But all right, we’ll see who reaches the other side of the hill first.” Off he ran, leaving the tortoise far behind.

After a while, the hare stopped to wait for the tortoise to come long. He waited and waited till he felt sleepy. “I might as well take a nap,” he thought. “Even if she catches up with me, I can easily win the race.” So he lay down under a shady tree and closed his eyes.

When the tortoise passed the sleeping hare, she walked on slowly but steadily. By the time the hare woke up, the tortoise was near the finishing line. He ran as fast as he could, but he could not catch up with the tortoise.

Slow and steady can win the race.

THE FARMER AND THE STORK

Finding that cranes were destroying his newly sown corn, a farmer one evening set a net in his field to catch the destructive birds. When he went to examine the net next morning he found a number of cranes and also a stork.

“Release me, I beseech you,” cried the stork, “for I have eaten none of your corn, nor have I done you any harm. I am a poor innocent stork, as you may see - a most dutiful bird, I honor my father and mother. I...”

But the farmer cut him short. “All this may be true enough, I dare say, but I have caught you with those were destroying my crops, and you must suffer with the company in which you are found.”

People are judged by the company they keep.