THE VAIN JACKDAW

          Once upon a time a jackdaw found ‘feathers which a peacock had dropped on the way. He was vain and ugly-looking. To appear good- looking, he picked up a lot of peacock’s feathers and stuck them to his body. He looked about and felt proud that he had become .as fine-looking as a peacock. He then left his own tribe to live among the peacocks.

          The peacocks saw a new-corner among them. They felt curiosity about him. But the vain jackdaw said that he was one of their relatives. The peacocks suspected his real identity and began to peck at him. As a result his borrowed feathers soon fell off. So the pretender was exposed and he was found to be nothing but an ugly jackdaw with borrowed feathers. So the peacocks in anger drove him away.

          In this ugly state the vain jackdaw flew to his former companions and claimed to be one of their kins.

          But they did not recognize him and drove him, away. Thus the jackdaw was left without friends.

Moral: Pride doth go before a foil.

ABOU BEN ADHEM AND THE ANGEL

          Once upon a time there was a very pious man named Abou. He too was a sincere lover of God and man. One night he woke up from a happy, peaceful dream. He saw an angel in the moonlight shining in his room. He was writing something in a book of gold.

          Abou said, “May I know what are you writing?” “The name of those who love God” was the angel’s reply.

          “Is my name there?” enquired Abou.
“Nay, not so” was the angel’s reply.
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          But Abou did not lose heart. He requested the angel to write down his (Abou’s) name as one who loved his fellowmen. The angel did so, and vanished.

          The next night the angel came again, lie showed Abou the names of those persons who had received God’s favour. And, to! Abou’s name was at the top of the list.

Moral: To love and serve men is to serve God.

KING SOLOMON AND QUEEN OF SHEBA

          There lived in Jerusalem a king of the few's named Solomon. He was famous all over the world for his wisdom, wealth and grandeur. The news of his fame reached the ears of the Queen of Sheba. She wanted to put his wisdom to test.

          With this object in view she once visited Solomon’s court with many royal presents. She had with her two garlands of flowers. One was of real flowers, and the other of artificial flowers. The Queen asked the king to pick out the real from the artificial. Both garlands were so much alike that it was very difficult to distinguish between the two.

          The wonderful garlands puzzled the courtiers. Solomon kept silent for a while. He looked at both the garlands very carefully and then said, “Open the windows.” The king order was carried out. A swarm of bees at once flew in from the adjacent garden and settled on the garland made of real flowers. To the amazement of all Solomon succeeded in solving the puzzle. The Queen of Sheba was highly impressed with his wisdom and remarked, “Happy is the land which produces such a great and wise king.”

THREE ADVENTUROUS YOUNG MEN

          Once three men went out in search of adventures. On the way they asked an old man, “Sir, can you tell me the abode of death?”

          “A strange question indeed!” replied the old man. “But I know that death lives under yonder banyan tree.”

          After a good deal of search the young men discovered a big hole under the banyan tree. They began to dig into it and a big poisonous snake rushed out. They at once struck it dead. They went on digging the hole and found a great treasure.

          The young men were tired, hungry and thirsty. One of them was sent in search of food and drink. In his absence, the other two took it into their heads to kill the young man and divide the treasure between them. Meanwhile, the third young man also wanted the whole treasure for himself, so, after buying food, he put some poison in it, excluding of course, his own share.

          The third young man came back with food and drink. All on a sudden the other two fell upon him and killed him. “Then with the rosy picture of being the masters of a vast fortune, they fell to the food for a hearty meal.”

          Alas I before they could finish their meal they fell down dead on the spot.

Moral: Wickedness is sure to bring ruin.

THE HIDDEN TREASURE

          A farmer had three sons. They spent their time idly. They were as idle as their father was active; the laziness of the so ns was a cause of anxiety to the father.

          One day when the farmer was on his death-bed, he called his Sons all round him and said, “My sons, I have an important secret to tell you. A great treasure lies hidden in yonder field.’“Where is it hid, father?“ exclaimed the sons. “You will have to dig for it,” said the dying father. But before he could disclose the full secret, his breath failed him and lie died.

          After the farmer’s death, the sons set to work upon the fallow field. They turned up the soil of the entire field with hard labour. They found no treasure, but learnt to work.

          The seeds were sown in the well-cultivated field. So it yielded a rich harvest. Then the sons could realise what their vise father had meant by the hidden treasure.

THE RIGHT JUDGMENT

          Once there was a dispute between two women over a baby. Each of them claimed to be its real mother. They had no witness. So both of them went before a wise judge and asked for justice.

“My lord,” said the first woman, “This baby is mine. This woman took it away in my absence.”

          The second woman said, “It’s a lie, my lord. This baby is mine, and not hers.”

The judge heard the women and found both of them equally strong in their claims. He thought over the matter for some time and then said, “Well, the law will take its course and the punishment for the liar will be hard.” But the women remained silent.

          The judge then summoned the executioner and ordered, “Cut the baby into two and give one part to each of the women.”

          Hearing this, one of the women fainted away, while the other was unmoved. The former, after regaining consciousness, said in a piteous tone, “My lord, for God’s sake, please do not cut the baby. Better give it to the other woman.”

          The judge then gave the baby to her and sent the other woman into prison.

Moral: A mother loves her child more than her own self.

THE LION AND THE HARE

          In a certain forest a mighty lion used to kill and devour animals right and left. The animals hit upon a novel plan foil their safety. In a meeting it was decided to send one animal daily for the lion’s meal. In exchange the lion agreed not to kill any other animals.

          From that day the animals of the forest drew lots and selected the victim every day. The lion got his daily food and gave up hunting.

          One day the turn came for a hare to be sent to the lion. On the way the hare hit upon a clever plan to put an end to the lion and save himself.

          The hare reached the lion’s den long after the usual hour. The hungry lion grew furious with rage and roared out, “Wretch, why are you so late?“

          With all humility the hare replied, “My lord, it’s not my fault. I was chased by another lion. He said that he was the king of the forest and would not let me come.”

          “Show me the way,” roared the angry lion, “I must kill my rival.”

          The clever hare took the lion to the side of a deep well and told him that the lion was in it. In great rage the lion looked down the well and saw his own image. He took it for another lion. With a great roar he jumped into the well and was drowned.

Moral: Wit is better than strength.