Ravina Sewani

Once, a weaver named Somilaka lived in a town. He was a very good weaver. The cloth he wove was fine, soft and beautiful. Even the king praised his work. In spite of this, Somilaka somehow could never earn much money. The other weavers who were not very good at their job were also richer than Somilaka. This depressed Somilaka very much. He thought of trying his luck in another town, but even there he did not meet with much success. In the end, Somilaka was so frustrated that he decided to commit suicide. He made a noose out of a rope and put it around his neck, tying the other end of the rope to a tall tree. He was just about to hang himself when he heard a loud voice coming from heaven, “Wait, don’t commit suicide. I am God. I am pleased with your talent and good work so I have decided to grant you a wish. Tell me what you want.”Somilaka was astonished. He said, “I want wealth.”God replied, “But you don’t need more wealth than what is required to keep you clothed and fed. What will you do with more wealth?”Somilaka answered, “I still want more wealth. A wealthy man is respected by everyone, even if he does not spend his wealth.”God said, “Alright. I will grant your wish. But first, you must go to your native village and visit two traders who live there —‘Secret Wealth’ and ‘Useful Wealth.’Somilaka did as he was told. First, he decided to meet ‘Secret Wealth.’Somilaka paid a visit to the house of ‘Secret Wealth.’ ‘Secret Wealth’ did not give him a cordial welcome, instead he seemed annoyed. His wife served food to Somilaka in a broken plate and banged a glass of water next to him on the floor. Somilaka did not say anything. He just thanked ‘Secret Wealth’ and his family and left.Next, he went to visit the other trader—‘Useful Wealth.’ ‘Useful Wealth was very happy to see Somilaka and welcomed him warmly into the house. All his family members were also very cordial to Somilaka. They served him delicious food and made comfortable arrangements for him to spend the night.Next morning, Somilaka saw the king’s servants bringing money for ‘Useful Wealth.’ He pondered over the contrast between the two traders. He thought, “This man is not as wealthy as ‘Secret Wealth,’ still he enjoys his wealth and lives more comfortably than ‘Secret Wealth.”Somilaka had understood the fact that wealth must not be merely hoarded; it should be used properly. When necessary, it should also be donated.Somilaka’s wish for wealth was granted by God and he enjoyed his wealth to the fullest, using it and also sharing it, just like ‘Useful Wealth.’ Moral:Wealth does not decide the respect of any individual. Whatever wealth you have, use it wisely and for good.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.Moral(s) of the story: kindness

Somilaka the weaver

Once, a Brahmin was passing through a jungle to reach another town. A diabolical giant used to live in that forest. When he saw the Brahmin coming towards him, he sprang upon the Brahmin and sat on his shoulders, curling his legs around the Brahmin’s neck. The Brahmin was petrified to see a giant perched on his shoulders, but he could not do anything to take him off his shoulders. The giant said to the Brahmin, “O Brahmin, I am very fond of eating human flesh. But, before killing you I wish to take a joy ride on your shoulders. So, take me where I want.”The Brahmin had no choice, but to obey the giant. So he kept on walking. While walking, the Brahmin noticed that the giant’s feet were unusually tender and tiny. Out of curiosity, the Brahmin asked the giant, “O mighty giant, I want to ask you something. I see that you are so big and strong but your feet are very tiny and delicate. Why is it so?”The giant thought that there was no harm in revealing the secret of his feet to the Brahmin as he was soon going to kill him. So, he told the Brahmin, “Well, I generally do not walk much. Walking or running with wet feet hurts me a great deal.”The Brahmin kept the giant’s words firmly in his mind and kept on walking. After some time, they reached a river. When the Brahmin saw the river, a brilliant idea struck him. He said to the giant, “Dear Sir, Pardon me for saying so, but I sincerely think that you need to take a shower. You can take a bath in this river, freshen yourself up and then eat me.” The giant had not taken a bath since a very long time, so he liked the Brahmin’s idea. He asked the Brahmin to let him down from his shoulders and warned him, “Do not dare move an inch from your place or else, I will come out of the water and kill you.”The Brahmin promised the giant not to move from there. He was very happy to see the giant bathing in the river as he knew that he was bound to get his tender feet wet. As soon as the Brahmin saw that the giant was completely soaked in water, he ran away from there to save his life.The giant saw the Brahmin running away from the river bank, but he could not do anything to stop him. With his delicate wet feet, he was unable to chase the Brahmin. He repented telling his little secret to the Brahmin. Moral 1:Keep your secrets to yourself and don’t share it with everyone as people might take an advantage. Only share your secrets with the people you trust. Moral 2:Quick wit and thinking can help us escape out of difficult situations.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.Moral(s) of the story: trust and wisdom

The giant and the helpless Brahmin

Once a goat was grazing on the grassy slope of a hill. It decided to taste the grass on the hills across. A narrow log served as a bridge across the stream. While crossing the bridge, it saw another goat coming from the other side. The bridge was so narrow that only one animal could cross the bridge at a time.The first goat said to the other, "Let me pass first." "You let me pass first", shouted the other goat. They started arguing and finally got into a terrible fight. They lost their balance and fell into the stream.The other grazing goats witnessed this and learnt a lesson. After few days, two other goats encountered the same problem.&nbsp;One goat said to the other, "I'll sit down and you can step over my body and pass." The other goat replied, "Thank you. Next time, I'll sit down and let you cross first."Thus both of them were able to cross the bridge safely.Moral: Wisdom is better than weapons of war.

This is a story of goat and jataka tales.Moral(s) of the story: cooperation, foolishness, understanding and wisdom

Two Silly Goats

One day, a hungry jackal was looking for food in an old battlefield. Suddenly he heard a strange noise coming from a distance. He wondered what could be the source of that frightening noise. At first he decided to run away from there and save his life. Maybe it was a monster who was making such a loud noise. The jackal started running but then he suddenly stopped. He thought that it was unwise to run away without investigating the incident. He gathered courage and slowly walked towards the sound. When he reached very close to the sound, he hid behind a rock and peeped. The jackal saw a big drum lying near a tree. Due to a strong wind, the branches of the tree were rubbing against the drum and making that noise.The jackal had a hearty laugh at himself. He was happy to solve the mystery of the noise. He tore open the drum, thinking that perhaps there was some food inside it but was extremely disappointed to find nothing. Though the jackal did not find anything to eat inside the drum, he was happy with himself for being brave and not running away like a coward. Moral:Be brave and you shall overcome all your obstacles.

This is a classic story from panchtantra.This is a story of jackal.Moral(s) of the story: bravery

The jackal and the drum

Yesha Desai

The great king Krishna Deva Raya had a lot of wise ministers in his court. The wisest of them was Tenali Rama. One day, a merchant came to the king’s court from a foreign kingdom. He saluted the king and then said, “Your Majesty, I have heard from many people that you have very wise ministers in your court. But with your permission, I would like to test the wisdom of your ministers.” This aroused the king’s interest and he gave the merchant his permission. The merchant gave the king three dolls that looked identical. He said, “Though these dolls look similar, they are different in some way. If your ministers can find out the difference, I will bow to their wisdom. But if they can’t, I will assume that there are no wise ministers in your court. I will be back in thirty days for the answer.”The king asked all of his ministers except Tenali Rama to assemble. He gave them the three dolls and told them to find the difference in them in three days’ time. But at the end of three days, none of the ministers could figure out the difference. The king got worried and called Tenali Rama. He said to him, “Tenali, I did not summon you before because I thought that this problem would be too simple. But since no one has been able to find the solution, it is up to you now. Find the difference between these dolls.” Tenali took the three dolls and went away.The problem proved difficult for Tenali too, but at last, after a lot of effort, he figured out the difference. He went to the court with the three dolls on the day that the merchant had to return. Then, he announced in front of the whole court that he had found the difference between the dolls. He said, “These three dolls are different because one of them is good, one average and one bad.” When everyone asked Tenali which doll was which, he showed them a tiny hole that was present in the ears of each of the dolls. Then, he took a very thin wire and put it in the hole of the first doll’s ear. The wire came out from the doll’s mouth. He did the same with the second doll and the wire came out from the doll’s other ear. In the third doll, the wire went to the heart and did not come out.Tenali Rama explained, “In the first doll, the wire went in through the ear and came out through the mouth. So, this doll is bad as it represents people who cannot keep a secret. In the second doll, the wire came out of the other ear. So, it is average and represents harmless people who do not understand what is said to them. The third doll, in which the wire went to the heart and did not come out, represents good people who will keep the secret that you tell them.”The king, the merchant and all the courtiers were very impressed with Tenali’s wise answer. Then Tenali said, “But there can be another explanation too. The first doll represents people who gain knowledge and spread it among others, so it is good. The second doll represents people who do not understand what they are taught, so it is average. The third doll represents people who have knowledge but keep it all to themselves. They do not teach anyone anything and so they are bad people.The king was even more impressed. He asked, “Can there be any other explanation?” Can you think of a third explanation to answer the king?” Moral:Our interpretation of trivial happenings can make a lot of difference in life.

This is a classic story from Tenali Raman.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

Tenali raman and the three dolls

Birbal was promised gifts by Emperor Akhbar himself after he claimed — on multiple occasions— to be immensely fond of Birbal and his wit.However, he did not receive anything even after a long time passed and was disappointed because of the Emperor’s unkept promise.During a stroll on River Yamuna’s bank the Emperor asked Birbal, “Why is the Camel’s neck crooked?”Birbal replied with his usual wit, “Maybe, because the camel forgot to honour his promise and according to our literature, people with unkept promises are punished with a crooked neck.”This immediately reminded Akhbar of the promise he made to Birbal and thus Birbal received the gifts he deserved.And this is how Birbal used his wit to get what he wanted without even asking for it.Moral: Sometimes it is important to be coy to get what you want rather than being direct.

This is a story of camel and Akbar Birbal.Moral(s) of the story: promise

Why is the camel’s neck crooked?

Once there lived a camel who had a bad habit of making funny comments on the looks of other animals and birds. He never spoke a good word about any of them.To the cow he said, "Just have a look at yourself. What an ugly looking animal you are! When I look at your bones, it seems to me they will tear through your skin any moment."To the buffalo he said, "You must have surely offended the Creator and so He has painted your entire body with the coal black colour. Your crooked horns make you look uglier still."To the elephant he said, "You are a cartoon among all the animals. The Creator must have made you in one of His humorous moods. All the parts of your body are out of proportion. Your huge body is tagged with a bit of a tail. Your eyes are so small, and ears so big. I had better not say anything about your trunk and legs and other parts of your body."To the parrot he said, "The Creator has shown His sense of humour through the hook-like red beak of yours."In this way the camel always jeered and sneered at one and all. Once the camel chanced to meet a fox who was very outspoken and blunt. The fox said to him, "Camel, give up your dirty habit of commenting on others. Just find some time to look at yourself. You have a long face, stone-like eyes, yellow and dirty teeth, legs like crooked sticks and an ugly hump on your back. You are the ugliest among ugly animals. Other animals have a fault or two each, but yours outnumber and outclass them all."The camel hung his head in shame and walked away silently. Moral:Look at your own faults rather than at those of others.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of buffalo, camel, cow, elephant, fox and parrot.Moral(s) of the story: empathy

The ugly Camel

One day, Nasiruddin was at the king’s court when the king turned to him and said, “Mulla Nasiruddin, you are always boasting about your wisdom and cleverness. So tell me, can you teach your donkey how to read?”Nasiruddin replied, “Of course! That’s quite an easy task.”“I don’t believe you,” said the king.“I mean it and I can prove it to you,” said Nasiruddin.The king said, “Would you take it on as a challenge, then?”“Absolutely,” replied Nasiruddin. “If you give me fifty thousand dollars right now, I guarantee that by the end of eight years, I will have taught my donkey how to read.”The king said, “Fine, I agree. But my condition is that if the donkey is unable to read by then, I will have you put in prison where you will be tortured every day.”Both of them agreed to this deal and Nasiruddin left for home.The next day, Nasiruddin told his friend about what had happened at the king’s court. His friend said, “Nasiruddin, how could you ever agree to such an impossible task? You cannot even control your donkey enough to make it stand still, and now you have guaranteed that in eight years you would have taught him how to read? There is no way you can escape that prison sentence.”“Relax,” replied Nasiruddin calmly. “Eight years is a long time, my friend! By then, our king will probably be dead or he will not be in power anymore. And even if he is still the king at the end of eight years, chances are that my donkey would be dead by then. Worse come to worse, if by the end of seven years, both the king and my donkey are alive, I will still have one whole year to devise a plan to escape punishment. Moral:Taking measured chances result in our favour quite a few times. Nasiruddin was smart enough to take a chance and trick the king to get things worked in his favour. Such chances don’t always end up the way we have assumed.

This is a story of donkey, king and Mulla Nasruddin.Moral(s) of the story: smartness and wisdom

The guarantee

This story dates back to the time when king Brahmadutta ruled the city of Banaras. He had four young princes. They young princes had grown up hearing many wonderful stories about a beautiful tree known as the Red Bud Tree. They had never seen the Red Bud tree and wished to be the first one to see it.One day, driven by his curiosity to see the tree at the earliest, the eldest prince asked the king’s charioteer to take him deep into the woods where this tree grew. It was still early spring and the tree was standing as a bare stump of wood in the forest, devoid of any leaves or buds. The prince failed to understand why it was known as the Red-Bud tree and returned back to the palace.Sometime later in spring, the next son requested the king’s charioteer to take him to the Red Bud Tree. At this time, the tree was covered with bright red buds and looked very beautiful.The third son went into the woods just after the spring time. Now tree did not have any red buds and was covered with lush green leaves. He also could see no reason for calling it a Red Bud tree.The youngest price also decided to go and have a look at the famous Red Bud tree. By this time, the tree was covered with little bean-pods. When he came back from the forest, he ran into the garden where his brothers were playing and told them with much excitement, "I saw the Red Bud tree!""So, what is special about it?" said the eldest prince. “It is nothing but a dead stump of wood,” He added."What makes you say that?" said the second son. "When I went in the woods, it was covered with hundreds of beautiful red buds. This is why it is known as the Red Bud tree."The third prince said, "I have also seen the Red Bud tree. It is neither a dead stump of wood nor covered with red buds. It looks like an ordinary tree covered with green leaves."The youngest prince said with utmost confidence, "Brothers, all of you are mistaken! I have just a seen the tree and I can say for sure that it is now covered with little bean-pods."The princes wondered that maybe the Red Bud tree was indeed some mystical tree and appeared in different forms before different people. The king was overhearing their conversation. When they stopped talking, he came out and said, "My dear sons, all four of you have seen the same tree, but each of you saw it at a different time of the year." The princes understood what the matter was and laughed at their naivete. Moral: All is not what it seems. The four princes could not agree with each other because all of them had seen different stages of the tree. Sometimes, there’s more to a situation than what meets the eye.

This is a story of brother, forest, Jataka tales, prince, red and tree.Moral(s) of the story: wisdom

classic story stories

Stories help in improving a child's imagination. Here are a few interesting ones for you to narrate to your child.