Gratitude

Once upon a time, there lived a parrot on a banyan tree. A river runs across to the trees. One day, the parrot was sitting on a branch, and it saw an ant being carried away in the river water. The parrot, immediately plucked a leaf from the tree and dropped it into the river. The ant climbed on the leaf and saved its life.

Few days later, the ant, remembered the parrot, as it wandered near the river. It thought of meeting the parrot, which saved its life, and so, it stopped at the banyan tree. At the same time, it saw a hunter coming towards the banyan tree. The hunter approached the tree and aimed his arrow, towards the parrot with out wasting any time. The ant which was hiding and peeping from the leaves on the ground, immediately pounced and bit his leg. The hunter focus diverted due to the pain, and the arrow missed its target. Due to the noise, the parrot and other birds flew away. The hunter became upset and said, "I lost my food due to this bloody ant" and left the place. The parrot heard those words and went close to ant and said with gratitude, "If you had not come, I would not be alive by now. I will never forget your help". On hearing it, the ant replied, "The other day you saved my live with out even knowing me. You are the best. You are so kind hearted.". From then on, both of them became friends for life.


flow - when talking about direction
river runs-
adjacent vs runs across- for solid

A Friend In Need Is A Friend In Deed

Once upon a time near by a village, there was a pond known as Red pond, near a village. Fish living in the pond were well known for their intelligence. One day, a Crane named Bakamu, came to the pond, to drink some water. It saw lots of fish in the pond and felt very happy. It was surprised to see no other Crane around the pond. As soon as it drank water, it tried to catch fish in the pond. The fish escaped from it, just in the nick of time. The crane continued its attempts for 3 days, got exhausted and fell on the banks of the pond.

On seeing the Crane's pathetic state, Meenam, the King of the fishes, felt pity and said, "You seem to die with hunger. I will provide some food. Eat the food and leave this place". Meenam collected few insects and gave it to the crane. The Crane, felt very happy for the help. From then onwards, the crane visited the pond daily and met Meenam. Gradually, they became good friends.

Every thing was going fine until one day, a few fisher men came to the pond with nets. The crane noticed it and warned Meenam about it. The fish were alerted and none of them touched the net. The fishermen left the place saying, "we shall try again tomorrow". Bakamu heard the discussion and informed Meenam about it. Bakamu asked, if it can take Meenam and its family to a safe place. However, Meenam rejected the help.

The next day, while Bakam was in serious thoughts to save Meenam, it saw a lion sleeping under a tree. It got an idea, and pricked the lion on its nose. The lion got very angry and tried to catch Bakam. Bakam flew and escaped from it. Bakam continued to prick the lion at every possible instant, and managed to escape.  It made lion so furious, the lion chased the crane madly. The crane flew and finally rested on a tree, close to the pond. The lion became mad as it could not catch the crane. It sat under the tree and continued to roar with anger.  The fishermen, who were approaching the pond, heard the roar and turned back with fear. The fish were happy and conveyed their gratitude to the crane.

A clever young man

Once upon a time, a king named Bhuphathi ruled Mahendranagar. His minister was senile wanted to retire. Hence, the king thought to replace him with an young man. The king announced the recruitment of young minister in his kingdom. Many young men turned up for the prestigious position. King Bhupathi asked them a question, "In order to make the moon and moon light not visible to a person, what size of a plate should be used?". The king asked all of them, to write their answer along with their name on a paper and put it in a drop box.

Everyone present knew that it was a tricky question. Many were hesitant to answer such an abstract question. However, as they had already come to display their talent, they decided to give an attempt. Few of the answers were "as big as a mountain", "as big as bullock cart wheel" and so. One of them wrote, it should be slightly bigger than eye ball and should be placed close to eye.

King felt the right person was identified. However, to ascertain he was indeed clever, he decided to conduct one more test. King asked, "Person 'F' is father of person 'A'. However, 'A' is not son of 'F'. How is it possible?". "If 'A' is not a son, then it could be daughter", answered the young man.

King was mesmerized with his smartness, presence of mind and appointed him as minister in his cabinet.

Hidden Treasure

Once upon a time, there lived a farmer, Anjaiah. He had four sons. They were extremely lazy and roamed around as laggards. Anjaiah tried his best to change them. However, his attempts were futile. As Anjaiah became senile, one day he said to his sons, "Dear sons, I have a huge treasure. I wish to distribute equally among you four, so that you can lead rest of your life happily. However, I forgot the exact location where I hid the treasure in our farm land. Hence, it is your responsibility to dig and find the treasure". Anjaiah died few days latter after revealing the secret to his sons. Although the sons felt, finding the treasure is a humongous task, they started to excavate the land as they can enjoy the rest of their lifes. They dug the entire field, however, they could not find any treasure. At one place, they felt, they found some traces of treasure and so, they dug deep. However, it was just water.

One day, they sat in the field with clear distress on their faces, as their desire to find treasure was shattered. A passerby, on seeing the land and the well with water suggested, "Why don't you cultivate?. You have already dug the land, just put seeds and water it". The brothers felt, there will be some outcome for their hard work, if they cultivate. As the water was available, they got an excellent yield. It earned a good amount for them. Its then they realized, that the treasure their father referred was noting but to work and to earn a livelihood.  From then, they worked hard, lead the family and lived in happiness.

Concentration

Once upon a time, there lived four friends in a village. They loved shooting and practiced target shooting often. One day they went to a forest, to practice shooting. They suspended 4 pots from a tree at some distance and aimed to shoot them. First one attempted to shoot saying, "Forest is so quiet and I love it" and he missed the target. The second one tried saying, "City life is of no use before the forest greenery" and his attempt was also futile. Third one took his turn saying, "Fragrance from flowers is very pleasant" and failed. The fourth one attempted saying, "I feel like being in haven. Let us complete our job quickly and then roam in the forest", and he too missed his target.

An ascetic, who was watching them from a distance could not stop laughing. The friends got offended and challenged the ascetic, "Don't just laugh, shoot the pot if you can". Ascetic took the gun into his hands and broke the pot in single a shot. "How is it possible? Do you have any magical powers?", asked the friends in astonishment. I don't have any magical powers. One needs concentration to aim and shoot. You have seen the result as well. Focus should be on the target while shooting. However, your focus was on other matters. Ascetic left the place saying, "You failed due to lack of concentration". The friends realized their mistake, tried once again with concentration and succeeded.

Real Thief

Once upon a time lived a wealthy gold merchant, in Emperor Akbar's kingdom. The merchant had workers who assist him in the shop. One day, one of his workers ran away stealing money and jewellery from the shop. The merchant searched for him but in vain. A few years later, the merchant saw the worker in a market. The worker was wearing rich costumes and gold ornaments. The merchant could recognize him in spite of his rich attire as he worked in his shop for a good time. The worker also recognized the merchant, and realized that there is no way to escape. So, the worker immediately started to allegedly shouted, "You wicked person, at last I found you. Do you think, you can escape here as well.  Where did you hide the money and gold". The merchant was stunned with the worker's sudden drama. The merchant replied, "what are you talking. Why will I steal. You are the thief, and if you don't return the money and gold, I will report to security guards. Both of them started making allegations on each other. Finally they went to emperor's court for justice. After hearing both their allegations, the emperor asked Birbal to resolve the issue.

Birbal closely observed both of them. One of them was talking bravely while other was trying to cover up the disconcert. Birbal recognized the real thief, based on his observations. In order to expose real thief to public, he played a trick. Birbal asked both of them to place their heads outside of the window. After they followed his instructions, Birbal asked one of the soldiers to bring a sword. Birbal now ordered the soldier to draw the sword and  "cut the head of the worker who is lieing". On hearing the order, the worker who was pretending as rich man got worried and immediately took his head back from the window. In this manner, Birbal made the worker to expose by himself. Akbar praised Birbal, for his smartness, who made the thief to expose all by himself.

Eight and half camel

Once upon a time in a desert, lived a draft animal supplier, Ramaiah. He had 17 camels. He gave the camels on rent for transportation purpose and made his living. Over time, he became old and passed away. His 3 sons decided to distribute their inherited property. They were able to share all the properties except camels, according to the will prepared by their father before his death. According to the will, 1/2 of them were allocated to the elder son, 1/3rd to the second son and 1/9th to the third. Half of the camels means eight and half to the elder son, and similar allocation to remaining sons. Since they could not distribute in such a manner, they approached a wise man in the village, after much deliberation. The wise man asked to bring all the camels they had. Once they bought all the 17 camels, the wise man added one of his camel to the 17 camels and then asked them to distribute as per the will. The will suggested, elder son to get 1/2 of the camels.the elder son was allocated half of the camels, and so they gave him 9 camels. The second son was given 1/3 of 18 camels, which is 6.  Similarly the younger son was given 2 camels. In total, 17 camels - 9, 6 and 2 for elder, second and younger son respectively were distributed. The camel which was added by the wise man was left over and he took it back. The brothers were happy with the distribution and thanked the wiseman for solving the problem and returned home.

Good decision

Once upon a time there was a gurukul, in the kingdom of Mysore. A renowned guru administered the gurukul. Students stayed in the gurukul till the completion the studies. One day, a few students saw a fellow student stealing others belongings. They reported the issue to Guruji. However, Guruji didn't take any action on him. He continued with his teachings as usual. Few days later, the same student was caught again while stealing and fellow students reported the issue to Guruji. Guruji said, "I will look into the issue. Please carry on with your studies". Guruji spoke to the student and left him with out giving any punishment. The fellow students didn't like it and asked guruji to rusticate from the gurukul. If that doesn't happen they would leave the gurukul. Guruji replied, "Dear students, education teaches us to understand good and bad happening around us. You have realized this truth. Hence, there will be on impact on you, even if you go to other place for studies. However, your friend is yet to learn it. I will send your friend from this place, once he understands the same".
 
  Students were full of admiration for Guruji's rationale. The student understood his mistake and he didn't repeat such behavior ever after.
 

An young goat

Once upon a time in a village, there was a shepherd who had a herd of goats. Every day he used take the herd for grazing. One day,he brought a young goat along with the herd for grazing. He took the herd to a place full of grass. The young goat saw grass as far as it could view. So, the young goat liked the place very much. It started to graze wandering in all directions. Gradually, it went away from the herd. A wolf observed the young goat and followed it closely. Sometime latter, the young goat realized that it got separated from the herd. While it was searching its way home, the wolf came closer with a cruel stare. The young goat understood the situation and asked, "You will eat me now!! right?". "Yes", replied wolf. "Thats fine, can you eat me after some time. I ate lot of grass and my stomach is full of grass. I will taste like grass if you eat me know. If you wait for sometime, the grass will be digested", said the young goat. The wolf agreed, it waited for few mins and asked if it can eat. "No, it didn't digest yet. Let us dance for a while. Digestion will happen quickly. You can then eat me happily", said the young goat and started to dance funnily. The rationale was that, there was a bell tied to it. On hearing the sound of the bell, the shepherd may come, that was the goat's hope. However, the shepherd didn't turn up and so it stopped the dance. "What happened", the wolf questioned the goat. "Take this bell from my neck and swing it to your strength. It will make good sound. I will dance according to the sound," said the young goat. Wolf liked the goats dance which was funny, and started to ring the bell with all its strength. On hearing the loud sound of the bell, the shepherd who was searching for the goat, ran in that direction and saw the wolf. He ran towards wolf with his stick in hand. On seeing the shepherd, the wolf ran away in fear. The shepherd took the young goat into his arms and returned home. The young goat was thus saved from the wolf and returned home with the shepherd safely.

Parrot's help

Once upon a time in Ramapuram village, lived a firewood seller Sundaram. He lost his parents, when he was young, and so, lived with his grandmother. Under his grandmother's parenting, he learned to be kind and being helpful others. One day, while he was cutting a tree, he saw a parrot that fell on to the ground and became unconscious. Because of the fall, it suffered a few injuries. He sprinkled some water on the parrot, and applied some sap of tree leaves on the injuries. The Parrot recovered after some time and said, "You treated me with kind heart and saved my life. I will definitely help you, when you are in need" and flew away. Sundaram took the parrot's words casually and continued with his life.

One day, the king went to forest for hunting. He lost his diamond ring on the way. The diamond ring was his inheritance passed down from generations. The king felt it as a bad omen to lose such a ring. The next day, the king announced to the people in the kingdom, "whoever finds the ring will be felicitated by valuable gifts". Next day, while Sundaram was cutting trees, the parrot rested on his shoulder and said, "Dear friend, the other day you saved my life. Now, I got an opportunity to repay the gratitude. Take this ring, hand it over to king.", and gave him the ring which the parrot found in a deep valley. Sundaram handed the ring to the king and received valuable gifts and handsome money. He started a business with the money, took good care of his grandmother and lived rest of his life happily.

Kindness

Once upon a time in a village, lived a firewood seller, Rangaiah. He helped others in what ever way possible for him. One day while he was cutting a tree, a chick(baby crow) living in the nearby tree accidentally fell off on the ground. Rangaiah immediately took the chick into his hands and helped the bird drink some water. He tore his hand towel and tied it to the injured leg of the bird. He carefully placed the bird in the nest. The mother crow which went to bring food returned just then. It watched the goodnees of Rangaiah and felt very happy.
Few days later, one afternoon, Rangaiah had his lunch and laid at under tree shade to take a nap. He heard some noise and woke up from sleep with astonishment. He saw a bear in front of him. He got frightened and tried to run away from the place. However, by then, the bear came too close and started to scratch him. He tried his best to come out of its clutches, however he failed. The mother crow watched all this from the tree. It determined to save Rangaiah from the bear and so started to poke the bear. Inspite of crow's attack, bear didn't leave Rangaiah. Crow got an idea and poked the bear in its eye. Bear started to shout from pain, let go Rangaiah from its clutches and ran into the forest. Rangaiah felt very happy for the crow's help and left for his home.
   
If one is kind and helpful to others, the returns will multifold, when in need.
    

Realization

Once upon a time, there lived an absolute cheapstick named Daanaiah. He earned lot of wealth, however he never used to do charity. He became infamous for his misery in the village. He believed in wealth creation irrespective of what others think about him. He used to lend money for a very high interest. He took possession of the villager's properties, however small they are, when they failed to repay the debt.
     Few years later, he started to dislike his own life. He always felt some vacuum and lacked enthusiasm. One fine day, a saint visited the village. Daanaiah heard villagers praise the saint's discourse. Daanaiah went to the saint and pleaded, "I have lot of wealth, however I am not able to relish and rest in peace. Please advice me". The saint replied, "Son, I don't need to resolve your problem. Just watch the crow on the ground, you will realize yourself". Daanaiah started to watch the crow. He saw a morsel of rice before it. It shouted "caw! caw!" until many crows came. They all ate the morsel to their satisfaction and left. "See, crow waited for others and ate along with them. Similarly, a man should always serve his guests first before satiating his own hunger. One should donate and do charity work to make life more meaningful", said the saint. Daanaiah realized his mistake.  From then onwards, he started to donate and brought true meaning to his name.

Jealousy

Emperor Akbar, had great confidence in Birbal's  intelligence. For this reason, few courtiers were jealous of Birbal. They wanted to prove him guilty in the court, at any cost. One among them, Masthan said, "I have a plan. If we succeed in our plan, Birbal will definitely quit his job out of insult" and he explained his plan to others. 
 The next day, Masthan came to the king in a hurry and said, "Emperor, I saw a horrible crime. An influential person in this court is involved in it. Hence, I am worried about the consequences if I reveal the name". "Tell the truth bravely. The guilty will be punished", assured the emperor. "Emperor, yesterday night I saw a person stealing diamonds from our treasury. He was none other than Birbal", said Masthan. Emperor asked Masthan, "Can you prove it?". "Truth is like fire. Get a iron rod which is burnt in fire and place on Birbal's hand. If his hand gets burned, then he is guilty, if not, he is innocent" said Masthan. Upon hearing that, Birbal said, "As allegation was made, let us go with the test". Guards brought a hot iron rod. Before taking the rod into his hands Birbal said, "Mashan, I request you to personally place this rod on my hand. One will not get burnt unless they are guilty. So, you need not worry about it". Masthan got scared as Akbar supported Birbal's request. Immediately, he fell at kings feet and confessed the truth. Emperor seriously warned Masthan, "Never make false accusation out of jealousy" and sent him away. 

God Damn fruit!

Once, Tenali Ramalinga was on his way to king's palace. He saw a person carrying a large plate of delicious mangoes with a note in it. The mangoes were very big and attractive. Ramalinga was tempted upon seeing the delicious mangoes, however, resisted his temptations and reached the palace. The person carrying the mangoes, came to the palace after him. He went to the king and said, "Maharaj, King of the neighboring kingdom has sent you these fruits. Who ever eats these fruits will have a long life". King was pleased and asked to place the mangoes aside and leave.
Ramalinga, on seeing the delicious mangoes, placed so closely, could no longer control his temptation. He grabbed a fruit and took a bite. King became furious and said angrily, "How can you eat fruits which are gifted to the King, and that too with out permission? How dare you? For this act of yours, I pronounce death sentence to you.". He ordered the guards to take him away. As soon as the guards surrounded him, Ramalinga started to yell, "How wicked is our neighboring king. He sent these mangoes saying, they give good health and fortune. A single bite has taken me close to death. God knows, what might happen, if one consumes the whole fruit". King was mesmerized by Ramalinga's wit and laughed out loud. He asked guards to release Ramalinga and gave few fruits to him.

The Apt Reward

  Once upon a time, there was a notorious thief, Balaiah, in Kondaveedu kingdom. (In the kingdom of Kondaveedu, there was a notorious theif.) He had a great skill at stealing and knack at escaping. One day, a shopkeeper accidentally saw the thief, Balaiah, while returning to home in the midnight. He shouted, "thief, thief.. ", and chased him. The families in the vicinity, heard the noise. However, no one came forward due to fear of their life's. In the meantime, a police constable, who came on that way caught the thief. The next day, king sentenced the thief to jail and announced a prize of 1000 gold coins to constable and 5000 gold coins to shopkeeper.

     Everyone in the court started to talk in subdued voice, upon hearing the announcement. The minister asked/inquired the king, "Maharaj, Is it not unfair to award less to the constable who caught the thief?". King clarified, "The constable receives salary for his duty. However, I announced 1000 gold coins, as he caught a notorious thief(burglar). The old shopkeeper, chased the thief with out caring his age which alerted the constable. I announced 5000 coins for his intention and perseverance to save people from the thief". Saying so, the king conveyed the rationale for his decision.

The Clever Ant

Once upon a time, there existed an island in the middle of a river. There was a dense forest in the island. Different kind of animals lived in the forest. A small elephant used to roam around carelessly and destroy trees in the forest. It caused a lot of trouble to the ants living underneath the trees. When ever the elephant came, the ants used to run in all directions to save themselves. Both their food and lives were in danger, when ever the elephant came near the ants colony.
 
  One day the queen ant, determined to face the elephant. When the elephant came, the ant pleaded, "you are wise and sensible. There is an elephant which comes, and destroys our food and homes. With lot of hardship, we carry food which is 50 times heavier than us and store in our home. We have nothing to eat when ever the elephant attacks our vicinity. Can you help us get rid of it."
 
  The elephant understood how much the ants were suffering and cursing it. It felt ashamed of its mischievous behaviour. With out showing any such expression, the elephant said, "definitely I will save you from the elephant. I will make sure it does not come this way" and left the place. All the ants felt very happy and praised the queen ant for saving their lives by its wisdom.

True Wealth

Ravindra's gurukul - it was a residential school in ancient India, on the banks of river Ganges. Srinath and Srinivas were brothers who attended the same gurukul. Srinath was studious and learnt all the lessons with great interest. Srinivas was very casual and hardly paid any attention towards studies. His elder brother, Srinath advised him many times to take eduction seriously. However, Srinivas never listened to him.    
After completion of their eduction, Guruji called for both the brothers. Guruji then said to Srinivasa, "as you haven't paid due attention to studies, take this money and start some business" and saying so, handed some money. The brothers then set to their journey back home. On their way, in the forest, suddenly, they were attacked by dacoits and looted the money Srinivas had. The brothers returned home empty handed.
 
Few days after returning home, Srinath earned a job for himself in King's palace.  Srinivas failed to get a job and stayed idle at home. He then realized, why Guruji and his elder brother used to ask him to pay attention towards studies. He understood that the real wealth that cannot be stolen is knowledge. Having learnt his lesson, he started to attend education once again.

Crow count

Emperor Akbar, having been overwhelmed with his mundane responsibilities of the Kingdom and the court, felt the need to unwind and so decided to go to forest. He took Birbal along with him, as the Emperor enjoyed his company. On their way, in the forest, Akbar saw many crows on the trees. Upon seeing them, weird thoughts cropped up in Akbar's mind. He thought of asking a few naughty questions to Birbal, and test his intelligence. Akbar asked Birbal, "How many crows do you think are there in our kingdom?". Birbal immediately replied, "Emperor, there are nine thousand nine hundred and ninety crows in our kingdom". On hearing the answer, Akbar said, "kudos to your confidence. What if the count is more than that?". Birbal replied, "If the count is more, then, crows from the neighboring kingdom have come to visit their relatives here". "In case the count is less", asked emperor skeptically. "then, the crows in our kingdom left to the neighboring kingdom to see their relatives", replied Birbal with out any hesitation. Emperor Akbar was mesmerized by Birbal's spontaneity and intelligence and praised him.

The Clever Doctor

Once upon a time, in a small village lived a landlord named Veeraiah. He had a strange habit of having every meal with lot of sweet dishes. Gradually, he became obese and could not even walk for a small distance. Eventually, he decided to reduce his weight at any cost. He consulted multiple doctors. All of them suggested to control his diet and recommended to do some physical exercises. Veeriah, was not inclined to follow the advice. He insisted the doctors to prescribe some medicine for weight loss. Doctors had no choice but to prescribe medicine, as Veeraiah was adamant in his decision. Inspite of taking medicine, there was hardly any change in his weight.
 
  A few months later, a new doctor came to the village and examined Veeraiah. The doctor said, "You are not well and so, may not live for long time. Only God can save you". On hearing those words, Veeriah's wife took a vow to God loudly, so that Veeraiah can hear it. She promised to visit temples along with her husband and circumambulate the temples. Veeraiah was also convinced with the doctor as no medicine helped him. Veeraiah agreed as he was left with no other option. The couple, climbed hills to visit temples, circumambulated the temples and fasted though out the day. Few days later, Veeriah saw visibile change in his weight.
 
  Veeraiah told the villagers that God was the reason for his well being. His wife told him that doctor was also the reason for the change. She further explained, "The doctor said, if I didn't put complete faith in God, you would never visit temples and hence no exercise to your body. You would not have cut down weight". On doctors suggestion, I took the vow.
 
  On hearing the truth, Veeriah felt very happy and gave valuable presents.

A Clever Fox

There lived a lion in a forest. It fed on other animals and spent time happily. Over time, it became old and was not able to hunt any more. So, the lion stayed in the cave. One day, it called a Cow that was passing by, and said, with a note of sorrow in its voice, "I will not live any longer. All these days, I ate other animals which is a sin. Now I want to compensate for my past acts". Innocent cow believed the lion. The cow conveyed the same to other animals in the jungle and asked them to visit the lion, when ever they had time. All these animals were good friends of the cow. They started visiting the lion one after other. The lion killed and ate all the animals that paid it a visit. It hid the bones in the cave. One day, a fox while going on that way, thought to visit the lion and went near the cave. The lion was laying on the ground and was groaning. It got up with all vigour and excitement upon seeing the fox. The lion asked the fox to step inside the cave. The clever fox, looked at the cave attentively before going inside. It noticed few bones here and there. It understood the reality, escaped from the place and saved itself. It explained what happened to the other animals, and saved their life as well.

Judgement

There lived a old and respectable woman in a village. The visitors to the village, took shelter in her house. They pay a small amount for the hospitality given by her. She was known for honesty in the village. One day, 4 friends came to her house. They requested to keep a bag with her, as they were going to far off place on some work. They asked to give  the bag only when all 4 of them return and ask for it. The old lady accepted the request.
  Few days later, one among the four friends, came to the old woman and said, "My  friends are in another town busy in an important work. So, they asked me to collect the bag from you". The old woman trusted the person, and returned the bag. After few days, the other three friends came and asked for the bag. The woman got worried and explained about, what happened. They demanded, "we asked you to return the bag, only when all four of us come and ask for it. How come you gave the bag to him. You have to return the money". They reported the matter to Maryada Ramanna, the village head. They demanded that,"since the woman is the reason for the losing their bag, she has to return all the money".  After listening to them, Maryada Ramanna passed the judgement, "yes. She will return your money. However, it is only when all four of you come and ask for it". After hearing the judgement, the old woman and the villagers felt happy. The friends who intended to cheat the old woman, had to leave the place silently.

Half Moon

Once, Birbal went to visit Persian kingdom on the King's invitation. Persian king gave a warm welcome and treated him with honor. King organized special feasts through out his stay and gifted him lot of valuable presents. On the day of his return, one of the Persian ministers asked, "say in one word, the difference between your king and our king". Birbal said, "Your king is like a full moon, and our king is like half moon". On hearing that, everyone over there felt very happy. However, by the time Birbal returned to the kingdom, king Akbar was very angry at him. On seeing Birbal he asked "to please others how can you insult your king". Birbal, obediently replied, "I haven't insulted you. Full moon will glow only on that day. It will gradually wane. However, half moon will wax gradually and gain strength". He further explained that his intent was to convey the message, "Persian kingdom will collapse gradually, and Moughal Kingdom will become stronger". Birbal was delighted and gave him a hug.

Cat Story

Long long ago, a cat lived in a forest. The cat fed on rats and insects for survival. One day, while it was wandering in the forest, it heard other animals talking great about Lion. Cat like the company of courageous and the strong animals. On hearing that, the cat decided to befriend the lion. Gradually became good friend with the lion. it could become friend and started to roam with it.

  One day, an elephant fought with the lion and killed it. After watching the fight, Cat felt that elephant is the strongest and so, became friends with the elephant. Few years later, a hunter killed the elephant. Assuming he is the most strongest person, cat requested the hunter to take him along to his house. The hunter agreed. After he reached home, his wife inquired with discontent and asked him to do household chores. He yielded to his wife's order. Upon seeing it, cat felt, woman is the most powerful being as she is able to dictate a person who killed an Elephant.
 
  From then, Cat settled in kitchen.

Laziness

Somaiah, a farmer, used to live in a village named Ramapuram. He was highly disciplined and completed his work on time. However, as he became older, it became challenging to work with same vigor. He hired Ram and Bheem to do the chores. Somaiah was a early raiser and used to wake up early everyday at the crowing of the rooster and wake up Ram and Bheem. Ram and Bheem never liked to get up early in the morning. Once, when Somaiah was not in the village, they killed the cock. They convinced to their master, that the cock was stolen by someone, and Somaiah believed it.

Next day, as the cock was not there, Somaiah woke up late, and so did Ram and Sam. Ram and Sam felt very happy as they could sleep for long time. Somaiah began to worry as he was not able to wake up early. The following night, Somaiah went to sleep with these disturbed thoughts. He woke up in the middle of the night assuming that day broke. Somaiah immediately woke up Ram and Bheem and sent to work. This became the routine. Deprived of sleep, Ram and Bheem got frustrated. They realized that the trouble will end if they bought a rooster. They conveyed the same to Somaiah, but Somaiah didn't agree as he feared, he might loose this rooster too.

Ram and Bheem, realized that, their laziness was the reason for all the troubles.