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.