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Good Company and Bad Company . Two parrots had built their nest on a banyan tree. The female parrot laid two eggs in the nest. After sometime, the eggs latched. Two chicks came out of them. The parent birds took good care of them. After few weeks, the young birds were able to fly for some distances. The father bird said, “We have taken good care of our young ones. We have fed them well too. They have played together. They have learned to fly. Now they can take care of themselves. Let us slowly leave them to decide on their own.” Every morning the parent birds flew out to fetch food for the young birds. Then they returned in the evening with food for their young children. This was their lives went on for a while. A hunter saw this behavior of these birds. He learned that the old birds went out in the morning. He decided to catch the young birds after the old birds would go away in the morning. As planned he caught the young birds. The young birds struggled their best to free themselves from the clutches of the hunter. One of the two young birds escaped from the hunter. The other bird was taken in a cage by the hunter to his house. “I caught tow birds. But I lost one parrot,” said the hunter to his children. And he further added to his children, “Keep this parrot safely in the cage and play with this parrot.” The hunter’s children played with the parrot. Very soon the parrot in the house of the hunter learnt to speak few words. The children said to their father, “Dad, our parrot has learnt to say a few words.” The other parrot flew away. It had escaped from the hunter. It flew for some time. Then it came to a hermitage. Some holy men lived in the hermitage. They did not do any harm to the young parrot. The young parrot stayed there. It listened to their talk. It learnt to say a few words. A certain traveler was walking near the hunter’s hut. He was tires. He sat nest the hut. He heard the parrot speak. It said, “Fool, why have you come here? I will cut your throat.” The traveler was very sorry to hear such bad words. He got up immediately. He left the place in a hurry. Then he walked for some time and reached the hermitage. The parrot was sitting on a tree near the hermitage. The parrot spoke, “Welcome, traveler. Welcome to this hermitage. We have a lot of good fruits in this forest. Eat whatever you like. The holy men will treat you well.” The traveler was surprised. He said to the parrot. “I met a young parrot near a hunter’s hut. It spoke badly. I left the place immediately. Now I have met you. You speak so well. Your words are kind and gentle. Both you and the other birds are parrots. Then why this difference in your language is there?” By this statement, the parrot in the hermitage guessed that the other parrot was none other than its brother. The hermitage parrot said, “Traveler, the other parrot is my brother. But we have lived in two different places. My brother has learnt the hunter’s language. But I have learnt the language of holy people. It is the company that shapes your words and deeds.” Good company helps you learn good things. Bad company makes you lean bad things. |
Fair Shares
Ali and Abraham were brothers. Their mother died very early. Their father also died after some time. He left for his sons a cow and a date-tree. Ali was cunning. He was greedy too. Abraham was kind and honest. He trusted his elder brother. They wanted to divide their father’s property. Ali said, “I will be very fair with you, Abraham. You take the front portion of the cow as your share. I will take the hind side of the cow. Each one gets his profit only from his share.” In the same way the tree was also divided. The upper part of the tree went to Ali. And the lower part of the tree went to Abraham. Abraham fed the cow very well fresh grass and water. The cow became healthy. It gave lot of milk. Ali got the milk. He sold the milk and got a lot of money. But he did not hare the money with Abraham. Abraham asked his brother about his share of money. Ali replied, “I got the milk from my portion of our cow. Hind part is mine as per the agreement. Each of us gets the benefits only from his part.” Abraham said nothing. A wise man advised Abraham. He said some thing in the ear of Abraham. The next day Ali was milking the cow. Then Abraham beat the cow in the front portion. The cow started kicking. Ali shouted at Abraham. “You fool! Why do you beat the cow? Do not see me milking the cow?” “The front portion of the cow is mine. I can do anything. That is our agreement,” said Abraham. Ali could not say anything. Finally he agreed to share the money. Abraham said, “Not just money. You must also share the work of feeding and taking care of the cow too.” Ali agreed. With regard to the tree, Ali had taken upper part of the tree. He made holes on the upper part of the tree. A kind of sweet-smelling juice came out of these holes. The juice was collected in pots. These pots were kept near the holes. Ali sold the juice for money. But he did not share either the money or the juice with his brother. Again the wise man advised Abraham. The next day Ali was on the top of the tree. He was fixing pots near the holes. At that time Abraham was cutting the lower part of the tree. Ali shouted at Abraham. But Abraham reminded Ali about the agreement. He said, “I can do anything with my part. You can not question or stop me.” Ali now realized his mistakes. He said, “Abraham, I have been a bad brother to you. I feel ashamed of my selfishness. I ask your pardon. I promise to look after you well hereafter.” And so he did. Both the brothers lived happily. They shared the profit. |
The Strength of Gentleness
There was once a kind of misunderstanding between the Sun and the Wind. The wind boates itself, “I am the mosty powerful of all natural forces. I can uproot trees. I can sweep away houses. I can even reshape the mountains by corroding them. You can only next to me in powers.” The Sun was all the time smiling. This enraged the wind further. “Can we have a competition to prove our strength?” asked the wind. There came an old man clutching his overcoat in the cold. The wind took its chance said, “Okay. Here is the competition. The one who is able to make this old man remove his overcoat is the most powerful of us. What do you say?” The Sun also accepted to this competition. The wind was forst to go. It started to blow. The old man clutched his overcoat a bit tighter. The wind blew harder. The old man clutched still harder. The enraged wind blew with a howling sound. “Ooo…Ooo…Ooo…” The old man grumbled to himself, “What a nasty wind!” and clutched his overcoat even tighter. Thye disappointed wind gave up and said, “The Sun….This is your turn.” Now the sun looked at the old man and started to spread its smiling rays. The old man said to himself,”Hmmm….! Now I am feeling better.” And he loosened his grip over his overcoat. The Sun smiled still some more. The old man was felling warmth within and slowly removed hios overcoat. The sun turned and said to the wind, “My dear wind….sometimes gentleness proves more powerful than harshness.” The wind admitted its failure and learned avaluable lesson from The Sun. |
Hercules
Hercules was a strong and brave man. He lived in Greece. The King was jealous of Hercules. People might make Hercules the King. Therefore he wanted to get rid of Hercules. He set difficult tasks for Hercules to keep him away from the country so that he would not be a possible threat to him (the King). Once he asked Hercules to get three golden apples. Some trees were said to bear golden apples. These trees were said to be in a place called Hesperides. But no one knew the way to Hesperides. So the King thought of Hesperides. Hercules would be away for a longer period. Hercules set out on the journey. At first he met three maidens during the journey. Hercules asked them the way to Hesperides. They told him to ask the old man of the sea. But they also warned him, “Hold the old man of the sea tightly. Otherwise he will escape. No one else knows the way.” Hercules saw the old man. He was sleeping on the shore. He was looking strange. He had long hair and a beard. Hercules walked to him without making any noise. Then he seized him very firmly. |
Louis Pasteur
Mary had just returned from her school. She was thirsty. “Mary, you can have a cup of milk,” called her mother. Mary went into the dinning hall. “Mummy, the milk is spoilt,” she cried out. Her mother came in. “Let me see. Yes. This milk is spoilt,” her mother said. She took out a sachet from the cupboard. “See, Mary, the milk in the sachet is alright,” she said. Mary could not understand. The milk got from the milk vendor in the morning got spoilt. But the sachet got from the supermarket was still good. How is that? She asked her mother the reason for this. Her mother explained, “The sachet milk is pasteurized. The milk got from the milk vendor is not pasteurized one.” “But what is the meaning of pasteurized,” asked Mary. “Pasteurizing is a scientific method. Fresh milk is boiled to a high degree. Then it is cooled rapidly. In this process the germs in the milk get killed. This was first done by Louis Pasteur. His name is given to this process.” Who is Louis Pasteur? Louis Pasteur was a chemist. He was born in 1822 in a town in France. His parents were not rich. But they gave him a good education. He secured a degree in science. His marks in Chemistry were not high. But his interest in Chemistry made him continue his studies in Chemistry. He spent lot of time in the laboratory. He was continually looking through a microscope at the germs. His professor made a fun of him. “They are useless to man. You are wasting your time,” he said. But Pasteur replied, “Sir, the germs cause sickness. I must find out which germs cause which disease?” “Where do germs come from?” asked his professor. “Sir, that I must find out” replied Pasteur. And Pasteur found out after a long and patient work. The germs are present in water, earth, dust and even in the air we breathe. These germs turn milk sour. Milk is a carrier of germs. These germs can cause diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid. He made many experiments. Finally he found out the method to kill the germs in the milk. Pasteur did not stop with milk. He continued his research. Anthrax, diphtheria and rabies were terrible diseases. Pasteur found out certain vaccines. These vaccines can prevent and cure these terrible diseases. One day a mother brought her son, Joseph, to Pasteur. Joseph had been bitten by a mad dog. He had been fourteen wound all over his body. The dog had rabies. Every one felt sorry for the boy. They said, “The child is sure to die.” Even Pasteur had no hopes. But he had decided to save the boy. Pasteur had prepared a serum from a rabbit. The rabbit had died of rabies. He injected the serum into the boy’s body, at first small quantities. Slowly, he increased the dosage. On the ninth day Joseph showed improvement. He was out of danger. In three months time, Joseph walked out of the hospital. He then became a perfectly healthy child. The year was 1885. Many had been bitten by mad dogs. But no one had escaped death. Since 1885, thousands of lives have been saved by anti-rabies treatment. The world has to thank Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur is considered to be the greatest scientist of France, by the people of France. |
Children are Wiser than Elders
Leo Tolstoy was a great writer. He was a Russian. Tolstoy was a man of peace. He wrote many good stories. Each story has a valuable moral. Some of his stories are log. And some of his stories are short. The following is one of his stories. It is written in simple English for your sake. It was rainy season in Russia. In a certain village in Russia the rain water was flowing in streams in a street. It had rained and stopped a little while ago. Two little girls were playing in the street water. It was festival time. They were wearing new frocks. Malasha was the younger of the two little girls. Akulya was the older girl. Malasha stamped her foot in the water. It was a little muddy. The muddy water splashed. It fell on Akulya’s new frock. Akulya was just rubbing out the mud. At that time Akulya’s mother was walking that way. She looked at her daughter’s dress. She scolded her daughter. “How can you make your new dress so dirty?” she asked. “Malasha splashed the water on me, mother,” said Akulya. Akulya’s mother caught Malasha. She gave two or three slaps on the back of Malasha. Malasha started weeping loudly. Malasha’s house was close by. Malasha’s mother heard her daughter Malasha’s weeping. She came out in hurry. “Why are you weeping?” asked her mother. “Akulya’s mother beat me on my back,” said Malasha. Malasha’s mother turned to Akulya’s mother in an angry mood. Malasha’s mother abused Akulya’s mother. Soon they started quarrelling loudly. They called each other names. Their shouting continued. Other women joined them soon. Some supported Akulya’s mother. Some supported Malasha’s mother. The two fighting groups became bigger and bigger. The men also joined in the fighting. The quarrel became never ending. At that time the grandmother of Akulya came out of the house. She told the men and the women not to fight. “It is festival time. People should not quarrel,” she told them. No one listened to her. No one cared for her words. In the meantime Malasha and Akulya forgot about their quarrel. They became friends again. They moved away from the fighting crowd. They started letting paper boats in the running water. Now the old woman said to the fighting groups. “Look at the children. They have forgotten their quarrel. They have started playing again. They have become friends again. But you men and women still keep quarrelling. Are you not ashamed of your tendency?” The men and the women looked at the little girls. They felt ashamed. They went back to their houses quietly. Children forget and forgive very easily. The elders learnt this lesson from the little girls. |
The Strength of Ugliness
It was a dense forest. Trees were found in all kinds. There were big trees and small trees, thick trees and thin trees and tall trees and short trees. There was this one tree which was a crooked one. The trunk was bent in all directions. It was a bit funny to look at. The crooked tree turned around and had a look at all other trees. There were all very up-right. They were standing straight. “See how ugly I am. I am good for nothing. All these fellow trees are straight and beautiful. I am not even one bit amicable.” It lamented. There came a hyeavy thunder storm. It started raining heavily. Strong winds started blowing. The wind gushed through the forest and water flushed away everything that lay on the ground. The soil all over was eroded. Trees fell one by one. First the thin ones fell, then small ones. Not only that, while the huge ones fell they cut-off the nearby trees also. Soo there were trees lying all over the place. All this time crooked tree shut its eyes and braced firmly biting its roots firm in the ground. Slowly the storm subdued and there was silence. The crooked tree opened its eyes and alas, the whole place was a graveyard. All the beautiful trees were dead now. This crooked tree was one among the few survivors. Now this crooked tree understood the meaning of real strength. |
The Four Sons
There lived an old man in a village. He had four sons. In spite of all his efforts, the old man could not make his sons earn for their living. In addition, they were always fighting among themselves. The old man thought of a plan. He called his sons and said, “Look my dear sons, in the barren land we have at the farmyard, there is a hidden treasure. If you should work together, you may find it.” In a wish to find the treasure the four sons worked hard by digging and digging all through the land. They got frustrated and returned to their father. “There is no treasure in the land. They complained to their father. “Now that you have softened the land. Why should not you cultivate it?” was the reply of their father to their query. Off went the sons. Soon the whole barren land was rich crops. “This is the real treasure my sons” said the now proud father. Hard-work always is fruitful. The quarreling sons then on lived in harmony and became rich soon. |
Advising A Fool
On a mango tree in a jungle, there lived many birds. They were happy in their small nests. Before the onset of the rainy season, all the animal of the jungle repaired their homes. The birds also made their homes more secure. Many birds brought twigs and leaves and others wove their nests. “We should also store some food for our children,” chirped one of the birds. And they collected food, until they had enough to see them through the rainy season. They kept themselves busy preparing for the tough times. Soon the rains came. It was followed by thunder and lighting. All the animals and birds stayed in their homes. It continued raining for many days. One day, a monkey wet in the rain came into the forest. He sat on a branch, shivering with cold, water dripping from its body. The poor monkey tried his best to get shelter, but in vain. The leaves were not enough to save him from the rains. “Brrr! It is so cold!” said the monkey. The birds were watching all this. They felt sorry for the monkey but there was little they could do for him. One of them said, “Brother! Our small nests are not enough to give you shelter.” Another bird said, “All of us prepared for the rainy season. If you had, you would not be in this piteous situation.” “How dare you tell me what to do?” said the monkey, growling at the bird. The monkey angrily pounced on the bird’s nest, tore it and threw it on the ground. The bird and her chicks were helpless. The poor bird thought, “Fools never value good advice. It is better not to advise them.” |
Foolish Imitation
Long ago, a hawk lived on the top of a hill. At the foot of the hill there was a banyan tree on which a crow used to perch everyday. The crow was very foolish. He would imitate everyone. The hawk atop the hill would fly down everyday in search of food. The crow watched the hawk circling in the air for long hours and swooping down when he saw his prey. The hawk gifted with eyes that could see long distances would spot his prey from the hill top and then fly down to pounce upon the prey. The crow watched the hawk thinking, “Hunh! If the hawk can do that, I too can. What does he think? One day, I will show the hawk that I can do the same thing.” A few days later, as the hawk was circling in the air, the crow decided to do the same. Suddenly a baby rabbit came out of the bushes. The hawk saw it and the crow too saw the rabbit. Before the crow could move, the hawk swooped down, caught hold of the rabbit in his strong sharp talons and flew away. “Swoosh!” was all the crow heard as the hawk disappeared in the sky with his prey. “Hmmph! That is no great skill,” thought the crow, angrily. Next moment he spotted a big fat mouse coming out of a hole. Without wasting time, the crow swooped down. Like the hawk he tried to catch the mouse in his claws. But the mouse saw the crow and moved away, the crow crashed against the hill. “Eeeaaa!” cried the crow in pain. Just then the hawk came flying down. “I hope, now you know it is not easy to hunt and it is not easy to imitate, either,” said the hawk and flew away. There after, the crow never imitated any one in its life. It lived happily with the god-given abilities. |
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