Bedtime Stories

[صائد الأفكار]

A CITY RAT AND A VILLAGE RAT

Once there were two rats who were good friends. One of them lived in a city and the other lived in a village. Both of them exchanged news of their well being through other rats who travelled between the two places.
Once the city rat wished to meet his village friend. He sent the message through some rats of the village. The village friend was very excited about his friends visit. He made preparations to welcome him. To receive his friend, he went to the border of the village wearing a traditional dress like dhoti, kurta and cap, with a garland in his hand. However, his city friend was wearing a suit, boots and a neck tie. They hugged each other and exchanged greeting.
The village rat welcomed him and said, "We have fresh and unpolluted air here. The atmosphere in the city is impure."
They gossiped a lot and exchanged their views on different topics. Then, they sat down to eat. The village rat served him fruits and boiled wheat grains.
After having food, they went for a stroll outside the village. The fields looked green and the natural beauty of the jungle had its own attraction. The village rat said, "Does the city have such beautiful scenes?" The city rat said nothing but invited the village rat to come to the city at least once to see the comfortable life of the city.
The village rat said he would certainly come to the city one day. The city rat said, "Why don’t you accompany me now?" The village rat replied, "All right, I will consider your proposal."
When the night fell, they came back and slept on the soft grass. Next day, for breakfast the village rat served his friend fresh fruits and cereals. The city rat was irritated and said to the village rat, "Let us go to the city right now. Give me a chance to serve you."
The village rat accepted the proposal and got ready for the journey to the city. The city rat lived in a big house. At night the village rat was surprised to see, the dining table full of different types of dishes. The village rat has not seen such a variety of food before. The city rat asked the village rat to enjoy the meal. Then he started eating. The village rat had a liking for the paneer and finished the piece quickly. At this moment, they heard the voice of a cat. The city rat said, "Quickly hide yourself below the almirah, otherwise the cat will eat us." Both rushed to the almirah and hid themselves under it. After some time, when the cat went away, both came out. The village rat was still trembling. The city rat again started eating the dishes and advised his friend too, "Do not be afraid. It is a part of the city life." The village rat gathered courage and went to the dining table again. This time he quickly finished the cake of his choice. At this juncture, a boy came there with a dog. The village rat being afraid of the dog asked his friend, "Who is this fellow?" The city rat said, "He is Jimmi, the son of the master of this house and the dog is his pet. Be quick and hide yourself there." After their departure, both the rats came out. The village rat was very afraid. He said, "Friend, I think I should go back now. I am thankful to you for the tasty dishes, but there are to many dangers. Thanks again." And he started for the village. On reaching, he heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Oh! Life is precious and above all wisdom."

[صائد الأفكار]

A WISE PARROT

Once upon a time there lived a parrot in a forest. He was very handsome. His beak and wings were very beautiful. His younger brother also lived with him. Both were living happily in the forest


.
One day, a hunter came to the forest. He saw the pair of the parrots and
thought, ‘These parrots are very beautiful and special. I will present them to the king,’ He spread his net in the jungle to catch them. Soon both the parrots were trapped.
He kept them in a cage and went to the place. He said to the king, "O king, see this beautiful pair of parrots. I caught them in the deep forest. Seeing their beauty I decided to bring them to you. They will add to the beauty of your palace."
The king was very happy. He gave one thousand coins to the hunter. He kept both the parrots in a golden cage and ordered his servants to look after them well.
The parrots were looked after very well. They were treated as very important birds in the palace. They were served fruits and delicious food. They became the centre of attraction. Even the young prince came to play with them. The parrots were very happy. They got everything without any labour. The older parrot once said to his brother, "We are highly respected in the palace and hence, quite satisfied."
The younger brother replied, "You are right, we are getting royal treatment. It is our luck."
One day, a hunter brought a black monkey named Kala Bahu. The monkey was presented to the king, who asked the attendants to keep the monkey in the courtyard. The king as well as the prince were very happy to see the monkey and his amusing activities. Soon the monkey became the centre of attraction.
With the arrival of the monkey, the parrots were neglected. They sometimes did not even get food. Both of the parrots knew the cause of it. The older parrot was wise and hoped that the days would change again and one should not be depressed. He comforted his brother, "Nothing is permanent in this world. Have patience till the bad days are over."
One day the monkey performed such feats before the prince that he got scared and cried, "Help! Help!" Hearing his cries, all rushed there and took the prince away. When the king came to know about it, he ordered his men to leave the monkey in the forest. The next day, the monkey was sent to the forest.
The bad days of the parrots were now over. They were treated well again. Good dishes and fruits were also served to them. They again became the centre of attraction.
The wise parrot clarified the situation to his younger brother saying that time never remains the same, and one should not be depressed by the temporary unfavorable changes. The young parrot also realized the fact that nothing is permanent in the world and one should never lose patience.

[صائد الأفكار]

A WOLF AND SEVEN LAMBS

Once there lived a goat along with her seven kids near a forest. She loved her kids very much







One day while the goat was going to collect food for her kids, she said to
them, "Kids! I am going to the forest to bring food. You should not quarrel. And listen! Do not open the door for anyone except me. The Wolf always eyes you greedily." She kissed her kids and bade goodbye.
The wolf was already waiting for the goat to depart. He was very fond of the lamb’s flesh. He went to the hut of the goat and knocked at the door, "Hello kids! Here is your mother. Open the door. I have brought good food for you." The kids were intelligent, they recognized the voice of the wolf and said, "O wicked wolf! Do not try to fool us. Go away!"
Then the wolf practiced speaking like the goat and came again. This time, he spoke in a loud voice, "Hello kids! Open the door. It is your mother here. Be quick."
The kids were intelligent. They peeped through the magic glass of the door cautiously. Seeing the feet of the wolf, they said, "No! We will not open the door. We have recognized you. Your feet are different from those of our mother’s. The color of her feet is white."
Hearing the kids made the wolf go to a grocer’s shop and ask him to cover his feet by the white flour. The shopkeeper was surprised to hear the strange demand of the wolf. But out of fear, he sprinkled some flour on his feet. Thus, the feet of the wolf became white. He came back to the hut of the goat and knocked at the door, "Hello! Dear children, I have come, open the door quickly."
The kids peeped through the magic glass and found the color of the feet white. They



opened the door. But seeing the wolf, made them run here and there to save their lives. Some went under the bed, while some hid behind the curtains. But the cunning wolf caught and ate up all of them except one who had hidden himself in the big clock of the house. The wolf just could not guess that hide out.
After some time when the goat returned to the hut, she was surprised to see the door wide open. She had thought that the kids would be very happy to eat the fresh food. But her happiness vanished soon. She found that the whole house had been ransacked and none of her kids could be seen. She wept and cried bitterly and said, "Oh kids! What happened to you all? Why did you open the door for a stranger. The wolf has won the fight and I have lost to him."
At this moment, the kid who was inside the clock spoke, "Mother! Are you listening to me, the youngest of all? Take me out of the clock." The goat immediately picked her little kid and kissed her again and again. The kid narrated the whole incident. Then they heard the snoring of the wolf. The goat said, "It appears that the wolf is still here. Bring the long scissors."
The kid brought the scissors. They both went to the garden. They found the wolf sleeping there. The goat went up to the wolf slowly and cut open his belly. She found the kids alive and took them out one by one from the wolf’s belly. The goat hugged the kids warmly. Then she asked all the kids to fill stones in his belly. They all picked big stones and put them in the wolf’s stomach. Thereafter, the goat stitched the belly and they all came back to their hut.
Soon the wolf awoke and felt thirsty. He got up and went to the well to drink water. As there were stones in his belly, he could not balance himself and fell into the well with a loud noise. He died by drowning in the deep water.
The goat and her kids were observing everything from the window. Now they all came out of the hut and danced. They needn’t be afraid of the wolf anymore.

[صائد الأفكار]

COMMENCEMENT OF A NEW LIFE

Once, there was rich man. He had earned the money by doing hard labour. He had a son named Karim. He often used to say to his son, "Karim, you are my only son. All my wealth is yours. There is none to share the wealth you. You are supposed to increase the wealth with hard labour and should not waste."
"Don't worry father! I will not waste the money unnecessarily." Karim would assure his father.


But his assurances were false. He had fallen in a company of bad friends. He
used to waste money in drinking, gambling and enjoying dances.
His friends were very happy and used to flatter him for liberally spending money on them." He would also like their flattery and would be ready to spend more money on them.
When his father came to know about his bad habits, he was badly upset. He thought, 'If Karim continue to waste money like this I would soon be penniless. So I will talk to him today to mend his ways.'
When Karim returned home, his father said, "My son! I have come to know that you waste money in bad company, stop doing all this and pay attention to the business. You will be spoiled like this. There is still time for you to put yourself on the right path."
Karim nodded his head in affirmative. But he did not change his bad habits. He continued to waste money on gambling, drinking and enjoying dance with his spoiled friends. Seeing his son sunk in bad habits, the father fell ill. His condition was going from bad to worse




.
One day when he felt that his end was near, he called his son and said, "Karim, you are not on the right path yet. My life is on the verge of its end. This is my last advice to you. Don't waste my hard earned money; otherwise you will always repent this."
"Father, I will follow your advice, Do not worry. I will improve myself," said Karim with grief.
"You can think of your good or bad yourself. But if someday you find in trouble then open the door of that room. You will find some relief there," saying this he pointed out towards the closed room.
After a few days, the rich man died. Karim felt sad for sometime but soon he forgot, and was lost in his old bad habits.
After the death of the father, the home become the place for their enjoyment. Being heavily drunk when Karim lost his senses, his friends would steal money from his shelf. Thus, he began to lose his money quickly.
Karim was not aware of the activities of his friends. They continued to cheat him by stealing his money.
Karim never doubted them and continued to spend recklessly on his friends. Soon his money finished. His friends stopped coming to his house. They even refused to talk to him.
Now Karim did not know what to do. He recollected the advice of his father and repented. Suddenly remembering about the closed room, he thought, "Perhaps father has kept money me for emergency." So he went up to the room.
On opening the room he was taken a back! There was a noose hanging from the roof. A paper was also attached to it. "Karim was desperate having lost all hope of money. He took the paper and began to start a new life, then this noose is meant for you. But before hanging test the capability of the noose if it is strong enough for your weight or not."
"I will start a new life instead of hanging myself to death." He came out of the room thinking what he should do.
He kept on thinking for some time. Suddenly he felt very hungry. But there was nothing to eat in the house. He went to the market and sold his cap to buy some milk and bread to eat. He also felt thirsty. So he kept the milk and bread on a stone and went to a nearby well to drink the water. When a returned he saw a dog running away with his bread having spilt the milk. He felt shocked to see this.
Feeling too helpless to do anything he burst into tears. He was very hungry and had no money to buy food. So he thought, "Now there is no other way except asking friends for help."
Despite, being very hungry, he walked towards his friends in the hope of getting the food. He reached one of his friends and said, "Hello friend! I am starving. Give me some food. His friend said, "Karim, I am no longer your friends."
Thereafter he went to another friend and asked for food. He too threw him out of his house. One by one he went to all his friends but none gave him food.
Desperately Karim returned home. He was in great despair and thought, "Now I should commit suicide by hanging. This is how I can get rid of my troubles." Thinking this Karim pulled the rope of the noose to see whether it was strong enough to hold his weight. As he applied force the rope broke up. With the breaking of the rope a bag fell on the ground. Karim picked up the bag and quickly opened it.
He was surprised to see that the bag was full of gold coins. There was also a slip in the bag which read, "Do not finish your life. Start a fresh life with the help of this money. But first you have to change your habits."
Karim said to himself, "This time I promise to myself that I will leave all bad company anymore since all my friends have cheated me. Had I followed your advice earlier I would have been very rich today."
Karim started his business afresh with the help of the wealth found in the blog. Soon his business flourished. He started earning a lot of money. His selfish friends came to meet him on knowing about his prosperity but Karim refused to entertain them. Now he had come to know the difference between right and wrong.

[صائد الأفكار]

DISTINY'S KNOCK

Long long ago there was a beautiful palace in the middle of the Baghdad city. The building was surrounded by beautiful orchards. Music playing created soothing atmosphere. The palace was so attractive that whoever saw it could not help praising its beauty. There was no other building equivalent to it in beauty and splendor in Baghdad.
One day, a poor man happened to come to the palace. He was surprised to see the beauty of the building. He thought, 'The building appears very beautiful from outside, it must be much more attractive from inside. But how can I see the interior of the palace?' He was shabbily dressed and therefore was hesitating to enter. Right then, he observed that some people were going inside. He thought, "Why can't I go inside with these people?" He decided to enter thinking that nobody will pinpoint him in the midst of the crowd. So he ran to join the crowd. At the gate, he saw the owner welcoming the guests and asking them, "I hope you did not have to face any difficulty in reaching here?" All of them thanked him for his cooperation in their business and expressed their gratitude to him. Thereafter, he took them to the auditorium and discussed with them various issues regarding business.
The poor man did not go in front of the owner. He hid himself behind a pillar. He heard their conversation and concluded that the owner was very rich.
After some time the poor man went to see the other part of the building. He was



stunned to see that even the dogs were eating in golden plates. When fresh meat was served to a dog, it did not touch it. It looked towards the poor man as if it was inviting him to eat the meat. The poor man ate the meat to his satisfaction and thought, 'Should I take the golden plate.' He continued to think, 'In case I get this plate, I can start my business and can become rich.' But he was afraid of the dog which might bite him if he picked up the golden plate. He peeped into the eyes of the dog and found only kindness and sympathy in them. He picked up the golden plate and as he had anticipated, the dog remained still.
He came out stealthily without being noticed by others. When he had come out, he thought, 'Now I should not live in Baghdad. It would be dangerous to live here. I will live in a small town start my business there.'
So he settled in another city, started the business and soon became rich. His bad days were over. He had never



thought of earning so much and becoming rich. He once thought, 'Though I have become rich, I am under the debt of the owner of that beautiful building. I must pay his debt back.' So he loaded a lot of valuable things on camels and proceeded towards Baghdad. On reaching there, he straightway went to the owner of the splendid building. But he was surprised to see the ruins instead of that beautiful palace. He made a thorough search for the owner of the house. After sometime, he saw an old man who was taking the round of the ruined building. He quickly went to him and said, "There used to be a beautiful palace. Could you tell me something about the building and its owner?" The old man said, "Yes, you are right. But that beautiful building has now turned to ruins. Nobody knows which turn destiny will take." The businessman said, "I want to meet the owner of the building. I have to repay his debt. Do you know him and his whereabouts?"
The old man replied, "I am the owner of the building. But I am unable to collect if I have ever lent a loan to anyone. What debt are you talking about?"
At this, the businessman narrated all that had happened with him a few years back when he had stolen the golden plate and how he had stolen the golden plate and how he had started his business. He further said, "I earned a lot of money and profit. I have brought some presents for you and request you to accept them." But the old man refused to accept the presents on the ground that it was the dog that had shown mercy to the man. So the presents could not be accepted. The businessman again said, "Your arguments are strange. The dog was yours and the gold plate was yours." But the old man said, "No, I am not selfish. I will not accept anything from you." Saying this, the old man entered the building.
The businessman felt sorry for the pitiable condition of the old man who was once very rich. He thought, 'The man had lost a golden opportunity to restart his business. Actually, the fate had offered him the chance and knocked at his door, as it knocks once in everyone's life.'

[صائد الأفكار]

EVIL HAS AN EVIL END

There lived a notorious monkey named Cheenu in the Champak forest. He used to harass the small and weak animals and birds. Sometimes, he destroyed the birds’ nests and threw away their eggs. Rabbits were afraid of being scratched by him. He used to twist the tail of jackals’. Almost all the animals were afraid of the monkey and wanted to get rid of him. But how could they get rid of the monkey? What should they do?
There was a clever jackal in the same forest. He decided to teach a lesson to Cheenu. He went to the monkey and said, "Your body is very attractive. The golden hair further adds to the beauty of your body, still one thing is wrong in you." The monkey said with surprise, "What is wrong with my body?" The jackal replied, "Your body is red which does not suit



your body. If you do as I tell, your face will shine like the moon." The
monkey was overjoyed and became restless to know the method to beautify his face and asked excitedly, "Tell me the method quickly to make my face glow." The jackal said "If you eat the swargafal (fruit of heaven), your face will shine like the moon." The monkey again asked, "How can I get swargafal?" The jackal replied, "It lies in the forehead of an elephant. When you see an elephant, hit his forehead with a stone and this way the swargafal will come to his trunk, and when the elephant try to catch you, quickly take out the swargafal from his trunk."
The monkey waited for an elephant to pass. After some time, an elephant happened to



pass by that route. As soon as he came near, the monkey hit him hard with a stone on his forehead. Blood oozed out from the forehead. The wounded elephant cried at the top of his voice in anger. The whole of the forest trembled in fear. But the foolish monkey thought that the swargafal must have slipped to the trunk of the elephant and hit another stone so that the swargafal may fall out of the trunk immediately. But the second stone made the elephant mad, and he ran in search of the hidden enemy.
Soon he saw the monkey who was coming to him to take the swargafal. Cheenu was determined to approach the elephant for the swargafal which he wanted even at the cost of the elephant’s life.
In his excitement, Cheenu rushed to the elephant. The elephant also ran towards the monkey and caught hold of him with his trunk. In a fit of anger, the elephant threw down Cheenu and trampled him under his feet. The monkey died instantly. A wave of happiness spread all over the forest. All the animals thanked the elephant for ridding them of the wicked monkey. They also praised the clever jackal.

[صائد الأفكار]

IMPORTANCE OF A GURU

According to a mythological story, Indra, the king of gods, after defeating the devils,



was enjoying the luxuries and comforts of heaven. Beautiful apsaras (heavenly dancers) were dancing to the tune of music in the court of Indra. Somras (divine liquor) was also being served to the gods. All the gods were intoxicated and enjoying the victory over the devils.
While they were busy enjoying, Guru Brihaspati entered the court but the gods failed to notice him and did not pay any attention or respect to him.
Hurt by the behavior of the gods, Guru Brihaspati became very sad. He felt that their victory over the demons had gone into their heads, and now they were going astray. He felt insulted. He thought, 'There was no difference left between the devils and the gods.' He pondered further, 'It is shameful to be the guru of such gods.' He immediately came out of Indra's court.
After some time, when the assembly of gods was over, they came out of intoxication and realized their fault that their guru had visited them and they were unable to pay due respect to him. Indra confessed, 'Whatever we have got today is due to the blessings of Guru Brihaspati, and now we have insulted him under intoxication. We should beg pardon from him.' He went to the residence of the guru but Guru Brihaspati was not there. Distressed by the gods' behavior, he had hidden himself somewhere. The gods made a thorough search for him, but could not find him anywhere.
On the other side, when Shukracharya, the guru of the devils, came to know that Guru Brihaspati was living in exile on being insulted by the gods, he advised the devils to take the advantage of the situation and attack the gods.
Acting on his advice, the devils attacked and defeated the gods badly. They had to run for their lives. They went to Lord Brahma and said, "Save us from the devils whose atrocities are increasing day by day."
Brahma said, "You yourselves have invited this trouble. You have insulted your guru, under whom you all were safe. Your false pride is the cause of all your troubles. Now only one way is left. Go to Acharya Vishwaroopa who is the son of Rishi Athvarna Twasta. Only he can protect you at this moment."
As per the directions of Lord Brahma, all the gods went to Acharya Vishwaroopa and narrated all that had happened with them. They further requested the Acharya to protect them from the devils.
Acharya said, "O king of gods! You have insulted your guru. Tomorrow when you will gain your lost kingdom, you will insult me as well. I have no faith in you."
The king of gods assured the Acharya and said, "We have already learnt a lesson and now we shall never repeat the same mistake. Please help us."
The repeated request of Indra compelled the Acharya to think again and finally he

decided to help them. He used his powers to help the gods defeat the demons and regain their lost paradise.
The king of gods was very happy to defeat the devils. He decided to celebrate the victory with great pomp and show. So he requested the Acharya to perform the yajna of victory.
Acharya said, "It would be better to go to Guru Brihaspati and beg pardon for your mistake. Your guru is above all, irrespective of your status. Pay due respect to your guru sages and brahamins."
Indra realized his mistake and promised not to repeat the same in future.

[صائد الأفكار]

LAUGHTER OF A FISH



Once upon a time there was a king named Firozshah, who ruled over Kashmir. His wife
was sitting near the window, she saw a woman selling fish. She asked her if she had any female fish. The fish-selling woman said, "NO, I have only male fish." With this the woman moved ahead. As she moved forward, the queen heard the laughter of a fish. The queen was surprised. She thought that the fish was laughing at her. She got annoyed and rushed to the king. She narrated the whole incident to him. But the king could not decide what to do. He called his Prime Minister Hussain who was very intelligent. The king narrated whole incident and asked the minister to solve the riddle – why the fish had dared to laugh at the queen. The king further said,


"I give you fifteen days to solve the riddle and if you fail, you will be beheaded."
Hussain thought deeply and decided to set out on a journey to unfold the puzzle the next day.
He met an old farmer named Rehman on his way who was going to pahalgam. Hussain thought of making friends with him who might help him in solving the riddle. Thus, Hussain accompanied him to Phalgam.
During the journey, Hussain said to him, "It would be better for us to take each other alternately during the journey." Rehman could not get the meaning of Hussain and preferred to keep quiet. While they were passing through a field of maize, Hussain again asked Rehman could not understand the words and said, "I do not know." He could not make out why Hussain was speaking in such a way. They both continued their journey. After some time they crossed a mosque, and passed through a village. When nobody welcomed them, Hussain asked, "What are we doing in this graveyard?" Rehman said, "Are you mad; this is a village."

Then they reached a graveyard where some people were distributing roasted meat and bread to the people who were present there, in the memory of their ancestor.
Hussain said, "Oh! What a good village it is!" Rehman murmured, "What a mad man he is! He is speaking like a fool. It appears he has become totally mad."
Soon, they both reached the outskirts of the village of Rehman. Rehman was a kind man so he invited Hussain to stay at his home. "Now you seem quite tired. Why don’t you stay at my house for some time and take rest." Hussain said, "Thank you for the invitation. I will stay here till the evening. But please tell me one thing; are the walls of your house strong enough?" Rehman started laughing at the words of Hussain. He said goodbye to him and came to his house. On reaching home, Rehman told his daughter Johra about Hussain. He also told her that he had invited him to say at his house. But Hussain put a foolish question about the walls of the house.
Johra was an intelligent girl. She said, "Dear father, I think the man is very intelligent." His father said, "How can you say that the man is intelligent? He has only talked foolishly." Johra clarified the meaning intended by Hussain, "By the question of strong walls he meant whether the invitation was real or just a formality." Hearing his daughter, Rehman was very much pleased and said, "If this questions had a deep meaning, his other sentences must have had wise meanings as well. Now I will repeat his sentences. At first, he said that we should go together taking each other alternately." Johra said, "By this he meant that both of you should tell stories alternately so that you could complete your long journey easily." Rehman repeated Hussain’s other sentence, "Why did he ask whether the maize can be eaten or not?" Johra said, "Father, you are a farmer and you must know that one should not eat from a field in the absence of its owner. This is what he wanted to convey to you." Her father again said, "Tell me, why did he call the village a graveyard and the graveyard a village?"
Johra clarified, "The villagers did not entertain you well, that is why the village was similar to a graveyard but the people in the graveyard distributed food so the graveyard was like a village."
Hearing these explanations, Rehman realized that Hussain was very intelligent as there lied a deep and wise meaning in each of his sentences.
Johra was excited and was very much eager to meet Hussain taking rest under a banyan tree outside the village. He brought him home. Johra was pleased to see him. She asked, "Please tell me what made you take such a long journey? May I help you? I hope there is something I can do for you."
Hussain told her about the fish and the king’s resolution to know the secret of the laughter of the fish. He also disclosed that his failure would cost his life.
Johra said, "It is quite a simple puzzle. It means that someone was planning to kill the king." Hussain agreed to Johra’s explanation of the incident. He decided to go back to the king along with Johra and Rehman.
On reaching there, Hussain introduced Johra and Rehman to the king and said to the king, "I have found out the secret of the laughter of the fish. Johra will tell you this secret in detail." Johra said, "Sir, the fish was a foreteller who could see future. The fish was laughing on seeing your future. She wanted to make you cautious against a person who in disguise of a woman wants to kill you." The king asked Johra, "Will you be able to prove this?" At this, Hussain said, "Yes! I want to
test your all maid servants." The



king and the queen allowed him to do so.
All the maids were called for a test. As per the instructions of Hussain, a large and deep pit was dug and all the maids were asked to jump across the pit. No one was able to cross the pit except one. Thus, the maid was identified as a male among the maids. The king got him arrested immediately. He was a spy of a neighbouring state. The king gave rewards to Johra and later Hussain married her.

[صائد الأفكار]

MEETHU AND KAURA

Meethu was a beautiful green parrot. His red beak looked very beautiful. He had built his


nest within the bushy branches of a big peepal tree in a village. Every day he would leave in the morning in search of food and return in the evening to spend night comfortably in his nest.
One day, while he was flying in search of food, he saw a mango tree. It was laden with ripe yellow mangoes.
'Oh! What nice mangoes!', he exclaimed. Sight of the ripe, juicy mangoes made his mouth water. He flew down and sat on a branch of the tree. As he was about to eat a mango, he heard a harsh voice of a crow, "Hey! Who are you? This is my tree. My name is Kaura. I say, go away from here," the crow said.
Meethu looked around and saw a black crow. He was frightened. The crow shouted once again at Meethu asking him to go away. Meethu flew away, but he was very disappointed because he could not eat such lovely juicy mangoes. While flying towards home, he saw a red balloon lying in a garden. An idea struck in the mind of Meethu. He picked up the balloon with its beak and flew back to the mango tree.
He went to the mango tree surreptitiously and blew off the balloon with its beak. The



balloon burst with a loud sound. The crow was frightened.
Kaura shouted, "It must be a hunter around! He will kill me. I must fly away from here."
Saying so, the scared crow flew away from the tree and never returned. Meethu was very pleased to see the crow go. He ate as many mangoes as he could. Thus clever Meethu could scare away the greedy crow by playing a clever trick on him. He began to eat sweet mangoes every day.

[صائد الأفكار]

CROP BELONGS TO OWNER OF FIELD

There was a village Kusumpur near patliputra. There lived a farmer named Shankar along with his wife Maya. They had some agricultural land which was enough for their subsistence.
There were no means of irrigation. All the villagers had to depend on rain for agriculture. Every year they waited for the rain even though they had arranged other things in advance.
Shankar had two oxen for ploughing the field. Like others Shankar also waited for the rain. The rain at the right time was very important for the farmers of the village. Once, just before the mansoon, one of the oxen died. It was difficult to plough the field with one ox. Shankar tried his best to get a loan to purchase another ox but could not succeed.
Soon the rainy season came. All the farmers started ploughing their fields. But Shankar stayed within the four walls of his house. He was very depressed.
Seeing him sad, his wife said, “Why do you worry? We have one ox and I will do the work of the other ox. This way, we will be able to plough the field. It is not good to sit idle at home."
But Shankar did not agree to the proposal. Maya continued to press Shankar to accept but in vain. At last, she proceeded to the field along with their only ox. When Shankar saw his wife going to the field, he followed her. On reaching the field, Maya tied the plough with the ox and started pulling it. People talked about the way the couple was ploughing the field. But nobody tried to understand their helplessness or came to help.
Meanwhile, the king of patliputra, Sheeshpal, happened to pass through that route. The king was generous and often roamed to assess the condition of his people in disguise. When he saw that a man was using a woman in place of an ox, he was surprised. He went to him and said, “O man! What are you doing? It is a sin to use a woman for ploughing. Stop it and free the woman."
Shankar said, “You seem to be a king or a seth. You certainly do not know what agriculture is. It needs timely action. It will take time to bring an ox and I cannot wait for so long. If you really have sympathy for the woman, you can work in her place."It was like a challenge to the king. He thought for a while and then offered himself to replace the woman. It was not an easy task. The king began sweating badly. Soon the ox was brought and the king got released from the tiresome work.
Shankar ploughed the field well and sowed the seeds of jowar crop. After a few days, when the seeds germinated, he found that some space was left blank. It was the part ploughed by the king. Shankar dug the area with a spade. To his surprise, he saw pearls there. He collected and brought them home.
Seeing the pearls, Maya jumped out of happiness. Both of them thought deeply about the pearls found in the field. They concluded that pearls were found only in that portion of the field which had been ploughed by the stronger. It meant that the stronger had changed to pearls. They decided to handover the pearls to the stranger, the rightful owner. So they made a search for him and identified the person as the king of patliputra Sheeshpal who was known for his generosity.
Next day, Shankar reached the court and handed over the bag to the king. He said, “Oh king! Had I known that the drops of your sweet are so valuable, I would have asked you to plough the whole field."Shankar narrated the whole incident right from the death of one of his oxen till the finding of the pearls in the field. Then he requested the king, “Please keep these pearls which are the fruit of your hard labour."Seeing the humbleness of the farmer, the king said, “No, I cannot take them. The crop belongs to the owner of the field, and from now onwards, do not let your wife work in the field."They lived happily ever after.