Native American Folk Tale - The Origin of Fire

The Origin of Fire

    In the land of present US, we can find a large tribal communities of native people. The Native Americans have their own unique history and culture. This story is one of the very common and famous Native American Folk tale story. 

      The Origin of Fire

   - A Native American Folktale

   Long, long ago, animals and trees talked with each other, but there was no fire at that time. Fox was the cleverest animal and he tried to think of a way to create fire for the world.

   One day, the fox decided to visit the Geese, whose cry he wished to learn how to imitate. They promised to teach him if he would fly with them. So they thought out a plan to attach wings to Fox, but cautioned him never to open his eyes while flying.

   Whenever the Geese arose in flight, Fox also flew along with them to practice their cry. On one such adventure, darkness descended suddenly as they flew over the village of the fireflies. In mid-flight, the glare from the flickering fireflies caused Fox to forget and he opened his eyes. When the fox opened his eyes, instantly his fake wings were collapsed! His fall was uncontrollable. He landed within the walled area of the firefly village, where a fire constantly burned in the center.

   Two kind fireflies came to see fallen Fox, who gave each one a necklace of juniper berries.

   Fox hoped to influence the two fireflies to tell him where he could find a way over the wall to the outside. They led him to a cedar tree, which they explained would bend down upon command and throw him over the wall if he so desired.

Tales from the Panchatantra - The Crows and the Snake

   This is one of the interesting tales from the Panchatantra collection. The Panchatantra is very well known tales or fables collection in India. In every tales of the Panchatantra, there must be an educational lesson and we consider as a moral of the story.

The Crows and the Snake

   The Crows and the Snake

- A Tales from the Panchatantra

    
   Once upon a time, there stood a huge banyan tree on the outskirts of a small village. In this banyan tree there lived a pair of crows with their young ones. One day, a snake came to live in the hole at the bottom of the tree. The crows were not happy at the arrival of the snake, but they could do nothing.

   After a few days, the female crow hatched a few more eggs and some more baby crows were born. When the crows went out in search of food, the snake crawled up the tree and ate up the babies. When the crows came back, they could not locate their babies. They chased high and low, but to no avail. The crows were full of sorrow on the sad loss of their young ones.

   After a few months, the female crow hatched some more eggs. This time female crow stayed in the nest while the male crow went out in search of food. The snake was greedy and ignoring the presence of the female crow, he crept up the tree and attacked the babies. The female crow who was keeping a watchful eye on her babies, tried to fight with the snake, but she was weak. Hearing the shouting of the female craw, other crows came to help her, but the snake had already eaten the young ones and slithered back into his hole.

   This killing became the feature of their life. Every time the crows laid their eggs, the snake crawled up the tree and ate all the young ones. Due to this, the crows were never able to raise their young ones. The crows were sad, but they didn’t know how to get free from this killer snake.

Indian Folk Tales - The Prince and the Fakir

   This Indian Folk tale story is collected from the book, named “Indian Fairy Tales”. This book is edited by Joseph Jacob, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, London in 1910. This story book holds 29 Indian folk tale stories. 

The Prince and the Fakir

 The Prince and the Fakir

 - An Indian Folk tales

   Once upon a time, there was a King who had no children. Now this King went and laid him down to rest at a place where four roads met, so that every one who passed had to step over him.

   At last a Fakir came along and he said to the King, "Man, why are you lying here?"

   The King replied, "Fakir, a thousand men have come and passed by; you pass on too."

   But the Fakir said, "Who are you, man?"

   The King replied, "I am a King, Fakir. Of goods and gold I have no lack, but I have lived long and have no children. So I have come here, and have laid me down at the cross-roads. My sins and offenses have been very many, so I have come and am lying here that men may pass over me, and perchance my sins may be forgiven me, and God may be merciful and I may have a son."

   The Fakir answered him, "Oh King! If you have children, what will you give me?"

   "Whatever you ask, Fakir," answered the King. The Fakir said, "Of goods and gold I have no lack, but I will say a prayer for you, and you will have two sons; one of those sons will be mine."

   Then he took out two sweetmeats and gave them to the King and he said, "King, take these two sweetmeats and give them to your wives; give them to the wives you love best."

   The King took the sweetmeats and put them in his pocket very carefully.

   Then the Fakir said, "King, in a year I will return, and one of the two sons who will be born to you, one is mine and one yours."

   The King said, "Well, I agree."

Tales from the Panchatantra - The Talkative Tortoise

   This is one of the interesting tales from the Panchatantra collection. The Panchatantra is very well known tales or fables collection in India. In every tales of the Panchatantra, there must be an educational lesson and we consider as a moral of the story.

The Talkative Tortoise

   The Talkative Tortoise

- Tales from the Panchatantra

   
  Once upon a time, there was a tortoise and two geese. The tortoise lived in a pond and he made friends with two geese who used to come and visit him at the pond. All of them were happy for the past few years.

   Once they faced a drought that lasted for several months. Due to this, all the rivers, lakes and ponds went dry. There was not a drop of water to drink for the birds and the animals. They began to die of thirst and boiling heat. Many of them decided to migrate to some fruitful lands.

   The three friends also decided to leave the pond and to go to some distant lake, full of water, to settle down there for ever. But it was quite difficult to shift at a distant place. Although, it was quite easy for the geese as they could fly but the problem was for tortoise. The tortoise could not fly and to cover that distance on foot was really difficult.

   All of them had a conversation, as to what could be a possible solution for this problem. The geese suggested a plan, according to which, tortoise would have to hold a piece of stick by his mouth and which would be carried slowly while holding its two ends by them. The only condition was that the tortoise should not speak; otherwise he would fall and die without cause. The geese were worried because they knew that tortoise was very talkative and it was difficult for him to keep his mouth shut. The tortoise got the logic and promised not to open his mouth during the entire journey.

The Arabian Nights - The Story of the Fisherman

   This story “The story of the fisherman” is collected from the Arabic folk tales collection, named "The Arabian Nights / one thousand and one nights". This book holds some of the folktales form the Arabian Nights Entertainments. Selected and edited by Andrew Lang, these folktales are simplified and shortened, making them more suitable for children.

The Story of the Fisherman

   The Story of the Fisherman

- Collected from "The Arabian Nights"

   Once upon a time, there was a fisherman. He was so old and so poor that he could hardly manage to support his wife and three children. He went every day for fishing very early and each day he made a rule not to throw his nets more than four times. The fisherman started out one morning by moonlight and came to the sea-coast. He undressed and threw his nets, and as he was drawing them towards the bank he felt a great weight. He though he had caught a large fish and he felt very satisfied. But a moment afterwards, seeing that instead of a fish he only had the dead-body of an ass in his nets, he was much disappointed.

   Vexed with having such a bad haul, when he had mended his nets, which the dead-body of the ass had broken in several places, he threw the nets for second time. In drawing the nets in he again felt a great weight, so that he thought they were full of fish. But he only found a large basket full of rubbish. He was much upset.
 

   "Oh! Fortune," the fisherman cried, "do not trifle you with me, a poor fisherman, who can hardly support his family!" 

   So saying this, he threw away the rubbish, and after having washed his nets clean of the dirt, he threw them for the third time. But the fisherman only drew in stones, shells, and mud. He was almost in despair.

Tales from the Panchatantra - The Hunter and the Doves

   This is one of the interesting tales from the Panchatantra collection. The Panchatantra is very well known tales or fables collection in India. In every tales of the Panchatantra, there must be an educational lesson and we consider as a moral of the story.

The Hunter and the Doves

  The Hunter and the Doves

- a tales from the Panchatantra

   Once upon a time, there was a group of doves that flew in search of food. This group was led by their king. Once, it happened as such that the group had flown a long distance and all the doves got tired. The king of doves encouraged the doves to fly a little more. One of the doves picked up pace and found some rice grains scattered under a banyan tree.

   All the doves were happy to find the food and happily landed on the ground. As soon as they began to eat the grains, a huge net fall over them and all of them got trapped. The doves fluttered their wings desperately trying to come out, but it was of no benefit. Just then, they saw the hunter coming towards them. He appeared quite happy to find a huge number of doves trapped inside the net. The whole group was frightened on seeing the hunter.

   However, the king of doves was very intelligent and clever. He didn’t loose his patience and devised a plan to come out from this difficult situation. He advised to other doves,” In order to get free from the net of this hunter, we should all fly up together clutching the net in our beaks. There is strength in unity. We will decide our next course of action later. Now, come on and let’s fly.”

Fable of Aesop - The Lion in Love

   The Lion in Love is a very interesting fable of Aesop. In every fable of Aesop, there must a lesson for us. We consider that as the moral of the story at the end.

The Lion in Love

   The Lion in Love

   A Lion once fell in love with a beautiful maiden pretty young lady and proposed marriage to her parents. The old people did not know what to say. 

They did not like to give their daughter to the Lion, yet they did not wish to enrage the King of Beasts.
 

   At last the father said, "We feel highly honored by your Majesty's proposal, but you see our daughter is a tender young thing, and we fear that in the vehemence of your affection you might possibly do her some injury. Might I venture to suggest that your Majesty should have your claws removed, and your teeth extracted. Then we would gladly consider your proposal again."

A Fairy Tale Story - Cinderella

   This is a fairy tale story from Charles Perrault. This story is collected from his famous fairy tale story collection, named "The Tales of Mother Goose", published in 1696.

Cinderella

 Cinderella  (Part - 2)

A fairy tale by - Charles Perrault

   Cinderella promised her godmother that she would not fail to leave the ball before midnight. She drove away, rare able to contain herself for joy. The King's son, who was told that a great princess, whom nobody knew, was come, ran out to receive her. He gave her his hand as she alighted from the coach and led her into the hall where the company was assembled. There was at once a deep silence; every one left off dancing, and the violins come to an end to play, so attracted was every one by the singular beauties of the unknown newcomer. Nothing was then heard but a confused sound of voices saying, “Ha! How beautiful she is! How beautiful she is!"
 

   The old King himself, could not keep his eyes off her and he told the Queen under his breath that it was a long time since he had seen so beautiful and lovely a creature.
 

   All the ladies were busy studying her clothes and head-dress, so that they might have made that the same pattern next day, provided they could meet with such fine materials and able hands to make them.

Fable of Aesop - The Ant and the Grasshopper

   This is a very interesting fable of Aesop. In every fable of Aesop, there must a lesson for us. We consider that as the moral of the story at the end.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

 The Ant and the Grasshopper

    
   Once there lived an ant and a grasshopper in a grassy meadow. All day long the ant would work hard, collecting grains of wheat from the farmer's field far away. She would hurry to the field every morning, as soon as it was light enough to see by and work hard back with a heavy grain of wheat balanced on her head. She would put the grain of wheat carefully away in her larder, and then hurry back to the field for another one. All day long she would work, without stop or rest, scurrying back and forth from the field, collecting the grains of wheat and storing them carefully in her larder.
 
   The grasshopper would look at her and laugh. “Why do you work so hard, dear ant?” he would say. “Come, rest awhile and listen to my song. Summer is here, the days are long and bright. Why waste the sunshine in labor and toil?”
 
   The ant would ignore him and head bent, would just hurry to the field a little faster. This would make the grasshopper laugh even louder.
 
   “What a silly little ant you are!” he would call after her. “Come, come and dance with me! Forget about work! Enjoy the summer! Live a little!” 

   And the grasshopper would hop away across the meadow, singing and dancing happily. 

   Summer faded into autumn, and autumn turned into winter. The sun was hardly seen, and the days were short and grey, the nights long and dark. It became freezing cold, and snow began to fall.

Fairy Tale Story - Cinderella

   This is a fairy tale story from Charles Perrault. This story is collected from his famous fairy tale story collection, named "The Tales of Mother Goose", published in 1696.

Cinderella

  Cinderella  (Part - 1)

   A Fairy tale story by Charles Perrault

   Once upon a time there was a gentleman who married, for his second wife. She was the proudest and most haughty woman that ever was seen. She had two daughters of her own, who were, indeed, exactly like her in all things. The gentleman had also a young daughter of rare goodness and sweetness of temper, which she took from her mother, who was the best creature in the world.

   The wedding was scarcely over, when the stepmother's bad temper began to show itself. She could not bear the goodness of this young girl, because it made her own daughters appear the more odious. The stepmother gave her the meanest work in the house to do. She had to scour the dishes, tables, etc., and to scrub the floors and clean out the bedrooms. The poor girl had to sleep in the garret, upon a miserable straw bed, while her sisters lay in fine rooms with woven floors, upon beds of the very newest fashion, and where they had looking-glasses so large that they might see themselves at their full length. The poor girl bore all patiently and dared not complain to her father, who would have scolded her if she had done so, for his wife governed him completely.

   When she had done her work, she used to go into the chimney corner, and sit down among the cinders; hence she was called “Cinderwench”. The younger sister of the two, who was not so rude and uncivil as the elder, called her Cinderella. However, Cinderella, in spite of her mean dress, was a hundred times more handsome than her sisters, though they were always richly dressed.

Fable of Aesop - The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

   This is a very interesting fable of Aesop. In every fable of Aesop, there must a lesson for us. We consider that as the moral of the story at the end.

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

  The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

   A country mouse invited his cousin who lived in the town to come visit him. The town mouse was so disappointed with the sparse meal which was nothing more than a few kernels of corn and a couple of dried berries.

   The town mouse rather turned up his long nose at this country travel, and said: "I cannot understand, cousin, how you can put up with such poor food as this, but of course you cannot expect anything better in the country; come you with me and I will show you how to live.”

   "My poor cousin," said the town mouse again to the country mouse, "you hardly have anything to eat! I do believe that an ant could eat better! Please do come to the town and visit me, and I will show you such rich feasts, readily available for the taking."

A Fairy Tale - Little Red Riding-Hood

   This is a fairy tale story from Charles Perrault. This story is collected from his famous fairy tales story collection, named "The Tales of Mother Goose", published in 1696.

Little Red Riding-Hood

   Little Red Riding-Hood

A Fairy tale by Charles Perrault

   Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl. She was the prettiest creature that ever was seen. Her mother was very fond of her, and her grandmother loved her still more. This good woman made for her a little red riding-hood, which became the girl so well that everybody called her Little Red Riding-hood.

   One day her mother, having made some custard and said to her, "Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother does, for I hear she has been very ill; carry her some custard and this little pot of butter."

   Little Red Riding-hood set out immediately to go to her grandmother's house, who lived in another village.

   As she was going through the wood, she met Gaffer Wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up. But he did not dared to do this because of some fagot-makers hard by in the forest. He asked her whither she was going. 

   The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay there and hear a wolf’s talk. She said to him, "I am going to see my grandmother, and carry her some custard and a little pot of butter from my mamma."

   "Does she live far off?" said the Wolf.

Fables from Aesop - The Cock and the Pearl

   This is a very interesting fables from Aesop. In every fables from Aesop, there must a lesson for us. We consider that as the moral of the story at the end.

The Cock and the Pearl

  The Cock and the Pearl

   A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly the cock espied something shinning in the middle of the straw.

   "Ho! ho!" said the cock, "that is for me," and soon took it out from underneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard?

   The cock stared at the pearl, looking at it first through his right eye, and then through his left.  What sort of strange seed was this?  He pecked it a couple of times.   It rolled back and forth under the force of his strong beak, but it didn’t break open like a seed would after such a blow.  Cock scratched at it with his claws. The pearl rolled a few inches away from the cock’s foot, and landed next to a spare barley corn that the hens had missed. The cock pounced on the barley corn and gobbled it up. Then the cock took a step back and his foot slipped when it landed on the pearl.  Reminded once again of the strange pink seed, the cock turned around to look at it.  He eyed the pearl suspiciously, and pecked it again.  It didn’t break open.  The cock gave a cluck of disgust.  No prize there.

Charles Perrault – The Fairy tales writer

    Charles Perrault – The Fairy tales writer

Charles Perrault

   Charles Perrault was a French fairy tales writer in the second half of XVII century. He was one of the first writers in European literature, who turned his eyes to folklore. Charles Perrault was considered a leading intellectual of his time. He is now mostly remembered for his fairy-tale stories.

   Charles Perrault was born in Paris in 1628, in a wealthy bourgeois family. His parents were Pierre Perrault and Paquette Le Clerc. He was the seventh child of this family. The Perrault-family was wealthy and bourgeois which made it possible for Charles Perrault and his brother to attend the best schools. Charles Perrault attended good schools and studied law before embarking on a career in government service, following in the footsteps of his father and older brother Jean Perrault.

   When Charles Perrault was in school in Paris, he was always at the head of his class.  He enjoyed exercises in verse.  In the class of Philosophy, he was deeply interested to wrangling with his teacher and maintaining characteristically, that his arguments were better than other students.

Fables from Aesop - The Shepherd Boy

   This is a very interesting fables from Aesop. In every fables from Aesop, there must a lesson for us. We consider that as the moral of the story at the end.

The Shepherd Boy

     The Shepherd Boy

   There was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at the base of a mountain near a forest. It was rather lonely for him all day, so the shepherd boy thought upon a plan by which he could get a little company and some excitement. 

   The shepherd boy rushed down towards the village calling out "Wolf, Wolf," and the villagers came out to meet him, and some of them stopped with him for a considerable time. This pleased the shepherd boy so much that a few days afterwards he tried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help.