Many years ago, it is said, that elephants had small trunks with stubbed noses. One year, it did not rain for many months. The ponds and lakes began to dry up, and the streams had very little water. All the animals in the forest were very thirsty, and desperately searching for a source of water. […]

Once, there lived four friends. One of them was a waver, the other a carpenter, the third a goldsmith and the fourth a hawker who sold vermilion. Every evening, they would meet in the woods and share the day’s experience. One such evening, they were feeling sad and depressed. “Life is so boring!” said the […]

A very long time ago, there was a young girl named Tanaiya. She lived in a small hut by a beautiful lake. Tanaiya loved water and would swim in the lake all day long. “Ah, how lovely!” she would sigh with joy. One day, while Tanaiya waded into the water, something unusual touched her body. […]

Once upon a time, there was a king who had a child with the body of a normal baby, but the ears of an ox! The king always kept his baby’s ears covered and don’t allow anyone to see him. One day, when it was time to get the child tonsured, the king got worried. […]

In a field far away lived a dung beetle. All day it remained immersed in cow dung, lazing around. His favorite pastime was to make balls of cow dung and play with them. “Surely, this is heaven,” he would think to himself every day. One day, as he lay there as usual, a bee came […]

One day, a Brahmin was traveling through a forest. A crocodile saw him and called out, “Help me, O Brahmin! I have been separated from my parents, who live in the holy river Ganga! But I don’t know the way to the river. Please take me there!” The Brahmin was kind. He put the crocodile […]

Long ago, there lived a lazy man. He never wanted to work, and was always looking for an easy way to get food. One day, as he was passing by a temple, he saw a mango tree full of juicy mangoes. He climbed up on the compound wall of the temple to steal the mangoes. […]

There once lived a merchant in a village in Orissa. One morning, he was taking a stroll by the seaside. Some distance away, he saw a man squatting on the beach and filling a cup with sand. “What is he doing?” the merchant wondered. He walked towards the man and watched him. The man filled […]

There once lived four traders, who jointly owned a big shop of grains. Year after year, their business flourished and they made quite a profit. Until one season, some rats took refuge in the shop. They are rampaged the storeroom, destroying almost a quarter of the grains. The four traders were worried. “This is a […]

A long time ago, in a village in Mizoram, people believed – long names bring great fortune, and longer ones being even greater! In many of the families, it was customary to keep long names for at least one of the children. In one such family, there were two brothers- one named Semu, and the […]