Once there lived a happy cobbler who passed his days in working and singing. A rich neighbour of his was a banker who one day said to him, "How much a year do you earn?" The cobbler did not know what to say in reply to such a question. He lived from hand to mouth. Everyday he would sit under the banyan tree of the village market and could earn very little repairing and polishing people's shoes. In the evening, he would return home buying necessaries he could manage to buy with his small income. And he was contented and thus happy with that life. He never counted or even thought of counting his yearly income. "I never thought that way", he replied to his rich neighbour. "I just can manage two meals a day for my family and I do not have any savings." The banker felt pity for the cobbler. He brought one thousand rupees for the cobbler the next day." Take this rupees and have a nice and happy life," he said to the cobbler. The cobbler became very glad getting the money. He returned his home with a joyful mind. He told everything to his wife. She felt a deep respect in her heart for the kind neighbour. There came the night then. And what happened afterwards was quite pathetic. The cobbler and his wife soon discovered that their thatched house was not safe for keeping the huge amount o! money. They also could not find any safe place or trustworthy person to keep the money. They were much worried thinking that their money could be stolen or snatched. That night they could not sleep. Thus their peace of mind disappeared. They realized that money can not bring happiness.

Once the house of a rich man was infested with rats. The house became like the town of Hamelin. There were rats everywhere. The rats were so big and fierce that they fought the dogs, killed the cats and bit the babies in the cradles. In no way the rich man could protect his belongings from the attack of the rats. So, the man along with his family was leaving his dwelling place. In this situation, the chairman of the union paid an occasional visit to the man's house and observed the situation. Then the chairman called a meeting of the elite persons of the village to talk about the problem and way outs. The meeting went on for a long time but there was no result. At that time, a strange man with a colourful flute in his hand appeared before the meeting. He declared that he would drive the rats from the house. He demanded Tk. 20,000/- for the job. The chairman and the people present there did not believe him. But at last, the chairman decided to give the strange man a chance. He also agreed with his demand. Then the strange man went on the road. He started playing his flute. Hearing the sound of the flute, the rats jumped out to the roads in thousands. The man started walking and the rats followed him. He suddenly stopped by the bank of the nearby river of the village. But the rats did not stop. They jumped into the current of the river and all drowned. After the solution of the problem, the strange man demanded his taka for his job. The chairman kept his promise and then the man left the village.

AN HONEST WOOD CUTTER

There lived a wood cutter in a village. One day he was cutting wood in a jungle. There was a river nearby. There was strong current in the river. Suddenly his axe fell into the river. The wood cutter did not know how to swim or dive^ So, he was sitting there with a heavy heart. He was very poor and he had not the money tfi buy another axe. The axe was his onlj means of earning livelihood for himself and his family. Without the axe how would ht support his family? He would not be able to cut wood in the forest and they all would have tc starve. Thinking all these, he got very depressed and was blaming his lot. Suddenly, he hearc a voice and saw a fairy before him. The fairy asked him why he was crying. He told he everything. The fairy took pity on him. She dived into the river and came back with a goldei axe. She asked the wood cutter if it was his axe. The wood cutter replied in the negative. then again went into the water and returned with a silver one. This time also the wood-cutte refused to take it. Besides, the fear of not getting back his exe began to take a firm position ir his mind. He was a little bit disheartened since the fairy also failed to find out his axe However, the fairy noticed the pensive mood of the wood cutter and dived into the river with L smile in her face. Finally, she brought the axe of the wood cutter from the water. The wood cutter was delighted to get back his iron axe. The fairy became very pleased with the honesty and simplicity of the wood cutter and gave him the two valuable axes as reward. Honesty is thus always rewarded.

Once upon a time, there was a greedy king called Midas. He was extremely - fond of gold. Although he had a lot of it, he wanted more. He thought if he
had the golden touch, he would be the happiest man in the world. The desire of having more and more gold afflicted ( him all the time. Once he was strolling about in his large garden. The thought of the golden touch was also haunting him at that time. A wise god granted his wish promptly . Half an hour later, as the king was sitting under an apple tree in his garden, suddenly a ripe apple fell beside him. The apple looked so delicious that a desire to enjoy its taste rose in him. He picked it up. As he touched it, the apple turned into gold. He could hardly believe his eyes. "At long last, I've had the magical power_ the golden touch. Now. I'm the happiest man in the world," the king cried out in extreme excitement. The lure of golden touch made him so excited that he forgot his desire to enjoy the apple and even his consequent inability to do that. However, from then on, whatever he touched, everything turned into gold. As he entered his palace , his little daughter ran up to him and he took her in his arms. Instantly she turned into gold.
The king was struck with horror . He could realize the danger of the golden touch. The touch took away his loving daughter. His greed rewarded him with the lifeless golden statue of his little innocent daughter. The king cried out in anguish trs He felt that golden touch never can make one happy. It is only the contentment of mind that can make one happy. Immediately the wise god took the golden touch away and the girl became a lively human being again.

The Hare and the Tortoise

One day a hare met a tortoise . She made fun of the slow pace of of
the tortoise and said, "You have as many legs as I have. But I am sure, you cannot run as fast as I can.Most probably you cant run at all.”.The tortoise became very angry .But he collected himself and answered quietly,You can run quite fast,no doubt
But I think, you can talk even faster than you can run. However, I agree to run a five mile race with you." At this the hare felt very delighted So she said, "Come along, let's fix
a date for the race." They fixed a date. A fox came to see the race. On the fixed date the tortoise and the hare came to the starting point. The race began. The hare began to run very fast. She jumped and jumped. She ran a mile in a few minutes. Soon she found the tortoise far behind her. Then she stopped. She thought, "I can have a good sleep before the tortoise comes up." Thinking so, the hare went to sleep in a bush . In the meantime , the tortoise walked on and on. He did not stop anywhere. When he came to the bush, he saw the lazy hare lying fast asleep. He smiled and quietly passed by her. After sometime the hare woke up. She saw that it was already evening. She immediately got on her feet.
She began to run very fast. But alas! The tortoise had already gone far. She came in sight of the goal. But the tortoise was already crossing the winning post. The hare felt much ashamed She now said to herself, "It is true that slow and steady wins the race."

BAyazid Bastami

Bayazid Bostami was a great saint. In his childhood he was a very obedient boy. He was especially obedient to his mother. Once Bayazid was reading on his table. It was dead at night. The surrounding atmosphere had the pin-drop silence of profound sleep. His mother was also in deep sleep. Besides, she was ill. Suddenly his ailing psr^*?) mother got up from sleep and asked Bayazid to give her a glass of water. Bayazid at once went to the pitcher (T? W). But unfortunately there was not a drop of water in it. There was no source of water nearby. So, Bayazid went to a distant fountain with the pitcher and brought water for his mother.But by the time he got back home,his mother was asleep again.Bayazid thought that he should not disturb his mothers sleep.So, he stood still beside his mothers bed with a glass of water in his hand.Thus the rest of the night pass by.But his mother did not wake up.He did not go to bed thinking that his mother might get up from sleep anytime.If she did not find him ready with drinking water,she might be shocked.However, in the morning his mother woke up.She was highly surprised seeing Bayazid standing with a glass of water beside her bed .But soon she could remember every thing .Her heart was filled with a unique love for Bayazid.She embraced her son and prayed for him from the core of her heart.

The Wolf and the Crane

A wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed,when suddenly
A small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he could not swallow
It.He soon felt terrible pain in his throat,and ran up and down groaning
And seeking for something to relieve the pain.He tried to induce every
One he met to remove the bone. “I would give anything,” said he, “ if
you would take it out.” At last the crane agreed to try,and told the wolf
to lie on his jaws as wide as he could.Then the crane put its long neck
down the wolfs throat, and with its beak loosened the bone,till at last
it got it out.
“Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?” said the Crane.
The Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said, Be content.You
have put your head inside a wolfs mouth and taken it out again in safely
;that ought to be reward enough for you.”
Gratitude and greed go not together.

The boys and the frogs

Some boys were playing around a pond when they spotted a group of frogs hopping and swimming about in the water. The boys began to throw rocks at the frogs and even competed against each other as to who could hit the most frogs. Sometimes the rocks hit the frogs so hard that they died.
Finally one frog hopped upon a lily pad.
"Please stop," he pleaded, "What may seem just fun to you is death to us.

the goose that laid the golden egg

A man and his wife owned a very special goose. Every day the goose would lay a golden egg, which made the couple very rich.
"Just think," said the man's wife, "If we could have all the golden eggs that are inside the goose, we could be richer much faster."
"You're right," said her husband, "We wouldn't have to wait for the goose to lay her egg every day."
So, the couple killed the goose and cut her open, only to find that she was just like every other goose. She had no golden eggs inside of her at all, and they had no more golden eggs

The lions share

The lion went hunting one day with three other beasts. Together, they surrounded and caught a deer. With the consent of the other three, the lion divided the prey into four equal shares, but just when each animal was about to take his portion, the lion stopped them.

"Wait," said the lion, "Since I am a member of the hunting party, I am to receive one of these portions. Since I am considered to rank so high among the beasts of the forest, I am to receive the second share. Since I am known for my courage and strength, I am to receive the third share. As for the fourth share, if you wish to argue with me about its ownership, let's begin, and we will see who will get it."

the Dog and his image

It happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was carrying
It home in his mouth to eat it in peace.Now on his way home he
had to cross a plank lyaing across a running brock.As he crossed,he
lookd down and saw his own shadow reflected in the water beneath.
He thought that it was another dog with another piece of meat and
made up his mind to have that also.So he made snap at the shadow
in the water, but as the opened his mouth the piece of meat fell out,
dropped into the water and was never seen more.

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow

The cat and the rooster

One day a cat happen to grab hold of rooster for its evening meal. She wanted, however, a good excuse for killing the bird.

"I need to rid the world of you," she told the rooster, "You constantly make your horrible noises throughout the night, interfering with men's much needed sleep. The world will be better off without you."
"No," said the rooster, "I crow for the good of men. I wake them up each morning when it is time for them to start work for the day, so that they may earn their living."
"Ridiculous!" said the cat, and she ate him

The fox and the lion

A young fox saw a lion for the very first time. He was so frightened by the appearance of the great beast that he ran away as fast as he could. The second time he saw the lion, he hid behind a large rock and peeped out to see the lion. The third time he saw the lion, he went straight up to him, and said, "Hello, Mr. Lion."

A Friend In Need Is A Friend IS indeed

There lived two friends in a certain village.They were very fond of traveling.They liked to enjoy the beauty of nature,to see green tress,blue seas and to hear the swwet songs of birds.One day the went to forest for traveling.They were walking along with the path of the forest and lost their way,At the time,a terrible incidend happened.They saw bear coming towards them.One friend knew how to climb up it.So, seeing the bear he climb up the tree promptly.The another friend did’nt how to climb up it.So, to protect himself,he lay down on the grass and acted as he was dead.The bear came near the laying friend,smelt the body and thought it to be a deadbody.As bear does not eat a deadbody,he went away,When it went away,the another friend got down from the tree and asked his friend,what did the bear say to you?In reply he said.

‘A friend who leaves his friend at the time of danger,is not a real friend.’At this he was ashamed and went away.

The Fox and the Crow

The fox and the crow

A fox once saw a Crow fly of with a pice cheese in it’s back and settle on a brance of tree . “that’s  for me , as I am a fox , “said the fox and he walked up to the foot of the tree .”good-day, Mistress crow ,” he cried .”how well you are looking to-day : how glossy your feathers ; how bright your eye. I feel  sure your voice must surpass that of other birds ,”just as your figure dose; late me hare but one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Bierds .”the crow lifted up her had and bigan to caw her best ,but the moment she opened her mouth  the piec of cheese fell to the ground only to the snapped up by the fox .” That will do ,”said he .”that was all I wanted .In exchang for your cheese I will give you a pice of advice for the future .”Do not trust flatters.”