The Hawk’s Food

Many years back there was a king who not only ruled people but even animals happily served him as their master. 

The hawk was one of the best subjects that the king had. 

The hawk flew very fast and it delivered messages for the king and it had always been faithful to the king. 

So once the king called the hawk. “Now that you are growing old I think it is time you choose a kind of animal as you should be able to easily hunt the animal for the rest of your life even when old age comes on you. So you can choose any animal of your choice to be your prey.”

The hawk flew everywhere to find suitable prey. 

Soon after searching in every single place the hawk found a little owl.

The hawk first showed the owl to the king who had no problems with the owl being the king’s prey.

The hawk took the owl and showed the bird to its friends. “I have decided to have this animal as my prey. 

The hawk's friends were a little curious. “What did the parent of the owl do when you picked up this little owl?” 

The hawk thought for sometime. “They did not do anything. They were silent and just watched me as I took the little owl.” 

Suddenly the friends of the owl looked terribly afraid. “Put the owl back in the nest and choose some other animal as you pray. Tell the king that this is not the prey that you wish. I am sure that the king would understand and let you choose some other animal.” 

The hawk did not understand the nervousness of his friends but he decided to follow their advice. 

This time however the other animals had realized that the hawk was looking for prey and they all stayed hidden to be away from the sight of the hawk. 

At last the hawk found a hen in a farm and picked up a little chicken. 

The other hens all squawked loudly and tried to chase the hen. The rooster came running after the hawk too. 

But the hawk flew off with the chicken in its mouth. 

This time too the hawk took the chicken and showed it to its friends. “This is the animal that I have picked to have as my prey for the rest of my life.” 

This time too the hawk’s friends had the same question. “What did the others around this animal do when you tried to take it away?”

The hawk shrugged. “They were furious and they angrily squawked at me.” 

The friend seemed very relieved. “Then this is good food for you.

The hawk was now confused. “Why did you not want me to have the owl as my prey? The parents of the owl were quiet and they did not do anything.” 

The friend wisely nodded at the hawk. “The hen and the rooster only shouted and threatened you and tried to chase you away. You have nothing to fear from them. The ones you have to fear are like the silent owls who sit and watch and are silent when you hurt them. They will bide their time and attack when it is night. They are dangerous.”

Since then the hawk left the owls alone and had chickens as their prey.

Adapted from Folktales of Southern Nigeria

The Trader and his lost Camel

 

Once there was a trader who had a camel. The trader loved his camel a lot. Whenever the trader went to any city he took his camel with him.

However, during one trip the trader lost the animal. The trader searched everywhere but he could not find it. 

Finally he began asking the people around about whether they had seen his camel. 

Unfortunately nobody was able to help the trader. 

Finally he saw three men walking down the lane. 

He asked the three  people whether they had seen the camel. The first man thought for a few seconds and studied the trader. “Is your camel blind in one eye?” 

The trader nodded eagerly. 

The second man studied the trader. “Is your camel lame by one leg? 

The trader looked surprised and agreed with the second man. 

“Is your camel carrying grain and some honey on its back?”

The trader was sure that the three  men had seen his camel and agreed with them. “Where have you seen my camel?” 

The three  men shrugged, shaking their heads and continued walking down the lane. “We have not seen it.” 

The trader was angry and he was sure that the three  men were lying and so he took them to court. 

The trader explained everything to the king. 

“These three  men were able to give me all the facts about my camel and then they are claiming that they have not seen it. Please ask them to return my beloved animal to me, your majesty.” 

The king studied the three  men.

He asked the first man. “If you have never seen this man’s camel, how do you know that the camel was blind in one eye?” 

“Your majesty, I saw footprints of a camel on the ground and saw that the grass was eaten only on one side of a path where an animal had walked. That was why I assumed that.” 

The second man continued, “The left hoof of the animal was lighter than the right hoof. That is how I concluded that the camel was lame.” 

The third man shrugged. “I saw grains and drops of honey on the path that the animal had taken.” 

The king nodded at the trader. “These people have not seen your camel but they have given you a path to find it. If you travel the path that we have shown you and track your animal you.”

The trader thanked the three wise men and the king and continued with his search.

Adapted from the Arabian nights.

The Best Wish

Once upon a time there lived three brothers. 

The three Brothers were each granted a wish.

The first two brothers wished that whenever they put their hands in their pocket, they would always get money. 

The third brother who was Boots wished that any woman who saw him would fall in love with him. 

The two elder brothers now decided to live a rich life. They wanted to travel around the world in style, living as rich kings and princes would.

Boots wanted to come with them but the two brothers would not hear of it.

Finally because Boots had asked many times, the two brothers agreed to let Boots come long only if he introduced himself as their servant.

They went to a lavish inn first. 

As the elder brothers had wanted, the two elder brothers alone went inside the huge rooms of the inn. Boots stayed outside in the carriage as a servant of the two brothers.

The wife of the first innkeeper saw Boots and she was smitten when she saw him.

When she told her husband about how handsome Boots looked the husband got angry.

The innkeeper sent his wife inside the kitchen to make sure that his wife could not see Boots anymore.

However, even as the wife of the innkeeper had been making the lunch for the two elder brothers, without the knowledge of her husband, the wife came to the carriage and gave Boots a pair of scissors.

“Even as you snip these scissors in the air you shall get the finest dresses ever.” The wife of the innkeeper told Boots. “And the reason I am giving you these magical scissors is that you are the most handsome man I have ever seen.”

The two brothers had eaten their fill in the inn and spent the day in the inn. 

The next day the three of them decided to go to another inn in another place.

In this inn too the wife of the innkeeper was smitten as soon as she saw Boots near the carriage. This time too the wife of this innkeeper gave Boots a magical item. She gave him a table cloth which would fill itself with the tastiest food every time someone needed it. The reason the wife of this innkeeper did this was she found Boots very handsome.

On the third day when they had gone to the third inn the wife of the third innkeeper gave Boots a magic tap. The tap would give Boots any of the tastiest drinks like mead, wine or even brandy, when anyone so wanted it.

She also did this for the same reason that she found Boots a very handsome man.

 

After this the two brothers decided to go to a far away Kingdom as the guest of a king. 

It so happened that the king did not like to keep poor people in his Kingdom. As soon as any poor people came to his place the king had them ferried to another Island which was called Beggars Isle.

When the king saw Boots, the king immediately had Boots moved to the Beggars Isle. The elder brothers saw this but they did not stop the king. 

On reaching the island,Boots used his scissors and provided all the beggars clothes richer than what the king or any other royal person had. 

That night he even provided them with the best food and drinks that any of them ever had. 

The next morning the guards of the kingdom brought the leftover food from their Kingdom to the Beggars Isle. 

They were surprised because none of the beggars were even interested in looking at the food that they had brought. They were wearing the best dresses of all. 

The soldiers told the king what they had seen at the Beggars Isle. 

The king realized that there was something special about the last man who had been ferried to the Beggars Isle and he decided to find out what it was. 

He had Boots come over to the main Kingdom and that they found out about the scissors that Boots had with him.

The princess of the  Kingdom heard about these scissors and she desperately wanted to have it for herself so that she could have the best finery of all. 

But Boots was not willing to sell the scissors to her. 

Finally when the princess pleaded a lot, Boots agreed to give her the scissors if he let her sleep outside her palace room for a night. And that night the more she saw that man the more she realized that there was something special about him and she felt herself dragged to him. 

The next day Boots handed over the scissors to the princess and went back to the Beggars Isle. 

There the guards of the king found that the people there had good food. 

Soon they came to know about the tablecloth that Boots had. 

The princess wanted the tablecloth of Boots too. 

This time Boots agreed to give her the tablecloth, if she let him sleep on the floor inside her room. 

The second day the princess stared at Boots and she still could not shake away the feeling that this was the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. 

But she did not act on it and she tried to sleep in her room without disturbing Boots. 

The third day when the guards who came to Beggars Isle came to know about Boot's tap. They told the king about this too. 

This time the princess agreed to let Boots sleep in her bed on the other side if Boots handed over the tap to her. 

Naturally this time too the princess the more the princess saw Boots the more she realized that she was in love with him. 

So at the end of the three nights Boots had given all the three magical items to the princess. 

But he married the princess who was desperately in love with him and had half the kingdom to rule. After the death of the king he got the entire kingdom to rule. 

Boots realized that his elder brothers had been cruel to him and had them shipped to the Beggars Isle where all the money that came out of their pockets was useless because there was nothing that they could buy with that.

Adapted from the folktales of Norse

The Wicked Witch and the three Weavers

Once in a deep forest there was a wicked witch. 

She had three young girls working for her. The wicked witch kept the three girls busy all the time and made them weave golden flax into yarn. 

After the girls would weave the gold flax the witch would collect all the threads and take it away to an unknown location. 

The three girls did not know what the witch did with the yarn or how she managed to get so much golden flax. 

But they were always busy weaving. 

The three young girls could speak with the birds and the animals of the forest because they could understand the speech of animals but beyond that the three girls spoke with no one else, other than each other and the witch.

The wicked witch warned the girls to keep their focus only on their work and not to speak to any stranger. The wicked witch even told them that if they did not follow either of the instructions, the gold yarn that they weaved would lose its shine and great tragedies would follow the girl who had disobeyed the witch. 

A Prince from a far away kingdom was lost and he stumbled on the house where the three girls were working. 

The first two girls avoided looking at the Prince because they remembered the instructions of the witch. 

However the third girl was intrigued by the Prince and she talked with him and gave him good company as he ate the food that she had served him. 

The king's soldiers who were searching for the missing Prince soon found the Prince in the girls’ hut. 

The Prince promised to come back in nine days and save the girl from the witch.

However the witch came back to the hut before the Prince was back. She noticed the dullness in the gold yarn woven by the third girl and the witch immediately realized that the third girl had spoken to a stranger.

The girl was even more terrified because she remembered the witch’s warning and she feared that misfortunes would follow her and the Prince.

She immediately talked with the raven and asked the raven to fly to the Prince and warn him of the witches’ anger.

There was a Wind Wizard in the Prince’s kingdom. The Wind Wizard’s son could understand the speech of animals.

The raven told the Wind Wizard’s son the words of the girl.

In turn the Wind Wizard’s son told the prince everything.

The prince immediately came to the hut with his men. 

He was silent and made sure that his horses did not gallop loudly. When he was not seen by the witch he carried away the third girl from the hut.

They were far away from the witch’s hut and were crossing a very narrow bridge on  a raging river.

Meanwhile, using her magic powers the witch came to know what had happened to the third girl. 

Then the witch created a magic ball with a spell.

The magic ball created a whirlwind in the sky and knocked the third girl out of the princes’ arm into a river across a narrow bridge through which they were traveling. 

Horror stricken, the Prince wanted to jump inside the river after the girl into the raging waters.

However the prince’s soldiers stopped him from doing anything foolish.

For the next six days the Prince was taken back to his castle where he refused food and drinks and craved for his lover. 

The king wanted to help the prince and he sent for all the wizards in the Kingdom. 

The wizards asked the king to bring the great Wizard of Finland to help the Prince. 

The great wizard of Finland looked at the Prince and realized what was wrong with him and he explained to the king that the Prince could be cured only if he went back to the place where he had lost his lover because the magic ball had taken away his lover.

However the Prince was not able to do that immediately. 

He went to the narrow bridge nearly a year later.

He saw a water Lily in the exact same spot that his lover had met her end and he heard sorrowful cries from the water lily. 

Realizing that his lover had been converted into a lily he went to the two girls in the witch's hut without being seen by the witch. 

When he slept the first night in the hut the sisters baked a magic cake for the Prince. 

When the Prince ate the cake he realized that he could understand the language of the birds. 

Listening to the birds talking, the Prince realized that the great Wizard of Finland could help him. 

The Prince then sent a message through a bird to the great wizard asking for advice on how he could bring his lover back as a human from her shape as a water lily. 

The great Wizard of Finland, through an eagle, instructed the Prince to smear himself with mud and mutter the words ‘From a man into a crab’ and jump into the river. 

That would change the Prince into a crab in the waters of the rivers.

Once in the river the Prince was to cut the roots off the lily and rise with the lily to the surface. 

After he was to come to the surface with the lily the Prince was to say ‘From a crab into a man from a water Lily into a maiden.’ 

These words were to make both of them back to their normal human form.

The Prince followed the instructions of the great wizard of Finland and he was stunned to find that he and his lover were back to normal and the girl was now more beautiful than ever.

Though the Prince had been a crab only for a few hours, in the real world ten days had passed. 

In his kingdom the king and the Queen feared that he was dead and they were weeping. 

They were stunned when the Prince walked in with a beautiful maiden. 

After he had married the girl the Prince then heard a crow talking to another crown, about how the prince had ungratefully forgotten the other two girls in the witch's hut. 

The crow also told the other crow that the three girls were actually princesses and that the witch had stolen them during their childhood. 

The Prince felt ashamed of forgetting the two girls. 

He immediately went to the witch's hut. 

This time the eldest girl baked a poisoned cake and kept it for the witch. 

Soon after coming to the hut and seeing that the other two girls were missing, the witch saw the cake too. 

Before looking into the missing girls the witch ate the poisoned cake. 

She lay dead immediately. 

The Prince and his wife and the two girls lived happily in the Prince’s castle, after getting all the gold thread which was hidden by the witch under the hut that they lived in.

Adapted from the Fairy Tales of Estonia

The Frog Prince

Long ago there lived a king who had many daughters. All his daughters were beautiful. However the youngest daughter was the prettiest of them all. 

The youngest daughter had a golden ball with her. She used to play with the ball in the forest near the castle. 

In the forest near the castle there was a deep well. 

The princess used to play with her golden ball near this well. 

Once when the princess threw the ball high up in the air instead of catching it the ball fell into the well. 

The princess did not know how to get the ball out of the well. 

She looked at the deep well and started crying. That was when she heard a voice. “Beautiful princess! Why are you crying?” 

The princess saw an ugly frog standing before her. “My ball fell into the well. I do not know how to take it out.” 

The frog looked at the golden ball inside the well and nodded at the princess. “If I get the ball out for you, will you give me what I want?” 

The princess nodded. “I can give you the pearl in my neck or even my golden crown if you get me the golden ball.” 

The frog shook its head. “I do not want any of these things. If I get this golden ball for you will you take me to your castle and let me eat from your plate and stay with you as your companion?”

The princess was shocked at first. 

But then she did not think that the frog would do as it was told and she agreed to the promise. So as soon as the princess agreed the frog dived inside the well and got the golden ball. 

The princess happily took the golden ball and went to her own castle.

The next day there was a loud knock in the castle. 

The princess looked out of her room and saw that it was the frog. 

The frog wanted the youngest daughter of the king to keep her promise. 

The king did not understand who was at the door and that was when the princess explained everything to her father. 

The king was however a very fair man. He believed that the princess had to keep up her end of the bargain because the frog had got her ball from the well.

So the princess let the frog inside the castle. 

The frog wanted to sit on the chair right next to the princess. The king commanded the princess to do as the frog asked. 

Then the frog wanted to eat from the plate of the princess. 

Though the princess did not want this she did so because her father ordered her to do so. After the frog had Frog wanted to sleep in the princess bedroom along with her. 

This time the princess started crying because she did not want the frog on her beautiful clean bed. 

But the king was very angry and said that she could not go back on her word.

When the frog was sitting beside the bed the princess suddenly became very angry and she picked up the frog and threw it against the wall. 

“Now you can rest forever!” The princess yelled angrily.

However when the frog fell down it turned into a handsome Prince. 

The frog had been under a magic enchantment which could be freed only when a princess rescued him from the well and let him eat from her plate and stay with him. 

The next morning, a carriage pulled by eight horses came to the king's place. 

The Frog-Prince’ faithful servant Heinrich drove the carriage and brought the frog-prince and the princess to the Frog-Prince’ castle. 

The princess and the Frog Prince married each other and lived happily forever.

Adapted from the Grimm brothers fairy tales