The Weaver and the Golden Loom

Long ago in the kingdom of Pratishthana lived a weaver called Somanatha. Though Somanatha worked tirelessly, he was forever in debt. That was because his kingdom was in debt and there were corrupt middlemen who took away his profits.

Despite this, Somanatha refused to lower the standards of his craftsmanship.

Somanatha was reduced to his last handful of grain when Somanatha noticed a moth struggling to get outside a cocoon. For hours the month pushed through the cocoon.

At first, Somanatha wanted to help. But then, Somanata remembered the law of nature. It was this struggle of the moth against the cocoon that built the strength of the moth’s wings. Without that the moth’s wings would wither, leaving it flightless forever.

A revelation hit Somanatha when he saw the moth’s struggles. His hardship was not a curse. It was a means to better his craft.

From that day, instead of producing cheap cloth, Somanatha stayed up by the candlelight and started creating a new fabric that mixed discarded silk along with wild grass.

The result was that in six months, Somanatha had a new fabric that was lightweight and completely waterproof.

Six months later, the royal caravan came to Pratishthana.

While the other merchants provided the heavy woolen garments, Somanatha offered his unique garment.

The delegates studied the material and were in awe. They recognised Somanatha’s genius and soon made him a master artisan of his guild.

That way Somanatha’s debts were fully cleared and he started prospering. 

All because Somanatha refused to give in and saw his hardship as a refinement process and not a curse.

Adapted from the Kathasarithsagara

The Rajahamsa

In classical Sanskrit literature and folklore, there lives a legendary mythical creature known as the Rajahamsa, or the Royal Swan.

The Rajahamsa has an extraordinary power - when it is presented with a mixture of milk and water, the Royal Swan can separate the pure milk, leaving the water behind.

This power of the Rajahamsa, was revealed in a high ice-capped mountain.

There was a clear river near an ice capped mountain. Many birds lived there, and among them was the wise Rajahamsa.

One evening, a fierce storm swept down the mountain, kicking up dirt and mud, sending it all over the lake.

By the next morning, the crystal clear water of the lake had turned dark, thick and murky.

A young panicked swan rushed up to the Rajahamsa. “Look at what the storm has done! Everything is ruined! If the water is so muddy, we cannot see anything. How can we hunt if we cannot see anything? We will not be able to survive in such conditions!”

The older Rajahamsa remained completely unshaken. He glided over to the dark and muddy water and dipped his beak into the murky mixture. With steady focus, he separated pure nourishing liquid that had been mixed in the water.

The royal swan then turned to the little young bird and spoke softly. “The storm cannot choose what stays inside you. The lake will always have mud, but you get to decide what you focus on. Life will always bring noise and chaos. If you focus on the chaos, you will never know peace. But if you learn to look past the murkiness, you will find that the nourishment is still there.”

Watching the older Rajahamsa, the young swan realized the basic truth and stopped churning the waters in panic. Then, the young swan dipped its beak in the lake choosing to take only the clean water ignoring the debris around.

That was the day the swan understood that true strength was about cultivating the inner ability to extract good, no matter what the environment.

Adapted from Classical Sanskrit Folklore

The Great Race Across the Waters

Long ago near the bank of the lakes, lived two birds - a hummingbird that flew very fast and a crane, a tall quiet bird that moved with long legs with slow deliberate wings.

Hummingbird was very proud of its speed and watched the slow-walking Crane with contempt. “You are so slow, Crane!”

The Crane studied the little bird. “Speed is useful only for short distances, Hummingbird.” Crane said softly. “But life is a long journey. To travel far, one needs endurance.”

Hummingbird thought that Crane was making excuses for his slowness. “I will prove that I am right.” Hummingbird looked contemptuously at Crane. “Let us have a race!”

The Crane agreed. “Let us race from the bank of this river across the Great Water. The first one to touch the old oak tree on the other side will win.”

The race started.

In the beginning, Hummingbird shot forward, even before Crane had started from the shore.

For a few hours, Hummingbird was ahead in the race. He laughed at Crane who was far behind him.

But by afternoon, Hummingbird’s wings started aching. His heart thudded painfully against his chest and Hummingbird could not fly further.

Hummingbird landed on a floating log of wood to rest.

Within a few moments, Hummingbird was fast asleep.

Meanwhile, Crane flew on.

Crane did not rush nor did he try to speed up. He simply maintained a slow rhythmic beat with his wide steady wings. He did not stop to celebrate how far he had come, nor did he look back to measure how far he had come. He simply flew forward.

Night fell and Crane flew right past the sleeping Hummingbird.

When the morning sun broke over the horizon,  Hummingbird woke up with a start. Realizing that he had slept for a long time, he buzzed into overdrive and shot forward towards the northern shore.

The hummingbird reached the other side of the bank only to find Crane calmly resting at the base of the oak tree. Hummingbird  landed near Crane, exhausted and humbled.

Crane smiled at Hummingbird. “You have great speed, Hummingbird, but speed without pacing will burn out before you reach the finish line. Small consistent steps will always carry you further than sudden bursts of speed.”

Adapted from Native American Folklore

The Brave Little Parrot

Long ago, in an ancient bamboo forest, lived a tiny parrot. He spent his days alongside the other birds and animals of the forest.

One dry afternoon, a sharp bolt of lightning struck a dead tree trunk. The sparks caught fire, and soon it turned into a terrifying wildfire.

Seeing the danger, the little parrot escaped high into the clear sky, flying to the safety of the nearby river. But as he looked back from the river, he saw his home burning and heard the helpless cries of the animals trapped there.

Instead of escaping, the little parrot made a brave choice. The parrot plunged into the cool waters of the river and soaked his feathers until they were heavy with moisture. The parrot then flew back to the heavy smoke and fire and vigorously shook his wings, dropping tiny sprinkles of water into the flames.

High above, in the celestial realms, Sakka, the king of the Gods, looked down from his palace and saw the burning forest and the little parrot working tirelessly to put out the fire.

Wanting to test the bird's resolve, Sakka transformed himself into a majestic golden eagle and flew down towards the parrot. “What are you doing, you foolish little bird?” The Eagle told the parrot. “Your feathers are scorched and your eyes are burning. Your efforts are hopeless! A few drops of water cannot extinguish a raging forest fire. So save yourself before you burn.”

The parrot, however, did not stop. It turned to the eagle and replied. “Do not discourage me. I need help, not discouragement. The forest is burning and my friends are trapped. I am doing what I can to save them.”

Taken aback, Sakka was moved to tears. The divine tears of Sakka poured down from heaven as a torrential rain. The rain doused the flames and soon the forest fire was put out completely.

As the smoke cleared, the parrots' singed feathers transformed into a brilliant red, green, and blue, which was meant to be a permanent mark of honour for the little parrot’s extraordinary courage.

So do not measure your worth by your size or strength for even the smallest act of courage can ignite extraordinary change.

Adapted from the Jataka Tales

The Heron and the Crab

High in the branches of a grand banyan tree lived a flock of birds. Near the banyan tree was a sparkling lake. There, at the edge of the water lived an old white heron. As the years went by, the heron grew too slow to catch fish. He went hungry often and he wondered how he could get his next dinner if he could not swim fast enough. The heron came up with a clever plan. He went to the water’s edge and looked sad with a long face, and he let his tears fall into the lake.

A crab came out of the water and saw the crying bird. “Uncle Heron! Why are you so sad? What happened?” 

The heron wiped his tears and sighed. “I overheard some fishermen nearby. They said that they were coming tomorrow with huge nets to drain this lake and catch every single fish, frog and crab here.”

The crab quickly went into the water and told the fish all that he had heard. The panicked fish gathered around the heron and pleaded with the bird. “Please, Heron, you can save us because you can fly! You can take us out of this water.” 

The heron smiled inwardly, but he nodded sagely. “I know of a deep pool on the other side of the mountain. No fisherman can find you there. I will take you there one by one in my beak.”

So every day the heron picked up a fish, flew over the hill and ate the fish behind a large rock. 

Day after day the sneaky heron tricked the fish, and soon the heron grew fat and lazy.

Eventually, the crab turned to the heron. “Heron, you have saved so many fish. Please take me to the safe pool today.” 

The heron looked at the crab and thought that he was tired of eating fish every day and a crab would make a delicious change. So the heron agreed to help the crab and picked up the crab in his beak and soared into the sky.

As they flew over the mountain, the crab expected to see a beautiful new lake. Instead, he saw piles of fish bones scattered across the rocks. 

The crab instantly understood the truth - this was no safe pool. The heron had been tricking everyone all along, and now it was the crab's turn.

The crab panicked, but he knew that crying would not save him. He had to keep calm and act quickly. 

Before the heron could land, the crab used his strong sharp claws and pinched the heron's long neck with all his might.

“Help me! Help me!” squawked the heron, losing his balance mid-air.

The heron was forced to land safely on the ground to escape the crab's pinch.

The crab then fell to the earth and hurried back to the lake, to warn the other creatures about the heron's trickery.

Thus, by staying calm, thinking fast and facing the danger directly, the little crab saved himself and his friends.

Adapted from the Panchatantra

The King and the Broken Bow

It was the time of a brutal battle where an invading army had captured the kingdom and the royal forces had fled.  The ruler of the kingdom was running for survival and had reached a mountain. A storm was raging at the mountain at that time. The king was already nursing a deep injury. Because of the storm, the king was now covered in mud as he collapsed into a dark cave at the top of the mountain.

Resting against the cave wall was the king's most prized possession - it was a magnificent heavy bow carved from the finest wood and horn.

Unfortunately, as the king had tried to escape with his bow, he had stumbled. At the time, the bow had hit a huge boulder because of which the upper limb of the bow had cracked.

Now inside the cave, the king strung the weapon together to pull the string, and he realised what the problem was. 

The bow had lost its perfect symmetry. The bow could no longer shoot straight using any known archery techniques.

The king felt a bitter wave of despair because he realised that he had lost his kingdom, he was injured and now even his bow was about to break. 

The king felt defeated in the dark cave, as the storm raged outside.

The next morning the storm had cleared, but peace did not last for the king. He heard the thud of the boots up the cliff. The king peeked out of his cave and realised that enemy soldiers were climbing up the mountain.

Running away was impossible and all the king had was one damaged bow to fight back.

The king studied the weapon again. He realised that, instead of cursing the flaw with the weapon, he had to improvise, the king did not take a traditional Archer's stance, he stood awkwardly changing his grip and tilted his head and instead of aiming at the soldier, the king deliberately aimed to the right of the target and fired the arrow. 

As the arrow flew it curved at an impossible angle and struck the soldier. 

On seeing that he had hit his target, the king began launching a relentless defence. The bow was crooked and the arrows flew at an impossible angle. 

Because of this, the soldiers down the mountain could not make out where the arrow was coming from. They were terrified because they believed that this was an army that was practising sorcery, and so the enemy soldiers panicked and ran.

After this, armed with a renewed spirit, the king tracked his army and rallied his soldiers. 

Together, they did not launch into a traditional warfare. Instead, the king utilised asymmetric war tactics and drove the invaders out of his kingdom.

Adapted from Veera Gatha in Indian Folklore

The Mouse Merchant

 

In a wealthy city, there was a miserable young man who was weeping along the roadside. His father had passed away, leaving the young man and his mother very poor. The young man believed that he had no future and so he was feeling depressed.

At that moment, a wealthy and famous merchant Visakila came to the roadside with his friends. Visakhila pointed at a dead mouse near the street and turned to his friends. “A man with true focus and enterprise could pick up their dead mouse and start a business with it and eventually earn a fortune.”

Visakila's friends laughed it off. However, the young man saw this as a challenge. He picked up the dead mouse and went to the local tavern. 

There he found a cat owner who needed food for his pet.

When the young man gave the dead mouse to the cat, the owner of the cat gave the young man a handful of roasted gram.

The young man did not eat the roasted gram. Instead, he grounded the gram into a refreshing powder and mixed it with cool water. The young man took this to the edge of the forest and waited there. 

There were many wood cutters who were tired and returning home after a hard day's work. The young man politely offered the refreshing drink to the woodcutters. Gratefully the wood cutters accepted the drink  and in return the woodcutters gave the young man two pieces of firewood each.

The young man sold the firewood in the city market and used the money to buy some gram and molasses. With that the young man did this daily.

Soon, a massive storm hit the city. The storm blew branches into the royal gardens.

The royal gardener was worried because the king was supposed to come to the garden that day and the garden was a mess because of the storm. 

The young man came to the gardener and offered to help the gardner to clear the garden for free if he got to keep all the firewood that he had cleared.

Naturally the gardener agreed to this.

The young man offered sweet snacks to children playing nearby and asked them to clear the garden.

The children happily ate all the sweets and helped the old man and in return the children put all the firewood removed from the garden in the young man’s place.

The young man now had a massive stock of firewood. He sold the wood to the king’s potter at the premium price.

With this substantial capital, the young man opened a small shop and traded goods with traveling horse dealers. Eventually, the young man became one of the most prominent merchants in the empire.

Years later, the young man came to be known as Chuadutta. 

Chuadutta made a gold mouse encrusted with precious jewels and presented it as a gift to Visakila thanking the older man for the loan that built his entire empire.

Adapted from the Kathasarithsagara

The Woodcutter and the Diamond

There was once a woodcutter who lived in a village on the edge of a great forest. The  woodcutter worked day and night but he was very poor. 

One day the woodcutter cried out in frustration. “Why am I alone  undergoing friction and hard work while others walk in silk and gold?”

As an answer to his prayer an ascetic came near the woodcutter. 

The ascetic pulled out a muddy stone the size of a fist from his pouch and gave it to the woodcutter. “This is a rare uncut diamond.”

The woodcutter’s eyes widened in surprise. 

The ascetic however, shook his head. “First take  this stone to the market and ascertain its true price.” The ascetic smiled at the woodcutter. “Before you sell this diamond, come back and talk to me.”

The woodcutter agreed and he excitedly took the diamond to the village market.

First the woodcutter showed the diamond to a vegetable vendor. 

The vegetable vendor looked over the stone. “This is a heavy stone. I will give you two bags of potatoes for this.”

The woodcutter was taken aback. 

Then the woodcutter took the stone to a brass merchant.

The brass merchant nodded appreciatively at the stone. “This seems to be a rare stone. I can give you ten copper coins for this.”

The woodcutter refused to sell the stone to the brass merchant too and the woodcutter took the stone to the capital city. 

There the woodcutter showed the stone to the royal jeweler.

The royal jeweler removed the mud from the stone and looked into it. The jeweler was taken aback when he saw the stone. “Where did you find this? This is a rare uncut diamond worth a thousand gold coins now.” The jeweler was still breathless. “If this stone was polished by friction, this stone’s worth would not be measurable.” The royal jeweler shook his head. “I do not have enough money in the treasury to buy that polished jewel.”

The woodcutter took the stone back to the forest.

The ascetic was sitting near a fire when the woodcutter found him.

The ascetic smiled because he realized that the woodcutter had understood it. “We are all like this stone. When we are polished our worth is more than a kingdom. However now we judge our worth based on the opinion of the vegetable vendors and the brass merchants. Our hard work removes the dirt and lets our real diamond shine showing our true worth to the world.”

The woodcutter kept the stone but he did not sell it. He kept it in his home and started working hard and since then he never saw his hard work as difficult. 

He realized that this hard work was merely a precursor to show his true worth to the world.

Adapted from Indian Folklore

The Broken Pot

Every single day, an old woman would walk from her home to a nearby river. The old woman carried a heavy wooden pole on her shoulders. On each end of the pole was a large clay pot.

One of these pots was perfect. It delivered the full portion of water through the walk from the river back to the woman’s home. The other pot, however, cracked at the side. By the time the woman reached home, the other pot lost water and was only half full.

The woman still brought water in the two pots and this went on for two full years. 

The perfect pot was very proud of itself.

However, the poor cracked pot was unhappy. It was ashamed of its imperfections because it could achieve only half of what it wanted to do. 

One day the cracked pot finally spoke to the woman. “I am ashamed of myself. I want to apologise to you because you do all this hard work, you do not get the full value of your efforts. Because I leak the water all the way back to your house.” The old woman smiled gently at the pot. “Do you notice that there are wild beautiful flowers on your side of the path? But nothing on the other pot's side.” She nodded at the pot. “I have always known about your flaw. So I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. Every day as we walk back from the river for the past two years, you have been watering those seeds. I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my table. Without you being what you are, I would not have this beauty to grace my home.” 

That was when the broken pot realised that it may be cracked and flawed, but it was still useful because it had created something beautiful.

Adapted from Folklore around the World

Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom

Long ago the world was brand new and things were not what we see as now. People did not know how to build houses, or how to weave cloth or even how to farm. 

This was because all the wisdom of the entire world was stored in a single large clay pot which was sealed tight with a cork. 

This pot was kept by Nyame, the Supreme Creator and the Great Sky God.

One day, Nyame decided that he did not want to keep all the wisdom to himself, so Nyame sent for Anansi the Spider.

Nyame handed over the heavy clay pot that had every single idea, invention and every piece of common sense that ever existed, to Anansi. “Anansi, take this pot of wisdom to Earth and share all the wisdom in it with all the creatures of earth so that they may learn to live well.”

Anansi bowed to Nyame and took the pot. Then Anansi spun a thread from the sky to the earth. But as Anansi reached earth a selfish thought came to him. ‘If I share this wisdom with everyone, all of them will become as clever as me. But if I keep this pot to myself, I will be the wisest creature in the universe. Everyone will have to come to me for advice, and I will be rich.’

So Anansi decided to hide the pot. 

He found the Onyina or the silk cotton tree which was a sacred tree that reached high into the clouds and the trunk of the Onyina tree has sharp thorns to keep animals away.

Anansi was very happy because he realized that this was the perfect place to hide the Pot of Wisdom because no one could climb the tree.

Using a thick vine, Anansi tied the heavy clay pot around his neck so that the pot rested right against his belly and then Anansi started climbing the tree.

However, midway, the pot was wedged between Anansi’s stomach and the tree.

Anansi struggled with the pot for nearly an hour after that but the pot did not move.

Suddenly Anansi heard a giggling voice from the base of the tree. 

Anansi looked down and saw his youngest son Ntikuma who was laughing at him. 

“What is so funny?” Anansi snapped.

“Oh Father!” Ntikuma giggled. “You are supposed to be having all the wisdom in the world, but you do not have the common sense to even tie the pot to your back so that it would not get in the way of your climbing.”

Anansi stared and realized that his son was absolutely right.

Even though Anansi had all the wisdom in the world, his son had shown more wisdom than him.

In a fit of anger, Anansi kicked the pot.

The heavy clay pot fell to the forest floor and shattered into a million pieces.

The wisdom burst free and blew into the rivers, fields and villages, where every single person, animal and insect breathed in the scattered wisdom.

High above, the great Sky God Nyame smiled. He had known how greedy and foolish Anansi was and Nyame knew that by giving the pot to a selfish trickster, Nyame made sure that the wisdom was available for all of the earth.

Adapted from African Folklore

The Fox and the Hedgehog

A fox and a hedgehog were strolling through the forests. 

The fox was very proud of itself. It looked down at its prickly companion with a smug smile. “Do you know hedgehog, if the hounds suddenly come, I am so clever that I have a hundred different strategies to escape. I can double back on my tracks. I can leap over streams, and I have half a dozen secret burrows, all over the forest.” The fox looked even more smug. “I have a master plan for everything.” 

The fox finally looked at the hedgehog with pity. “You however, have nothing!”

The hedgehog was quiet for a few seconds. “I have one trick, and I think that is enough.”

Suddenly the fox and the hedgehog heard the hound’s howl echoing through the trees. 

The hedgehog did not pause. He tucked his head and pulled his paws and rolled himself into a tight sharp ball of defensive spikes.

On hearing the hounds, the fox's brilliant mind, however, went through many possibilities. 

The fox wondered whether he should run to the river, but then the fox decided against it, because the water current was too strong. Then, the fox wondered whether he had to double back, but then the fox realised that the wind was blowing straight towards the hound. Finally, the fox wondered whether he had to climb the ridge. But then the fox was afraid that this would damage his beautiful fur. 

So thinking all this, the fox was frozen on his tracks.

While the fox was still calculating all this, the hounds burst from the trees. 

The hedgehog remained perfectly safe inside his prickly armour. The hedgehog heard the commotion around and looked up only when the noise around him faded into the distance.

When the hedgehog finally felt that it was safe, he unrolled and looked around. 

The fox was, however, nowhere to be found.

The hedgehog went home safe that day, because he knew that one simple, reliable plan executed immediately was better than a hundred complex options.

Adapted from Aesop’s Fables

The Crow and the Peacock

There was once a crow that did not like its black feathers.

The crow often admired the colourful feathers of the peacock and wanted to be one among the peacocks. 

The crow would often tell its fellow crows, “You all look so dull and plain. look how beautiful the peacocks are. I wish I were a peacock, too.”

Finally, the crow had an idea. 

It decided to pick up all the peacock feathers that had fallen down and decided to stick it to its own wings so that it would look like the peacock.

Painstakingly, using tree sap, the crow stuck all the fallen peacock feathers to its tail.

The crow looked at its own work. “Now I am as gorgeous as a peacock.” The crow told itself.

However, when the crow tried to join the flock of peacocks, the crow was mocked and thrown out of the place because the peacocks clearly saw that the crow was not one among them. “Putting on peacock feathers will not make you a peacock.”

Sadly the crow returned to the other crows. But none of the crows now wanted to be with this crow that had shunned them.

A wise old crow came and told the crow its lesson. “We have to accept ourselves for the way that we are and not copy others, blindly. I hope that you have learned your lesson.”

Adapted from the Panchantantra

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