The Sparrows and the Monkey

Long ago a pair of birds lived in the branches of a tree. The birds had built a nest there and lived very happily. In the rainy season when it was raining heavily, the two birds were very happy and cozy in their nest, though it was cold all around. 

A monkey once came during the rainy season to the forest where the two birds were living. 

It had started raining heavily. So the monkey took shelter under the tree where the two birds had their nest. The monkey was shivering in the rain.  

At this the two birds began to talk to each other. “Let us advise him to build a home for himself so that he does not shiver in the rain.” 

The other sparrow shook its head firmly. “You are not asked to advise on this matter so I think we should keep quiet.” 

However, the first sparrow felt bad for the monkey and turned to it. “Monkey, you are shivering in the rain. Why don't you build a home for yourself where you can stay during such weather?”

The monkey then turned to the bird which was having its nest up in the tree. 

The monkey heard the bird's words and was angry because it was shivering while the birds were warm and at that time the bird had given it some very useless advice. 

In anger the monkey climbed up the tree and tore down the nest of the two birds. 

The first sparrow realized the foolishness of giving advice when it was not needed and promised itself never to open its mouth unnecessarily. 

Adapted from the Panchatantra

The elephant and the mice

 A huge group of mice lived in a dense forest.

Once it so happened that they saw a group of elephants marching towards the forest. The mice asked around and realized that the elephants were searching for water and the quickest way to the waterhole was through the dense forest. 

The mice feared that the huge elephants would walk through the homes of the mice burrowed under the ground. The mice realized that many of them would be trampled under the elephant's huge feet. So the king of the mice hurriedly went to meet the king of the elephants before the elephants could set foot inside the forest. The king of mice told the king of elephants the problem that the mice would have if the elephants marched inside the forest. 

The huge elephant looked at the little mouse but did not say anything immediately. 

However the king of elephants was very smart and he understood the problem of the mice and decided to take another route. 

That way the entire colony of mice was saved.

A few years later the king of elephants and his herd were passing through another forest. 

At this forest a king's army people had placed huge nets to capture elephants to be used in the king's army. 

The elephants were unaware of this. Most of the elephants including the king of elephants were caught in the net. But the clever king of elephants calmly asked one of the free elephants to go to the king of mice and ask for help. 

When the king of mice heard about the predicament of the elephants he and his colony went to the new forest. There all the mice gnawed the nets trapping the elephants with their sharp teeth.

That way the mouse repaid the kindness of the elephants.

Adapted from the Panchatantra

The Mediator

Once in a forest in a tree lived two partridges. The partridges were best of friends and talked with each other daily.

One of the partridges lived in the branches of a tree whereas the other bird lived in the hole at the base of the same tree.

Once one of the partridges flew away in search of food. But that time the partridge did not return in the evening.

The other partridge grew worried as his friend did not return for the next three days. The partridge living in the branch of the tree was afraid that the partridge which had flown away had been injured or killed. But there was nothing that he could do. Finally after three days, the partridge living in the tree decided that something untoward had happened to his friend and left it at that.

That evening a rabbit came to the tree. The rabbit wanted to live in the empty hole at the base of the tree.

The partridge who lived in the branches of the tree saw this but he realized that now that his friend was no more, this rabbit could live in the base of the tree.

A day later the other partridge returned. He had found a great place with lots of good food. But he had eaten quite a lot of food there and he had become fat.

That was when the partridge saw that his home had been taken over by the rabbit.

The partridge and the rabbit fought over whom the hole at the base of the tree belonged to.

Finally they decided to go to a mediator to decide the matter.

In the same forest lived a cat. The cat pretended to be very pious. So he always sat still and made sure he did not attack the small animals that came near him. The cat kept this up for a day or two.

It was at this time that the rabbit and the partridge came there looking for a mediator.

"Let us go and talk to him. The cat seems very noble and will surely help us." Said the rabbit.

"Be careful." The partridge warned. "The cat is a natural enemy to both birds and rabbits. We have to stay far away from the cat so that he cannot pounce on us."

The rabbit agreed to this. Both the rabbit and the package bowed to the cat. "Great soul! Would you please solve a dispute between us?" Both the smaller animals spoke together from a far away position.

The cat studied the two animals. "You should know I have given up violence. I am following the path of nonviolence and peace. But I am very old. I cannot listen to you. Please come a little closer so that I may be able to listen to your problems and settle any disputes that you may have."

The two small animals did not understand the import of the cat's words. They were impressed with the cat’s words and foolishly they went forward to present their case better.

The cat saw the opportunity and pounced on the two small animals and killed them immediately.

The clever cat kept to his act and he was never hungry after that.

Adapted from the Panchatantra

The Cobra and the Crows

There lived a husband and a wife crow in a dense forest. The dense forest was on the outskirts of a prosperous kingdom.

The birds had built a nest in the branches of the tree and lived there.

Unfortunately, the crows did not know that a cobra also lived in the base of the same tree. The cobra was silent and did not draw any attention to itself, and it merely observed the crow couple.



Once the wife crow laid eggs in the nest and the couple were very happy that they were going to become parents.

The couple went out to hunt for food and that was when disaster struck.

When the couple returned to the nest, they found that their eggs were broken and eaten. The miserable couple looked around and found that the trail led to the base of the tree and realized that there lived a cobra there.

After that, every time the wife crow laid eggs, the cobra would eat them when the couple went to hunt.



Not knowing what to do, the crow couple approached the wise jackal. “You need to help me!” The wife crow told the jackal unhappily. “The two of us cannot fight the cobra. We are not strong enough to kill the cobra. The cobra knows this. It waits for us when we are away and then eats our eggs.”

“I think we should abandon the tree.” The husband crow voiced from the other side.

The jackal was silent and then shook his head. “Moving to another location will not solve your problem. It will merely give you a new set of troubles in the new area.”

“What do we do?” The wife crow wailed. “We cannot let the cobra do this to us all the time.”

The jackal studied the crow couple and then a second later grinned.

A day later, the kingdom near the dense forest was in a big frenzy. Something unthinkable had happened. A crow had stolen jewelry from the palace!

The guards ran out following the flying bird and the crow had a precious necklace in its beak.

The crow for some strange reason seemed to be slow, almost as if it were letting the guards follow it.

After a long run, the guards had followed the crow to a dense tree.

The guards sighed in relief as the crow dropped the necklace at the base of the tree.

Unfortunately, one of the guards spotted a huge cobra hole where the necklace had fallen into.

While taking the necklace out, the cobra was disturbed and hissed angrily.

The guards saw this and immediately killed the cobra.

The next day, the jackal smiled at the crow couple. “You do not need strength to defeat a stronger enemy.”

From the Panchatantra

The Three Fishes

 In a pond there lived three fishes. One of the fishes believed in fate. He believed that whatever had to happen would happen and that nothing could change it. The second fish was wise. He thought long and hard about any problem and then acted on it. The third fish trusted in his ready wit and intelligence to get him out of any trouble.

Though the three fishes believed in different things, they were best of friends.

Once as the wise fish was swimming near the surface of the water it heard two fishermen talking.

'Look at this! Look at how many fishes there are in the pond.'

The other fisherman nodded his head.

'We will come tomorrow and lay our nets in this pond.'

The fishermen walked off talking.

The wise fish hurried to its friends. 'Do you know what happened today?'

He told the other two fishes everything that he had overheard.

'So tomorrow, the fishermen are going to come.'

The wise fish was agitated. 'We have to do something.'

The fish who believed in fate shook his fate. 'Whatever will happen, will happen, my friend. There is no point in worrying about it.'

The wise fish called out. 'The fishermen are going to come tomorrow. You just cannot ignore it. They will catch all of us, if we stay here.'

The fish who believed in fate waved its fin. 'We cannot change what is going to happen. I will accept whatever is in store for me.' The fish who believed in fate, left, with those words.

The other two fishes stared at each other.

The wise fish looked at its other friend feeling sad.

The fish who believed in its own intelligence said to the wise fish. 'We cannot change his mind.' He turned to look at the other fish. 'What do you plan to do?'

The wise fish was silent for a long time.

'There is a passage from this pond to the nearby pond. I am going to the next lake.' The wise fish looked at the last fish. 'What are you going to do?'

The intelligent fish smiled. 'I am going to stay here.'

The wise fish was aghast. ‘But..’

The intelligent fish shook his head. 'Don't worry, I have a plan.'

The wise fish looked at its two friends. It knew that it could not change their mind.

That very night, it went to the nearby pond.

The next day, the fishermen came.

The wise fish escaped.

The fish who believed in fate was caught in the net and was killed immediately.

The intelligent fish was also caught in the net.

Immediately it thrashed around and pretended to be dead.

The fishermen saw it.

'This fish is already dead! We cannot take it.' The first fisherman looked disgusted as it was studying the limp fish.

'Throw it back inside the pond.' The other fisherman shrugged.

Picking the fish, the fishermen threw it back in the river.

The intelligent fish grinned as he swam down and waited there till the fishermen were gone.

-From the Panchatantra